I was in Atlanta most of this past week and flew back late last night. I went down there with David Jones from SCV as we look to get more plugged into that market. We met with some companies and we both volunteered as a judge the second half on Friday and all day yesterday for the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC). This was the southeast regional competition hosted by Georgia Tech.
This is the third time I have helped with the VCIC and I am really impressed with the program. It was started by UNC and allows MBAs from top colleges throughout the US to compete in analyzing real companies and showcase their findings to a panel of VCs demonstrating their knowledge of venture capital.
To start, each group of students is given the business plans of five companies actually looking for funding. The teams study each plan. The next day the teams listen to the CEO of each company present (10 min presentation) and then each team has their own private Q+A with the management team. That same night each group huddles and decides which 1 company they would fund and they come up with a mock term sheet. They present their term sheet and their reasoning to the VC panel (which we were part of). We then peppered them with questions to make sure we understood their thought process. Afterwards, the VC panel privately voted for the best 2 teams which move on to the finals.
So, although there is a HUGE time crunch, this is the closest thing I have seen to the real world - except for the cash too! :)
The outcome for everyone involved is tremendous. It works really well for the companies - they get immediate exposure to a bunch of real VCs that hear the pitch, listen to their presentation and network with them. In the past, this program has actually led to some of the companies presenting to get funding. And from my standpoint, I really enjoy volunteering and helping the MBAs (who could be future VCs) learn more about the industry.
It is also interesting seeing how the teams analyzed each deal. Some had more of a textbook approach and relied more on the numbers (with DCF model for pre-revenue company which baffled me). However, the teams that were selected to move on to the finals (not surprisingly) had a more balanced approach looking at the financial model, but focused more importantly on the market, entrepreneurs involved and product/technology.
If you have a company looking for funding or are a VC, I strongly recommend getting involved in this program.
Oh, and the winners moving onto the finals? Duke and NYU. Congratulations to them both!
Thanks for being a great judge Jason! It was great to meet you. It's funny how you can read someone's blog, and meet them in person, and not put it together until you read about it later!
(And just to clarify for your readers, it was NYU in 1st, and Duke in 2nd) :)
Keshava
Posted by: Keshava Dasarathy | March 16, 2006 at 06:20 PM