Day: September 10, 2012

With Cougar Night In Hibernation, Where Else Can You Romance A Rich VC?

SiliconBeat | What’s next in tech

by: Peter Delevett

As I wrote this weekend, the weekly meat market at Menlo Park’s Rosewood Hotel known as “Cougar Night” was markedly toned down last Thursday, and at least one regular attributed it to a recent (bogus) blog post claiming Palo Alto vice cops had busted “several prominent Sand Hill venture capital executives” for soliciting prostitution.

While it may be too soon to write Cougar Night’s obit, if things continue to be subdued at the Rosewood’s swanky Madera lounge, it would raise the question as to just where enterprising ladies (or lads) can troll for a moneybags tech investor.

We asked Amy Andersen, founder and CEO of Menlo Park-based matchmaking service Linx Dating, where else the lovelorn might go looking for some VC action. Here are her ideas.

1. Restaurant 3000, 3000 Sand Hill Road (Conveniently located near the Rosewood!)

2. Black Rock Desert, NV, “where the VCs do rocketry on a big scale.” (Note: It gives you an excuse to troop out there without waiting until next year’s Burning Man.)

3. Village Pub, Woodside

5. Whitefish, Montana. (Added bonus: You can visit the home of the very tasty Black Star Lager.)
6. The Maker Faire festival of innovation. (Gotta wait til next year, or you can head to the New York event later this month.)
7. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s Ferrari racing days or Ferrari Challenge.
8. Stanford University alumni events. (Be sure to pick up a cardinal sweater.)
9. “Board games like Settlers of Catan are big with techies. They host nights at their homes … so you gotta learn the game and get invited.”
10. Madera at the Rosewood Sand Hill –  for breakfast. “Get there at 7 am for the movers and shakers.” (Hey baby, buy you a mimosa?)
I’d add a few more to Amy’s list: the Sharon Park Starbucks; Coupa Cafe in downtown Palo Alto; and, of course, the venerable Buck’s Woodside, which master of the house Jamis MacNiven told me last week is as busy as ever. Then again, the open seating plan at Buck’s isn’t exactly conducive to tawdry tête-à-têtes.
What about you? Where else do you go to meet venture capitalists — either for flings, or for funding?

Our feature medley of songs for this entry is Copacabana Deep by Paulo Arruda.