Our first AVEH event in Dallas went very very well, and I’m not just saying that either.  Despite arriving without one of our team members (due to a last minute conflict) , Mike and I were very pleased with how smoothly everything went in Dallas:

  1. We met with a stellar group of early-stage entrepreneurs and walked away impressed with the scene in the Big D
  2. Everyone came prepared, discussion was lively, and feedback flowing
  3. Our host (CoHabitat) provided an ideal laid back setting – thanks Blake for donating your office for 8 hours!
  4. Even the weather was perfect

The biggest difference between this trip to Dallas and our earlier AVEH events, was the quality of discussion.  Hopefully my “tips and tricks” blog post had something to do with that, but most likely it had more to do with the quality of the teams/ideas/preparation.  I can’t stress how well the conversations flowed yesterday.  We’ll wait and see the feedback from the participants (Dallas “Conversation”), but hopefully the streamlined agendas led to more of what they came for – actual VC feedback.

There are a couple of topics that came up multiple times yesterday that are probably worthy of their own post.  As soon as I catch up from being out of the office for two days I will try to post something worth reading.

Thanks again Dallas…

After 3 events, 45-ish sessions, and 92 lattes, I have a few pointers to share with first timers to maximize everyone’s experience. 

We force all of our participants to give us honest feedback (via email or the blog) so we can help improve AVEH.  Without a doubt, the number one piece of feedback we get is something along the lines of – “20 minutes is too short” or “we wish you came in knowing more about our company.” 

Agreed.  20 minutes is short, but it is an equitable and efficient way to talk to a bunch of smart entrepreneurs in one day’s time.  While doing a couple hours of research on each of the 10-14 companies in advance is unlikely, I can/will do a better job preparing my team with the cliff notes so we can hit the ground running, or at least up and walking. 

That being said, my suggestion to you is to take the first 5 minutes and do two things: 

  1. Tell us about yourself, especially as it pertains to the genesis of company X.  This is just as much of a people business as it is an idea and execution business.  Meeting smart people at AVEH has actually been the most rewarding part. 
  2. Tell us about your company.  Start simple without assuming we know the micro details of your industry.  Remember, we are pretty good generalists and if we know the weeds about your space we will give you a few obvious cues that indicate “we follow, let’s move along to the next point…” 

In reality, this first part may take 2 minutes and it may take 8.  Either way, when we get there as a group and have that “aha” moment, be prepared to start dictating the rest of the conversation.  In other words, have an agenda. 

At this point, the elephant in the room is usually “so, what do you (we) think?”  That’s a natural question, and probably one that we would answer even if not asked.  Be prepared for feedback of the “honest” variety.  Seriously though, our goal is to be constructive not evil.  Remember that our feedback is based on opinions and observation, not fact.  If we don’t think something will work, we will let you know, but we will also help hypothesize a new path (think less Simon Cowell, more Randy Jackson).

Once the elephant leaves, here is when having an agenda really helps you as the entrepreneur.  It is a great opportunity to leverage what we are seeing in the market or space… what’s working, what’s not working, etc.  Questions like:

  • “I am still on a limited budget.  What’s more important – hiring a sales guy to help with immediate market validation or an extra developer to smooth out the bugs?”
  • “My customer acquisition costs have been steadily increasing via Google Adwords, what do you think about shifting resources to channel A versus channel B?”
  • “What metrics are VCs most concerned with when it comes to evaluating consumer web/saas/etc. customer conversion?”

These are just examples off the top of my head (and not necessarily great ones), but hopefully you get the point.  I just want to avoid the awkward moment 10 minutes in when we ask, “so how can we help you?” and spend the next 10 minutes talking about the weather.

We hope this helps and we truly look forward to meeting all of you.  See you in Dallas.

Wow!  The Dallas response has been very impressive.  We have received a ton of time slot requests for our February 24th event.  I am also excited to announce that we have teamed up with our friends at CoHabitat to host our meetings.  Below is the schedule as it currently stands. 

Be on the lookout for a post about AVEH tips/suggestions.  After 3 events, I do have a few pointers so that you, the entrepreneur, get the most out of the session.

 Also, in case you aren’t familiar, CoHabitat is located at 2517 Thomas Ave in Uptown (here). 

11:00 Peter B. Netwatch Solutions
11:30 Blake B. Challenge Games
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Break  
1:00 Tom M. CoopShopper
1:30 Babar B. Mutual Mind
2:00 Andrew L.  
2:30 Nikhil N. MemoryReel
3:00 Jeff B. Brand Protection Agency
3:30 Dan R.  
4:00 Brandon C. Monetizer
4:30 Scott B. Objective Technologies
5:00 TBD  
5:30 TBD  

As we close in on our Dallas event in just under 2 weeks, I encourage anyone that’s still interested in a time slot to send us an intro email (per instructions below) to entrepreneurhours@austinventures.com.  We will begin working on the roster next Wednesday after everyone has had a chance to email us.  By Thursday the 18th, we hope to post the line-up and time slots here on the blog.  We still are contemplating where to host the event, but should have that solidified by Monday or Tuesday – depending on how much of a holiday I decide to take.

Look forward to seeing you all soon in Dallas.

We are excited to announce our first trip to Dallas for AV Entrepreneur Hours.  Our plan is to get started Wednesday morning bright and early, ready to meet Dallas’ finest early stage entrepreneurs/companies.  Depending on the response (and our travel plans), we will have 10-12 slots on February 24th.  For those of you that don’t know about the format, feel free to scroll down for the details and/or check out our Houston and Austin “conversation” pages.  The premise is simple:  we will have quick 20-30 minute chats, preferably with internet and software entrepreneurs.  The goal is to offer early stage entrepreneurs the opportunity to dictate the conversation with VCs in a casual setting (think coffee shop, not boardroom/bright lights).  Ask us about your marketing strategy, business plan, hiring needs, fundraising advice, etc.  The one thing that we guarantee is honest feedback.  If you are heading in the wrong direction (in our opinion of course!) expect us to tell you.  You guys get access and we get to meet the next generation. 

To sign up, please send us a sentence or two about your company and what you would like to discuss.  The email address is entrepreneurhours@austinventures.com.  Please start sending requests in as soon as possible.  We will announce the lineup about a week before the event date.

Also, I am offering a prize of public admiration to the person that suggests the best venue to host our event.  We have had great luck at coffee shops that have semi-private conference rooms or nooks, so we don’t bother the other customers and we keep your conversations somewhat private.  It also has to be a place that can stomach us for 7 or 8 consecutive hours.  We are good for the bill though.  Any suggestions? 

Looking forward to Dallas, see you then.

Tuesday’s Entrepreneur Hours in Austin reminded our venture team why this town is a great place to start a business.  We met with 12 early stage companies driven by creative local entrepreneurs.  Some of these entrepreneurs have peeled off from other ventures, recently quit a more stable job, or are still “moonlighting” while collecting a consistent paycheck.  Regardless of the situation, all the folks we met with were determined to get to the next level and were looking for some practical advice.  The fun part for us was that each group had their own unique questions and challenges, which kept the daylong event fresh and exciting.  Here is a snapshot of a few of our conversations:

  • Talked with an expert in the web analytics space about measuring social media ROI
  • Discussed go-to-market approach for a digital media distribution platform
  • Offered fund raising advice for a consumer web play that recently went live
  • Relayed the challenges that we are witnessing in the complicated Healthcare IT space
  • Debated the sales distribution options for a fledgling SaaS B2B software application

The one thing that AVEH wasn’t short on was candid feedback.  We definitely are not experts in every space, but if there was an opportunity to relay an experience or message from what we are seeing in the start-up world, we made sure we passed on to the entrepreneur.  If we thought someone was headed down a difficult path we didn’t try to sugar coat it.  Our goal is to reach out to the local entrepreneurial community, offer applicable advice and identify companies to keep on our long-term radar screen.  Tuesday accomplished all of those and more.  We can’t wait for the next event and we look forward to hearing updates from all the past participants.

As you may have noticed, we have started “conversation” tabs for each of our AVEH cities.  All participants (and any entrepreneurs for that matter) are encouraged to join the discussion.  We would love for these conversations to serve as a forum for participants to offer feedback on AVEH and for the general entrepreneurial community to ask questions/give comments.  Go ahead, take advantage of it.  Click here for the Austin Conversation.

Thank you Austin

Thanks to our friends re-tweeting and blogging about AVEH, we have fielded a flood of requests for time slots at next Tuesday’s event.  Judging by the number of responses, AVEH is picking up steam in Austin!   We couldn’t be more impressed with the Austin entrepreneurial community.  Obviously we wish we could accomodate more folks, but keep in mind we are doing this quarterly in Austin, so there are more opportunities on the horizon.

Also, we are going to experiment with a new location this time.  Trianon coffee shop in Westlake has an ideal setup with a glassed in conference room.  It’s perfect for our laid back setting, with just enough privacy.  The address is 3201 Bee Cave (Bee Cave & Walsh Tarlton), just across the lot from the Post Office, next door to Thundercloud.

Finally, here is the lineup:

11:00 Roland D. XYZMP3
11:30 Michael G. Vert. lead gen
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Break  
1:00 Mark F. Flocasts
1:30 Kyle D. LifeTeam
2:00 Louis M. LugIron
2:30 Jagath N. Ordoro
3:00 Harper G. Moblup
3:30 Michael A. Gendai Games
4:00 Don J. Prista Corporation
4:30 Jake C. Warning Inc
5:00 Becky Focal Pop
5:30 Ryan C. Loanables

A couple quick notes on our event in Austin next Tuesday, January 19th.  We will be sending out the lineup later this week – probably Thursday or early Friday.  My goal is to make sure everyone has about 4-5 days notice.  I have been hesitant to start responding to all of the requests because more keep pouring in.  We will probably stop taking requests late Tuesday or early Wednesday.  Lastly, we will announce the location when we release the lineup.  Because of the success in Houston at a local coffee shop, we are looking at similar potential locations in downtown Austin.

Looking forward to the 19th!

As we ring in the new year, we are also ringing the bell on our second AV Entrepreneur Hours in Austin.  The date is Tuesday January 19th.  We are still determining the exact location and schedule, but mark your calendars nonetheless.

Again, we are looking to have conversations with software and internet entrepreneurs.  If you are new to the game, scroll down and learn more about the exact format.  Start sending in slot requests to entrepreneurhours@austinventures.com and we will do our best to accommodate as many folks as possible.  Make sure to provide your name and a short description about your company or the idea you want to discuss.

Thanks – we are looking forward to it.

Austin Ventures’ Entrepreneur Hours is picking up steam!  We hosted our first event in Houston and it was a tremendous success.  13 companies joined us for a full day of discussion and brainstorming.  We had companies anywhere from pre-product to a couple million dollars in revenue.  I think Mike and I were both pleasantly surprised with the start-up community in Houston.  Don’t look now, but it’s our prediction that there will be a few interesting consumer web companies coming out of H-town in 2010.

We talked with several early stage consumer web companies about the value of really understanding customer acquisition costs.  This is a crucial hurdle when considering scaling a web-based business.  As cost efficient as it is to start and operate a consumer web play, entrepreneurs have to remember that a huge cost component is often driving folks to your site and actually converting them to paid users/subscribers/rabid readers in order to monetize the operation.  More to come on topics like this.  Our goal is to be more active on our blog in 2010, both relaying the trends we are seeing at AVEH events and sharing general pointers/tips. 

Also new to the AVEH site are separate pages (see tabs above) for local entrepreneurial discussions.  The Houston Conversation tab, for example, is seeded with feedback/comments from AVEH participants.  Here, we can interact with anyone that wants to talk start-ups and everyone can share their opinion.  The Austin and Dallas Conversation pages are open for business starting today as well.

Finally, thanks to Coffee Groundz for hosting our Houston event.  The location was perfect for our informal discussions and the staff did a great job accommodating us.  See you guys again soon.

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