Pace Lubin

 



[Business Plan Competition]
 

Dr. Fred Aslan - Vice President, Venrock Associates
Sang Ahn - Principal, Dawntreader Ventures
Thatcher Bell - Associate, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures
James B. Lockhart - Associate, Greenhill SAVP
Howard Morgan, Ph.D. - Director, Idealab
Lori Smith - Partner, Goodwin Procter

Dr. Fred Aslan, Vice President, Venrock Associates

[Fred Aslan]

Fred Aslan joined Venrock in 2006 and is currently a Vice President in the New York office focused on the firm's activities in healthcare. Prior to joining Venrock, Fred worked at Atlas Venture where he was involved in new medical device and biotechnology investments. Prior to Atlas Venture, Fred was Director of Business Development and Head of Investor Relations for CuraGen Corporation, a public drug development company in Connecticut, where he successfully worked on in-licensing a clinical stage oncology compound, raising $110 million in convertible debentures and securing sell-side and buy-side interest in the Company. Before this, he worked as a management consultant in the Boston office of the Boston Consulting Group, working with biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients.

Fred received an MD from Yale University School of Medicine, an MBA with Distinction from the Harvard Business School, and a BS in Biology from Duke University.
 

[Sang Ahn]

Sang Ahn - Principal, Dawntreader Ventures
Sang Ahn is a Principal of Dawntreader Ventures having joined the Fund in early 2000. For many of Dawntreader's portfolio companies, Mr. Ahn has been responsible for all aspects of the investment lifecycle including: sourcing new investment opportunities; aiding management in the growth of early-stage enterprises; leading financing events, and working with companies through an ultimate exit. Mr. Ahn currently serves on the Board of Directors of HNW, Tutor.com, and Xora and is a Board Observer of DeepNines. Mr. Ahn is also actively involved with the management of Greenplum, Moreover Technologies (acquired by VeriSign, Nasdaq: VRSN), Perfect Commerce, and SIPphone.

Prior to joining Dawntreader, Mr. Ahn held various positions at Deloitte Consulting where he worked with Fortune 500 companies on a variety of strategic and operational issues including corporate strategy, sales growth, and new product development. While at Deloitte Consulting, Mr. Ahn advised companies in the Telecommunications, Life Sciences, and Financial Services industries. Mr. Ahn graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Politics.

 

[Thatcher Bell]

Thatcher Bell, Associate, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures
Thatcher's background includes venture investing, operating, and consulting roles with software, Internet, and financial services companies. Thatcher began his venture capital career as a Senior Analyst at North Hill Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Capital One Financial, where he invested in financial technology, enterprise software, and technology-enabled services companies. Subsequently, he was a Summer Associate with Silicon Alley Venture Partners in New York, an early-stage, internet- and technology-focused venture capital firm. Before joining North Hill, Thatcher was Manager of Business Development at OpenPages, an enterprise software vendor, where he oversaw an acquisition and developed channel partnerships in the U.S. and Europe.

Previously, Thatcher was the third employee at SharkTank, an online marketplace connecting lawyers and potential clients. He began his career as a consultant at Ernst & Young (now Cap Gemini Ernst & Young), working on competitive strategy and process improvement projects in the financial services, telecommunications, and healthcare industries.

Thatcher has a BS cum laude in Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
 

[James B. Lockhart]

James B. Lockhart, Associate, Greenhill SAVP
Mr. Lockhart joined Greenhill SAVP in 2006. Previously, he was a Manager in Disney's Strategic Planning Group, where he worked on the acquisition of Pixar and the formulation of Disney's new media investment strategy. Prior to Disney, JB worked in media investment banking and technology strategic investments at Lehman Brothers.

JB currently serves as a Board Observer at Serious, a digital publisher and marketer of optical cards. He is also a junior Board Member at The Beginning With Children Foundation, a non-profit charter school organization. JB received a BA with honors from Yale and an MBA from Harvard Business School.


Howard Morgan, Ph.D., Director, Idealab

[Howard Morgan]

Howard Morgan, Ph.D. has been a Director of Idealab since March 2002. Dr. Morgan was President, Idealab New York from March 2000 to June 2001 and was Vice Chairman until December 2002. He also served as an Idealab Director from February 1999 to March 2001. Since 1989, Dr. Morgan has served as President of Arca Group, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in the areas of computers and communications technologies. Dr. Morgan was a Professor of Decision Sciences at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Professor of Computer Science at the Moore School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1972 through 1986. He serves as a director for a number of public companies, including Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc., and Segue Software, Inc., as Vice-Chairman of the New York Angels and as a Director of First Round Capital, a seed stage venture fund. Dr. Morgan received his Ph.D. in operations research from Cornell University.
 

Lori Smith, Partner, Goodwin Procter
[Lori Smith]
Lori Smith, a partner in the firm's Business Law Department and a member of its Technology Companies Group, specializes in representing foreign and domestic companies in various industries with regard to mergers and acquisitions, financings and general corporate matters, with an emphasis on emerging technologies. Ms. Smith has extensive experience acting as outside counsel for companies at all stages of development, from start-ups to public companies.

Ms. Smith has over 20 years experience representing entrepreneurs, venture capital and private equity investors and public and private companies in the structuring, negotiation and implementation of equity and debt financings and private equity transactions, private placements, acquisitions, mergers, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and licensing, manufacturing and distribution arrangements (including distribution via the Internet and wireless means). In addition to advising clients on transactional and contract matters, she regularly provides advice and assistance to companies and their investors with respect to general corporate governance and ongoing compliance matters as well as the various issues that need to be addressed in anticipation of and planning for a public offering, sale or merger.

Ms. Smith is outside general counsel to New York Angels, one of the leading angel investment groups in the Northeast and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum.

Ms. Smith received a JD from the Duke University School of Law (with high honors) and a BA from the University of Rochester (magna cum laude).

Click to Register for the Business Plan Panel Discussion and Awards Ceremony

 


"Opportunity through Entrepreneurship"SM