Normal folks do not speak like that. Certainly not investors.
From: Mike Segal <mike.segal@verizon.net>
Subject: Opportunity for Late-Entrants to Present on February 24th at the Yale Club New York
MJSEGALASSOCIATES
Opportunity for Late-Entrants to Present on February 24th at the Yale Club New York to
Angels and more than 150 of the America’s Leading Private Equity & Venture Capital Investors
As we have not heard back from your office, I am following-up on my earlier correspondence about introducing your company to funding sources at our upcoming National Venture Capital & Angel Investor Forum being held at the Yale Club New York on Thursday, February 24th. (My apologies if there is an e-mail or phone message that I may have missed.) We have been hosting these exclusive “deal-oriented” and "investor-only" venues for 10 years. They are one of the most well-established and the best “investor-attended” events of their kind in America and are not compromised with a high population of vendors or service providers. We literally create a “Road Show” that comes to the company, thus eliminating the costs and time of extensive travel to meet investors. In the event that you are still seeking capital and stalled in your efforts to get funded, I have set aside a few Presenter slots for last-minute entrants.
This will be our 32nd consecutive venue, all of which since June of 2001 have been fully-booked with approximately 150 to 200 investors. These include numerous Angel Groups, high net worth investors, venture capital firms, private equity funds and investment partnerships who attend from throughout the United States, with a focus on both early and later-stage opportunities. (Kindly note that any data that we provide in connection with our current or past investor attendance is well-documented by registration records and can be further verified by direct contact of the Angels, VCs and private equity investors who have been our guests.) Because of the number and caliber of the investors whom we attract, most companies see their participation in our events as an alterative or complement to hiring an investment banker or going on the road to raise capital.
Please take a few minutes to read this e-mail carefully, as many of your questions will be answered and you will get a much better idea as to the value proposition (that for now over 10 years) has attracted so many companies to our events from all over the United States and other countries. There is no comparable funding venue in the United States to what we offer as measured by the number and quality of the active capital sources who attend our forums - not withstanding the fact that we also reach out to investors for our entrepreneur participants and assist them in following-up after our event.
If you believe that your company's potential is truly compelling and that management's vision can be effectively communicated, this private event will provide you with a unique national platform to get your message across in “One Place and in One Day” to active serious investors who want to see fundable deals. In order to apply to present, all you need to do is send a copy of your Executive Summary to me at mike.segal@verizon.net. I'll get back to you promptly as to whether or not your company would be good fit for the event. Also feel free to call my office at 347 346 6650. I would be happy to discuss the visibility options, qualifications, costs to attend or present and answer any questions you may have about the format, audience composition, references, etc.
Although there are no guarantees, the proven value of the unique “investor-centric” platform that we provide for raising capital is well-established. You can see more than fifty testimonials from other entrepreneurs at www.privateequityforums.com/entre-test.html. Perhaps the e-mail below from one of the presenting companies in 2010 says it best and very much reflects the feedback that we receive from many of our featured entrepreneurs.
“Thanks Mike. Great event. Best I've ever attended, and most focused and well constructed. Walked away with 27 cards, 4-8 sincere investors advising of interest in investing, and many could not get to talk with us directly at the breakout, as we were too crowded. Caught up with many (investors) at the various opportunities to socialize. Will keep you posted on our success...I will follow your recommendations, as your advice so far has been invaluable. Thanks again.”
Specific citations and copies of actual correspondence on any of our posted testimonials are available upon request.
As I indicated is my prior e-mail, if you are all set with your financing requirements or have other avenues to get funded, please let me know by return e-mail and I will be sure that your company and email-address of REDACTED is taken off my list of potential Presenter candidates. I know that the last thing you need are more e-mails that are not relevant to the matters affecting you business.
If you are currently raising capital and need to take any of the following steps, then you should seriously consider applying to present at this event. 1) Go outside of your existing network of contacts to find investors.
2) Schedule an expensive national road trip to meet capital sources.
3) Pay to retain an investment banker or placement agent.
4) Find a cost-effective proven venue to locate new investors.
5) Accelerate the funding process to execute your business plan.
6) Move-on, as you are still waiting to hear back from investors,
who should have provided the funding you needed by now. Please keep in mind that most of our presenting companies have already had some outside funding from Angels or VCs and are at the point where they are ready to begin commercialization or have begun marketing their products, and are not usually "unfunded start-ups" with no sales. We will consider pre-revenue companies that have a clear proprietary advantage in their science, technology or business method and can reach a large addressable market. General presenter qualifications are listed at www.privateequityforums.com/qualifications.html. Although we wish it could be, this is not a free event. (I believe that over the years we have clearly demonstrated, as is true with most things in life, it is not what or if you pay, but what you get for what you pay.) We are not part of any non-profit group or government agency and our events are not primarily funded by vendors or service providers, which ensures an “investor-only” venue. Accordingly, companies are required to pay a fee to be featured at the event based upon a number of alternatives, which we try to tailor to the financial situation of each company and may include a partially differed or contingent payment. As every company varies with respect to its financial resources, stage, revenues and funding requirements, we do not have a “one size fits all” structure with respect to fees or visibility options. Our forum could be best described as a co-op for the 12 to 15 companies that present - such as a trade show would be. We underwrite the events and the featured companies share in the overhead cost. They do so because our model ensures them an audience of nearly 100% qualified investors who have paid to attend and whom we disclose in advance.
Targeted Outreach to Prospective Investors: You can find a complete index to our current and past registrants below or on the conference website at http://www.starlightinvestments.com/?id=276, indexed by Industry Sector Preferences. If your company is selected to be a Presenter or Featured Entrepreneur Guest, we can provide you with introductions to any of the firms listed on the conference website, irrespective of their attendance at the upcoming event, adding an important dimension to your ability to reach investors. As you know, in many cases, companies can pay investment bankers up to several hundred thousand dollars in front-end fees and monthly retainers to gain access to these types of investment groups. Companies presenting at this forum gain the same entrée at only a small fraction of that cost, notwithstanding the inherent efficiency of the symposium.
This highly-targeted venue can help you solve the three biggest problems in the fundraising process: 1) identifying qualified investors, 2) gaining credible entrée to them and 3) meeting them under favorable circumstances. Moreover, the event drives the single most essential factor in getting funded quickly, and that is the ability to create contemporaneous interest among investors - which also can serve to significantly improve deal terms. Please keep in mind that this event distinguishes itself from many other venues in several key respects. Here are a few of them.
1) Nearly 100% of the guests (not connected with the presenting companies) are active investors who have PAID to attend.
2) Presenting companies reach a NATIONAL audience of qualified funding sources focusing on early-stage opportunities.
3) Only approximately 12 to 15 companies are featured on the program which provides for high visibility to investors.
4) The events are not primarily sponsor supported and accordingly NOT heavily populated with service providers.
5) There are no concurrent activities or competing presentations. All companies present to the entire audience.
6) Companies are never more than 10 to 20 minutes from their breakout sessions after they present.
7) These are “deal-oriented” events. There are no panels or other distractions from keeping the spotlight on the presenters.
8) The majority of the attendees are PRINCIPALS of the private equity or venture capital firms whom they represent.
9) Presenters can plan for the forums in advance as we provide confirmed guest information prior to the conference dates.
10) Featured companies benefit from the strong brand equity that we have built with investors over nearly 10 years.
11) Detailed contact information on all attending investors along with follow-up assistance is provided to entrepreneurs.
12) More than 5 hours networking time is provided to meet “one-on-one” with individual investors and venture capital firm partners.
To learn more about the event, attending investors, format, pricing, qualifications, etc., please call me and kindly do not send me questions to respond to by e-mail. I have found that preliminary conversation first can save a great deal of time in the back and forth of numerous e-mail exchanges. Thanks for your understanding on this. I am happy to spend whatever time is necessary with you on the phone. As we only have a few of our Presenter slots still available, please contact me as soon as possible if you have an interest in being selected to be on our conference program. To see a list of investment groups who regularly attend our events, please go to www.privateequityforums.com/guests.html.
I look forward to hearing from you and learning more about your funding requirements.
Kindest regards,
Mike Segal, President
MJSEGALASSOCIATES
630 W. 246th St. Suite 728
Riverdale, New York 10471
Direct Line: 347 346 6650
New York Private Equity Forums
Guest Registry of Investors & Capital Sources
Index to Select Current and Prior Conference Guests by Industry Sector Preferences
Please select from the sectors below to see the some of the industry preferences of our current registrants and prior attendees. Note that investment groups who indicate a specific focus do not necessarily limit their investments to those sectors. More detailed information is displayed on their websites for which links are provided after clicking on the applicable sector preference. A listing of our registrants' portfolio companies is provided where available. If your company is selected to present, M. J. Segal Associates can provide you with introductions to any of the firms listed on the conference website, irrespective of their attendance at the upcoming event.
- All or Most Industry Sectors
- Alternative Energy / Cleantech / Environmental Technology
- Advanced Technology / Nano Tech
- Agriculture / Construction
- Chemicals / Process Industries
- Communications / Telecommunications
- Education
- Entertainment / Film / Media / Gaming
- Financial Services / Insurance
- Healthcare / Life Sciences / Medical Technology / Biotech
- Homeland Security / Military / Aerospace / Defense
- Internet-Based Services / Publishing
- Logistics / Distribution / Aviation / Transportation
- Manufacturing / Materials / Semiconductors / Engineering
- Marketing / CRM / Loyalty
- Power / Energy
- Real Estate
- Retail / Consumer / Hospitality / Food
- Software / IT / Computer Networking
Select Initial Confirmed Registrants - 2011 National Venture Capital & Angel Investor Forum
(Kindly Note that the Names of Angels, Individual Participants and High Net Worth Investors are not Shown for Privacy and Security Purposes)
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Mike Segal's Private Equity Forum events are always sold out and are packed with real investors and entrepreneurs - often from outside of New York.
ReplyDeleteIn most cases, these players are worlds away from Calacanis and Digital Media. They never get the attention of the Fred Wilsons, the Esther Dysons, the DFJs and so on. They tend to come from energy, engineering, biotech, transportation, waste management – all the stuff that doesn’t make it to the blogoshpere. They are also usually older and let’s face it - you don’t see too many gray hairs in the digital Start-Up world. When they do, the seniors rarely get funded.
At Segal’s events these participants are, for the most part what I call pedigree start-ups – people with 10 or more years of experience in serious business and technology fields. Their plans are not too sexy or too wildly conceptual and they will never be the next Facebook or Twitter. But they often have real customers on tap and genuine backgrounds in the field with deep relationships and so on. They tend to come from areas in the hinterland that are not flooded with investors – so presenting in New York means something to them.
Should they pay what they pay? That’s their calculation. Does Mike have a right to charge them? Ask them? They know the cost and resources they need to reach out to investors – and there really are investors here – and so they make that decision.
The bottom line is they will never get an invite to Fred’s office, they won’t get a “free” invite to Techcrunch or any other hackerthon or techie start-up fest. And guess what, this is not a socialist country - people have a right to charge and you have a right not to show up.
So why the libel?
Has anyone stopped to ask what Jason gets out of this crusade of his? Free publicity for his ridiculous people-powered search engine, Mahalo that now answers your every lame question. Jason is the same idiot who dropped over $200,000 on a late night TV poker game and then claimed it was really publicity for Mahalo because he wore a logo shirt. Some publicity! http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/21/calacanis-poker-face/
Last year, after he got into a fight with his partners at TechCrunch, he went after Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. Watch out, if he thinks there’s a publicity angle, he could come after you! (This is shortened - go to iBreakfast's blog for the full version.)