Angel Investment Panel Successfully Starts CTC Expert Series on Entrepreneurial Finance

On October 18, the Center for Technology Commercialization started its three-part series on Entrepreneurial Finance with a panel on Angel Investments. The series is sponsored by Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP. The Angel Investment panel provided a valuable opportunity for over 100 graduate business, science, and engineering students and USC researchers to learn more about early-stage financing directly from five industry experts representing the Tech Coast Angels and the Pasadena Angels, the two main Angel investment groups in the Los Angeles area.

Luis Dienes, a partner in the firm and a member of the Pasadena Angels, was instrumental in securing a impressive panel that included Davis Thompson and Joe Platnick from the Pasadena Angels, Lee Weinberg and Russell Fine from the Tech Coast Angels, and Kevin Scanlon who is a member of both organizations.

“We would like to get closer to USC,” said panelist and life science expert Kevin Scanlon . “The principle of the Tech Coast Angels and the Pasadena Angels is to fund technology, and one of our leads is usually our association with universities. . . USC has been very supportive in trying to get the business students up to the screening meetings for the Pasadena Angels, and through CTC you have an open invitation to participate in our meetings.”

“We do not fund technologies looking for a market place,” explained panelist Joe Platnick. “What you really want to see is somebody that says here is some pain and suffering that customers in this market or industry are being subjected to, or here is a way that I can save a company or companies in a particular industry a ton of money; and then based on that observation, develops the technology or products and services.”

USC graduate students in business, science, and engineering, together with faculty members, submitted questions in advance to the panel. This allowed moderator Davis Thompson to classify the questions and touch all topics of interest during the 90 minutes of discussion.

The second panel on the CTC Expert Series in Entrepreneurial Finance will take place on November 22, 2005 at Popovich Hall 300 (JKP) from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and will focus on Venture Capital Strategies. Those interested in attending should log into CTC’s website (www.usc.edu/techalliance) for detailed information and RSVP to techcenter@marshall.usc.edu.

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CTC and Greif Entrepreneurship Center Announce 2nd Annual Business Plan Competition with $25,000 Cash Prize

The Marshall School’s Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Center for Technology Commercialization are sponsoring the Second Annual USC Business Plan Competition with a cash prize of $25,000. The competition is open to all students, faculty, and researchers on both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

USC’s business plan competition requires the winner to begin operations within six months of receiving the award. Last year’s winner, Irene Rhodes with Consumer Fire Products, has already begun marketing her fire prevention system called FOAMSAFE®. “ The ball is rolling and we are putting together a team to successfully take our fire prevention system to market,” Rhodes states. Go to http://www.marshall.usc.edu/media/pdf/2005marshallInc2.pdf to read about her company.

Plans submitted by the March 30, 2006 cutoff date will be judged by an esteemed panel of investors who will base their decision on the q uality and persuasiveness of the plan, the quality of the team and intent to launch, market validation, and the quality of the business model.

”The competition is one way that we can recognize, reward, and encourage entrepreneurship on the USC campus,” said Dr. Kathleen Allen, director of the USC-Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization. “We are looking for USC entrepreneurs who are serious about starting a business.”

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Marshall students Compete as Venture Capitalists

On Saturday, October 22nd the University of Southern California hosted its 2nd annual internal Venture Capital Investment Challenge (‘VCIC’) .  This year’s VCIC featured three early stage companies: Home James Inc., Compulsion, and CarbotPC, who vied for funding from 6 teams of Marshall MBA students acting as Angel and Venture Capital investment groups.   Seven judges from the local investment community evaluated the MBA teams on their ability to ask probing questions, analyze the companies from an investor perspective, and present their findings to the full panel of judges.  The winning team recommended that no investments be made at this time, by citing the different business needs in each of the companies that would require attention before making a company a viable investment option.  This team consisted of

Chris Chen – FT MBA Candidate Class of 2007
Izo Matsuo – FT MBA Candidate Class of 2007
Ben Stapleton – PM MBA Candidate Class of 2008
Nubbin Ang – FT MBA Candidate Class of 2007
Queena Ang – FT MBA Candidate Class of 2007
Stephen Henry – FT MBA Candidate Class of 2007
Justin Welling – FT MBA Candidate Class of 2007

VCIC is an annual national competition hosted by the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Over 50 of the top national and international MBA programs compete in the wildcard, regional and national rounds. Last year, Marshall’s team won first place in the wildcard round held at UCI, and advanced to the Western regional held at the University of Colorado at Boulder. This year Marshall’s team will compete in the Central Regional at the University of Colorado at Boulder on February 9th – 11th. EVMA and the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurship will host the Western Regional VCIC competition March 2-4, 2006.

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Meet Visiting Professor Howard Frederick from New Zealand

Prof Frederick is serving as a visiting professor in the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Marshall School of Business

What innovative New Zealand technologies should California entrepreneurs be looking at?

To me, New Zealand is the New California, an unspoiled land of immigrants. There are about 30,000 American-New Zealanders like myself who have brought advanced American thinking to this untouched land. There are some exciting areas for American investors and entrepreneurs including New Zealand’s biotechnology industry, which combines a unique genetic heritage, pioneering resourcefulness, and technical excellence. Biotechnology is one of the country’s fastest growing sectors and one the world will watch. In addition, innate entrepreneurship and a focus on creating cost-effective and flexible commercial solutions are just two of the factors behind the rising global success of New Zealand’s information and communication technologies industries. New Zealand is also acknowledged as one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced technology for value-added wood and wood-derived products.

What is the ANZA Technology Network conference and how are the entrepreneurs from New Zealand and Australia preparing for it?

ANZA Technology Network has grown from a Silicon Valley ex-patriot organization for Australians and New Zealanders into a powerful regional technology network. We connect Australia, New Zealand and US technology executives and give our companies opportunities to exhibit their innovative technology in the US. ANZA Tech Net has over 4,500 executives and since its inception has conducted over 90 events throughout the region. The Annual ANZA Technology Network Conference is taking place November 13-15, 2005 at the Crowne Plaza Cabana in Palo Alto (see www.anzatechnet.com/conference2005/ ). This is the only conference that exclusively showcases Australian and New Zealand technology and innovation in the USA. It represents the premier business development, investment and strategic partnering conference in Silicon Valley which is focused on Australia and New Zealand.

What projects are you working on during your semester as a visiting professor at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies?

I’m writing the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) New Zealand study, the benchmark that compares New Zealand, the USA, and forty other countries in their total entrepreneurial activity (see www.gemconsortium.org). I’m also writing a 700-page textbook entitled Australasian Entrepreneurship. Beyond that I’m preparing a number of video productions such as “Best Practice Angels,” an exploration of the operations and practice of Pasadena Angels. I’m also lecturing in USC classes and networking widely with Angelenos, especially in the technology area. My wife and I are hoping to keep one foot firm planted in the Southland.
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