Forecasting Markets:
The Capital Update for 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
MIT's Kresge Auditorium
View the presentations from our panel of experts:
What do the capital markets have in store for high-tech entrepreneurs
this year? Join the MIT Enterprise Forum and a panel of renowned experts
as we take an in-depth look at money sources for both growth and start-up
companies in 2005. From VCs to investment banks to M&As and
IPOs, this provocative program will cover the important money angles
your business needs to know for the coming year.
Produced in association with the MIT
Enterprise Forum of Cambridge,
"Forecasting Markets: The Capital Update for 2005" is
a can't-miss event being broadcast globally to MIT Enterprise Forum chapters
and MIT Alumni Clubs. Our panel of experts includes moderator Bob
Crowley, President
of the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation; Daphne
Dufresne, a Principal at Weston
Presidio; Oscar Jazdowski, Senior Relationship
Manager for Silicon Valley Bank; T.L. Stebbins,
Managing Director of the Adams Harkness Investment Banking Group; and Carol
Vallone, President & CEO of WebCT.
Speaker Biographies
Bob Crowley
Bob Crowley [moderator] has been associated with
the Massachusetts Technology
Development Corporation (MTDC) since its
inception in 1978, and was elected President of MTDC in November 2002. Prior
to that, he was its Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. Bob
is one of the most experienced venture capital investors in early-stage
technology companies in New England .
A former Chairman of the MIT
Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, Bob is also a Chairman of the Smaller
Business Association of New England (SBANE) Educational
Center. He is also
a Director of the National Small Business Administration. Bob has
served as director of a number of companies including Optical Micro Systems,
Inc., Aspen Technology, Inc., MultiLink, Inc., Pacer Infotech, Inc., and Endogen,
Inc.
Bob has spent most of his professional life in finance, initially as a commercial
lender with Shawmut Bank and Neponset Valley Bank & Trust Company, and, for
more than 23 years, as a venture capital investor with MTDC. He earned
a B.A. from Fairfield University and an M.B.A. from Boston College .
Daphne Dufresne
Daphne Dufresne joined Weston
Presidio in 1999, following
her selection as a 1999 Kauffman
Fellow. She is currently involved with
the firm's investments in AtHoc, Insulair and Zoots. Prior to joining
Weston Presidio, Daphne led business development for the online trading
platform of Interactive Investor, a London-based financial advisory site.
She began her investment career as an Associate Director in Bank of Scotland's
Structured Finance Group, focusing on management buyouts in the United
Kingdom and France . Daphne served previously as an Associate in Andersen
Consulting's Strategic Services Group, specializing in business and technology
strategy for Fortune 500 companies.
Daphne is currently on the Board of the Massachusetts Economic Stabilization
Trust and Big Brother of Mass Bay. She is also an alumni admissions interviewer
for the University of Pennsylvania and a Toigo
mentor. She earned her B.S. in
Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.B.A. from Harvard Graduate
School of Business.
Oscar Jazdowski
Oscar Jazdowski is a Senior Relationship Manager
for Silicon Valley Bank with over 20 years involvement in financing young,
emerging, venture-backed technology companies. Oscar started his
career with Bank of Boston in the U.K. then joined the banks High Technology
Lending Group. Over the next 13 years, he was involved in financing
young emerging, middle market and large corporate, public-traded technology
companies and ran Bank of Boston's Silicon Valley office.
In 1996, Oscar started the East Coast Technology Group of Imperial Bank (now
Comerica) providing debt financing and other financial services to young, emerging,
venture-backed companies. After two years running Sand Hill Capital's operations
in Boston , Oscar joined Silicon Valley Bank.
T.L. Stebbins
T.L. Stebbins serves as a Managing Director in Adams
Harkness' Investment Banking Group. He also serves as Chairman
of the Investment Banking Division and is a Board Member at Adams Harkness. T.L.
joined the firm in 1970 as a Research Analyst, and participated in the
introduction of the New England Research Service. He also formalized
the firm's Investment Banking function and created the company's Corporate
Finance department from scratch. In the last 20 years, T.L. has
participated in the execution of every type of investment banking service
provided by Adams Harkness, including IPOs, follow-ons, private placements,
mergers and acquisitions, and financial advisory assignments. The
majority of these transactions were completed for clients in the Technology
sector.
Before joining Adams Harkness, T.L. worked in the research department of Estabrook & Co.,
where, after three years, he became director of equity research.
T.L. received a B.A. from Harvard College , and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business
School .
Carol Vallone
Carol Vallone is President and Chief Executive Officer
of WebCT, a leading
provider of e-learning systems for colleges and universities. Carol
launched the company, initially named Universal Learning Technology (ULT),
in 1995, and merged with Vancouver-based WebCT in 1999. Carol brings more
than 20 years of experience managing technology companies and bringing
new software products to market. Before founding ULT, Carol served as President
of Information Mapping, Inc. (IMI), which specialized in research-based
methodologies for developing granular text and computer-based curriculum.
Prior to that, she was Director of Marketing at both UCCEL Corporation
and Carleton Corporation, and was a manager at Software Arts, Inc., Honeywell
Information Systems, Inc., and International Data Corporation.
Carol currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts
Software and Internet Council and of Silicon
Chalk. She has also served on the Board
of Directors of Tufts Associated Health Maintenance and of the Smaller Business
Association of New England. In 2000, she was named one of the most influential
women in science and technology by Women in Technology
International (WITI). In
2002, Mass High Tech named Carol to their annual list of Top Ten People to Watchand
she was also honored by the Massachusetts
eComm Association when they selected
her as one of the year's Mass eComm 10. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration
from the University of Delaware .
