TCVN Forum Panel To Reveal Major Chuckholes for Startups; Experts Will Share Methods of Getting...

Business Editors

A panel of experts will share their experience and expertise on getting traction for funding startups at the Tech Coast Venture Network Forum on Thursday, June 27 at the UCI University Club in Irvine, Calif.

They will be addressing an audience of local entrepreneurs

Titled "Raising Money: The Major Chuckholes for Startups," the TCVN Forum program will be held from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. with an admission price of $45 at the door. The event is sponsored by Venture Point and will be moderated by its director of consulting services, Karen Gifford. Featured panelists include: Christina Ku of Intel Corp., Jan Allen of Allen Barron Inc. and Casey Horton, Ventana Capital.

Ku is a Strategic Investments Manager at Intel Capital. She is responsible for sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities and exploring business development alliances with international wireless carriers and portfolio companies for Intel's wireless business unit, WCCG.

At Intel, she established Intel's wireless deal sourcing program by working with key wireless venture capital firms and investment divisions of carriers such as AT&T Wireless, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone. Ku graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA and has an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Janathan Allen is a partner in the management consulting firm of Allen Barron. With an international client base, she specializes in the high-tech, biotech and software sectors, working to bring together the right mix of angel and venture funds to growing companies. She also assists companies in the creation and presentation of business plans and financial forecasts and models.

Additionally, with an extensive background in tax and law she advises companies in the creation of efficient corporate structures and tax minimization strategies as well as the overall strategic and global strategies to meet the demands of today's marketplace.

Along with her partner, Richard Barron, she has worked with companies ranging from startups to IPO as well as with publicly traded corporations with billion dollar revenues. Allen's academic background includes a BS degree in accounting from the University of Montana, an MBA degree from the University of San Diego, a JD degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles and an LLM in taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Horton manages Ventana's high technology investment activities. He works to leverage Ventana's broad network of resources to assist portfolio companies with corporate partnerships, management, corporate governance and financing opportunities. He also cultivates strategic partnerships for Ventana while identifying, analyzing and leading new high-tech investment opportunities.

Prior to joining Ventana, Horton served as Digital Program Manager for Xerox Corp., where he managed a multi-million dollar program for the company's networked digital products. Horton's academic background includes an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC), Marshall School of Business, Finance and Entrepreneur Programs. He also earned a Bachelor's degree in International Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.

TCVN moderator Karen Gifford is Director of Consulting Services for Venture Point.

Noted for her powerful networking abilities and results, Gifford has more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, and management consulting on an international basis in both industrial and consumer markets with an emphasis in technology and entertainment-related products and services. She has worked with the Fortune 1000 to entrepreneurial ventures.

In the fall of 1999, Gifford became the Director of Consulting Services for the nation's only Technology Small Business Development Center -- Venture Point. In 1987, she founded and still owns Gifford Management, a management consulting and financing strategies firm. Prior to that, Gifford was the first National Aerospace Industry Executive for a $150 million division as of the McDonnell Douglas Information Systems Group (later acquired by EDS).

Gifford received her bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), followed by a certificate in international marketing from CSUF and a certificate in business management from the Art Institute of Southern California.

The TCVN Forum will be sponsored by Venture Point, the nation's only Small Business Development Center focused on high-tech and high growth success. Like other SBDCs, the Center provides one-to-one counseling, and a host of activities and resources to support early-stage and start-up success. The Venture Point Tech Coast SBDC is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the California Trade & Commerce Agency and the Orange County Business Council, as well as other private industry and corporate supporters.

For further information, contact Jolie Estes, Executive Director, Tech Coast Venture Network via e-mail at execdir@tcvn.org, by phone at 714/505-6493, by fax at 714/669-9341 or on the Web at http://www.tcvn.org/. TCVN is located at 195 South C St., Suite 250, Tustin, CA 92780.

TCVN Corporate Mentors include Daly-Swartz PR, neoBrands, and SitePlugs Inc. Benefactors include Business Wire, Corbin & Wertz, Jackson DeMarco & Peckenpaugh, My Webteam, Preston, Gates & Ellis, LLP, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Riordan & McKinzie and Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth. Sponsors include Administaff, Camel Financial Inc., Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, Levin & Hawes, Mission Ventures and TriNet Group Inc.

The Tech Coast Venture Network (TCVN) is dedicated to assisting, educating and connecting early stage growth companies with information and advisers for the purpose of raising money. TCVN has been directly or indirectly responsible for the establishment and growth of a significant number of new and early stage businesses. Through its major program, the Venture Forum, TCVN has had more than 150 programs on topics to assist and educate the entrepreneurs attending these programs.

More than 400 CEOs, entrepreneurs and other presenters have shared their professional business knowledge and experiences. TCVN is a not-for-profit corporation that was founded in 1984. It has continuously been actively involved in the Orange County/Southern California business community ever since.