This will be a panel discussion with successful entrepreneurs, whom will share their thoughts on finding products, developing strategy, building teams and acquiring start-up capital. We will also hear from the allocator side of the equation and what types of firms are attractive to investors. Q&A will follow.
Driving Directions:
Between 50th and 51st Street in Rockefeller Plaza
Program
6:30 PM-7:00 PM: Networking
7:00 PM-8:00 PM: Panel discussion and Q&A
8:00 PM-8:30 PM: Networking, Coctails
Speaker Profiles
Morris Sandler (Panelist) '76
CEO, RePlanter Energy, LLC
http://www.replanter-energy.com/
Morrie Sandler is a serial entrepreneur, strategist and builder of more than 50 early stage companies, financed over $275 million in equity with an international focus primarily in financial services, green energy and telecom. RePlanter Energy builds, owns and operates biofuel plants that use locally available renewable biomass (wood trees, grass, etc) and converts it into synthetic gas for a cheaper source of fuel than a Utility's current liquid fuels like diesel, heavy oil, bunker, etc. The Company is concentrating on islands where there is no competition from natural gas, like, Hawaii, Jamaica, and most of the Caribbean and in Central and South America. He has extensive international business building experience in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. He has earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BA from Cornell University.
Vasu Kulkarni (Panelist)
CEO and Chief Intern, Krossover Analytics
http://www.krossover.com/
Krossover is a NYC based digital media and video analytics company that focusses on extracting meaningful data from video footage. The company's products convert raw footage into data-rich video clips that are searchable, sortable, and shareable over a number of devices. Prior to founding Krossover, Vasu was a member of the JV Basketball team at the University of Pennsylvania where he (barely) graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering and Entrepreneurship. Vasu is a basketball junkie, continuing to believe that he can be the first Indian to play in the NBA with his 7-days a week pick up routine. His moment of glory came when he sprained his ankle at Michael Jordan's summer camp and got a bro-hug from the Legend himself.
Andre König (Panelist) '04
CEO, BrainTracer LLC
www.braintracercorp.com
André is CEO of BrainTracer LLC, a mobile app for the treatment of depression. To this role he brings 10 years of consulting experience, most recently as Country Manager for SSA & Co, the leading operations consulting firm and inventor of the Six Sigma methodology. In that role he was responsible for starting and managing offices in Paris, London, Munich and Milan – working with clients in Commercial and Corporate Banking, Healthcare, Automotive, Industrial and Professional Services. Prior to that he led the brand transition from Six Sigma Academy to SSA & Co, and also supported the growth of its Private Equity practice founded in 2011. Previously, he worked at RCBG, a technology consultancy in Chicago, and Accenture in Paris.
André holds a MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a MS from ICN School of Management. He is fluent in German, French and English; and conversational in Italian.
Saurabh Sharma (Panelist) '10
Investment Professional, Lightbank
http://www.lightbank.com/
Lightbank focuses on early stage consumer technology, big data and digital health opportunities. Saurabh joined from from Barclays Capital where he was a Senior Associate in their Investment Banking Division. Prior to Barclays Capital, Saurabh led Business Development efforts at BenchPrep, a venture-backed digital learning platform. During business school, Saurabh co-founded a cleantech company focused on distributed & utility scale solar. Previously, Saurabh worked as an Investment Associate at ICICI Venture in Mumbai focusing on technology & healthcare. Saurabh also worked as an Investment Banking Associate at Lehman Brothers in New York & London, and as a High-Performance Computing researcher at INRIA in Paris. Saurabh holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.