Bios:

Thatcher Bell, Principal, DFJ Gotham Ventures

Thatcher is a Principal at DFJ Gotham Ventures. He works closely with DFJ Gotham portfolio companies Altruik, Fynanz, Solvate, Worktopia, ExpoTV, and Lumeta. In addition, Thatcher serves on the Board of Directors of the NY Tech MeetUp and is Co-Chair of the New York chapter of Wharton Private Equity Partners.

Thatcher’s background includes venture investing, operating and consulting roles with software, Internet, and financial services companies.

Prior to joining DFJ Gotham, Thatcher was a Senior Analyst at North Hill Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Capital One Financial, where he was a deal team member for the firm’s investments in DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK), Compete (acquired by TNS), Higher One, and Exchange Solutions.

Before joining North Hill, Thatcher was Manager of Business Development at OpenPages, an enterprise software vendor, where he oversaw an acquisition and developed channel partnerships in the U.S. and Europe. Previously, he was an early employee at SharkTank, an online marketplace connecting lawyers and potential clients. Thatcher began his career as a consultant at Ernst & Young (now Cap Gemini Ernst & Young).

Thatcher has a B.S. cum laude in Engineering from Cornell University and an M.B.A. with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. While at Wharton, he was a Summer Associate with Silicon Alley Venture Partners (now Greenhill SAVP) in New York, an early-stage technology venture capital firm. Thatcher also serves on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York City.

Maia Benson, Sr. Dir of Strategic Alliances, Clickable

Maia joins Clickable with 12 years of experience in product management and business development in the technology industry. Prior to Clickable, she spent four years at LexisNexis, two as a part of their general-management training program and two as a product manager. As a product manager, she transformed LexisNexis’s SEO and SEM business from a conceptual plan to one of the fastest growing revenue streams in the company. Before moving to the East coast, Maia spent eight years in Silicon Valley working in Sales and Business and Development. She spent four years with IDC, two years with a Knowledge Universe company, and two years with Xerox—all focused on the technology SMB marketplace. Maia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Syracuse University, and an MBA from Cornell University.

Gil Beyda, Managing Partner, Genacast Ventures

Gil is a seasoned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. Gil launched his first company Mind Games in 1982 to develop games for the original Apple II. Gil then started a software consulting firm with Fortune 100 clients in the U.S., Asia and Europe.

In 1995, Gil helped pioneer Internet advertising by founding Real Media, the first online ad network and ad server company. After Real Media was acquired in 2001, Gil pioneered the next wave of online advertising as CTO of TACODA, the first behavioral targeting, ad network. Following AOL’s acquisition of TACODA in 2007, Gil founded Genacast Ventures.

Camilla Cho, VP, Business Development, Outside.in

Camilla joined Outside.in to expand its growing partnership network. She brings years of experience at various media companies where she has developed and executed on new business opportunities for online growth.

Prior to joining Outside.in, Camilla was a Sr Director of Strategic Development for MTV Networks, including the College Media Network, where she was responsible for leading the efforts on the strategy and rollout of a set of local entertainment sites for college students and executing strategic partnership deals. Prior to MTVN, Camilla served in a sales and business development role at IAC / Ask.com focusing on search syndication and distribution, and in a strategy and new business development role for BMG / Columbia House.

Camilla has her MBA from The Wharton School and her bachelor's from U.C. Berkeley. When not working, she can often be found wherever there is good live music and great food around the city.

Andrew Cleland, Executive Director, Time Warner Investments

Andrew is Executive Director of Time Warner’s Investments Group. He sources, evaluates, and executes investments on behalf of Time Warner in early-stage media and technology companies. Andrew serves on the Board of Directors of Visible World, and is a board observer of Gaia Online, Veoh, and Double Fusion. Previously, he managed Time Warner’s investments in Arroyo (sold to Cisco), BigBand (Nasdaq: BBND), and Entropic (Nasdaq: ENTR). Prior to his current Investments role, Andrew worked in Time Warner’s Corporate Strategy Group where he advised senior management on a range of issues including Time Warner Cable’s on-demand video strategy, and AOL’s advertising and investment deal with Google. Before joining Time Warner, Andrew was the Chief Operating Officer of TrustTheDJ.com, a music and events start-up which he helped to build from inception. Previously, he worked as a strategy consultant for Booz Allen & Hamilton’s Media and Entertainment Group in London. Andrew holds an MA in Economics (1st class) from Edinburgh University, and received his MBA from INSEAD in France.

Brian Cohen, Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, New York Angels

Created iFluence PR a strategic behavioral-based communications consultancy for the new earned influence/social media community. Its focus is on understanding determinant business success factors and using qualitative customer research matched with highly aggressive guerrilla communications techniques to achieve client marketing objectives while providing the greatest financial value possible.

Developed Good Cause Communications, the first full-service not-for-profit PR firm designed to meet the needs of struggling non-profits. Its planned newswire, GoodCauseNews.org will be the first free newswire for struggling non-profits and PublicRelationsCares.com will be the first social responsibility volunteer program for public relations professionals.

Founded GlobalComm/TSI (Technology Solutions, Inc.in 1983. TSI was the first science and technology strategic marketing and public relations agency in New York and one of the first such specialists in the United States. In 1996, TSI was recognized as the #1 fastest growing public relations agency in the United States. Nearing 200 employees with 5 offices, he sold the company to The McCann Erickson World Group, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1997.

As a hallmark of TSI's collaborative work with nearly 1,000 companies during its 17-year tenure, they began a 14-year partnership with Sony Corporation of America in 1986. During that time, TSI provided strategic communications counsel to all Sony's computer, business professional, and consumer products divisions and introduced more than 100 "bleeding-edge" products. In that same year, TSI began an alliance with the IBM Corporation that grew to represent more than 50 IBM divisions providing all levels strategic communications/media relations counsel. Brian specifically media trained hundreds of IBM management on how to talk to and work with the media and analyst communities. As a testament to the success of this relationship, TSI received the Gold CIPRA award (#1 Public Relations program) in 1998 for the IBM Deep Blue/Gary Kasparov Chess Match concept development and public relations program.

Brian created and instituted the RPM (Rapid Publicity Marketing) model of strategic communications. This tightly integrated approach to publicity gave clients a quick market edge and was designed to discover and leverage a company's key strengths as well as mitigate their destructive weaknesses.

TSI's client list read like an entrepreneurial who's who list of leading technology companies in computing, communication, software, education, and entertainment all supported by an integrated matrix of professionals in research, strategic planning, media placement, video production and event management.

Additionally, Brian started Focus Technology, a Focus Group company that provided qualitative research and beta site utilization services. Brian provided all development and moderating support.

Before launching TSI, Brian was a founding publisher of Computer Systems News and InformationWeek magazine at CMP Publications. While in graduate school, he was involved with pioneering computer trade publications including Personal Computing Magazine and Minicomputer News from Benwill Publishing.

Brian received two Honor B.S. degrees from Syracuse University in Biology and Speech Communications. He also received a Masters Degree in Science Communications from Boston University's School of Public Communications in 1978 and currently serves on the Dean's Advisory Board of Directors.

Charles Foley, Chairman, CEO, TimeSight Systems

Over 20 years experience leading both private and public company teams to success. As the President of Tacit Networks, he designed the marketing and business development strategies that led to their profitable acquisition by Packeteer (NASDAQ: PKTR). As CEO of InfiniCon Systems, he built and led the company to a leadership position; the company was acquired by QLogic (NASDAQ:QLGC). While at EVP & CTO, INRANGE Technologies, Chuck was Project Manager for the extremely successful year 2000 IPO (NASDAQ: INRG) which reached a $5.5B market cap while revenues rose from $185M to $265M in two years. In addition, Mr. Foley was VP, WW Marketing & Strategy, Amdahl (acquired by Fujitsu). Mr. Foley has also held senior positions at IBM and Memorex-Telex, and sits on the Board of Directors for Network Engines, Inc. (NASDAQ: NENG), and serves as Chairman for Critical Links, Inc.

Seth Frader-Thompson, CEO, Energy Hub

Entrepreneur and inventor Seth Frader-Thompson founded EnergyHub in 2007 with a simple mission, to develop a pioneering device that would let consumers know exactly how much power they are using, where it is going, and how much it is costing, in real time. Named a “Best Invention of 2009” by Time Magazine, the EnergyHub system is currently in trials with US utilities and will be available direct to consumers in late 2010. The EnergyHub has been featured on CNN, The Today Show, Engadget, and in an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York.

As CEO, Seth is responsible for the vision, strategy and leadership of EnergyHub. Prior to this venture, Seth Frader-Thompson served in both leadership and technical roles at Honeybee Robotics, a New York-based company that builds electromechanical systems for NASA’s Mars missions and the Department of Defense. During his tenure at Honeybee Robotics, he worked on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, the Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program, and payloads and tools for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robots. Seth was also the principal investigator for a DARPA research effort to build a miniature laser vision system for search and rescue robots.

Seth had the initial breakthrough idea that lead to the EnergyHub while driving a Prius. In order to transform the way that consumers use power, it was necessary to provide detailed feedback the way a Prius dashboard does. Such a device for home energy management would help consumers reduce household energy consumption, save money, and manage their power use remotely, and would also help utilities reduce peak loads and meet energy efficiency targets.

Seth holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Chris Fralic, Managing Partner, First Round Capital

Chris Fralic joined First Round Capital in 2006, and was most recently VP of Business Development at del.icio.us which was acquired by Yahoo! in December 2005, where he focused on distribution partnerships to integrate del.icio.us across a broad set of browsers, tools and publishing partners.

Chris previously spent 6 years at eBay, and his last position was a combination ad sales and business development role helping entertainment companies such as Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Music Group, Apple and Netflix reach and connect with eBay users. Chris previously led the eBay Entertainment categories, managing the transaction, platform and supply/demand aspects of the books, movies and music marketplaces in the US with over $1 billion in transaction volume during his time there. Chris had been the VP of Business Development at Half.com, which eBay acquired in June 2000, where he helped develop many parts of the business including fund raising, content licensing, the affiliate program, supply and distribution partnerships, and advertising and sponsorships sales.

Chris has over 25 years of technology industry experience, including significant Internet sales and business development roles since 1996. He was Vice President of Business Development at Nextron, Director of Business Development at America Online, and an Account Manager at Oracle focused on their early Internet offerings for some of its largest accounts such as AOL and Time Warner.

Bridget Goris-Klein, Partner, BDO Seidman

Bridget has over 16 years of tax experience in public and private practice. During this time she has held key Fortune 100 and public accounting leadership positions. Bridget’s primary area of specialization includes corporate taxation, encompassing tax risk analysis, support of tax return positions and tax examination representation. Bridget also has significant experience with accounting for income taxes (FAS 109). In addition, Bridget has serviced and has considerable experience in the following areas: financial services, manufacturing, retail, C-Corporations, S-Corporations, LLCs and High Net Worth individuals.

Toffer Grant, CEO/Founder, PEX Card

Toffer Grant is the CEO and Founder of the PEX Visa® Prepaid Card Service - a corporate prepaid card solution companies use to budget and track employee spending.

Toffer is a 10 year veteran of the network branded prepaid card industry, which first began to emerge in 1999. From 2004 to 2006 he was VP Sales at TSYS Prepaid, a wholly owned subsidiary of TSYS (NYSE: TSS). From 2000 to 2004 Toffer was VP Sales at Clarity Payment Solutions, an early stage company that quickly became the leading prepaid card processing platform company later sold to TSYS in 2004 for $53 million. While at Clarity/TSYS Prepaid, Toffer ran the company’s corporate incentives vertical, brought the company into new markets and created customized business and consumer prepaid card applications for large corporate non-bank clients.

Prior to joining Clarity, Toffer worked at DoubleClick, the William Morris Agency and was a media buyer at Bozell Kenyon and Eckhart servicing the Taco Bell account.

Bob Greene, Co-Founder, Contour Venture Partners

Bob Greene is a co-founder of Contour Venture Partners and has been a venture capitalist in New York since the late 1980's. He has invested in all stages of venture capital across several industry sectors. Contour Venture Partners invests in companies in the Northeast United States focused on information technology, and the application of technology into the financial services, digital media and internet sectors.

Prior to launching Contour, Bob was one of the three managing partners of Flatiron Partners. Prior to joining Flatiron full time in 1999, Bob was a General Partner at Chase Capital Partners, having joined its predecessor, Chemical Venture Partners, in 1994. Bob started and led Chase Capital's Technology and Internet investment practice.

Some of Bob's notable investments during his career include 3Dfx Interactive, Acurian, Agamatrix, Cobalt Networks, EXIT41, Fundquest, iXL Enterprises, GeoCities, Kinkos.com, Media6Degrees, Multex, Oggifinogi, Punchbowl Software, Resonate, SeamlessWeb, Stamps.com, SwapDrive, Ticketfly, and Vindigo.

Bob started his venture capital career in 1988 with Prudential Equity Investors, and prior to this he was a banker for five years with First Boston and Fleet Financial.

Bob is the President of the NY Venture Capital Association and has been on the NYVCA Board since 1994. Bob has been a guest lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Wharton School of Business for many years.

Bob received a BS from the Wharton School of Business and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Divya Gugnani, CEO/Founder, Behind The Burner

Divya Gugnani acquired a taste for her future in culinary arts while building a career in finance. In addition to a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Divya holds a degree from the French Culinary Institute, where she discovered her inner chef. Divya started her business career at Goldman Sachs and then moved on to Investcorp International and Millennium Technology Ventures. Most recently, as a venture capitalist and Principal at FirstMark Capital, Divya provided companies with strategic and operational guidance to achieve their visions. Additionally, Divya has catered numerous events and worked in several restaurant kitchens while managing her corporate boardroom responsibilities. With the creation of Behind the Burner, Divya blends her long-time passion for culinary arts with her expertise in business ventures.

Divya currently advises several startups and established brands with board level roles. She appears on MSNBC: Your Business, NBC Weekend Today and NBC New York Nonstop. She has also has been a guest on FOX & FRIENDS and has been featured in BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Deal, Crains, Hi!Blitz, Khabar, Eat.Drink.Better, among several other publications. Divya contributes to The Huffington Post, Daily Beast, MSN's Glo, PageDaily and is the author of the upcoming book Sexy Women Eat: Love Food and Look Fabulous, a no-nonsense guide to staying slim and and for women who live to eat. She is also working on the launch of the online lifestyle media property What Not To Do 101. Divya was honored as a 2010 Game Changer by The New York Enterprise Report and will be receiving an award as one of the Top 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in business. Additionally, Divya is on the Board of Directors for New York Entrepreneur Week, a non-profit movement formed around a single belief: entrepreneurs change the world.

Beth Haggerty, CEO and Founder, Ology

Beth Haggerty is responsible for setting the overall direction of Ology. Prior to Ology, Beth was Chief Operating Officer of IAG Research, the television industry's leading advertising effectiveness measurement company, which was acquired by Nielson Media Research in 2008. Prior to IAG, Beth was founding CEO/President of Live Advice Corporation, an e-commerce company that she built and sold to Ingenio Corp, which was then acquired by ATT. Prior to Live Advice, Beth was Senior Vice President of Business Development and Worldwide Sales for Infoseek Corporation, which was acquired by the The Walt Disney Company. Beth served as SVP of The Walt Disney Company's Internet Group where she worked with Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABCnews.com and other key Disney owned properties. Beth also worked for CMP Media for many years serving in a variety of digital and publishing roles. She has been named both a Top 20 Interactive Executive and a Women To Watch by Advertising Age. She received a B.A. in from Stockton University.

Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, Founder and Managing Director, Golden Seeds Fund

Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, is the founder and Managing Director of Golden Seeds, and Managing Partner of the Golden Seeds Fund. Golden Seeds is an investor network of over 130 people that invest in early stage high growth companies owned and led by women entrepreneurs. The portfolio encompasses various sectors, including internet businesses, life sciences and consumer goods.

Stephanie’s 20 year career prior to becoming an investor was in financial services. She has worked in all three times zones - in Sydney, London and New York. The majority of her career was with J.P. Morgan where she headed several global businesses (including positions as Global Head of Futures & Options, Head of International Private Banking, COO of Global Equities and Head of eCommerce) where she grew and managed revenue and expense budgets up to $500m.

Stephanie retains board positions with public companies Foster Wheeler AG and Riskmetrics Group. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney

Kyle Harris, Managing Director, Liquidity Works

Kyle Harris is the Managing Director of Liquidity Works. Mr. Harris began his career in the Foreign Military Sales group for the Navy’s F-18 aircraft program ultimately running the team that sold over $3.5 Billion dollars is USG equipment worldwide. He next ran international marketing for the NYMEX crude oil contract working with foreign governments and multinationals to develop risk management programs around the world’s largest traded commodity.

After receiving his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Business he began an early stage incubator which funded several notable projects. He was COO of IMTI Systems an insurance software provider and was the founder/President of Global Detection and Reporting, Inc a company offering innovative risk detection tools for illegal drugs in the workplace.

Matt Harris, Co-Founder and Managing General Partner, Village Ventures

Matt Harris is the co-founder and Managing General Partner of Village Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm with over $175M under management.

Harris began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company, Boston. In 1995, he signed on as an associate with Bain Capital. At Bain Capital, Harris’ most notable transactions included the $1.1 billion purchase and subsequent sale of a credit-reporting agency, and the $90 million purchase of a medical products distributor.

Harris left Bain Capital in 1997 to become the founding Managing Director of The Berkshires Capital Investors, a venture capital fund associated with Williams College. Under Harris’ leadership, BCI’s first fund of $5 million invested in 12 companies, with eight successful exits to date. The BCI organization, now a Village Ventures affiliate, has gone on to raise an additional $60 million.

Harris graduated from Williams College in 1994, and now lives in New York, NY and Williamstown, MA. He is active in the business community of Williamstown and Berkshire County, and is involved in many civic organizations. He has served as Chair of Mass Competitive Council for Berkshire County, an economic development initiative sponsored by the governor of Massachusetts, and serves as a Board Member of the John Adams Innovation Institute and a member of the Renewable Energy Industry Support Advisory Board. Matt is a Trustee for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, he is the President of the Board of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and he is a founding Board Member and Treasurer of Camp Starfish, a camp for troubled and disadvantaged youth outside Boston, MA. Matt also sits on the corporate boards of Bluetarp Financial, Swift Financial, Vico Software, OnDeck Capital, TxCore, Inc. and LTSave, Inc.

Brian Hirsch, Managing Director, Greenhill SAVP

Brian is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Greenhill SAVP, the venture arm of Greenhill & Co. (NYSE:GHL), where he oversees management of the venture fund and serves as Co-Chairman of the Fund's Investment Committee. Brian was previously a Managing Partner with SAVP, where he co-managed all of the fund's activities. Prior to SAVP, Brian was a Principal at Sterling Venture Partners and a Vice President with ABN AMRO Private Equity, the U.S. venture arm of ABN AMRO bank.

Brian is currently a board member of BDMetrics, Flat World Knowledge, FTRANS, HomeSphere, Pontiflex, TRAFFIQ and a board observer at Local Labs. Brian previously sat on the boards of YellowJacket (acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE: ICE) and KnowledgeStorm (acquired by TechTarget, NASDAQ: TTGT).

Sara Holoubek, Founder/CEO, Luminary Labs

Luminary Labs was founded by Sara Holoubek as a response to an increased demand for her strategy consulting practice established in 2005.

Since this time, Ms. Holoubek has worked with a broad range of clients to make key business transformation decisions, including Sanofi-Aventis, LexisNexis, BMW, Texas Instruments, startups Clickable, Conductor, drop.io and Symposia Group, and agencies within the WPP family and the Aegis Group family.

Previously, Ms. Holoubek served as iCrossing's Chief Strategy Officer, building the firm's New York office and repositioning the iCrossing brand as it raised an early VC round of $13 million. Prior to this experience, Ms. Holoubek held strategy roles with interactive agencies Organic and Blue Dingo.

From 2009-2010, Ms. Holoubek served as the President of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) board of directors. She also serves on the New York Board of Directors of the Step Up Women's Network.

Ms. Holoubek has been widely quoted in publications such as The Washington Post, WSJ.com, Adweek, DMNews, ClickZ, Internet Retailer, Strategies (France) and PropMark (Brazil). She also serves as a frequent guest lecturer at venues such as ad:tech, SMX, Search Engine Strategies, OMMA, the DMA, Harvard, NYU and Baruch College.

Ms. Holoubek also brings an international perspective to her work, having lived and worked in Latin America and Europe , and is fluent in Spanish and French and conversant in Portuguese. She holds a B.A. from the University of Iowa and an M.B.A. from HEC in France. She resides in New York City with her husband, bass-baritone Claudio Mascarenhas.

Peg Jackson, Managing Partner, Cava Capital

Peg joined the Cava Capital team in 2010, bringing a tremendous background of investing and operating expertise from over 15 years at NeoCarta Ventures, NBC and Reuters. Peg joined NeoCarta Ventures in May, 2000, investing in the technology sector and managing the portfolio. Investments include SilverPop, Zoom Systems, Cendura (acquired by Computer Associates), Datasynapse (acquired by Tibco) and Myrio (acquired by Siemens). Prior to joining NeoCarta Ventures, Peg was Vice-President of Business Development at NBC. She joined NBC in 1996, making investments in Internet and communication companies. Investments include Tivo (TIVO) and LivePerson (LPSN). Prior to NBC, Peg worked in the business development group at Reuters New Media, where she managed new acquisition and joint venture projects. She was also employed as a Media Analyst for the Toronto Dominion Bank. Peg received a BA in Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from New York University.

Amish Jani, Managing Director, First Mark Capital

Amish Jani, a Founder and Managing Director of FirstMark Capital, focuses on software and systems investments in the enterprise, communications and digital media sectors, and serves on FirstMark Capitalís Investment Committee. Amish also leads FirstMarkís investment strategies for the Indian marketplace. Prior to founding FirstMark Capital, Amish served as a Partner with Pequot Ventures.

Jalak Jobanputra, Senior Vice President, New York City Investment Fund

Jalak has over 15 years experience in venture capital, media and technology. Currently Senior Vice President at the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF) where she oversees technology and digital media venture investments, Jalak spearheaded the formation of NYCSeed in 2008, a seed fund dedicated to funding early stage tech entrepreneurs in NYC, and sits on its Investment Committee and Venture Advisory Board. She is a current investor in outside.in, Imagespan, Thumbplay, TXVia, Partsearch and Marketing Technology Solutions.

Prior to NYCIF, she was a Principal at New Venture Partners, a $300 million early stage venture fund. At NVP, she founded and served as interim CEO of Real Time Content (spun out of British Telecom) and was a Director of Procelerate Technologies, a SaaS workflow management tool for the aerospace industry. She also incubated a range of other technologies, including speech recognition/NLP, 3D displays, video surveillance, 4G wireless broadband and music recommendation software. From 1999-2003, Jalak was at Intel Capital in Silicon Valley, where she oversaw enterprise software, internet and digital media investments, including Demantra (sold to Oracle), Extricity (sold to Peregrine), Viacore (sold to IBM), R Systems (IPO), Yodlee and Zinio. She was on the launch team of online financial information startup Horsesmouth in 1997, and began her career in media, telecom and tech investment banking at Lehman and Broadview in NYC and London.

Jalak has invested, and traveled extensively, in India, Europe, Africa, East Asia and Latin America. She is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship and serves on boards of Achievement First Bushwick Charter School (Brooklyn) and Echoing Green, and has consulted for the Big Picture and Fenway charter schools in New England as well as Jobs for the Future. She is a member of the NYC Leadership Council for YearUp, a professional training program for urban young adults. Jalak spent four months setting up microfinance programs and training women entrepreneurs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after receiving her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in 1999. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Communications from the Annenberg School and a BSE in Finance from the Wharton School. She is a member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), Advisory Board of Astia NYC, Girls in Tech, the Wharton Private Equity Network, Kellogg Entrepreneurs, and is a frequent speaker and judge at entrepreneur and venture conferences.

Dina Kaplan, Co-Founder, blip.tv

Dina Kaplan, a co-founder of blip.tv, oversees industry marketing, public relations, finance, key partnerships and human resources for blip.tv.

Before blip.tv, Dina was a news reporter with WNBC in New York, Wave3 News (NBC) in Louisville Kentucky and News12 Long Island and New Jersey.

Dina won an Emmy for Spot News last summer and in prior years has won Society of Professional Journalists Awards for Deadline Reporting, Service Reporting and Feature Reporting and Associated Press Awards for Best Feature and for Breaking Spot News.

Before reporting, Dina produced stories for MTV News about politics, technology and a range of musical acts from Ozzy Osbourne to The Wu-Tang Clan to Jewel. She also helped coordinate MTV's Choose or Lose coverage of the 1996 Presidential Election.

After graduating from college, Dina worked at the White House as Director of Research for the White House Counsel's Office and then as Special Assistant to the Director of Presidential Personnel. During college, Dina worked at Rock The Vote, setting up a volunteer network of representatives that registered college students to vote around the country.

Dina graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Economics, Government, Philosophy and History. She sits on the National Board of Wesleyan University and is a Founding Board Member of the Women's Media Center. She is a judge for the Interactive Media Awards and for the Webbies. She is also on the board of the Theodore Roosevelt Teddy Bears for Kids Annual Benefit.

Charlie Kemper, Principal, Kebo Capital

Charlie Kemper, a seasoned investment executive and experienced entrepreneur, is a Principal at Kebo Capital Partners, an investment & advisory firm focused on software, media, and communications businesses. Prior to forming Kebo, Charlie worked at Steelpoint Capital as a venture capitalist focused on software & media investments. Charlie was a founding member of the Darby Technology Ventures Group, a venture capital group led by former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Nicholas Brady, Comcast, IBM, and Bechtel. Previously, Charlie held finance responsibilities for Product Development of the Explorer Vehicle Line within Ford Motor Company. Earlier in his career, he was Co-Founder and Managing Member of a new media consulting firm focusing on Internet design and ecommerce services. He has also worked with Avalanche Systems (acquired by Razorfish) and Ameritech (now AT&T). He is a Founding Advisor to the Hispanic Alliance for Progress and the Chair of the Steering Committee of NYCVC, the leading venture investment organization in New York. He has been a director of several privately held technology companies, including Atempo, The Internet Marketing Center, WMI Media Solutions, Promptu, and PacStar Communications.

Deb LaBudde, Managing General Partner, ENVOI Ventures

Ms. LaBudde is managing general partner of Envoi Ventures, which was founded in 2008 to make investments primarily in seed and early stage life science and technology/IT companies. Envoi often works with companies before an investment and co-invests with other leading venture firms.

Earlier in her career, Ms. LaBudde was Director of Business Development for Bausch & Lomb, Inc. where she was involved in over a dozen successful M&A and licensing transactions representing more than $1.5 billion of aggregate value for the company including the sale of Miracle Ear hearing care business to Amplifon SpA, the sale of Charles River Laboratories to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) Merchant Banking's Global Healthcare Partners, the license of EnvisionTM drug delivery technology and the acquisition of Storz Instruments from American Home Products and Chiron Vision from Chiron Corporation.

She was also a founder and head of business development for a venture capital backed supply chain solutions company for the vision care industry which was spun-off from Bausch & Lomb with a $50 million capital commitment from financial and strategic investors. While with the company, Ms. LaBudde developed key customer relationships and led the acquisition of a $7 million international software company providing the company with access to international markets and sought after industry partners.

She is currently interim CEO of Calorics, a stealth biotech company focused on age-related diseases and is on the Board of Directors of venture backed Wakonda Technologies, a thin-film solar company based in Woburn, MA. She was previously on the Board of Directors of Techrigy, Inc. (acquired by Alterian Ltd in 7/09), a social media monitoring company, where as the first outside board member, she helped to guide the company from beta stage to strategic sale within three years.

Ms. LaBudde is on the Advisory Board for Astia, Inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated to working with women entrepreneurs and previously for MIT’s Ignite Clean Energy Competition. She was a 2006 finalist in the Kauffman Fellowship program for emerging leaders in venture capital.

John McClelland, Principal Partner Evangelist, Microsoft

John is a Principal Partner Evangelist with Microsoft’s U.S. Developer and Platform Evangelism team. With over 20 years of IT and application development experience, John joined Microsoft in 1997 as a platform consultant architecting and implementing distributed solutions for several of Microsoft’s largest customers in the Greater Pennsylvania district. In 2002 he joined the Developer and Platform Evangelism team to help the architect and developer community explore, understand, and implement solutions built on the .NET Platform. Today John focuses exclusively on the Partner Community in the U.S. East Region with expertise in designing and deploying custom-developed solutions. John is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If you wish to connect with John, visit his personal blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/johnm or the East Region Dev Partners Blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/mpneast.

Kim Miller, Managing Partner, Tier One Partners

Kim brings more than a dozen years of experience in strategic communications to Tier One. Her strengths include a finely-honed ability to build strong and lasting relationships with top-tier media to sway key industry influencers by differentiating her clients from the competition and to relentlessly execute strategic public relations programs that have a demonstrable impact on her clients' businesses. Kim also embraces the power of social media to expand her clients’ brand and participates in the daily social dialogue.

For each of her clients, Kim applies a strong business sense coupled with media savvy to put new names on the map or enhance the reputations and visibility of established players. She is an active partner focused on the enterprise software, mobile/telecom, consumer and green innovation industries. Kim is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts—Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in sports management.

Michael Moretti, Senior VP, Silicon Valley Bank

Michael Moretti runs Silicon Valley Bank's New York office. He is responsible for managing all relationship and business development activities with technology companies in the tri-state region. Prior to joining SVB in October 2003, Michael worked at LCconnect Inc., an online financial services company he co-founded in January 2000. Previously, Michael had been involved in the international, corporate and investment banking markets since 1982. Prior to starting LCconnect, Michael was co-head of Credit Lyonnais Securities' Corporate Advisory Group, which he started in 1995. Before joining Credit Lyonnais in 1991, Michael served nine years at the Irving Trust Company, which was subsequently acquired by the Bank of New York. There he worked in the corporate banking division from 1988 until 1991 and the international banking division from 1983 to 1988. Michael received a B.A. from St. Lawrence University and an M.B.A. from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Alison Newman, Partner, Cooley

Alison Newman is a partner in the Cooley Business department and practices in the area of general corporate and securities law. She joined Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP in 1999, which was merged into Cooley Godward Kronish LLP in 2006. She is resident in the New York office.

Ms. Newman represents a diverse client base comprised of public and private companies, investment banks, venture capital firms and high net worth individuals. Throughout her career she has represented clients in connection with public offerings and private placements of securities, venture capital investments, private equity investments and mergers and acquisitions. She has extensive experience representing issuers and underwriters in public offerings for companies engaged in a number of industries, including high-technology, biotechnology, electronics, homeland security and the Internet. Prior to joining Kronish Lieb, Ms. Newman was a partner at Bachner Tally Polevoy & Misher, where she practiced from 1991 through 1999.

Ms. Newman's counsel is often sought by companies seeking to access venture capital and other financing alternatives. Ms. Newman has regularly acted as counsel to public and privately held companies advising them on compliance with securities laws and Sarbanes Oxley and in connection with their general and transactional matters. She is also regularly engaged by buyers, sellers and financial advisors in a variety of public and private business combinations.

Ms. Newman received her J.D. in 1986 from New York University School of Law. She received her B.A. cum laude in 1983 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Newman is admitted to practice before the New York State Bar.

Katie Nittler, COO, Astia

Katie is the COO at ASTIA, a global non-profit committed to building women leaders and accelerating the funding and growth of high-potential, high-growth, women-led start-ups. Katie joined Astia in mid 2009 to initially lead the showcase Astia Silicon Valley Program. In December 2009 she was promoted to COO with additional responsibilities for global programs, marketing and building Astia client management programs. With over 20 years experience in marketing & business development for high tech companies (Fortune 500 and venture funded start ups) including HP, PeopleSoft, Convoy/NEON, Commerce One, Portal and Oracle and not-for-profit organizations including NFCO and Lancashire University Katie has been repeatedly recognized as an outstanding contributor. In 2000 she was recognized as one of the top 100 influential people in B2B. Katie is helping with Astia’s expansion across the globe by combining her passion for global alliances and growth in women.

Katherine O’Neil, Executive Director, JumpStart NJ

Katherine O’Neill is the Executive Director for JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network and an investor in technology businesses. Jumpstart NJ Angel Network invests in high growth technology businesses in the Mid Atlantic region. Katherine currently serves on the Board of the Angel Capital Association, the national organization representing angel investor groups in North America. She is also the ACA Board liaison to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) board which represents the venture community in the United States. She is a member of the NJ Economic Development Authority Edison Fund Advisory Board.

Jumpstart was formed with the assistance of the New Jersey Technology Council and New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Jumpstart focuses on seed/early stage companies with core technology needing both funding and seasoned management assistance to move forward. Jumpstart actively looks for investments in the $200k-$1 Million range, and sometimes co-invests in larger investments with other angel groups or venture capital firms. Since 2004, Jumpstart has invested in 28 companies in the Mid-Atlantic region. WWW.Jumpstartnj.com

Katherine is a seasoned financial executive and investor in early stage enterprises with extensive experience in start up and entrepreneurial operations as well as operational experiences in a diverse range of businesses. She has particular expertise developing technology-based business as well as strategic business plans, budgets, cash and tax planning. She has extensive multinational experience and financial operation management and knowledge of healthcare pharmaceuticals, information systems, e-commerce and medical instruments and devices.

In addition to her entrepreneurial activities, she was a senior executive in corporate finance in both a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company and Fortune 500 chemical company. Katherine has a MA in Economics from the University of Pennslyvania.

Bob Pedersen, International Tax Consulting Group - Practice Leader, BDO

Bob has over 22 years of public accounting experience which includes 18 years of experience in the taxation area. He has been a member of the International Tax Consulting Group of the New York office for over 15 years. Bob's primary role is advising clients regarding multinational reorganizations and formation of foreign enterprises. His focus is advice relating to creating tax efficient structures for both inbound and outbound financing. In addition, Bob has significant experience successfully representing taxpayers during international tax examinations.

Nancy Pedot, Former CEO of Gymboree, Goldenseeds, Golden Seeds

Managing Director of Golden Seeds, an angel group that invests private equity capital in early stage companies, that are founded and lead by women She is the former President and CEO of the publicly traded specialty retailer, Gymboree (NYSE: GYMB). During her 11-year tenure at Gymboree, Ms. Pedot is credited with building revenues from $14 million to $400 million; executing a successful IPO; and building the company's value to a $1 billion market cap. As CEO of GYMB, she was elected as Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine and featured on the cover of Business Week as CEO of one of America’s fastest growing companies. After GYMB, Ms. Pedot was elected President/CEO of Party City, a nationwide chain of franchise and corporate party stores. She was charged with leading the company out of bankruptcy and is credited with the successful turnaround of this venture capital-owned enterprise. Ms. Pedot has extensive public board experience, having served on the boards of PetsMart, Cost Plus World Markets, Gymboree, and Party City. Her nonprofit board service includes Mercado Global, Glimmerglass Opera, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. She continues to play a key advisory role to gDiapers, one of Golden Seeds portfolio companies and is active in all of Golden Seeds consumer and retail projects.

Pravina Raghavan, District Director, Small Business Administration

Pravina has over 15 years of experience in providing advisory services to businesses in the start-up, growth, expansion and maturity phases of development. In that time, she completed over 100 Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transactions and has advised companies on strategy, marketing, sales development, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, divestures, outsourcing, joint ventures and partnerships, and international development. Pravina is the District Director for the Small Business Administration (SBA), New York District Office.

Prior to joining the SBA, Pravina was a Vice President with MTV and BET Networks in Content Distribution and Marketing where she was responsible for contract negotations and marketing for 23 channels. Previously, she was a small business owner of a strategic advisory firm that assisted companies in their quest for growth.

Prior to owning her own business, Pravina was the Business Development Director for Misys PLC, one of the largest banking software companies in the world. She was also an associate at an investment bank, Broadview International, in London. Prior to Broadview, Pravina worked for seven years at AT&T in several finance and management roles, including her last five years as M&A Director for Europe.

Pravina has an MBA in Finance from Seton Hall University and a BS in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University. She has worked in over 15 countries around the world and is familiar with five languages.

Pravina is also a board member of the International Executive Resource Group (IERG) and a member of the Women’s Bond Club of New York (WBC), The Penn State Alumni Association, Venture Association of New Jersey (VANJ), Women in Telecommunications and Cable (WICT), and National Association of Minorities in Communications (NAMIC).

F. Morgan Rodd, General Partner, Milestone Venture Partners

F. Morgan Rodd is currently a General Partner at Milestone Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in technology-enhanced business services, primarily in healthcare, financial services and media. Prior to joining Milestone, Mr. Rodd was a Co-Managing Partner of ArrowPath Venture Partners, formerly the venture capital arm of E*TRADE Group. Mr. Rodd currently sits on the boards of Collections Marketing Center, FieldView Solutions, IntegriChain, TriCipher and Xceedium. Mr. Rodd's successful investments include AgencyPort, BridgeStream, Imunix, NetSec, Siperian and Security Focus. Prior to joining ArrowPath, Mr. Rodd was Vice President of New Ventures for E*TRADE Group, Inc. Previously, Mr. Rodd was Vice President of Business Development and Chief Financial Officer of Urbanite, Inc, an Internet start-up based in Silicon Valley. Mr. Rodd was also a Principal at Volpe Brown Whelan & Company, providing investment banking services to emerging companies in the healthcare and technology industries. Mr. Rodd began his career as an investment banker at Alex. Brown & Sons. Mr. Rodd holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a BA in History from Wesleyan University.

Roy Rodenstein, Director of Business Planning / Co-Founder and ex-CEO of Going, AOL

Roy Rodenstein is currently Director of Business Planning at AOL, leading a variety of business initiatives in the Local & Ventures group, following the acquisition of Going, Inc. in June '09. A recognized product visionary, Roy co-founded Going and was CEO the first two years, from seed funding to product launch, team building and user adoption in Boston, New York and San Francisco. Roy raised Going’s Series A from Highland Capital and General Catalyst, and was a board director with executive role leading product development and engineering, online marketing and content. At Going, he managed dozens of full-time and part-time (local/regional) staff, and worked closely with the bizdev and sales team.

A recognized pioneer in the Location Based Services space, Going was a leader in user-generated content in the local events space across 30 leading US cities, as well as the first web application allowing users to ‘check in’ to share their location and related media in real-time with friends across social networks. Going grew to 5M unique visitors from '07-09 (1M monthly), with revenue traction in ticketing, a custom developed self-service local ad engine, and national brand ad sales. Leading clients included Miller Lite, Bacardi, Patron and others in the liquor/beer vertical, as well as JetBlue, Live Nation, Virgin America, BMW and others.

Prior to Going (originally HeyLetsGo), Roy was a product marketing leader at IBM in the Information Integration division, following IBM’s acquisition of iPhrase Technologies, a natural-language search engine company where Roy ran multiple business lines with ~$10M annual revenue. At iPhrase, Roy was Director of Product Management and Product Marketing, heavily involved in sales & bizdev to blue chip customers such as Radio Shack, Royal Caribbean, Staples, Charles Schwab and Louis Vuitton.

Roy holds a Master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab, having worked in the Sociable Media Group developing technologies that eventually became Instant Messaging and Social Networking. Prior to MIT, Roy received Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in computer science at Georgia Tech. Roy has also worked at a number of leading Human-Computer Interaction research labs and has published numerous papers in the top international journals and conferences on usability.

David S. Rose, Managing Principal, Rose Tech Ventures/NY Angels/Angelsoft

David S. Rose is an entrepreneurial executive and investor with extensive experience in high technology and communications, angel investments, finance and government. He was named by Inc. magazine to the 1998 Inc 500 list as CEO of one of the fastest growing private companies in America. Red Herring magazine has described him as "a patriarch of New York's Silicon Alley" and Crain's New York Business named him one of the City's 25 most influential technology executives.

During the course of his career, Mr. Rose has supervised the creation of an intellectual property portfolio of issued patents appraised at over $100 million and negotiated both domestic and international corporate acquisitions. He was a prime author of the new data messaging protocols for the personal communications industry, and lectures frequently on issues relating to the development of the international information infrastructure.

In 1997 he was honored as a finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the New York New Media category; in 1984, Time magazine profiled him in its "Computer as Man of the Year" issue; and he has been the subject of numerous interviews and articles in print and electronic media. He is a member of the Technical Committee of the Personal Communications Industry Association as well as the Council of Communications Advisors.

Mr. Rose is Chairman of the Board of the New York Angels, Inc., the leading angel investment consortium in the New York region. Through his investment fund, Rose Tech Ventures, he provides capital and management expertise to promising early stage companies. On behalf of his own technology firms he has personally raised tens of millions of dollars in venture, strategic and institutional capital.

With over two decades of hands-on experience in founding, managing and funding diverse companies, Mr. Rose is actively involved in mentoring and advising other entrepreneurs and corporate executives. Dubbed by BusinessWeek "The Pitch Coach" for his ability to help entrepreneurs perfect their fundraising skills, he was a Founding Member of the New York New Media Association and is a frequent guest speaker at graduate business schools including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and NYU. He is also a mentor and judge of Yale University's annual business plan competitions and has judged the annual Students in Free Enterprise national finals. As a regular lecturer for New York's Industrial Technology Assistance Corporation he has taught the Venture Financing and Deal Negotiation section of the FasTrak Tech courses since 1997.

Mr. Rose is Chairman and CEO of Angelsoft, which operates a collaboration platform for early stage equity investing; and Chairman of KoolSpan, Inc., a developer of leading-edge network security technology. He also serves as an active early stage investor in companies including SignStorey, Koolspan, BioScale, DigitWireless, Metaphor Solutions, Goodmail, Content Directions, Zero-G, Critical Mention, Spotlight Data and others. Prior to founding AirMedia Corporation in 1988, for which he served as CEO for over ten years, his career included over fifteen years in real estate development, government, teaching and urban planning.

Mr. Rose was co-founder and Chairman of The Computer Classroom, one of the world's first computer training firms, and spent over ten years developing technology-enhanced commercial and residential real estate in New York, Washington, DC and Boston with the firm of Rose Associates, Inc. Earlier, he served as Deputy Director of the New York office of US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In that position, Mr. Rose represented the Senator on multiple civic and public boards and was the Senator's Special Assistant for high technology and urban planning.

A native New Yorker, Mr. Rose has a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University Business School. He is a graduate of the New York City public school system and Horace Mann High School. He is profiled in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in Business and Industry.

Kylie Sachs, Partner, Ascend Venture Group, LLC

Kylie Sachs is a partner of Ascend Venture Group, LLC and Chief Financial Officer of Frontier Payments, LLC. Prior to her time with Ascend Ventures, Kylie served in several operating and managerial roles at PRIMEDIA Inc. Prior to her tenure at PRIMEDIA, Kylie served as a Director of Corporate and Business Development at 360HipHop, a media company founded by Russell Simmons. Kylie also has a background in investment banking, having worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co., Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Peter J. Solomon Company. Kylie serves as a director of Printroom.com, Inc., Wimba, Inc., Tabula Digita and Tutor.com. Kylie earned a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Lori Smith, Partner, Sedgwick

Lori Smith, a partner with the firm’s Corporate Practice Group, represents foreign and domestic companies in various industries, including technology, media, financial services, food and beverage, sports, textile, fashion, specialty chemicals, and drug and medical device. She has more than 25 years of experience acting as outside counsel with regard to all aspects of corporate and commercial transactional work, corporate governance matters and negotiation of commercial agreements. Ms. Smith has significant experience representing emerging technology companies and investors, and advising companies at all stages of development ranging from start-ups to public companies. In addition, she has significant experience advising clients with respect to matters relating to arrangements with employees, consultants and advisors, including, without limitation indemnification agreements, proprietary information, non-solicitation and noncompetition matters.

Mike Smith, Vice President, Corporate Development, AOL

As Vice President, Corporate Development, Michael is responsible for all equity-related transactions including acquisitions, joint-ventures, and later stage investments.

Michael joined AOL in 2005 in the Premium Services Division to work the Strategic Transactions group, which developed growth strategies for the Division. Prior to AOL, Michael was the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development for Unity Communications, where he oversaw all financial operations and transaction activity at this turn-around telecom company. From 1995 – 2002, Michael worked in investment banking and venture capital. Michael began his investment banking career at PaineWebber, moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities in 1998, and then to Mercator Capital, a start-up merchant banking firm he co-founded. At these firms, Michael worked as an investment banking professional raising public and private capital, and executing buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions. Michael began his career with the investment management firm, Putnam Investments.

Michael has a BA in Economics from Andrews University, and an MBA from the Stern School of Business (NYU).

Jeff Stewart, ex-CEO, Urgent Group

Jeff Stewart is a serial entrepreneur and investor specializing in technology-enabled growth businesses. Jeff is the founder of Urgent Career, a technology company seeking to revolutionize the way companies find and screen sales talent.

Prior to Urgent Group, Jeff founded Monitor 110, which offers Internet-based data and analysis tools to institutional investors. Monitor110 is based in NY with operations in the Philippines and China.

He is also founder, former CEO, and current chairman of Mimeo.com, a state-of-the-art, Internet-based document production service included in the 2004 and 2005 Inc. 500 lists of the fastest growing companies, the 2005 Red Herring 100 list of private companies that drive technology, and Deloitte’s Technology “Fast 500” list.

Mr. Stewart’s entrepreneurial career began 1995 with his launch of Square Earth, an Internet technology company whose customers included Citibank, Compaq, UPS, Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer and Pfizer.

Jeanne Sullivan, General Partner, StarVest Partners, L.P.

Jeanne M. Sullivan has been investing in and growing tech companies since 1990! She has 18 years of private equity experience and has spent 28 years in the technology sector encompassing both extensive operating and investing experience with technology companies. Jeanne is a co-founder and General Partner of StarVest Partners, L.P. a New York City based venture capital firm with over $400 million under management. The firm invests in technology-enabled business services companies. As a General Partner of StarVest Partners and previously with Olivetti Ventures, Ms. Sullivan has served on the boards of many technology company boards. Ms. Sullivan has extensive experience creating “go to market” plans for expansion stage companies. Her expertise also includes strategy, a keen understanding of the technology landscape and industry trends. Prior to her venture experience, Jeanne gained her operating experience with AT&T and Bell Labs while serving in product management and industry marketing roles.

Ms. Sullivan is a sought-after industry speaker on the subject of investing in and building technology companies and has served as an adjunct professor of marketing at the graduate level. Her credentials also include: lousy but passionate golfer, Yankee baseball and sports addict, and oldest of eight kids where she learned the most about managing people and getting results.

Lisa Weiss, Partner, Sonnenschein

Ms. Weiss is a member of Sonnenschein’s Corporate Practice. Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, venture capital transactions and licensing transactions. Ms. Weiss represents companies in the music, film, games, digital media, technology and services sectors. Her experience includes transactions involving cable television, direct marketing, advertising and the Internet, as well as cross-border deals with companies in Europe, Israel, Asia and Latin America.

Prior to joining Sonnenschein, Ms. Weiss was a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Sony Music Entertainment, where she was instrumental in structuring the merger with BMG that established Sony Music as the world’s second largest recorded music company.

Sherri Williams, Principal, Montgomery and Co

Sherri Williams serves as a Principal in Montgomery & Co.’s Private Placement group. Prior to joining Montgomery & Co., Ms. Williams worked at J.P. Morgan as an executive director in the areas of Equity Capital Markets, and Equity Private Placements. There, she was responsible for continued business development, managing existing investor relationships and expanding investor networks among venture capital firms, private equity firms, financial sponsors and hedge funds. Previously, Ms. Williams has also held Vice President positions in private placement and finance at Rothschild, Inc. and Credit Suisse First Boston. Ms. Williams holds her MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management, and her Bachelor of Science degree in international economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she participated in the Landegger Honors Program in International Business Diplomacy.

Kathy Wilson, Managing Partner, Tier One Partners

Kathy is an outstanding client counselor and media strategist who, over the course of her 20-plus year career, has an impressive track record of forging lasting relationships between her client's companies and some of America's most prominent business and consumer journalists. The resulting coverage has helped clients secure venture capital, drive traffic to their sites, boost sales for products or services, or support any number of other key objectives. Kathy’s areas of expertise include enterprise software, networking, healthcare, financial services, and consumer products and services.

Kathy was previously a senior vice president with FitzGerald Communications. She also served as a senior vice president with The Weber Group (now WeberShandwick Worldwide). Her programs have received numerous national and regional industry awards honoring their creativity and results. Kathy is a graduate of Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in English.

Vanessa Wilson, Golden Seeds

Vanessa Wilson has 19 years of public markets and M&A experience on Wall Street as a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, DLJ, and CSFB. As an equity research analyst specializing in life insurance, Ms. Wilson was ranked on the Institutional Investor “All-American Research Team” for 10 years and lead- or co-managed 15 IPOs. She sits on the public board of Protective Life Corporation and the non-profit boards of Count Me In, Ethel Walker School and St. James. Ms. Wilson holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.

Scott Wolfgang, Director, Strategic Investments, Hearst Interactive Media

Scott Wolfgang joined Hearst Interactive Media in June 2006. He serves on the board of directors at HootSuite and is a board observer at TurnHere.

Before Hearst, Wolfgang was a research associate at Thomas Weisel Partners and played an integral role in launching the company’s Internet Services coverage. Wolfgang began his career in the agent training program at International Creative Management (ICM).

He holds a BA in economics from Haverford College and an MBA, with a concentration in finance, from Columbia Business School. Scott lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.

Ryan Ziegler, Principal, Edison Ventures

Ryan leads and manages growth-stage investments within the interactive marketing, digital media, gaming, financial services and information services sectors. He brings experience in finance, sales, marketing, capital formation and business strategy. He directs Edison's New York City office and regional team, completing investments in over a dozen emerging companies totaling over $80M invested capital. Ryan sourced and evaluated new investments in Blue Cod, BFS, CheckpointHR, EdgeTrade (acquired by Knight Capital), FolioDynamix, Giant Realm, M5 Networks, Operative, PlumChoice, Scivantage, SmartAnalyst, TetraData and TheInfoPro (TIP).

He serves as Director for eChalk, Operative, TheInfoPro and the Cadient Group (Observer). He served as an Observer for CyberShift, Giant Realm (acquired by Burst Media), and TetraData (acquired by Follett Software). He is passionate about improving the lives of others through the use of innovative technology and helping to support entrepreneurs build world-class companies. Ryan is an active member in many educational, entrepreneurial and venture organizations in the region. He holds BS and BA degrees from Bucknell University.