Although these sessions are part of a series, faculty, staff, students and friends of Elon University are welcome and encouraged to attend any individual session. This week’s session:
What Do Corporate VCs Really Look For In Startups
Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 12:30-2:00 ET (9:30-11:00 PT)
Don Clark ( General Manager, NEC Corporation of America )
Paul Cummings ( Principal, Honda Strategic Venturing )
Julie Gerstenberger ( Director, External Alliances, Eastman Kodak Company )
Panelist Information:
Don Clark – General Manager, NEC Corporation of America
Don Clark is General Manager of Corporate Business Development for NEC Corporation of America. He leads Business Development and Licensing activities for NEC in the United States. Don has led licensing transactions in diverse areas as video analysis, performance analysis software and nanotechnology. Don received his BA from UC Davis and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
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Paul Cummings – Principal, Honda Strategic Venturing
Paul Cummings is a Principal of Honda Strategic Venturing (HSV), the corporate venture capital arm of Honda Motor Corporation based in Mountain View, California. HSV seeks investment opportunities in technology venture companies to establish the strategic foundation for collaborative partnership both to excel Honda’s innovative R&D and to help technology venture companies succeed in Honda’s product markets. Prior to joining Honda, Paul held various management positions with automotive tier 1 supplier Delphi; including, positions in mergers and acquisitions, business development and operations for a Japanese partnered joint venture. Paul also worked for Accenture in the Sydney, Australia office with the Strategy Consulting Practice. Paul holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, and BA from Michigan State University.
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Julie Gerstenberger – Director, External Alliances and Vice President, Office of the CTO
Kodak External Alliances strengthens Kodak’s competitive position by seeking out and leveraging targeted strategic innovation, technology and intellectual property primarily through alliances with universities, government laboratories and privately funded firms. To that end, Julie brings over 20 years of experience in product development and commercialization for a wide range of applications and markets, including some of Kodak’s earliest digital imaging systems. Her experience bridges strategic planning, business development, technical management, and project management. Within External Alliances, her investment focus has been on consumer imaging systems and services, including applications, devices, infrastructure and enabling technologies for consumer markets. Particular areas of interest include distributed media services and semantic systems. Julie holds an MS in Optics from the University of Rochester and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
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Note to Session I attendees:
Following presentations by each of the panelists, audience members may submit questions for each panel member or the panel as a whole.
The Creating and Funding University Startups web conference series is broadcast from the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2) and is presented by the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in cooperation with Elon University Executive Education and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.