With the New York technology scene on a tear, it is a time of tremendous opportunity for local technology startups. At our September general meeting, the New York Technology Council is assembling a panel of leading venture capitalists together with the CEO/Co-founder of a successful VC-backed company to talk about topics including current trends in the local VC market, the impact of recent IPOs and acquisitions on valuations and the effect of recent market turbulence on the financing landscape generally. The panel will discuss what opportunities the VC panelists and others are focusing on in the marketplace and best practices for companies that are seeking funding. The session will be moderated by Greg David, Director, business reporting program, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and columnist/blogger for Crain’s New York Business and will include ample time for networking. Panelists will include:
* Thatcher Bell, Principal, DFJ Gotham Ventures
* Habib Kairouz, Managing Partner, Rho Capital Partners, Inc.
* Warren Lee, General Partner, Canaan Partners
* Alan Patricof, Founder and Managing Director, Greycroft LLC
* Benjamin Wolin, CEO & Co-Founder, Everyday Health Inc.
Panelist Bios
Thatcher Bell is is a Principal at DFJ Gotham Ventures. He works closely with DFJ Gotham portfolio companies SinglePlatform, Philo, 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. 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), Higher One (NYSE: ONE), Compete (acquired by TNS) and Exchange Solutions.
Habib Kairouz is a Managing Partner of Rho Capital Partners, Inc. (www.rho.com), a New York based private equity firm with over $2 billion under management. Habib is a General Partner in Rho Ventures, the direct venture capital arm of Rho, focusing on early stage and growth investments in new media, information technology, telecommunication, alternative energy and healthcare companies. Habib has previously represented Rho Ventures on the boards of a number of portfolio companies that achieved successful liquidity events such as Answersoft (sold to Davox), iVillage (sold to NBC), Tripod (sold to Lycos), Tacoda (sold to Time Warner) and Yantra (sold to AT&T). He currently sits on the boards of Bluefly.com (NASDAQ: BFLY), Everydayhealth.com, Innerwireless, Intralinks (NYSE: IL), ReachLocal (NASDAQ: RLOC), Travel Ad Network, Verified Person and Public Mobile. He received a B.S. in Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University.
Alan Patricof is the Founder and Managing Director of Greycroft LLC (www.greycroftpartners.com). A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Alan entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners – today, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $35 billion under management. He stepped back from the daily administration and operational aspects of Apax Partners, LP in 2001 to concentrate on a group of small venture deals on its behalf. He has helped build and foster the growth of numerous major global companies, including, among others, America Online, Office Depot, Cadence Systems, Cellular Communications, Inc., Apple Computer, FORE Systems, NTL, IntraLinks, and Audible. His philanthropic activities also include service on the boards of TechnoServe, Trickle Up Program, and the Global Advisory Board of Endeavor, Inc. In 2007, he was appointed to the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation by the President of the United States.
Warren Lee is a leading digital media and Internet investor. He is a General Partner of Canaan Partners (www.canaan.com) and manages its New York City office. Warren led Canaan’s investments in Associated Content, the Web’s leading open content publishing platform; blip.tv, the best place to discover the best in original Web series; Peer39, the leading online semantic advertising company; Tremor Video, the world’s largest online video technology and media company; and Vivox, the leading provider of voice services for online games and virtual worlds. Warren holds a BS in computer science and BA in economics with honors from Stanford University and an MBA from The Wharton School. He currently sits on the boards of blip.tv, Peer39, Tremor Video and Vivox.
Benjamin Wolin is CEO & Co-Founder of Everyday Health Inc. (www.everydayhealth.com) Wolin founded Everyday Health in 2002 with President & Co-Founder Mike Keriakos. Everyday Health, with now more than $100M in revenue and 400 employees, was recently named by the Wall St. Journal as one of the top 50 best venture backed companies. Prior to Everyday Health, Wolin served as the Vice President of Production & Technology for Beliefnet, Inc – which later sold to News Corp. Wolin sits on the board of The Travel Ad Network. Wolin was named one of Crain’s New York Business 40 Under 40 for 2009.
Moderator Bio
Greg David writes a blog and weekly column for Crain’s New York Business (www.crainsnewyork.com) following a 25-year stint as the editor and editorial director for the publication. He also serves as the director of the business and economics reporting program at the Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, where he teaches courses on covering the national economy, Wall Street and the New York City economy and business. During his tenure as editor, Crain’s won two Gerald W. Loeb awards for excellence in business journalism as well as general excellence awards from the Alliance of Area Business Publications and Society of American Business Writers and Editors. His upcoming book, “Modern New York: The Life and Economics of a City” will be available in the spring of 2012.
