CEO Pitches, Bows and Optimism

Well, a few weeks back I got to participate in two events. One was watching Rick Bentley, CEO of Connexxed, do his elevator pitch - not in an office, but in front of a plane at the Palo Alto Airport. The second was attending the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs farewell party to Susan Hailey, their retiring CEO, after a successful tenure.

What was neat is that both events were captured with Valux's video service ("MinutePitch - Your Video Screen on the Web!") simply and easily. Rick's pitch is simply great. There's nothing like watching a second-time CEO take the helm.

It was so easy to take a digital camera and capture Susan's farewell captured in Kick-off to Fall ("Forum for Women Entrepreneurs - Bay Area Chapter").

This cocktail party launched the transition of FWE from Susan Hailey (who's now a VP Marketing at Harrahs) to new CEO Amy Love. Susan came into FWE and built it up from a financial hole to an incredibly successful organization in just two years. The FWE silent auction and dinner (I worked the auction - upbid sponsoring VCs and lawyers books, videos, and like things for the "family" group) last spring was a financial success.

Amy is moving forward (listen to her in the video "Kick-Off to Fall") on the challenge of too-low goal setting by women in organizations. Susan launched a series of CEO and COO meetings for women in large companies to build-in support for women (it seems being an entrepreneur is hard enough these days, and if you're a woman it's almost impossible). I know Amy will fight to keep that hard-won goodwill that Susan built up so tirelessly.

Whether it's a startup in security, or a group of women entrepreneurs networking and having fun, I'm struck by the real sense of optimism that comes through these on-location genuine videos. The strength of Silicon Valley comes through our willingness to try new things.