The fall term of my
second year has been flying by, I can't believe we are already through the 3rd
week of classes and mid-term exams are around the corner. It seems like
yesterday when we started the term and I set the goal for the 2nd
year of my MBA; to further my understanding of private equity investing
(this includes venture capital investing), and ultimately, to start a career in
this space.
This term I am taking
three PE/VC related classes:
- PE/VC law: This course is taught by Prof Victor Fleisher and has
provided an amazing overview on how private equity works. So far we have
covered topics such as the structure of a PE/VC firm, the limited partner's
perspective, commission structures and the history of private equity which
includes legal acts such as Erisa. I'm excited to get into term sheets and the
course project which will have us analyze a local VC firm and some tech start
ups.
- Entrepreneurial
finance: Prof Chris Leach is
one of the most entertaining professors I have ever had, giving this class the
potential to be my favorite MBA course.
- Business Plan
Preparation: Prof George Desiro
and Liz Snowden provide guidance as students go through the process of creating
business plan. While there are differing opinions on the business plan process,
I believe it adds a great deal of value to "new" entrepreneurs.
Next term I'm looking
forward to taking Entrepreneurship and the Venture Capital Process, a new class
offering taught by Prof Bret Fund. The class will operate in conjunction with
the recently proposed Deming Center Venture Fund, a seed capital fund run by a
group of Leeds MBA students. The class will go through deal flow, due diligence,
investment decisions and portfolio management. The goal for the class is for
students to further their education in entrepreneurship and venture capital,
and to use the funding from the Deming Center Venture Fund to make a real
investment.
As one of the
managers of the finance club I am proud to say that we have expanded our
offering on the PE/VC side. Our goal for the new division of the club is to
promote the educational experience in private investing and to take advantage
of the network of venture capitalists in the Boulder area.
I recently attended
an event sponsored by the Colorado Bioscience Association called "Negotiating
the Venture Capital Term Sheet". Brent Fassett from Cooley and Dan Mitchell from
Sequel role-played a VC negotiation and took "character breaks" to explain the
term sheet. The CU MBA class was well represented with 15 participants.
There are several
other incredible events that are taking place in the near term, these include:
"Ask the VC" with Jason Mendelson from the Foundry Group and a "One on One"
with Brad Feld, also from the Foundry Group. On Nov 3rd I will be
volunteering for the NREL Industry Growth Forum which will provide exposure to
private investors and entrepreneurs in CleanTech.
Lastly, the VC boot
camp on Nov 6th and 13th will be a two day event, put on
by the finance club that will feature an all-star line up of speakers
including: Pam Shepherd and Kim Bixel from Greenmont Capital, Jason Mendelson
from the Foundry group, CU law professor Brad Bernthal, and professional
investor Chris Wand.
Hopefully by the end
of this term I will have a strong understanding of private investing and will
be slightly ahead of the game when it comes to finding a job this spring, but
only time will tell. That's all for now, I'm off to write my application for
the Venture Capital Investment Team!
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