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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is Takes on New Meaning with ‘VC’s in a Van’

What happens when you combine a former Facebook employee with a tech investor and add a smidgeon of successful startups? You get “VC’s in a Van” which is a fresh take on small businesses looking for investment funding in southern California.“VC’s in a Van” is a relatively new television and web-based series on Cox Channel 4/YurView California 1004 which features a team of been-there-done-that entrepreneurs/venture capitalists who travel the area in search of the next big thing. The show focus is on the little guy, the start-up that doesn’t have access to Silicon Valley or big money investment banks. The show features Taner Halicioglu, one of Facebook’s earliest employees, Neil Senturia, a longtime venture capitalist, along with Tom Tullie and Mark Bowles, two former executives from ecoATM.

Think “Shark Tank” but instead of the people with ideas needing money going to investors, “VC’s in a Van” roll up their sleeves and go to the native environment of the companies. They look at what’s going on behind-the-scenes. “VC’s in a Van” team members ask tough questions, they poke holes in processes. The show is shot documentary style, so viewers see story lines as they unfold. “VC’s in a Van” is up-close and in the faces of entrepreneurs.

This peek behind-the-curtain approach allows the viewer to ride along for some laughs and intense negotiations as the start-ups chase the dream.

Catch “VC’s in a Van” on television Sundays at 6 p.m., Mondays at 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 11 a.m. on Cox Channel 4/YurView California 1004. www.vcsinavan.com