May 29, 2003

Raising Expansion Capital
—————————————

Moderator:
Don Keller, Director, Venture Law Group

Panelists:
Gary Rieschel, Executive Managing Director, Mobius Venture Capital
Thomas McKinley, Managing Partner, Partech International
Scott Martin, President & CEO, Determine Software
Jim Ellison, Managing Director, Comerica Bank-TLS Division
Ron Lissak, Managing Partner, Catapult Advisors

The exercise of raising expansion capital in today's environment can be challenging for even the best venture-backed companies. Issues abound at all levels of the process that impact investors (both current and prospective), the company, management and employees. This panel will discuss some of these challenges and the specific techniques and approaches employed by successful companies who have recently raised additional rounds of financing to fund their ongoing growth. The panelists are experienced professionals familiar with the challenges of raising expansion capital in the current environment, including:

• Which investors are most active today?
• Should you target strategic investors for your next round?
• Techniques for managing the disparity between "old" and "new" investors
• Tips for dealing with longer closing cycles
• Will you need a bridge?
• Demonstrating a clear and credible "path to profitability"
• The importance of having a moderate burn rate
• Strategies for retaining and incenting management and key employees (especially with down rounds)
• What drives valuation models today?
• The increasing role of exotic structures in today's term sheets
• Should debt be used as an alternative or supplement to equity financing?
• Contingency planning and preparing for the "worst case"
• Impact of a financing on founder ownership
• Be prepared: know who you are meeting with

Date: May 29th
Time: Doors open at 7:30 am
Panel Discussion: 8:00 am - 11:00 am

Location: Venture Law Group, 2775 Sand Hill Road