VC Session and Business Networking

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Time:

2:00PM-5:00PM, April 15, 2011 (Sunday)

Location:

Room 305 (3rd Floor Russell Hall, inside the library. Take elevator to 3rd floor. The library is on the left. Rm 305 is at the back)
Gottesman Libraries, Teachers College, Columbia University
Address: 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027

Picture ID required for building security

Directions

Drive

Library is located at Russell Hall on 525 W120 Street (building between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave). You may park on the streets around campus or use the local parking garages.

Public Transportation

Five bus lines (M4, M5, M11, M60, and M104) and one subway line (the No. 1 local) serve the Columbia neighborhood. The Columbia stop for the buses and the subway No.-1 is 116th Street.

Campus Map

http://www.columbia.edu/files/columbia/content/morningsidecampus-2011-02-16.pdf

Admission

(Includes water and brief refreshments)

Student & Formal Members $5.
Early registration Non-members $10.0 per person
Walk-ins $15 at the door.

(Become a member when registering. Pay the $30 membership fee and you'll attend the event for free)

VC Session and A SOCIAL EVENT

Co-hosted by NACEA and CASE, we are pleased to announce a Business Card Exchanging & Networking event. A successful business depends on many things. Yet building a solid relationship and networking is a must. This event aims to create an amiable environment for people to exchange experiences and establish networking with other peers of the same interest. We will also invite a few investors to join us and share their insight on business. Join us for this summer gathering in a "cool" library room in Columbia University.

NACEA (North American Chinese Entrepreneur Association), is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization in NJ since 2006 and has been consistent in its dedication to serving the motivated entrepreneurs and professionals in the tri-state area. Over the years, NACEA have seen members start, grow and succeed in their entrepreneur endeavor. By offering variety of activities, the organization has helped in many ways to improve members' chances of success.

TheCASE (The Chinese Association of Startup & Entrepreneurs) is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization which promotes startup & entrepreneurs development for people who with Chinese heritage or with interest in China, thereafter to foster startup and business within/between China, USA and the world. Find more information at http://www.thecase.org.

Who Should Attend

Business owners who are seeking market, fundraising, or partnership
Investors who are looking for new business models and projects to invest
Service providers who provide services to entrepreneurs and start-ups
Professionals who wish to start their own business

Please prepare an elevator pitch/speech about your current business and needs. This self introduction should be limited within 2min/person.

AGENDA

1:30-2:00PM Registration
2:00-2:15PM Introduction of NACEA and TheCASE
2:15-3:45PM Moderated VC Panel Discussion & QA
VC Guests: Mark Tang, Alan J. Rude, Ron Paliwoda, Skyler Fernandes
3:45-4:00PM Break
4:00-5:30PM Business card exchange and networking

REGISTRATION

Limited to 40-50 people due to room space. Please register to reserve your seat. Feel free to contact contact@thecase.org or taoxtao@gmail.com, should you have any questions or input about the event.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Bio:

Ron Paliwoda, President, The Paliwoda Group, Inc.

The Paliwoda Group is a private investment firm providing services and support to a network of partner companies, including operational assistance, capital support, industry expertise, access to operational best practices and strategic business relationships.

Mr. Paliwoda focuses on investing in the equity of young companies with unique value propositions within the technology and life sciences markets, and in making controlling equity investments in companies that require immediate and significant restructurings or corporate divestitures.

Current portfolio companies include:

Horizontal Service Providers that automate and streamline non-core business processes.
Vertical Solutions Providers that coordinate and organize information within specific industries.
Operators of Online Media and Commerce sites that help consumers make more informed decisions, be more productive, and save money.

Alan J. Rude, President, R. W. Wentworth & Co., Inc

Alan Rude has over 30 years of senior level experience in securities sales and trading, corporate finance and entrepreneurial activities. He has held financial management positions at Celanese Corporation and American Home Products. He was a Senior Vice President of PaineWebber Inc., where he sold and traded money market instruments, U. S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Mr. Rude developed the term repurchase agreement product, which is now the basic short-term investment vehicle for money market funds and governmental agencies.

Mr. Rude's corporate finance activities include developing business plans; sourcing start-up and second stage venture capital investments, and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Rude received his BA in economics (with honors) from Cornell University and an MBA in finance from the Harvard Business School. He has been listed in the Who's Who in Finance and has taught finance courses as an adjunct professor in the New York University School of Continuing Education.

J. Skyler Fernandes, Venture Capitalist at Centripetal Capital Partners

J. Skyler Fernandes is a venture capitalist at Centripetal Capital Partners, an early stage venture fund with an innovative investment structure, that invests across industry sectors, such as internet, telecom, energy, and healthcare.

Since 2004, Centripetal has invested over $80M across 13 portfolio companies, and seeks to make 3-5 investments per year. Using an investment approach which maximizes returns, while limiting down-side risk, Centripetal targets and structures investments which generate on average a 30-50% IRR, and has to date yet to recognize a loss in any of its portfolio companies. In being opportunistic and with a belief in diversification, Centripetal maintains a portfolio broad in industry sectors and balanced in return multiples, ranging from 2-20x+.

Mr. Fernandes leads a number of global initiatives, including the Missing Middle Initiative, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, focused on creating funds that invest $100K-$3M, a critical financing gap for early-mid stage businesses globally. He is a venture mentor at ER Accelerator, a New York City incubator and works with a number of organizations to create global entrepreneurial eco-systems, such as angel groups, incubators, and entrepreneur fellowships, such as Endeavor and Echoing Green. Mr. Fernandes is a serial entrepreneur, co-founding several internet companies, as well as advising a number of startups.

Additionally, Mr. Fernandes serves as COO of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America (SACCA), where he focuses on facilitating trans-Atlantic business opportunities between the United Stated and South Africa. Previously, Mr. Fernandes worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse, in the asset securitization group at Societe Generale, and raised capital for Latin American corporations at Standard Bank. He graduated a year early from New York University summa cum laude, due to coursework at Harvard University where he studied Quantum Physics and Foreign Policy.

Mark Tang, Ph.D. MBA, Angel Investor, Managing Director and Chairman,WT Global Capital Inc, World Tech Ventures, LLC

Dr. C. Mark Tang is currently head of of World Tech Ventures, LLC, an international merchant banking and advisory firm specializing in financing and advising small medium enterprises (SMEs)in US and China/Asia, and Chairman of GCA Therapeutics, Ltd., a US specialty pharmaceutical company focusing in-licensing and developing drug for Chinese market.

Dr. Tang has is an entrepreneur, educator, and a life science and high tech investment banker. Dr. Tang has co-founded three successful ventures. Most recently he was a director and co-founder of a digital right management tech company which was acquired by a public company. Dr. Tang has previously worked in Wall Street in different capacities including equity research, investment banking, and asset management for over 15 years at major investment banks.

Dr. Tang is a co-founder and Chairman of the World Bio-technology Forum, through which Dr. Tang has provided educational conferences regarding bio entrepreneurship and venture financing in US and Asia. Dr. Tang has published two books and contributed regularly to international trade publications. He is also a frequent international speaker on various investment topics in US and China.

From 2004-2006, Dr. Tang was also an instructor and biotech director at Rutgers Business School, where he taught biotech finance, venture capital and business development courses. Dr. Tang was one of the first identifying Asia biotech as a growth area, wrote one of the first article on biotech equity risk management and one of the first book on investing in biotech sector. Dr. Tang had been an advisor for non-profit and science park in Asia.