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The New Jersey Technology Council held its annual Capital Conference on February 5th at the The Westin Princeton. Each year the Tech Council brings together leading firms from the investment community to connect with New Jersey technology companies seeking capital for growth. Panel discussions included identifying sources of capital and ways to access those sources, corporate partnering, the current climate for starting a business, communication strategies to investors and how to plan a profitable exit.
Joe Allegra, General Partner at the Edison Venture Fund that invests in growth stage companies between $5 million and $20 million in revenues, moderated the panel: "Communicating with Investors". Participating in the panel were: Steve Bowman of BizClarity.com, Michael Carus of Redvision.com, Chris Fralic, a partner with First Round Capital, Jeff Nicholas, partner with Fox Rothschild LLP and Ed Riegl, Vice President for Silicon Valley Bank.
Through a survey of investors, Joe presented the Top Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs for comment by the panelists. This top mistakes were:
1. Don't have a good grasp of competing products and companies
2. Don't do homework on investors
3. Poor presentation and incomplete materials
4. Don't understand the customer or the customer's problems
5. Unrealistic or incomplete financials
6. Withhold or delay negative financials
7. Unable to differentiate their product or service
8. No evidence of sales ability
9. No evidence of traction
10. Defensive, not open to feedback or contrary advice
11. Not realistic about strengths and weaknesses of the team
12. Don't know valuation
13. Set valuation
14. Not "well introduced"
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NJ Tech Council Hosts Capital Conference
