When one of the most influential venture capitalists in Silicon Valley walks through the door, it is bound to attract a crowd. Hub101 saw its biggest audience when Beth Seidenberg, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers venture capitalist, spoke during Hub101 Talks Jan. 20. Community members, students, entrepreneurs and California Lutheran University’s business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, listened in to Seidenberg’s interview.
Due to her previous career as a doctor, Seidenberg has an innate passion for life sciences and invests in disruptive companies revolutionizing biotechnology and healthcare delivery.
The event was mediated by Dan Peate, General Partner of Peate Ventures and serial entrepreneur. Seidenberg is an investor in one of Peate’s companies, Hixme, as well as four other companies.
The event began with 3-minute Cal Lutheran University student pitches from the companies Start-Up Kids, Rep Watch and Tongue Tied.
Start-Up Kids promotes the entrepreneurial mindset to elementary school children through workshops, and are currently spearheading a third cohort of students at Westlake Elementary.
Rep Watch works to keep physical therapy patients compliant with recovery exercises through an app.
Tongue Tied, first place winners in Hub101’s Startup Weekend in November, are a language learning app aimed at connecting people for the opportunity to practice the language in person.
After the pitches, Seidenberg and Peate were able to ask questions and offer comments to the teams.
“It was exciting [pitching for Seidenberg]. She knows her stuff. It was an exciting opportunity, I’m glad I got to do it and it was a great experience,” Henry Breheny, Tongue Tied Co-Founder, said. “She had some really good feedback and asked us good questions that got us thinking.”
During the interview, Seidenberg talked about her past career as a doctor and how it brought her to her current position investing into specifically biotech startups. She was able to offer advice to up-and-coming entrepreneurs and give the audience a glimpse into the ever-changing world of venture capital. She also explained her profile of an entrepreneur.
“Create your network, surround yourself with people who can help and leverage all of the advice and all of the input that you can,” Seidenberg said. “You have to eat a lot of humble pie to be a successful entrepreneur.”
“The speaker, Beth Seidenberg, she was wonderful,” Michael Sheridan, Delta Sigma Pi President, said. “We even got a few tours for quite a few of our members of our organization showing off the Hub and what it offers to the students at Cal Lutheran. It was a very welcoming welcome for our first event.”
Operated by Cal Lutheran University in Westlake Village, CA, Hub101 offers coworking, programs, and community for entrepreneurs and small business owners to start, grow, and scale their startups and businesses. #StartSomething
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