Venture Funding in the Era of Globalization - February 7, 2005

ABSTRACT

   There are many ways for a modern day entrepreneur to reduce costs of starting a company. Outsourcing development work to the emerging markets such as India, China or Russia can save 2 to 4 times in labor costs. Today areas such as management of payroll and human resources or even customer service became a commodity. Software and in many cases hardware development have become a commodity - which is significant given that development is typically one of the largest expenses for an early stage company.
Significantly reduced amount of capital needed to get a startup going raises a question of whether entrepreneurs still need to seek venture money to build innovative companies. There are large amounts of capital waiting on the sidelines to be deployed and only few investors have been scaling back size of their funds. At the same time the costs of growing startup have been decreasing for the last few years back to (or sometimes even below) the pre-bubble levels. These trends could create disequilibrium of supply and demand for venture capital.

A panel of prominent venture capitalists and experienced entrepreneurs will discuss how both parties, investors and entrepreneurs, adapt to the changing environment of technology innovation model. 

WHEN

 Monday, February 7, 2005 
Registration at 6:30, program at 7, pirozhki at 8:30. 

WHERE

Stanford University, Bishop Auditorium / Arbuckle Lounge
518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Map and directions

ADMISSION

   Admission is $15 if you register now, and $20 at the door.
CoolTech Club and AmBAR Members get ADDITIONAL $5 discount.
Become AmBAR Member now!

BIOGRAPHIES 

Ori Cohen
Founder, Narus and CRight

Ori Cohen founded CRight in 2004 and Narus in 1997. At Narus he served as President and Chairman of the Board. Prior to Narus, Ori was VP of Business and Technology Development for VDOnet, a leading provider of Internet video conferencing and video on demand software solutions.

Prior to VDOnet, he served as CEO for IntelliCom Ltd. Ori holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Imperial College (London, UK).

Gene LinetskyVice President, Check Point Software Technologies

Gene Linetsky has extensive technology experience spanning secure real-time communication protocols, large-scale Web applications, cross-platform development environments, compilers, and sales automation systems. As vice president, endpoint products for Check Point Software Technologies, Linetsky is responsible for managing research and development and quality assurance of endpoint security products for consumer, small business, and enterprise customers.

Previously, Gene, who comes to Check Point from Zone Labs, co-founded two software startups, IMsecure Corp. (acquired by Zone Labs) and Ultris, Inc. (acquired by Saba Software). He has also held technology leadership positions at Saba Software, Mattel, and The Learning Company, shipping both enterprise-class solutions and consumer software titles. Earlier, in his native Russia, Gene Linetsky pioneered computer science curriculum for high schools, developed educational software for children, and co-authored a computer science textbook with over 3 million copies in print.

Gene Linetsky holds an M.S. in Computer Science and Education and a B.S. in Mathematics, both from Ural State University, Russia.

Stepan Pachikov
Founder, ParaGraph; CEO & President, EverNote Corp.

Stepan Pachikov is an entrepreneur, technology visionary and successful businessman with more than two decades of expertise at organizations such as ParaGraph Int'l (President & CEO), Silicon Graphics (VP and General Manager of Pen&Internet), Parascript (founder, board member), Vadem (senior VP, board member), as well as the Academy of Sciences of USSR (Senior Researcher, CEMI), Moscow Children Computer Club (founder, president), MicroContour (President). During Pachikov's entrepreneurial tenure, he has formed and sold several successful companies, with acquisitions totaling more than $100 million to Microsoft and SGI.

Pachikov has been regularly quoted for his technology visions and business achievements in publications such as USA Today, CNN, Time, Investor's Business Daily, Wired, among others. He is listed in the "Who's Who" as the Most Influential Figure in the Russian Software Industry (1994). Pachikov has done extensive work with computers in the former Soviet Union, including developing a computerization plan for the Soviet School System (1995), consulting on computer software and hardware, and devising a computer model for energy consumption for the Academy of Sciences.

Pachikov has a degree with honors from Tbilisi (Georgia, USSR) State University, MS in mathematical methods of economic applications from Moscow State University, and a Ph.D. from the Academy of Sciences of USSR. The subject of Pachikov's dissertation was the use of fuzzy logic for controlling robotics movements using natural programming languages.

Marie E. Trexler Director,Intel Capital, Central & Eastern Europe

Marie Trexler is the Director of Intel Capital's strategic investment activities in Central and Eastern Europe. Her team is based in Warsaw and Moscow.

Prior to moving to Europe, Marie was the Director of Intel Capital's North America investment team consisting of strategic investment managers located in Boston, Raleigh, Dallas and Seattle covering key venture communities outside of Silicon Valley and Portland.

Marie joined Intel Capital based in California in January 1999, closed over 60 venture deals, and managed teams focused on investing in wireless, communications and broadband startups.

Prior to joining Intel, Marie worked in Europe for six years in private equity and investment banking for ING Barings, ABN AMRO, the International Finance Corporation (World Bank), and the Czech & Slovak American Enterprise Fund focused on investments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Marie is the Board observer at ru-Net, serves on the BOD of the Independent Press Association and the Board of Advisors of an emerging markets non-profit social fund, NeSST. Marie earned her BA from Dartmouth College and her MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Dr. Alex Usach
General Manager, Flextronics - Ukraine

Highly experienced Software Development Executive with a substantial background in building and managing outsourcing software development organizations. Since 2004 is heading Flextronics Design Ukraine software development unit. Has been creating and managing outsourcing development for several well-known SW companies: ScanSoft Inc., Dictaphone Corp., SoftChain Inc., Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., Quarterdeck Corporation

George Zakhari
Partner, Charles River Ventures

George Zachary joined Charles River Ventures in 2004. He brings more than 17 years of operating and investing experience in computing and consumer technology. George’s focus is on building great services and software technology companies.

Previously, he was a general partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV). His directorships included: Accrue Software (NASDAQ:ACRU), Andale, Critical Path (NASDAQ: CPTH), Ovation Entertainment, Sandcastle (acquired by Adobe, NASDAQ:ADBE), Securify (acquired by Kroll-O’Gara, NASDAQ: KROG), Shutterfly, Supertracks (acquired by Centerspan) and Telebot (acquired by Z-Tel, NASDAQ: ZTEL).

Prior to MDV, George led the Nintendo 64 development business at Silicon Graphics, managed sales and marketing for virtual reality pioneer VPL Research, and served as a product marketeer at CATS Software. He is a board advisor at the MIT Sloan School of Business and Stanford BASES. He is also an advisor to X PRIZE. George earned a joint B.S. from M.I.T. and M.I.T. Sloan School of Business.