Business Incubator Series: Mark Lieberman, Business Technology Center of Los Angeles County, California (Part 7)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: What kind of support do you offer to your entrepreneurs with funding?

Mark: I mentioned before that Pasadena Angels are a resonance to our incubator. They do their screenings here. They do their due diligence sessions here. They do the prescreening sessions here.

We also have a special loan program geared for our clients, where they are eligible – again, the key word is eligible – to receive up to $200,000 in loan money. We are currently lending at 6% fixed, and for a startup company that’s very, very inexpensive. And of course we are looking at collateral and personal guarantees on those loans. The process is very similar to an SBA loan. >>>

Catching Up On Readings: A New Kind Of Silicon Valley

While Silicon Valley’s reputation as a center for innovation in technology is well established, it is not regarded as a center of creativity in other fields, especially design, literature, cuisine, and the visual and performing arts. Both leaders and newer faces in these fields tend to live and work elsewhere. What needs to happen to encourage more interaction between the two groups, and in doing so make Silicon Valley a more multidimensional place? Click on the full article link to read the rest of this week’s posts. >>>

Silicon Valley: The Next Decade (Part 3)

The Money and How It Is Applied

Of course, the models discussed are predicated upon the fact that the patrons and salonniers had money and were willing to spend it on fostering a community of artists and intellectuals without directly benefiting from such an “investment.” >>>

Silicon Valley: The Next Decade (Part 2)

How Do You Foster Renaissance Thinking?

Each period of renaissance from history saw great congregations of talented people from multiple disciplines in certain cities or regions. Two prominent examples are Florence under the Medicis and Elizabethan England. Artists, writers, scientists, and philosophers were in the same place, working close to each other and exchanging ideas on a regular basis. >>>

Catching Up On Readings: What Role Does Technology Play In Corporate And Government Censorship?

At this week’s G8 summit in Paris, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it “extremely arrogant for any specific tech company to claim ay meaningful role” in the uprisings in the Middle East and Northern Africa. This week’s EJ interviewee, AnchorFree CEO David Gorodyansky, claimed that his company “played a key role” in the movements. What do you think? What role can or should technology play in corporate and government censorship? Click on the full article to read the rest of this week’s post. >>>

Growing A SaaS Startup With Velocity: Marketo CEO Phil Fernandez (Part 7)

Sramana: What is your forecast for this year?

Phil Fernandez: We will do in the up $30 million of annual recurring revenue. We will achieve the same fourth-year revenue that Salesforce.com achieved in their fourth year. The difference is that they spent $250 million to build that market, and I have spent $17 million. It is radically more efficient to build a SaaS company today. >>>

Catching Up On Readings: More Competition For Netflix

U.K.-based Spotify has its sights set on the U.S. market, where Netflix dominates. Click on the full article link to read the rest of this week’s posts. >>>

Seed Capital From Angel Investors: Pravin Gandhi, Seedfund – Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, India (Part 1)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Vandana Upadhyay

I am talking to Pravin Gandhi, a founding partner at Seedfund, which is one of the India’s leading early-stage venture capital funds, with operations in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi.

Seedfund was founded in 2006 by Bharati Jacob, Mahesh Murthy, and Pravin Gandhi.  In 2010, they raised Seedfund II, which is a $54 million fund. The fund also runs its own incubator.

Irina: Hi, Pravin. Let’s start with your personal background. Where are you from and where did you receive your education? How did you arrive at this point in your life?

Pravin: I was born in Mumbai and did my schooling here. I did my undergraduate work at Cornell and then returned to India after I finished my undergraduate degree. Then I worked in a couple of companies because I really wanted to be an entrepreneur. >>>