frank-maeneThe new school year has started and with it a lot of activity is springing in Brussels around startups. We have already discussed many types of funding in the workshops we organize, but we thought it would be good to have a session dedicated to big money.
Frank Maene is a long standing Belgian VC that has created a new fund (Volta Ventures) and has volunteered to give an intensive introduction course to venture capital and venture capitalists (VC) at Betacowork. It will be interactive and to the point.
Brace yourselves: this will be a 2 hour long conference with a lot of information coming from Frank. If you are serious about raising capital and you one to meet one of the better known Belgian VC, you cannot miss this session. You can already tweet your questions @frankmaene #vc101.
Here’s the core content of the session:

Venture Capital 101

  • What is a venture capitalist and what makes him tick?
  • Do you really need/want a VC? How to get a meeting?
  • How to structure your pitch?
  • What are the do’s and don’t to get to a term sheet?

From Term Sheet to Exit

  • How do VC’s estimate the valuation of your startup?
  • What do all these terms mean in the term sheet – and what is their impact?
  • What happens during due diligence?
  • What is a value-add board member?
  • What is the role of the board?

All that is left for you is to sign-up, spread the word and bring something to take good notes! Places are limited, hurry up.
Frank Maene is Managing Partner at Volta Ventures. He has been a partner and venture partner at the Hummingbird Ventures and Big Bang Ventures funds, since inception in 2000. On behalf of these funds he serves on the board of directors of Amplidata, Awingu, Ciceksepeti, Digitouch and Engagor. He was the chairman of DataCenterTechnologies (acquired by Symantec), Q-layer (acquired by Sun Microsystems) and a director on the board of Avinity (acquired by ActiveVideo Networks) and PINS (acquired by IS). He is also an independent chairman at Argus Labs. Prior, Frank led ExpertEyes in Silicon Valley, where he helped US software companies expand into Europe; spun off a team of developers from a system integrator; created, led, and -eighteen months later- sold the Benelux distributor of Gentia Software; was a sales manager for Comshare Belgium/Luxembourg, and started his career as a consultant with the Cap Gemini Group. Frank holds Master’s degrees in Applied Economics and Accountancy from the University of Gent, Belgium. Follow @frankmaene