VC Places

The beauty of pitching a startup to VCs in Palo Alto is that you don’t have to travel very far to see most of them in one day. The Stanford Mall is a very short drive from Sand Hill Road and contains a small French bakery called La Baguette. I recommend a quick ham and cheese sandwich with a chocolate croissant – enough carbs to get you through 10 afternoon pitches.  The food is fast and excellent, and you can eat outside. 

La Baguette
3 3 170 Stanford Shopping Ctr, Palo Alto

I just spent the last week in Los Angeles at the Digital Hollywood conference. Much of the conference took place at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. It’s a beautiful setting for a conference. The rooms are a pain, and the wifi is spotty, but can’t beat the view. Doesn’t make you feel like working.

However, when it comes to closing a deal, if you need a great restaurant in the area, I recommend The Lobster:

The Lobster
1 1 1602 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica

As the name suggests, the lobster is fantastic, the setting is laid back, but not too casual, and you can hear others at the table speaking without having to yell. Plus, it’s just minutes away from the Loews Hotel.

The VC Whisperer spends a lot of time having business dinners with entrepreneurs and other VCs. In his mind, these are the best restaurants in Montreal to host business dinners involving VCs and entrepreneurs (in no particular order):

1. Restaurant Cavalli
   4 4 2042, Rue Peel, Montreal
   

 

2. Restaurant Il Cortile
   1 1 1442, Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal
   

 

3. Trinity Greek Restaurant
   1 1 1445, Rue Drummond, Montreal
   

 

4. Le pois penché
   1 1 1230 Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal
   

 

5. Queue de Cheval
   1 1 1221 René Lévesque O, Montreal
   

 

6. Restaurant Toqué
   1 1 900, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montreal
   

Welcome to VC Places, souped up with rockin software from Praized HQ.

VC Places will serve as a local directory of places recommended by the VC Whisperer and by readers of the VC Whisperer. VC Places will focus on merchants that are appealing to VCs, entrepreneurs, and others in the global startup/business community.