Representatives from venture, private equity and industry will discuss the lifecycle of funding in the M2M space. From bootstrapping through angel/venture financing to private equity to exit in private or public markets, our panelists will share their experiences in this area.
PANELISTS:
Howard Smith
Managing Director, First Analysis
Howard Smith is a managing director coordinating investment and research in broadband enabled businesses. He specializes in business models based on information technology. At First Analysis, he’s built several information technology research franchises, including computer telephony, call center products, computer security, Internet infrastructure, and wide-area-wireless M2M. His work has been cited for excellence by the Wall Street Journal and other publications. He’s provided strategic advice to numerous technology companies in capital raising and buy- and sell-side M&A transactions, and as a board member. Prior to joining First Analysis in 1994, he was a senior tax consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a certified public accountant.
Mark Wells
CTO & Division President, Procon Inc.
Mark Wells Founder, Procon Inc. (formerly DriveOK) Mark Wells, a wireless telecom executive and entrepreneur, has a 25+ year history in the business, having worked with every part of the industry’s value chain. Mark has most recently founded several successful wireless businesses. In earlier stages of his career, some with Fortune 500 companies, Mark has been responsible for management of technology development, operations, marketing and sales, and finance at various stages of his career. He currently serves as Corporate CTO & President of Procon’s Commercial Fleet Division. He has also served as COO of Pacific DataVision, President & CEO of Zucotto Wireless, and VP/General Manager at DSP Communications as well as holding positions at IBM, Nokia and Novatel Wireless.
Michael Lenoce
Executive Director, Oppenheimer & Co.
Michael Lenoce is a executive director in Oppenheimer’s Communication and Cloud Services Investment Banking group focusing on M2M, Location Based Services and Cloud Services providers. He has undertaken numerous advisory, debt and equity transactions for leading Technology and Telecom companies including Alaska Communications, Avid Technology, JumpTV, Otelco, RigNet, Secure-24, SkyBitz, TeleCommunication Systems, Telular, MagicJack and Windstream Communications. Prior to joining Oppenheimer’s U.S. Investment Banking group, he worked in CIBC World Markets’ Canadian Mergers and Acquisitions group, executing transactions for Technology, Media and Telecom companies. He begun his career as an analyst in CIBC’s Equity Capital Markets group, involved in structuring and marketing IPOs, domestic and cross-border follow-on equity transactions. He earned a BA from Huron College at The University of Western Ontario and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Steve Pazol
VP & EIR, Qualcomm
Steve Pazol is vice president and entrepreneur in residence at Qualcomm, where he looks at new business opportunities and tries to bring just the right level of disruption to others. Most recently, Steve was the president of nPhase, a Verizon Wireless / Qualcomm joint venture, where he directed all aspects of the company’s operations, strategic development and execution. nPhase provides a cloud-based machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless platform across a wide variety of market segments, including healthcare, manufacturing, utilities, distribution and consumer products. A recognized thought leader and industry expert, Steve has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Chicago Innovation Award, was named one of the original 10 M2M Pioneers by M2M Magazine, and served as moderator of the first M2M web log M2Mblog (www.M2Mblog.com). He has written numerous articles in technology journals, was on the Advisory Board of M2M Magazine, was the technical editor of the Unicenter Advisor magazine for more than 7 years as well as guest editor of Internet Security Advisor. He is also the technical editor and co-author of Unicenter TNG for Dummies. A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Steve has also been a featured speaker and panel member at multiple Wharton School of Business, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and Northwestern Business School entrepreneurial classes. Prior to running the nPhase joint venture, Steve was vice president and general manager for Qualcomm’s Global Smart Services group, the business unit that provided the basis for the nPhase joint venture. During his tenure at Qualcomm, Steve also served as vice president of sales and as vice president of Worldwide OEM Channel Business for Qualcomm Enterprise Services. Steve is a seasoned entrepreneur and CEO with a 20+ year track record of successful startups in technology and emerging markets, including M2M, enterprise software and wireless technologies. In 2003 Steve started the original nPhase in Chicago, and served as CEO until Qualcomm acquired nPhase in 2006. In 2005, Steve founded Skychain LLC, a joint venture between nPhase and Air Products and Chemicals which focused on automated supply chain replenishment in the chemical industry. Steve was CEO of Skychain until 2006 when nPhase was acquired by Qualcomm. Prior to founding nPhase, Steve spent 15 years providing IT consulting and systems implementation services as President of Professional Consulting Services (PCS) which he started in 1988. He also cofounded Mehta & Pazol Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd. in Pune, India in 1992. Prior to founding PCS, Steve worked for Burroughs Corporation and Unisys Corporation in their consulting groups in Detroit and Chicago. Steve has been active with a number of civic organizations and is currently on the board of the San Diego chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. Steve has a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.M2M SIG CO-CHAIRS:
Evan Jones, VP, M2M System Engineering, Sierra Wireless
Daniel Obodovski, Founder, Diosys Technologies, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, DND Ventures LLC
Yukon Palmer, Founder, FieldLogix
Steve Pazol, VP & EIR, Qualcomm
Mark Wells, CTO & Division President, Procon Inc.
Neeraj S. Bhavani, Founder, President & CEO, TAGNOS
Magda Remillard, Director of Operations, Arynga
Steve Hudson, Chief Development Officer, Omnilink
Dermot O’Shea, Joint Managing Director, Taoglas USA, Inc.
Steven T. Chinowsky, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
DATE:
Tuesday, September 3rd 2013
TIME:
6:00PM Registration/Networking/Refreshments
6:30PM Program Begins
8:00PM Program Ends
LOCATION:
600 W Broadway, Suite 1800
San Diego, CA 92101
Driving Directions:
From 5 South
Exit Front Street – go straight after you get off the freeway
Turn Right on Ash
Turn Left on Kettner -go approx 2 blocks
Turn Left on B Street
Driveway to our parking garage will be on the right hand side, midway down the block. It is the only driveway on the block.
From Hwy 163 South
Exit Ash Street
Turn Left on Kettner -go approx 2 blocks
Turn Left on B Street
Driveway to our parking garage will be on the right hand side, midway down the block. It is the only driveway on the block.
**PARKING will be validated if parked in the Latham & Watkins parking garage following directions above. COST:
Pre-Registration: (Please pre-register by noon on 8/30/13)
$10.00 – CommNexus Sponsor***
$20.00 – Non-Sponsor
FREE – Mentor Sponsor**
FREE – Students, Military & Press*
At the Door:
$20.00 – CommNexus Sponsor
$30.00 – Non-Sponsor
FREE – Mentor Sponsor
FREE – Students, Military & Press
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SIG EVENT SPONSORED BY:
