Providing Education and Resources to Start-Up Entrepreneurs

David and Cathy Light, co-instructors for the first Keiretsu Forum Entrepreneur Academy course on "CEO Roles and Responsibilities" stated, "It is wonderful to belong to the Keiretsu Forum family and to have the opportunity to share our real world experiences at this newly launched program. The academy is taking the industry lead in establishing a pro-active program to help entrepreneurs learn how to build solid business plans. These courses, taught by seasoned Keiretsu Forum industry veterans, partners and sponsors, will focus on the critical elements of the plan, how to present to the angel investor community, and most importantly, to set presenting companies up for success. As angel investors, we look forward in seeing the development of the entrepreneurs attending."

"The class participants were asked to evaluate this course, and the responses were exactly what we were hoping to achieve," said program director, David Dembitz. "All the entrepreneurs were fully engaged in the course and received 100% value from attending."

Kim Wise, CEO of Mentor Resources and attendee of the first Entrepreneur Academy commented, "The course, CEO Roles and Responsibilities, was an exceptional value. I was impressed with the expertise and knowledge of the instructors and also enjoyed having a forum to meet and share experiences with liked-minded entrepreneurs."

The second course is scheduled from 5:00pm to 8:00pm on Wednesday, May 13th on the topic "The Deal -- Understanding Terms and Conditions and Financing Options" at Fenwick & West, LLP located at Silicon Valley Center, 801 California Street, Mountain View, California. It will cover: (1) Definition of terms in the term sheet, (2) Basic elements of the term sheet, (3) Funding alternatives -- Pros and Cons, (4) Negotiable items, and (5) When to sign and when to walk away. This course will be co-instructed by Tammi Smorynski, Intel Capital and Kenneth Clark, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, two outstanding executives with different perspectives from their industries.

The third course is scheduled from 5:00pm to 8:00pm on Tuesday, June 2nd on the topic "Intellectual Property (IP) for Early Stage Companies: Why, When, and What If" at Fenwick & West. It will review IP Issues that are of interest to early stage companies: (1) "Classic" IP rights: patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks; (2) Things IP touches on: employment law, company valuation, competition; and (3) US and International IP. This course will be instructed by Keiretsu Forum Silicon Valley's exclusive sponsor on IP -- Steve Swernofsky.

The Entrepreneur Academy will feature eight courses. (1) CEO's Roles and Responsibilities, (2) The Deal -- Understanding Terms and Conditions and Financing Options, (3) Protecting Intellectual Property, (4) Human Resources -- Employment Laws and Tax Issues, (5) Accounting -- Setting Up Books and Financial Projections, (6) Sales and Marketing, (7) Exit Strategies, and (8) The Pitch.

Registration is $215 per person, per course. Early bird registration two weeks prior to the course date is $199 per person, per course. Seating is limited to ensure close interaction between the entrepreneurs and the instructors. Online registration is available at http://k4academyentrepreneur.eventbrite.com/. The registration fee includes attendance and course materials, with a light dinner and refreshments being served.

About Keiretsu Forum

Keiretsu Forum was founded by Randy Williams and has 18 chapters on three continents, with over 800 accredited investor members. Keiretsu Forum is the world's largest angel investment network. Keiretsu Forum members provide early-stage capital in the range of $250k-$2 million to high quality, diverse investment opportunities and collaborate in the due diligence, but make their own individual investment decisions.