When I am in Israel, (where I was last week) I always remember that the companies that I am working with (and paying us) and funded by VCs. Here is a very funny video (in Hebrew with English sub-titles) on how to raise money from VCs. It translates in any language.
Texas Venture News has announced its t 2007 Texas Venture Capital and Private Equity Directory, which profiles nearly 200 Venture Capital and Private Equity firms with offices in Texas.
While many professionals are familiar with some of the more prominent local investment names - Austin Ventures, CenterPoint, Texas Pacific and Sevin Rosen - it may be surprising to know there are nearly 200 Venture Capital and Private Equity firms with offices in Texas.
This newly revised and updated edition includes nearly thirty additional firms not published in the 2006 Directory including SMM Capital, Five Star, S3 Ventures, Centre Southwest, Tanglewood, and many more.
In addition to covering all Texas Venture Capitalists, the directory includes profiles of local Private Equity firms (later stage investors), Incubators, prominent Angel investors, Family Investment offices, Merchant Banks, Fund of Funds, and Economic Development offices; nearly 225 firms in total.
The Directory's Editor and Publisher, Michael Stern, is a native Texan and graduate of the University of Texas.
According to a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree survey, Texas ranks as the number three state in terms of Venture Capital activity. In the first quarter of 2007, Texas saw $278 million in Venture financing invested across 34 deals.
The Directory is sold exclusively through the Texas Venture News website: www.massinvestor.com....Suggestion: get a url that is more in the vein of Texas....:)
The Directory includes an eBook (a complete electronic version of the printed Directory in an easy-to-use PDF format), as well as an interactive Excel spreadsheet containing the contact information (including email addresses) of nearly five hundred, individual Texas Venture Capital and Private Equity investors.
Guest Blogger and SATAI Network President & CEO, Jim Poage, comments on last Thursday night's SATAI Stars of Innovation Event. 
Here's Jim's post....
The award winners and the San Antonio economy were the real winners at the 3rd annual SATAI STARs of Innovation Banquet.
After all, honoring outstanding tech individuals such as David Spencer, Matt Reedy, Fred Dinger and Bob Sanchez, and rising superstar companies BroadRamp, 
Bauhaus Software (now MyToons.com) and MP4 Solutions puts an event in about as high an orbit as you can find in these parts. Add to that a star studded cast of sponsors led by powerhouse AT&T, Rackspace Managed Hosting, Mandelbrot Ventures and a galaxy of others and not even a black hole could bend the starlight bouncing around in the event hall.
You can tell you are on the right trajectory when you call and ask extremely busy people such as Governor Perry, Mayor Hardberger and Judge Wolff if they will take the time to be on video tape to speak of the awardees, and they immediately accept and are eager to do it. Thanks to over 25 other people that likewise put their best face forward to give their insights on the tech winners.
Congratulations to all the award winners. You make all of us winners too.
-- Jim Poage
Found this over at TechCrunch...
A new site called TheFunded hopes to even the odds a little by getting the information out about how VCs treat entrepreneurs. They have a good database of venture firms (6,559 contacts from 3,529 funds), and invite members to rate and review funds after dealing with them first hand.
Check out Texas Startup Blog.....
If you are an SA-base tech start up, or if you are involved as being a developer, educational institutional doing cool tech R&D, or an organization like SATAI or TASA, you should make sure you are getting covered by them.....
Hey SA...On October 11, Texas will play host to the best and brightest involved in capital investment.
The Texas Coalition for Capital, in conjunction with the Texas Emerging Technology Fund has invited top business leaders, private equity and venture capital investors, state officials, and successful entrepreneurs to an invitation-only, 1-day event at Austin’s Four Seasons Hotel to discuss how to attract venture capital to Texas to keep our most promising and successful companies - and the jobs they create - at home.
The program will also showcase programs and policies that are stimulating our emerging technology sector, bolstering economic development and promoting long-term access to capital.
The Forum will include a an intense half day agenda featuring an address by Governor Rick Perry, as well as distinguished speakers and panelists, to be followed by a VIP reception.
Mr. Charles Tate, the Chairman of Capital Royalty, LLC and the Chairman of the Texas Life Science Center will keynote a luncheon convening the conferees.
Speakers such as our own David Spencer, Chairman of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and President of Mandelbrot Ventures, Inc. and Walter Ulrich, of Ulrich Interests are slated to speak.
In addition, representatives from two of Texas’ top academic university systems with outstanding research focus, the Texas A&M University System and the University of Texas System, will participate in a panel discussion on technology transfer and commercialization within the state.
The Texas Capital Forum will showcase the commitment Texas has made through state programs to stimulate public-private business financing initiatives, a favorable policy environment, and accelerate the process of innovation in emerging technologies.
The Forum is conveniently timed and coordinated with the University of Texas’ “Ready to Commercialize 2006” event on October 12.
A conversation with David Spencer, President, Mandelbrot Ventures.
Last year, David Spencer successfully sold the company he founded, OnBoard Software to MTC Technologies (NASDAQ®: MTCT), and then went on to be appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the Chairman of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Advisory Board. He has also started a private holding company, Mandelbrot Ventures, which is aimed at angel investing in emerging technology companies in the San Antonio and South Texas region. And in between of all this, he and his wife, Jennifer, had their fourth child, Samuel.
Aptly named for Benoit Mandelbrot, who is largely responsible for the basic concepts in fractal geometry, it was Mandelbrot who successfully demonstrated that fractals could occur in many different places in both mathematics and elsewhere in nature.
Like Mandelbrot, David Spencer is a highly unconventional thinker and strong believer in chaos theory. But unlike Mandelbrot, David is, at heart an entrepreneur who has his heart and soul into growing and expanding the intellectual wealth in San Antonio.
Over a chicken salad sandwich lunch meeting at our editorial offices at the Olmos Park Pharmacy, David told me that he has one simple goal in his post-OnBoard Software life: “I want to effect a long lasting change in the State of Texas and help create an infrastructure that will help us compete not only nationally, but globally.” While David is passionate about San Antonio, he really sees his role in championing technology economic development statewide. “This is no longer a case of San Antonio vs. Houston vs. Dallas vs. Austin. It’s a case of Texas vs. the world.” David points out that Texas is number 3 in the U.S. in IP (intellectual property) development, and number 14 in commercializing its IP. In other words, Houston- we have a problem- or perhaps as the ever optimistic David sees it, an opportunity.
David’s first step in this direction is heading up a 17-person committee of state-wide leaders who are awarding the first series of funds from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, a $200 million fund aimed at attacking “the gap” between the formation of an idea or product and the formation of a company around that idea or product. The long range goal of the Fund is to expedite the commercialization of new life-changing inventions out of the lab and into the hands of consumers and improve research at Texas universities.
In the San Antonio region, the SATAI Network is the designated host of the South Texas Regional Commercialization and Innovation Center (STRCIC) who administrates the process of taking applications from companies in South Texas that want to apply to receive funds.
NSA is Bigger Than Toyota
Yes, folks. You read it here first. According to David, while the recent win of having Toyota set up its truck manufacturing plant in San Antonio is very cool thing, a more important economic development is taking hold. Observed David, “Having the NSA (National Security Agency) set up shop at the old Sony plant is just the start of what could be an even greater economic and intellectual boost than that of Toyota. Just look at NSA’s infrastructure in Northern Virginia, and all of the surrounding economic development that took hold after the establishment of their facility, and you have a clue what could be in store for San Antonio.”
As this article went to press (virtual press if you will….) the Governor’s office was going to be announcing the award winners for the initial distribution of funds from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. To date, there are three companies in San Antonio that will be awarded up to $1,000,000.00 each. Once the awards are made, I will be doing profiles of each of the respective companies.
Contact Information:
David Spencer
Mandelbrot Ventures, Inc.
26610 Harmony Hills
San Antonio, TX 78258
(210) 340-0116 Direct
(866) 276-0698 Fax
dspencer@mandelbrot-ventures.com
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