I’m a relatively recent transplant to the Valley, having moved here in 2002. I founded, grew, ran and sold two successful technology companies in the past decade. I spent the past few years taking a break from running companies and doing research at Stanford.

I am actively looking for angel investment opportunities in “concept-stage companies”. My criteria for investment include:

1) Good chemistry with the entrepreneur (If you want just a check, then I’m not the right investor for you. I prefer hands-on engagement and working with the founders to get the company to the next level)

2) Fundamentally new technology or an innovative business model (No me-too companies, no URL or ubiquity-first-revenues-later companies)

3) Large market with clear problem to solve (no vitamins, only painkillers)

4) Capital efficient (You don’t need tens of millions of dollars over the life of the company, a couple will do)

5) Local (Must be local to the Bay Area, preferably in the Peninsula. A prerequisite for the hands-on engagement)

6) Differentiator/Advantage (Why you can do it better than the other guy)

If you meet these criteria, please contact me with a one paragraph summary and we can take it from there.

Bio:

Manu serves as an angel investor and advisor for several technology startups including Refocus Imaging and Guru.com. His interests include discovery, creation and commercialization of new and innovative technologies.

Manu previously founded, grew and sold two successful ventures. He was the Founder, President and CEO of SneakerLabs, Inc. – a company which developed software and services for web-based customer interaction. After the acquisition of SneakerLabs for over $100M, Manu served as the Vice-President of Interactive Technologies for E.piphany. He then served as the Chairman and CEO of iMeet, Inc. – a provider of web-conferencing services. After the merger of iMeet with Boston based Netspoke, Manu served on the Board of Directors of Netspoke until its acquisition by Premiere Global Services for $23.5M. Prior to starting his entrepreneurial ventures, Manu was a lecturer in the distance education program at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Manu holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Human Computer Interaction from Stanford University where he did research on gaze-based user interfaces. He completed his Bachelors in Electrical and Computer Engineering with University Honors from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was inducted in to the Electrical Engineering Honor Society – Eta Kappa Nu, the National Engineering Honor Society – Tau Beta Pi and the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi. He holds a Masters degree in Software Engineering with a concentration in Business from Carnegie Mellon, and is also a graduate of the Entrepreneurial Management Program at CMU’s Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA), now the Tepper School of Business.