When Eric Chin of Crosslink Capital and Mike Jung of Panorama Capital started the Alpha Club in 2006, there was no shortage of networking organizations around Silicon Valley bringing entrepreneurs together with fellow entrepreneurs, investors and corporate executives.
Alpha Club founders Eric Chin of Crosslink Capital (L) and Mike Jung of Panorama Capital. But in their eyes, few of them really served their intended purpose.
“Only about 10% of the time would you run into the right people,” said Chin, a partner at San Francisco-based Crosslink Capital, who founded Alpha with Menlo Park, Calif.-based Panorama Capital Partner Mike Jung. “We thought, ‘What if we can create a highly concentrated environment of C-level executives, Internet and software executives?”
From modest beginnings—the group first met in a restaurant in Palo Alto, Calif., that has since shut down, and financed its first 18 events from Chin’s and Jung’s own wallets—it has grown to include more than 300 members and a 12-person advisory board that plans the group’s now-monthly events. The non-profit club, which has hosted more than 65 events to date, now receives funding from Silicon Valley Bank, SoftTech VC and First Round Capital.
To read the full, original article click on this link: In Networking Group Alpha Club, It’s All About Who You Know - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ
Author:
Zoran Basich
