Startups: please boycott Life Sciences & Healthcare Venture Summit from Youngstartup Ventures
From: "Joe Benjamin" <announcements@youngstartup.net>
Date: October 15, 2009 5:38:45 AM PDT
To: \
Subject: Register Today – Less than 50 Seats Remain
Reply-To: announcements@youngstartup.net
Don't Miss your chance to Meet
Top VCs, and see the Hottest Innovators!
Join leading VCs, Angel Investors, Corporate VCs, Investment Bankers and CEOs of cutting edge private companies at The 2009 Life Sciences & Healthcare Venture Summit being held on October 27 in New York City.
Whether you’re an investor seeking new deals, or a startup seeking capital and exposure, THE 2009 LIFE SCIENCES & HEALTHCARE VENTURE SUMMIT is one event you won't want to miss!
This exclusive summit will feature:
- Over 50 of the hottest Innovators presenting live
- Market relevant investor panels
- Numerous high-level networking opportunities
- 50+ prominent VC and Expert speakers
Register Today and confirm your place
We're pleased to announce that we've selected 57 Top Innovators to present on three tracks (Biotech/Pharma, Medical Device/LS/Diagnostics, Healthcare IT & Media)
Presenting companies include:
- Affinity Biotechnology
- Alfama, Inc.
- Allostera Pharma Inc.
- AllTranz, Inc.
- ApoImmune, Inc.
- Artificial Cell Technologies, Inc.
- Ascent Therapeutics, Inc.
- Astoria Software, Inc.
- Aura Medsystems, Inc.
- Biocept Incorporated
- Biomedical Photometrics Inc.
- BiOptix Diagnostics Inc.
- Biovista, Inc.
- Boston BioCom LLC
- Calibra Medical, Inc.
- Colibri Technologies Inc.
- DesignMedix
- Doctations, Inc.
- EDP Biotech Corporation
- Ektio Inc.
- Embera NeuroTherapeutics, Inc.
- Empire Genomics, LLC
- Galmed Medical Research Ltd.
- Glyconix Corporation
- Halo Monitoring, Inc.
- Herborium Group, Inc.
- ImmunoVaccine Inc.
- ImpLite, Inc.
- invendo medical
- LeukoDx L.P.
- LifeCare AS
- LineaGen, Inc.
- MBC Pharma, Inc
- MedCurrent Corporation
- MedPricer.com
- MiCardia Corp.
- Navigil Ltd
- NeuroInterventional Therapeutics, Inc.
- Neurologix, Inc.
- Neurotez, Inc.
- Neurovirtual USA, Inc.
- Oncolix, Inc.
- Optomed
- Ortho Ion
- PlexPress
- Profound Medical Inc.
- "Rejuv8 Labs -
- Ardent Sciences Laboratories, Inc."
- SLL Sciences
- Somnaform Corporation
- SpinX Technologies
- Stellarray Inc.
- Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Thrombolytic Science International
- Topica Pharmaceuticals
- ValveXChange, Inc.
- Vandalia Research, Inc.
- Velcura Therapeutics, Inc.
To register by phone or inquire about groups rates call Adam Negnewitzky at 212-202-1002 or email him at adamn@youngstartup.com
Partial List of Featured VCs and Experts:
- Aisling Capital
- BioStar Ventures
- Boston Millenia Partners
- Cardinal Partners
- CHL Medical Partners
- Early Stage Partners
- Emergent Medical Partners
- Flagship Ventures
- Flybridge Capital Partners
- GBP Capital
- Genesys Capital Partners
- Golden Pine Ventures
- Health Enterprise Partners
- HLM Venture Partners
- Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Longitude Capital
- Lumira Capital
- McCarter & English LLP
- MedImmune Ventures
- Mid Atlantic Fund
- Milestone Venture Partners
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- MP Healthcare Venture Management
- MPM Capital
- NeoMed Management
- Nexus Medical Partners
- NGN Capital
- Novartis Ventures
- Numoda Capital Innovations
- Originate Ventures
- Partners Innovation Fund
- Physic Ventures
- Pillsbury
- Point Judith Capital
- PRI
SM VentureWorks- Prospect Venture Partners
- River Cities Capital Funds
- Safeguard Scientifics
- Sante Ventures
- Sherbrooke Capital
- Siemens Venture Capital
- Signet Healthcare Partners
- SR One
- TPG Biotech
- Trevi Health Ventures
- Triathlon Medical Ventures
- TVM Capital
- Vatera Capital
- Venrock
- VIMAC Ventures
- and many more
There won't be a better time or place to gain access to funding, exposure or deal flow.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Warm regards, Joe Benjamin
Founder & CEO
youngStartup Ventures
ADVISORY BOARD
Gerry Brunk
Managing Director
Lumira Capital Louis A. Cannon, MD
Founder, Senior Managing Director
BioStar Ventures Gert Caspritz, PhD
Partner
Neomed Management Suzette Dutch
Managing Partner
Triathlon Medical Ventures Joyce Erony
Managing Director
Signet Healthcare Partners Stacy Feld
Director
Physic Ventures John Giannuzzi
Managing General Partner
Sherbrooke Capital Andrew T. Jay
Managing Partner- Healthcare
Siemens Venture Capital Thomas Kesoglou
Partner
McCarter & English, LLPNoah J. Kroloff
Partner
NGN Capital Damian Lamb
Managing Director
Genesys Capital Partners Douglas D. Lind, MD
Managing Partner
GBP Capital Brendan M. O'Leary, Ph.D.
General Partner
PRISM VentureWorks Heather Preston, MD
Managing Director
TPG Biotech Lisa Skeete Tatum
General Partner
Cardinal Partners Chris Varma, PhD
Partner
Flagship Ventures Brett Zbar
Partner
Aisling Capital
Special thanks to our Sponsors:
Pillsbury; McCarter & English, LLP; Milestone Venture Partners; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP; MaRS; Herrick; Center for Israeli Innovation; youngStartup Ventures; Ricerca; Holtz Rubenstein Reminick; HESLIN ROTHENBERG FARLEY & MESITI P.C.; Weiser LLP; Salem Partners; BMS BioMedical Strategies; ARIANNE; Province Of Ontario; CVCA; GSAS Harvard Biotechnology Club
Upcoming Event
The 4th Annual
New England Venture Summit
December 8th, 2009
Hilton, Boston-Dedham, MA
Register Now and Save up to $300!
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Brutus the bulldog!
—————
Jason@Calacanis.com | Mobile: 310-456-4900
http://www.calacanis.com | http://www.mahalo.com
Executive Assistant: admin@calacanis.com
Entrepreneurs: do not support the New England Venture Summit charging startups to present
Startups: Do not support events like this $1,500 to present New
England Venture Summit.
startups and together we can crack the “pay to play” virus! Note: if they wanted to charge you for a ticket, well, maybe…. but
to present? that’s not cool. best j From: Adam Negnewitzky [mailto:adamn@youngstartup.com]
Subject: re:The 2009 New England Venture Summit I’ve included the details of the presenting opportunity. Companies who
would like to present should fill out our brief summary outline. As you know this exclusive venture capital summit will bring together
over 500 Venture Capitalists, Corporate VCs, Private Investors,
Investment bankers and CEOs of cutting edge companies, and will
feature an impressive line-up of VCs on interactive panels; CEO
presentations and high-level networking opportunities. VCs confirmed to speak include: David Beisel, Vice President, Venrock Partners • Roel Bulthuis, Head
of Merck Serono Ventures • Tom Cain, Managing Partner, Sail Venture
Partners • Jon Chait, Partner, Dace Ventures • Andrew D. Clapp,
Managing Partner, Arctaris Capital • Dennis Costello, Managing
Director, Braemar Energy Ventures • Alan Crane, General Partner,
Polaris Venture Partners • Issam Dairanieh, Technology Principal, BP
Alternative Energy Ventures • Jens W. Eckstein, General Partner, TVM
Capital • Douglas Fambrough, General Partner, Oxford Bioscience
Partners • Matt Fates, Partner, Ascent Venture Partners • Teo Forcht
Dagi, Partner, HLM Venture Partners • Allison Goldberg, Director, Time
Warner Investments • Todd Hixon, Managing Partner and Founder, New
Atlantic Ventures • Stephen Knight, M.D., Managing Partner, Fidelity
BioSciences • Stephen Krupa, Managing Member, Psilos Group • Paul
Margolis, Partner, Longworth Venture Partners • Chuck McDermott,
General Partner, Rockport Capital Partners • Chip Meakem, General
Partner, Kodiak Venture Partners • Scott Requadt, Partner, Clarus
Ventures • Jim Sanger, General Partner, ABS Ventures • Amit
Srivastava, Managing Partner, Entrepia Ventures • Marc Weiser, Founder
and Managing Director, RPM Ventures among many others. Featured Company Benefits include: Recognition as Top Innovator
Access to leading VCs, Corporate VCs, private investors and investment bankers
Presentation slot
Three Complimentary passes for company executives
Additional discounted registrations
Two page Company Profile published in event guide distributed to all
attendees and investors
Media Exposure
Coaching & mentoring Fee to present: $1,485 Deadline: The early deadline for applications is October 21st. Let me know if you have any questions or would like me to send the
summary outline. Warm regards, Adam Adam Negnewitzky Senior Associate youngStartup Ventures Phone: (212) 202-1002 Email: adamn@youngstartup.com URL: www.youngstartup.com
Welcome to StopBundyVillage.com: A consortium of concerned citizen groups.
Bundy Village is a stunningly large development on the Westside of Los Angeles on Olympic Avenue and Bundy. If completed this project would create a traffic nightmare for hundreds of thousands of residents in Brentwood, Venice, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Los Angeles and Westwood.
If you are interested in joining the consortium please do the following:
- signup for the Bundy Village Google Group
- Follow the Bundy Village Twitter Account
- email jason <at> calacanis.com for more information.
And now, some smoking guns (or "part two of angels that charge")
Just sent to my email newsletter… you can signup for Jason’s List here:
Friends,
Over 1,000 of the 17,000 people on the list have contacted me already based on my last email about angel investors that charge startups to hear their pitch. Out of those 1,000+ emails there were only two that were negative, and they both cited “free market” forces correcting the pay-for-play issue. I agree, and this email newsletter is the free market! 
A number of smoking guns came in from the email list. Now, I can’t be 100% certain that these folks are telling the truth (maybe these are fake, who knows), but in the spirit of openness, I’m going to let you decided for yourself. I’ve spoken to a number of the folks below on the phone and checked out a number of their twitter, linkedin, personal blogs, and websites to see if they are who they say they are. I’m convinced these a real testimonials and I’ve personally come around to the belief that these firms prey on the naive and the desperate.
Now, there might be some good people in or around these organizations with good intentions, but they are falling way short from the perspective of the entrepreneurs. These firms are NOT going to last much longer with their current payola incarnations because the word is out. Angel investors and startups should not participate in these forums until they drop their fees–period.
Entrepreneurs know better now, and I think the new kids on the block are going to hear from elder startup statesmen that they shouldn’t participate in these bogus forums. Old entrepreneurs please protect the new ones.
Oh yeah, the Lawsuit
=====================
I’ve been informed that the Keiretsu Forum is filing a lawsuit against
me this week. If they are, my official response is: “BRING IT ON!”
Also, if anyone involved with the lawsuit is reading this, you may
want to check with your lawyers about suing someone for telling the
truth or having an opinion. Of course, you can waste the courts time
filing a frivolous lawsuit, but this will have absolutely no effect on
me because a) I know I will prevail and b) you can’t bully me with
legal fees.
I’ll sell my Tesla on eBay to pay my legal bills. :-p
… and now for a selection of feedback I’ve received.
Also, on Friday I’m going to have some of these people on This Week in Startups at 1PM pacific and you can watch live. If some Keiretsu Forum presenters who had a good experience exist, and want to come on the show, I’m totally willing to show all sides of the debate. I’d love to have Mike Segal on, but after he reads the smoking guns I think he will be suing me as well.
If you have any insider information to share just tell me if it is on or off the record when you send it.
How can you help? Write a blog post or tweet about this issue. Tell friends to NOT present at these forums.
Fighting the good fight,
Jason
Smoking Guns & Assorted Feedback
======================
- Exhibit A: “As a former Keiretsu Forum employee, I wholeheartedly support your latest effort to end pay-to-play angel pitching.”
- Exhibit B: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher: “I was desperate… I trekked to NYC to pitch them and found the room filled with I-bankers and consultants, not real investors, including Mike Segal.”
- Exhibit C: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher: “There were no actual investors there…. we knew it was stupid, but we were so sold on the ‘you won’t ever meet so many investors in one place.’ We were told that this is the type of event that we walk away from with funding.”
- Exhibit D: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher: “I was contacted by this Mike Seagal dude [sic], he harassed me to present [REMOVED] to a group of angels in NYC, didn’t mention I had to pay to present.”
- Exhibit E: Keiretsu Forum Presenter
- Exhibit F: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher
- Exhibit G: Fred Wilson, venture capitalist: “I agree with Jason…”
- Exhibit H: Robert Scoble, world famous blogger: “It is ridiculous startups have to pay to pitch…”
- Exhibit I: David Krug, blogger
- Exhibit J: Brad Feld, venture capitalist: “An Angel Investor Group Move That Makes Me Vomit”
- Exhibit K: Charlie O’Donnell, entrepreneur
Exhibit A: Former Keiretsu Forum Employee
======================
“As a former Keiretsu Forum employee, I wholeheartedly support your latest effort to end pay-to-play angel pitching. Keiretsu recruited me directly out of college, yet I only worked for the company for about [REMOVED] months: the amount of time, I suppose, that it takes a
reasonable and ethical person to come to terms with the reality of this scam. There are a number of stories that I could tell you about these networks and the people that run them, and they all would reinforce that you’re doing the right thing here. For now, though, I’ll just draw attention to a few highly relevant points.
1) These networks charge because they have to. They know that they
have their business model upside down; I know that they know this
because that was the first input that I offered to the head of one of
the largest branches. After a basic strategic overview, my first input
was: “One side is your customer; the other side is your supplier. One
side has money, the other has ideas. There is one side that is, by
definition, price-insensitive, and another that is, by definition,
incredibly price-sensitive. Why would you charge the latter group?”
2) Why didn’t Keiretsu charge the investor? Because no investor was
willing to pay to be a member. While they say that they have
membership dues (and other branches may very well collect them), I
watched as a full year’s worth of membership dues went uncollected for
the branch where I worked. When I asked multiple Keiretsu investors
(off the record) what was up, they explained that, if they were
charged even a cent, they would simply terminate their membership. And
why was this the case?
3) Because Keiretsu attracted sub-par entrepreneurs, of course. For
the exact reasons that you described. The goal, in any given month,
was to have five entrepreneurs pitch, yet it was a rare month where we
could dig up that many who were willing to pay Keiretsu’s fees ($7,500
to pitch at all four regional locations). So, in reality, we were
essentially accepting anyone who was willing to pay. Most months, we
ended up letting in multiple entrepreneurs at discounted rates, just
to keep the investors happy.
4) Keiretsu has a screening process, but at least in the region where
I was employed, it was a formality. Once again, anyone who was willing
to pay the full price made it through essentially by default. My
memory’s far from perfect, so take that for what it’s worth, but I
don’t remember a paying applicant ever being turned down.
So, reflecting on these core facts, it’s easy to see why Keiretsu’s
investors were not satisfied: because we didn’t actually screen deals.
We took anyone who was willing to pay–aka the most desperate of
entrepreneurs–and they continued to show up on the off chance that a
legitimate investment opportunity might show up one of these months.
Because it didn’t legitimately screen, Keiretsu lost its credibility
with investors, and because investors weren’t willing to pay due to
lack of said credibility, Keiretsu had to keep charging entrepreneurs.
After a few months, I realized that this was no career. I had spent my
undergraduate period studying entrepreneurship at [UNIVERSITY
REMOVED], and this was a passion of mine. When I accepted a job at
Keiretsu, I had thought that I was stepping into a legitimate
profession, where I could help startups to achieve success. Instead, I
found that I was part of a parasitic business that existed only to
prey upon the desperation of entrepreneurs. It disgusted me, and
within a matter of months, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I quit, and
that’s a decision that I’ve never even remotely regretted. Frankly,
the sooner that the Keiretsu Forums of the world are gone, the better.
If there’s anything that I can do to help you, please just let me
know- I would absolutely be interested in doing my part.
Best Regards,
[REMOVED]”
Exhibit B: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher
=================
“Jason,
Can’t tell you how awesome it is you’re leading this quest. I’ve come
to f-ckin’ hate these people–particularly PrivateEquityForum and Mike
Segal. Sad to say I’ve fallen prey to them.
Here’s my shameful story: I was desperate for some way to extend my
runway and keep my employees. Being on the sad excuse for a startup
hub that is [CITYNAME REMOVED], no Angel groups were doing anything.
The only one we got a pitch with was called Tri-State PIN–another
group that should be on your hit list, with the same shady i-banker
fee structure (there you pay to apply!). So I trekked to NYC to pitch
them and found the room filled with I-bankers and consultants, not
real investors, including Mike Segal.
He claimed to like my pitch and [said] I should really consider
pitching at his event soon (PrivateEquityForums)…It’ll just be
$18000 (but “negotiable”). I ended up agreeing to pay $1200 to just be
in the room for the 5-hour long event and have him give a 1-minute
announcement about [COMPANY NAME REMOVED]. He bragged about what a
high ratio of investors to businesses would be in the room. But in
fact, there were nearly NO investors there, and all but one of the VCs
he listed as registered didn’t actually attend. It was quite clear we
companies were all paying for a lovely catered meal in an expensive
ballroom for 200 NY banker types. I felt like a f@#$ing idiot. So did
every other startup there.
The war you’re waging is bigger than just a few shady angel groups.
It’s East Coast v. West Coast. (I come from [REMOVE], and I know you
know what I’m talking about.) It’s New v. Old. Its about the old
generation being threatened by the rise of “stupid” ideas out West by
a bunch of kids like Twitter and Facebook. It’s about a city full of
ex-enterprise software salesmen ([REMOVED]) wanting the new generation
to pay their dues so they can kick back in their retirement clubs
(“Angel Groups”). It’s about sales and commissions and consultant fees
vs free and the web and product-driven business models.
You da man. Keep fighting the good fight, and lemme know if I can help.
Sincerely, [REMOVED]
Exhibit C: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher
=================
I need to keep this all anon, feel free to use it, but I’m still
actively trying to work my way through getting funding, and will most
likely end up at one or more of these events as I get money… I’m a
senior in college.
So attached is all the info I got from Starlight Investments, when I
signed up to be a ‘non-presenting entrepreneur guest’, a measly
$2,450. I actually believed it so much, that my business partner and I
both dropped classes from our schedule in order to reduce our fee
bill, to get us the cash for the cost of being there. In retrospect,
we knew it was stupid, but we were so sold on the ‘you won’t ever meet
so many investors in one place’. We were told that this is the type of
event that we walk away from with funding. (in following up with the
other companies that were there, they all had the same thing to
say…)
http://www.starlightinvestments.com/?id=276
That link is the link that they tell you is the ‘current guest list’
and from the looks of it, some of those on it are very worth meeting.
That is why I decided to attend, in hopes of meeting a few of those
companies who do not take calls, and an in-person introduction would
be very valuable. This Excel file is who actually attended…
Note the ‘non-attending’…Basically it ended up being a 7 hour long
event of companies that had paid $14,500 ([though] talking to one,
they were able to get it down to $12.5k), to listen to them pitch
back-to-back with 30 min break out sessions every 4th company. There
were no actual investors there. It was all forums, and groups of
investment bankers (broker-dealers). I would also like to add that out
of about 100 people there, about 20 did not pay to attend. This forum
holds a block of tickets for ‘distinguished guests’. Oh, and I should
add that at 5pm, when the cocktails and jazz starts up, all the wives
and girlfriends make their way there. Which makes it extremely hard to
get any business done.
As for Mike Segal, he attends every event in the New York Metro, he is
also one of the most vocal members of the K4 chapter, Tri-State PIN,
and iBreakfast. Any angel event you go to in the New York Metro, he’s
mostly likely going to be there. When I first met him, he asked that I
call him, so I did, and this was the response I got from him:
‘[REMOVED], Thanks for getting in touch. I would be happy to speak to
you on the phone and look at your Executive Summary with a view of
possibly featuring your company or other projects at our next national
investor forum on September 24th. Unfortunately, because of the large
number of projects that are brought to my attention for funding or
advice, I do not have meetings on a non-compensated basis. I initially
charge a minimum retainer of $1,000 to $2,500, plus $475 per hour for
the time that I spend to review, evaluate and make recommendations in
connection with the funding of a business. Based upon my assessment of
the potential of the enterprise, I can then determine if it is
appropriate for me to reach to our U.S. and international network of
capital sources and/or showcase the opportunity at the national
investor forums that we organize in New York. (Note that, if your
company is selected, any payments to me would be deducted from the
fees that we charge for companies to present or attend our events.) If
you would like to be considered by the Tri-State PIN, of which I am a
member, just submit through their site at
www.angelinvestorfunding.com.
If you are interested in working with me, you are welcome to write or
call. Payment for my fees, if applicable, can be made by credit card.
Best, Mike Segal (347) 346-6650′
Yes, he replied to my voicemail, with an email.
Basically, he will charge you to just tell you to apply through the
traditional routes to these angel forums, which also charge a healthy
fee to go to. He also will not pick up his phone, or email you, unless
you’ve made that payment. And Tri-State PIN, for last month, wanted
$625 to pitch there. (I actually considered them the most reasonable
fee of the region). And what if you actually want him to help you get
funding (like you are lead to believe that he will do for you, like
some sort of Rain Man)? He refers you to Starlight Investments. A
’boutique bank’ out of Houston, TX, that specializes in raising
capital for companies. Though if you talk to them, they will tell you
that they only deal with companies who are already turning north of
$3m in EBITDA. But they will consider helping you raise that seed
round, with a fee of 10% of the first $2m, with a $10k/mo retainer.
Exhibit D: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher
=================
Jason, I was contacted by this Mike Seagal dude, he harassed me to
present [REMOVED COMPANY NAME] to a group of angels in NYC, didn’t
mention I had to pay to present, then when I said I was interested, he
talked about those crazy fees. I never replied back, one day later he
started calling me twice a day, reducing the fees every time. Out of
curiosity, I asked about the investors who will be there, he sent me a
list of crappy names you’ve never heard of… Don’t even know if they
do exist. That was my story with this bad guy”
Exhibit E: Keiretsu Forum pitcher
=================
“Hi Jason, I don’t think we’ve met, but I’m a repeat entrepreneur in
Silicon Valley, and a veteran of 6 startups (just getting started on
#7). I’m easily checked out (just look on LinkedIn for our mutual
friends). One of these days, maybe I’ll get invited to the WSJ D
poker game
In any event, I saw your blog post, and couldn’t agree with you more.
In my 20 years in Silicon Valley, I don’t know of a single person who
has raised money from any of them, including the ones who don’t
charge, like Band of Angels, Sand Hill Angels, etc. On top of that, I
had a bad experience with Keiretsu Forum.
I met Randy Williams (founder/CEO) in [REMOVED], and pitched them on a
company I was working on. They charged me something (I think it was
$500-1k back then, but I could be wrong), and I thought it was worth
it to reach 50 angels. Not so. Complete idiots, no value add, and it
didn’t seem that they wrote checks to ANYONE. Since then, I’ve always
viewed Keiretsu Forum as a bit of a pyramid scheme. Randy collects
money from angels who want to join as well as pitching companies. Then
he franchises out the name to other cities (there are Keiretsu Forum
branches all over the places), and I suspect he charges them for the
privilege. I think it all adds up to a way for Randy to line his
pockets.”
Exhibit F: PrivateEquityForums/Mike Segal pitcher
============================
“I read your great piece. It is very detailed and comprehensive.
Kudos. I was at a lower middle market PE firm until Spring [YEAR
REMOVED] and was invited to attend PrivateEquityForums.com (held at
Yale Club of all places) due to my role as [REMOVED] for [REMOVED].
There was no charge to attend as I represented an investor.
Brian Emerson of Starlight Investments was also involved. I never
really like the guy….something slimy about him.
I was appalled at the sub-par quality of many of the presentations I
heard. There were CEOs (if you could call them that) who were so
incoherent in giving their presentations that some of us left the
room. I was SHOCKED to find out how much these Siegel brothers (Mike
is one, forget the other brother’s name) were charging the
entrepreneurs to present (and obviously hadn’t reviewed any
presentations at which my third grader could have done a much superior
job).
All in all, I agree. They are scams. Can you do everyone in the
community a favor and ADD all the on-line “venture capital forums”
that are also charging entrepreneurs a fee to have their material
shown to investors? I have been approached by some of them and think
they are also scams.
The most important component that you can delve into is that most of
these “Forums” are serving as “finders” and they are skirting FINRA
rules, i.e. they are NOT licensed to engage in securities sales (Reg
D) etc. ”
Exhibit G: Fred Wilson, famous VC
=================
“I agree with Jason that any angel group that charges an entrepreneur
to pitch should be avoided…. both the agent groups and startup
agents that want to charge upfront cash make the argument that it is a
quality filter. But that is nonsense. Some of the best startups I’ve
ever seen were totally broke and living and working in a friend’s
apartment. And some of the worst were well off and working in fancy
offices. The ability of a startup to pay has absolutely nothing with
the quality of the team and the idea. Like any other sector, the
startup sector has its share of scams and scam artists. I think it is
great that Jason is outing them.” — Fred Wilson, famous venture
capitalist
http://bit.ly/1xbasF
Exhibit H: Robert Scoble, world famous blogger
=================
“I just read Jason Calacanis’ post about angel investors who are
charging to have startups pitch them. That’s totally ridiculous. I
NEVER charge for pitches and NEVER charge to interview startups or
people for my video show or to get on building43. I don’t even ask if
you are a Rackspace customer. It’s totally ridiculous that such a
system exists.” Robert Scoble, world famous blogger
http://bit.ly/bxata
Exhibit I: David Krug, blogger
=================
“Jason Calacanis get’s it right when he says that Angels shouldn’t be
asking Startups for cash for the time to pitch to them. First off
Angels have the cash, and the time to listen to startups, and if they
don’t have the time they shouldn’t ask startups to pay.” David Krug,
blogger
http://bit.ly/SB95O
Exhibit J: Brad Feld, venture capitalist
=======================
An Angel Investor Group Move That Makes Me Vomit
http://bit.ly/4F6reO
Exhibit K: Charlie O’Donell, entrepreneur
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Dear VCs and Angels: Please stop participating in events where people
have to pay to meet you
http://bit.ly/6Pgao
