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How Do VCs Mentor Their Companies?

How Do VCs Mentor Their Companies?. Dr. Orna Berry Gemini Israel Funds. Being a Mentor: Soft Skills. Maximize team member performance Motivate team members to make the changes needed to improve performance Focus on job priorities, and actively seek out new opportunities to contribute more

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How Do VCs Mentor Their Companies?

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  1. How Do VCs Mentor Their Companies? Dr. Orna Berry Gemini Israel Funds

  2. Being a Mentor: Soft Skills • Maximize team member performance • Motivate team members to make the changes needed to improve performance • Focus on job priorities, and actively seek out new opportunities to contribute more • Inspire people to become more creative and empowered • Conduct developmental, motivational, and non-performance related coaching sessions on a regular basis Source: Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness

  3. What is the “Gemini Seed” Program? • Companies in their idea phase • Disruptive ideas – create opportunities rather than solve problems • Undefined product or market segment • High risk - High reward type of investments • Companies are Mentored by Gemini through their seed phase

  4. Why make Seed investments? • Potential to be the best money makers of • Great companies, High holdings • Increase our chance to get the best people and the best ideas before competition develops • Allows Gemini to explore non-traditional & unique markets in a professional way

  5. OnWish • Large Scale Personalized Distribution of Content and Commercials over IP - the OnWish solution overcomes the technical limitations of existing content delivery medium such as video streaming • Idea and concept: Prof. Y. Yemini of Columbia University; co-founder of Comverse ($4B NASDAQ:CMVT) and co-founder of Smart (acquired by EMC for $270M)

  6. Prime Sense • Outstanding team, people and technological-scientific • Digital eyes - novel method for real-time, accurate 3D scene acquisition and modeling in cost lower by orders of magnitude than comparable technologies • First market: within $25B gaming console industry • Prime Sense’s interactive device can see, track, and react to user movements outside the computer, all without any user/environmental assumptions

  7. Gemini Goals in Seeding • Help focus the entrepreneur: direct technology to proper market • Bring in strong advisors in their field • Take companies on a road show to top US execs – and helped with preparation • Help staff the companies • Provide MarCom support – presentation writing, etc.

  8. Jeff Cunningham’s Advice • Act Now – be decisive • Be Inspired by Your Enemies – learn from everyone • Be Contrarian • Be Obsessed • Get a Second Opinion – don’t think you know it all

  9. Gemini Israel Funds First • First Yozma Fund, now over $550M under management • We helped build the 3rd largest VC industry in the world Focus • Israel, IT, Seed and Early Stage Success • Exits include: Ceragon, Commtouch, Exactium, Jacada, Oridion, Ornet, Precise, Radnet, Riverhead, Verisity + Saifun! (Nov 2005) Repeat • Entrepreneurs that work with us, come back to Gemini again Team • Domain expertise and start-up experience

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