GHVF June 6, 2012

Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker, Garth Jestley from Middlefield Capital Corporation, provide a set of lessons learned over his fourty year tenure of investing.   Most people have learned some or all of these, but it's always good to remember them.

1. Humility trumps Hubris - Arrogance blinds people
2. Avoid Productitus - about 25% of the success is attributed to the product
3. If you don't understand the business don't invest
4. The Entrepreneur must be excited about their idea
5. Management is important
6. Integrity - If there is one lie, there will be more - which reminds me of the cockroach theorem: where there is one, there are many
7. Passion - The team must be passionate about their goals, not just about making money
8. Entrepreneurs by definition are optimists, but they need to be realistic too

Three featured companies presented their business plans:

StrategyFit

A Saas (Software as a Service) based tool for managing the Strategy Realization process

Poctis

A better way to connect the dots between business and their surrounding communities with social media

Skura

A Mobile Sales Tool that works across all PCs, MACS, iPads and Android Tablets to deliver sales content seamlessly