Noon - 1:00 PM
Session B - DH8:
VC and Investment in the Entertainment & Technology Space: Games, Wireless & Broadband
The VC and Investment community has always led the way in recognizing the newest opportunities in the technology and entertainment space. There are even signs of post-bubble investment and an IPO reversal on the horizon. VC funds are always available for the right idea and in this session, we will focus on the four sectors leading the entertainment and technology space today, broadband, wireless, the DTV/SVOD content and the digital home and technology and games opportunities. Broadband has been the Holy Grail for the entertainment industry for years, but what it represents today, is the reality of locking in millions of users. Wireless represents the explosive technology of the moment, DTV/SVOD represents the next explosive area of growth in the entertainment business - bringing new content to millions of consumers and games represent the next threshold of entertainment.
David O. Higley, Managing Director & Head of Digital Media Technologies, UBS Investment Bank
Mark Stevens, Partner, Fenwick & West
Sun Jen Yung, Managing Director, TD Securities
David Britts, General Partner, ComVentures
Paul Vais, Partner, Apax Partners
Joey Tamer, President, S.O.S. Inc., Moderator
David O. Higley, Managing Director & Head of Digital Media Technologi
es, UBS Investment Bank: David joined UBS from Prudential Volpe Technology Group where he was head of the Interactive Media and eBusiness Groups. During his career, Dave has raised over $6 billion for his clients and advised on over $2.5 billion in M&A and restructuring transactions. Prior to investment banking, Dave was a securities attorney at Thelen Reid & Priest, a national law firm based in San Francisco. During his time at Thelen, Dave was involved in numerous equity and debt offerings and M&A transactions for emerging growth companies. Dave has a bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California (where he was part of the Business Scholars Program) and a Law Degree from the University of Virginia.Sun Jen Yung, Managing Director, Investment Banking, TD Securities, b
ased in New York, NY. At TD Securities, Sun has responsibility for the Digital Media investment banking practice. As part of the Media and Communications Group, she also covers a variety of cable, entertainment and media companies as well as financial sponsors. She joined TD Securities in August 2005 from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., where she was a senior banker in the Media & Telecom Investment Banking Group. Sun’s experience of over thirteen years in investment banking also includes corporate finance coverage of Internet and software companies as well as equity research at Lehman Brothers. Prior to Lehman Brothers, she spent two years at TCSI in Berkeley, CA in Business Development and Finance. Sun graduated from Columbia Business School in 1988 with an MBA in Finance and a B.A. in Economics and International Studies from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN in 1984.Mark Stevens, Partner, Fenwick & West: Mr. Stevens represents companies (ra
nging from newly formed startup teams to mature public companies), venture capitalists and investment banks involved in the information technology industries, with particular focus on complex transactions. As a lawyer and a business principal, Mr. Stevens has lead teams handling merger, acquisition and divestiture transactions with total announced value in excess of $20 billion. He has directed over 25 initial public offerings of technology companies and hundreds of strategic alliance transactions, ranging from technology and distribution partnerships to multinational joint venture transactions. The following are among the clients Mr. Stevens has represented: Electronic Arts Inc., Excite@Home, Inc., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Morgan Stanley, O'Reilly Associates: Education - Northestern University School of Law, J.D. cum laude, Order of the Coif; Santa Clara University, B.S. in mathematics magna cum laude.David Britts, General Partner, ComVentures: David Britts has extensi
ve experience advising, building and investing in leading communications technologies companies. His most recent investments focus on emerging technologies that are solving some of the broadcast and entertainment industry’s toughest problems. For example, infrastructure company Exavio has completely redefined the real-time post-production process for editing uncompressed HDTV, and is enabling new methods for distributing personalized TV and other video content over IP. Portfolio company CHIPS & Systems’ revolutionary new chipset enables TV set top boxes to decode content in any video format, so that for the first time, studios and content providers can deliver video directly to consumers, and protect that content in new ways. David’s current board seats include Celestial, CHIPS & Systems, Exavio, and Jaalaa. His past board seats include HotRail (acquired by Conexant), Narus, and PortalPlayer (Nasdaq: PLAY). David previously worked with JP Morgan Partners as General Partner and the global head of its communications, semiconductors and storage technology venture group. He was a founding member of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (DMG) Technology Group, which later became a part of Credit Suisse First Boston. There, David established the global communications equipment practice, advising and investing in numerous early-stage companies. David holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.Paul Vais is a partner and member of the IT/Telecom Group. Paul coordinates the U.S. team’s investments in information technology, digital media, and telecommunications. His current focus lies in the confluence of technology, media, and entertainment. Paul’s career includes 14 years in operating roles in technology companies and 10 years in private equity. Past investments include Oblix, Ravisent Technologies, Rendition, and Peregrine Semiconductor.
Prior to joining Apax Partners in 1997, Paul was a vice president with Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, spearheading investments in early-stage technology companies, including Active Software (NASDAQ:ASWX). He was a manager of systems engineering with Apollo Computer, a pioneer in the engineering workstation market, and later with NeXT Computer, Inc., where his responsibilities included systems engineering, European operations, and worldwide marketing. He has consulted in the United States and abroad for IBM, Olivetti, and numerous early-stage companies, providing expertise in strategic marketing and technology development. Paul is a vice chairman of the Entrepreneurs Foundation. He received a BA in computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.
Joey Tamer, President, S.O.S., Inc.: Joey Tamer is a widely-acclaimed