2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Track III:
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.
Arthur C. Chang, President, Tipping Point Partners, LLC
David O. Higley, Managing Director & Head of Digital Media Technologies, UBS Investment Bank
Mark Stevens, Partner, Fenwick & West
John Simon, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners
Jay MacDonald, Managing Director, DeSilva & Phillips
Sun Jen Yung, Managing Director, TD Securities
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.Jay MacDonald, Managing Director, DeSilva & Phillips: Before joining De
Silva & Phillips, Jay MacDonald had a distinguished career in the publishing and technology industries. He was founder, chairman and CEO of WorkingWomanNetwork, Inc., the publishers of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines. He also founded and was managing partner of MAG-TECH Capital Partners, LLC. Earlier he was the founder, chairman and CEO of Day Zero Technologies, Inc., MacDonald Communications, Inc., and co-founder and CEO of World Congress, Inc. Earlier, Jay served as publisher of Inc. magazine and Business Month magazine and was a senior sales executive for U.S. News & World Report and Fortune magazines. Jay is a graduate of the College of Wooster.John G. Simon, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners: As
a Managing Director of General Catalyst Partners, John Simon concentrates on technology-intensive, industry-leading software platforms. His areas of focus include: enterprise content management; mission critical enterprise software applications and subsystems; and software-based connectivity platforms. John currently is a board member of the following enterprise content management companies: Maven Networks, Inc.; and OutStart, Inc. He is a board member of the following mission critical enterprise software applications and subsystems companies: GTESS Corporation; ProfitLogic, Inc.; Taleo, Inc (f/k/a: Recruitsoft, Inc.); and Vette Corporation. John also is a board member of the following connectivity platform companies: BridgePort Networks, Inc.; m-Qube, Inc. (John and General Catalyst also are co-founders of the company) ; Millennial Net, Inc.; and MFORMA Group, Inc. Prior to co-founding General Catalyst, John was founder, chairman and CEO of UroMed Corporation (NASDAQ: URMD), which was merged to form Alliant Medical Technologies. Prior to founding UroMed, John led marketing and sales at Adaptive Networks and was a venture capitalist with Highland Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures. John is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He is a co-founder and current trustee of The Steppingstone Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities to deserving inner-city students. In addition to serving on the boards of Steppingstone and Steppingstone-Philadelphia, John has continued his involvement with the non-profit sector by founding the GreenLight Network Fund, which catalyzes the replication and growth of innovative non-profits. John earned a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.Joey Tamer, President, S.O.S., Inc.: Joey Tamer is a widely-acclaimed
Arthur C. Chang, President, Tipping Point Partners, LLC, a media and
entertainment advisory firm that helps creative managers and entrepreneurs accelerate growth and make bet-the-company decisions, particularly where technology and the Internet are key business drivers. Tipping Point Partners also incubates new finance companies that will make investments in media and entertainment. Art is also the President and General Principal of Tipping Point Capital Advisors, LLC, an NASD-member investment banking advisory firm that provides private placement services and mergers & acquisitions advice to private media and entertainment companies. Art has over 20 years of experience in start-up company settings, including a Chinese-language e-commerce company; an international television distribution business; and a $2.3 billion public real estate development project. Prior to Tipping Point Partners, Art was Chief Operating Officer of GT Advisory Co., LLC, where he formed and managed software and services businesses that leveraged the law firm's capabilities. GT Advisory is a subsidiary of Greenberg Traurig, the fourth largest U.S. law firm, with the largest and the only international entertainment law practice in the U.S. Art joined GT Advisory from the New York City Investment Fund, a $100 million venture capital fund organized by Henry Kravis and Jerry Speyer, where he provided advice on investments in distributed computing, enterprise software, and digital media. Prior to that, Art was an investment banker with experience on over $1 billion of diverse private equity and M&A transactions in power generation, real estate, equipment lease finance, biotech and technology. In 1997, Art co-founded Venture Downtown, the annual venture capital conference in New York City. Art began his career in architecture and real estate development, where he worked on over 50 residential, commercial and public projects totaling over $350 million in construction, including a $100 million project for I.M. Pei. Art volunteers on the Board of the Brooklyn Public Library Foundation, the supporting organization for the fourth largest public library system in the U.S. and on Yale's Alumni Schools Committee, where he interviews undergraduate applicants to Yale University. Art received his M.B.A. in finance from New York University and his B.A. in women's studies with a concentration in art history from Yale. Art lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Allison Thrush, a private equity professional, and their two boys.