Show #96 Listen (42:09) Download

Steve Weiss is the founder of the North Bay Angels and now that he winters in the Palm Springs area he's kicking off the Coachella Valley Angel Network. The area attracts a large community of wealthy retirees which he'll need to enlist to get CVAN off the ground. Will he be able to maintain the interest of investors and entrepreneurs with the seasonal nature of life in the desert? He has a lot of support and a beautiful new facility, The Heckmann International Center for Entrepreneurial Management at the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center. Steve's personal philosophy: he has a formula for dividing his time between business and leisure; listen to his rule of thirds.

The Tech Coast Angels hosted the Fast Pitch Competition at UCLA on January 22, 2007. Download and listen to the presentations:

Best Presentation
Andreas Haas, Axiotron (05:29) and Eric Weber, PetPlay (02:22)
Best Investment
Gregory Gilman, RxVantage (05:29)
Best of Best
Jeff Solomon, Leads360 (06:41)

Richard Koffler, Welcome (04:37)
Richard Morganstern, Tech Coast Angels (05:52)
The Panel discussion (50:42)
Richard Koffler, Frank Peters the Competition begins William Volk, MyNumo, and Eric Weber, PetPlay (19:00)
Kati Yee, Conscious Society (07:34)
Mark Winter, ConVisia (05:47)
Michael Cremean, Dogtown Poker (04:51)
Craig Johnson, LA BTC (01:03)
Abbi Saperstein, Ecorntech, sponsor Scott Alderton, Stubbs Alderton and Paul Minor, iPhotoMEASURE (14:53)
sponsor Randy Churchill, PWC (01:02)
Chris Brown, Metabeam (05:09)
BrightQube, Instant Effects and Award Presentations (10:22)

Show #95 Listen (45:56) Download

The three things you must have to be prepared for funding with the Tech Coast Angels... CEYX Technologies' (pronounced "say-ex") CEO Carol Fuller tells of her experience working through the process. Besides TCA her investors include Shepherd Ventures and Stone Canyon Venture Partners. CEYX is the leading provider of software-enabled control systems for light emitting devices, like LCD backlights for large-format TV screens. The company raised $4.5M in 2005.

Appearances
It's LA Tech Week and I'll be speaking at UCLA on Monday January 22nd during Tech Coast Angel's Fast Pitch, entertaining and educational, 4-9pm.
I'm on a panel discussion on Wed Jan 24th at CSULB in the Pyramid, 3-7pm

Show #94 Listen (35:26) Download

Building a fundable team, that's what Momentum Venture Management is all about. Matt Ridenour and his partner place themselves into the management team of startups. With their experience and credibility they close those first big customers and begin the funding process.

How do investors react to this kind of deal? In 2006 Thermark attracted the interest of more than 60 members of Tech Coast Angels and the Pasadena Angels to raise a $1.7M Series A.

Mentions
IntraLase to be acquired by Advanced Medical Optics. See my interview with AMO's CEO, Jim Mazzo. Stradling partner Bruce Feuchter represented IntraLase in the transaction.

LA Tech Week
Plan to attend the Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch Competition, 4-9pm Jan 22 at UCLA's Anderson School of Business.

Jan 24th from 3-7pm I'll be appearing on an LA Tech Week panel at CSULB discussing issues related to the ports of Long Beach and LA: The Future of Movement, Materials and Manufacturing, Plus Security

Show #93 Listen (29:28) Download

Action Sport Centers is what Nine Star calls its stores. While I was interviewing Matt, a technician was building a custom skate board for my 11 year old; it was a big hit on Christmas. Today the grinch checked in, the Mission Viejo City Council denied Nine Star's request to build a demo area, a mini skate park, outside its store, see Orange County Register story. Matt has a long history as a serial entrepreneur, so I doubt this latest little setback will affect him.