Startup Grind Toronto Hosts Michelle Scarborough & Jennifer Evans (Female Funders & Founders)

17
May
2013
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Thursday, 27 June

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Where are all the female Founders and Funders?  That is the question that we will explore in this themed Fireside Chat featuring:

Michelle Scarborough, Smart Ventures, Chair, National Angel Capital Organization

Jennifer Evans, Chief Strategist, (Founder of Sequentia Communications acquired by Environics).

Guest Host: Vicki Saunders, on behalf of Dr. Wendy Cukier

Event Leader: Charu Jaiswai
Discount codes available for Women’s Groups. Investors who are interested in these issues will be recognized. Contact Charu for details.

Michelle Scarborough

Michelle is an experienced entrepreneur and investor with a track record of business achievement spanning more than 18 years. Currently Managing Partner of Smart Ventures, she oversees investments and professional management in high potential early stage technology companies with co-investment partners and is growing a team of seasoned entrepreneurs who work with investee companies to accelerate value creation. She is also an active board director of several early stage companies ranging from energy to publishing. Active in the investment community, Michelle led the establishment of a $250 million early stage fund and founded the Capital Angel Network, designed to foster networking and deal syndication among the high net worth investor community.

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Startup Grind Shenzhen Hosts Paul Jones Entrepreneur (Serial Founder & Investor)

17
May
2013
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Saturday, 25 May

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Shenzhen is China’s biggest mixing pot: of cultures and backgrounds, skills and ideas, industries and products – and even public policies. Ask any Shenzhener, Chinese or foreign, where they are from or what keeps them occupied, and don’t expect an easy answer. So, how can Startup Grind possibly hope to capture all the varied ingenuity & complexity of our city in one guest? Well, we can try – and it’s a pleasure to introduce Paul Jones as our first fireside chat partner for Saturday, May 25th in Nanshan, Shenzhen at 7 PM.

Paul is Mr. Entrepreneur. Literally, ask to see his passport. Born with the hustle, Paul has made work his life’s passion ever since Paul’s Polished Pebbles, his first business at 9 years old. Since then, Paul has founded, owned, financed, or managed over 150 companies across every sector from manufacturing to real estate to marketing to logistics. With 10 years invested in Thailand, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia after half a lifetime of business in the West, Paul brings a wealth of international experience to Shenzhen. While focused in internet, marketing, and production industries, Paul keeps a broad portfolio of past and present projects: look for the Paul Jones line of men’s clothing in select retailers; or if you’re in Africa, for his new line of Navestar tablets & smart devices empowering the continent’s entrepreneurs.

The eminent mentor, Paul’s other life goal is helping other passionate people find their way in business. In Shenzhen and have the startup fire burning in you? Make sure to come to our first meeting, learn from Paul’s experience, and connect with our speaker & other entrepreneurs. We’ll be digging into Paul’s background, his entrepreneurial journey, his present & future projects, and the things that drive him – and giving you the chance to ask your own questions.

Startup Grind Melbourne Hosts Jordan Green (Melbourne Angels)

16
May
2013
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Wednesday, 19 June

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Jordan is an internationally sought after thought leader in early-stage investing. He is an experienced engineer, entrepreneur, executive, venture capitalist and Angel investor. He has over thirty years of experience in growing and advising technology oriented companies in Australia, USA, Asia and Europe.
A Silicon Valley software veteran, Jordan was a founding partner of one of the best performing venture capital fund managers in Australia; he is co-founder and Chairman of the Australian Association of Angel Investors (AAAI) and Founder/President of Angel investor group, Melbourne Angels Inc.
Jordan is an invited speaker on Angel investing at international conferences, is a featured speaker at business events and he has been an invited lecturer at Universities in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. A frequent judge for entrepreneurial events, Jordan also advises governments on policy and programmes for the early-stage investment and entrepreneurial space. He delivers training on Angel investing and early-stage business development and is a Case Manager for Commercialisation Australia, the primary Australian government grant program for commercialising innovation and is active in a variety of community organisations.
A Fellow of the AAAI and Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Jordan has a degree in Electronics Engineering from RMIT, a MBA from the Melbourne Business School and post-graduate qualifications in Marketing, Strategy, Innovation and Product Development with experience as a postgraduate research fellow in biomedical engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He has been director, CEO, executive, or engineer for over a dozen technology and engineering companies since starting his career with IBM. Jordan remains an optimist and a collaborator.

Startup Grind Washington DC Hosts Michael Chasen (Blackboard, SocialRadar)

16
May
2013
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Wednesday, 10 July

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Michael Chasen is the cofounder of Blackboard and SocialRadar.  Blackboard is one of the biggest enterprise and educational technology companies in the world with revenue of around $500 million and is used by over 9,300 institutions in more than 60 countries.  He had helped raise $103 million in venture funding and led the company as CEO for 15 years and successfully sold it to Providence Equity Partners for $1.7 billion in 2011. He has a new startup called SocialRadar, a company focused on the mobile location services space and is building applications on smartphones and Google Glass that will change the way people connect.  Michael is also an investor and advisor to several companies that are focused on using technology to improve education as well as several start-up ventures and mature companies across the technology spectrum.  Michael received a BS degree in computer science from American University and an MBA degree from Georgetown University School of Business.

Working the Digital Room // Pozible Crowdfunding

14
May
2013
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I think it was Gary Vanderchuck that said that nothing really has changed in this digital world in terms of social networking, only now we are all in the middle of a dinner party and you need to work the room. Anyone that reaches out to you on social media, make sure you say hello, you wouldn’t ignore them in that room. A conversation is needed to start a dialogue with your customers, charm and a personal touch helps turn that dialogue into relationships.

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Startup Grind Austin Hosts Julie Huls, CEO (Austin Technology Council)

14
May
2013
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Monday, 26 August

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Julie Huls has served as the President and CEO of the Austin Technology Council since 2009 where she collaborates regularly with state and national leaders on economic and workforce policy development.  A self professed “New Economy Evangelist” she has deep experience in Marketing, PR and business operations.  Come her view of why Austin is tech new destination: http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/05/why-austin-is-techs-new-destination-of-choice/

That Shenzhen Grind: Launch of Startup Grind Shenzhen Chapter!

13
May
2013
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Shenzhen, China

Nothing written could ever hope to match these two photographs, 30 years apart, in showing just how fast of a city Shenzhen is. 1979 was the year Deng Xiaoping named Shenzhen a Special Economic Zone,  and that once humble village now rivals its older cousin metropolises Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Shenzhen doesn’t just move fast, it goes big: the Ping’an International Finance Center is to be  the world’s second tallest building. It’ll be a good match to Shenzhen’s port, one of the biggest in China; Shenzhen’s own stock market; the largest Foxconn factory in the world; and one of the strongest rates of growth in the world, with booming forecasts for the future.

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Startup Grind São Paulo Hosts Rodrigo Borges (Vale Presente)

13
May
2013
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Tuesday, 2 July

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Em 2004, quando tinha 20 e poucos anos, Rodrigo Borges deu início à sua “empresa imaginária” planejada em paralelo a sua carreira como executivo.

Formado em administração de empresas, com MBA em Marketing, ele começou como trainee na companhia de comércio eletrônico B2W, de onde saiu em 2009 como Gerente Geral comercial da marca Submarino. Em seguida, foi responsável pela operação online do Magazine Luiza. Até que, em 2011, ele se tornou o fundador e CEO da primeira one-stop-shop, 100 % verticalizada do segmento de cartões pré-pagos no mundo.

Nasce a Vale Presente S.A, o maior startup independente do Brasil, com investimento  de R$50 milhões. “Tinha certeza de que ia criar a maior empresa no setor. Era só questão de tempo”, afirma.

Rodrigo Borges is founder and CEO of Vale Presente, company that received more than US$ 20,000,000 in seed funding, and known as the biggest independent startup in Brazil. More info on: www.valepresente.com.br

Startup Grind Chicago Hosts Uzi Shmilovici (Base CRM)

13
May
2013
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Tuesday, 18 June

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Uzi Shmilovici is the CEO & Founder of Base CRM. Base is the first Post-PC CRM. Leveraging the rapid changes in mobile computing, Base takes advantage of ubiquity, intelligence and advanced interfaces to create a CRM experience that is an order of magnitude better than what was possible before. The company raised more than $8M and is growing exponentially.

Uzi’s passionate about building products at the intersection of design, technology, and business. He’s obsessed with creating amazing customer experiences, and doesn’t believe patience is a virtue.

When he can find the time, Uzi likes to write about the future of software, and has written for TechCrunch, GigaOM and ReadWriteWeb.

Wayne Kimmel Inspires Crowd at PHL Kick-Off Event

13
May
2013
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“IF YOU’RE NOT FAILING, YOU’RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH!” ~ Wayne Kimmel (Artists & Instigators)

If there was a call to action at the conclusion of the event, 50+ inspired, Philly entrepreneurs would have done just that – acted!  And that’s half the battle right?  According to Wayne Kimmel, Founder and Managing Partner of Philly-based Venture Capital firm, Artists & Instigators, “If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.”  He also unleashed his ‘Secret Tip’ – “Get off the couch and go do!”

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