|
|
 |
 |
|
Speakers
|
|
Steve Forbes | Mark Heesen | Joel Adams | Lynn Gellermann |Koleman Karleski | Seán D.S. Sebastian
Mike Stubler | David H. Wells | Bill Flanagan
|
| |
|
Steve Forbes, Keynote Speaker - "What Next for the Economy and Stocks?"
|
 Steve Forbes is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes Media. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine.
Under Mr. Forbes’ leadership, the company has launched a variety of new publications and businesses. They include: Forbes Life, the dedicated lifestyle magazine; Forbes Woman, providing Forbes' community of executive women with luxury lifestyle content that they value and respect, in print and online; Forbes Asia; and Forbes licensee editions published in China, Croatia, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia and Turkey. The company also publishes a number of investment newsletters. Another division of the company is Forbes Investors Advisory Institute.
In 1996 Forbes entered the new media arena with the launch of Forbes.com. Now receiving more than 18 million unique monthly visitors, it has become a leading destination site for senior business decision-makers and investors. Other Forbes Web sites are: Investopedia.com; RealClearPolitics.com; RealClearMarkets.com; RealClearSports.com; and the Forbes.com Business and Finance Blog Network. Together with Forbes.com, these sites reach nearly 40 million business decision-makers each month.
The company’s flagship publication, Forbes, is the nation’s leading business magazine, with a circulation of more than 900,000. Forbes combined with Forbes Asia and the company's ten licensee editions together reach a worldwide audience of more than five million readers.
Mr. Forbes writes editorials for each issue of Forbes under the heading of “Fact and Comment.” A widely respected economic prognosticator, he is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious Crystal Owl Award four times. The prize was formerly given by U.S. Steel Corporation to the financial journalist whose economic forecasts for the coming year proved most accurate.
In both 1996 and 2000, Mr. Forbes campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. Key to his platform were a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense. Mr. Forbes continues to energetically promote this agenda.
Mr. Forbes is the author of Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS (Regnery, 2005) and A New Birth of Freedom (Regnery, 1999), a book of bold ideas for the new millennium. His newest book, co-authored by John Prevas, is Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today . . . and the Lessons You Can Learn (Crown Business, June 2009). (more) Steve Forbes Page Two
In 1985, President Reagan named Mr. Forbes Chairman of the bi-partisan Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). In this position, he oversaw the operation of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Broadcasting behind the Iron Curtain, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were praised by Poland's Lech Walesa as being critical to the struggle against communism. Mr. Forbes was reappointed to his post by President George H. W. Bush and served until 1993.
Steve Forbes was born on July 18, 1947, in Morristown, New Jersey. He graduated cum laude in 1966 from Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts. He received a B.A. in history from Princeton in 1970.
Mr. Forbes serves on the boards of The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the Heritage Foundation and The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He is on the Board of Overseers of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and on the Board of Visitors for the School of Public Policy of Pepperdine University. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of Princeton University for ten years.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
|
Mark Heesen - Speaker
|
 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.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
| Joel Adams - Panelist |
 Joel P. Adams – Managing General Partner, Adams Capital Management, Inc. Joel founded Adams Capital Management (ACM), an early-stage venture capital firm, in 1994 and has led its growth to over $815 million in capital under management. Before establishing ACM, Joel served for eight years as Vice President and General Partner of Fostin Capital Corp., a Pittsburgh-based, family-owned investment firm. Prior to Fostin, Joel served for seven years as a nuclear test engineer for General Dynamics, where he managed chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering teams and directed nuclear power plant sea trials. Joel's domain expertise includes distribution systems, information technologies, medical diagnostics and web services. He holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from SUNY at Buffalo and a M.S. in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University. Joel is a director of a diverse group of private technology companies, a member of several charitable organizations, a frequently requested speaker on the topic of venture capital, and a trustee of Carnegie Mellon University.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
| Lynn Gellermann - Panelist |
 Mr. Gellermann is a founding partner and president of Adena Ventures and a partner in Woodland Venture Management, a fund development and management company devoted to underserved regions of the nation. He brings 20 years of banking, venture capital and economic development experience to the Fund. Mr. Gellermann serves on the boards of directors for several of Adena’s portfolio companies, including Ed Map, Emergent Game Technologies, Sierra Novo and Game Plan Technologies. He also serves as an advisor to several entities at Ohio University, including the Edison Biotechnology Institute, the Game Research & Immersive Design Lab (GRID Lab) and the Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs. Gellermann earned his Bachelor’s from Hastings College and his MBA from the University of Colorado.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
| |
|
Koleman Karleski - Panelist
|
 Koleman Karleski is a Managing Director of Chrysalis Ventures, LLC.
Founded in 1993, Chrysalis Ventures is a leading source of equity capital for young growth companies in Mid-America. Chrysalis invests primarily in early-stage and expansion-stage companies in Media & Communications, Healthcare and companies focused on Emerging Trends & Technologies. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky [with offices in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Ann Arbor], Chrysalis has approximately $400 million under management and has invested in 60 companies.
At Chrysalis, Mr. Karleski’s focus is on investment opportunities in Healthcare and Emerging Trends & Technologies. He currently serves as a director of AfterBOT, Chronicity, ConnectivHealth, and MedServe, and also spearheads Chrysalis’ marketing and fundraising efforts.
In addition, Mr. Karleski has worked with numerous Chrysalis portfolio graduates including HealthMedia (sold to Johnson & Johnson), Aperture Credentialing (sold to a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group), Manorhouse Assisted Living (sold to LifeTrust Assisted Living), Primis (sold to LandAmerica Financial Group), and TechRepublic (sold to Gartner Group, Inc.).
Prior to joining Chrysalis in 1997, Mr. Karleski worked for Providian Corporation's Capital Management business unit with a focus on strategic planning and business development. He earned a BSE from Princeton University where he concentrated on operations research and financial engineering.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
| Seán D.S. Sebastian - Panelist |
 Seán Sebastian is the founding partner of Birchmere Ventures, a Pittsburgh-based $160 million fund family focused on early stage cleantech, medical, and technology companies. Sample investment he has led include CyOptics, FreeMarkets (sold to Ariba), Precision Therapeutics, MediaSite (sold to Sonic Foundry), NeoLinear (sold to Cadence Design Systems), and Safeguard Interactive (sold to Storage Technologies).
Seán has over 25 years experience in technology commercialization and management consulting. Previously at General Electric Information Services, Seán directed advanced technologies commercialization activities. He was also an applied artificial intelligence systems consultant for various public and private sector clients of American Management Systems.
Seán’s current and prior civic commitments include board roles at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh Technology Council, Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, and WYEP-FM.
Seán holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
|
Mike Stubler - Panelist
|
 Mike is a Managing Director and co-founder of Draper Triangle Ventures, an affiliate of Draper Fisher Jurvertson. Mike serves on the boards of Ayalogic, Unitask, TOA Technologies, ClearCount Medical Solutions and Inspired Technologies. Mike previoulsy directed the Fund’s investments in ClubCom (acquired by Amer Sports), Active Media (acquired by Precor), Renal Solutions (acquired by Fresenius, NYSE: FMS) and New Media (acquired by Zoom Media). Mike is a Director and Past President of the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association and a Director of the Ohio Venture Association.
Mike has over 25 years of experience with start-up technology companies both as a co-founder and early stage investor. Prior to Draper Triangle Mike spent the majority of his career serving as CFO of several successful technology companies, where he directed the financial and business operations, acquisitions, mergers and capital raising functions.
Mike was a co-founder and Vice President, Finance of IndustryNet, an early stage electronic commerce company, where he led the company in raising over $15 million in growth capital from strategic partners and nationally-known venture capital organizations prior to its merger with a division of AT&T.
Previously, Mike served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of International Cybernetics Corp., one of the nation's fastest-growing automation control companies, where he directed the financial operations and led the merger of the company into Gould Electronics in 1985. Prior to joining International Cybernetics Corporation, Mike was employed by Touche Ross & Company (presently Deloitte & Touche).
Mike graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA. Mike is an avid runner and has completed seventeen marathons.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
|
David H. Wells - Panelist
|
 David joined the Greentech investing team at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers in May 2006.
Responsibilities include knowledge mapping and opportunity sourcing across the entire landscape of Green technologies. Building relationships with scientists and entrepreneurs throughout the US and Europe, David has helped bring many ventures through the KP investment process including due diligence, investment structuring, goal setting, and team building.
Beginning with a collaboration with KP partner Bill Joy in 2004, David has built a detailed and diverse base of Greentech knowledge across multiple energy technologies and scientific disciplines, together with a matching knowledge base of resources, markets and incumbents. Every aspect of energy, planetary resources, and emissions has been studied in detail and mapped to target recognition of disruptive order-of-magnitude and tipping-point innovations.
David’s background includes ten years of technical experience in marine and shipboard engineering, and eight years building and selling a nation-wide business in Japan.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
| Bill Flanagan, Master of Ceremonies & Moderator |
 Bill Flanagan is Executive Vice President—Corporate Relations for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliated regional development organizations: The Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania LLC, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.
Bill supervises Investor Relations activities for the Conference and Affiliates, including fundraising, membership services and educational programming. He oversees organizational communications. In this role, Bill also hosts “Our Region’s Business” on WPXI-TV, WJAC-TV, WTOV-TV and the Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC), a program the Conference produces in partnership with Cox Television.
As Executive Director of Pittsburgh 250, the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the naming of Pittsburgh in 2008, Bill supervised a multi-year, 14-county initiative that included signature projects and events, along with grassroots initiatives planned by a 200 member commission and involving more than 300 partners and supporters.
Prior to joining the Conference in September 2001, Bill had covered the economy of southwestern Pennsylvania for almost 20-years, much of it as Money Editor of KDKA-TV, where he was Pittsburgh’s only broadcast reporter devoted exclusively to business and personal finance, and where he hosted “The Sunday Business Page.” Bill came to the region in 1982 as a general assignment reporter for the television station. He has written about personal finance for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and KDKA-AM.
A graduate of Northwestern University (B.S. Speech), Bill has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
He is a native of Dover, Delaware. Bill and his wife, Ann Devlin Flanagan, have two children, Mara and Will.
BACK TO TOP
|
|
|
|
