Participant Backgrounds

The select group of participants includes a cross-section of boutique and regional investors, large national investment capitalists, angel investors, and experts in alternative methods of financing. Not only will you hear from the VC partners, but you’ll also hear from the screener who must qualify opportunities before they even get to a partner. You’ll also hear practical advice from several CEOs who have successfully taken their companies through the investment process.

Included in the roundup are also two authors, one is Steve Wagh, author of “The CEO Handbook – The Pocket Guide for Startup CEOs,” and Rob Adams, the author of “A Good Hard Kick in the Ass – Basic Training for Entrepreneurs.”

Andres Carvallo

Andres started his career as a product manager for the first versions of Windows and MS-DOS, a GM for International Operations at Borland, a GM for the $1.5 Billion PC Company at DEC, and a President for the $2.5 billion wireless division of Philips Electronics. Andres later became the EVP at a start-up, and then the President & CEO of three startups that were all successfully financed. Three of the companies were sold. He is also a three-time national sparring champ in Tae-Kwon-Do.

jay campaion

Jay Campion

Jay is a Managing Director of a successful VC partnership that has worked together for over 9 years successfully building and exiting numerous high technology companies He has over 29 years of growth management experience; was a special Limited Partner of Woodside Fund II, and was president of the Texas Research and Technology Foundation and Ventex Group. He is on the Board of six private companies and helped CVA sell for a 50x return.

jean belanger

Jean Belanger

Jean was the Chairman and CEO of publicly held Metrowerks, prior to being acquired by Motorola. Prior, Jean was in Canada and France w/ Price Waterhouse; VP of corporate finance for Wood Gundy; founder and president of MountRoyal Capital, a high-tech start-up VC company in Montreal; and president and CEO of MicroTempus, a mainframe software company. He has a master’s degree in finance from the London School of Economics and is an angel investor in several start-ups.

john osborne

John Osborne

John helps secure alternative funding for small, emerging and established, private companies. Prior, John helped 10x Software get 504b funding as its CEO. John was also president of drkoop.com, president of SunRiver Corp., and was over sales, marketing & operations in the IBM/Lotus multi-billion dollar software business unit. John also spent 8 years in senior management with Businessland. In addition, he serves on the board of several companies.

rob adams

Rob Adams

Rob is a Venture Partner in one of the nation’s largest VC firms. He has been a founding investor in more than 25 companies. He started his career with Lotus, responsible for 123 for Mac and Notes, and went on to become the CEO of venture-backed Business Matters. Subsequently, he was an executive at Pervasive Software. Rob received his MBA from Babson, and BS in ME at Purdue. He is the author of, “A Good Hard Kick in the Ass–Basic Training for Entrepreneurs.”

shaci gahan

Shaci Gahan

Shaci has been a Principal in a VC firm since 2002. Prior, she worked in the Office of the Chairman at Dell in the Corporate Strategy Group. From 1994 to 2000 she consulted with McKinsey & Company, and earlier with Anderson Consulting. Prior to graduate school, Sachi was an NCAA Division I Head Coach and taught for Outward Bound USA. Sachi is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard School of Business Administration.

steve wagh

Steve Wagh

Steve was able to retire at age 45 selling the company he co-founded and ran for nine years, achieving 96 consecutive months of profitability with revenues over $80 million. Today, Steve is a business advisor–often stepping into a startup as an adjunct CEO, investor, and guest speaker, and teaches others how to survive the startup years. He is the author of,The CEO Handbook -The Pocket Guide for Startup CEOs.”