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Help Haiti

Like many of you, I've been wondering how best to help the Haiti earthquake victims. The following list (thanks Bro!) makes it easy...

Disaster relief organizations are mobilizing to aid Haiti - and are asking for help. Funds are needed to provide enough safe water, temporary shelter and vital medical supplies.

UNICEF and Save the Children already have emergency teams in Haiti, and the Red Cross has released $200,000 in disaster funds.

You can donate to these groups:

- Text Yele. Wyclef Jean is urging donors to text 'Yele' to 501501 and make a $5 contribution to the relief effort over cell phone. Click here to get more information via Wyclef's foundation page.

- Text HAITI. For those interesting in helping immediately, simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

- Save the Children. Donate at savethechildren.org or make checks out to "Save the Children" and mail to: Save the Children Income Processing Department, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, Conn. 06880

- UNICEF. Go online to unicefusa.org/haitiquake or call (800) 4UNICEF.

- Red Cross. Go online to redcross.org and click Donate, or call (800) REDCROSS.

- Direct Relief International. Donate online at directrelief.org.

- Mercy Corp. Go online to mercycorps.org or mail checks to Haiti Earthquake Fund, Dept. NR, PO Box 2669, Portland, Ore. 97208 or call (888) 256-1900


To find information about friends and family in Haiti: The U.S. State Department set up a toll-free number to call for information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747.

The department said some callers may receive a recording because of heavy volume of calls.

The State Department has also set up links on its Web site to facilitate donations to disaster relief agencies.



**For a list of other charities active in Haiti or for additional information, please visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34835478/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/

How to Approach VCs

I got a great set of questions from an entrepreneur (Delena) on an earlier post, concerning how to approach, qualify and follow-up with VCs. I've heard these tactical communication questions a bit more often in the past year so I thought I'd expand upon at least one of Delena's questions here.

Delena asked "How long should one pursue a [VC] firm?" My first answer is to pursue appropriate investors until you no longer need funding, but the devil's in the details.

Chum the Water, Before Baiting a Hook

You've seen those deep sea fishing shows, right, where they throw meat out well before casting a line? This is especially true for shark fishing. Well, given how the popular media likes to equate VCs and sharks (think SharkTank), follow that same approach for engaging VCs. Reach out to appropriate VCs well before you need funding and start a relationship that invites curiosity or informal advice. Share what you're doing, maybe an exciting announcement, and solicit advice, not money. Believe it or not, VCs are much more likely to engage if they're being approached for their "infinite business wisdom" instead of their checkbook. This requires more legwork than just emailing executive summaries, but getting to know VCs before you need money is critical to getting their attention later. This also provides an opportunity to understand a VC's hot-buttons so you can demonstrate progress on those prior to pitching for investment.

Be Persistent, but Polite

Now, once you have baited your hook and cast it out, what if you don't get any nibbles? That period just after submitting an executive summary or business plan to VCs is one of the most uncertain for young entrepreneurs. What does silence mean? How soon is too soon to follow-up? My advice is to be persistent, but polite. Give VCs about two weeks to work through dealflow and review your plan, but after that follow-up weekly in a multi-modal, but polite way. This is a simple concept, but less than 1% of entrepreneurs execute on it. Follow-up emails, phone calls, and even twitter DMs should always stay professional, but push for the next step of call, meeting or feedback. VCs review thousands of plans a year and you want yours on the top of their inbox as much as possible -- each ping gets it another look until they decide a formal next step. In addition to getting attention, this process also demonstrates to a VC how you conduct business -- persistent entrepreneurs win customers, partners and top talent. The worst case of being persistent, but polite, is you get a "no" sooner than you might otherwise -- but even that's better than staying in limbo.

Gather Believers, Even if they Don't Give to the Cause

What if you chum the water, bait the hook, follow-up in a persistent, but polite manner; and it still results in a "no"? Well, I'd suggest you are after two things when talking to a VC: 1) believe and 2) invest. A "no" on investment doesn't foreclose the potential of gaining a believer in you, your product, or your market. Try to find out what area of your opportunity a VC does believe in, and what areas are a problem. Then, add that VC to an ongoing distribution list for future updates. This is another tactic that less than 1% of entrepreneurs utilize. If you get me on a distribution list of updates, you have the opportunity to grow my belief over time and address problem areas so I'll re-engage. For example, if a key missing piece was customer adoption, an email that mentions landing a big customer might cause a VC to reply for an update. Even if it doesn't pull a VC back to you, you never know when VCs are networking and your company is mentioned. If multiple VCs are aware of your latest company wins, there's a higher likelihood they will compare notes on your opportunity. Likewise, a VC familiar with your progress might point customers, partners or talent your way.

I've seen plenty of other tips for approaching and attracting VCs, particularly as it relates to qualifying the right VCs. These tips are not a replacement for those; just communication tactics once you've decided who to approach. I hope they help...

UPDATE: In the comments, Sam highlighted another great resource on pitching VCs, put together by Mark over at GRP. I think it's so useful, I wanted to highlight here -- and throw some linklove to yet another VC who understands the power of in-stream advertising.

IZEAFest at SeaWorld Recap

After attending IZEAFest @ SeaWorld last weekend, I was planning to share a summary of the event here. However, I see that Convention News TV has already created a very nice video detailing the event, including clips from speakers such as Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Aaron Brazell (@technosailor), Rae Hoffman (@sugarrae), and others.

IZEA and other attendees did such a good job documenting the event, I'll just share this media feast:

• IZEAFest video on UStream, Sponzai walk-thru & Murphy/Feldman/Rua interview, IZEAFest video on YouTube
• IZEAFest on Twitter
• IZEAFest on blogs
• IZEAFest pics on Flickr (remember: these are attendee-generated pics from the conference and after-hours networking...view at your own brain-melting risk)

If you remember nothing else from this cornucopia of media, remember that yet another IZEA innovation was unveiled: Sponsored Guest Posts via Sponzai

Florida Growth Fund

Earlier this week I attended a Florida Venture Forum welcome event for the Florida Growth Fund, a $250 million hybrid fund-of-funds managed by Hamilton Lane for the Florida State Board of Administration. A say "hybrid" because the fund has two missions: 1) invest into Florida-focused venture capital funds and 2) invest directly into Florida companies. It's not clear how much of the fund will go into each of those buckets, but their investment amounts per deal/fund are roughly $5-15 million.

A couple of the principals from Hamilton Lane spoke at the event, Greg Baty and David Helgerson, and it was very well attended. Both Greg and David are drinking from a firehose at the moment, Florida is a big, diverse geography for venture capital. They are doing a good job of meeting the right folks around southern, central and northern Florida. In parallel, they are also dealing with the logistics of fund creation, including new offices in Ft Lauderdale and Orlando.

Attendance included local entrepreneurs and venture funds from inside and outside Florida. As predicted for years, a pension fund commitment to local venture capital has focused venture fund attention on Florida -- pulling venture funds to the event from just about every state in the Southeast, and some beyond. Now that we've got the attention, it falls to Greg, David and their team to pick the funds and companies that will drive the best investor returns for FSBA.

Their mandate sounds pretty broad, covering early & later-stage venture capital funds and multiple industries for direct deals. Although they're after Florida direct deals and looking for funds with a Florida connection, they are not bound to Florida-only funds. For direct deals, they will not lead and price rounds, but would consider following-on up to half of a round. At the event, they announced their first two investments: 1) Voxeo and 2) an unnamed later-stage venture fund.

In my opinion, the hardest part of their mandate will be to balance priority on near-term small wins and long-term results. I was in Tallahassee when the Florida Growth Fund was announced and I remember a media question about "when can we expect results from this FSBA program?" Part of the answer mentioned seeing near-term (3-4 years) "points on the board" -- something that historically conflicts with achieving the highest returns from early-stage investing (see chart). Although balancing near-term and long-term expectations is tough, it's not insurmountable. With stage-diversification and patience, "invest in ourselves" programs like this can deliver great results. Hamilton Lane manages similar programs for multiple states across the country and they seem to understand the value of mixed early-stage and later-stage investments to achieve blended success.

Although their website hasn't fully launched yet, you can see their splash page at http://www.floridagrowthfund.com/. It includes email and phone contacts. If you learn more from your interactions, share with other Florida entrepreneurs by commenting here...

Venture Capital Syndicates

I've written before about how tough markets like this really separate the wheat from the chaff within a company. As if your company were a foxhole, you get to see who stays to fight by your side and who runs to another foxhole with more protection; or worse, who runs away from the fight altogether looking for a safe desk job far from the battlefield.

My past posts were more about people within a company, but a similar test of commitment happens within investor syndicates. Most entrepreneurs I've met focus on picking their lead investor, but spend little attention on the long-term strength/weakness of the syndicate that forms around that lead. As an investor that typically leads deals, Inflexion spends considerable time and diligence architecting the syndicates in our deals. Most of the time, we select investors we've built companies with before, but every now and then we partner with a fund for the first time. That requires a bit more diligence and we look for, at least, the following four things:

1) Value-add: Relevant investing or operating experience for the opportunity. Beyond the dollars, syndicates are about bringing value-add to a portfolio company thru experience and relationships.
2) Congruence: A POV on the opportunity that's consistent with the entrepreneur and lead investor. Although a quality syndicate requires diversity of experiences and networks, divergent views on the "big opportunity" can be a huge time/resource sink.
3) Dry Powder: A fund size, age and reserve philosophy that suggests they won't get "over their skis" prematurely. We'd rather a co-investor put in less money up front and reserve appropriately (2X-5X), than go heavy early, leaving little dry powder for critical later rounds.
4) Consistency: A track record of consistent operating and financial decision-making. A co-investor that provides inconsistent guidance can wreak havoc at a board level, and a hair-trigger between greed and fear will whipsaw entrepreneurs and co-investors alike. In the unpredictable world of early-stage venture capital, co-investor consistency is an absolute must.

There are plenty of other factors, like investing style (west coast vs. east coast, home-runs vs. doubles), but those four are at the top of my list. I only want investors in my foxhole who will add significant value beyond their dollars, see the same "big opportunity", reserve dollars to play when entrepreneurs really need them, and behave in a consistent manner we can rely upon -- particularly in tough times. I don't always get that mix right, but it's my job as lead investor and commitment to my entrepreneurs to try.

Dystonia Cure Within Reach for Tyler's Hope

I've blogged here before about Tyler's Hope and wanted to share a big day for Tyler and his family. This morning CNN.com posted the video below and TylersHope.org is getting bombarded with people wanting to help find a Dystonia cure. How can you help?

1) Watch this video;

2) Learn more at TylersHope.org;

3) Join the Tyler's Hope Facebook Cause; and

4) Help Tyler find a cure by giving and inviting friends to help!

Tyler Staab is a classmate of my daughter's and I'd personally appreciate anything you can do to help...