The dictionary definition of a Network is “an association of individuals having a common interest, formed to provide mutual assistance, helpful information, or the like” ; Indeed, the VC Cafe Network (VCN) fits right in. Have you joined yet?
Started by Eze Vidra in 2007, the VC Cafe Network has the goal of providing a meeting place for entrepreneurs and investors to securely connect with each other to share ideas and further business by the way of introductions. VCN has since been growing organically gathering over 1,600 VC Cafe readers to date.
10 Reasons to join the VC Cafe Network
1. Get your job done – connect with the people you need to complete the tasks ahead. Whether you are an entrepreneur seeking funding or an investor looking for ideas, the VC Cafe Network will help you get the job done.
2. Social Capital – The VC Cafe Network has over 340 startup CEOs, more than 150 institutional and private investors and lots of what I call the ‘startup micro-cosmos’: product managers, patent lawyers, PR experts, marketing consultants, developers, recruiters, industry execs and many more. Scroll down to see a sample of companies involved with the VC Cafe Network.
3. Weak Ties are Strong – organizational behavior studies (Granovetter, 1973) support the fact that weak ties both help to know about jobs and get interviewed. It is more likely that you’ll find your next job, client, round of funding or exit through a friend of a friend rather than through your strong connections. How far are you from connecting with Yossi Vardi?
4. Get Information and Ideas – The discussion board on the VC Cafe Network is very active. Topics range from the current economic situation to companies looking for funding or expansion into new markets. Sure, we all read the usual suspects like techcrunch, Om, VentureBeat and SAI, but the group’s diversity will let you go deeper beyond your sources.
5. Social Support – The hosting company just erased three months of work? Your PR firm was a flop? Share your experience with the group and help us learn from your mistakes. The reciprocity value is high when everyone shares the same vision.
* Scroll down to see the list of funds, startups and corporations in the network.
6. It’s FREE – The VC Cafe Network is currently hosted by LinkedIn, free of charge. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on conferences to meet the right people, find them online – just a click away.
7. Secure and private- each member of the VC Cafe Network is approved manually, after making sure that the person qualifies for the group. Applicants are requested to add a quick note of introduction and explain the value they bring to the group. Posting Spam, harassing and pushing irrelevant content results in immediate removal.
8. Advance your personal and professional agenda – face it, you are doing this for YOU. Joining the VC Cafe Network will give you the option to grow your personal network. It will also allow you to add the VC Cafe Logo to your profile, sending a signal that you are interested in the venture capital and startup industry if you’re not already part of it.
9. “What goes around, comes around” – think of it in terms of Karma. Introduce people, answer questions and help other members of the group by focusing on the value you add to the network. You’re going to get back the value, one way or another.
10. Network building has to be a way of life – in growth industries like high tech, web 2.0 internet, biotechnology, green technology etc, networking with fellow professionals has been a propeller for product advancement. If you’re running a stealth starup or funding one, you’ll find more value in a group rather than by connecting to individuals only.
The goal of this appeal is to make the VC Cafe Network a sustainable community. Can we grow to 3,000 members by the end of 2008?
Below is a sample of the funds, startups and corporations represented in the VC Cafe Network. Are you there yet?
Some VC and PE Funds on the VC Cafe Network
(If your fund is not listed, this is a good time to join)
- 3Spectra
- Active Capital Partners
- Avondale Ventures
- AVP
- Battery Ventures
- CA Private Bank Monaco
- Carmel Ventures
- Castle Crow & Company
- Cedar Fund
- City National Bank of Florida
- Concord Ventures
- Crossroads Ventures
- Danske Bank Group
- Deutsche Bank
- EDS
- Endeavour Ventures
- Envest Ventures
- Foster Capital Ventures
- Gemini Israel Funds
- Greylock Partners
- Heron Capital
- Inspire Investments
- Israel Cleantech Ventures
- JPMorgan Chase
- Juneau Capital
- KFIC
- Kylla Group
- Maverick Venture Partners
- National Angel Organization
- New Energy & Clean Technology Ventures
- Nexus India Capital
- OTP Bank Romania
- Raiffeisen Bank
- RBC Capital Markets
- Riviera Partners
- Rudyard Partners
- Saddlerock Advisors
- SCP Capital
- Silicon Valley Bank
- Stata Ventures
- Torreya Partners
- WirelessMatch
Sample Corporations on the VC Cafe Network
- IAC
- Microsoft
- Cisco
- Sun Microsystems
- Yahoo!
- eBay
- PayPal
- AOL
- Shopping.com
- Amdocs
- Deloitte
- Mckinsey
- Every major business school: Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Yale, London Business School, INSEAD, etc.
Sample stealth and early stage Startups represented in the VC Cafe Network
- BloggersBase
- Playce
- E-Conomy IL
- Joongel
- EyeView
- Contrust
- My6sense
- Kwiry
- NewAct
- Didiom
- Conduit
- Tvinci
- Modu
- TripTouch
- ginPic
- SeerGate
- Fixya
- Yedda
- Veeda
- Koala
- oovoo
- and many more….
So if you’re not already a member, now is a great time to join. Don’t forget to write a short introduction of your current occupation and what value you add to the group.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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