I am active in a number of organizations where people gather that can be useful to my client base. I strongly recommend that entrepreneurs network with members of these organizations.
LAVA. The Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA) is one of the best places for entrepreneurs to meet venture capitalists and angel investors. Unlike Silicon Valley, finding VCs can be challenging in Los Angeles, and my experience has been that LAVA's monthly breakfasts are the closest thing LA has to a VC watering hole. To help my clients, I am serving as a member of LAVA's executive committee and as the Chairman of LAVA's Venture Community as well as their Marketing Committee.
GetItStarted. In March 2008, I launched a separate website just for entrepreneurs. GetItStarted provides a social network for entrepreneurs. Startup executives can network with each other without getting hassled by accountants, lawyers, commercial real estate agents and others that want their business. The site also provides low-cost webinars on topics that entrepreneurs care about the most -- how to value a company, advice on presenting to potential investors, etc. My clients get complimentary Gold level memberships to the community and free access to the webinars.
Tech Coast Angels I always point clients to the free resources that the Tech Coast Angels have put on their website. The Tech Coast Angels are a band of individual investors that serve as "angel" investors -- they invest in companies that are too young for larger VCs to consider.
Entrepreneur Mentor Society. The Entrepreneur Mentor Society (EMS) is a non-profit organization geared toward teaching college and graduate students about startups. Students attend meetings every Saturday for eight weeks, listening to CEOs of local startups talk about lessons they have learned in running their own companies. I am a member of the EMS Advisory Board.
San Fernando Valley Bar Association The San Fernando Valley Bar Association consists of over 2,000 lawyers in the Valley. I mention this to my clients because while I practice securities and M&A law, my clients will occasionally need a litigator, bankruptcy specialist, family lawyer, etc. I don't practice law in those areas, but I have many friends that do. I am a member of the Bar's Board of Trustees and am the Chairman of the Bar's Marketing & Membership Committee. I also serve as a member of the Bar's Long Range Planning Committee.
WITI Women in Technology International focuses specifically on women entrepreneurs, who I view as horribly neglected by the business community in general. I have done a series of seminars for WITI.
Octane Octane is a non-profit organization that focuses on Orange County entrepreneurs. What makes them very interesting is their events are truly geared toward entrepreneurs, instead of service providers. They have a great service called LaunchPad, where an entrepreneur looking to start an energy company can get information on which VCs are actually investing in energy deals.
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The information contained in this web site and all related sites is general legal information only. It is not intended nor used as specific legal advice on a particular issue or for a particular person or purpose. If you are seeking legal advice for a particular situation, please feel free to contact Matt Crowley at (818) 703-7372.