How to change the rules of the game in your
favor
September 24, 2009, Thursday @ 7 pm
Sacramento Marriott (click for driving instructions)
11211 Point East Drive,
Rancho Cordova, CA
Cost: Members free;
Non-Members - $50 before 9/19; $60 after
Networking: 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Panel Discussion: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
More Networking: 8:30 to 9:00 pm
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As
markets mature and economies falter and funding dries
up, industry consolidation is bound to happen. Over the
past few years, several startups have either gone out of
business or have been acquired by a larger competitor.
If you are a startup who are just starting out or have
survived the recession, how do you compete against often
well-funded , larger competitors? Come and join leading
executives from technology companies who have fought and
won market share against larger companies at this
month's TechCoire event on Sep 24th and learn the
insights on how to compete effectively with larger
competitors.
Learn key strategies to adopt when you are a startup and
how to evolve your competitive strategy as your company
gains customers and garners market share.
The session, moderated by Bill
Reichert of Garage Technology Ventures, will discuss
several key topics including:
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How
do you build brand awareness or otherwise get
customer visibility without the deep pockets of a
Goliath?
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How do you convince customers to buy your product
versus one from a larger corporation or a
established name brand?
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What
did your company do to change the terms of
competition to your advantage?
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How do you handle common objections from the
customer base?
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How
do you compete against “competition’s freeware”?
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What
do you do to make sure your investors understand
about your business to so that they see you through
the difficult times?
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What is the best-case and worst-case scenarios of
partnering/competing with Goliaths?
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When is it time to consider being acquired by your
Goliath, and why would you?
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Litigation: How do you avoid or tackle a lawsuit?
When do you know it’s time to initiate one?
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How
does your recruiting change when you’re competing
against a Goliath?
Paneists
Jacob Taylor, Co-Founder, Sugar CRM
Jacob Taylor was the Co-Founder and the leading
architect for SugarCRM and defines, manages and
develops the core Sugar Suite technology.
Previous to co-founding SugarCRM, Jacob Taylor
was the Sr. Development Manager at E.piphany in
charge of platform infrastructure and services.
Previous to E.piphany, Jacob worked at Symantec
Corp. Jacob attained his BS in Computer Science
and Engineering from UCLA and an MS in
Artificial Intelligence from UCLA
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Greg Murphy, VP of Marketing, Aruba
Networks
Greg Murphy is Aruba's global Head of Marketing
and is also responsible for Aruba's AirWave
division. Greg joined Aruba in March 2008
following Aruba's acquisition of AirWave
Wireless, Inc., where he served as Founder and
Chief Operating Officer. Prior to founding
AirWave, Greg was an Entrepreneur in Residence
and VP Company Development at Idealab. Before
that he served in several senior executive
positions at On Command Corporation, the world's
largest provider of entertainment and
information systems to the lodging industry.
Greg received his A.B summa cum laude from
Amherst College and his M.A. from Stanford
University.
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Christian Friedland, Founder & CEO ,
Improvement Direct Inc.
Christian is the founder of Faucet Direct,
Inc., which was renamed Improvement Direct,
Inc., in 2004 to better represent its long term
strategy and growing product inventory. Prior to
Faucet Direct, Christian worked at Slakey
Brothers, a leading west coast Plumbing and HVAC
distributor. Christian received his B.A. in
Political Science (Law) and completed core
graduate studies in Computer Science at
California State University, Chico. He has also
lectured frequently on Entrepreneurship at the
California State University, Chico’s Business
School, and helped found two other local
e-commerce companies. Christian was a featured
speaker at the 2008 Internet Retailer convention
and the Wharton School of Business. |
Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage
Technology Ventures
Bill Reichert has over 20 years of
experience as an entrepreneur and an operating
executive. Since joining Garage in 1998, Bill
has focused on early-stage information
technology and materials science companies. He
sits on the Boards of CaseStack, WhiteHat,
ClearFuels, cFares, and ThermoCeramix. Prior to
Garage, Bill was a co-founder or senior
executive in several venture-backed technology
startups, including Trademark Software, The
Learning Company, and Academic Systems. Earlier
in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company,
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and the World
Bank. Bill earned a B.A. at Harvard College and
an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He was a
founding board member and a Chairman of the
Churchill Club, and a Charter Member of the
Silicon Valley Association of Startup
Entrepreneurs. Currently he is the Chairman of
the Small Fund Roundtable of the VC Taskforce
and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
in New York.
Non-Member Payment
- $50 before 9/19 ; $60 after or $70 at the door
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