Entrepreneurship in China
As the world’s most populated country, China has become more than a destination for outsourcing. With its own vibrant economy, vast pools of labor, rising levels of education and disposable income, and increasing business sophistication, China is a ripe arena for entrepreneurial ventures. However, navigating China’s complex governmental regulations and developing legal system requires an on-the-ground presence and local knowledge.

Moderator:
Marguerite Gong Hancock - Associate Director, Stanford Program on Regions for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Panelists:
David Chao - General Partner, DCM
David Chen – Founder and President, VanceInfo Technologies Inc.
Kevin Fong - Managing Director, GSR Ventures
Frank (Xiaodong) Wang – Founder and VP Engineering, Azalea Networks, Inc.

Opportunities in Consumer Internet
"Creative destruction" is a recurring theme in all segments of the consumer Web -- ecommerce, communication, search, socializing, and payments among others. With a panel of leading entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, we'll explore the current environment for creating new ideas, securing funding for growth, building teams, and competing against consumer-facing giants like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. We'll also explore the rapidly changing outlook for turning "cool applications" into self-sustaining businesses with revenue, and the necessary pain of cutting expenses to extend runway in a tough environment.

Moderator:
Michael Dearing – Consulting Associate Professor, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford

Panelists:
Brian Ascher - Partner, Venrock
Gina Bianchini – Co-Founder and CEO, Ning
Mike Maples, Jr. – Managing Partner, Maples Investments
Seth Sternberg – Co-Founder and CEO, meebo

Entrepreneurship in a Difficult Economy
2008 brought one of the worst economic crises in a century. What lessons can we learn from entrepreneurs who managed businesses through previous downturns? Listen to experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists recount their experiences, share their insights, and give their guiding principles for entrepreneurship in a difficult economic environment.

Moderator:
Rob Chess, Lecturer in Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Panelists:
Steve Ciesinski – Former Chairman and CEO, Laszlo Systems
Jim Goetz – Partner, Sequoia Capital
Munjal Shah – Co-Founder and CEO, Riya Inc.
Bob Walters – President and CEO, Untangle

Lessons from an Entrepreneur: Groundbreak Idea to Operating Company
How do you successfully launch a game publisher and developer from scratch? During this session, learn how Lars Buttler, Founder and CEO of Trion World Network, created a groundbreaking idea for the broadband entertainment and online gaming market, raised over $100M from world-class investors, recruited his team and secured key partnerships.

Speaker:
Lars Buttler is the Founder and CEO of Trion World Network, Inc., the publisher and developer of original entertainment and games for the broadband era. Dr. Buttler helms strategy and business direction for Trion as the company sets out to define the future of entertainment.

Start Up Seminar: Articulating Your Value Proposition
Translating the features of a product or service into customer benefits is one of the most important things that an entrepreneur has to do. Come hear Tom Fountain from Mayfield Fund speak about how to better articulate your value proposition and turn your new venture into a success!

Speaker:
Tom Fountain is a Principal at Mayfield Fund, a leading venture capital firm.  Prior to joining Mayfield, Tom was a serial entrepreneur and taught on the faculty of Stanford University.
 

Entrepreneurship in India
India comes up in discussion in almost every class – be it strategy, marketing or entrepreneurship. Many of you will also consider doing business in India or with Indian companies and entrepreneurs. But what does it take to be an entrepreneur in India or work with entrepreneurs from India? Venture capital investors, entrepreneurs and other professionals with extensive experience in India discuss the current ecosystem for entrepreneurship in India, mistakes to avoid while doing business in India and how to navigate through the Indian business climate.

Moderator:
Anil Advani, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP

Panelists:
Naren Gupta – General Partner, Nexus India Capital
Promod Haque – General Partner, Norwest Venture Partners
Diaz Nesamoney – Founder, President and CEO, Jivox Corporation
Basab Pradhan – CEO, Gridstone Research
 

Opportunities in Clean Tech
Clean tech is a booming new sector encompassing a wide range of new technologies and business models related to energy, transportation, materials, agriculture, waste management and more. Expectations are high, but significant challenges remain for start-ups in this sector. Our panelists will discuss the future of clean tech in the new political and economic climate of 2009.

Moderator:
Mitch Zuklie, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP

Panelists:
Raj Atluru - Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Harrison Dillon - President and Chief Technology Officer, Solazyme
Erik Straser - Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures
JB Straubel - Chief Technology Officer, Tesla Motors

Starting a Business Right After School
For many students, entrepreneurship is not a distant goal but rather an immediate pursuit. Come learn from former students who started businesses during or right after school. Find out what they did during school to prepare, what resources they utilized, and what life was like for them as they balanced their entrepreneurial and scholastic responsibilities.

Moderator:
Chuck Holloway - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Professor of Management, Emeritus, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Panelists:
Darin Buxbaum - Founder and CEO, Hourglass
Pete Flint - Founder and CEO, Trulia Real Estate Search
Alyssa Rapp - Founder and CEO, Bottlenotes.com
Brad Stroh - Founder and Co-CEO, Freedom Financial Network and Bills.com

The Customer Development Process
In tough economic times its important to remember that ninety-percent of Silicon Valley's start-ups fail not because of bad product, but because they don't find the right market and customer. Serial entrepreneur Steve Blank talks about how to build a "Lean Startup" by using the Customer Development model .

Speaker:
Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and/or been part of eight start-ups in Silicon Valley and who has authored Four Step to the Epiphany, Sales and Marketing for New Products and Companies, a text to accompany his course on entrepreneurship at Stanford Graduate School of Engineering and U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business

Start Up Seminar: Term Sheet Negotiations
One of the most important parts of the venture financing process is negotiating the term sheet. Although only 2-3 pages long, term sheets contain summaries of the critical aspects of a financing. Listen to a simulated negotiation between a VC and an entrepreneur over a term sheet. Ken Elefant of Opus Capital, Gregory Heibel of Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe, LLP, and Farb Nivi of Grockit will address the most important terms, what to look for, and how to negotiate more successfully.

4:30 pm
Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford continues with the DFJ Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders panel on "The Next Big Thing" featuring Tony Perkins, Tim Draper and Michael Moe. This lecture is free and open to everyone. No registration is required. Location: Kresge Auditorium. The lecture is then followed by a networking reception.
See http://eweek.stanford.edu for full details.