Symposiums > Past Symposiums > Speakers

Growth and Exit Strategies for Software and IT Companies

New York, October 18 - 19, 2005
The Warwick Hotel

This is the one conference that has it all for software and IT executives or investors looking to take advantage of the best financial markets since 1999. Meet and hear from leaders in investment banking, venture capital, merger and acquisitions, as well as CEOs who have made headlines doing the deals. Share ideas and network with legal, accounting, and business modeling specialists who can help negotiate the minefield of Sarbanes Oxley, and economists and researchers who can show you a roadmap to the future. There is even a “meet the VCs luncheon” and a buyers panel.

Never has so much been brought to bear in one two-day event to help you decide if now is the right time.

Symposium Notes

Speakers

	Antony Brydon CEO - Visible Path As CEO and Co-Founder of Visible Path, Antony focuses on new technologies, strategic direction and new market opportunities. Prior to founding Visible Path, Antony served as CEO of IUMA, a leading digital music company, which he sold to EMusic in July 1998. Following the sale, he joined the executive team that sold EMusic to Vivendi-Universal in June 2001. From 1995 - 1998, Antony was an analyst at R. B. Webber & Company, a strategy consulting firm and venture fund in Palo Alto, CA. At Webber & Company, he developed business strategies and evaluated new market opportunities for ERP, CRM and SFA companies. Antony graduated from Yale University with a degree in psychology and philosophy and coursework in statistics. top
	Brian Turchin President - Cape Horn Strategies Since 1998, Brian Turchin, through his Cape Horn Strategies management consultancy and research service firm, has helped small software companies, those in size from start-up to $100 million in revenue, aggressively grow their businesses. He is a requested speaker both on the national and international scene, especially speaking on the topic of growth chokepoints and what to do about them. (After a period of success, a company’s growth can stall. And counter-intuitively it is the things that made them successful in the first place that will cause their future failure.) He also writes extensively on the subject of success in the software industry. For www.sandhill.com, he has contributed several articles on software company growth. And for Software Business magazine, an industry trade magazine, he wrote an "Executive Strategy" column which explored the topic of “Sustained Success.” In addition to speaking, he is a requested panel moderator, moderating panels on a wide variety of topics such as SaaS, Rapid Growth, Sustained Success, IT Outsourcing and Finding Venture Capital. He founded and runs two Software CEO roundtables, one in Long Island and one in Manhattan. In these peer mentoring roundtables he brings together monthly a group of non-competing software CEOs to discuss issues in a confidential setting. He is a member of Standard and Poor’s Society of Industry Leaders where he provides advice to institutional investors on software companies. And he is a judge for Software and Information Industry Association, the largest such association in the U.S, annual Codie Awards, which awards software as “best” in a particular software category such SaaS. Prior to founding Cape Horn Strategies, Turchin was VP Sales & Marketing for a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp which sold Internet-based software products and services. Prior to News Corp, Turchin held several executive titles at Prodigy Services Corp, helping to build the first consumer-based on-line service. Earlier in his career, on the technical side, at a time of mainframe domination, he helped pioneer the building of distributed processing applications. top
	Bruce Bernstein Executive Director - New York Software Industry Association Bruce E. Bernstein has been President of the New York Software Industry Association (NYSIA) since 1997. During his tenure, NYSIA has grown to be Silicon Alley's largest trade association and a leading force for economic growth and progressive thinking in Silicon Alley. Bruce serves as the conference chair for the New York Software Summit, the largest yearly gathering of New York City's software/IT industry. Mr. Bernstein is an expert on issues of technology and economic development and has sat on advisory committees for Senator Hillary Rodham, Senator Chuck Schumer, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former NYC Comptroller Alan Hevesi. He has written extensively on issues regarding development of high-tech industries. A Computer Science graduate (BA) of Queens College/CUNY, he has been in the software industry since 1984. From 1987-1997 he operated Main Street Partners, a database application development consulting firm. From 1984 to 1987, he held technical positions at Dun and Bradstreet and Computer Sciences Corporation. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Queens College, where he designed and taught a course on Database Systems. In 2002, Mr. Bernstein was a finalist for the Harvard Business School NY Alumni Council "Non-Profit Entrepreneur of the Year" award. top
	Bruce Milne CEO - Corum Group, Ltd. Prior to starting Corum in late 1985, Bruce owned three software firms including, most recently, RoseSoft, and Accountants Microsystems, Inc. (AMI), the nation's largest supplier of vertical market microcomputer applications to practicing accountants. He raised over $11 million in equity to build AMI to #52 on the INC. 500 during its first five years. Bruce has spent over 28 years in the computer industry. He started with UNISYS as one of the youngest managers in their International Division and progressed to Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) as National OEM Development Manager. Bruce was instrumental in developing dealer recruiting, training, and planning. He was part of the team that developed the DEC distributor channel and managed the software effort for the DEC Computer Stores, OEMs and dealers. In 1978, Bruce joined Alpine Data Systems, a large, national mini-computer VAD, as Vice President. His industry participation includes serving as a past advisory board member for Apple, COMDEX, Microsoft, and IBM. Bruce is the founder and past chairman of the Washington Software Association and a past director of the Washington Technology Center at the University of Washington. He has also served on various other civic and corporate boards and advisory councils, including the Governor's Business Advisory Board, the Puget Sound Business Journal Advisory Board, and several software companies. Bruce is one of the leading experts in the software and Internet merger field and is a frequent author and lecturer on valuations and software acquisitions. Through Corum he has published three books including Power Planning: Structuring Your Software Company for Success. Bruce is an honors graduate in international business from the University of Washington, and holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. top
	Mark Barry Managing Director VC & Emerging Business Group - Microsoft Corporation Mark Barry, Managing Director VC and Emerging Business Group Microsoft Corporation Mark is part of Microsoft’s software strategy team and is responsible for the unit’s relationship with venture capitalists. Mr. Barry introduces venture firms and their portfolio companies to Microsoft’s software strategy and shares views on emerging technologies and markets. He brings insights from the investment community about new markets and technologies back to the strategy teams and business units inside Microsoft. Mr. Barry also builds ecosystems for Microsoft’s software business by identifying new alliance opportunities with venture-backed portfolio companies. Previously in Microsoft, Mr. Barry held several executive positions in enterprise sales, consulting and support services. Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Barry held senior management positions in enterprise sales and consulting at Wang Laboratories. He holds a B.S in Business Administration from West Virginia University and has studied Graduate Business Management at Southern Methodist University. Mr. Barry is active on several advisory boards and former President of the Southeastern Software Association based in Atlanta Georgia. top
	Burt Alimansky Managing Director - Alimansky Capital Group top
	David Carlick Managing Director - Vantage Point Venture Partners Mr. Carlick is widely recognized as a thought-leader for marketing, sales, advertising and the Internet, and has been a venture investor in online marketing companies since the mid-1990s. He built Carlick Advertising into one of Silicon Valley's largest independent agencies, which was acquired by Bozell Worldwide in 1993, where the agency became the Silicon Valley office of Poppe Tyson. While there, Mr. Carlick led in the creation of Poppe Tyson’s interactive marketing group (poppe.com), which merged with, and went public as, Modem Media Poppe Tyson (NASDAQ: MMPT, since acquired by Digitas (NASDAQ: DTAS). While at Poppe Tyson, Mr. Carlick was also the early co-founder of DoubleClick (NASDAQ: DCLK). Mr. Carlick was a Founding Director of International Network Services and served through its initial public offering (NASDAQ: INSS), through its acquisition in 1999 by Lucent Technologies (NASDAQ: LU). He was also a Founding Director of I/Pro, the first online auditing company which was acquired by CMGI; and Director of Big Book, the first online yellow page offering which was acquired by Verizon. Mr. Carlick also served as a director of Ask Jeeves (NASDAQ: ASKJ) from 2001 through its acquisition by Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: IACI). At VPVP, he serves as Chairman of VPVP portfolio company Intermix Media (AMEX: MIX), which has agreed to be acquired by News Corporation, closing at the end of 2005 (EXCH: SYM). He is also a director of VPVP portfolio companies AllBusiness.com, Datran, HealthLine, and ReachLocal. Mr. Carlick has a BS degree in Business Administration, with an Emphasis in Accounting, from San Jose State University. top
	Douglas Levin CEO - Black Duck Software Doug Levin is the President and CEO of Black Duck Software, the leading provider of software compliance management solutions. Levin founded Black Duck Software in late 2002 with a clear vision: to apply advanced technology to help companies govern how their software assets are created, managed and licensed. Through a new discipline called Software Compliance Management, Black Duck focuses on the intellectual property aspect of software development. By applying best practices in Software Compliance Management, developers, marketers and lawyers can work together to govern software assets without bogging down development or limiting its possibilities. Black Duck allows companies to proactively and confidently combine homegrown, third party, and open source software to build applications that meet internal or market needs without putting assets at risk. Black Duck Software is a privately held company, which recently raised $12 million in their second round of funding. Investors include an impressive mix of venture partners: Fidelity Ventures, Flagship Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Intel Capital, Red Hat, and SAP Ventures. Prior to founding Black Duck, Levin served as the CEO of MessageMachines (acquired by NMS Communications in 2002) and X-Collaboration Software Corporation (acquired by Progress Software in 2000). From 1995 to 1999, he worked as an interim executive or consultant to CMGI Direct, IBM/Lotus Development Corporation, Oracle Software Corporation, Solbright Software, Mosaic Telecommunications, Bright Tiger Technologies, Best!Software and several other software companies. From 1987 to 1995, Levin held various senior management positions with Microsoft Corporation including heading up worldwide licensing for corporate purchases of non-OEM Microsoft software products. Levin is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds a certificate in international economics from the College d'Europe in Bruges, Belgium. top
	Len Van Orden Partner - KMPG LLP Transaction Services Leonard H. Van Orden is a Partner in KPMG’s Transaction Services Practice, based in New York City and leads their east coast Media and Entertainment TS team. KPMG LLP’s Transaction Services practice offers divestiture, merger, and acquisition services to corporations, private equity funds and limited partners in developed and emerging markets. Their partners and professionals help assess business opportunities from buyer and seller perspectives to help identify key financial, tax, commercial, human resources, and information technology risks and benefits. Mr. Van Orden has provided merger and acquisition services to buyout sponsors and lenders as well as numerous multinationals as they pursued acquisition targets in industries including recorded music & music publishing, advertising, business services, consumer products, high technology, and publishing. He has served such clients as Alloy Inc, Agfa Corporation, BBC Worldwide , Bertelsmann, Cablevision, Dentsu U.S.A. Inc., Fuji Photo, Inc., Goldman Sachs, Hitachi America,, McGraw Hill, Omnicom Group, Philips, Random House, Veronis Suhler & Stevenson and Warner Music Group. Mr Van Orden graduated from Pace University with a B.B.A. in accounting and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business; He is a member of the AICPA and New York State Society of CPAs. top
	Mark Dolins Director - Technology Investment Bank SG Cowen Co., LLC Mr. Dolins joined SG Cowen’s Technology Group in 1999 and is currently responsible for East Coast Software corporate finance. He previously was responsible for SG Cowen’s European software effort. Prior to joining SG Cowen, Mr. Dolins was Vice President of Business Development and General Counsel of an Internet startup company and spent four years as an Associate at the law firm Bingham Dana LLP where he concentrated on the acquisition and disposition of high tech companies. He has completed over 30 M&A and corporate finance transactions. Mr. Dolins received a J.D. from Duke University School of Law and a B.A. in History from Denison University. top
	Mark Lotke Partner - FT Ventures Mark Lotke is a Partner at FTVentures where he leads the Software Team. He currently serves on the boards of ProfitLine, a provider of outsourced telecommunications expense management services and Digital Harbor, a composite applications company. Mark has over 15 years of experience in the information technology industry including over 10 years of private equity experience at General Atlantic Partners, Internet Capital Group and Pequot Ventures. Prior to joining FTVentures, he has invested over $350 million in leading enterprise software, e-commerce and IT-enabled services companies generating over $1.2 billion in realized gains. Notable investments include Delphion, Envoy Corp, E*Trade, Logistics.com, NewSub Services, Policy Management Systems Corp, Predictive Systems, Priceline.com, Prime Response, Scopus and SS&C. Mark began his professional career as a strategy consultant at Corporate Decisions, Inc. (CDI) and also worked at LHS Group, a mobile billing and customer care software company. Mark received a BS in Economics summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. top
	Marshall Warwaruk Vice President - Corum Group, Ltd. Marshall Warwaruk is a Vice President at the Corum Group and over the last ten years has specialized in helping small, privately held software companies maximize shareholder value though strategic investments, merger, acquisitions and business alliances. He has represented both buyers and sellers, leading them through the planning and execution process of deal making. Marshall has also been a guest speaker at numerous industry conferences and has had countless articles published, providing valuable insights into M&A market trends, negotiations and strategic deal making in the IT software and services industry. With more than 30 plus years of experience in the computer software and services industry and prior to joining Corum, Marshall held key executive management positions in Business Development with public companies ONTRACK Data International and Sterling Software. Early in his career he held executive management positions with emerging Canadian, high growth software firms Simware and Cognos with responsibility ranging from Sales and Marketing to General Management. He also served as the President and CEO of several small software companies overseeing their growth before they were either acquired or taken public. Marshall has combined a unique blend of financial, technical, and management experience to help software companies evaluate market opportunities, diversify the business, optimize distribution/sales channels, and in the process increase shareholder value. top
	Nat Burgess Conference Chair - World Financial Symposiums; Executive Vice President - Corum Group, Ltd. Nat Burgess serves as Conference Chair for the World Financial Symposiums, and Executive Vice President of the Corum Group. He has a track record of successful M&A deals with Microsoft, Google, Intel, Symantec, BMC, Fiserv and many others, all driven by strategic technology, as well as extensive experience putting deals together with private equity firms. In addition to his M&A work, Nat is admitted to the Washington State Bar, and is an active angel investor in the software and Internet communities. Prior to joining Corum in 1996, Nat worked as an analyst in the Strategic Development Division of Morgan Stanley's M&A group, focusing on cross-border acquisitions of U.S. and European companies by Japanese firms, and on financings by large Japanese public companies. Nat then moved to Morgan Stanley's Tokyo office, where he reported directly to the President of Morgan Stanley, Japan Ltd. and focused exclusively on cross-border M&A. During law school, Nat interned for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Enforcement Division, and worked as the director of online business development for Activision. Nat also co-founded Postcard Software, an early Internet company that linked screen savers and web sites. top
	Neeraj Agrawal Partner - Battery Ventures Neeraj joined Battery in 2000 and invests in software, technology-enabled services, and consumer internet/media. From a stage perspective, Neeraj has worked with companies across the full spectrum, from raw start-ups to take-private transactions of public companies. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Applimation, LifeMed Media and Made2Manage (take private in Aug. ’03 - Nasdaq: MTMS). Neeraj also worked closely with the founders to launch BladeLogic, and continues to serve as an active Board observer of BladeLogic today. Prior to Battery, Neeraj worked in a variety of technology-related capacities, including as a product manager at Real Networks, a management team member at a satellite-TV start-up called SkyTV, and a management consultant with Booz-Allen. Neeraj holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science from Cornell University as well as an MBA with honors from the Harvard Business School. top
	Pamela Aldsworth Northeast Division Manager - Silicon Valley Bank Pamela Aldsworth is Silicon Valley Bank’s Northeast region manager, responsible for all business development and client relationship management for the company’s offices in Boston, Philadelphia and New York, which account for a quarter of Silicon Valley Bank’s business. She has over fifteen years experience creating, marketing and negotiating innovative lending and banking products, primarily for the early stage technology market. Previously Aldsworth was Northeast senior credit officer for SVB. In this role she co-managed the Northeast region and was responsible for approval, compliance, and the overall health of a dynamic portfolio of venture- and angel-backed private and publicly traded companies. Aldsworth joined Silicon Valley Bank in 1995 as a relationship manager. In her tenure at SVB, she has been involved in shaping the company’s strategic vision through participation in internal committees aimed at review and analysis of SVB’s business model, and oversight of the training and indoctrination of new employees, as well as externally through participation in panels, and active participation and membership in organizations including the Mass Software Council, TIE, and the CEO roundtable. A resident of the Back Bay, Aldsworth also works within the community at large, volunteering at the Woods Mullen Homeless shelter, and participating in projects with the Salvation Army and the United Way. top
	Paul Sparta CEO - Plateau Systems, Ltd. Paul Sparta co-founded Plateau Systems in 1996 and is a pioneer in the Learning Management Systems industry. Before Plateau, Sparta served as the director of Training Systems at MRJ, Inc. a Virginia-based IT company that is now part of General Dynamics. Sparta headed the development and marketing of the Plateau Training Management System at MRJ, and then led a spin-off of the business into Plateau Systems. Prior to MRJ, Sparta served as Director of Instructional Services at General Physics Corp., where he was responsible for consulting services and the development of an instructional systems management application for intensively regulated industries. Sparta, a U.S. Navy veteran, is now a recognized leader in the e-Learning industry, authoring several articles for leading technology publications and speaking at international seminars for learning and knowledge management. top
	Raj Narayanaswamy CEO - Replicon Company CEO and co-founder Raj Narayanaswamy is responsible for charting Replicon’s strategic direction and promoting the company’s innovative software and leading business model. Mr. Narayanaswamy’s unique and innovative vision has taken the company from a two-person garage operation to a leader in the workforce productivity solutions market. Raj showed true entrepreneurism in taking the company from moonlighting, financing the company with Visa and MasterCard, through to obtaining $2M financing from technology angels and BDC Venture Partners; Canada’s largest investment funds company. Now, the company sells its products in 52 different countries resulting in over 400% growth in the past four years. Replicon and its products have been featured in numerous publications including Business Week, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, and Financial Executive magazine. Alberta Venture Magazine has selected the company 5 times as one of Alberta’s 10 fastest growing companies and Profit Magazine has recognized Replicon 3 times as one of the fastest growing companies in Canada. Mr. Narayanaswamy received a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from the acclaimed Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India and has over 15 years of experience in information technology. Actively involved with the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary, Raj regularly has speaking engagements with the students and Faculty, and is an active member of the Calgary high-tech community. top
	Ray Wu Director - Venture Management Hewlett-Packard Ray Wu currently leads HP's venture management program to work with leading venture capitalists (VCs) to enhance communication and collaboration between HP and venture community. Prior to HP, he spent more than six years with Cisco Systems, and held several senior positions leading internal incubation, software investment and M&A, technology and business consulting in both North America and Asia Pacific. Prior to Cisco, Ray was a senior partner of a leading Internet consulting and software development company. Mr. Wu is a frequently requested speaker for business and technology conferences. Mr. Wu has a bachelor of applied science degree in electrical engineering from University of Toronto, and MBA degree from Columbia School of Business. top
	Rick Darer CEO - Unica Corporation Mr. Darer has over 20 years of high tech financial and operational experience. As Unica's vice president and chief financial officer, Mr. Darer manages Unica's business and financial relationships both internally and externally with the investment community while identifying ways for Unica to increase profitable growth globally. Mr. Darer joined Unica, a global provider of Enterprise Marketing Management (EMM) solutions, in early 2002 and guided Unica to achieving significant revenue and profit growth leading to Unica’s recent IPO. Prior to joining Unica, Mr. Darer was EVP and chief financial officer for Modus Media International, a global provider of outsourced supply chain management solutions. Before Modus, he led Gensym Corporation's finance team and led White Pine Software’s successful IPO in l996. Mr. Darer also has held positions at large organizations including Group Controller at Computervision Corporation and in operations management roles at General Electric. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School with an emphasis in finance, an M.S. in industrial engineering from Northeastern University, and a B.S. in mathematics from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. top
	Robert Schwed Partner - Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP Mr. Schwed has over 30 years of experience in private equity and has built a substantial practice working with private equity firms and their portfolio companies in corporate finance transactions. His extensive experience in the private equity arena has facilitated the continuing expansion of the corporate practice in the firm's New York office. Mr. Schwed has been actively engaged in the private equity industry throughout his career, representing venture capital and buyout firms and other institutional investors in equity and subordinated debt investments, public and private buyout transactions and workouts, recapitalizations and other restructurings. His leveraged buyout experience includes thee acquisition of divisions or business units from major industrial, financial services, healthcare, retailing, media and communications companies, as well as the acquisition of public companies in the computer, data processing, healthcare and communications industries. He also has acted as general counsel to private equity firms, including advising firms seeking to raise investment capital from institutional investors. Additionally, Mr. Schwed has extensive experience in representing the portfolio companies of private equity firms, primarily in connection with public and private financing transactions, and in mergers and acquisitions. He has acted as counsel to both acquiring and acquired companies in acquisitions of private companies by public companies and in mergers between public companies. Mr. Schwed has advised special committees of boards of directors in takeover situations and has served as a director of two public companies that were eventually acquired by other public companies. He also has represented various start-up ventures, and has served as counsel to thee issuers or underwriters in a number of initial public offerings for software, Internet, biotechnology, airline, healthcare, information services and other companies. top