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Bob Ackerman is Managing Director and Founder of Allegis Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm he founded in 1996. As a venture capitalist, Bob applies capital and his own experience as an operating executive and start-up founder to working with entrepreneurs to build market leading technology-based businesses from creative and disruptive ideas. Prior to forming Allegis Capital. Bob was the founder and Chairman of InfoGear Technology Corporation, a venture-backed start-up company that designed and built the original iPhonesR – integrating web and telephone functionality into the first internet appliances. InfoGear was acquired by Cisco in 2000 for more than $300M. |
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Alice M. Agogino is the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering. She directs the Berkeley Expert Systems Technology (BEST) Laboratory, the Berkeley Instructional Technology Studio (BITS) and the BITS Multimedia Classroom. (ME profile)
Course: Managing the New Product Development Process |
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Sara L. Beckman is Faculty Director of UC Berkeley’s Wurster Design and Innovation Studio, a partnership of the Haas School, the College of Environmental Design, and the School of Information Management and Systems. She teaches classes in problem finding, problem solving, as well as new product design and development. She has won the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award three times and the campus Distinguished Teaching Award once. She is on the boards
Course: Managing the New Product Development Process |
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Kurt Beyer is a former naval aviator and professor at the United States Naval Academy and teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Berkeley Haas Business school. Currently Kurt advises start-ups and executives in Silicon Valley through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and lectures regularly on technical innovation. Prior to joining MSSB he was the founder and CEO of a digital media services company and has authored multiple patents (pending) on high-speed digital data processing. Kurt’s book, published by the MIT Press, Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age, was named a top ten science/technology book for 2010 by the American Library Association. Kurt received a BS in Engineering and History from the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis), MA in Economics from Oxford University, and his PhD from the UC Berkeley. He lives in Mill Valley with his wife and two sons. (Haas profile)
Courses: Entrepreneurship and Innovation, MBA295A and UGBA195P
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Steve Blank is a retired serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of start-up experience in Silicon Valley. Since 1978 Steve has been a founder or participant in eight start-ups. Steve’s last company, E.piphany, started in his living room. Steve’s other start-ups include two semiconductor companies (Zilog and MIPS Computers), workstation company (Convergent Technologies), supercomputer (Ardent), computer peripheral supplier (SuperMac), military intelligence systems supplier (ESL) and video game company (Rocket Science Games). These resulted in 5 IPOs and three very deep craters. His operational roles have ranged from CEO to VP of Marketing. Steve is the author of a text on Customer Development: The Four Steps to the Epiphany. In 2010 he was awarded Teacher of the Year in the Berkeley/Columbia MBA program. Steve serves on the board of Audubon California, California League of Conservation Voters, Peninsula Open Space Trust and U.C. Santa Cruz. In 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the California Coastal Commission. (Haas profile)
Courses: Customer Development in the High-Tech Enterprise, Advanced Entrepreneurship, Lean Launchpad |
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David Charron has been working in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation for over 20 years, working with Xerox PARC, Stanford and MIT and various national laboratories. He has been a founder of three companies, most notably Scientific Learning Corporation, a publicly traded neuroscience company founded on technology from UCSF. He is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Innovative Leader Development Initiative at the Haas School of Business. At the Lester Center he runs the incubation program, and has crafted several new initiatives to improve the chances for Berkeley students and their ventures. He has travelled extensively overseas helping develop entrepreneurial ecosystems. He holds an engineering degree from Stanford and an MBA from Berkeley. (Haas profile)
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Henry Chesbrough is the author of Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003 Harvard Business School), named “One of the Best Business Books of 2003” by Strategy & Business magazine. He also wrote Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape (2006 Harvard Business School Press). He was recognized by Scientific American as one of “The Scientific American 50 for 2003,” for his research on industrial R&D. Prior to joining the Haas faculty, Chesbrough taught management of technology for six years at Harvard Business School. Before joining academia, he worked for ten years as a senior executive at Quantum Corporation. Chesbrough’s work examines the management of innovation, with particular attention to new models of industrial R&D, technology spin-offs, licensing in and licensing out technology, corporate entrepreneurship, and corporate venture capital. (Haas profile)
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Mark Coopersmith is Managing Director of The Argonauts Group. Mark works with clients, investors, deal-makers and other stakeholders to bring about fundamental change, accelerate revenues and drive enterprise value at companies ranging from VC-backed ventures through global corporations. Previously he led the $300mm Global Technology Brands group at consumer products company Newell Rubbermaid; served as President of Strategy for brand consultancy Addis Creson; and co-founded and built a $150mm consumer products and online commerce division for Sony. He was the founding CEO of pioneer online payments company WebOrder which is now part of Motorola; and earlier in his career was a strategy and M&A consultant with Ernst & Young. Mark has advised global enterprises such as Intel, DirecTV, T Rowe Price and Sony, and has also worked with numerous innovative earlier stage companies as interim leader, senior advisor and board member. Mark teaches Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where he is also a member of the Start-Up Board of Mentors. He is an alumnus of UC Berkeley, where he earned his B.A. and MBA degrees. (Haas profile)
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John Danner is Senior Fellow at the Lester Center. An experienced management consultant and entrepreneur, he has advised senior executives of multi-billion-dollar international enterprises on strategy, value management and business growth, as well as management teams of emerging ventures on competitive positioning, marketing and product strategy. His clients include leading companies in healthcare, energy, entertainment, food products, telecommunications and information and start-ups in energy management, e-commerce and supply chain integration. He has designed and successfully launched several new business initiatives for client organizations over the past twenty-five years. Mr. Danner is a senior moderator for The Aspen Institute, and conducts seminars on leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship around the world. (Haas profile)
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Jerry Engel is Senior Fellow and Executive Director Emeritus of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship, a program he founded in 1991. He has over 30 years experience and success in high potential entrepreneurship and venture capital. In addition to his academic position, Jerry is a General Partner at Monitor Venture Partners, a venture capital firm associated with the Monitor Group, a global strategic consulting and private equity management firm. Earlier in his career, Jerry was founder and Managing Partner of the Entrepreneurial Services Group at Ernst & Young. Over a 12- year span, he helped many of the Bay Area’s leading technology companies emerge into vital enterprises. In 1996 Jerry was a founding General Partner in Kline Hawkes & Co., a Southern California-based venture fund. In 1998 he co-founded AllBusiness.com and served as its Chief Financial Officer, managing its successful sale to NBC in March 2000. Jerry currently serves on the board of directors of Adaptive Planning, Jupiter Systems, MedAmerica, Electrascan, and the Berkeley Entrepreneurship Laboratory, and is an active advisor to many emerging and mature ventures. He is a CPA and received his undergraduate degree at Penn State and his Masters at the Wharton School. (Haas profile)
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Sean Foote is a Venture Partner at Labrador Ventures, investing in materials companies like Solaicx (sold to MEMC), software companies like GreenBorder (sold to Google), and internet companies. Before venture investing, Mr. Foote was a manager with the Boston Consulting Group and worked as a systems engineer for AT&T Bell Laboratories, developing artificial intelligence systems for testing the most complicated telecommunications circuits. He is on the boards of directors of Freedom From Hunger and Silicon Valley Microfinance Network, and is the co-founder of Toniic, an ingel investor group for impact investors, and West Coast Village Capital, a combination of YPO style entrepreneur support and business plan competition style equity investment. (Haas profile)
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Jack Fuchs is an entrepreneurial consultant, working in leadership roles with small companies. Most recently, he completed the sale of a wireless software company to a strategic buyer. Prior to that, he was VP, business development and sales, for SOMA Networks, where he focused on management of its global strategic accounts, marketing and partnerships. Prior to joining SOMA Networks he was the Vice President for Business Development and Strategic Marketing at IPWireless, Inc. As the first non-founding officer, he developed and implemented the company’s business development plan, identified and engaged numerous customer targets, and played an instrumental role in the product definition process. Previously, Fuchs was a strategic management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he drove PCS entry and last-mile solutions for wireless clients. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College. (Haas profile)
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Randy Haykin is a well-known angel and venture investor. He is currently Chairman of Haykin Capital, a hands-on “mentor capital” and is Managing Director of Outlook Ventures, an early-stage venture firm with $200+ million under management, which he co-founded in 1996. Prior to Outlook, Randy served as founding VP of Marketing & Sales at Yahoo and played early roles at Overture, NetChannel, Electric Minds, and AOL’s Greenhouse program, a successful venture incubator. He has also held management roles at Apple computer and Paramount/Viacom. Haykin holds a BA in Organizational Studies from Brown University, magna cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard. In addition to teaching at Berkeley, Randy has taught classes at University of Edinburgh, Cambridge University, Brown, Harvard and Baylor. (Haas profile)
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Dan Himelstein has been a senior executive in both academia and business and has worked in a variety of organizational settings, ranging from the large and complex to the small and entrepreneurial. In the business world, Dan has extensive international experience, having worked with numerous start-ups as a founder, executive, director, or consultant and in a number of corporate settings as well. He has also served as a member of a variety of private and public sectors boards, committees, and commissions. In academia, Dan has served as the Executive Director of the Undergraduate Business Program, an instructor in Global Business and Entrepreneurship, the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Facilities at UC Berkeley, and as the Executive Associate Dean of the School of Business and Management at the University of San Francisco. Dan received his B.S. from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and his M.Sc. from The London School of Economics. (Haas profile)
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Jim Hornthal’s professional time is evenly divided between venture capital and entrepreneurship. His active angel investing activities are complemented by his role as a Venture Partner with CMEA Capital, an established venture capital firm with over $1 billion under management that invests primarily in early stage technology, energy and life science companies. As an entrepreneur, Jim is best known as the Founder of Preview Travel, one of the first online travel agencies. Jim took Preview Travel public in 1997, and later initiated its merger in 2000 with a division of Sabre Holdings to create Travelocity.com, where Jim served as Vice Chairman of the combined organization. Travelocity.com was ultimately re-acquired by Sabre Holdings in 2002. Jim is currently the founder and Chairman of Triporati, whose “Destination Genome Project” is changing the way travelers discover their perfect travel destination. Jim is also on the board of several private companies including KIND Snacks, PolitEar, and Via (Bangalore, India) and has been a Lester Center Fellow for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley since 2002 (Haas profile)
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Andrew Isaacs is the former Executive Director of UC Berkeley's Management of Technology Program. Isaacs is also President of California Technology International, Inc., a consulting firm he founded in 1990. CTI’s offices in Silicon Valley and Tokyo specialize in strategy and marketing for US and Japanese high tech companies. Prior to founding CTI, Isaacs was a marketing executive for public and private high tech companies in Silicon Valley, and was Senior Scientist at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. (Haas profile)
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William Kell is the Founder and Supervising Attorney for the New Business Counseling Practicum at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. The Practicum is an experiential learning course designed to involve law and business students in assisting start-up businesses in the Bay Area. Mr. Kell is also a Lecturer in Residence at Boalt, and has been teaching clinical education since 1995, specifically with business transactional clinics since 1999. Mr. Kell received his Juris Doctor from Wayne State Law School, and his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan. He is licensed to practice law in California, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois. (Boalt profile)
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Jack Koch is a high technology business executive having extensive operating experience in sales/marketing, business development and general management. He is the co-founder and managing partner of ProRelevant Marketing Solutions, a behavior-based predictive analytics company serving packaged goods, beverage, pharmaceuticals and other consumer driven markets. Jack’s early career started with IBM where he held numerous sales, marketing and product management positions spanning 17 years. He left IBM to become Managing Director at Verbatim Corporation where he was responsible for sales, worldwide marketing and customer support. He also founded and managed KS+A Marketing Inc., a consulting partnership for high volume Silicon Valley based companies. His senior management career includes CEO of Dynatech Computer Power, Inc., VP of Marketing at Digital Communications Associates, EVP of DecisionPower, Inc, and VP of Marketing at 3Com Corporation. Jack holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Miami University and resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife and children. (Haas profile)
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Lloyd Kurtz has served as Research Fellow and Program Administrator for the Center for Responsible Business’s Moskowitz Research Program since 2005. In this role he assists in the judging for the Moskowitz Prize, which is awarded each year for the best quantitative study of socially responsible investing. As a senior portfolio manager with Nelson Capital Management, he oversees the management of many socially responsible investment accounts. His recent research includes a comprehensive review of the social investment literature for the Journal of Investing and a chapter on social investing for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility. He holds Bachelors of Arts degrees in English and Psychology from Vassar College, an MBA from Babson College, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. (Haas profile)
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Larry Lasky is partner at US Venture Partners, Larry is an expert in biotechnology, a field that he has worked in commercially for over 30 years. Prior to joining US Venture Partners, Larry was a leading scientist at Genentech for 20 years, where he worked in various disciplines including vaccinology, immunology, stem cell biology, cellular signaling mechanisms, and monoclonal antibody therapy of tumors. He is co-author on over 137 publications and co-inventor on 35 issued and pending patents. He was a Genentech Fellow, the highest scientist position at the company and a standing member of the Research Review Committee, which directed research across all product development areas at Genentech. Larry has also served on numerous NCI and NIH scientific review panels and has reviewed papers for a number of prestigious journals. Larry holds BA and PhD degrees in Biology from UCLA and completed his post-doctoral studies at The California Institute of Technology. (Haas profile)
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Dr. Reza Moazzami has over 15 years of experience as an engineer, entrepreneur/CEO, investor, and educator in the IT and communications industries. He received the B.S. with highest honors, M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley, and a MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He holds eleven patents and has been a speaker at numerous technology industry conferences and leading universities.(Haas profile)
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Peter Molloy was President and Principal Owner of the Farmhouse Foods Company based in Union City, California, from 1991 until it sold to General Mills in 1999. His career spans over 30 years in general management and marketing. He started his 21-year career with Nestle in London, England and was transferred to Toronto, Canada and then to New York. Throughout his career, he specialized in launching new products, turning around businesses and building brands. In 1991, Peter and his business partner bought the MJB Rice Company from Nestle and changed the brand name to Farmhouse. Since 1999, Peter has been teaching Entrepreneurship and Ecommerce Marketing at the Haas School of Business. He was a member of Vistage (an international organization for CEO’s) for 10 years and has consulted to a number of food and agri-business companies. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Young Entrepreneurs at Haas (YEAH). Peter has a Business Degree from Thames Valley University in England and the Institute of Marketing Diploma. (Haas profile)
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David Mowery is the William and Betty Hasler Professor of New Venture Development. Prior to joining Haas, Dr. Mowery taught at Carnegie Mellon University. He has served as the Study Director for the Panel on Technology and Employment of the National Academy of Sciences and served in the Office of the United States Trade Representative as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. His research deals with the economics of technological innovation and with the effects of public policies on innovation. (Haas profile)
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Noel Nellis is a partner at the law firm of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. He focuses his practice on negotiating and documenting transactions in the areas of financing, leasing, development, construction, and operation of real property. Mr. Nellis is a charter member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and has served on its Board of Governors. He is a charter member of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, and is a member of many real estate associations. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of California Berkeley Foundation and the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. Mr. Nellis has written numerous articles on a variety of real estate law topics, with an emphasis in recent years on realty joint ventures, leasing transactions, the legal aspects of investments in real estate by pension funds and foreign investors, and REITs. (Haas profile)
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Maura O’Neill has focused on developing solutions to some of the toughest problems in the energy, environment, high technology and life science areas. Maura has founded three companies, including one where she served as the CEO of a subsidiary of a public company (NYSE: PSD). In each, she has sought to create profitable ventures that leverage structural changes in the industry and at the same time improve our communities. The companies include a national consulting firm, a utility technology company (wireless meter reading, customer information and billing and distribution automation), an Internet company, and a strategy and development firm. Over the last two years, Maura was asked to be the founding CEO and launch a biotechnology public-private venture. Alongside building businesses, civic and political leadership has been a passion of hers throughout her career. She garnered wide coverage in the Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, FOX News, and local, business and trade press throughout the U.S. Maura has received numerous awards, personally and on behalf of her companies/clients, including 1989 Greater Seattle Businessperson of the Year. (Haas profile)
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Terry Opdendyk has specialized in working with technology based start-ups for more than 30 years. He founded ONSET Ventures, a premier Silicon Valley venture capital firm, in 1984, where he is Managing Director and General Partner. Prior to that, Terry was president of VisiCorp, guiding the software publishing company from inception into an industry leader. Earlier, he worked as a technical manager for Hewlett-Packard as a part of the original group of individuals that started HP’s computer business. He later headed Intel Corporation’s microcomputer systems business, microprocessor architecture activities, several international ventures and human resources. At ONSET Ventures, Terry maintains a broad spectrum of investment interests including software, new media, security, and medical technologies. (Haas profile)
Course: Venture Capital and Private Equity |
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Mario Rosati is an Adjunct Professor at the Haas School of Business and a partner of the law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, which he joined in 1971. He specializes in corporate law, especially as it relates to high technology companies. Mr. Rosati participated on the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Task Force to the office of the then-President Elect Ronald Reagan. He has sat as Judge Pro-Tem in the Superior Court, State of California, San Mateo County. A director of a number of public and privately held companies, Mr. Rosati is also Managing Partner of WS Investments, a venture capital investment partnership. (Haas profile)
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Ron Star is a director at the law firm of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco and Menlo Park. He focuses on securities law, venture capital and other capital raising activities, intellectual property, strategic partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions. He works closely with start-up and private companies on issues related to entity formation, equity and financings, licensing matters, the structuring of executive compensation (including stock arrangements), strategic ventures, acquisitions and management buy-outs. He has been recognized by Law & Politics as a Northern California Super Lawyer. Mr. Star’s engagements run the gamut from representing start-up companies in formation to representing major multinational companies in strategic investments. He specializes in computer software and hardware, semiconductors, information services businesses, internet and multimedia companies, medical technology, food related companies, retail operations and financial services companies. (Haas profile)
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Toby E. Stuart is the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Previously he was the Arthur J. Samberg Professor of Organizations & Strategy and Academic Director of the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School. He was also course head for Strategy Formulation. From 1995 to 2003, he was on the faculty at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, where he was the Fred G. Steingraber-A.T. Kearney Professor of Organizations & Strategy. He received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He holds an A.B., summa cum laude, in economics from Carleton College. Prior to earning his Ph.D., Dr. Stuart was a Research Associate at the Harvard Business School. Professor Stuart is the recipient of the 2007 Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship, which is granted every other year to recognize one individual’s contributions to entrepreneurship research. He has also received the Administrative Science Quarterly’s Scholarly Contribution (best paper) award, as well as the Columbia Business School’s Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. (Haas profile)
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David J. Teece is the Thomas W. Tusher Professor of Global Business at the Haas School of Business and Faculty Director of Research of the Lester Center. Before coming to Haas, he taught in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University from 1975-1982. His interests lie in industrial organization, antitrust, innovation and entrepreneurship. Professor Teece has co-authored over 200 publications, including “Profiting from Technological Innovation,” Research Policy (1986), “Managing Intellectual Capital” (Oxford University Press, 2000) and “Explicating Dynamic Capabilities: The Nature of Microfoundations of (Sustainable) Enterprise,” (Strategic Management Journal, 2010). In 2003, he received the Viipuri International Prize in Strategic (Technology) Management and Business Economics, and also the Strategic Management Society’s best paper award for his article (with Gary Pisano and Amy Shuen) titled “Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management,” Strategic Management Journal (1997). He is listed by Accentive as one the top 50 business intellectuals. He has started companies and taken them to public listings on both the NYSE and the NASDAQ. He is currently Chairman of the Berkeley Research Group. (Haas profile)
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Jennifer Walske is currently a managing director of Myriad Investments, LLC. Prior to founding Myriad Investments, Jennifer was an institutional All American-ranked software analyst and held numerous marketing and sales positions within high tech firms. Jennifer has taught and created entrepreneurship courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and recently completed a two-year visiting scholar post at Babson College. She has presented and published her scholarly research on venture capital both domestically and abroad. Jennifer holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Boston University. (Haas Profile)
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Naeem Zafar is a serial entrepreneur and after working at six start-ups he founded Concordia Ventures to educate and help entrepreneurs with all aspects of starting and running a company. Naeem has extensive experience in starting companies, raising money, and mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs. He is a frequent lecturer on the topic of entrepreneurship and innovation. He was invited to attend the presidential summit on entrepreneurship in Washington, DC and is frequently invited by the U.S. State Department to travel and lecture internationally. He has taught in Japan, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Netherlands, China and the U.K. Naeem served as the president and CEO of Pyxis Technology Inc., a company specializing in advanced chip design software for nanometer technology. He has been president and CEO of two other high-tech start-ups. Naeem has served as a board member or as an advisor to 25 companies. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University (magna cum laude) and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Naeem has published five eBooks on entrepreneurship and his book “7-Steps to a Successful Start-up” is available as an iPhone app and on Amazon.com. Naeem is a charter member of TIE, the president of OPEN Silicon Valley, an advisor to the board of Efactor.com and a senior mentor with MentorSquare.com. (Haas profile)
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