The Business Plan:
Balancing Business with Vision

June 6 at the Costa Mesa Hilton and June 7 at the Santa Monica Doubletree

The second Larta University workshop will offer targeted information for companies in the planning stages of starting their business. This session covers all phases of business plan development: planning for the specific market and the economic context, the value proposition, corporate structures, revenue models, and tying all the information into a comprehensive strategy.

Featured Speakers Include:

Santa Monica

• "Your Value Proposition," Dr. Jon Goodman, EC2
• "Bringing it All Together:The Business Plan," David Lavinsky of Growthink
• "Tales From the Trenches," Robert Landes of Guidance Solutions
• Venture Capitalist Presentation: Joel Balbien of Smart Technology Ventures

Costa Mesa

• "Your Value Proposition," Jim Brown of J.L. Brown & Co.
• "Bringing it All Together:The Business Plan," David Lavinsky of Growthink
• Venture Capitalist Presentation: Dan Bassett of Innocal Venture Capital

Venture Net 2001
May 29-30, Hyatt Regency Irvine, California

The Software Council of Southern California will be holding its annual Venture Net 2001. Professional investors analyze and critique actual funding proposals, while entrepreneurs gather immediate feedback identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. 18 technology companies will conduct 10-minute capital presentations detailing their business plans. Venture Net 2001 is an ideal forum to meet, mingle, and pick the brains of the brightest future leaders of technology.
click here for more information

larta in the news
High-Profile Failures Often Impede Road to Success
While the fall of some of L.A.’s richest, most powerful and most talented business leaders may not have reached tragic proportions, several individuals have nevertheless descended from once-lofty perches in remarkable ways.
click here for the full article from The Los Angeles Business Journal

Other Articles
Mobile phones next frontier for video games?
At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on Thursday, wireless entertainment company G-Cluster announced the availability of G-screen, a set of wireless networking and gaming technologies for bringing PC games to handheld devices.
click here for the full article from Nordic Wireless Watch

Sony says the game is over for Microsoft
"Microsoft was finished before it even got started. They have no games," said Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment in an interview with the Financial Times. Sony said on Wednesday that Microsoft's Xbox was "finished" in the battle for the next generation of video game consoles.
click here for the full article from the Financial Times

Early-stage VCs work the late shift
With late-stage VCs pulling back, more early-stage firms are stepping up to fill the gap. Even seed firms are getting calls from frazzled entrepreneurs.
click here for the full article from Red Herring

Meet, Mix and Mingle:
Highlight of Featured Events

May 29-30: Software Council's VentureNet
VentureNet is hosted by the Software Council of Southern California. Capital presenters will be presenting before an audience of leading Venture Capitalists, Corporate Investors and Tech Coast Angels active in the software market. You'll meet the technology leaders of tomorrow. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Henry Samueli, cofounder of Broadcom Corporation in 1991. 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 p.m. on Wednesday in Irvine.
click here for more information

May 31: EC2's May Roundtable Event "Branding, Marketing, and Public Relations"
Join EC2 this month as Julie Gladders, SVP New Media at mPRm Public Relations, and Lynda Keeler, Managing Director of Redleaf Ventures, speak about marketing and public relations for start up ventures. The Roundtable is from 4-7 p.m. in Annenberg House Conference Room #100. RSVP to Jessica Lucas at jlucas@ec2.edu.
click here for more information

June 6 and 7: The Business Plan: Balancing Business with Vision
For companies who are in the planning stages of starting their business, a thorough understanding of critical areas of business plan development is vital. This second session of Larta University covers all phases of business plan development: planning for the specific market and the economic context, the value proposition, corporate structures, revenue models, and tying all the information into a comprehensive strategy.
click here for more information

June 12: LAVA: The Rising Trend of Corporate Venture Capital Investing
In these choppy markets, there is one group of venture capitalists bucking the trend. Come and hear what a panel of leading corporate venture capitalists representing industry titans have to say about their increasing activities in investing across several company development stages. 7-9:15 a.m. in Pacific Palisades.
click here for more information

June 13: BioBrew
BioBrew is a professional networking organization for business professionals, academic scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and service providers in the biomedical and life science fields. The Westwood microbrewery is the ideal place for "biopeople" in the LA area to meet, swap business cards and exchange ideas. 6-8:30 p.m. at the Westwood Brewing Company. Free admission. Free appetizers. Cash bar.
click here for more information

October 18-19: FilmIT - Mark your calendars!
larta is proud to support the Film Information Technology Conference & Exposition (FilmIT) - it is the premier, business-to-business event that examines the convergence of the Motion Picture and Technology Industries. FilmIT creates an unparalleled program for IT and film executives to explore the impact that cutting-edge technologies have on Hollywood through an extensive, senior level conference forum, keynote presentations, case studies, workshops, networking events and vendor demonstrations.
click here for more information

Copyright © 2001 larta. All rights reserved. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to those who may be interested. Permission to quote any proprietary part of this material is granted given proper credit. Distribution is allowed provided that no modifications are made to the original content.