David Mantilla

Our team came in second (out of six teams) in Tepper’s internal VCIC competition! We spend the weekend analyzing four different companies and determining which (if any) of the companies to invest in. We had the opportunity to listen to investment pitches and later interview the entrepreneurs and company founders of these real-life startup companies. The judges liked our presentation and financial analysis.
The internal VCIC case competition ranks among my best learning experiences while at Tepper. Prior to the event we attended a VC “bootcamp” organized by Tepper’s VC student club. We learned the VC basics from venture capitalist Bill Trainor (www.accessventures.com), entrepreneurship professors, and business lawyers specializing in early stage funding. It was great to see both sides of the coin: the VC perspective, as well as the entrepreneurial perspective through the eyes of the legal profession. A business lawyer explained the many ways VCs protect themselves against risks in the fine print of a VC contract (aka term sheets). Yes, everything is negotiable. 🙂