Often times when developing application and using panels, getting a control to receive startup focus can be somewhat of a pain.  After much trial and error and a lot of online research into the problem, I finally found a solution that worked.

In my example I will show you how I overcame this problem using the form load event.

Private Sub Form1(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e as System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

     With Me.Textbox1

          .Focus()

          .Select()

          .SelectAll()

     End With

End Sub

The key to this method is to call the focus event then the select event.  I added the SelectAll for my own personal preference.