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2007 Entrepreneurship Conference: Details of Sessions
Session 1:
Acquisition as a Route to Entrepreneurship (Panel)
Moderator: Linda Wells, Stanford GSB. Panelists: Moises Eilenberg, H&R Accounts Inc, Rich Kelley, Search Fund Partners, Michael Sanabria, Impress Northwestern.
Whether it's with a search fund, on your own, or by some other means, acquiring a company as a route to entrepreneurship can be a feasible and sometimes overlooked option.
Recruiting and Building a High Performance Team (Presentation)
Speaker: Jason Donahue, President and CEO, ClearApp.
How do you think about assembling a team for an early-stage venture? How do you persuade the right people to join your company, and once they've joined how do you ensure your team works well together? Jason Donahue takes us through these and similar issues that every entrepreneur faces, and explains how ultimately any team can be made successful through careful orchestration by the CEO.
The Business Plan (Presentation)
Speaker: Jim Ellis, Stanford GSB
The business plan is an important document for any new venture. It helps lay out a road map for starting and building a company. It can be a valuable tool for an entrepreneur to use in communicating ideas to investors, customers, partners and key team members, and should be a living, breathing guide to the company's direction and priorities. Professor Jim Ellis talks about the elements of a successful business plan as well as common mistakes related to its development and use.
Top 10 Lies that VCs Tell Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs Tell VCs (Presentation) 
Speaker: Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures
Pitching your company to a Venture Capitalist can be a daunting task. Entrepreneurs use tactics and phrases that VCs perceive as white lies, while VCs use euphemisms for what they really intend when they talk to entrepreneurs. Bill Reichert guides us through the Top 10 of entrepreneurs' tactics and VC's euphemisms to give a better understanding of the fundraising process.
Getting Your First Customers (Presentation)
Speakers: Chuck DeVita, President, Growth Process Group and Allen Blue, LinkedIn.
You have developed the next great technology. You have a solution that will add immense value to other organizations. Your idea will change the world. But without market validation, few potential customers will give you a fair evaluation. Chuck DeVita guides us through the process of getting the first customers.
Session 2:
Conducting Effective Negotiations (Presentation)
Speaker: Joel Peterson, Stanford GSB, Founder/CEO/Chairman, Peterson Partners
Whether with investors or employees, suppliers or customers, negotiation is an inevitable aspect of starting a business. Since negotiation skills need to be in every entrepreneur's tool box, Joel Peterson will share his experiences about how to conduct successful, rewarding negotiations, and outline principles that apply in various business scenarios.
How Leaders Define Corporate Culture (Presentation)
Speaker: Mark Leslie, Stanford GSB, Managing Director, Leslie Ventures, Founding Chairman & CEO, Veritas Software
Now that your business is up and running, how do you get the most from your people? How do you keep your employees motivated and focused on creating value for your customers and for the company? In addition to focusing on tips and tricks to help you create an effective culture, this lecture explores issues such as maintaining an enduring culture and aligning culture with success.
Finding and Evaluating an Idea (Panel) 
Moderator: Phil Leslie, Stanford GSB. Panelists: Amy Baker, Nature's Cure, Scott Brady, FiberTower, Josh Hannah, Flutter.com, Tony Levitan, Lexy
Often the hardest part about starting a new business is coming up with a good idea. What environmental clues should you look for to help make the process easier? How can you leverage your experience and network to identify compelling opportunities? How do you know if this idea is worth pursuing? Hear a panel moderated by Professor Phil Leslie on where to look for and how to analyze the next big idea.
Leveraging Low-cost Locations (Panel)
Moderator: Hau Lee, Stanford GSB. Panelists: Randy Hetrick, Fitness Anywhere Inc, Michael Hsieh, LF USA Investments Inc, Clay Bullwinkel, Accelerance, Ho Nam, Altos Ventures.
As globalization continues to develop into the predominant method of conducting business, entrepreneurs are becoming more empowered to leverage low cost locations in the development of their business. Hau Lee and this prestigious panel of entrepreneurs and business leaders will investigate the advantages, disadvantages and methods of utilizing low cost locations to the advantage of an emerging company.
Going Solo or Partnering (Panel)
Moderator: Andy Rachleff, Stanford GSB & Benchmark Capital. Panelists: Mendel Rosenblum, VMware, Chris Larsen, Prosper, Pradeep Sindhu, Juniper Networks, Fermi Wang, Ambarella.
Some entrepreneurs choose to start a company alone while others want to start up with a partner. While being a sole founder has advantages such as majority ownership and creation of the company vision, having a partner to help share the burden has major advantages. Andy Rachleff guides this panel of entrepreneurs through relevant topics surrounding the decision of whether to go alone or partner.
Lunchtime Keynote: Ed Catmull, Co-Founder, Pixar Animation Studios; President, Pixar and Disney Animation Studios
Session 3:
The afternoon sessions investigated trends and opportunities in various industries. Four panels bring together subject matter experts from these highlighted industries.
Trends and Opportunities in Consumer Goods and Retail (Panel)
Moderator: Garth Saloner, Stanford GSB. Panelists: Mark Dwight, Timbuk2 Designs, Ethan Imboden, Jimmyjane, Pete Slosberg, Cocoa Pete's Chocolate Adventures, Will Weisman, ZEA Inc.
Trends and Opportunities in Consumer Internet (Panel)
Moderator: Heidi Roizen, Mobius Venture Capital. Panelists: Chad Hurley, YouTube, Jeff Jordan, PayPal, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Elaine Wherry, meebo.com.
Trends and Opportunities in Media and Entertainment (Panel)
Moderator: Robert Burgelman, Stanford GSB. Panelists: Jamie Davis, Platform Equity, Mark Jung, IGN Entertainment, Hunter Walk, Google Inc, Tim Westergren, Pandora.
Trends and Opportunities in Mobile Technologies (Panel)
Moderator: Janice Roberts, Mayfield Fund. Panelists: Joel Jewitt, Good Technology, Jim Madsen, NextWave Wireless, Dipchand Nishar, Google Inc, Scott Raney, Redpoint Ventures.