The Power of Stories for Startups
Event on 2013-10-29 17:00:00
For startups, stories are 100% critical. Your idea or product is only as good as the story behind it, and it’s no secret that powerful story-telling makes the difference between getting funded or not. Beyond getting funding, stories are also crucial to building a killer brand, winning the hearts and minds of customers, and inspiring the team around you. We’ve brought together some of the most gifted storytellers in Tech to discuss how entrepreneurs can successfully leverage the power of stories in their ventures.
Session 1: How to Build a Great Story in a Data Driven Age
Speaker: Rebekah Iliff, Director of Product for AirPR , technology blogger for The Huffington Post and Columnist for Entrepreneur.com
In a recent talk given by Geoffrey Moore (the author of “Crossing the Chasm”, a best-seller marketing guide), Geoffrey noted that in an age driven by data, it is still imperative that we understand the importance of qualitative information to drive our decision making and to build our brand. At the first session: “How to build a great story in a data driven age”, our featured speaker, Rebekah Iliff will share the secrets to building a great story in a data driven age, including:
Why do entrepreneurs need to build a good story?
How to build a great story?
What are the key techniques?
How to get your story on the front page?
Session 2: The Power of Storytelling!
Panelists: Chris Yeh, Ravi Srivatsav, Ron Hirson
We have assembled a stellar panel (notable VCs and successful entrepreneurs) to share their direct experience and insights on how stories make a difference in building businesses. You will learn about:
How stories can help build your team
How stories can help in getting funding
Shaping your brand and engaging customers through stories
Examples of how successful entrepreneurs used stories in their journey
Our Featured Panelists:
Chris Yeh Paul Madera Ravi Srivatsav
Rebekah Iliff Ron Hirson
Agenda:
5:00PM Check-in/Networking
6:00PM Opening Remarks
6:10PM Session 1: How to Build a Great Story in a Data Driven Age
7:00PM Break
7:15PM Session 2: The Power of Stories!
8:30PM Closing Remarks/Networking
9:00PM Adjourns
Food & Drinks:
Hors d'oeuvres & drinks will be served
Speakers Bios:
Chris Yeh, Partner of Wasabi Ventures
Chris was on the founding team of pioneering Internet companies such as United Online Services and Merrill Lynch’s Intelligent Technologies Group. He has founded, advised, or invested in dozens of startups, including Ustream and PBworks.
He was the first investor in and interim CEO of Ustream, which provides an open and distributable platform for live interactive online video. He also helped start numerous other companies, including Symphoniq Corporation, TargetFirst, and Juno Online Services and FarSight Financial Services.
Chris is a much-quoted thought leader in the field of marketing and entrepreneurship; his research and publications have been incorporated into the Harvard Business School curriculum, while his projects have received press coverage in Fortune, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. He writes a popular blog on entrepreneurship and venture capital, Adventures in Capitalism and contributes to blogs such as TechCrunch and VentureBeat.
Chris holds two degrees from Stanford University, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was named a Baker Scholar (High Distinction).
Paul Madera, Managing Director of Meritech
Paul was a founder of Meritech in 1999, and is listed as #7 in Forbes Midas List of Tech’s Top Investor in 2012. He currently focuses on the SaaS, storage, e-commerce, financial technology, digital consumer, and medical device sectors.
Paul has led Meritech's investments into 2Wire (Pace), Acopia (F5), BlueArc (Hitachi Data), DataStax, DealerSocket, Facebook (FB), Force10 Networks (DELL), Glaukos, Homestead Technologies (INTU), IntraLase (AMO), Openlane (KAR), Panzura, Prosper, Riverbed Technology (RVBD), Salesforce.com (CRM), Tegile, Tensilica (CDNS), Topspin (Cisco), Wonga, Yammer (MSFT) and 21Vianet (VNET).
Prior to Meritech, Paul was Managing Director and Head of the Private Equity Group at Montgomery Securities/Banc of America where he assisted tech and consumer-based startups in raising capital. He began his career in finance as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he served in the United States Air Force as an F-16 Instructor Pilot based in South Korea, Spain, and Utah. He also spent a tour at the Pentagon as a member of the Air Force Legislative Liaison Office.
Paul holds a B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and currently serves as the Chairman of the US Air Force Academy Endowment. Paul spends his off hours cycling the hills west of Palo Alto to prepare for "century" rides as well as jogging throughout the San Francisco Peninsula.
Ravi Srivatsav, CEO/C0-founder of ElasticBox
Ravi is the founder and CEO of ElasticBox, one of fastest growth, venture-backed startups in cloud space. ElasticBox is transforming enterprises through next-generation cloud applications and. Ravi brings over 15 years of experience in software development, product and program management, and startup incubation. He has held senior engineering and product management positions at large enterprises like Microsoft and IBM, as well as in several successful software startups. Ravi's experience spans software infrastructure, developer platforms, and applications for enterprise and social networking segments.
Most recently, as VP of Product at Social Gaming Network, Ravi was instrumental in driving rapid adoption of the flagship gaming application MindJolt. Prior to that, Ravi led enterprise software applications and platform services at Rational Software, IBM, and Microsoft.
Ravi has a BS in Computer Science from University of Mysore.
Rebekah Iliff, Director of Product for AirPR/ technology blogger for The Huffington Post/Columnist for Entrepreneur.com
Rebekah Iliff is the, a technology platform to increase PR performance. Previously, she was the CEO of talkTECH Communications, one of the fastest growing, launch-only PR firms in the US. As co-founder of talkTECH, she created an industry-first methodology for emerging technology companies, which led to top tier client coverage in outlets such as Forbes, CNN, The Today Show, USA Today, WIRED, Inc, FastCompany, TechCrunch, Mashable, and VentureBeat.
She is currently a technology blogger for The Huffington Post focusing on trends related to startup culture and job creation and a columnist for Entrepreneur.com. She has authored articles in technology publications such as Mashable and VentureBeat, and PR industry focused blogs such as PR Daily and PR Sunrise. Rebekah is a mentor for Startup Weekend Bay Area, an instructor for General Assembly San Francisco, and an advisor for startups at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and StartX. Rebekah holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago, and an M.A. in Organizational Management and Applied Community Psychology from Antioch University at Los Angeles (AULA).
Ron Hirson, Co-founder of BOKU, EIR of Khosla Ventures & Mayfield
Ron is an entrepreneurial executive who was most recently co-founder, President at BOKU, where his responsibilities included creating and managing the BOKU product/service, go-to-market plan, marketing, public relations, business development and corporate development. Ron was also recently EIR at Khosla Ventures and Mayfield Fund. Previously, he served as Vice President of Product Management at AT&T Interactive, and was responsible for Product Development, UI design, HCI and the priorities and specification of the company’s new and existing products and features that generated B in revenue annually.
Prior to the acquisition of Ingenio by AT&T, Ron served as Vice President of Product Management where he led the product management team for Ingenio. He began his career as a management consultant with Price Waterhouse.
Ron is an inventor on 25 issued patents and 140 filed patents. He holds a BA from UCLA where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa.
Fun Fact: Ron has completed the Alcatraz Swim 3 times; twice under 37 minutes and most recently alongside his wife, Lorie.
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The Power of Stories for Startups is a post from: Nevada Sunshine