Show #132 Listen (1:09:35) Download

20 ways to fund your startup
In the mood for something different? Here's an interview with 2 experts in angel investing and venture capital: Dave Berkus and Sid Mohasseb. Dave's been on the show several times, remember, he has the experience of 66 startup investments, many of them through The Tech Coast Angels. Sid is the founder behind Venture Farm; he's also been on the podcast and scored #1 on my Popularity Index several months ago.

We discuss Dave's list of 20 ways to get your business funded then we digress to discuss the conclusions of a study by Willamette University's Rob Wiltbank: Angels in Groups. Dave, of course, is very well qualified to comment; he contributed data on all his angel investments to Wiltbank. Some of the findings will surprise you.

In the ecosystem
Dec 6-7 Attend Venture Farm's Effective Entrepreneurship workshops, details.

Jan 28th Save the date for the Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch at UCLA; YouMail CEO Alex Quilici will be the keynote speaker.

Show #131 Listen (40:22) Download

Vantage Point Venture Partners brings its billion dollar fund to Orange County; meet the resident venture partner, Craig Cooper. You say Vantage Point sounds familiar? They're the funding source behind last week's interview subject: YouMail's Alex Quilici.

Craig has lots of experience in digital media and mobile web investments; he co-founded Boost Mobile USA in 2001 and sold it to Nextel in 2003. He's a former angel investor, too, so he has some great advice for my fellow angel investors.

Join me and we'll get to know Orange County's newest VC.

In the ecosystem
Dec 6-7 Attend the two-day Venture Farm Effective Entrepreneurship workshops, details.

Jan 28th Save the date for the Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch at UCLA; Alex Quilici will be the keynote speaker.

Show #130 Listen (27:21) Download

From college professor to internet entrepreneur, that describes YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. He started Quack which eventually had a million paying customers after AOL acquired the company. Barely 2 years after joining the Tech Coast Angels, he came across a startup with similarities to his telephony background. He got involved in YouMail's funding process and when the time came to pick a new CEO the choice was clear.

Today he's juggling a new baby at home and a Series A funding with Vantage Point Venture Partners who have opened a new office in Newport Beach. With a billion dollar fund behind them there's bound to be pressure to grow quickly. How will the company deal with these pressures? Will their word-of-mouth campaign be sufficient to scale quickly? I'm sure of one thing: YouMail offers a great free service for your cellphone.

In the ecosystem
Nov 16th Join me for the 4th Annual Southern California Entrepreneur Conference at UCI from 6-9pm at the University Club, details and registration.

Dec 6-7 Attend the two-day Venture Farm Effective Entrepreneurship workshops, details.

Jan 28th Save the date for the Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch at UCLA; Alex Quilici will be the keynote speaker.

Show #129 Listen (29:44) Download

"Digital biology", that's what CODA investor Carl Weissman of OVP Venture Partners says they're looking for. OVP has recently made a big investment in CODA and helped them find a new leader; enter Rick Murdock. What an exciting role for an experienced CEO coming out of retirement. It's a terrific story of commercializing genomics out of UC Irvine. CODA's finding more opportunities for their products than they ever imagined.

This week it's a multimedia overload! Watch the video, download the video short into your iPod or listen to the extended audio podcast that includes OVP's Carl Weissman. Whichever way you choose, don't miss this exciting story of genomics in the marketplace.

In the ecosystem:
Nov 13th I'll be at Green IT on campus at UCI 5:30-8:00pm in the Calit2 Building, "Learn how emerging clean-tech solutions represent the next big wave of innovation..." Register

Nov 16th Join me for the 4th Annual Southern California Entrepreneur Conference at UCI from 6-9pm at the University Club, details and registration.

Nov 29th Join me at UC Riverside from 5:30-9:00pm for the Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch. Location: UC Riverside University Extension Center 1200 University Avenue, Conf. Rm E, Riverside, CA 92507