Angel and Venture Capital Investors Coach Entrepreneurs How to Pitch in Silicon Valley

Menlo Park, California (March 8, 2005) – On March 15, 2005, leading Venture Capital and Angel investors are set to speak and coach entrepreneurs at the FundingPost “Silicon Valley Pitching Workshops” events sponsored by the City of Menlo Park, Orrick and TriNet. While most events only allow start-ups to network with investors, this event allows entrepreneurs to pitch their companies to early-stage investors and received helpful feedback from Angels and Venture Capitalists. The FundingPost Event Calendar and registration information are online at: http://www.fundingpost.com/events.asp

After completing four successful events in the same format in New York City and Philadelphia, FundingPost is bringing the “Pitching Workshops” model to Silicon Valley to help local start-ups get the kind of constructive critiques they need to be successful in achieving funding. There will be two pitching workshops, a morning session and an afternoon session. City of Menlo Park Mayor Mickie Winkler is scheduled to give the morning keynote speech. The speakers on the morning and afternoon panels include:

• David Adams, Managing Director, Rocket Ventures
• Brian Ascher, Senior Principal, Venrock Associates
• Laura Brege, Partner, Red Rock Ventures
• Praveen Gupta, Executive Director, CDIB Ventures
• John Hall, Managing Director, Horizon Ventures
• Robert C. Marshall, Managing Director, Selby Venture Partners
• Ho Nam, General Partner & co-founder, Altos Ventures
• Alex Osadzinski, Venture Partner, Trinity Ventures
• Alexander J. Rhea, Founding General Partner, Pyramid Technology Ventures
• Brendan Richardson, Partner, Vision Capital
• Ray Rothrock, Managing General Partner, Venrock Associates
• Kai Tse, Principal, GKM Ventures
• Bret Wilbur, Regional Sales Consultant, Trinet
• Peter Wolken, Special Limited Partner, Diamondhead Ventures


After the keynote speech by Mickie Winkler, Mayor of the City of Menlo Park, the morning panelists will discuss what they look for in a successful entrepreneurial company pitch. Then each of the thirty companies in attendance will have the opportunity to give their own two minute “elevator pitch.” After the session, FundingPost will provide each start-up company with feedback from the investors. The afternoon session will also have an investor panel discussion followed by company pitches.

“We are delighted to be returning to Silicon Valley. The Pitching Workshops have been successful because both the entrepreneurs and the investors see the value of the exchange,” said Joe Rubin, Director, FundingPost. “The economy for early-stage investing is improving. Our investor panels are excited to see the new dealflow in these early companies, and the entrepreneurs are finding the investors’ tips and responses helpful for improving and refining their pitches.”

"We are pleased to provide the opportunity for entrepreneurs to share their business plans with venture capitalists, as VC investing is on the rise and this is a great forum for identifying promising new companies," said Peter Cohn, partner in Orrick's Emerging Companies Group.

“FundingPost has created innovative, high quality forums allowing TriNet to share our knowledge of the key human capital components with the decision makers building exciting new companies along with the institutional investors and advisors that are looking to help them grow those firms,” said Doug Bailey, Director of Sales, TriNet. “Their ability to bring the proper balance of the right entrepreneurs, the top players in the investment community, and the right partners like TriNet has been key to our mutual success.”

For more information about the Silicon Valley Pitching Workshops and other FundingPost events, contact Keith Henry at 203-659-6649 or visit the FundingPost website at http://www.fundingpost.com/events.asp

ABOUT FUNDINGPOST:
FundingPost is an entrepreneur and investor network reaching more than 60,000 executives and 6,000 Venture Capital and Angel Investors across the nation each month.

For over four years FundingPost has worked with thousands of Angel and Venture Capital Investors and Entrepreneurs. FundingPost has hosted over 4,000 CEOs and 500 Venture Funds at events in 15 cities nationwide, as well as providing a quarterly Dealflow magazine and a deal-exchange Website that has, on average, seen an introduction of an Investor to an Entrepreneur every business day since its inception. FundingPost’s mission to reach investors and entrepreneurs in every medium possible – both online and offline, and it is experiencing strong growth as the venture capital markets continue to improve worldwide.

ABOUT ORRICK:
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is an international law firm with approximately 700 lawyers in North America, Europe, and Asia. The firm focuses on litigation, complex and novel finance, and innovative corporate transactions. Orrick clients include Fortune 100 companies, major industrial and financial corporations, commercial and investment banks, high-growth companies, governmental entities, start-ups, and individuals. The firm's 14 offices are located in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, Pacific Northwest, London, Milan, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and Taipei.

For more information, please contact our Communications Team at pr@orrick.com.

ABOUT TRINET:
Founded in 1988, TriNet offers the simplicity of a single solution for outsourcing benefits, payroll, and human resources. The company's online and in-person services allow customers throughout the United States and Canada to streamline their business, gain enterprise-level resources, and focus on strategy rather than administration. TriNet specializes in offering secure, paperless HR transactions to industries such as technology, venture capital, banking, accounting, and professional services.

TriNet is a member of the Vedior Group of companies. Vedior, NV is the world's third largest staffing and human resource firm with over $6 billion in revenue. TriNet is also a member of the Inc. 500 Hall of Fame, an honor earned for five consecutive rankings in Inc Magazine's list of fastest-growing, privately held companies. In addition to an annual financial audit conducted by Ernst & Young, TriNet is audited quarterly by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), a non-profit organization providing financial assurance and responsibility standards for companies performing outsourced employer services. At the present time, TriNet is one of only six firms to receive continuous accreditation since the ESAC's founding in 1995.

For more information, visit www.trinet.com