SRINIVAS KANNAN

# Level 25, 242 Exhibition St, Melbourne, VIC Mobile +61 419462640 srinivas.kannan@team.telstra.com

Case Study SAS

Fact Pattern Heidi Roizen is a venture capitalist at Softbank Venture Capital located in Atherton California. Roizen was raised in Silicon Valley. Her father was an engineer and her mother worked in a high school cafeteria. Her parents divorced when Roizen was only nine and she began to start finding her own ways to make money. After high school Roizen went on to college at Stanford, and during her junior year she lost her fianc in a plane crash. After this tragedy in her life she turned to her career and put all of her attention and focuses towards her career path. Roizen graduated from college two quarters early and began her first job at Tandem Computer as editor of the companys newsletter. Since Roizen was a creative writing major it was difficult for her to find a career in a technology driven society. At Tandem she was able to pursue her passion in writing but at the same time learn about technology. Roizen got the position at Tandem due to a friend that she knew that was at the company. Her friend gave her the name of the person doing the hiring and Roizen personally contacted them to express her interest in the position. This was just the start of how Roizens network began to work in her favor. Since Roizen was the editor of the company newsletter she got to sit in on important meetings, and be around the higher up management in order to relay the information to the others in the company. Roizen then decided to pursue a graduate degree in business and once again used her network to help make this happen. She used the relationship she built with the CEO of Tandem to provide her with a letter of recommendation. Once she graduated from graduate school she decided to work with her brother to create a software program he created into a company. The software was referred to as T/Maker. The software was introduced in 1979 and was considered easy to use compared to similar programs. Roizen chose to join technology-oriented groups and the board of Software Publishers Association. T/Maker was sold in 1994 to Deluxe Corporation, and Roizen stayed on as CEO of the T/Maker subsidiary until 1996.

SRINIVAS KANNAN
# Level 25, 242 Exhibition St, Melbourne, VIC Mobile +61 419462640 srinivas.kannan@team.telstra.com

In 1997 Roizen joined Apple, as Vice President of worldwide developer relations. Apple in 1997.

Roizen left in

She then went on to become a mentor capitalist, which was a title and position she had created. This position allowed her to serve as an active outside board member for start-ups that had received at least one round of venture capital backing. As a mentor capitalist her network and who she knew was one of her biggest assets. During this time Roizen and her husband hosted a variety of parties at their home which was a great networking opportunity. Roizen signed on with Softbank in 1999 as a general partner. Her position was highly dedicated to their $636 million fund for Internet Investments. Currently Roizen has committed herself to being a full-fledged venture capitalist and therefore is struggling with the idea that by doing so she may be putting her network that she has created at risk. Analysis a.) Roizens network was both broad and planned out; therefore there are many weaknesses and strengths that are present at the end of the case. A few examples of weaknesses are as follows, Roizen created a good portion of her network while she was developing the mentor capitalist role, and now she has made the shift to a venture capitalist. Therefore, individuals within her network may not feel that personally connection or attention that they once felt with Roizen. Another weakness comes from the amount of time and attention that she has to dedicate to Softbank; this does not allow her to give any of her time to those start-ups which were there when she was developing her network. While Roizen may be presented with opportunities to expand her network it is still important that she is aware of the weaknesses that are present with the role change so she can prepare for them. A few strengths that are currently present in her network are as follows; first and foremost she has created a network that is continually being worked. The individuals that have made up her network are constantly being brought in on what she is involved in and therefore it is hard for those involved to feel as if Roizen has left them behind. Another major strength is that she will be able to use the relationships that she has already established in her network in order to continue to grow and expand her network. b. ) Roizen took imperative steps throughout her professional career in order to create her existing network. First step that Roizen took was by making sure she got into a good college, by going to Stanford

SRINIVAS KANNAN
# Level 25, 242 Exhibition St, Melbourne, VIC Mobile +61 419462640 srinivas.kannan@team.telstra.com

Roizen had already created a part of her network without even knowing it. Another step taken was by making sure that she found a way in her daily routine of work to be around those who were high up in the company. By allowing herself to be in situations where those members were involved she then created a situation where she could personally interact with those individuals and bring them into her network. In order for Roizen to maintain her network she continue to make sure those that she included in her network were constantly involved in her career path. This also includes the parties that were thrown by herself and her husband. These parties were a great way to bring everyone that was currently in her network and allow those individuals to bring in others which in retrospect would then help in the expansion of her network. Throughout her career she tended to use her network in order to create better opportunities for herself. A great example of this leverage was when she decided to go back to school, and the CEO of Tandem wrote her a letter of recommendation. It was scenarios such as the one mentioned above that proved to Roizen her network was a success. Through Roizens career her idea of what she wanted her network to become did not change but as she shifts to a mainstream venture capitalist she is taking a risk on shifting the focus of her network, and then as a result changing the individuals that are involved in her network.