PITCH AND NETWORK WITH VENTURE CAPITALISTS, angels and accredited
investors from Southern California, Silicon Valley and throughout the
country at the ORANGE COUNTY VENTURE CAPITAL FAST PITCH
CONFERENCEBlack Dog Venture Partners has hosted investor events
throughout the west and has raised millions of dollars for start ups
as a direct result of our fast pitch conferences.
Our investor panelists include:
SCOTT KELLY, BLACK DOG VENTURE PARTNERS
Scott Kelly Founder and CEO of Black Dog Venture Partners, is a 25
year fundraising, marketing, sales, training and publicity veteran.
Scott has raised millions of dollars in capital for disruptive
companies, garnered national media coverage for hundreds of regional
and national brands and generated millions of dollars in revenues for
the companies he has represented. He has also trained over 1,000 sales
people and has taught marketing at the university level in the United
States and Europe.
ALESSANDRO MARIANANTONI - EXEC. DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER AT M ACCELERATOR
Alessandro Marianantoni is Exec. Director and Founder at M Accelerator
in Los Angeles, offering programs to serve the Los Angeles Startup
ecosystem providing students, early-stage and later-stage founders
with skills to grow their startups.
He has designed and developed projects in different spaces:
entertainment, engineering, architecture, and healthcare, receiving
public and private funding from a number of organizations including
UCLA, Google, Siemens, Marriott, Universal Studios, Disney, Amazon,
Italian Government and the City of Pasadena.
Alessandro earned a degree in Computer Science from the University of
L’Aquila, with a thesis on perceptual interfaces at the USC
Integrated Media System Center.
Over the years he has run numerous international programs including
summer boot camps and international research initiatives at UCLA and
he is now directing M Accelerator and MEDIARS LLC.Hershel Mehta, Mehta
Ventures, Principal
HERSHEL MEHTA, MEHTA VENTURES, PRINCIPAL
Hershel Mehta is a Venture Capitalist in charge of U.S. investments
through his Family Office's proprietary fund called Mehta Ventures. He
has gone through the entrepreneurship journey himself, having
published a mobile application in the Apple App Store in 2015, and
Hershel uses that experience to help guide entrepreneurs through their
own journeys. He finished his Venture Investing Education through the
Executive Education Program at the Wharton School of Business.
Likewise, he is a CPA certified by the CA State Board of Accountancy.
Hershel has invested in 20 deals in 2019. Since joining his Family
Office in 2018, Hershel has executed 25 startup investments in total
ANSHUMAN SINHA - CEO OPTIZM GLOBAL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TIE SOCAL
ANGELS
He is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and subject matter expert
with 23+ years of experience and leader of high-performing teams in
Talent Management, CxO placements, Staffing, Business Operations and
launch of new businesses. He has been an advisor to many startups and
he invests in technology and innovative startups.
He also helps well-funded startups in building their stellar delivery
teams with a broad set of diverse experiences and competencies, in a
variety of technology-based companies. Anshuman is an experienced
business executive and advisor to a number of early-stage firms.
He is Executive Director of TiE SoCal for 2019 and President-elect for
2020. TiE is a non-profit, global community (18 countries, 61
chapters) welcoming entrepreneurs from all over the world. TiE
believes in the power of ideas to change the face of entrepreneurship
and growing business through our five pillars: Mentoring, Networking,
Education, Incubating and Funding.
Anshuman brings clarity and alignment to the vision and strategy of
companies while leading them through a transition. Combines
entrepreneurial spirit with operational excellence, a keen focus on
execution, and leverages his extensive experience in research and
development, high-performing team building, and organizational design.
He has held P&L accountability for worldwide operations, established
successful offsite development centers in Mumbai & Pune (India).
Established & Managed new sales center based in Singapore and Kuala
Lumpur. Implemented International Partner Program in Germany, Ukraine,
Singapore, Kuwait, and Kenya
ALEXIS BEDORET- CO-FOUNDER AND BUSINESS PROTOTYPER AT MAKE IT GROUP
I spent the last 10 years building startups with expertise in
Software, Hardware and the Internet of Things. With my co-founders, we
created a Startup Studio to invest in startups. We learned how to be
the best builders, not by brainstorming, but by making our hands dirty
building our own startups. Too many entrepreneurs focus on their
product building great technology before validating that it actually
fulfills a need for which the customer is ready to pay. This is a
particular topic that I feel passionate about and we have built a
great mindset and culture about this particular problem in the life of
a startup. It's all about trying to generate customer traction as fast
as possible, we believe that's the best way to validate a business
opportunity.
TONY SARRIS - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR TECH COAST ANGELS ORANGE COUNTY
During his career, Tony has been an individual contributor, manager,
executive, entrepreneur and investor with responsibilities spanning
technology innovation and incubation, product management,
partnerships, product development, and IT operations. He's worked for
large global enterprises, management consulting firms and startups
from pre-seed to growth stage. His technical background is in
data-centric information technologies including artificial
intelligence-based systems. He's currently Executive Director for Tech
Coast Angels Orange County, one of the longest serving, largest and
most active angel investment networks in Southern California.
ASHER LEIDS - VENTURE MENTOR AT LDR VENTURES
Asher is a Corporate Attorney specializing in venture capital,
securities & merger & acquisition transactions. He is also an angel
investor with a focus on consumer lifestyle brands, eCommerce,
healthcare and technology companies that have a socially responsible
aspect in their mission. He has made over 20 investments in startup
companies which include the following: Thrive Market, events.com,
mogl.con, Connected Signals, Jaanuu, Arsenic, Vow to be Chic, Trufl
and Snobar Cocktails. Asher was involved in one of the first
e-commerce IPOs, taking Shopping.com public in 1997, and represented a
startup that was formed by a number of UCLA computer science majors
that received funding from Ron Burkle, the founder of The Yucaipa
Companies, and Mike Ovitz, one of the founders of Creative Artists
Agency. While that company, Scour.net, eventually didn’t succeed,
one of the founders, Travis Kalanick, has gone on to lead Uber
Technologies, Inc.
ARABIAN PRINCE - FOUNDER / CHIEF INNOVATOR, INOV8NEXT
A songwriter, rapper, producer, DJ and technologist, Arabian is
best known for pioneering west coast electro music and being a
founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted rap group
N.W.A. His passion for technology led to him create a 3D animation and
special effects studio in the 90’s working with companies like Saban
Entertainment and Fox; including 100+ video game titles for Fox
Interactive and Vivendi Universal. As a consultant, Arabian has
advised many companies on bridging the gap between technology and the
youth, while bringing new product innovations to market.
VISHAL ARORA TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE, STARTUP INVESTOR, INCUBATOR, AND
ADVISOR
Vishal is a technologist at heart. He enjoys building disruptive,
innovative technology products and services that have worldwide
impact, as well as investing in, incubating, and advising startups
that do the same. He has Bachelor’s and Master’s in Computer
Science and an Executive MBA from Kellogg School of Management at
Northwestern University.
Vishal has served multiple products and professional services
organizations like Microsoft, Symantec, Accenture, and Avanade in
different leadership capacity, where his roles included enterprise
product and services strategy, design and delivery, product and
portfolio management, global technology and P&L management. He is a
founder of both Netvega Solutions, an IT services firm focused on
providing services and solutions for small to mid-market companies,
and VDOSH, an investment and advisory firm focused on growing
technology startups in the early stages of their development.
Vishal is passionate about startup mentorship and incubation and
supports startups throughout the United States and India. He is a
mentor with multiple incubation and acceleration centers including
Alchemist Accelerator, Accenture Ventures and SAP and more.
MARK SON -PASADENA ANGELS BOARD MEMBER
Mark is an active member of Pasadena Angels, one of the top angel
groups in the country. His professional background is in Finance and
Software Technology, but he also had a stint in running an
international fashion business. His goal is to meet energetic and
tenacious very-early-stage entrepreneurs that are curious about angel
and VC funding.
CAMERON COLVIN - CHAIRMAN & CEO- RISE ABOVE ENTERPRISES
Cameron Colvin having played for the De La Salle Spartans, Oregon
Ducks, and San Francisco 49ers. His story was recently portrayed by
Ser'Darius William Blain in the 2014 Sony film When the Game Stands
Tall, about his life through high school with the De La Salle
Spartans.
Chairman of CamCo Commercial Inc & Creative Solutions company “Rise
Above Enterprises Development " that has taken on projects for
American Idol creator Simon Fuller as well as Marvel Comics creator
Stan Lee.
Now author of Never Stop " 12 Principles of Success book series.
Cameron has been featured in numerous global media outlets from
Forbes, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, New York Post and more.
Cameron is currently an active investor on hit show Entrepreneur
Elevator Pitch by Sprint which did 25,025,724 total views. His
commitment to his sports career, business endeavors, and philanthropy
with his 15 year non profit Linking Sports and Communities which
supports underprivileged youth has set Cameron on a path to influence
many around the world. Cam is your influential specialist that
collaborates with brands to drive traffic and make splashes in your
perspective market!
DAVID FRIEDMAN - TECH COAST ANGELS
As a businessman and executive for technology, software, cloud, and
service companies, I am passionate about helping companies increase
their value, improve customer loyalty and build a success culture that
makes employees enjoy working in that environment. As an executive or
on a consulting project, I develop and execute market, strategy, and
product plans with tactical growth programs, increasing top line
revenue and margins. I do this through a combination of tools and
techniques that I have developed in my career, one of which is called
“customer jujitsu.” while helping companies bridge technology and
business into an innovation mindset.
C-LEVEL EXECUTIVE FOCUSED ON PROFITABLE GROWTH
As Managing Director for C-Level Partners, a business consultancy, I
help corporate executives drive value creation by helping them see
different paths to success and helping them manage those growth paths.
During my career I built top in-class marketing and business
organizations with a foundation of analytics and metrics that
demonstrate ROI and support business goals. And I commercialized more
than $1.5 billion in new products during my career. My international
experience extends to Europe and Asia.
I want my business epitaph to read: He is a builder of businesses, a
teacher to the next generation of business leaders. I give back to
executives and teach marketing at Camp Pendleton through the Marine
Executive Association; being a mentor at the UC Irvine Merage School
of Business; and an Expert in Residence at UC Irvine Applied
Innovation. I am also involved with the Medical Information and
Intelligence Institute at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and
the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs as part of my work with
TechCoastAngels.
I just published a new book called StreetSavvy℠ Business: A Way to
Prevent Corporate Mediocrity based on my cable business TV show, my
business practice, and my blogs.
JANICE ORLANDO - PRIVATE INVESTOR - BOARD OF DIRECTORS, PASADENA
ANGELS
The Pasadena Angels were founded in 2000 and are one of the
longest-running angel investing groups in Southern California. We have
invested over $75 million in 190 plus companies. Pasadena Angels
funded companies have gone on to raise over $500 million from
additional funding sources such as venture capital and private equity.
Recent notable exits for the Pasadena Angels are Mind Body Software
(NASDAQ:MB) reaching $1 billion and Bluebeam Software, acquired by
Nemetschek for $100 million.
The Pasadena Angels have been consistently ranked as one of the top
ten angel investing groups in the country according to Forbes Magazine
(2015) and Angel Resource Institute's HALO report (2017). A nonprofit
entity, the Pasadena Angels offers early-stage start-ups capital
investments; as well as mentoring from the expertise of more than 100
investor members with over 4,000 years of combined business expertise.
Our $1.5 million PA Fund 1 was formed in 2016 with the sole purpose of
co-investing exclusively in deals subscribed by Pasadena Angels
members.
JEFFREY LIN - DIRECTOR OF OAK SKY CAPITAL
Managing his own AUM as well as his family's, Jeffrey Lin has been
investing for the past decade. Focusing on real estate/infrastructure
and seed-stage to publicly-listed companies, he invests with a cross
border angle (Asia Expansion). Jeffrey Lin started college at the age
of 14 and received his JD from the University of Iowa.
MANY MORE INVESTORS EXPECTED TO ATTEND!
Feedback from our previous events:
music
2595
Views
25/01/2020 Last update