“Shark Tank meets academia” at our Venture Vetting (V2) Pitch Competition, the largest campus-wide pitch competition at the University of San Diego where students have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a real group of angel investors for a chance to win real money to start their ventures.

The angel investors for the 2019 USD pitches include ANDREW LY, Founder/CEO of ticktBox, JEFFREY ADLER, CEO iProtean, MICHAEL KIMBALL, Tech Attorney, and NAVID ALIPOUR, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Analytics Ventures.   Angel investors for the Latin American team pitches are VICTORIA LAKERS, Frank M&C and as a mentor and growth expert for SDSU Zip Launchpad, WOLF BIELAS, founder and managing partner of Wolfpack Ventures, LLC, RAMON TOLEDO, President and Founder of Busca Corp.

Planned by Tech Coast Angels, at law firm Knobbe Martens, this event brought together over 100 investors and entrepreneurs together to hear about investing through the eyes of five women Angel Investors.

Moderator: 
Caitlin Wege | Partner, MooDoos Investments & TCA Member BOD 

Panelists: 
Vidya Dinamani | Founder of Product Rebels & Ad Astra Ventures
Mary Temple: TCA Member & San Diego Social Venture Partners BOD
Victoria Lakers | TCA Member & Quick Pitch Chair
Melanie Spiegelman | TCA Member BOD

Run by Startup SD, Convergence brings together 100s in the local ecosystem. Startups from across San Diego compete for ultimate bragging rights and prizes! 

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Judges

Ryan Kuder, Managing Director of Techstars Anywhere accelerator

Ashok Kamal, Executive Director, Tech Coast Angels

Eric Gasser, Co-Founder, SEED San Diego

Allison Long Pettine, Partner, Ad Astra Ventures

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Ignite is UC San Diego’s flagship innovation annual conference. In two years, Ignite @ UC San Diego has brought together more than 2800 innovative and entrepreneurial minds from across the Cali-Baja and from 8 states and 10 countries. There have been 102 pitches in the competitions at Ignite with more than $58,000 in cash prizes awarded and more than $1,500,000+ in-kind services given to competitors and all attendees.  

Panel: Investor Relations ... Sitting on the Investor Side of the Venture Table

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Ashok Kamal, Managing Director, Tech Coast Angels

Victoria Lakers, President, Frank Management Consulting

Allison Long Pettine, Partner, Ad Astra Ventures

Eric Gasser, Co-Founder, SEED San Diego

Denise Longley, Longley Capital

TCA Quick Pitch, which is TCA’s largest annual event, and the largest pitch competition in San Diego. In this role, and in conjunction with the San Diego Venture Group and Cox Business, Victoria helped drive the event to new levels, with $75,00 in prize money to selected entrepreneurs, the most applicants ever (280), and the first sold out crowd with over 700 tickets. She was part of the selection process, handled most of the logistics particularly with Qualcomm and Cox, and served as emcee along with Mike Krenn of San Diego Venture Group

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The 7th Annual USD Legacy Entrepreneurship Conference is planned by the school of Business and provided over 600 registrants with insight from entrepreneurs and investors from diverse ages, industries, and walks of life to truly get the "behind the scenes" look into the entrepreneurial journey.

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Panelists included: 

Ramon Toledo James Brennan Chad Beville Victoria Lakers Laura Kay J Amar Harrag Sarah Joelle Panis Chris Szczur

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Women's Empowerment event put on for women in STEM at  San Diego State University. Women in STEM is in conjuction with ZIP launchpad. (The photo is of a grant to the Women in STEM from MUFG, not from the event itself). 

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Panelists: 

Ash Robinson, CEO, Fit4Mom

Victoria Lakers, President, Frank M&C

Valerie Lake, Tech Coast Angels

Sarah Brand, Senior Design Engineer, Solar Turbines

Carminia Panlilio, Director Customer Experience, Viasat, Inc.

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From The Brink SBDC at University of San Diego, this was the second in the fall series for entrepreneurs. The topic for the evening is "Taking Money & Negotiations." Join us for an open dialogue on what it takes to become a more active angel investor in San Diego. We will cover the different ways angels are organized (individuals, conferences, networks, and funds) and hear directly from some seasoned investors on best practices and lessons learned. 

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Facilitated by SteveMorley, with Victoria Lakers of Tech Coast Angels, and Tyson McDowell, Managing Director of Lead Wingman as panelists. 

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The Hera Venture Summit brings together hundreds of investors and entrepreneurs focused on building out the women led ecosystem.

PANEL V (e): Entrepreneurs turned Investors

• MODERATOR: Victoria Lakers – Tech Coast Angels& ChangeMaker Chats
• Valentina Vitols – Pipeline Angels, Seattle Women’s Impact Fund, & Hera Angels
• Tanya Krackovic – SheEO Activator & Conscious Capital World
• Amy Chang – Hera Angels BOD & Delta Nutrassentials

• Carine Dieudé – Altima Business Solutions & Girls in Tech – Phoenix

• Amanda Lettman – Kardia Ventures

The closing event for San Diego Startup Week,, which brings together thousands of entrepreneurs, and community leaders, the Founders Fight Club allows the audience to see budding entrepreneurs pitch their startups in three different rounds. Each company advances only with the blessing of the audience who is encouraged to vote via chanting for their chosen winner.

Judges

Regina Bernal, Entrepreneurship Manager, USD

Brant Cooper, CEO, Moves The Needle

Ashok Kamal, Executive Director, Tech Coast Angels

Victoria Lakers, President, Frank M&C

Chad Trytten, Co-Founder, Koriist

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As part of Startup week, UCSD's Innovation Center planned the PediCab Pitch.

"Who needs elevators? Join us for this fast-paced Elevator Pitch with a San Diego flair! What could be better than this: 30 competitors, 90 seconds, 3 investors in pedicabs and $1,000 cash prizes. The Pedicab Pitch is hosted by the University of California San Diego.  "

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Judges:

Eric Gasser, Founder, SEED San Diego

Cynthia Hanson, Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives and Outreach, UCSD

Victoria Lakers, President, Frank M&C

Jeff Slosar, Managing Partner, NextWave Venture

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Keynote: Getting Funded with the Area’s Top Women Investors

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A keynote speech for San Diego Startup Week, this panel included Arlan Hamilton, the high-profile investor behind VC firm Backstage Capital - one publication recently dubbed her "America's hottest VC" Hamilton. This packed ballroom with over 400 people, discussed how to get funding for different types of investors. 

Moderators

Victoria Lakers, President, Frank M&C

Speakers

Ellen Chang, Chair, Wharton Angels

Arlan Hamilton, Managing Partner, Backstage Capital

Jenn Kercher, President & General Counsel, Section 32

Allison Long Pettine, Founder & President, SEED San Diego

Caitlin Wege, Partner, MooDoos Investments

Step into the world of Angel Investing through the eyes of five women Angel Investors with Tech Coast Angels San Diego. This event will guide you through the initial phases of Angel Investing and provide overall education on Angel Investing as well as Investor Insight followed by a Q&A.

• Caitlin Wege | Partner, MooDoos Investments

• Susie Harborth | General Partner of BioInnovation Capital

• Kelly Sarber | President, Strategic Management

• Amanda Lettmann | CEO of Kardia Ventures

• Moderator:

• Victoria Lakers | President, Frank M&C, Inc

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