SPEAKERS
Keynote Speaker DOUGLAS G. WATSON Douglas G. Watson is the founder of Pittencrieff Glen Associates, which was established in June, 1999. Prior to this, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Novartis Corporation, the US subsidiary of Novartis A.G. Mr. Watson’s career spanned 33 years with Geigy / Ciba-Geigy / Novartis. He joined Geigy (UK) Ltd in 1966, working first in Operations Research and then in Corporate Planning. Following the Ciba-Geigy merger, he spent one year in Basel, Switzerland as the UK representative to an international integration team. He returned to the UK in 1973 as accounting development and investment appraisal manager, and subsequently headquarters management accountant. In 1978, Doug returned to Basel as personal assistant to the Chairman of the Executive Committee. In 1981, he joined the US Pharmaceuticals Division as senior vice president of planning and business development, and a member of the Pharmaceuticals Management Committee. From 1986, he was President of Ciba Pharmaceuticals Division until 1996, when he was appointed President & CEO of Ciba-Geigy Corporation. During this ten year period, Mr. Watson was an active member of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) board in Washington, DC. Mr. Watson became President & CEO of Novartis Corporation in 1997, when Ciba-Geigy & Sandoz merged. Mr Watson elected to take early retirement from Novartis in May, 1999. Mr. Watson also serves as Chairman of the board of OraSure Technologies Inc., Chairman of the board of Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc., and as a member of the board of directors for BioMimetic Therapeutics Inc., Dendreon Corporation, and Genta Inc. Prior board memberships include Novartis Corporation, Engelhard Corporation, Summit Bank Corporation, BioElectronics Inc., Principia Pharmaceuticals Inc., InforMedix Inc. Bionor Immuno AS, and ValiGen N.V. He is a member of the board of the Freedom House Foundation, a non-profit organisation which treats adult men & women recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Liver Foundation, and a member of the Advisory Council of the New York Floating Hospital Foundation. |
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Panelists
BRIAN BIRK Brian Birk has over 20 years experience as an operating executive and investor. Brian is the Managing Partner of Sun Mountain Capital, which he co-founded in 2006. Sun Mountain Capital is focused on providing private equity advisory services and managing fund of funds and direct investment funds. Prior to forming Sun Mountain, Mr. Birk was a Vice President and Director of Private Equity at Fort Washington Capital Partners where he helped the firm establish and manage a number of private equity direct investment funds, secondary investment funds, and fund of funds programs. Mr. Birk was a founder or senior executive at several high profile start-ups, including Applied Minds and BiosGroup and held a senior manager position at the Boston Consulting Group and finance positions at General Electric and GE Capital. Mr. Birk has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a BS in economics from Carleton College. Mr. Birk is a Board Member of the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association, serves on several limited partner advisory committees, and also serves on the boards of directors for several of Sun Mountain Capital’s portfolio companies. |
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TIM BUBNACK |
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SAMAN DIAS Saman Dias truly embodies the American entrepreneurial spirit. Upon exposure to the nascent, fragmented San Francisco Bay Area computer training industry in the late 1980s, Saman realized the opportunity for potential growth. In 1992, Saman founded AIM Computer Training, focusing on the lucrative large-scale business training market segment. Through determination, hard work and the successful implementation of a unique business plan, AIM Computer Training became one of the most respected and leading training companies in the Bay Area. Along the way, Saman pioneered numerous innovative business practices, fostered a healthy work environment for her employees and created the AIM Computer Training Global Strategic Alliance to expand AIM Computer Training’s operations around the globe. Her multimillion dollar global training company, which serviced the needs for Fortune 1000 companies, was acquired in 2004. In 2006, Saman joined NorthPoint Financial Group as Executive Vice President. She built and managed the company’s business development program and its corporate training program. In 2008 she aided in forming a successful e-business concept for delivering analytics and investment ratings for residential real estate. A year later, Venture funded company was spun off as SmartZip Inc. Saman’s experience also includes successfully leading fundraising, recruiting, public relations and social media efforts. Today, Saman leads Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Coalition for Carly for California. And also an Advisor for Astia, an innovative global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster the full participation of women in entrepreneurship and as accelerators of high-growth companies fueling innovation and driving economic growth. She received her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Saman received Working Woman Magazine's Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for General Excellence and Innovative Solutions in 2000 and it’s Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for Customer Service in 2001. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award chose Saman as a nominee and finalist in 1998. She also received the 1998 National Association of Women Business Owners Adopt–A–Business award and was honored for East Bay Business Times Women Distinction Award for General Excellence. |
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TIMOTHY DICK Tim was Founder of Hawaii Superferry, a company that brings energy-efficient inter-island ferry service to Hawaii. Prior to that, Tim was Founder and President of Grassroots.com, a political web technology company. In 1995, he founded WorldPages.com, the Internet's first white & yellow pages, which went public and was subsequently acquired by Transwestern Publishers (now BT). Previously, Tim was a principal at the Boston Consulting Group where he led CEO-level strategy consulting work on a global basis with significant work in transportation, oil & gas, nuclear generation & electric utility industries along with key groups like the Electric Power Research Institute. Tim was an electrical engineer at Beckman Instruments where he developed the first electronic speech synthesizer for use in hospital intensive care units, and the world's first instrument-on-a-chip. A believer in social responsibility, Tim co-founded TRUSTe.org, which has become the Internet's privacy standard. He serves or has served as board member and advisor to numerous companies, including WorldPages (NYSE), Hawaii Superferry, Emptor / Accept (acquired by Amazon), Affinity Engines, match.com (IAC), Biopacific, Dali Wireless and Silvertail Systems. |
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JIM GLASHEEN Jim joined Technology Partners from CIT Venture Capital, where he served as Managing Director, leading the Group's efforts in Life Science investing. Previously, Jim was a leader within McKinsey & Company's Pharmaceutical and Medical Products Practice. Over the course of several years, Jim worked extensively with a broad range Life Science Companies on M&A, business development and strategic issues. Jim earned a B.S. from Duke University in Biology / Mechanical Engineering and a M.A. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Biology. He also was a Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD) fellow at Universitaet des Saarlandes, Germany and a post-doctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley. Jim has published several papers and had his research highlighted in several major media outlets, including: Nature, The New York Times, Scientific American, CNN, Die Zeit, and Le Monde. Jim is on the Advisory Council of the Entrepreneurial Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Also, Jim serves as an advisor to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) SBIR program in Washington D.C. This successful and innovative program provides federal grants to start-up companies to fund research programs in areas that will have a significant commercial impact. |
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DAVID GRIEST David Griest is a Managing Director with SJF Ventures, a venture capital fund with $45 million under management and offices in Durham, NC, New York and San Francisco. SJF invests in high growth, positive impact companies primarily in the areas of cleantech, sustainability and technology-enhanced services. David joined SJF in 2004 and is responsible for connecting with new opportunities, performing due diligence, structuring and closing investments, and actively engaging and assisting portfolio companies through growth and exit. David serves on the board of SJF portfolio companies Salvage Direct (online salvage vehicle auction), Rustic Crust (all-natural and organic pizza products) and Telkore (wireless infrastructure services). David also previously served as a board observer for exited portfolio company Intechra (IT asset disposition/electronics recycling). David also allocates a portion of his time with SJF Advisory Services, an allied non-profit organization that provides entrepreneurial assistance and training to fast growing positive impact firms, as well as research and events to help build the impact investing field. David was previously with Croft & Bender, an investment bank in Atlanta that provides venture capital, M&A and other financial advisory services for middle market and emerging growth companies in the Southeast. He also helped manage C&B Capital, series of private equity funds that selectively invest in privately-held, small- and mid-sized, high-potential growth companies located primarily in the Southeast. David has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BBA in Finance from the University of Georgia. He has spoken at numerous industry and venture capital conferences and workshops. |
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JOHN HALL John Hall has more than 20 years of experience in the venture capital industry. In 1989 he co-founded Newtek Ventures II where he was a General Partner until 1999 when he co-founded Horizon Ventures. Before becoming a venture capitalist, John had broad experience as a senior financial executive over a 20-year period including Syntex Pharmaceuticals for 7 years as the International Chemical Group Controller and Intel Semiconductors for 4 years as Group Controller of International Operations. He was a co-founder of Cadnetix, a successful EDA software company where he was CFO for 7 years, taking them through their IPO and later participating in the sale of the company for over $300M in 1989. As a venture capitalist, John has been a member of 21 boards of directors of both private and public companies and currently serves on the boards of four private companies. He holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and Finance and an MBA in Finance from San Jose State University. |
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Dr. HEIDI KUEHNLE Dr. Adelheid (Heidi) Kuehnle is CEO and Co-founder of Kuehnle AgroSystems Inc., a life science company specializing in algae to solve real world problems. Kuehnle AgroSystems is the recipient of numerous SBIR awards from the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, as well as contracts originating from the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Heidi has authored six books and book chapters, more than 60 scientific papers, and is an inventor on 14 patents. Kuehnle was named the 2008 Scientist of the Year at the University of Hawaii. She has also been named the winner of the 2008 Hawaii Technology Industry Award and the Governor’s Innovator Award in November 2008. In 2009, she was named Entrepreneur of the Year in the Invention category by the Hawaii Venture Capital Association. Dr. Kuehnle is a former tenured professor from the University of Hawaii, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences with over 20 years of experience in plant breeding and biotechnology. Dr. Kuehnle has a BA from Middlebury College and a PhD in Plant Breeding from Cornell University. |
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CHRISTOPHER R. HEMMETER Chris has spent his entire professional life in the hotel, foodservice and technology industries and has held many leadership positions in strategy, development, operations and finance. During more than 25 years of enterprise development, financing and operations experience, Chris has founded six companies. Currently he serves as Chairman of iCare Marketing, an exclusive partner of SYSCO Foodservice Corporation, and was founder and CEO of Dynamic Payment Ventures, which was recently sold to NOVA Information Systems, a subsidiary of US Bank. Prior to the creation of iCare Marketing and DPV, Chris was founder and CEO of CriticalArc Technologies, a supply chain applications service provider to the foodservice industry. He founded the E&O Trading Company Restaurant Organization, a developer and operator of full service restaurants in California, and serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the organization. Chris also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Capton, a provider of liquor monitoring systems to the hospitality industry. Chris received his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Cornell University in 1986 and his graduate degree from Harvard Business School in 1995, where he was recognized as a Baker Scholar for his academic achievement. Upon graduation from Cornell, Chris joined Hemmeter Investment Company, a developer of destination resort properties worldwide. Founded by his father in 1962, the Hemmeter organization developed major destination resort hotels in the Hawaiian Islands and operated several related hospitality businesses. Chris serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship and as a Trustee of the Hospice by the Bay Foundation. |
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KENT MADSEN
While at Wasatch, Kent also served as CEO of MACC Private Equities (NASDQ: MACC) and its wholly owned subsidiary MorAmerica Capital, one of the nation’s oldest and most well-known late-stage SBIC companies that has provided sub-debt and equity financing of more than $90 million to approximately 120 companies. Previously, Kent worked for Ford Motor Company. He initially was in the Advanced Technology Group where he developed mathematical and computational models for optimizing vehicles’ aerodynamic and thermodynamic properties and systems. He then transferred to Ford's China Operations. Prior to working for Ford, as a graduate student, Mr. Madsen taught Engineering Thermodynamics at the University of Michigan. Currently, Kent is responsible for the oversight of the following Epic portfolio companies: Pivot Solutions, Q Therapeutics, Zettacore, Everspin, S5 Wireless. His past oversight responsibilities include: Divx (Divx), Netcentives (NCNT), Lefthand Networks (acquired by Hewlett Packard – HPQ), Cerberian (acquired by Bluecoat Systems - BCSI), Advanced Software (acquired Embarcadero Technologies - EMBT), Navitel (acquired by Open TV - OPTV) and Everdream (acquired by DELL). |
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ALBERT MARTINEZ Albert Martinez leads the relationship management team for Silicon Valley Bank’s Accelerator, which contributes to the success of start-up companies by leveraging SVB's vast relationships and domain expertise. Over the majority of his nearly 20-year financial services career, Martinez has specialized in working with venture capital-backed technology companies. Specifically, Martinez spent the last decade managing relationships with a range of high-growth companies spanning pre-VC backed stage with zero revenues to multi-million dollar, international public companies. Prior to managing client relationships at SVB Martinez was part of its former investment banking subsidiary where he assisted clients with fundraising and M&A activity. Martinez joined SVB in 1995 starting out in the Treasury Group where he handled asset management, interest rate risk management, the equity warrant portfolio as well as regulatory and SEC reporting. Prior to joining SVB, Martinez worked in consumer finance and earned an economics degree from San Jose State University. |
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MICHAEL J. O'MALLEY Michael J. O'Malley: represents clients in their initial organization and structuring, business dealings, M&A transactions, infrastructure, capital and other financings, tax planning and proceedings before tax authorities, and also addresses issues of corporate governance and fiduciary duty. His work includes:Mergers and Acquisitions, Tax Planning and Disputes, Corporate Organization and Governance and Corporate Finance and Securities Regulation. Mr. O’Malley served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal on Legislation and was a Teaching Assistant at Harvard Law School. Following graduation, he practiced with a Wall Street firm in New York City for four years, then returned home to Hawai‘i and joined the Goodsill firm, where he became a Partner in the firm’s corporate and tax groups. He rejoined the firm in 2008, following a fifteen-year hiatus during which he was a partner at another Hawai‘i law firm, then worked for nine years as a Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers and its successor in Hawai‘i. Since 1986, he has authored or co-authored the Hawai‘i chapter of the ABA Deskbook on Sales and Use Tax. He is a frequent speaker at seminars on tax, corporate and other legal topics. |
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STEWART PRESSMAN Stewart Pressman is a partner in the Honolulu law firm of McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP, practicing in the corporate department and concentrating in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital transactions, private equity fund organization, securities law, and general corporate and business organization matters. Mr. Pressman’s practice in the mergers and acquisitions area is focused on complex transactions representing both purchasers and sellers in a wide range of publicly and privately held company acquisitions and divestitures, as well as takeover transactions. His practice in the venture capital arena involves representation of venture capital fund organizers, venture capital fund investors, and emerging growth companies, counseling such start-up clients in all aspects of formation and organization, debt and equity financing, including private placements and public offerings of securities, and strategies for ultimate exit transactions. Mr. Pressman received a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1985, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School in 1989, graduating cum laude and appointed as a member of the Order of the Coif. Mr. Pressman is currently named as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business by Chambers USA in the area of corporate law, and has also been selected by The Best Lawyers in America® and Honolulu Magazine in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions Law and Corporate Law. |
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WILLIAM M. REICHERT Bill Reichert is a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, a seed-stage and early-stage venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. Garage makes focused investments in promising early-stage technology companies and works intensively with them to help them grow and succeed. Bill has been a member of the Board of Directors of MiaSole, CaseStack, WhiteHat Security, ClearFuels, ThermoCeramix, cFares, and STEP Labs, which was recently acquired by Dolby Labs. Some of Garage’s earlier investments include Tripwire, Digital Fountain (acquired by Qualcomm), iNest (acquired by LendingTree), Psionic (acquired by Cisco), LeftHand Networks (acquired by HP), Answer.com (NSDQ: ANSW), Hoku Scientific (NSDQ: HOKU), and Kaboodle (acquired by Hearst Corp). Bill brings his experience as a serial entrepreneur to his work with Garage’s portfolio companies. Prior to joining Garage in early 1998, Bill was co-founder of Academic Systems, a software company funded by Kleiner Perkins, Accel Partners, and Microsoft. Academic Systems became the leading developer of network-based multimedia instructional materials for colleges and universities, and was acquired by Plato Learning (NSDQ: TUTR). Prior to Academic Systems, Bill was a senior executive at several venture-backed technology companies, including The Learning Company, which was the leading developer of educational software in the United States before its acquisition in 1994, and Infa Technologies, a pen-based computer company that developed many of the concepts underlying the Newton, Palm, and iPhone devices. Bill also co-founded Trademark Software, which was subsequently acquired by Dow Jones, while in graduate school at Stanford. Earlier in his career, Bill worked for McKinsey & Co., the international management consulting firm, the World Bank in Washington, DC, and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., in New York. He has authored and co-authored several articles and speeches on entrepreneurship, venture capital, international trade, and monetary policy. Bill earned his AB in History and Science from Harvard University and his MBA from Stanford University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and the Pacific Council on International Policy in California. He lives with his extraordinary wife Michelle and three incredible children in Los Altos, California. |
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LAURA RODEN Laura Roden is the founder and managing director of VC Privé, LLC. VC Privé is a boutique investment bank that raises money for high quality alternative asset funds, such as venture capital funds, hedge funds, and distressed debt funds. VC Privé specializes in marketing funds to private investors, such as high net worth individuals, family offices, foundations, endowments, and independent financial advisors. A typical investor commitment to a fund ranges from $500,000-$5mm. VC Privé has represented funds in a variety of sectors, such as life sciences, cleantech, internet, consumer, international, commodities and currencies, and distressed and venture debt. Prior to founding VC Privé, Ms. Roden was the Managing Director of The Angels' Forum (TAF), a leading association of individual and corporate early stage investors. During her tenure TAF grew its private investor membership by 70% and completed 40 early stage financings. Ms. Roden is currently a member of the Harvard Angels, and active with the Angel Capital Association. Prior to running The Angels’ Forum, Ms. Roden was President and CEO of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE), the largest nonprofit in Northern California dedicated to helping technology entrepreneurs. Under her leadership SVASE experienced extraordinary growth in membership, sponsorship and service offerings, hosting 12-15 entrepreneur-focused events every month, backed by the area’s leading banks, accounting firms, law firms and technology companies. Her earlier career included executive positions at Deloitte & Touche (management consulting), Whalen & Company (wireless telecommunications), H.P. Hood/Agrimark (consumer and institutional food product marketing) and Hill Holliday Advertising. She taught 22 semesters of Fundamentals of Finance for San Jose State University’s College of Business, and has guest lectured in both SJSU's and Santa Clara University’s MBA programs. |
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LAWRENCE (LARRY) DENNIS RODRIGUEZ Lawrence Dennis Rodriguez is the former Managing Partner of the Hawaii practice of Ernst & Young LLP (Firm). He was responsible for all aspects of the Firm’s operations in Hawaii. He graduated from California State University, Los Angeles in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. He joined Arthur & Company in 1967. In 1989, Arthur Young & Company merged with Ernst & Whinney to form Ernst & Young LLP. Larry was admitted to the Firm’s partnership in 1978 and transferred to Hawaii in 1981. After more than 40 years, Larry retired from Ernst & Young on June 30, 2007. Larry was a Partner in our Assurance and Advisory Business Services practice with an industry specialization in financial services, health care, real estate and insurance. Larry also served as the independent review partner for several of Ernst & Young’s financial services, health care, real estate and insurance clients. Larry served as the Office Director of Audit Practice and as a Supervisor of Regional Quality Assurance Reviews. Larry was a consultant to Ernst & Young clients that were subject to the S.E.C. and was a contributor to the Ernst & Young publication “Guide to Taking Your Company Public.” |
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NATE SUMMER For the past several years, Nate has held the position of Director Strategic Partnerships for the Arizona State University Foundation. Nate’s primary focus has been on SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center. In this role, Nate is responsible for building relationships with private industry (SME through MNC’S) in order to foster collaborations between industry and Arizona State University through ASU’s global and entrepreneurial portals. Through SkySong, Nate’s team works to assist private companies in their business expansion efforts whether they be start up or MNC. Nate came to SkySong with nearly 20 years of high technology sales and marketing experience, most recently working in the Information and communications technology arena where he managed marketing teams developing regional and global solutions. Nate also has experience in many facets of medical technology sales, marketing and business operations ranging from entrepreneurial start up to Fortune 100 organizations. Nate majored in marketing at Arizona State University‘s School of Business and has been an Arizona resident for over 30 years. SkySong, Arizona State University’s unique global business collaboration center was created to serve as a soft landing point for international companies wishing to establish their business in the United States. SkySong provides access to the resources of the USA’s largest university, reduces costs and provides services designed to enable market entry more quickly and less expensively then through any other American portal. |
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JOHN TRBOVICH Mr. Trbovich is a General Partner of Arsenal Venture Partners. He co-manages both (i) OnPoint Technologies, an early stage venture capital fund with the DOD as its sole Limited Partner; and (ii) MILCOM Technologies, a seed-stage venture fund focused on spinning out companies from DOD contractors and National Labs. Mr. Trbovich manages the firm’s investments in A123 Systems, Nanosolar, IOSIL Energy, Superprotonic and TelASIC. Prior to his tenure at AVP, Mr. Trbovich has over ten years experience advising emerging growth technology companies in such areas as strategy, business development and corporate finance. Most recently, Mr. Trbovich was a principal investor in the communications and information technology sectors. Prior to that role, Mr. Trbovich was a co-founder & principal of E*OFFERING, the San Francisco investment bank that specialized in the delivery of financial products over the Internet. Mr. Trbovich was also a senior technology banker at Robertson Stephens & Co., where he participated in raising billions of dollars for technology companies as well as advising on mergers and acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Trbovich worked in merchant banking for Metzler Corp., the oldest privately-held German bank, and the investment banking department of Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Trbovich is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the School of Engineering at Columbia University. |
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TERREE PARLETT WASLEY Prior to joining ASU, Ms. Wasley was the Vice President for Economic Development with the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, where she directed several business retention and expansion programs, including the Arizona Venture Capital Conference. Before joining the Chamber, she spent five years as District Director and Senior Policy Advisor for U.S. Representative Matt Salmon (R-AZ). Prior to working for the Congressman, Ms. Wasley spent ten years in Washington, D.C., where she was an economic consultant specializing in health care, the federal budget, and tax issues; and an economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.Her economic analyses have been published by numerous public policy organizations and economic journals, and she is the author of a book on health care reform. She is an alumnus of Arizona State University. |
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PAUL WEINSTEIN Paul Weinstein is a founding General Partner of Azure, where he focuses on communications services and equipment, mobility solutions and communications applications. Paul is currently representing Azure on the boards of Broadlight Inc., Coraid, Fonality Inc. and NeoNova Network Services. Paul has previously served on the boards of World Wide Packets (acquired by Ciena) and Vapps (acquired by Citrix). Prior to Azure, Paul was a Managing Director and communications equipment analyst covering the Data Communications and Network Equipment sectors at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in San Francisco. Prior to CSFB, Paul was a Managing Director and held a substantially similar position with Deutsche Bank Securities in San Francisco. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Paul was a Managing Director and held a substantially similar position with Paine Webber in New York and San Francisco. Prior to PaineWebber, Paul was a Senior Vice President and equity research analyst at Kidder Peabody in New York and Boston, where he was responsible for the Data Communications and Data Storage sectors. For four consecutive years (1995-1999), Paul was a top ranked analyst in the Institutional Investor and Greenwich Associates surveys. Paul has provided strategic and investment advice on numerous communications equipment and data networking companies. Notable firms included; 3Com, Alantec Networks (acquired by Fore Systems), Aspect Telecommunications, Bay Networks (acquired by Nortel), Broadcom, Cabletron, CacheFlow (name changed to Blue Coat), Chipcom (acquired by 3Com), Cisco Systems, Conner Peripherals (acquired by Seagate), Efficient Networks (acquired by Siemens), EMC Corporation, Fore Systems (acquired by GEC), Juniper, Komag Corporation, Latitude Communications (acquired by Cisco), Maxtor Corporation, MMC Networks (acquired by AMCC), Newbridge Networks (acquired by Alcatel), Nortel Networks, Packet Engines (acquired by Alcatel), Quantum Corporation, Read-Rite Corporation, Seagate, SynOptics, WellFleet (acquired by SynOptics) and Xylan (acquired by Alcatel). Paul received his B.S. degree in Finance from Babson College, where he graduated with highest honors. He is certified as a member of Chartered Financial Analysts. |
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Moderators
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CHENOA FARNSWORTH Chenoa Farnsworth co-founded Kolohala Ventures, a Hawaii-based venture capital firm, in 2006. Ms. Farnsworth has over 10 years of experience in strategy development and planning for start-up companies and small businesses in Hawaii through her independent consulting company, Farnsworth Consulting. Ms. Farnsworth has reviewed hundreds of business plans and helped her start-up clients raise over $30 million in financing. Ms. Farnsworth earned a BA in political science from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1992 and an Executive MBA from the University of Hawaii in 2000. |
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KARL FOOKS Karl is the president of the Hawaii Strategic Development Corporation, an agency of the state of Hawaii that partners with private sector investors to mobilize investment capital for the growth sectors of Hawaii’s economy. Formerly a managing director and head of Private Equity in Asia for J.P. Morgan & Co., Karl has extensive experience as an investment professional. Prior to that position, Karl was head of Mergers and Acquisitions in Asia for J.P. Morgan & Co. He holds a master’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and hails from the North Shore of Oahu. |
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LARRY GILBERT Mr. Gilbert’s career has been advising and managing entrepreneurial and start-up companies. In his most recent operating role prior to Sennet Capital, he served as Vice President and General Manager of Authentication Solutions for ChoicePoint, Inc., a NYSE-listed data company in Atlanta, Georgia (since acquired by LexisNexis, a unit of Reed Elsevier). In that role, he focused on emerging technologies and markets for the authentication and credentialing of individual identities, particularly in consumer-oriented applications. Prior to ChoicePoint, Mr. Gilbert was president and chief executive officer of Identico Systems LLC, an early-stage company focused on identity validation of individuals in face-to-face transactions, including financial dealings, retail purchases, educational testing and other applications. Prior to Identico, Mr. Gilbert served in a series of roles at Internet payments pioneer CyberCash, Inc., where he started at the company’s inception as Vice President and General Counsel, handling financing matters (including strategic capital rounds and the company’s successful IPO), development of its intellectual property portfolio, and government relations matters. He then assumed authority for a key business unit, CyberCoin, as General Manager, where he had P&L responsibility for overseeing final development, positioning, marketing and launch of the Internet small-value payments service. He also served as Vice President of Strategic Planning, being responsible for identifying and developing opportunities for strategic business relationships. Mr. Gilbert has also assisted numerous companies in operational and advisory roles, as well as assisting professional venture investors in structuring transactions and assessing and managing companies. Prior to moving into full-time operational and management roles, Mr. Gilbert founded, developed and managed a successful Honolulu law firm serving entrepreneurial and business clients, including serving as counsel and close advisor to VeriFone, Inc., from its earliest stages through its IPO. Mr. Gilbert received his Juris Doctor degree from UCLA in 1977 and a B.A. degree from Pitzer College in 1974. He served as President of the Hawai'i State Bar Association in 1992 and as a per diem Judge in the District Court for the First Circuit, State of Hawaii, 1991-1996. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Enterprise Honolulu and on the Board of Boys and Girls Clubs of Hawaii. |
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ANTONIA NICOLS Ms. Nicols joined GKM Newport Generation Capital Services, LLC (“GKM Newport”) in 2004. She oversees administration issues within GKM Newport, conducts due diligence, and manages two Socially Responsible Investment (“SRI”) portfolios for a large Insurance Company. Along with Andrew Betz, Managing Director of GKM Newport, Ms. Nicols is also an account manager for the Hawaii Targeted Investment Program (“HiTIP”) for the Hawaii Employee Retirement System. In addition to her account management duties, Ms. Nicols holds board seats on thirteen SRI, venture and buyout funds. Prior to joining GKM Newport, Ms. Nicols was a Manager at The Marketing Machine, a direct marketing consulting firm. She also worked in a variety of roles within the telecommunications industry including customer service, sales, finance and carrier relations at both Teleglobe International (now VSNL International Canada) and Net2000 Communications, Inc. (now Cavalier Telephone). Ms. Nicols received her Bachelor of Arts degree in international politics from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. |
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ROB ROBINSON Robert (Rob) Robinson is Founder and Managing Partner of Kolohala Ventures, a Honolulu-based private equity firm with a proven commitment to investing in renewable energy in Hawaii. Rob is the co-author of Angel Investing: Matching Startup Funds with Startup Companies (2000, Jossey-Bass). In 2002 he founded Hawaii Angels, a Hawaii-based angel investor network which invests in technology startup firms, and which has helped over 40 firms get started in the state. He is on the board of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, the Hawaii Science and Technology Council, Hawaii Biotech, and numerous startup companies. He is also a professor of management at the University of Hawaii’s Shidler School of Business. Prior to coming to Hawaii, Robert obtained his Ph.D. at Stanford University, and was a professor at the Harvard Business School in Boston for 10 years. |
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BILL SPENCER Bill Spencer is a serial entrepreneur who has led the Hawaii Venture Capital Association since 1999. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is currently the CEO of Hawaii Oceanic Technology, Inc., an ocean science company building environmentally responsible next generation open ocean aquaculture systems. Born in Houston, Texas, Bill moved to Hawaii from Washington, DC in 1990. |
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SUSAN E. YAMADA Ms. Yamada has been the Executive Director of PACE since June 2008. Located within the University of Hawaii, the Entrepreneurship Center hosts a comprehensive set of programs designed to support the entrepreneurial endeavors of students and faculty. Prior to assuming her position at PACE, Ms. Yamada spent 17 years working in senior management positions at various entrepreneurial start-up companies in California before returning home to Hawaii in 2001. Since returning to Hawaii, Ms. Yamada served as Vice Chairman of Get2Hawaii, which she launched as CEO in 2000. Get2Hawaii is a web-based, private-label booking engine for the travel industry. While in Silicon Valley, Ms. Yamada served as the founding CEO of TRUSTe, the first globally recognized, online privacy seal program dedicated to protecting users’ personal information on the Internet. Ms. Scott led the launch of the standard-setting TRUSTe program in 1997 resulting in the licensing of over 600 sites during her tenure including all major portals and close to half of the Top 100 most visited sites on the Internet. At TRUSTe, Ms. Yamada served as part of the founding management team for VEO Systems, a business-to-business software developer, which was subsequently sold to Commerce One in 1999. Commerce One had one of the most successful initial public offerings of 1999. Prior to founding TRUSTe, she led technology publisher Upside Magazine where she spent five years as the CEO and Publisher. Upside magazine was the first business magazine focusing exclusively on serving the information needs of technology executives. At Upside, she oversaw the strategic direction and financial turnaround of the company as it diversified its interests from magazine publishing to online and book publishing, and the production of executive conferences. In addition, to the technology industry, Ms. Yamada has also worked in the health care and travel industries. Ms. Yamada is currently interested in the diversification of Hawaii’s economy through the creation of new entrepreneurial companies in the technology industry. She was a founding member of the Hawaii Angels, a network of high net worth individuals who invest in start-up companies. She is also an active mentor and investor in Hawaii-based, start-up companies. In the community, Ms. Yamada serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and as a trustee with KCAA Preschools of Hawaii. She also heads the Yamada Scott Family Foundation, founded in 2000, whose mission is to inspire and support Hawaii’s students in maximizing their potential via educational grants and scholarships. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $350,000 in scholarships and grants. Ms. Yamada grew up in Hawaii, graduated from James B. Castle High School, earned a BBA degree from the University of Hawaii and an MBA degree from San Jose State University. She resides in Honolulu with her two children and enjoys golfing, traveling, reading, and spending time with family and friends. |
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