SVB Accelerator CEO Summit

November 18, 2011

Silicon Valley Bank's SVB Accelerator CEO Summit East

At SVB we are committed to helping entrepreneurs succeed. And we've found that connecting our clients with one another is one of the most powerful ways we can help you grow and increase your likelihood of success. So we're bringing you — CEOs of some of the most exciting early stage technology companies on the east coast — together to hear from some of your most successful peers and leaders in the innovation space.

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Keynote Speakers

Brad Feld , Managing Director, Foundry Group
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist.
Brad Feld will speak to points from his new book Venture Deals. Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.

Defining Moments Speakers

		Mike Baker, CEO and Co-Founder, DataXu A Leap of Faith Mike Baker has been pioneering digital media platforms for 20 years and is a widely recognized thought leader in interactive advertising. As co-founder of DataXu, and with his previous company EnPocket, he has experienced the stress and risks associated with a startup taking on a big client with even bigger expectations. Mike will tell his defining moment, when he and his team had to take a leap of faith to take their company to the next level. He'll talk about how to evaluate the risks, but also how important trust in your partners, and belief in yourself can make the leap of faith possible.
		Dave Balter , Founder and CEO, BzzAgent What it Takes to be a Great Entrepreneur Dave Balter is a serial entrepreneur, and founder and chief executive of the social marketing company BzzAgent, which recently had a successful exit. Dave will share what it takes to be a great entrepreneur. One that can create a strong vision, get the right investors, and build a fabulous company. The answer is simple: the Sponge and the Stone. What is it? You'll have to attend this session to find out...
		Ty Danco , Founder and CEO, FX Aligned Leveraging Your Advisory Board Former investment banker, Olympic athlete, angel investor, blogger and entrepreneur Ty Danco knows his way around a startup. But with his last startup, Ty had a defining moment that resulted in a fresh appreciation for the networks and connections that helped him build a rock star advisory board. The right advisory board not only provides insight and guidance, but can provide the credibility you need to launch your business. Ty will share his story and offer advice on how to build and leverage your advisory board early on in the life of your startup.
		Angus Davis , Founder and CEO, Swipely Our Finest Hour Angus Davis is the founder and CEO of Swipely, Prior, Angus co-founded Tellme, a speech recognition and mobile search start-up that grew to more than $100 million in sales, and was Microsoft's largest-ever acquisition of a private company. Angus will talk about defining moments in the course of building and selling Tellme, including how the company's low point also became their finest hour, and how their exit strategy was actually formed much earlier via key business decisions during the company's growth.
		Israel Ganot, President, Co-Founder and CEO, Gazelle When to Pivot Israel Ganot is co-founder and CEO of Gazelle, a recommerce site for used electronics. In growing Gazelle, Israel learned how important it is to recognize that defining moment when it's time for a radical shift in your business model. Ganot and partners made a necessary, and bold, decision to pivot. The business took off, and Gazelle built a strong brand, service record and credibility that has now allowed them to reclaim the B2B model as well. Ganot will relate the conviction, effort and sheer guts it took to make this move, and how being able to pivot can help your business survive and thrive.
		Matt Meeker , Entrepreneur in Residence, Polaris Venture Partners, Dogpatch Labs NYC, and Co-Founder Meetup.com Driving Change Matt Meeker is Entrepreneur in Residence, Polaris Venture Partners, organizer for Dogpatch Labs NYC, and Co-Founder Meetup.com and several other startups. At Meetup, Matt went through a quintessential business pivot - moving the offering from a free to a pay model - with ensuing uproar. Matt will share how the decision was made, and the important lessons he learned about driving change, having the support of your board, understanding your customers and moving forward.
		Niraj Shah , CEO and Co-Founder, Wayfair Knowing When You Have a Good Thing Niraj Shah is co-founder and CEO of Wayfair (formerly CSN Stores), the largest pure-play online retailer of home goods in the US. Niraj will address a key conundrum for startup founders: How do you know when you have a good thing? Initial success or failure is not always indicative of future profitability and the ability to scale. Niraj will draw on his experience facing this question as the founder of several companies, and how his decisions in key defining moments shaped their future.
		Bill Warner , President, Warner Research Build Your Startup from the Heart Bill Warner is the founder of Avid Technology, Inc. and Wildfire Communications, Inc., FutureBoston, Inc, and Warner Research, LLC. Bill a track record of business success, founding Avid and Wildfire, among other companies. But more than that, he gives back to the entrepreneurial community - both as an angel investor and, more importantly, as a mentor to those who want to build their own companies.
		Michael Yavonditte, Founder and CEO, Hashable, Inc. Honing the Message A veteran of new media and technology, Michael Yavonditte is the founder, CEO, and Director at Hashable, and previously was founder and CEO of Quigo, which sold to AOL for $340 million. Mike knows what it takes to create a successful startup, and more importantly, how to sell one. Mike will speak to his experience and how it's never too soon to be thinking about corporate suitors, as a sale can be a multi-year process. Honing the message is both art and science for tech companies, and when CEOs view outbound communication as a strategic asset, strategic exits are much more likely.

Silicon Valley Bank Speakers

		Pamela Aldsworth, Managing Director Pamela Aldsworth is a managing director with Silicon Valley Bank's venture capital group. Aldsworth is responsible for managing strategic relationship with the venture capital community. She is also responsible for managing the private client services team on the East Coast. Aldsworth has over fifteen years experience creating, marketing and negotiating innovative lending and banking products, primarily for the early stage technology market.
		Dan Allred , Senior Relationship Manager Dan Allred is a Senior Relationship Manager with SVB Silicon Valley Bank. In this role, Dan manages SVB's early-stage efforts in New England, including banking and lending to early-stage venture-backed start-ups, often times at pre-revenue stage. Dan also works closely with SVB's emerging technologies banking practice in New England which is comprised of hundreds of pre-funded technology start-ups.
		Shai Goldman , Director, Entrepreneur Services Group Shai Goldman is a director with SVB Capital's Entrepreneur Services Group, which serves as a platform to provide quality investment referrals to venture firms and assist emerging companies in raising capital through strategic introductions to the right investors for their business. Goldman is also responsible for identifying investment opportunities for SVB Capital Partners Fund and other venture capital firms.
		Jim Maynard, Region Manager Jim Maynard is the Northeast Regional Manager for Silicon Valley Bank. Jim is responsible for the Boston and New York based professionals focused on lending and banking activities for SVB's 2500 + commercial clients in the Northeast United States. He also leads the effort on SVB's relationships with a number of venture capital and private equity partnerships. He chairs the SVB east coast VC advisory board for SVB. He has served on the SVBFG credit committee, serves on the SVBFG investment committee and Joint Leadership Committee.