Boston Entrepreneurs Network

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Launching Your Successful Company

Meeting Overview:

Learn what it takes to launch your idea into a successful company from those who have done it. Learn from three entrepreneurs who have stepped out on their own. This networking meeting will help provide early stage technology- based entrepreneurs with information and the resources necessary to transform an idea into a successful product or service. If you have already started your company, learn some of the tips and traps from someone who has already done it. Accelerate your own company’s progress with the information and material you take away from tonight’s presentations. Shake hands, discuss ideas, and network with others who are starting their own technology-based businesses at the dinner and pre-meeting networking session. A question and answer session follows the presentation, and panelists are available afterwards for responses to individual questions.

Panel:

Alain Hanover, Managing Director & CEO, Navigator Technology Ventures

Alain Hanover has been Sr. Managing Director & CEO of Navigator Technology Ventures, a high-tech venture capital firm started by Cambridge, MA-based Draper Laboratory, since 2002. NTV has invested in 12 technology early-stage start-ups throughout New England ranging from software to medical devices, and from chips to complete electronic systems. NTV has almost always led the first round of investment, and sometimes co-founded the Company and staffed its executives. He’s actively worked on exits in the portfolio, including taking over as CEO in 2 companies during transitions. He is currently advising the remaining portfolio companies towards successful exits. See www.ntven.com. Prior to NTV, he was Managing Director at Main St. Partners, an internet Venture Capital firm during 2000-2001. In 1998 he co-founded CommonAngels, Boston’s leading Angel investment firm and personally has invested in and advised over 20 technology-based startups alongside CommonAngels (www.commonangels.com). His broad knowledge, experience and interests span company management, software, semiconductors, electronic devices, energy and life sciences.

Prior to becoming a Venture Capitalist, Hanover was co-Founder, President and CEO of InCert Software Corporation between 1997 and 2000. He raised $9M in venture funding for InCert, and was responsible for its strategic direction and the launching of 2 products. Insert was sold to Geodesic, Veritas and Symantec. Before joining InCert, Hanover was founder, CEO, President and Chairman of ViewLogic, a leading electronic design automation software company from 1984 to 1997. Hanover led ViewLogic from its inception to sales of more than $150M and 700 employees, prior to its sale to Synopsys in 1997. He raised $16.5M of venture capital and took it public in 1991 with a market cap of over $300M. In 1993, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year. Prior to starting Viewlogic, Hanover held senior executive and engineering positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, Dymo, Xylogics and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory.

He currently serves on the Boards of: Actuality Medical Systems, Gaterocket, HistoRx, Polychromix, and Sionex, as well as on the Boards of the non-profit organizations: the Mass. Technology Collaborative, and the Mass Innovation Index. He’s a Trustee Emeritus of the Mass. Technology Leadership Council, an active member of MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service, and an advisor to First Founders Ltd. He’s previously served on the Boards of several public companies including Applix and Eprise and many private companies including Bitpipe and Sand Video and non-profits: Mass. Renewable Energy Trust and the NE chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Hanover holds B.S. degrees in E.E. and Math from M.I.T, an M.S. in Computer Science from Harvard, and is OPM graduate of the Harvard Business School.

Jack Derby of Derby Management and CEO of Mayer Electronics Corporation, President of CB Sports, President of Litton Industries Medical Systems, CEO of Datamedix Corporation and President of Becton Dickinson Medical Systems.

Prior to forming Derby Management in 1990, Jack's background included positions as CEO of Mayer Electronics Corporation, President of CB Sports, President of Litton Industries Medical Systems, CEO of Datamedix Corporation and President of Becton Dickinson Medical Systems.

Jack has been named to Mass High Tech's All Star Team. He is often quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and has published articles and editorials in The Boston Business Journal and Mass High Tech. He is frequent speaker at numerous business organizations including the MIT Enterprise Forum, the Small Business Association of New England, the Harvard Business School, and the WPI Venture Forum. He is also a guest lecturer at MIT where he teaches classes in business planning and marketing for undergraduate students in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Jack also lectures in entrepreneurship at Green Mountain College and is an adjunct professor at Tufts University's School of Engineering where he teaches a course in Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing.

Jack is extremely active in the New England entrepreneurial and venture capital communities. He is currently or has been an active board member in twenty companies including fourteen companies that he has either co-founded or restructured. He was instrumental in restructuring the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum (www.mitforum-cambridge.org) where he has held the position of Chairman of the Forum. Additionally, he has been the Vice Chair of the Smaller Business Association of New England (www.sbane.org). In 2004, Jack was the recipient of the Smaller Business Association of New England's "Pro Bono Publico Award" for his significant contributions to the entrepreneurial community. Jack has also been a Director of MIT's Technology Capital Network (www.tcnmit.org, and the President of the University Club of Boston (www.uclub.org). Currently, he is Chairman of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) of Boston (www.acgboston.org), and a Director of the ACG International Board, a Director Emeritus of The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (www.aimnet.org), and currently a Director at Accounting Management Solutions, Beacon Hospice, Brainshark Corporation, Hybricon Corporation, Rome Snowboards and Ntirety Inc.

Michael Kuperstein founder and CEO of Metaphor Solutions, a provider of speech interactive voice response (IVR) solutions.

Michael Kuperstein is a serial entrepreneur and has founded 3 companies in automated pattern recognition. For each of his companies, he invented the core technology: handwriting recognition for Captiva Software Corp, facial recognition for eTrue and on-demand voice recognition applications for his current company, Metaphor Solutions. eTrue was sold to Viisage in 2002. Captiva Software Corp was acquired by EMC in 2005 for $245M.

He was voted as one of the top ten most influential leaders in e-commerce in 2001 by the Mass eComm Association. Michael got his Ph.D. from MIT, and has 12 patents issued and pending.

Today Metaphor Solutions is expanding their hosted voice recognition applications to VoIP phone switches and to mobile phones.

Moderator:

Dick Shock, President, Shock PR International www.shockpr.com

Richard (Dick) Shock brings over 25 years of experience in direct sales and marketing of technical products at Rockwell International. Dick’s background in introducing new products and concepts lends itself strongly to helping emerging companies gain acceptance for their start up endeavors. He is a graduate of University of Cincinnati with Bachelors of Business Administration with a Management Major. Dick’s great understanding of visionary selling techniques brings leadership in strategic planning and realistic goal setting for young, startup organizations. His communications skills with customers and their markets have taken him from Boston to all of the United States and to India, China, South America and Europe. He has served on various councils and professional organizations and his colleges have recognized him as a true professional. Shock PR is focused on helping companies increase market visibility and credibility in proven and effective ways. Entrepreneurs and small companies looking for a smarter, more economical way to launch their companies into the public view have Shock PR to assist them.