More Orrick Total Access Goodness

This morning I attended the Orrick Total Access panel which featured Gilman Louie (Alsop Louie), Rich Moran (Venrock), George Northup (AuctionDrop), and Dave Rosenberg (MuleSource). It was a great panel. The talk: Top 10 Startup Mistakes.

I gotta say, Orrick has this down. I've attended lots of panels in the past and these I've found to be the most relevant and informative of all of them. And that's giving props to a law firm - which I normally don't like doing. The moderator kept the discussion moving and relevant. And the panel was full of insightful comments about what to do and not to do. There was a good balance of differing opinions too - because we all know, there's no one right way to do something. I have to say, Gilman Louie of Alsop Louie was a riot! He described every entrepreneurial move in terms of either: 1) Climbing Mt. Everest or 2) Creating a weapon. I guess since he's now working on some CIA projects - he has the analogy down. Anyway, he's a fired up individual who tells it like it is. I'd imagine if you pitched him, he'd tear you apart.

Rich Moran on the other hand told some more mellow stories. He said that VC's notice everything. If you roll in hungover to your pitch, if you didn't shower, if you didn't sleep, if you have spelling mistakes, if you fight with your new sales guy in the meeting. His favorite story though was when he looked out of his window one morning and noticed a group of guys smoking a joint. He saw these same guys minutes later pitching him their idea. Long story short, they didn't get the funding. Lesson: don't be stupid.

George Northup gave the entrepreneur and open source perspective while Dave Rosenberg gave the entrepreneur/psychology perspective. He was selling his psychotherapist whom he loved. Because he's a big psychology guy though, he may understand a lot about what we're doing. Note to self.

So compared to Wilson's Entrepreneur Workshops - this is much more laid back and interactive. If you're looking for a classroom setting - hit up Wilson. If you want a good, entertaining, and education panel - come to these.

Here's the next one in Menlo Park (though they have them in SF too): register