SVASE BIGs: Innovation at Warp Speed! – Opportunities in the Mobile Market March 19, 2009

SVASE BIGs: Innovation at Warp Speed! – Opportunities in the Mobile Market

Start: 03/19/2009 - 6:00pm
End: 03/19/2009 - 8:30pm

Contact Info: Laura Weigant
Email: [email protected]

Location: WilmerHale, 1117 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304
URL:www.svase.org/?q=node/2291

Innovation in the mobile space is taking place at warp speed. All dimensions and facets of the mobile eco-system – Devices, Operating Systems, Applications, and Data Access Platforms etc. are undergoing rapid transformation. New business models and paradigms that barely existed a year ago are emerging to turn the industry on its head. This panel will explore the opportunities these will create for entrepreneurs during the next five years. Some of the key areas to be explored will be mobile WiMAX vs. LTE, Open OS paradigms, handset capabilities, Location Based Services for Enterprise, M2M Telematics, Search, Social Networks, TV + IP, Marketing Models, Payments and Massive Multiplayer Gaming.

Join our experienced and opinionated panel for a lively and informative discussion that will focused on opportunities being created for the mobile market place.

The Panel:
Jeff Smith, CEO & Co-Founder, Smule
Eric Zimits, Managing Director, Granite Ventures
TBD
TBD

Moderator: Curtis Mo, Partner, WilmerHale

WHEN: Thursday, March 19
6:00 – 7:00 pm: Networking and Business Showcase
7:00 – 8:15 pm: Panel discussion and Q/A
8:15 – 8:30 pm: Additional networking

LOCATION: WilmerHale, 1117 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304

PRE-REGISTERED RATES (All Rates Include Hors D’oeuvres):
Members - $20; Affiliates who advertise this event - $29; General Public - $49;

Business Showcase Exhibit Table – member rate: $149; non-member rate: $250
(Includes exhibit table and two tickets to the event.)
WALK-IN RATES: Add $10.00 to the listed price

Speakers’ Bios
Eric Zimits, Managing Director, Granite Ventures

After spending a long career in finance and investments with a focus on the communications sector, Eric Zimits joined Granite Ventures in 2000 to focus on investing in early-stage communications and components companies.

Prior to Granite, Eric was Managing Director and head of the Communications Research Group at Hambrecht & Quist (later Chase H&Q), where he sponsored several venture capital investments, including: Amber Networks, acquired by Nokia; InterNAP (NASDAQ: INAP); Paragon Software, acquired by Openwave; WavTrace, acquired by Harris Corporation; and VocalData, acquired by Tekelec.

Prior to H&Q, Eric launched a research effort in the telecommunications and wireless industries as a General Partner at Volpe, Welty & Company. He also held analyst positions at Rauscher Pierce Refsnes and Morgan Keegan & Company.

Eric’s years of experience tracking the communications industry teamed with his financial savvy enables him to guide portfolio companies in making sound business decisions based on a deep understanding of the marketplace. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for AirTight Networks, Percello, RipCode and Quantance.

Eric received a B.S.E. from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business.

Curtis L. Mo, Partner, WilmerHale
Curtis Mo is the founding partner and the partner-in-charge of the firm's Palo Alto office and he is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group. He joined the firm in 2005.

Practice
Mr. Mo is recognized as a leading corporate and securities lawyer in Silicon Valley. He has represented emerging growth companies, major public companies, investment banks, venture capital funds and private equity funds in hundreds of public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, buyouts, venture capital financings and other complex transactions. He has extensive experience in corporate governance matters and regularly acts as general outside counsel to public and private companies at all stages of development, particularly in the technology, life sciences, clean energy technology and consumer sectors. Representative clients have included Cisco Systems, Digital Island, Doubletree Hotels, E*TRADE Group, JetBlue Airways, Restoration Hardware and many top-tier investment banks and venture capital funds.

Professional Activities
Mr. Mo has lectured extensively at seminars sponsored by the Practising Law Institute and other professional groups, and has given expert legal commentary on emerging growth companies and the technology sector for CNN Moneyline, CNBC Business Center and various publications. Mr. Mo is the founder and co-chair of PLI's Venture Capital conferences, served as co-chair of the Annual Institute on Securities Regulation from 2001-2006, and has been a member of the advisory board for the Annual Securities Regulation Institute in San Diego. He serves a number of community organizations, including as a member of the board of directors of the influential Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network.

Honors and Awards
Selected by California Law Business as one of the "top 20 lawyers in the State of California under the age of 40"
Recognized as a leader in Corporate/M&A: deals in Asia in the 2007 and 2008 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
Named one of the top lawyers in Silicon Valley by San Jose Magazine and Who's Who 2008 by the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal
Featured in American Lawyer as a "Dealmaker of the Year" for 2003

Education
JD, Columbia Law School, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
BA, Columbia University

Official Website: http://www.svase.org/?q=node/2291