How do you avoid paying too much in cleantech?

It's timely and trendy: clean, green and energy, all very compelling markets for investment and that's what Sail Venture Partners' Mike Hammons describes as the firm's focus.

Show #268 (53:23) Listen

When it comes to syndication, even venture capital is rethinking venture capital deals. Momentum Venture Management's Andy Wilson describes the "siren song of big venture capital" and how his firm is rethinking syndication.

Momentum's process: they put money into the company and insert themselves as acting CEO. That keeps them busy, and Andy's quite candid about just what kind of year this has been.

Title this show: "business building, entrepreneurship and the crazy things we do." We both have good ideas of how to spend the holidays...

Show #261 (35:33) Listen

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8 Dec 2009 the Puerto Rico Venture Forum in San Juan

August Capital's Andy Rappaport is the featured speaker at USC's Social Innovation Fast Pitch Wed Nov 11th at 4pm.

He calls it a fireside chat.

Andy, can you give us an idea of what you'll be sharing?

Show #256 (15:29) Listen

Miramar has great relationships with both UCI and UCLA and since I've just come from UCI's Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship where the focus has been how to turn research into commerce, we have a timely discussion on Seed funds.

Bruce speaks of newly funded deals and the revised approach to due diligence that this economy has forced onto the fund.

Show #247 (55:12) Listen

Join Bruce and me at VC in the OC, Oct 8th at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. Keynote by Guy Kawasaki. Register today.

At the 16th Annual NASVF conference in Oklahoma City today I caught up with vSpring Capital's Gavin Christensen after he appeared on a panel discussing special purpose funds.

What kind of funds? He's recently developed Kick Start an early stage seed fund that involves stakeholders from the nearby universities, angel groups and, of course, vSpring. Sounds great for the region, but how did he get "economic alignment" from these very different groups?

Show #244 (21:46) Listen

Need flexibility? "There's no fixed pattern that we have to follow in order to turn that technology into the exciting new product for Siemens," says Sarah Peach.

"So our focus is on, what we say, outside in," says Stefan Heuser of Siemens TTB (Technology To Business) based in Berkeley, CA. Siemens is big, "like a German GE", but he acts as an investor in, "really early-stage startups," with investments of $250K to $1M.

Where angels often want to see an experienced entrepreneur, Sarah and Stefan are more comfortable working with great technology.

Right now it's easy to find a great CEO, but executive search is expensive. How does he deal with the search firms to control this cost?

Show #239 (29:55) Listen

How do angels fit into clean tech? Solar? Is it too capital intensive for angels? I ask Wellington Partners' Ram Srinivasan his opinions. We met during EBAN's tour of the Valley last month.

He was an engineer then moved into marketing, eventually becoming an entrepreneur with a taste for risk, but once he was pretty comfortable at HP.

Show #233 (39:56) Listen