A mixer at the Cove hosted by Tech Coast Angels and K5 Ventures, both Cove ecosystem residents, gave entrepreneurs the chance to network with investors on June 27th. The event focused on relationship-building, meeting and pitching investors.
The night started off with a panel of investors moderated by Mei Tsang, managing partner of intellectual property law firm Fish & Tsang LLP. The panelists featured Grant Van Cleve, President of Tech Coast Angels OC, Robin Pimentel, Partner at K5 Ventures, Hans Imhof, Managing Director of the Cove Fund, Kim Kovacs, Managing Director at Golden Seeds, and Sergio Gurrieri, Partner at ACE Fund (and President Tech Coast Angels SD). The panel discussed some key things they personally look for in startup companies. “[I mostly look at] the entrepreneur, I want them to have a great team and be passionate about their company,” explained Imhof. The panel explained that while a business plan is important,
it is constantly changing as the market changes. Good entrepreneurs will be able to find ways to adapt with change.
Afterwards, entrepreneurs had the opportunity to pitch to investors. Each entrepreneur had 90 seconds to deliver their pitch and then received valuable feedback and insights from the investors as well as from a speech coach.
The final part of the night was a roundtable where guests were able to sit down with investors for feedback and suggestions about their ventures. Three roundtables were set-up in conference rooms throughout the Cove. Guests had the opportunity to discuss their startups with groups of 2 to 3 investors.
“The whole idea for this event is for [entrepreneurs] to meet face-to-face with investors, ask questions and receive feedback,” said host Ray Chan of K5 Ventures, who is also an active Tech Coast Angels investor.