Feb
6
ETL - Christine Benninger
February 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment
ETL today was very different from the ones I have had in the past. Today’s guest was Christine Benninger of the Humane Society of Silicon Valley (HSSV), and is very different because she isn’t part of some crazy startup or investment circle. While the HSSV appears to be very boring, I assure you the things [...]
Jan
30
ETL - Jesse Fink and Steve Blank
January 30, 2008 | 1 Comment
The speakers for today’s talk were interesting, although Jesse Fink was the only one talking while Steve Blank asked the questions (I would have preferred that both talk). The two have a long history together and actually met on family vacations to the Galapagos. The discussion mostly focused on green investments as well as utilizing all financial markets (other than VCs) to create change. You can listen to the clip here or catch the notes below.
Jan
23
ETL - Ron Conway & Mike Maples
January 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today’s speakers were absolutely phenomenal. I talked with some of the head people at ETL, and they personally agree that it was one of the top five presentations in the history of the program. Both Ron Conway and Mike Maples are angel investors and have somewhat different focuses in terms of what they invest in and why. I’ll dive more into their backgrounds below, but because this talk was so insightful, I highly recommend listening to it as well as reading this post.
Jan
16
ETL - Mitch Kapor
January 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This week’s ETL was Mitch Kapor. He is the founder of both Foxmarks and Lotus, and he has a major reputation in the Valley. At first glance, I didn’t think he would be a very engaging or entertaining speaker, but once he started talking about what he’s done and what he’s passionate about, he became as engaging and thought-provoking as any other speaker I’ve heard. I think the structure I’m going to follow with each of the speakers is a list of take-away lessons/info.