‘Retweeting’ gems of advice from investors at Entrepreneurs’ Series showcase

A host of Twitter fans were tweeting at a rapid pace from the Entrepreneurs’ Series event Wednesday morning. And those who mine the tweets from the event feed (#eseriesral) can find some very useful insight – if you can decipher some meanings and know some context.

Photos hit the Twitter feed, too. (Fortunately, The Skinny avoided all those smartphones …)

I’m just back at the home fortress and read through the feed more closely than I did with a few glances during the half-morning affair that drew a crowd of more than 200 people. But first, some context, so those who weren’t in the crowd (and if you are a Triangle entrepreneur, you should have been there).

The Entrepreneur Series kicked off its 2014 schedule with a program forecasting the investment climate for 2014. Jason Caplain and David Jones of the new Bull City venture fund put on the program. They landed one of the best speaker lineups to date in the series, including outspoken-as-always Scott Kupor of Andreessen Horowitz in the Valley. Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor who took his venture-backed firm public last year, moderated the “fireside chat” with Kupor, who once lived in the Triangle. (More with Kupor to come, believe me.)

All the speakers combined produced a record crowd for the series, which dates back several years.

Couple of translation notes:

#eseriesral is the vent Twitter feed
@ScotKupor is Scott Kupor
Too many (@)s to spell out – find them at Twitter!

The rest is raw as tweeted – but pretty intuitive.

Comments range from how to raise funds to what investors are looking for to the lack of female entrepreneurs in the crowd.

Some editorial comments are tweeted — er, edited – in by me, post event.

Here we go.

Tweet Treasures

For the VCs in the crowd and those who want more active VCs:

role of AngelList going to be? #eseriesral” crowdtilt, kickstarter, etc. aren’t threats to VC, they’re accelerators

More …

David Gardner: f&f rounds are too easy – startups should have to hear “no” from sophisticated investors to discover issues. #eseriesral
“VCs will run the numbers, but as angels, we really just smell the numbers.” -David Gardner
Love seeing my buddy Sumit of @loneriderbeer at #eseriesral – definition of entrepreneur. More VC & angels invest in beer than many think!
Nice shoutout to @averyj CEO skills from @TimSHuntley. Shoot straight with your investors.
somebody who is good technically, and a “community manager” who is good from a sales and marketing end — @DaveNealVCQ
for angels: Talk about AngelList as a viable channel for raising in this area. #eseriesral
As seen on this panel, we are building a very healthy angel investment environment in the #Triangle #eseriesral
Panel of active angels @ #eseriesral. Seems like average investment is between $25-50k. David Gardner on the high end @ $75K-250k
“95% of my deal flow comes from other entreps” David Gardner
Future speaker for @UNCW_CIE and angel David Gardner is on stage with microphone in picture. #eseriesral pic.twitter.com/ewyHoIWCuC
“half of our portfolio companies have funds from outside the region”…

My favorite…

“You’ve got to go out and kiss a lot of frogs”

Yes, lawyers were in the crowd ….

“law firms play a vital role in connecting VCs and entrepreneurs”

And here are a couple tweeted directly to me:

Randy Myer of triangle angel partners wants to see paying customers before investing.
great question from Jed Carlson of @ReverbNation: “what are the green flags you’re looking for” in CEO/founders

Back to #eserial: OK, where;s the passion?

“Change something you are passionate about. Tell that story and get people to believe you.”
@skupor – we invest outside Bay typically later stage in space/theme with founder with ‘secret’ points to universities
Solid VC panel w/ @andemca @Vic_Gatto @drainey1 @wrightsteenrod @davidstjones &Wayne Hunter.
Two friends of @UNCW_CIE are on stage @bcvp #eseriesral with @drainey1 of GroTech and @davidstjones of Wilmy pic.twitter.com/ddaxP34QuM
#eseriesral @a16z sees lots of opps in the enterprise/b2b as ‘software eats the world’ and chews away at ibm, oracle, cisco, etc.
@skupor: commercializing university tech still an underserved market outside the Valley.
Packed house at #eseriesral. Kicking off the morning right with a fireside chat between

What’s your secret … not secret sauce

@scotwingo: Q RE pattern matching on ‘secrets’. Are there secrets that founders in markets like NC are better equipped to earn? #eseriesral

Why Bitcoin?

Listening to @scotwingo and Scott Kupor at #eseriesral @jcaplain and @davidstjones have done it again. Great crowd.
@skupor about bitcoin life – We are in the first third of the first inning of a very long game. #eseriesral
I’ve never seen Briar Creek Country Club this packed. Must be a good sign.
[BITCOIN] “it’s a completely verifiable transaction” #Bitcoin is it really possible to eliminate fraud? ^lj
@skupor sounding a little like Thiel: “what is your contrarian secret as an entrepreneur and how did you learn it?” @a16z

Note this …

@skupor What is your secret as an entrepreneur that makes you capable of executing your idea?

And interactive the “chat” was …

Have questions for scott? Use #eseriesral [Note: Scot used some via his tablet.]

The sex ratio …

There’s probably an 8-1, guy v girl ratio in this room. The triangle must address diversity in the space

The big question …

Software will eat the world? Software is eating @scotwingo ‘s car. #eseriesral
“We’re swinging for the fences all the time. You’re going to be wrong more than you will be right.” – @skupor at @bcvp #eseriesral
“This is an open industry. We need to go tell our story.” Re: vc #eseriesral
#eseriesral “did you bring your checkbook?” Question of the day! @scotwingo

But don’t overlook this gem …