No substitute for experience: 15 years as CEO & VCIC Judge
Don Nelson is a co-founder and Managing Director of Harken Capital Securities. Don worked as a CPA for ten years before pursuing his MBA at Boston College. He then worked at a healthcare fund for a decade before leaving to found Harken Capital in 2007.
Describe your involvement in and impression of VCIC:
First involvement with the program came in 2000, when serving as a judge at the VCIC finals at UNC. Since then, VCIC involvement has consisted of continuing to act as a judge every year in addition to serving as a mentor to students participating in the program and providing sponsorship to the program.
VCIC is a great program for providing students with access and understanding of the VC world. Every year the group of students participating in VCIC are better informed and more understanding of the VC world. The growth in the program from 16 schools to over 100 is a testament to the value that students find in participating.
What is your favorite part of working with VCIC?
Every year the program is new: the groups of students are better informed, there are new companies, new students and new reactions that lead to different dynamics.
What advice can you give the students?
First, practice, practice, practice! This is not just a one-day event. Students need to practice evaluating companies all semester before entering the competition. Additionally, dig deeply when doing research on the industry and on the components needed for the competition (financing, negotiation, etc).
Second, don’t forget about management when negotiating with a company- do not alienate the founders or company members that are part of the negotiation. A team needs to be able to evaluate if current management has the skills needed to grow and scale the business but should be tactful about finding out this information. Alienating management can lead to broken deals or poor results.
Don Nelson
