Hicham Semaan's guest appearances

Hicham Semaan

Hire Power Radio Show

Operate Podcast

Charles Antis

Scott Hamilton

Maryam Rofougaran

Steve Pfrenzinger

Marinela Gombosev

Dalip Jaggi

Peter Polydor

Lori Torres

Robert Davis

Jay Connor

Bryan Adams

Lou Adler

Kurt Johnson

Andy Wilson

Jack Henry

OwlTail

Hicham Semaan was a great guest on Accelerate OC. He had such actionable advice and insights for startup company founders with regard to fundraising and investment, among much additional wisdom he shared. He is currently the President of the Orange County chapter of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), one of the largest affiliated groups of angel investors in the country, with 5 chapters from Santa Barbara to San Diego.  We talked a lot about angel investing and how TCA works. Prior to becoming a member of TCA, Hicham was CEO of QuickStart Intelligence, an e-learning company for IT Skills.  He led it through rapid growth and several M&amp;A transactions.  He’s also been a General Manager, senior executive and senior adviser to other CEOs, management teams, private equity, and sits on several private company boards.   He is respected for his strong vision, value creation, turn around, and acquisition expertise, and has successfully exited businesses. He is considered an expert in the technology, education, and real estate industries and has been a featured speaker at several industry events. Hicham has an MBA from UC Irvine and is very active with UCI and other local business groups, so has a long-standing personal investment in and commitment to Orange County.

Hicham Semaan was a great guest on Accelerate OC. He had such actionable advice and insights for startup company founders with regard to fundraising and investment, among much additional wisdom he shared. He is currently the President of the Orange County chapter of Tech Coast Angels (TCA), one of the largest affiliated groups of angel investors in the country, with 5 chapters from Santa Barbara to San Diego.  We talked a lot about angel investing and how TCA works. Prior to becoming a member of TCA, Hicham was CEO of QuickStart Intelligence, an e-learning company for IT Skills.  He led it through rapid growth and several M&amp;A transactions.  He’s also been a General Manager, senior executive and senior adviser to other CEOs, management teams, private equity, and sits on several private company boards. He is respected for his strong vision, value creation, turn around, and acquisition expertise, and has successfully exited businesses. He is considered an expert in the technology, education, and real estate industries and has been a featured speaker at several industry events. Hicham has an MBA from UC Irvine and is very active with UCI and other local business groups, so has a long-standing personal investment in and commitment to Orange County.

Hicham Semaan - President of Tech Coast Angels, Orange County Chapter

What is needed to attract investors, the importance of a team, and how to enagage the right people for your company.  Develope a plan that will scale. Hire the needed technical, marketing and leadership expertise to raise capital and to build the business. Episode Highlights:  What is needed to attract an investor The importance of the team How to attract and scale your team  The Foundation -  What really needs to be in place to attract seed round investment?  Pick up 1-2 key customers with a working prototype Seed round: Have team, some customers, some revenue, working model. &amp; need funds.  What is typically the right scenario for a TCA investor?  TCA- a 20-40% small percentage are open for execution delivery role.  *Understanding, awareness &amp; belief  What is the biggest hurdles you see from entrepreneurs?  Giving up equity is often the big issue.  Angel members open to teaming up as a co-founder.   Building the Team - How do we attract the right person?  Resources How to scale a team. Long term engagement, needs of the business.  Operator, needs to give up “control”. Use advisors to vet talent, first reluctant to bring in the help.   Scale  When to start? Evaluation &amp; Planning Analogy of championship sports teams- key pieces of the puzzle but not all the right pieces at the right team.   Hicham Semaan is an experienced CEO, GM, senior executive, angel investor, senior, and board member to CEOs, management teams, private equity, startup companies. He is a respected leader with strong vision, value creation, turn around, and acquisition expertise, and has successfully grown and exited businesses. Hicham is considered an expert in the technology, education, and real estate industries and has been a featured speaker at several industry events. He is the newly elected Tech Coast Angels-Orange County President and has received the “Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award” from the OCBJ and was recently named “New Investor of the Year” by Tech Coast Angels. Check out the Blog on the Stride Search, Inc site for the supplementary “show recap” article with detailed takeaways/insights from the interview.

What is needed to attract investors, the importance of a team, and how to enagage the right people for your company.  Develope a plan that will scale. Hire the needed technical, marketing and leadership expertise to raise capital and to build the business. Episode Highlights: <ul> <li>What is needed to attract an investor</li> <li>The importance of the team</li> <li>How to attract and scale your team</li> </ul> The Foundation -  What really needs to be in place to attract seed round investment? <ul> <li>Pick up 1-2 key customers with a working prototype</li> <li>Seed round: Have team, some customers, some revenue, working model. &amp; need funds.</li> </ul> What is typically the right scenario for a TCA investor? <ul> <li>TCA- a 20-40% small percentage are open for execution delivery role. </li> <li>*Understanding, awareness &amp; belief</li> </ul> What is the biggest hurdles you see from entrepreneurs? <ul> <li>Giving up equity is often the big issue. </li> <li>Angel members open to teaming up as a co-founder. </li> </ul> Building the Team - How do we attract the right person? <ul> <li>Resources</li> <li>How to scale a team. Long term engagement, needs of the business. </li> <li>Operator, needs to give up “control”.</li> <li>Use advisors to vet talent, first reluctant to bring in the help. </li> </ul> Scale <ul> <li>When to start?</li> <li>Evaluation &amp; Planning</li> <li>Analogy of championship sports teams- key pieces of the puzzle but not all the right pieces at the right team. </li> </ul> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hicham-semaan-116735/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hicham Semaan</a> is an experienced CEO, GM, senior executive, angel investor, senior, and board member to CEOs, management teams, private equity, startup companies. He is a respected leader with strong vision, value creation, turn around, and acquisition expertise, and has successfully grown and exited businesses. Hicham is considered an expert in the technology, education, and real estate industries and has been a featured speaker at several industry events. He is the newly elected <a href="https://www.techcoastangels.com/tca-orange-county/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tech Coast Angels</a>-Orange County President and has received the “Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award” from the OCBJ and was recently named “New Investor of the Year” by Tech Coast Angels. Check out the <a href="http://www.stridesearch.com/blog/a-metamorphosis-from-solopreneur-to-entrepreneur" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blog</a> on the <a href="http://www.stridesearch.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stride Search, Inc</a> site for the supplementary “show recap” article with detailed takeaways/insights from the interview.

Hicham Semaan of Tech Coast Angels: Metamorphosis From Solopreneur To Entrepreneur 