Past Events 2006
A series of eminent speakers and workshops have been scheduled this semester to inform and assist those who plan to participate in the Business Plan Competition.
Seminars
SVCE Eminent Speaker Series, Spring 2006
Session One: "The Art of the Start"
Speaker: Guy Kawasaki, Managing Director and Co-founder of Garage Technology
Ventures.
When: Thursday, February 9th 2006
Where: Room 225 A&B, King Library
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an
early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Forbes.com. Previously,
he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. where he was one of the
individuals responsible for the success of the Macintosh computer.
Guy is the author of eight books including The Art of the Start, Rules for
Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and
The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA
as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College. (http://www.guykawasaki.com)
***Free and open to the public***
Session Two: Israel and the Silicon Valley - Building Entrepreneurial
Bridges
When: Thursday, February 23rd 2006
Where: Ron Barrett Ballroom, Student Union
Time: 6pm to 9pm
This event will highlight how Israel became one of the top three
entrepreneurial countries in the world. There will also be discussion on
disk-on-key technology, which was first developed in Israel and the next
generation HDTV and DVD chips. You will get first hand information from
people who actually made it happen.
http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/svce/BuildingBridgesFlyer.pdf
***Free and open to the public***
Session Three: "Leading the High-Tech Company"
Speaker: Richard Levy, CEO and Chairman of Varian Medical Systems
When: Tuesday, March 7th 2006
Where: Room 225 A&B, King Library
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Co-hosted by: SJSU Graduate School of Business
Richard Levy has been CEO of Varian Medical Systems since 1999, when Varian
Associates, Inc. separated into three independent businesses. Prior to the
"spin," Levy served as executive vice president of Varian Associates, where
he was part of the senior management team leading one of America's pioneer
high-technology companies. He was named Chairman of the Board in 2002.
Levy holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and a doctorate in
nuclear chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He began
his business career at the Monsanto Company, where he served as a research
specialist and project manager in both basic and applied research. Within
Varian, prior to assuming General Management and CEO duties, he oversaw
Sales, Marketing, Service, R&D, and various corporate functions as well as
managing the corporate Quality Program.
***Free and open to the public***
Session 4: "Raising Venture Capital Finance"
Speakers: Kelly Porter, Founder & Managing Partner, Zap Ventures & Farzad
Naimi, CEO of Litescape Technology
When: Thursday, April 27th 2006
Where: Washington Square Hall, Room 109
Time: 6pm to 8pm
Kelly Porter, Founder and Managing Partner of ZAP Ventures, has been
investing in venture-stage companies since 1990. Kelly founded ZAP Ventures
in 2001. Prior to becoming a full-time investor, Kelly was Chairman/CEO of
CatchTV, a San Francisco-based software company which was acquired in 1999
by Liberty Media/ACTV; Executive Vice President at InterActive Corp/HSN (Nasdaq:
IACI), where he worked closely with Barry Diller as part of the Home
Shopping Network's turnaround management team; and Vice President of Fox
(News Corp) in Los Angeles, where he was one of the founders of the
company's cable television division, and held responsibility for business
relations with cable operators. His operational experience was particularly
focused on starting-up and growing new entities from conception to liquidity
or profitability. He is a member of the Society of Cable Television
Engineers. A native of Palo Alto, CA, Kelly attended Stanford Graduate
School of Business as a Sloan Fellow (Masters, Management, 1999), and the
University of Southern California (Bachelors, Broadcast Management, 1985).
Farzad Naimi is a co-founder of LiteScape and brings 19 years of successful
Silicon Valley startup leadership to LiteScape. Farzad is responsible for
leading the LiteScape team and managing its strategic direction. Farzad
started his high-tech career at a start up, Centex Telemanagement, as the
head of Engineering and Technology, and led Centex to its IPO, which
preceded its subsequent acquisition by WorldCom. Farzad continued his career
as Executive Vice President and COO at Prestige International, Japan's
largest Customer Relationship Management organization that later had a
successful IPO in Japan. Farzad also participated in a successful start up,
VisaNet do Brazil, funded by Visa International and four major banks in
Brazil. VisaNet do Brazil has become the largest e-Commerce and retail
banking group in Latin America and seventh most profitable company in
Brazil.
***Free and open to the public***
Workshop
Business Plan Prep - Workshop #1: "Marketing Workshop"
The seminar will take a practical look at marketing within a small business
and how sometimes simple steps can help you bring a product or service to
your potential customers while spending a minimum amount of your start up or
available dollars.
How to create a marketing plan that will maximize your sales resources and
success whether you have many competitors or few. How do you do market
research in the 21st century?
Should you depend on the Internet to help you succeed? Why is pricing
something that most small businesses get wrong? When do you advertise and
when don’t you advertise? Why do stores and other businesses offer money
back guarantees no questions asked?
These and many other business practices will be explained in terms of
marketing strategies.
Presenter: Bob Goedjen
When: Saturday, March 11, 2006
Where: Martin Luther King Library, Room 225
Time: 10am - 12pm
Bob's career included 40 years in the Semiconductor Industry. During that
time he worked for a Fortune 500 company as well as two smaller integrated
circuit companies. He has a business degree from the University of Michigan
and began his career as a field application engineer moving into sales
engineering and then product marketing becoming the director of marketing
and world wide sales. Bob has also directed various high tech manufacturing
operations both domestically and internationally. Recently, until joining
Silicon Valley SCORE, he was a managing consultant for a company delivering
consulting services to northern California's small and medium sized
manufacturers. Bob has also been involved with several non-profit
corporations as CFO and Treasurer.
***Free and open to the public***
Business Plan Prep - Workshop #2: Finance Workshop
Presenter: Mike Strozza, Veteran entrepreneur and Business Plan expert,
Silicon Valley SCORE
When: Saturday, May 06, 2006
Where: BBC 003, Main SJSU campus
Time: 9am - noon
This workshop will help answer the following questions:
1. What sort of business plans do startups need?
2. What do outside investors expect?
3. What financial planning should entrepreneurs do to maximize the chance of
success?
Attendees will have the opportunity to have their draft financial plans
reviewed at the end of the seminar.
***Free and open to the public***
Fall 2006
A series of eminent speakers have been scheduled this semester to inform and assist those who plan to participate in the Neat Ideas Fair.
SVCE Eminent Speaker Series, Fall 2006.
Session One:
Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities -
Learning from Social Entrepreneurs
Speaker:
Jennifer Cullenbine,
Founder and Executive Director of The Family Giving Tree
and
Matthew
Flannery,
Co-Founder and CEO of Kiva
When:
Tuesday, September 12th 2006
Where:
Room 225, King Library
Time:
6pm to 8pm
Jennifer Cullenbine is the
Founder and Executive Director of The Family Giving Tree. She is affiliated
with many organizations, some of which include the Young Entrepreneurs
Organization, the Center for Excellence in Non-profits, the California
Association of Non-profits, the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce, and Milpitas
Rotary. She is also a current Board member for the Milpitas Rotary. Raised
in Palo Alto, California, Jennifer received a BS and MBA from San Jose
State University.
www.familygivingtree.org
Matt Flannery is the Co-Founder and CEO of
Kiva. He began developing Kiva in late 2004 as a side-project while working
as a computer programmer at TiVo Inc. In December 2005 Matt left TiVo to
devote himself to Kiva full-time. As CEO, Matt has led Kiva's growth from a
pilot project to an established online service with partnerships across the
globe a dedicated band of staff and supporters closer to home. Prior to
starting Kiva, Matt spent time in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya filming stories
of micro-businesses started by Village Enterprise Fund. It was this time in
East Africa that inspired him to develop Kiva. Matt is a 2006 Global Social
Benefit Incubator entrepreneur and a featured blogger on the Skoll
Foundation's Social Edge website. He graduated with a BS in Symbolic Systems
and a Masters in Analytical Philosophy from Stanford University.
www.kiva.org
***Free and open to the public***
Session Two: How to Protect One's Business Ideas
Speaker:
Raj Abhyanker, U.S. Patent
Attorney, Raj Abhyanker, LLP
When:
Monday, October 2nd, 2006
Where:
Room 225&229, King Library
Time:
6pm to 8pm
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Raj Abhyanker is a U.S. patent attorney focusing on U.S. patent preparation, prosecution, and due diligence litigation support. Raj has been registered with the United States patent bar since November 1999. Currently, he manages his own patent law firm, and in the past has represented legal issues on behalf of many Silicon Valley companies including Apple Computer, Inc., eBay, Adobe Systems, and numerous startups. Previously, he was the Director of Supply Chain for Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) in Sunnyvale, CA, one of the most successful venture-backed companies in history. He has been an invited speaker at a number of national conferences, including the Harvard Business School Cyberposium Conference, University of Chicago College of Business, Northwestern Kellogg School of Business, the Silicon India Entrepreneurship and Leadership Awards, and TiE Silicon Valley. Raj holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering w/honors (BSEE), a MBA, and a Doctorate in Law (J.D.) degree from Arizona State University. www.rajpatent.com |
***Free and open to the public***