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Valhalla Sponsors Trilogy Alumni Event
Readers of this newsletter would have enjoyed attending a Valhalla-hosted event in New York City the weekend of October 20. Specifically, we hosted the "Trilogy Alumni Only the Best Unconference" event for alumni of my former company, Trilogy.
Art Marks was an early investor in Trilogy, and served on its Board for almost 15 years. When I joined Valhalla as a Venture Partner earlier this year, Art supported my suggestion that Valhalla sponsor the Trilogy alumni conference. I expected it would be a great combination since Art and Valhalla embrace Trilogy's belief that exceptional people are the lifeblood of any organization.
Most people know Trilogy as one of the largest privately-held software companies in the world, but Trilogy's culture of rethinking everything to maximize impact remains a key memory. Accordingly, it is no surprise that our annual alumni event is an "Unconference", because the gathering is not a conference but an event committed to rethinking everything, including the agenda. Every potential speaker arrived prepared to go on stage without knowing time allotments or the exact direction of his or her presentation.
As an example, we had an alumnus who traced his career path from technology presales to a reality TV appearance to investments in organic farms and a radical rethinking of the restaurant industry. Another alumnus presented how to run a virtual global company in the cloud, without an office and spending zero time on administrative tasks, all while traveling nearly full-time. In general, the more unique the idea, the higher the enthusiasm level of attendees.
For Valhalla, the highlight was a session focused on venture capitalists and how VCs evaluate ideas, entrepreneurs, and funding decisions. Participants on the panel included Art, Valhalla GP Kiran Hebbar, and Gary Chou of Union Square Ventures. Kiran moderated the session as the panel focused less on what entrepreneurs must do and more on what they should not do. Art gave a humorous breakdown of the roles he looks for on an entrepreneurial team by evaluating the Oceans Eleven movie and the roles and attitudes of each player. I am sure more than a few people went home that night and watched the movie on Netflix.
Valhalla's partners appreciated the opportunity to spend time with such an exceptional group of people. A special thanks to Scott Francis, Cindy Lo, Jean Barmash, and Gary Chou for spending countless hours to ensure an exceptional event. Thanks also to Union Square Ventures who allowed us to use their office space as the Unconference home. |
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This Month's News Stories
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