Archive for the 'Angel & VC Investing' Category

Interested in venture capital investment? Reno Angels will meet tonight at 5:30 in the Hale Lane conference room at 5441 Kietzke Lane (second floor). Please RSVP ASAP if you plan to attend. Friends and colleagues who meet the SEC criteria for accredited investors are invited as well.

Meeting Agenda:

• Preliminary Mission Statement
• List of Interested Persons  -  Planning, Stages of “Buy-in”
• Training / Knowledge opportunities & resources
• Determination of Entity
• Expected Meeting Time, Place, Frequency
• Timelines, Task Lists
• Budget

RSVP to Emily at Emily@ncet.org or call (775) 337-3328.

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It’s the single most important VC conference outside Silicon Valley… and it’s happening right here in Reno October 20 & 21.

The 8th Annual Silver & Gold Venture Capital Conference will bring in a substantial base of actively investing angels and venture capitalists, including many Silicon Valley investors and presenting companies. Conducted by NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, Golden Capital Network and the Sierra Angels, the two-day event will feature 30 - 50 angel investor and VC firms, 30-40 early-stage “presenting” companies, and some serious high-power networking. Learn more about how you can be involved by visiting www.ncet.org/venture-capital-conferences.

Save the Date:

When: October 20 & 21, 2008

Time: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Location: Peppermill Convention Center, Reno, NV

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Finalists have been announced for the 2008 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Competition. Presented by Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET), Governor’s Cup winners will be announced an awards luncheon on Friday, April 22 at the Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas.

2008 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Finalists

Undergraduate Finalists:  KG BioSolutions - Sierra Nevada College; SciSpace - University of Nevada, Reno; The Garage 777 – Great Basin College ; Voxspot - University of Nevada, Reno;  WATTs - Waster Alternatives Transfer Technologies - University of Nevada, Las Vegas;  Wolfpack Works - University of Nevada, Reno.

Graduate Finalists : Bio-Grounds LLC - University of Nevada, Reno; GoGreenOutdoors.com - University of Nevada, Reno; Mobile Advertising Ltd. - University of Nevada, Las Vegas;  Mobile Business Solutions - University of Nevada, Las Vegas;  More Water Company - University of Nevada, Reno; SportsRiffic - University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

2008 Lt. Governor’s Award Finalists:

Undergraduate Finalists:  KG BioSolutions - Sierra Nevada College; Sierra Biofuels - University of Nevada, Reno; West Coast Helios - University of Nevada, Reno; WunderBeer - University of Nevada, Reno.

Graduate Finalists:  Bio-Grounds LLC - University of Nevada, Reno;  More Water Company - University of Nevada, Reno; Power Development Technologies - University of Nevada, Reno.

Complete details on each team here

If you’d like more information about sponsoring this event, or attending the awards ceremony, please contact Emily Lowe at (775) 337-3328 or Emily@NCET.org. Tables of eight are $750 and individual seats are $100. Featured speakers will include Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, Nevada Lt. Governor Brian Krolicki and honorary chair Patty Wade. For more information, visit www.2008govcup.com.

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If you’re interested in learning more about angel investing, a second informational meeting for the recently formed Reno Angels group is slated for Monday, April 7 from 5:30-7:30 p.m at Truckee Meadows Community College’s Meadowood Campus, Room 206. The event is open to potential new investors, as well as to those who attended the Reno Angel’s previous launch meeting. You’ll hear from active angel investors, and from companies who have previously received angel investing. A Q&A will follow. For more information, visit www.renoangels.org. To RSVP for the April 7 meeting, e-mail Emily Lowe at Emily@NCET.org.

Need more information on what it takes to be certified as an “accredited investor?” CLICK HERE:

Technorati Tags: Reno Angels, angel investing, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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The newly-launched Reno Angels group is getting a lot of positive attention and interest, so much so that a second informational meeting has been planned for Monday, April 7 from 5:30-7:30 p.m at Truckee Meadows Community College’s Meadowood Campus, room 206. The meeting is open to those who attended the inaugural meeting, as well as potential new angel investors. This is a great opportunity to hear from established investors and company reps who have been the beneficiary of angel investing in the past. A Q&A will follow to address any questions you may have.

Just a reminder, to participate in an angel investment group, you must meet the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s definition of an “Accredited Investor.” To learn more about that criteria, CLICK HERE:

For more information, visit www.renoangels.org. To RSVP for the April 7 meeting, e-mail Emily Lowe at Emily@NCET.org.

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Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET)’s 2nd Annual Reno Entrepreneur Expo attracted nearly 1,000 attendees, exhibitors and speakers last Saturday to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. The event featured 80 exhibitors including non-profits, governmental agencies and private companies. Thirty speakers offered expert advice on a variety of small business topics, including financing, business plan creation and marketing. The Expo was the culminating event of eWeek activities, all designed to raise awareness of and support of entrepreneurial endeavors in Nevada.

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Just the other day I was speaking to myself in my third person voice — which I often do and think is great fun — and I said to myself, “David LaPlante thinks we need an Angel investment group in Reno.”

Have you ever thought about becoming an “angel investor?” Angel investors are people who invest in high-risk, high-reward businesses, and are often willing to share their knowledge with up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

Northern Nevada has always relied upon Bob Goff and the Sierra Angels, however, most of those meetings are based in Incline Village and Reno itself has grown 10-fold. Additionally, there’s a lot of dealflow in Reno and through the epicenter of rumor and grist that NCET.org is, we think there’s a lot of good plans that need some cash! A group of folks in Reno are getting together to look at forming a separate group that is Reno-centric.

If Louis Navallier is correct in his assessment how much personal capital is stuffed up in ‘them Arrow Creek hills, we’ve got enough room for 10 Angel groups.

If you’d like to learn more about what becoming an angel investor entails, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET) is hosting an informational meeting Thursday, March 13 from 5:30 -7:30 p.m. in Room 214 of UNR’s Redfield Campus, 18600 Wedge Parkway in Reno. The meeting will feature brief presentations from active angel investors as well as spokespeople from companies that have been the beneficiaries of angel investment. The evening’s event will include a Q&A period, as well as discussion about the possible formation of a “Reno Angels” investment group.

Speakers will include Bob Goff, Sierra Angels, Mike Hess, Mariah Power, and Rudi Wiedemann, Biodiesel Solutions, Inc. It’s worth it to come and meets these guys in person. All three simply kick ass.

If you’d like to attend the March 13 event, please RSVP to Emily Lowe at Emily@NCET.org.

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I’m a huge proponent of professional social gatherings (a.k.a. parties) here in Nevada to bolster our tech/design economy. Lifelong experience has proven to me over and over that people do business with people and if you’re not out starting and maintaining relationships you eventually suck at your business and/or your career. And there you have it: business is largely about parties and meeting people hahahah! 

From a branding perspective it’s ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that our Greater Reno Tahoe brand perception is that of a great place to party and hookup I’ll blog about why Reno’s burgeoning meat-market is vital on another post…just know that the 20-30 something tech/creative’s are in high demand everywhere on the planet and we need to hold on to every single one of them here locally. Frankly, my business cannot grow without them.

A long time a go (1999 - 2002) Michael Thomas (now at EDAWN) ran Greater Reno-Tahoe’s first technology oriented social-networking driven organization, the TechAlliance @ NewNevada. Perhaps the greatest boon to northern Nevada’s tech economy back then was what was then known as Cocktails.com. It’s where we all got together, got on the same page and built momentum with cocktails in hand.

I met Robb Smith for the first time at a Cocktails.com event and he convinced me to joined the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (then known as YEO) which has been perhaps one of my greatest professional life experiences. Back then there were startups like Ken Hawk’s iGo, CandyBarell.com, HardwareStreet.com, HomeSeekers.com and a dozen others. UNR’s Mike Reed, Nevada Bell’s Dick Bostdorf and Reno attorney Garrett Sutton were instrumental in the TechAlliance’s startup. More recently, thanks to EDAWN/Michael Thomas we’ve got the newly formed  Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network kicking ass and an we’re on the world’s design radar with a fully legit and operatin cool AIGA chapter.  

At the beginning, Cocktails.com events would last all night with everyone spilling out of bars, nightclubs and JK’s Nugget in the wee hours of the morning. It was a great time of forming a tech-community. Then: Dot.com bust…and as Paul Harvey would say “now know you know the story….”

Michael Thomas to came to work for Twelve Horses in 2002 and the TechAlliance eventually folded in to a newly formed state-wide effort known as Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (NCET.ORG). (DISCLAIMER: I’ve was on the founding board and am now the Chairman of this wonderful organization — so this is blatant promotion.) About a year-and-a-half ago under Dave Archer & Emily Lowe’s exceptional care, we brought back Cocktails.com as Tech Thursday’s. These events have been awesome, however, they’ve leaned a little too much on the professional and a little too less on the networking/drinking/have fun/hooking up. In perhaps kinder words, Tech Thursday attracts an “older behaving crowd”. Folks that have to be home before sundown.

WiFi Wednesdays are, by design, intended to be much more geared to the twenty/thrity-somethings rather that “all-inclusive professionals”. If people aren’t doing shots of Tequilla and YouTube jousting, we’ve failed at this experiment. I expect/hope that the Thursday mornings following an event to be just a little less productive among Reno’s tech/design class. But in trade for that, collectively we hope to have a larger pool of those workers to chose from. Now this doesn’t mean that folks over the age of 40 aren’t welcome. If you still feel and act like you’re twenty-six (that’s my personal maturity wall) then get your game on and come out!

Wi-Fi Wednesdays is the brainchild of NCET marketing manager Emily Lowe and Robert Payne/Josh Kenzer of Twelve Horses. The trio was looking for a way to expand their professional networks and was weary of the same old venues. Wi-Fi Wednesdays is intended to be a bi-monthly high-energy networking opportunity designed to serve the specific needs of and cater exclusively to the influential 21-39 demographic. Come help make it succeed!

Details:

August 22, join NCET and the Reno-Tahoe Young Professional’s Network
(YPN) as they put a modern-day spin on Greater Reno Tahoe’s networking with the launch of Wi-Fi Wednesdays: “Connecting the Connected.”

- Wi-Fi Wednesdays is a bi-monthly high-energy networking opportunity designed exclusively for the influential 21-39 demographic
- Held in wireless venues throughout Reno
- Entertaining high-tech networking tools
- “Speed networking,” a twist on the “speed dating” concept that helps facilitate numerous one-on-one introductions in a short period of time
- Brief presentations by successful young entrepreneurs and technology professionals.

The Chocolate Bar
August 22 - 5:30 – 7:30 pm
475 S. Arlington Ave, Reno

August’s Wi-Fi Wednesday features a YouTube contest where you get to vote on your favorite video. To enter, send links of your best videos (3
max) to Emily at NCET by Monday, August 20.

- Space for the August 22 Wi-Fi Wednesdays debut is limited and reservations are preferred.
- Cost for the event is $5 per person for Reno-Tahoe YPN members and $10 per person for non-members. RSVP@NCET.org.

NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, helps foster an environment within Nevada in which high-growth entrepreneurial companies can succeed and flourish. NCET has a strategic partnership with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. For more information on NCET, visit www.NCET.org. NCET is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

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