StartOut - Building and Supporting Gay and Lesbian Entrepreneurship

Top 10 Panel

Mike Sullivan Emerging Companies Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Mike Sullivan is a partner in the emerging companies group at Pillsbury, a leading San Francisco law firm. He has counseled entrepreneurs/startups and their investors for over 20 years. Mike has handled hundreds of angel and venture capital financings and over 50 public offerings, including an IPO for PlanetOut (owner of gay.com; Nasdaq symbol: LGBT) in 2004, eBay’s $1.3 billion stock offering in 1999, and the first-ever Internet IPO in 1994, for NetCom.

His clients have included eBay, Digital River, PlanetOut, Grouper Networks, Urchin Software (now Google Analytics), H5 Technologies, Pie Digital, Inc., Real Girls Media Network, PBwiki, Cardstore.com and WebMynd. He has deep experience with Internet/digital media/software business models, but also works with consumer (St. George Spirits, maker of Hangar One vodka) and cleantech (BPL Global, a leading smart grid company) companies. He also represents a number of venture capital and angel investors, including Blumberg Capital, IDG Ventures, WaldenVC, Felicis Ventures, Levensohn Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures and The Roda Group. Mike is a graduate of Williams College and Michigan Law School. His outside interests skew green – his book, the Trees of San Francisco, was published in 2004, and he was appointed by Mayor Newsom to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission in 2007.

Michael Heuga Intellectual Property Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Mr. Heuga’s practice focuses on technology and commercial transactions, in particular licensing, intellectual property and marketing matters. He has negotiated and drafted agreements involving complex technology licenses and transfers, information technology procurement, asset acquisitions and divestitures, distributor matters, and real property transactions.

Mr. Heuga also counsels a wide variety of clients on intellectual property and related subjects, as well as on compliance with advertising, antitrust, consumer protection, and other trade regulation laws. He also has significant experience with the resolution of competitor advertising disputes.

Mr. Heuga works with clients ranging from start-ups to well-establishedFortune 500 companies, as well as public entities in California. He advises clients in a variety of industries, including energy, consumer retail, advertising and marketing, and software; hardware and other technologies.

Paula Weber, Employment Law Partner Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Ms. Weber is leader of Pillsbury’s Employment & Labor practice. She focuses on complex employment litigation, supplemented by compliance advice and counseling on employment issues for both large institutional employers and smaller companies. Ms. Weber has handled a wide variety of individual and multi-plaintiff cases in federal and state court including race, sex, disability, and age discrimination suits, as well as breach of employment contract, wrongful termination, fraud, defamation, whistle-blower, misappropriation of trade secrets, wage and hour and other employment-related litigation.

She has trial experience in both state and federal court including trials in defamation, breach of contract, sex discrimination, and termination in violation of public policy cases. Ms. Weber also has wide-ranging ADR experience, most recently the successful defense in a binding arbitration of law firm partners charged with breach of fiduciary duty by their former partner.

Brian Backus, CEO/Founder and King of Kidlandia

Backus began his interactive media career as an award-winning Producer for Disney Interactive. He holds an MBA and AB from Harvard, an MFA from USC, and a Certificate in Studio Art from UC Berkeley. Kidlandia is his third and favorite company. After finishing business school, Backus started UBUBU, a software company that created educational computer interfaces, and Qi Spirits, a producer of premium liqueurs made with organic tea and spices, sold worldwide.

He was raised in La Jolla, California, and lives in San Francisco and Kidlandia (where he spends most of his time), and has been creating imaginary beasts and maps since he was four years old.

Lorenzo Thione, StartOut Founder, Former Founder of PowerSet (now Bing.com) and Broadway producer

Lorenzo is the co-founder of Powerset, Inc., an innovative search startup founded in 2005, with the vision of bringing to consumers a more natural and effective type of Internet search than conventional keyword search. Funded by notable Silicon Valley VCs and angel investors, Powerset was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2008 to complement and innovate on its own search technology and offering. Currently, he is a Principal Program Manager in charge of the Powerset division of Bing, Microsoft’s innovative “Decision Engine”.

Lorenzo is an active angel investor, board member and advisor in several startup, including Dolores Labs, an exciting and energetic San Francisco startup building a scalable platform for human-based computing and crowdsourcing, Crowdflower, and several others at various stages, in the US and abroad.

Lorenzo is also a commercial theater producer currently busy in bringing several new works to the Broadway stage, including the recently emerging Green Day musical, American Idiot of which he’s Associate Producer. His current and most ambitious project is a brand new musical bound for the Broadway stage. Jay Kuo’s original musical Allegiance, starring George Takei and Lea Salonga, follows the story of a Japanese American family during the years of the WWII Japanese American internment, and is currently aiming for a 2012 Broadway debut.

A native of Milan, Italy, Lorenzo moved to Austin, Texas at age 21, to complete his studies at the University of Texas at Austin, from which he holds a M.S. in Computer Engineering, and has co-authored several publications in Software Engineering and Computational Linguistics. He is a named inventor on 10 issued and over 20 pending patents in the US and world-wide.

Kim Frank is founder of Corp-Growth, a growth and M&A consultancy firm. Through Corp-Growth Kim serves as interim corporate and business development officer and provides growth strategy, fund raising, board and M&A services to start-ups and mid size technology companies. Kim has a broad cross-domain operating experience as Corporate Development Executive, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Board Member for companies such as Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Intel and Nakamichi.

Kim’s experience spans Fortune 500, Mid Cap and startups in key technology sectors including software, hardware, Internet, semiconductors, EDA and automated test equipment.

Kim’s experience also includes M&A lawyer at distinguished law firms such as Latham & Watkins and Snell & Wilmer; General Counsel of a Japanese public company; Board Member of private technology companies; and interim executive of several technology start-ups and turn-arounds. Kim is on the Board of Advisors of Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives (FWE&E) and Freshi Films, LLC.

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New York, July 21, 2010: StartOut NYC held a fantastic networking event at the gorgeous Library Bar at the Hudson Hotel. The crowd of almost 200 people included successful entrepreneurs, growing entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, investors and other people who help make entrepreneurs successful.

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San Francisco, June 30, 2010: StartOut SF held a great Bay Area networking event at the chic Infusion Lounge in Union Square. There were entrepreneurs of all stripes, as well as investors and other people who help make entrepreneurs successful.

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New York, June 17, 2010: StartOut NYC helped its partner the Hatchery with its regular “Are You Serious” meet up! StartOut, in conjunction with The Hatchery, brought together entrepreneurs to get professional feedback on their “dot com” start up. It was a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs to receive valuable advice on their marketing, finance, and business presentation, among other things.

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New York, June 7, 2010: StartOut rang the Opening Bell on the New York Stock Exchange!  In recognition of its work to promote entrepreneurship, StartOut was honored to have been asked by the NYSE to ring the Opening Bell. A link to the NYSE video of StartOut ringing the Opening Bell can be found here.

After the Bell Ringing, StartOut Co-Founder Darren Spedale was interviewed by CNBC on “Squawk Box” to discuss StartOut and what StartOut is hearing from its entrepreneurs in today’s economy.  A link to the CNBC interview can be found here.

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New York, June 3, 2010: As part of its Capital Connections program, StartOut NYC presented “Hatch Match” in conjunction with The Hatchery for Internet Week! “Hatch Match” is “speed dating” to match entrepreneurs with funding sources. Forty venture capital firms, angel investors and other funding sources took 5-minute meetings with entrepreneurs. Every 5 minutes, when the bell rang, it was time to get up and move to the next funding pitch!  It was a great event for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

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New York, May 26, 2010: As part of StartOut’s “School Outreach” program, StartOut NYC held a fantastic event at the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) to present “Entrepreneurship As A Career” to HMI’s LGBT youth population. In our entrepreneurship role play, HMI students broke up into small groups and each group worked with a StartOut entrepreneur to create a business idea and corresponding “business plan” to think about the major issues involved in getting that particular business started.

Each small group then presented its “business plan” to the larger group, and students “voted” on which business plan was the best. Members of the winning group each got American Express gift certificates. Students loved the event, and StartOut looks forward to doing more entrepreneurship events with HMI’s youth in the future!

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New York, May 25, 2010: As usual, our StartOut Salon for NYC in May was fully booked. Entrepreneurs had a great time at the 20-person dinner Salon sharing their ideas, interests, and passions with one another, as well as some great cuisine!

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San Francisco, May 24, 2010: StartOut SF was proud to present a very unique event in our Major Speaker Series — one that featured an entrepreneurial couple!  Megan Smith, Google’s VP of New Business Development, General Manager for Google.Org and the former CEO of PlanetOut, was interviewed by her spouse Kara Swisher, an accomplished journalist, entrepreneur, business leader, and key media influencer. This lively and feisty interview by Kara, Ms. AllThingsD.com, focused on Megan’s past and present, from the PlanetOut experience, to her positions at Google and beyond. Watch the video here!

Megan Smith
Vice President, New Business Development, and General Manager, Google.org

Megan oversees teams that manage early-stage partnerships, explorations and technology licensing. She also leads the Google.org team, guiding strategy and developing new partnerships and internal projects with Google’s engineering and product teams. She joined Google in 2003 and has led several of the company’s acquisitions, including Keyhole (Google Earth), Where2Tech (Google Maps), and Picasa. She also co-led the company’s early work with publishers for Google Book Search. Previously, Megan was the CEO and, earlier, COO of PlanetOut, the leading gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender online community. Under her leadership, PlanetOut grew tenfold in reach and revenue. Prior to that, Megan was at General Magic for six years working on handheld communications products and partnerships. She also worked in multimedia at Apple Japan in Tokyo.

Over the years, Megan has contributed to a wide range of engineering projects, such as designing an award-winning bicycle lock; working on a space station construction research project that eventually flew on the U.S. space shuttle; and running a field-research study on solar cookstoves in South America. She was also a member of the MIT-Solectria student team that designed, built, and raced a solar car in the first cross-continental solar car race, covering 2000 miles of the Australian outback. She was selected as one of the 100 World Economic Forum technology pioneers for 2001 and 2002.

Megan holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, where she now serves on the board. She completed her master’s thesis work at the MIT Media Lab.

Kara Swisher
Co-Executive Editor, AllThingsD.com

Kara Swisher started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau in 1997. Her column BoomTown originally appeared on the front page of the Marketplace section and also online at WSJ.com.

Previously, Ms. Swisher covered breaking news about the Web’s major players and Internet policy issues and also wrote feature articles on technology for the paper. She has also written a weekly column for the Personal Journal on home gadget issues called Home Economics.

With Walt Mossberg, she currently co-produces and co-hosts D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech conference with interviewees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many other leading players in the tech and media industries. The gathering is considered one of the leading conferences focused on the convergence of tech and media industries.

Previously, Ms. Swisher worked as a reporter at the Washington Post. She is also the author of “aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web,” published by Times Business Books in July 1998. The sequel, “There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future,” was published in the fall of 2003 by Crown Business Books.

She is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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New York, May 19, 2010: StartOut was profiled in the New York Times today!  The New York Times Business Section (as well as “Dealbook”) showcased some of our achievements over the past year and highlighted our impact on the business community.  The article was picked up by many other newspapers nationwide. You can read the New York Times article here.

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New York, May 13, 2010: Did you miss out on the last “Are You Serious?” startup presentation feedback forum? Well here was another chance!  StartOut, as a partner with The Hatchery, invited StartOut members to present their company at “Are You Serious?”. It was a great opportunity for StartOut members to present their startup to a panel of VCs and experienced entrepreneurs, or to listen to critiques of other people’s presentations. Go to www.meetup.com/hatchery for info on this event and www.hatchery.vc for more info on The Hatchery!

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Los Angeles, May 5, 2010: StartOut LA held its first “StartOut Salon”.  The event was fully booked, bringing together a group of 20 LA-area entrepreneurs for dinner, to discuss their entrepreneurial ideas, interests, and passions.  Lots of new contacts were made, new ideas were sparked, and everyone had a great time!

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New York, April 21, 2010: StartOut NYC held a fantastic networking event at the gorgeous Library Bar in the Hudson Hotel, open for the exclusive use of StartOut. Participants mingled with other successful LGBT entrepreneurs, growing entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs and the people who help make entrepreneurs successful (investors, lawyers, bankers and other entrepreneur service providers). It was a fantastic evening of networking, socializing, and exchanging ideas and interests with others with a passion for entrepreneurship.

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San Francisco, April 21, 2010: StartOut held a joint networking event in conjunction with GLAAD and Vitality at the elegant Bimma Loft. This was a great opportunity to meet the leadership from each of StartOut, GLAAD, and Vitality. Complimentary cocktails, wine, and light hors d’oeuvres was served, thanks to GLAAD and event sponsors Bimma Loft, ABSOLUT Vodka, MillerCoors, Barefoot, POM, and Fiji Water. It was a fabulous evening and it was a great way to bring together professionals from the Bay Area for fun, socializing and networking!

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New York, April 15, 2010: As part of New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW), StartOut hosted a panel titled: “How Entrepreneurs Are Leveraging Diversity to Their Advantage”. StartOut put together a panel of successful entrepreneurs who spoke about gender, ethnic and orientation diversity and how they are actually some of the greatest leverageable assets in entrepreneurship! StartOut members received 75% off for this and other NYEW events over the course of the week.

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San Francisco, March 17, 2010: StartOut SF was proud to present a very special evening devoted to women in entrepreneurship.  Part of StartOut’s mission is to increase the visibility of lesbian entrepreneurs, and to strengthen the lesbian entrepreneur network. “Women In Entrepreneurship” was designed to help meet this goal. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first event ever held to focus on gay women in entrepreneurship.

We began the evening with a networking reception of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at the offices of our event host, Pillsbury.  Our expert panel then discussed issues of significance to women entrepreneurs in general, and lesbian entrepreneurs in particular.

There was also a post-event networking dinner with several of the panelists and StartOut board members hosted by our panelist Traci Des Jardins at her fabulous restaurant Jardiniere.

We were honored to have a fantastic group of highly accomplished entrepreneurs on our panel:

TRACI DES JARDINS, Co-Founder and Chef, Jardiniere
Raised on a farm in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Traci Des Jardins developed a deep love for the earth and it’s bounty. The Des Jardins dinner table featured produce from the garden and game from the land in dishes reflecting her heritage - Mexican on her mother’s side, Lousianian-French Acadian on her father’s. Traci began baking with her mother at age six. While she was a student in veterinary studies at the University of California, she realized her true calling was the kitchen. She left Santa Cruz to follow her heart.

Though she never had a job in a restaurant before, through sheer determination she convinced Joachim Splichal, then at 7th Street Bistro in Los Angeles, to hire her. Within two weeks she was running a station in the kitchen. Says Des Jardins, “I was lucky enough to start with one of the best chefs in the country. He had an uncompromised discipline and standard of excellence and for me there was no turning back.” With Splichal’s encouragement and recommendations she apprenticed in Europe with many of the French greats, including Michel and Pierre Troisgros, Lucas Carton, Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard.

Back in the States, Des Jardins worked at Montrachet in Manhattan before returning to California as opening chef de cuisine of Splichal’s Patina. She moved to San Francisco, where she had always wanted to live, and opened Aqua with George Morrone and Elka Gilmore. In 1997, she opened her own restaurant, Jardinière.

Now one of the most acclaimed and respected chefs in the country, Des Jardins has been honored with numerous awards. She was a James Beard Foundation “Rising Star Chef of the Year”, one of Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chefs”, San Francisco Magazine’s” Chef of the Year”, and was listed as one of the top three chefs in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle each year since opening.

AMY ERRETT, VC Partner at Maveron Venture Capital

Amy is our horseback riding, fly-fishing, black-diamond snowboarding, wine collecting, SF Giants-loving Californian. She joined the Maveron team as a partner in 2008, expanding our operations beyond the rain of the Pacific Northwest’s Seattle to the fog of San Francisco. She offers Maveron more than 25 years of business and operating expertise as a leading entrepreneur, senior executive and social-mission visionary. Her focal points are emerging Web enabled consumer trends, e-commerce social shopping, and online education. Amy currently serves on the Altius Education, Livemocha and KidZui boards of directors.

Amy’s multifaceted career has ranged from the online Web 2.0 media industry to the offline consumer marketplace, and has stretched as far as volunteer nonprofit leadership. Most recently, she was chief executive officer and an owner of Olivia, repositioning the travel company as a complete lifestyle company for gay women both online and offline while multiplying revenues from $5 million to $25 million in 2007. In 2006, she was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California. Prior to her work at Olivia in 2002, she founded and served as chair and chief executive officer of The Spectrem Group, a worldwide strategic consulting, information, and M&A advisory firm. Amy sold Spectrem to an IPG subsidiary, NFO Worldwide (NYSE:NFO) in 1996. After the sale, she joined the senior management team at E*Trade where she diversified the company’s business beyond brokerage and ran a $200 million business that encompassed the management of E*Trade’s growth areas, including their business-to-business stock option division, and launched a successful asset-based products and investment management services division. Among Amy’s citations is the Israel Fellows Award, presented by the San Francisco–based Jewish Community Federation. A passionate humanitarian, Amy is the chair of the board of Glide Foundation, San Francisco’s largest nongovernmental, direct social services organization. Amy is also a member of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast chapter of YPO and serves on the board of Wharton West.

A New York native, Amy earned an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in liberal arts from the University of Connecticut. She is a fanatical UCONN Huskies fan where she was a student athlete. (This makes for fascinating partner meetings during basketball season since she is not a DUKE fan!) She and her partner live in San Francisco with their daughter.

Works with: Altius Education, KidZui, Livemocha, Mozes, VideoEgg

CAROL NAST, Founder and President, Enterprise Catalyst Group

Carol has over twenty-five years of management experience in Life Science industries. Her areas of expertise include the following
· Technology and product commercialization
· Management global Development, Operations and Quality
· Strategic outsourcing of product development and manufacturing
· Organizational assessment
· Technology/ product assessment and due diligence
She has experience with a broad range of medical products and has worked with large multinational companies and small entrepreneurial organizations. She has in depth expertise in managing the commercialization of medical devices associated with drug/ device combination products.  Carol has developed and implemented manufacturing strategies for over twenty companies and has managed the transition of over two hundred products from development to manufacturing. She has directed the due diligence activities for both product and technology acquisitions and has located and qualified suppliers/ partners for a variety of products and technologies. As founder of Enterprise Catalyst Group, Carol is currently consulting to Life Science companies such as Genentech. Carol’s prior roles include Chief Operating Officer at NuGEN Technologies, Vice President of Device Manufacturing at Inhale Therapeutics (Nektar), and Director of Operations for Syva Diagnostics, a Division of Syntex where her group of 450 employees was responsible for manufacturing, packaging, engineering, quality control, materials management and distribution. Carol also was formerly the Manager of Operations for BioRad Laboratories and Director of Manufacturing, Director of Quality and Senior Research Scientist for Pfizer (Warner Lambert).

Carol is a graduate of Texas Christian University with BS and MS degrees in Medical Technology. She completed the Executive Management Program at Stanford University and the Manufacturing Management Program at Pennsylvania State University.

CHRIS SHIPLEY, Founder and CEO, Guidewire

Chris Shipley is a leading technology and product analyst, having covered personal technology as a journalist and analyst since 1984. As executive producer of the DEMO Conferences from 1996 to 2009, Chris has helped technology companies bring more than 1,500 new products to market.  As the Chairman and CEO of Guidewire Group, she leads the company’s efforts to provide comprehensive data and services in support of the technology startup ecosystem.  She has been often cited as a leading influencer by technology and business publications.  Fortune Small Business Magazine called Chris an “ideal board member” and the San Jose Business Journal named her a “Woman of Distinction.”  She is currently authoring a book on the best practices of successful entrepreneurs.  Chris holds BAs in Literature and Communication Arts from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.

MODERATOR:  CHRIS MELCHING, Founder, CenterStage

Since 1998, Chris has been an executive development and communications coach to senior executives within global enterprises, startups, venture capital firms and the public sector. Her passion is helping people gain the skills to tell compelling stories, expand their networks, and grow as authentic leaders. From years of working with powerful leaders, Chris has developed a methodology for helping people shift behaviors to make significant personal and professional transformations. In 2002 she founded Power Camp, leadership development retreats that enable business professionals to discover their potential and focus energy to exceed career goals. Chris enjoys speaking to large audiences and delivers keynote speeches at conferences and training seminars across the globe. Previously she worked for Xerox, Computer Associates, Oracle and Entex. In the early 90’s she took a sabbatical from business and taught high school, where she was yearbook advisor and led student communication groups. From 2005-2006, Chris was CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives, a premier women’s leadership organization in the San Francisco Bay Area, dedicated to accelerating the success of women in business. Chris is on the Advisory Board of the Stillheart Institute and Girls for a Change.

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New York, March 11, 2010:  StartOut, as a partner with The Hatchery, invited StartOut members to present their company at their regular “Are You Serious?” event. It was a great opportunity for StartOut members to present their startup to a panel of VCs and experienced entrepreneurs, or to listen to critiques of other people’s presentations.

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New York, March 9, 2010: StartOut NYC was pleased to present its March 2010 “StartOut Salon” - a dinner event to bring together and connect LGBT entrepreneurs in NYC!  StartOut Salons are a great opportunity to meet others with a passion for entrepreneurship - build your entrepreneurial network, make new friends, meet the StartOut team, and have a great time! Our monthly StartOut Salons are a fun and meaningful way to connect gay and lesbian entrepreneurs, where people can share their ideas, interests and passions.

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Los Angeles, March 2, 2010: March 2nd was coming-out time for StartOut LA!  We kicked off StartOut LA  with a networking event to connect entrepreneurs and those interested in entrepreneurship in the greater Los Angeles area. The event was held at Eleven Bar and Lounge, and attracted over 100 entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to our first LA event.  The event was attended by members of StartOut’s Board of directors from New York and San Francisco who spoke at the event and explained more about StartOut and our goals for StartOut LA.

Participants came away having expanded their circle of connections and having learned more about StartOut in general and StartOut LA in particular.

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New York, February 24, 2010: StartOut NYC was proud to present “Entrepreneurship 101: Five Entrepreneurs Share Their Secrets For Building A Successful Business”. This special evening, executed in partnership with the Young Leader’s Council of the NYC LGBT Center, covered the phases of starting and building a business from the viewpoint of five successful entrepreneurs. Our expert panel discussed how they turned their ideas and passions into great businesses, from their initial concepts to their present-day business operations.

Entrepreneurship 101 was an insightful evening of conversation with inspiring entrepreneurs sharing their secrets of how they started and built successful business ventures, both preceded by and followed by networking receptions for attendees to network and meet fellow entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs.

We were excited to have a diverse group of highly accomplished entrepreneurs on this panel:

Mitchell Gold is the Co-Founder of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, an international furniture company with over 750 employees and a 700,000 sq foot factory with a family-friendly work environment. There is a growing chain of freestanding Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams stores across the country and internationally. In addition to running a $100 million company, Mitchell plays a major role in the national dialogue on gay rights. In 2005, he established Faith In America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people on how bigotry is being used to justify discrimination against gay people. Mitchell is the author of the book “Let’s Get Comfortable: How to Furnish and Decorate a Welcoming Home” (Meredith Books, 2007).

Peter Sisson is the Founder and CEO of Toktumi, a digital telecommunications company. Peter is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the telecom and internet industries. He started his career at Bell Labs in 1985 and started his first company, Wineshopper.com, in 1998. Wineshopper, funded by Kleiner Perkins and Amazon.com, was acquired by Wine.com in 2000. Since then, he has launched two successful companies, Mixonic and Teleo (acquired by Microsoft). His current company, Toktumi, offers an app called Line2 that lets consumers add a second phone line to their iPhone or BlackBerry. Peter serves on the MBA Advisory Board of the Tuck School at Dartmouth College and is an advisor to the Blue World Alliance, StartOut, and several start-up companies.

Jim Sherman is the Founder and CEO of Shermans Travel Media LLC, a leading online publisher of editor-screened travel deals and destination advice. Flagship products include Sherman’s Top 25 Deals Newsletter (4 million readers), the ShermansTravel.com website (2 million visits per month), a travel deals ad network, and Sherman’s Travel Magazine which is positioned around “Smart Luxury”. Prior to Shermans Travel, Jim founded WestEnd New Media, a leading internet strategy consulting firm that specialized in advising publishing and media industry clients. His previous work includes the launching of the Internet Division of Martha Stewart Living, an engagement as Director of Corporate Development at Pearson,  corporate marketing work at Time, Inc and consulting work at Bain & Co.  He received his B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Erin Barnes is the Co-Founder and acting Executive Director of ioby.org, a non-profit organization that connects donors and volunteers to environmental projects in their local neighborhoods, in order to inspire local environmental action.  Erin formerly served as the speechwriter for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Executive Director, and was the environmental editor for Men’s Journal.  From 2003-2005, she worked as a community organizer and public information officer at the Save Our Wild Salmon coalition in Portland, Oregon. She holds a Masters of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and received her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Jonathan Rubinstein is the Founder of Joe - The Art of Coffee, a coffee-centric community that includes five cafe locations throughout Manhattan. In 2002 Jonathan left his career as a talent agent to open a coffee shop that would be obsessively committed to producing a great cup of joe. At Joe, the coffee is the priority: beans from a boutique supplier (Ecco Cafe), top-of-the-line espresso machines (including the $14,000 La Marzocco “Linea”, the Rolls Royce of the field), and rigorously trained baristi (some of whom have worked at Seattle’s best coffee shops and pour beautiful latte art). Mr. Rubinstein also consults New York restaurants on their coffee service and regularly gives lectures and does radio and TV shows on coffee and espresso.

The panel was moderated by Darren Spedale, the Co-Founder of A-List Global Media LLC, a media and entertainment company that produces consumer products. A-List’s first product, PopCardz, has been sold in over 5,000 stores globally including Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and dozens of other chains. Before business school, he spent two years with a start-up venture that raised funds for non-profit organizations through online activities and unique content. He has served as an advisor to several start-ups. Mr. Spedale was previously an investment banker at Lehman Brothers covering technology companies, and was a co-founder of Lehman’s Venture Capital Coverage initiative. Darren also wrote a book on same-sex marriage called “Gay Marriage: For Better or For Worse?” (Oxford University Press, 2006) while on a Fulbright Fellowship in Europe. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a JD from Stanford Law School, and his BA from Duke University.

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San Francisco, February 10, 2010: StartOut SF had a fantastic networking event at CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen, an upscale restaurant featuring more than 200 wine selections from 18 countries.  CAV was co-founded and is co-owned by lesbian Pamela Busch, and recently added gay Executive Chef John Maher, a former sous chef at Aqua who also previously worked at The French Laundry.   Before CAV, Pamela Busch created the wine bar Hayes and Vine in 1994.  She co-founded CAV in 2005 as a “place where people could enjoy a diverse and interesting wine selection in a casual setting but with great food to match.”

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San Francisco, January 14, 2010: StartOut’s Capital Connections Program presented a special panel discussion titled “Investors and Entrepreneurs: A Match Made in Heaven…or Hell?” It was an engaging, animated discussion on one of the most important - and unpredictable - relationships in any new business venture: that between founders and funders. Two venture capitalists, one angel investor, and two funded entrepreneurs  discussed the relationship between startups and investors, both before and after receiving funding.  Participants learned from the very people for whom building and managing these relationships is business as usual. We left no stone unturned, and discussed all phases of any respectable relationship: encounter, courtship, dating, marriage, and - oh yes - breakups. It was a terrific event!

We were honored to have the following prominent individuals participating on this panel:

David Blumberg

David Blumberg is the Managing Partner of Blumberg Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in innovative and disruptive Digital and Social Media, SaaS/Technology Enabled Services, Mobile Technology and Internet companies. David has been investing in early stage technology companies for more than 24 years.  David serves as a member or observer on the Board of Directors of CaseStack, DoubleVerify, Siperian, isocket and Correlix

Patrick Chung

Patrick is a Partner at New Enterprise Associates, where he focuses on consumer, Internet and mobile investments across stage. He is a director of 23andMe, Loopt, GoodGuide and Realtime Worlds, and is actively involved with Nurien, Xoom and the firm’s venture growth activities. Prior to joining NEA, Patrick helped to grow ZEFER, an Internet services firm (acquired by NEC) to more than $100 million in annual revenues and more than 700 people across six global offices. Prior to ZEFER, Patrick was with McKinsey & Company, where he specialized in hardware, software, and services companies.

James Williamson

James Williamson is an angel investor, he serves as the CFO of the private equity firm JH Partners, LLC.  He is an experienced CFO, having served as CFO for three organizations and as interim CFO for several partner companies.  Prior to serving as CFO of JH Partners, Mr. Williamson worked in the public accounting field and held financial officer positions with three organizations. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in London, England, he worked in both the New York and San Francisco offices of Deloitte & Touche, LLP, providing audit and consulting services to the firm’s retail clients.

John Barnhill

John Barnhill is a serial entrepreneur.  He is currently Founder and CEO of Pie Digital Inc., a revolutionary tech support service that makes home networking as easy as pie.  Prior to founding Pie Digital, John founded Silicon Reef, a web communications and technology integrations company servicing the Fortune 500 in North America, Australia and the United Kingdom, which was sold in 1999. Prior to that, John led the development of DHL’s TCP/IP network into 213 countries. John began his 28-year career as an IBM Mainframe JCL programmer and later worked for Wang Labs, Quantel, Xerox, and consulted with IBM, DEC and EPRI.

Lana Holmes

Lana Holmes is the CEO of FarmsReach, an online farm food marketplace that connects farmers to business buyers and promotes sustainable and healthy food supplies. Lana Holmes’ career has included roles as Founder and/or CEO of three start-ups in the areas of business consulting services, manufacturing and outdoor adventure. She has also held COO and VP assignments in the areas of organizational development, operations, sales and business development in corporate and private businesses, consulting firms, and non-profit sectors.

The panel was moderated by StartOut co-founder Lorenzo Thione (Founder, Powerset / Bing).

Lorenzo Thione

Lorenzo Thione is the founder of Powerset, Inc., an innovative search startup  acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2008. Currently, he is a Principal PM at Bing. In Silicon Valley, he is an investor and advisor to several startups. In addition to his Internet-tech endeavors, Lorenzo is a theater producer currently busy in bringing several new works to the Broadway stage. His current project, Jay Kuo’s original musical Allegiance, starring George Takei and Lea Salonga, follows the story of a Japanese American family during the years of the WWII Japanese American internment, and is currently aiming for a 2012 Broadway debut. Lorenzo holds a M.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and has co-authored several publications in Computational Linguistics. He is a named inventor on 7 issued and over 24 pending patents in the US and world-wide. He lives in San Francisco with his husband, David Palmer

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New York, December 7, 2009: StartOut Presented The Artists Showcase Series New York. As artists are entrepreneurs who create a business around their passions, StartOut was honored to be the beneficiary of The Artists Showcase Series, which was held on Monday December 7 from 7pm-1am. StartOut received 10% of the proceeds generated from the sale of artwork during the event.

The three artists whose work was showcased were:

Uri Chartarifsky is a respected artist and active community leader in San Diego. He was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico and he currently lives in San Diego. Uri has earned recognition and respect in the photography field and his photographs can be seen exhibited in his conveniently located North Park gallery and in local lifestyle magazines. Mr. Chartarifsky established The Gallery On 5th Project in 2001 with its main focus on helping Non-profit Organizations raise funds through the Arts. His charities have raised more than $1 million for various local, national, and international non-profits. For more information please visit www.uriphotography.com

New multi-media artist and creator of beautiful things, Helen Adams Franklin opens a new dialogue with her first group show. Her artwork, cast in a variety of mediums pays homage to the healing arts. Diagnosed with Systemic Lupus over 20 years ago, Ms. Franklin uses photography and painting as her way of creating. “I know by focusing on my art and the pleasure it gives me, I create more. More opportunities, more positive relationships, just a better and positive outlook on life.” (Says the artist)

Glenn Fry’s artistic style is an amalgamation of many influences, styles and techniques. Viewing his art, one can see his love of cartoons and their bold outlines, the stylized flatness of Egyptian art, the Post-Impressionist Seurat dottism and Lautrec poster-style art. One also sees his experiences in the advertising world with half-tones, graphic and vintage-style ads. However, its greatest appeal is what Glenn individually brings through his own creative and imaginative efforts. For more information please visit www.glennfryart.com

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New York, November 16-20, 2009: StartOut was pleased to be a sponsor of New York Entrepreneur Week, the largest entrepreneurial series of events in New York State. NYEW took place from November 16-20, and involved over 120 speakers in a series of interesting and informative events for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. More information about NYEW can be found on their website at www.nyew.org

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San Francisco, November 3, 2009: An overcapacity crowd saw Chip Conley, Founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels and published author of several books on entrepreneurship “PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow,” discuss his experience as an entrepreneur as part of StartOut’s Major Speakers program in San Francisco on November 3rd. Chip was interviewed live on stage by Mark Calvey, Senior Reporter at the San Francisco Business Times, followed by an audience Q&A. A huge thank you to Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe for hosting.

Chip Conley is the founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, California’s largest boutique hotel company which was founded in 1987. At the age of 26 with no industry experience, Chip created The Phoenix, taking a 1950’s seedy motel and turning it into a world-renowned “rock n roll hotel” that catered to celebrities from David Bowie to Linda Ronstadt.

Building on transformational leadership practices, and an innovative design formula that enables customers to experience an “identity refreshment,” the company now consists of over 40 unique and award-winning hotels, restaurants and spas across the state with over 3,000 employees and revenues approaching $250 million. Joie de Vivre was awarded the 2nd Best Place to Work in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008. Chip and his company’s time-tested techniques have been featured in TIME, Fast Company, Fortune, People and the Wall Street Journal

Mark Calvey is a senior reporter at the San Francisco Business Times, covering banking and finance. In addition to Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Wachovia and other banks in the Bay Area, Mark’s coverage includes venture capital, angel investing and investment banking along with accounting and the economy. Mark’s more than 20 years in business journalism include reporting and/or editing positions at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Charlotte Observer, the Palm Beach Post and Investor’s Business Daily among others.

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New York, October 8, 2009: Our first StartOut University Event in NYC was titled “The Art of the Start: 4 entrepreneurs discuss how they turned their passions into great businesses”.  A very enthusiastic, sold out event with 4 very lively, funny entrepreneurs made for a terrific evening.

The event was hosted by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and moderated by Bryan Janeczko, founder and CEO of several companies, including Nu-Kitchen, a high-end online food retailer, and Wicked Start, a startup advisory consulting practice.

We were fortunate to have four distinguished entrepreneurs sitting on this panel:

David Blumberg is the Founder and Managing Partner of Blumberg Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in innovative and disruptive Digital and Social Media, SaaS / Technology Enabled Services, Mobile Technology and Internet companies.  David has been investing in early stage technology companies for more than 24 years. Prior to founding Blumberg Capital in 1991, David managed technology investments with Claridge investments, Adler & Co., Apax, and T. Rowe Price Associates.  David launched the business development efforts for CheckPoint Software Technologies. David serves as a member or observer on the Board of Directors of CaseStack, DoubleVerify, Siperian, isocket and Correlix. He is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Gabe Zichermann is an entrepreneur, author and public speaker who coined the term “Funware” to describe the use of game mechanics in non-game contexts. As co-founder and CEO of mobile software startup rmbrME and beamME, Gabe is helping to rewrite the rules for networking in a smartphone world. Additionally, as co-author of the upcoming books “The Engaging Web” (Manning, 2009) and “Game-Based Marketing” (Wiley, 2010), Zichermann makes a compelling case for the use of games and game mechanics in everyday life, the web and business. A native of Canada and resident of NYC, Gabe frequently muses about games and the world funwareblog.com

Geoff Lewis is the Founder and CEO of Udorse, a visual endorsement engine that allows people to endorse products found in photos on popular social networking sites.  Udorse is backed by Founders Fund and Peter Thiel sits on the Company’s Board.  Previous to Udorse, Lewis worked for the hedge fund Clarium Capital.

David Beatty is the Founder and CEO of Gorann, Inc., an enterprise focused on incubating and investing in early-stage companies.  David grew up in Ireland and was transferred to the U.S. in 1990 by IMI Computing.  In 1993 he founded Empire Messaging Inc., providing enterprise messaging solutions.  David has since co-founded a number of start-up companies, including Healthology LLC, a media company sold to iVillage/NBC; the Velot Group, a project management consulting company; and most recently R2R Recycling, a company that recycles roofing scrap.  David is also an active angel investor.

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Atlanta, October 15-17, 2009: StartOut attended ReachingOut MBA this year, the annual conference for LGBT MBA students, in Atlanta from October 15-17. Over 1,000 MBA students and company representatives attended. Two of our members - Darren Spedale and Gabe Zichermann - sat on career panels on entrepreneurship, and we participated in the career fair for MBA students where we met with many students eager to learn more about entrepreneurship as a career option.

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San Francisco, October 14, 2009: StartOut had a terrific networking event, Wednesday, October 14, 2009, from 6 to 9 pm, at Press Club, the fantastic wine tasting bar in the heart of San Francisco.  Several of the wineries pouring at Press Club donated 10% of the night’s proceeds to StartOut.

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New York, July 22, 2009: Our first event in NYC on July 22nd was a great success!  Over 150 people came to learn more about StartOut and meet other gay and lesbian entrepreneurs. Stay tuned for our next NYC event in September!

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San Francisco, August 12, 2009: Our SF Kickoff Event on August 12th was even bigger, with about 300 entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs in attendance. More information (including photos!) on these events can be found on StartOut’s Facebook

To be kept updated on our 2010 lineup, please register on our Registration page. For additional information about StartOut, please contact us via our Contact page.