11:15 AM - 12:30 PM
Session C:
VC and Investment in the Entertainment - Technology Space, Part II
It is said that companies who invest and innovate in times of industry retrenchment will be among the winners and dominant players as the economy expands. The mixture of the entertainment and technology industry may just be the best test case for such theorems. After the bursting bubble of 2000, no industry was harder hit then the entertainment technology field. Now however, two years later, the industry appears poised to take a significant step forward. With SVOD, home networks, ever increasing processing power and wireless services, the combination of new entertainment and communications technology in the next two years, may be the impetus for a content production explosion. Is this an overly optimistic viewpoint? Continuing from the prior days VC and investment session, our group of distinguished experts will discuss their approaches to industry growth.
Bill Correll, Group Manager, Digital Media, Broadband, and Wireless, Sun Microsystems
Michael Montgomery, co-CEO, Digital Coast Partners
Ravin Agrawal, Partner, EastWest VentureGroup
Tony Conrad, General Partner, Venture Strategy Partners
Peter H. Kang, Esq., Managing Partner, Skjerven Morrill
Debra Fine, Principal, Entertainment Media Ventures
Rick Bender, CEO, CyberStrategies, Moderator
Michael Montgomery, co-CEO, Digital Coast Partners, Michael Montgomery joined Digital Coast Partners as Co-CEO in December of 1999. In addition to helping create and form Digital Coast Ventures, Michael has developed larger financing engagements and used his network of friends and acquaintances to market the Company's services. Prior to Digital Coast Partners, Mr. Montgomery was the president and chief executive officer of Sega GameWorks, a joint venture between Sega, Universal Studios, and DreamWorks. Prior to joining Sega GameWorks, Mr. Montgomery was the senior executive with DreamWorks SKG who structured and led their successful efforts to raise $1 billion in private equity financing. Mr. Montgomery came to DreamWorks after an eight-year tenure at the Walt Disney Company (1986-1994), where he first served as assistant treasurer, and then vice president and treasurer. Mr. Montgomery was responsible for the numerous innovative financing arrangements conceived and executed for Disney including their film financings, their overseas royalty financings, and their investments in leasing and derivatives. In 1994, Mr. Montgomery moved to Paris, France to serve as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of EuroDisney, where he played a key role in the fiscal and operational re-structuring of that company. Before joining Disney, Mr. Montgomery was with ARCO, where he held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in its treasury organization and also served as president of ARCO Solar in Europe, located first in Milan and then London. He was the point person for the sale of the Arco Plaza and the financings associated with their $4 billion restructuring in 1985. Mr. Montgomery received a Masters of Business Administration from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College, where he also received his Bachelor or Arts degree (magna cum laude).
Ravin Agrawal, Partner, EastWest VentureGroup: Prior to joining EastWest VentureG
roup, Mr. Agrawal was a New York -based business consultant for McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm. At McKinsey, Mr. Agrawal was deeply involved in the evolution of Internet commerce by helping major global banks respond to the opportunities presented by start-ups with new business models and technologies. He also managed several programs to improve the operations of media and entertainment companies, and international business development efforts for technology clients. Previously, Mr. Agrawal had founded and served as chief executive of SouthAsia.com, a pioneering web design firm in Bangalore, India, and had been a noted nationwide speaker on the commercial possibilities of the Internet for South Asian companies. While earning his MBA, he was selected by the Walt Disney Company as the first student Producer in its new electronic entertainment unit, Disney Interactive. There, he designed original video-game, PC, and online product concepts. Mr. Agrawal received a BA in Economics from Harvard College, where he served as the Producer of the Hasty Pudding show and as an editor of the Harvard Lampoon, and he received his MBA from Harvard Business School.Anthony ("Tony") Conrad joined Venture Strategy Partners in 1999. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Attenza, CentrPort, Personify and FullAudio. He is an experienced speaker who most recently participated in a panel called The Financial Outlook for the Technology and Media Industries at NAB 2002, and is slated to participate in the Digital Media Wire Digital Music Panel in Los Angeles on June 20. Tony has a comprehensive operational background, having worked with both early-stage growth and public branded companies. He honed his skills in building and negotiating key strategic relationships and directing cross-functional management teams during his eleven years with Groupe Danone where he led business development, and mergers and acquisition initiatives throughout Europe and Asia. Additionally, he has provided strategic advisory services for Adaptec, Schlumberger and Philip Morris. Tony's early career was at McKinsey & Co and Foote Cone & Belding. Tony graduated with honors from Indiana University where he received his BA in Telecommunications and a BS in Business Administration. Tony speaks fluent French and conversational Bahasa Indonesia. He is a member of the San Francisco Jazz marketing board.
Peter H. Kang, Esq., is the Managing Partner of the San Francisco office of Skjerven Morrill, one of the nation’s premier Intellectual Property and Technology firms. Mr. Kang joined Skjerven Morrill in 1992. In addition to helping build and manage an organization of over 200 professionals and staff devoted to serving technology, IP, and legal needs of clients, Mr. Kang counsels clients in strategic IP portfolio development, patent prosecution, licensing, and enforcement. Mr. Kang has served on the in-house patent committee for a major bio-medical device company, and serves as an International Advisor for Global Venture Consultants. Mr. Kang is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Kang represents major electronics clients in multi-million dollar IP and technology licensing negotiations worldwide, particularly in Asia. Mr. Kang also represents clients in complex litigation and trials of IP lawsuits nationwide, including trial experience before the International Trade Commission. Among Mr. Kang’s successful IP litigation experience, a recent patent infringement suit resulted in a unanimous jury verdict for Mr. Kang’s client, and a subsequent settlement in the tens of millions of dollars paid to that client. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Kang served as Law Clerk for the Hon. Ernest C. Torres, now Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Prior to law school, Mr. Kang worked as a computer software engineer and research assistant for the CHCR, a biomedical research organization at Brown University. Mr. Kang currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley. He received a B.A. in Classics and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, where he won both the Fairclough Award and the Classics Department Senior Prize. Mr. Kang also received a Certificate of Merit from the University of London’s Institut Brittanique in Paris. Mr. Kang received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University. For further inquiry, please contact Mr. Kang at pkang@skjerven.com.
Debra Fine, a Member of Tech Coast Angels and Principal at EM Ventures, is a three time CEO of Media/Technology companies. She was formerly CEO of Fandom, an entertainment company with magazines, events, merchandise, catalogs and 21 online sites. She was also CEO of a children’s Educational Media company, Cloud 9 , which she sold to Simon & Schuster and CEO of a magazine entitled "AfterGrad". Fine has had over 16 years of experience in strategic planning, capital raising, marketing, operations and business development/strategic alliances. She served as VP, Marketing for Disney Interactive where she grew the division from $10 M to over $60 M in two years. Ms. Fine was VP – Television, Home Video, and Interactive Divisions at Republic Pictures. Prior to that she was the VP, Los Angeles Office of Marketing Corporation of America, a strategic consulting corporation. Ms. Fine was involved in developing and executing marketing plans for such Fortune 500 consumer product companies as, Kraft-General Foods, The Quaker Oats Company, American Express, Burger King, and MGM. As President of New Media at Digital Domain, she formed Internet partnerships and started the interactive television business with GM and McDonald’s as the first interactive advertising clients. Her recent responsibilities have focused on development of business strategies for venture -backed companies, focusing on turning them around to profitability and exit.
Rick Bender is CEO of CyberStrategies, a digital media consulting company
focused on strategic issues and business development for both start-up and established companies. Using strategy, technology, distribution, marketing/advertising, commerce, content aggregation and syndication deals, CyberStrategies exercises increased value and profitability for its clients in the convergence of technology, media, and telecommunications industries. Prior to heading up CyberStrategies, Mr. Bender directed the creation and business development of profitable digital media business ventures for the American Film Institute (AFI). This included initiatives involving Internet, Broadband, and Wireless distribution channels, and creation of compelling and immersive, enhanced interactive experiences based on sound hybrid business models. At AFI Mr. Bender was also involved with AFI’s cutting edge research and development of Enhanced and Interactive TV programming and the inherent platform issues. Previously, Mr. Bender developed Cedars-Sinai Health System’s Internet and Intranet initiatives and worked at both the RAND Corporation and Princeton University. Mr. Bender holds a Bachelors degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Masters degree from Princeton University.