VC in the OC 2008 Keynote & Panel

Keynote Speaker:
Mark Heesen (President, National Venture Capital Association)

As President of the National Venture Capital Association, Mark Heesen is responsible for setting the strategic direction for all Association activities, including public policy efforts, research initiatives, educational programs, and member services. In this capacity, Mark works closely with the NVCA professional staff and Board of Directors to demonstrate the positive impact of venture capital investment on the United States economy. Under his direction, the NVCA has created numerous value-added sub-groups including the CFO Task Force, Strategic Communications Group, Corporate Venture Capital Group, Medical Industry Group and Human Capital forum, all of which are dedicated to supporting NVCA membership in uniquely critical areas.

As a spokesperson for the venture capital industry, Mark is often called upon by the financial media, NVCA members, limited partners, and regional associations to present the overarching venture capital perspective to a wider audience. He is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, appears regularly on CNBC, and is consistently quoted in the press in stories concerning venture capital trends.

Since 1991, Mark has worked on behalf of the NVCA to enact a wide range of policies that benefit the venture capital and entrepreneurial communities, including a significant capital gains differential, securities litigation reform, numerous SEC and FASB accounting issues, immigration reform, and a streamlining of the FDA and CMS approval processes, among other issues.

Prior to coming to the NVCA, Mark was an aide to a former Governor of Pennsylvania and was Deputy Director for Federal Funds reporting to the Texas Legislature. Mark received a law degree with an emphasis in taxation from the Dickinson School of Law in 1984. 

 

Moderator:

Marc Averitt (Co-Founder and Managing Director, Okapi Venture Capital.)

Marc is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Okapi Venture Capital and is responsible for Okapi Ventures' technology and digital media investments. He has held leadership positions of increasing responsibility in business development, legal, operations, corporate development, and strategy in the technology industry for more than a decade. Prior to founding Okapi, Marc was with Intel Corporation first as an attorney for the Microprocessor Products Group and then as the Director of Strategic Business Development for the Software & Solutions Group worldwide. Prior to Intel, Marc worked for Sun Microsystems in business development and legal roles. Marc received his bachelors from the University of Southern California, where he majored in both Philosophy and Business Administration, and went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law. Marc has also attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Education program. He has traveled extensively throughout the world and has done deals in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russia, Sweden, and Uzbekistan in addition to the U.S. Marc's present professional board affiliations include My Damn Channel (Director), RF Nano Corporation (Director), Transaction Wireless (Director), Orange County Venture Group (President & Director), and DATAllegro (Advisor). He is a frequent panelist and/or speaker for venture capital, M&A, technology commercialization, emerging markets and corporate development. Marc maintains a personal blog about being a VC in "The OC" at http://ocvcblog.com.

Panelists:

Sherman Atkinson (CEO, ATCOR Holdings, Inc.)

Mr. Atkinson founded ATCOR Holdings, Inc. in 2008 and recently received a $50M investment from Austin Ventures. Prior to forming ATCOR Holdings Inc., Mr. Atkinson served as the COO of Intermix Media, Inc. (AMEX: MIX), a publicly traded, new media company that owned MySpace.com. During his tenure as COO, its public market capitalization grew from $126 million to over $650 million, when it was acquired by News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) in October 2005. Before joining Intermix Media, Mr. Atkinson served as COO of Buy.com, The Internet Superstore™ and President of its technology spinout, BuyServices, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Buy.com. Previously, Mr. Atkinson spent five years with Booz Allen & Hamilton. Mr. Atkinson has served as an Officer in the United States Marine Corps with tours at 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and Marine Aircraft Group 39. Mr. Atkinson is a graduate of Purdue University and the United States Navy's Nuclear Power Program.

 

Alex Dickinson (CEO, Helixis)

Previously, Alex was President, CEO and co-founder of Luxtera, Inc., a venture-funded company that has completely redefined how optical technologies are used in an array of applications from communications to sensing. Under Alex's leadership, Luxtera developed the world's first CMOS photonics commercial products that rely on using standard CMOS chip processes to modulate, route and detect light for those applications. Previously Alex was CEO and later chairman of Ethentica, a venture-backed company that - in partnership with its investors Philips Electronics NV and Hewlett-Packard - developed and shipped the world's first flat panel display biometric sensors. Earlier, Alex held the position of Director in Lucent Technologies' New Ventures Group where he was responsible for identifying promising Bell Labs technologies and creating venture-backed companies to commercialize them. Alex is also the co-founder of two successful Australian technology companies. Alex began his technology career at AT&T Bell Labs and has been awarded over 50 US and international patents. He holds a PhD from the University of Adelaide, Australia, and an MBA from Columbia University. He is a director of Luxtera, Inc.

Michael Hajeck (CEO, SiliconSystems)

Mr. Hajeck founded SiliconSystems in 2002 and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Hajeck is a storage industry expert with more than 20 years experience in the solid-state storage, removable media and hard drive markets and over the last sixteen years has helped pioneer the solid-state storage market. Mr. Hajeck's extensive operating experience, with emphasis in sales and marketing, includes founding SiliconTech, Inc., co-founding MicroNet Technology, and senior management positions with SanDisk Corporation and SyQuest Technology. Mr. Hajeck graduated with a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 

 

Will Poovey (Co-Founder and Senior Account Executive, Arbitech)

William is a co-founder and principal owner of Arbitech, which at $180 million in 2007 sales is the largest alternative distributor of computer hardware in the U.S. Will served as Arbitech's Vice President of Business Development and General Counsel from inception through 2002 and as COO through the end of 2004, helping guide Arbitech to achieve 30+% year over year growth in sales and net income. Under Will's leadership Arbitech received numerous accolades in the business press including being picked by Entrepreneur Magazine as America's 2nd Fastest Growing Company twice (2002 and 2003) and America's Fastest Growing Company (2004), as well as being named number #125 in the INC 500 (2004). Will continues to serve on Arbitech's Board of Directors and as a Senior Account Executive. From 2005 to the present, William has been an early stage investor in the entertainment, finance, and technology industries, and an equity partner in real estate ventures. Prior to founding Arbitech, Will practiced law at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. At Orrick, Will specialized in high-tech company formation, debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, and various tax issues. Will received his bachelors from UCLA and his Juris Doctor (Tax Concentration) with honors from Hastings College of the Law.

 

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