Watch as the Top Finalists of the 2012 Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Competition present LIVE –
Ten teams with at least one female co-founder will take the stage on February 14 at the Women 2.0 PITCH Conference and present their best pitch in front of a panel of investors for prizes. Read More »
By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)
The run-up to Women 2.0 PITCH Conference on February 14, 2012 is defined by Women 2.0′s fifth annual Startup Competition for early-stage tech startups.
Watch the finalists of the 2012 Women 2.0 Startup Competition pitch live on February 14. Hear first-hand feedback from panels of real investors on what makes a successful pitch for investment.
Here are the 10 finalists of the 2012 Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Competition: Read More »
By E.B. Boyd (Silicon Valley Reporter, Fast Company)
Some of tech’s leading designers gather at 500 Startups to inspire the next generation. Step one: Learn how to code.
On Friday, a dozen of Silicon Valley’s top women designers gathered at 500 Startups for a sold-out mini-symposium on everything from design best practices to how best to chart careers. The event titled “Women in Design” was put on by The Designer Fund. The idea behind the gathering, Designer Fund co-founder Enrique Allen tells Fast Company, is to “inspire the next generation of designers through storytelling.” Read More »
By Betsy Aoki (Senior Program/Product Manager, Bing)
As a woman in a startup, you are likely familiar with the rollercoaster ups and downs of funding, ongoing tug-a-war with the competition and the stress of pushing out the next release. There, the only defense against your own caffeine-amped angst is your sense of humor and the just-as-crazy team (you got to be, right?) working diligently alongside you.
Having been part of a startup in Seattle, I’m no stranger to that ride — which is also how I know that sometimes all you need is a little boost to get over that next hill. Read More »
The 5th Annual PITCH: Women 2.0 Startup Competition is open to early-stage ventures around the world, from high growth business ventures in mobile to web, from double bottom line businesses to connected devices.
Applying companies must have a female in the founding team, be in beta stage, and have received less than a million in funding.
Application deadline: December 7, 2011 @ MIDNIGHT (PST).
Thanks for applying — now hang tight! Finalists will be notified by January 2 — thank you for your patience!
By Steph Palmeri (Senior Associate, SoftTech VC)
Last Sunday, I spend the afternoon meeting and mentoring several of the Women 2.0 Startup Weekend teams.
As an early stage investor at SoftTech VC, I see hundreds of ideas a month so it seemed fitting that I would be spending time with the teams just as many were diving in to construct and perfect their final Startup Weekend pitches for the judges. Their FIVE MINUTE pitches.
Damn. Five minutes goes pretty quick. And after you’ve spent the last 48 hours laser-focused on an idea, five minutes goes faster then a talented VP of Engineering looking for a new gig. Read More »
By Blake Landau (Blogger, What’s Your Story)
Editor’s note: Apply to the Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Competition for early-stage startups with at least 1 female on the founding team. Deadline to apply is November 30, 2011.
When I was a kid, I was your average millennial — by which I mean I was on a tight schedule of brownies, soccer practices, Hebrew school, mall outings and birthday parties.
In the context of AYSO soccer games, I was scary for someone only three and half feet tall. Read More »
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. (November 4, 2010) — Women 2.0 PITCH Night brought the finalists of the Women 2.0 Startup Competition onstage to compete for top prize at the high-energy event attended by 300 entrepreneurs, investors and startup enthusiasts.
We at Women 2.0 never cease to be amazed by the range of startup pitches at PITCH Night. They’re not like Facebook (in a good way) – these ideas are different, the teams are different, the reach is different. By the end of PITCH Night, winners had been announced: Apply in the Sky to manage your b-school applications, mobile infrastructure of “top ups” to transfer money between consumers at Prepay Nation, and last but not least, BioLumber plastic that is as strong as steel but as light as lumber, saving the world from the plastic vortex!
Each year PITCH reminds us a few things:
Women 2.0 CEO Shaherose Charania talks about the winners of PITCH Night on TechCrunch here.
 Diane Greene (right) was the Founding CEO at Silicon Valley tech company VMware. She shares her story with Arielle Scott (Founder, GenJuice) and the audience at Women 2.0 PITCH Night – “VMware initially took 6 hours to boot Windows on Linux. Don’t give up on your big ideas.” Diane Greene’s advice to female entrepreneurs: you too could start a VMware (via @Xconomy). |
 Finalists for the web portion of Women 2.0 PITCH Night 2010, Chiara Piccinotti and Emily Chiu of Apply in the Sky deliver the winning pitch and win the judge’s vote. |
 Cleantech finalist BioLumber CEO Kristin Kaune delivers the winning pitch at Women 2.0 PITCH Night 2010 to win a prized investor meeting with Esther Dyson! |
 Judges for the cleantech panel from left: Cindi Choi (Corporate Development, SunPower), Cynthia Ringo (Managing Director, DBL Investors), and Rachel Pike (Analyst, Draper Fisher Jurvetson) listen to pitches from Aesir Metals, BioLumber, and Chouette at Women 2.0 PITCH Night 2010. |
 Obopay founder and CEO Carol Realini (pictured right) tells the audience she has raised $200M to date in venture funding. Carol Realini advises not to be a “lone ranger” and shared her 10-5-3-1 recipe to venture success. Get 10 great meetings with investors, and 5 of them go through due dilligence. Get 3 good term sheets, because you need to have choices. In the end, it’s 1 bank transfer! |
 Lesa Mitchell from the Kauffman Foundation announces the winner of the 2010 Women 2.0 PITCH Night for the mobile category as Jessica Bishop of Prepay Nation. |
 From left, Kelley Boyd (Managing Director for New York, Women 2.0), Alexis Ringwald (Co-Founder, Valence Energy – acquired by Serious Materials), Lynn Jurich (Co-Founder & President, SunRun), and Shaherose Charania (Co-Founder & CEO, Women 2.0) at PITCH Night 2010. Quotable quotes from Lynn: “I talk about solar construction with SunRun, and my husband talks about beauty products.” Another crowd favorite: “We decided to approach our marriage like a portfolio: one of us works the steady job and one starts a company.” |
 Special thanks to Twilio for donating their office space for Women 2.0 PITCH Night 2010 — and providing free WiFi for all! The Twilio Lounge (pictured) was also appreciated by the Women 2.0 community. |
 The Women 2.0 community is a multi-tasking bunch, well-versed in cloud computing as well as various OS and iOS devices – three different ones pictured here. |
 Pictured from left, Baat Enosh and Aihui Ong of Women 2.0 at the 4th Annual PITCH Night in San Francisco. |
 Catered dinner thanks to Back-A-Yard Caribbean American Grill in Menlo Park — the curried goat was a surprise hit! |
 The advancement of women in entrepreneurship and business will not be achieved without everyone’s support. Thanks David Weekly! |
Special thanks to Pokin Yeung and Julie Blaustein for photographing Women 2.0 PITCH Night 2010.
Women 2.0 CEO Shaherose Charania says, “They’re not like Facebook (in a good way).”
The winners of the 2010 Women 2.0 Startup Competition announced at PITCH Night yesterday:
– In the mobile category, the 2010 PITCH winner is — Prepay Nation
– In the cleantech category, the 2010 PITCH winer is Biolumber
– In the web category, the 2010 PITCH winner is Apply in the Sky
Read Women 2.0 PITCH Night coverage of the winners on TechCrunch here.
The 4th Annual PITCH: Women 2.0 Startup Competition is open to early-stage ventures around the world, from high growth business ventures in web to mobile, from cleantech to biotech. Applying companies must have a female in the founding team, be in beta stage, and have received less than 3 million in funding. Deadline to apply is October 8, 2010.
All applications will receive written feedback from at least 3 members of the judging panel. Finalists pitch live in at the 4th Annual PITCH Night on November 4, 2010 in San Francisco. Previous years’ prizes included meetings with Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital) and Tim Draper (Draper Fisher Jurvetson).
This year, winners receive meetings with iconic investors Esther Dyson (investor in companies such as Flickr, del.icio.us, and 23andMe), Matt Murphy (Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), Mike Maples (Managing Partner, FLOODGATE), and Naval Ravikant (Partner, AngelList). Winners will also receive a host of startup-friendly services valued at $17k.
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1.) Fill out the one-page application online. You can edit your application online anytime up to the closing date of October 8. Applying teams must have at least one female on the founding team. |
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2.) Mail in your napkin business plan. Scribble and doodle your business idea on a paper napkin, and send it in. |
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3.) Film a quick 2-min video pitch. This isn’t a business pitch to the investor, but a marketing pitch to your consumer. |
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4.) Submit everything by the closing date of October 8, 2010. Last day to edit your application online and upload your 2-minute video is October 8, 2010. |
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5.) Finalists will be notified October 19, 2010. The judging panel will review submissions and provide written feedback to all applications. |
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6.) Finalists present on November 4, 2010 in San Francisco. You are invited to join us at Women 2.0 PITCH Night to watch finalists pitch live and hear keynotes from female founders of successful tech startups (VMware, Obopay, and SunRun). This is the biggest Women 2.0 event of the year — get your ticket now! |
How to apply to the Women 2.0 PITCH Startup Competition — there are 3 parts:
All applications will receive written feedback from the judging panel. Judges are investors and successful entrepreneurs who take time to review your application in detail and provide honest, constructive feedback on your venture and application. For a list of the judging panel, click here.
Finalists will be notified October 19, 2010 and invited to present at Women 2.0 PITCH Night in San Francisco on November 4th, 2010. If you are selected as a finalist, the entire team must present at PITCH.
This competition is in line with Steve Blank’s position that startups model while companies plan — hence, Women 2.0 is holding a business model competition rather than a business plan competition. Judging is based on not just the initial business model but what the team learned by pivoting, for example, avoiding the “beauty contest” of business plans where judges resort to choosing the best “paper exercise” plan (rather than the best business or the team that has made the most progress in figuring out product-market fit). Teams, whether they win or lose, finish the competition significantly more prepared to launch their business in the real world. Read more »
Esther Dyson (Principal, EDventure Holdings)
Esther is an active investor at EDventure Holdings in a variety of startups, focusing on technology. Her portfolio of private space and air travel investments includes XCOR Aerospace, Space Adventures/Zero G (recently merged), Constellation Services, Icon Aircraft, Coastal Aviation Software and Airship Ventures. She has flown weightless on Zero-G four times, but hopes to go up again soon. On the IT side, Esther’s investments included Flickr and del.icio.us, both sold to Yahoo! and Medstory, sold to Microsoft. Currently, she sits on the boards of 23andMe, Meetup, WPP Group, Eventful, Evernote, Boxbe and Yandex, the leading Russian search company. Esther sold her business EDventure Holdings, along with its Release1.0 newsletter and PC Forum conference, to CNET Networks in 2004. Esther left CNET at the end of 2006 and (with permission) has resumed doing business under the name of EDventure Holdings. She spends most of her time exploring new space, health care and IT start-ups and technologies, writing about them and actively (and with full disclosure) investing in some of them.
Matt Murphy (Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)
Matt manages the iFund at KPCB, a collaborative initiative with Apple focused on funding and building defining applications on the iPhone OS platform and the mobile internet. His expertise is in network communications, compute infrastructure, and mobile applications. Matt is either a Director or works closely with the management teams of Booyah!, GOGII, Pelago, Shazam, shopkick, Kodiak Networks, RGB Networks, Stoke, Aerohive Networks, and Puppet Labs. Previously, Matt was a board observer at Google (from initial investment to IPO), led KP’s investment in Autonavi (NASDAQ: AMAP ’10), and was a Director at Ocarina Networks (acquired by Dell ’10), Peakstream (acquired by Google ’08), Dash Navigation (acquired by RIM ’09). Prior to KPCB, Matt led product management at a semiconductor startup (Netboost acquired by Intel) and worked at Sun Microsystems. Matt holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Mike Maples (Managing Partner, FLOODGATE)
Mike is the managing partner of FLOODGATE, and was recently named as one of “8 Rising VC Stars” by Fortune Magazine for his investments in business and consumer technology companies. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was an entrepreneur and operating executive who worked in a variety of senior management roles in high-growth companies. His background spans a variety of markets including consumer technology, small business, and the enterprise, and he has led various functions in product development, marketing, business development, and corporate strategy. Mike co-founded Motive, Inc., the world’s leading broadband software company in 1997, and played key roles in its growth from raw start-up through sales of more than $75 million. Motive was one of the only successful technology IPOs in 2004, and the most successful infrastructure software IPO for the prior three years. At Motive, Mike was General Manager of Motive’s Corporate Business Unit, as well as Chief Marketing and Strategy officer. Prior to Motive, Mike was responsible for worldwide product marketing at Tivoli Systems, where he managed the company’s product portfolio from its early-stage development through its 1995 IPO and growth to a $750M line of business within the IBM Software Group. Mike began his professional career at Silicon Graphics, where he served in business development and product marketing roles. Mike holds an Engineering degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Naval Ravikant (Partner, AngelList)
Naval is an entrepreneur and angel investor, a co-author of Venture Hacks, and a co-maintainer of AngelList. Previously, he was a co-founder at Genoa Corp (acquired by Finisar), Epinions.com (IPO via Shopping.com), and Vast.com (largest white-label classifieds marketplace). Naval has advised Bix.com, iPivot, and XFire, among others, and invested in many companies, including Twitter, FourSquare, DocVerse (sold to Google), Mixer Labs (sold to Twitter), Jambool (Social Gold), SnapLogic, PlanCast, Stack Overflow, Heyzap, and Disqus. Naval holds B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Dartmouth College.
Both men and women are invited to attend the 4th Annual Women 2.0 “PITCH Night” on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 in San Francisco. Join us for our biggest event of the year! Get your ticket here!
Featured speakers and judges at PITCH Night:
Network with the Women 2.0 community at the reception afterward, sponsored by AT&T.Fireside Chat on the Future of Mobile (November 4, 2010 @ 4pm)
Carol Realini (Founder & CEO, Obopay) – Speaker
Carol founded Obopay to meet the need for an industry leader in mobile payments technology. In only a few business quarters, Carol secured $29 million in funding and finalized deals with every major cellular network in the United States. Today, Obopay is at the forefront of an emerging industry and quickly gathering the market share essential to ensuring longevity.
Shaherose Charania (Co-Founder & CEO, Women 2.0) – Moderator
Shaherose is passionate about open innovation in mobile and telephony startups. She is currently part of the founding team at Opinno, an open innovation network for growth stage startups across web, mobile, cleantech and biotech. Shaherose is also a co-founder and CEO of Women 2.0, a network and incubator for woman-led startups in Silicon Valley. Shaherose holds a B.A. in Business Admin from The University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business.
Fireside Chat on the Future of Web (November 4, 2010 @ 7:45pm)
Diane Greene (Founding CEO, VMware) – Speaker
Diane serves on the board of Intuit, the MIT Corporation, the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), and actively works with several early stage companies. She was the CEO of VMware (VMW) from 1998 to 2008, taking the company from founding to $2B in revenue. Prior to VMware, Diane was also founding CEO of VXtreme which was sold to Microsoft. Diane’s degrees include mechanical engineering, naval architecture and computer science from the University of Vermont, MIT and the University of California Berkeley, respectively.
Arielle Patrice Scott (Founder, GenJuice) – Moderator
Arielle is an entrepreneur with a focus on starting companies targeting young adults. Earlier this year, Arielle founded GenJuice, which is a company that develops content, events and products for young innovators and up-and-coming influencers under 30. Arielle is currently pursing a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Information Technology & Media from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fireside Chat on the Future of Cleantech (November 4, 2010 @ 5:30pm)
Lynn Jurich (Founder & President, SunRun) – Speaker
Lynn co-founded SunRun because she believes homeowners will choose to help the environment and their community by going solar, as long it’s affordable and easy for them to do so. In 2009, Lynn was chosen by Fortune as one of the Ten Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs and was invited to President Obama’s White House Jobs Summit to provide recommendations for creating green jobs. Lynn holds both a B.S. and M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Alexis Ringwald (Co-Founder, Valence Energy) – Moderator
Alexis is the Director of Business Development at Serious Materials, a leading green buildings technology firm. She was a co-founder and Director of Business Development at Valence Energy, an energy management software startup that was recently acquired by Serious Materials to launch Serious Energy. Alexis is also a co-founder and advisor to SmartPowerEd.org, an educational network training students on smart energy technologies. Alexis holds a dual B.A. and M.E.M. (Master of Environmental Management) from Yale.
PITCH 2010 Finalists (Mobile Track) Pitch Live on November 4, 2010 @ 3:15pm
Mobile Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Mightyverse
Mightyverse builds video-driven language tools for mobile devices, collecting words, phrases, and sentences translated from one language to another, creating a global language marketplace.
Presenters: Sarah Allen (Co-Founder & CTO, Mightyverse) and Paul Lundahl (Creative Director, Mightyverse)Mobile Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Nexpense
Nexpense is mobile expense reporting for SMBs allowing users to capture expenses w/ their smart-phone and automates the back-end, saving companies time and money.
Presenter: Jennifer Bonnett (Founder & CEO, Nexpense)Mobile Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Prepay Nation
Prepay Nation is a processor of “micro-payments” across national and international boundaries utilizing “mobile” ecosystems within the “unbanked” communities.
Presenters: Jessica Bishop (Founding Member, Prepay Nation)
PITCH 2010 Finalists (Cleantech Track) Pitch Live on November 4, 2010 @ 5:00pm
Cleantech Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Aesir Metals
Aesir Metals uses the greenest metal fabrication process to add value for customers by eliminating their need for machining, welding, heat treating and more.
Presenters: Sarah Jordan (Co-Founder & General Manager, Aesir Metals), Mark DeBruin (Co-Founder & Operations Manager, Aesir Metals)
Cleantech Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — BioLumber
BioLumber is a proven, eco-pragmatic company that will manufacture the only patented structural strength recycled plastic lumber.
Presenters: Kristin Kaune (CEO, BioLumber), Mitch Templeton (Sales, BioLumber), René Gamboa (Legal, BioLumber), James “Ed” Kaune (Founder & Inventor, BioLumber)
Cleantech Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Chouette
Chouette is a patented innovative all-in-one handbag that reverses and converts to become any bag any time you need it, without sacrificing style or quality.
Presenter: Judith Nelson (Founder & Designer, Chouette)
PITCH 2010 Finalists (Web Track) Pitch Live on November 4, 2010 @ 7pm
Web Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Apply in the Sky
Apply in the Sky streamlines the MBA application process and alleviates key pain points, helping applicants save time, stay organized and gain an edge.
Presenters: Emily Chiu (Co-Founder & CEO, Apply in the Sky), Chiara Piccinotti (Co-Founder, Apply in the Sky)
Web Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — Everloop
Everloop is the first website for tweens 8-13 that draws a safe, private “social loop” around kids’ connections, and puts purpose into being online.
Presenter: Hilary Decesare (Co-Founder & CEO, Everloop)
Web Track — Pitch 2010 Finalist — ObjectiveMarketer
ObjectiveMarketer offers an integrated platform for businesses to create, execute and optimize powerful multi-channel social media marketing programs.
Presenter: Amita Paul (Founder & CEO, ObjectiveMarketer)
Cindi Choi (Corporate Development, SunPower)
Cindi is the Corporate Development Manager at SunPower Corporation. She began her career in investment banking in oil and gas sector, and after five years as a banker, forayed into clean tech entrepreneurship as a co-founder of a battery startup for electric vehicles in the Bay Area. In the last two years at SunPower, Cindi focuses on corporate investments, partnerships and acquisitions along the value chain in the clean technology space. Cindi holds a B.A. in economics and managerial studies from Rice University, and a M.A. in International Business from University of Queensland.
Cynthia Ringo (Managing Partner, DBL Partners)
Cynthia is a Managing Partner of DBL Investors, an investment firm focused on delivering strong financial returns together with positive social, environmental, and economic impact, which she joined in April 2008. She currently is a board observer for LiveScribe and a board member for Solexant. She was formerly a Managing Director of VantagePoint Venture Partners where she was Group Leader of the Communications, Systems, Internet and Media Practice. Prior to VantagePoint, Cynthia served as the CEO of Coppercom, a next-generation telecom equipment company. Cynthia holds a B.S. from Georgia State University and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law.
David Weekly (Founder & Chairman, PBworks)
A Boston native and son of a MIT engineer, David has been programming since he was five and has coded for MIT, Harvard, Stanford, There.com, atWeb, and Legato. David wrote the first layman’s description of MP3 in early 1997 and graduated in 2000 with a BS in Computer Science from Stanford, where he was a President Scholar and a finalist in the ACM International Programming Competition. David started the company that became PBwiki (now PBworks) in 2003, along the way creating SingleStat.us and IMSmarter. David holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University.
Gautam Gupta (Associate, General Catalyst)
Gautam focuses on investments in new and existing technology businesses. Areas of special interest include financial services, enterprise IT, consumer services and new media. Additionally, he is actively involved with GoodData. Gautam joined General Catalyst from Procter and Gamble, where he analyzed brand strategy and consumer preferences in the Consumer Market Knowledge group of P&G’s North American Fabric Care business unit. Prior to that, he worked closely with the sales and marketing groups at SinglePoint and CTV Live on Campus. Gautam holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Babson College, with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Studies.
Janice Roberts (Managing Director, Mayfield Fund)
Janice is a global communications executive and entrepreneur. She invests in networking components and systems, mobile communications and consumer-oriented companies. Prior to joining Mayfield, Janice built a successful early-stage investment portfolio as president of 3Com Ventures. She led 3Com’s global marketing and business development operation and ran a number of the company’s new business initiatives, including the successful Palm Computing subsidiary. Previously, Janice was managing director and president of BICC Data Networks LTD. (acquired by 3Com). Janice holds an honors degree in commerce from the University of Birmingham.
Julia Hartz (Co-Founder & President, Eventbrite)
Julia is the Co-Founder and President of Eventbrite.com. Julia is a reformed Television Network Executive and comes to Eventbrite by way of Hollywood. During her tenure in the television industry, Julia was a creative executive at FX Networks. Prior to FX Networks, Julia worked in creative development at MTV Networks. Julia brings the creativity and energy of the entertainment business to Eventbrite, leading the company with innovative thinking and a keen sense of the consumer audience. Julia holds a B.A. from Pepperdine University.
Maria Kermath (Director of Biz Dev, AT&Ti)
Maria began her career at AT&T’s IPTV product offering. She left to pursue her passion for entertainment at HBO. Maria ran business development at Millions of Us, then returned to AT&T Interactive. As the Director of Product Strategy, she researched, synthesized, and rationalized key market trends in the online & mobile advertising, search & application industry. Maria now focuses on identifying and executing revenue generating partnerships that complement the AT&T Interactive consumer and advertiser products. Maria holds a B.S.B.A. in Marketing from Creighton University and an MBA in Marketing and General Management from the University of Illinois.
Naval Ravikant (Investor & Co-Founder, Venture Hacks & AngelList)
Naval is an entrepreneur and angel investor, a co-author of Venture Hacks, and a co-maintainer of AngelList. Previously, he was a co-founder at Genoa Corp (acquired by Finisar), Epinions.com (IPO via Shopping.com), and Vast.com (largest white-label classifieds marketplace). Naval has advised Bix.com, iPivot, and XFire, among others, and invested in many companies, including Twitter, FourSquare, DocVerse (sold to Google), Mixer Labs (sold to Twitter), Jambool (Social Gold), SnapLogic, PlanCast, Stack Overflow, Heyzap, and Disqus. Naval holds B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Dartmouth College.
Rachel Pike (Analyst, Draper Fisher Jurvetson)
Rachel is an Analyst at Draper Fisher Jurvetson, where she focuses on clean technology investments. Prior to joining DFJ, Rachel completed her Ph.D. in atmospheric chemistry at the University of Cambridge. During her time there, Rachel served as President of the Gates Scholars community, worked on a field campaign in Malaysia, and gave a short TED University talk on the scale of scientific research behind climate headlines. Rachel earned a B.A. in chemistry and a minor in African studies at Northwestern University.
| 3:00pm – 3:15pm | Opening Remarks from Women 2.0 |
| 3:15pm – 4:00pm | Mobile Track Pitches: Mightyverse, Nexpense, Prepay Nation – Live Judges: Gautam Gupta (General Catalyst), Janice Roberts (Mayfield Fund), Maria Kermath (AT&T) |
| 4:00pm – 4:45pm | Mobile Fireside Chat: Carol Realini (Obopay), Shaherose Charania (Women 2.0) |
| 4:45pm – 5:00pm | Break |
| 5:00pm – 5:45pm | Cleantech Track Pitches: Aesir Metals, BioLumber, Chouette – Live Judges: Cindi Choi (SunPower), Cynthia Ringo (DBL Investors), Rachel Pike (Draper Fisher Jurvetson) |
| 5:45pm – 6:30pm | Cleantech Fireside Chat: Lynn Jurich (SunRun), Alexis Ringwald (Valence Energy) |
| 6:30pm – 7:00pm | Break |
| 7:00pm – 7:45pm | Web Track Pitches: Apply in the Sky, Everloop, Objective Marketer – Live Judges: David Weekly (PBworks),Julia Hartz (Eventbrite), Naval Ravikant (AngelList & VentureHacks) |
| 7:45pm – 8:30pm | Web Fireside Chat: Diane Greene (VMware), Arielle Patrice Scott (GenJuice) |
| 8:30pm – 9:00pm | Award Ceremony |
| 9:00pm | Networking Reception, Sponsored by AT&T |
Esther Dyson (Principal, EDventure)
Esther is an active investor in a variety of startups, focusing on technology. Her portfolio of private space and air travel investments includes XCOR Aerospace, Space Adventures/Zero G (recently merged), Constellation Services, Icon Aircraft, Coastal Aviation Software and Airship Ventures. She has flown weightless on Zero-G four times, but hopes to go up again soon. On the IT side, Esther’s investments included Flickr and del.icio.us, both sold to Yahoo! and Medstory, sold to Microsoft. Currently, she sits on the boards of 23andMe, Meetup, WPP Group, Eventful, Evernote, Boxbe and Yandex, the leading Russian search company. Esther sold her business EDventure Holdings, along with its Release1.0 newsletter and PC Forum conference, to CNET Networks in 2004. Esther left CNET at the end of 2006 and (with permission) has resumed doing business under the name of EDventure Holdings. She spends most of her time exploring new space, health care and IT start-ups and technologies, writing about them and actively (and with full disclosure) investing in some of them.
Matt Murphy (Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)
Matt manages the iFund at KPCB, a collaborative initiative with Apple focused on funding and building defining applications on the iPhone OS platform and the mobile internet. His expertise is in network communications, compute infrastructure, and mobile applications. Matt is either a Director or works closely with the management teams of Booyah!, GOGII, Pelago, Shazam, shopkick, Kodiak Networks, RGB Networks, Stoke, Aerohive Networks, and Puppet Labs. Previously, Matt was a board observer at Google (from initial investment to IPO), led KP’s investment in Autonavi (NASDAQ: AMAP ’10), and was a Director at Ocarina Networks (acquired by Dell ’10), Peakstream (acquired by Google ’08), Dash Navigation (acquired by RIM ’09). Prior to KPCB, Matt led product management at a semiconductor startup (Netboost acquired by Intel) and worked at Sun Microsystems. Matt holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Mike Maples (Managing Partner, FLOODGATE)
Mike is the managing partner of FLOODGATE, and was recently named as one of “8 Rising VC Stars” by Fortune Magazine for his investments in business and consumer technology companies. Before becoming a full-time investor, Mike was an entrepreneur and operating executive who worked in a variety of senior management roles in high-growth companies. His background spans a variety of markets including consumer technology, small business, and the enterprise, and he has led various functions in product development, marketing, business development, and corporate strategy. Mike co-founded Motive, Inc., the world’s leading broadband software company in 1997, and played key roles in its growth from raw start-up through sales of more than $75 million. Motive was one of the only successful technology IPOs in 2004, and the most successful infrastructure software IPO for the prior three years. At Motive, Mike was General Manager of Motive’s Corporate Business Unit, as well as Chief Marketing and Strategy officer. Prior to Motive, Mike was responsible for worldwide product marketing at Tivoli Systems, where he managed the company’s product portfolio from its early-stage development through its 1995 IPO and growth to a $750M line of business within the IBM Software Group. Mike began his professional career at Silicon Graphics, where he served in business development and product marketing roles. Mike holds an Engineering degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Winning teams receive a host of startup-friendly services (total value of $17k). This includes COWORKING SPACE from Sandbox Suites. PRODUCT POLISH from Stage Two, MARKET RESEARCH from AskYourTargetMarket, BUSINESS SERVICES from Elance, A WEB OPTIMIZATION PACKAGE from AppSumo, WEB DEVELOPMENT from raw engineering, LEGAL SUPPORT from Walker Corporate Law Group, AN EXCLUSIVE MEMBERSHIP to FoundersCard and AN IPAD CASE from Solid Line Products.
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