May 12, 2004

Venture Capital Boot Camp set for May 25 at SIUC

by Tom Woolf

CARBONDALE, Ill. - - A one-day seminar at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will prepare entrepreneurs to present their ideas to bankers, angel investors and venture capitalists.

The Venture Capital Boot Camp runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, at SIUC's Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, 150 E. Pleasant Hill Road, Carbondale, IL. SouthernTECH and the Southern Illinois Entrepreneurship Center, both housed at Dunn-Richmond, are sponsoring the event.

A cocktail reception for attendees, speakers and business leaders is set for 5 to 7 p.m. at Stone Center on the SIUC campus.

The $35 registration fee is due by May 21. To register, visit http://www.siecenter.biz/vcboot.

Conference topics include:

  • "The Key Elements of Building Your Business and Developing Your Business Plan," presented by Barry Moltz, co-founder of Prairie Angels in Chicago, and John Farrell of Illinois Ventures for Community Action;
  • "The Life Cycle of Financing," presented by Moltz;
  • "Legal Issues Concerning Equity," presented by James S. Greenberger of the Chicago law firm Schwartz, Cooper, Greenberger & Krauss;
  • "Presentation Techniques," presented by Kapil Chauhadry of the Illinois Coalition;
  • Mock investor panel, moderated by Jack Weatherford of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's finance division. Panelists include Leroy Wright of the Wright Group, Tom Thornton of the Illinois Coalition, Farrell and Moltz.

Enhancing economic development is among the goals of Southern@150, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.