As someone we regard as a valued member of the Australian early stage venture community, we would like to extend to you an exclusive invitation to be part of a unique, interactive event hosted between a live audience in Sydney and an expert Panel in San Francisco.

Over the past ten years MitchelLake has worked with numerous early stage ventures, entrepreneurs and executives across both the Australian and US markets. During this period we have observed and experienced great benefit where entrepreneurial people and organisations have been able to connect to share knowledge and networks.

Real stories and experiences of entrepreneurial challenges, success and failure offer great value to emerging ventures but it is hard to stand on the shoulders of giants if we don’t know who or they are or where we can interact with them.

“Coming to America” is an interactive forum where Australian entrepreneurs, businesses and investors can learn from and leverage the experience of their peers and predecessors. It is about educating, networking and supporting Australian entrepreneurs, businesses and investors that are seeking to export Australian intellectual property & expertise into Global markets. Practical focus on questions such as; How to raise capital in the US, What does it take to be successful there? How difficult is it to move a company the US and will you have to? + Key tips for pitching to Venture Capitalists and Angels.

The San Francisco Panel

Matt Symons is currently Accenture’s Global Managing Director for Digital Marketing Optimization. Previously he was Co-Founder and CEO of Memetrics (subsequently acquired by Accenture). Matt is an active Angel investor and advisor to businesses in both the Australian and International digital marketing and technology markets. Matt graduated with a law degree from the University of Melbourne and has worked as an attorney for both Korea's largest law firm, Kim & Chang, and one of Australia's largest law firms, Minter Ellison. Matt also co-founded the Australian Development Fund (ADF), a successful early stage investment fund focused on emerging technology.

Ryan Junee is an entrepreneur, start-up advisor and technophile. He is currently Product Manager at YouTube, responsible for community engagement (a role he assumed after Google acquired his online video company, Omnisio). As CEO and Co-Founder of Omnisio, Ryan was responsible for driving the company’s strategic direction and helping to push the envelope in online video innovation. Ryan also sits on the executive committee of the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab - a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the growth and success of high-tech entrepreneurial ventures.

Tristen Langley is an Investment Director at Southern Cross Venture Partners. Tristen returned to Australia in 2007 after spending five years in Silicon Valley. Prior to joining SXVP, Tristen was a Business Development and Marketing Manager at Skype Technologies for North America. She spent several years as an Analyst with the US venture capital firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) where she initiated the firm’s investment in and led the due diligence for Skype Technologies (sold to eBay for US$2.6 billion), a peer-to-peer communications firm.

David Cannington (Moderator) is currently CMO for Sensear, an Australian Hearing Technology company. He was previously Founder and CEO Traction-USA and for the past decade has been involved in assisting and advising Australia technology and how to leverage into Silicon Valley. David was the Founding CEO of ANZA Technology Network and built the organization into the leading regional technology network connecting the Australian, New Zealand and US technology sectors. During David’s stewardship ANZA facilitated US market entry opportunities for over 200 Australian and New Zealand technology companies.

Held 15 October 2009 at the KPMG auditorium ground floor 10 Shelley Street Sydney.

• Agenda
• Coffee and tea welcome from 10.30am
• Start at 11am
• Panel intro and first round of questions 40min
• 11.40 Start-up pitch 1*
• 12.00 Start-up pitch 2*
• 12.30 lunch/network

In theme with the practical orientation of the Coming to America forum we are also offering two people the opportunity to pitch their business / start-up concept to the panel and audience. This is a core part of the program and a unique opportunity to generate real time feedback from a group of seasoned Angels and Entrepreneurs.

The pitch your business opportunity is now sold out.