Workshop

Monday, August 4, 10 am - 4 pm

Join us for a day of planning on launching your own venture. Like a writer’s workshop, this highly interactive day will be a chance to practice expressing and validating key pitch concepts. You will learn to: 

• Conduct customer discovery
• Articulate a value proposition
• Give an effective elevator pitch
• Start a fundraising discussion

Andrea Belz will lead a master class in new venture strategy.  As Division Director at the US National Science Foundation, she oversaw the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs (SBIR / STTR), funding 1,000 startups during her tenure, as well as the NSF I-Corps programs.  She was active in the Pasadena Angels for nearly twenty years and represented them on the Board of Directors of Caltech spinoff Ondax until its acquisition by Coherent (NASD:COHR).  Through her consulting practice she served innovators including Avery Dennsion, BP, Caltech, National Academy of Engineering, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Occidental Petroleum, Samsung, UCLA, and others in formulating and executing technology strategies. 

The day will conclude with practice pitches presented to startup veterans, all of whom have sold their companies or have led corporate venturing efforts.  Participants are guaranteed a slot to present their firms at Beach Buzz on Tuesday night. 

Ravi Annaswamy, Numocity Technologies (a partially owned subsidiary of ABB) and IEEE TEMS Past President; formerly Nokia, Siemens

Sudeendra Koushik, Reva University and IEEE TEMS President-Elect; formerly Philips, Volvo

** This workshop is not included with conference registration.