Angel and Venture Capital Investors Teach the Secrets of “How to Pitch” to Entrepreneurs in Seattle

Seattle, Washington (March 1, 2005) – On March 17, 2005, leading Venture Capital and Angel investors are set to speak and coach entrepreneurs at the FundingPost “Seattle Pitching Workshop” event sponsored by Orrick. While most events only allow start-ups to network with investors, this event allows entrepreneurs to pitch their companies to early-stage investors and received helpful feedback from Angels and Venture Capitalists. The FundingPost Event Calendar and registration information are online at: http://www.fundingpost.com/events.asp

After completing four successful events in the same format in New York City and Philadelphia, FundingPost is bringing the “Pitching Workshop” model to Seattle to help local start-ups get the kind of constructive critiques they need to be successful in achieving funding.

At the breakfast presentation, the panelists will discuss what they look for in a successful entrepreneurial company pitch. Then each of the thirty companies in attendance will have the opportunity to give their own two-minute “elevator pitch.” After the session, FundingPost will provide each start-up company with feedback from the investors. The panelists for the event include:

• Melissa Widner, General Partner, Seapoint Ventures
• Russ Aldrich, Managing Director, Guide Ventures
• Kevin Cable, EVP, Cascadia Capital
• Aaron Coe, Alliance of Angels
• Moderator: Alan Smith, Partner, Orrick

The four panelists scheduled to speak at the event have distinguished backgrounds in the field of Angel and Venture Capital investing. Melissa Widner joined Seapoint Ventures in 1999 and was previously the CEO of 7Software and Northwest Supply. Ms. Widner sits on the boards of Hubspan, PocketThis and PowerTech.

Russ Aldrich founded Guide Ventures in 1996 and was previously the Vice President and co-founder of Simba Technologies. Mr. Aldrich has been a director of Adrelevance, Virtual Relocation, Moai, Inc. and MediaSeek Technologies.

Kevin Cable is Executive Vice President of Cascadia Capital, where he leads the firm’s corporate development and directs the firm’s marketing efforts. Prior to co-founding Cascadia Capital, Mr. Cable served on the executive teams of several technology companies, including Numera Software, which he co-founded and led as CEO.

Aaron Coe is serving a one-year term with the Alliance of Angels as the 2004-2005 Preston Gates & Ellis Fellow. Mr. Coe is also a co-founder of Promentix, Inc., an early-stage biotechnology company.

“We are delighted to be returning to Seattle. The Pitching Workshops have been successful because both the entrepreneurs and the investors see the value of the exchange,” said Joe Rubin, Director, FundingPost. “The economy for early-stage investing in the Northwest is improving. Our investor panel is excited to see the new dealflow in these early companies, and the entrepreneurs are finding the investors’ tips and responses helpful for improving and refining their pitches.”

For more information on the Seattle Pitching Workshop and other FundingPost events, contact Keith Henry at 203-659-6649 or visit the FundingPost website at http://www.fundingpost.com/events.asp

ABOUT FUNDINGPOST:
FundingPost is an entrepreneur and investor network reaching more than 60,000 executives and 6,000 Venture Capital and Angel Investors across the nation each month.

For over four years FundingPost has worked with thousands of Angel and Venture Capital Investors and Entrepreneurs. FundingPost has hosted over 4,000 CEOs and 500 Venture Funds at events in 15 cities nationwide, as well as providing a quarterly Dealflow magazine and a deal-exchange Website that has, on average, seen an introduction of an Investor to an Entrepreneur every business day since its inception. FundingPost’s mission to reach investors and entrepreneurs in every medium possible – both online and offline, and it is experiencing strong growth as the venture capital markets continue to improve worldwide.