Shai Agassi
The Israeli Electric-Car Start Up

Shai Agassi served as the president of product/technology and Board Member at SAP AG until March 2007. He was responsible for the global development efforts for all SAP products and SAP’s portfolio of industry-specific solutions. Before his appointment to the SAP Executive Board, Agassi was CEO of SAP Portals and later of the combined company SAP Markets and SAP Portals, which previously operated as a fully owned subsidiary of SAP AG. The subsidiaries were integrated into SAP AG in April 2002, at which point Agassi was appointed to the SAP Executive Board. Agassi, a software entrepreneur, founded TopTier Software (originally called Quicksoft Development) in Israel in 1992 and later moved the company’s headquarters to California. Agassi served the company in various capacities, including chairman, chief technology officer, and then CEO and was directly involved all the way through two acquisitions, first by Vanenburg Ventures and finally by SAP. In addition to TopTier Software, Agassi co-founded several other companies, together with his father, Reuven Agassi, including Quicksoft Ltd., TopManage, and Quicksoft Media.

Tom Baruch
Founder and Managing Director, CMEA Ventures

Mr. Baruch founded CMEA Ventures in 1989 as an affiliated fund of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and was one of the original investors in Aclara BioSciences (which merged with Virologic – NASDAQ: VLGC), Flextronics (FLEX), Netro (NTRO), Silicon Spice (acquired by BRCM), and Symyx Technologies (SMMX). He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alien Technology and Codexis, Inc., and also serves on the boards of ChemConnect, E-Markets, Entropic Communications, Foveon, Intermolecular, NewPath Ventures, Physiometrix, Raven, RF Magic, Symwave, Symyx, and Virologic. Tom's investment interests include the semiconductor, wireless and life sciences industries. Before starting CMEA, Tom was a founder and CEO of Microwave Technology, Inc. Just prior to that, he managed a dedicated venture fund at Exxon, and was President of the Exxon Materials Division. Earlier in his career, Tom worked as a patent attorney. Mr. Baruch holds an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Juris Doctor degree from Capital University. Tom is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Gadi Behar
Founder and Managing Director
Silicom Ventures, LLC

As Founder and Managing Director, Gadi Behar brings 25 years of business and management experience to Silicom Ventures, LLC. During the last seven years as Managing Director of Silicom Ventures, Gadi has been engaged in business planning, development, financial, recruiting and fundraising work for a variety of Silicon Valley and Israel-based startups - particularly in semiconductor, life sciences, software and information technologies. Gadi's vast network includes business leaders and investors in Silicon Valley, Israel and Europe, as well as relationships with the governments of Israel, Spain, Mexico and The Netherlands. In addition to being on the advisory board of several startup companies, Gadi has been instrumental in obtaining funding for over 40 companies to the tune of $26M, accompanied by $50M investment by institutional Venture Capital firms. Under his leadership Silicom Ventures has had 5 successful exits over the past 5 years and has grown to be the largest global business forum in the U.S.

Eric Benhamou
Chairman and CEO
Benhamou Global Ventures

Eric Benhamou is chairman and CEO of Benhamou Global Ventures, LLC. Benhamou Global Ventures, started in 2003, invests and plays an active role in innovative high tech firms throughout the world. Mr. Benhamou is also the chairman of the board of directors of 3Com Corporation. He is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD. He is also a visiting professor at Ben Gurion University. He served as chairman of the board of directors of Palm, Inc. from 1999 until 2007 and as chief executive officer of Palm from 2001 until 2003. Benhamou served as chief executive officer of 3Com Corporation from 1990 until 2000. Previously, he held a variety of senior management positions at 3Com. In 1981, Mr. Benhamou co-founded Bridge Communications, an early networking pioneer, and was vice president of engineering until its merger with 3Com in 1987. In 2003, Mr. Benhamou was appointed to the Joint High Level Advisory Panel of the U.S.- Israel Science and Technology Commission.

Kamran Elahian
Chairman & Co-Founder
Global Catalyst Partners

Mr. Kamran Elahian is a veteran entrepreneur with over twenty-eight years of experience in the high-tech industry. Kamran has co-founded ten high-tech companies , one venture capital firm (Global Catalyst Partners in 1999) and two non-profit organizations. Kamran is currently the Chairman of Centillium Communications, Planetweb, Actelis Networks, the Global Catalyst Foundation and Relief International - Schools Online, and is on the board of Beceem Communications, Ikoa, Melodis and Yoomba.

Uzia Galil
President and CEO
Uzia Initiatives and Management Ltd

Mr. Galil, a graduate of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and Purdue University in the USA was the founder of Elron Electronic Industries Ltd., and served as Chief Executive Officer of the company from 1962-1999. In 1999, Uzia Galil founded Uzia Initiatives and Management Ltd. and is presently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company, with the mission of helping regional innovations to become a global success by leveraging the experience and the global network of its management team and its partners worldwide. Uzia Galil has been awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees from Technion, The Weizman Institute of Science, Polytechnic University New York, Ben Gurion University, Solomon Bublick Prize Laureate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award by the Purdue University, USA and the Israel Innovation Award). In 1997 he was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for his contribution to the development of the Israel hi-tech industry.

John A. Harris
Commercial Counselor
Israel

John A. Harris presently serves as Commercial Counselor for Israel. Formerly John served as Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil. John also served as Commercial Counselor in Santiago Chile and Mexico City and as Consul for Commercial Affairs in the Consulate of the United States of America in Monterrey, Mexico. John has an equal wide range of experience in international business, marketing, finance and technology. Previous to the Foreign Commercial Service his activities have always been connected with high technology and international business. He started his business career in IBM where he served in the Americas/Far East Operating Division, mainly in international finance and treasury. After IBM he held positions of CFO, VP of Business Development, VP of International, Division President and Chief Operating Officer in several high technology companies.

Ted Hoff Ph.D.
The Inventor of the first Microprocessor
The Intel 4004

Dr. Hoff received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1958, an MS degree in 1959 and a PhD degree in 1962, both from Stanford University. In 1968 he joined the startup Intel Corporation, Although Intel was founded to develop semiconductor memory, in early 1969 it contracted to develop chips for a family of calculators to be sold under the name "Busicom." Hoff proposed a simpler design that included a simple general-purpose processor, programmed to perform various calculator functions. This alternate approach was accepted by the calculator company, and led to the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. In 1975, Hoff started a group to develop LSI for the telephone industry. That group produced the first commercially available monolithic CODEC, a device which converts voice signals between analog and digital representations. In 1983, Hoff left Intel to become Vice President, Corporate Technology at Atari. Atari, owned by Warner Communications was sold in 1984. Hoff is listed as inventor or co-inventor on 17 U.S. Patents. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his role in the development of the microprocessor.

Ron Huldai
Mayor
Tel-Aviv, Israel

Ron Huldai is serving his second term as mayor of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa. His vision for the city in the 21st century is to create an urban showcase for the benefit of its residents and Israeli society. Huldai served as a combat pilot during the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars, and later became commander of one of Israel’s largest Air Force bases. He has served as principal of the renowned Gymnasia Hertzlia, the first Hebrew-speaking high school in Israel.

The honorary Richard H. Jones
US Ambassador to the State of Israel

Ambassador Jones, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Jones had been serving as the Secretary of State’s Senior Advisor and Coordinator for Iraq Policy He also led U.S. diplomatic efforts on Iraq with the international community. Prior to assuming Jones served as US Ambassador to Kuwait from September 2001 until July 2004. From November 2003 until June 2004 he served concurrently as Chief Policy Officer and Deputy Administrator for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. Jones has also served as US Ambassador to Kazakhstan (from December 1998 until July 2001) and as US Ambassador to Lebanon (from February, 1996 until July, 1998. Previous postings include Director of the State Department’s Office of Egyptian Affairs (1993-95) and Director of its Division of Developed Country Trade (1987-89). He was twice posted to the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and has served in Paris and Tunis. Jones has Masters and Doctoral degrees in Business/Statistics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. He has been awarded two US patents and served two terms on the board of the Saudi Arabian International School in Riyadh.

Gal Luft Ph.D.
Executive Director
Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS)

Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) a Washington based think tank focused on energy security and co-founder of the Set America Free Coalition, an alliance of national security, environmental, labor and religious groups promoting ways to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. He specializes in strategy, geopolitics, terrorism, energy security and economic warfare. Newsweek Magazine called him a “tireless and independent advocate of energy security,” and Esquire Magazine included him in its 2007 list of America's Best and Brightest. Dr. Luft has published numerous studies and articles on security and energy issues in various newspapers and publications. He is a board member of the Center for Energy Defence and a member of the Society of Industry Leaders, the Committee on the Present Danger and other non-profit groups. He holds degrees in international relations, international economics, Middle East studies and strategic studies and a doctorate in strategic studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS,) Johns Hopkins University.

Rajeev Madhavan
CEO and Chairman
Magma Design Automation

Rajeev Madhavan has served as Magma's chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors since he co-founded the company in 1997, and also served as president until 2001. Madhavan presently serves on the board of directors for the Electronic Design Automation Consortium. Prior to founding Magma, he co-founded and served as president and chief executive officer of Ambit Design Systems, Inc. and co-founded and served as director of engineering of LogicVision, Inc. Madhavan received a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication from KREC, Surathkal, India, and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Queen's University, Ontario, Canada.

Chemi Peres
Managing General Partner & Co-Founder
Pitango Venture Capital

Pitango manages over $1 billion in committed capital, and invested in over 100 companies. Chemi founded and managed the Mofet Israel Technology Fund, a venture capital fund publicly traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. Prior to Mofet, he was VP Marketing & Business Development at Decision Systems Israel (DSI), and a Senior Consultant to Israel Aircraft Industries. He also served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force.He previously served on the boards of publicly traded companies and currently serves on the board of several Pitango portfolio companies. Until 2004 Chemi served as the Chairman of IVA (Israel Venture Association) and continues on its Executive Board. He serves on the boards of the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) Seed Fund; Weizmann Institute of Science as well as boards of non-for-profit organizations, such MATAN. Chemi holds an MBA and a BSC degrees in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tel-Aviv University. He serves as Board Member of Ramot- commercial arm of the University and is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Management.

Yair Shamir
Chairman and Managing Partner
Catalyst Fund

In addition to serving as Chairman and Managing Partner of Catalyst Fund, Mr. Shamir is also Chairman of IAI, Israeli Aerospace Industries. From 2005-2007, Mr. Shamir was Chairman of Shamir Optical Industry Ltd (NASDAQ: SHMR), From 2004-2005, Mr. Shamir served as Chairman of El Al, Israeli Airlines and lead the privatization process of the firm. From 1997- 2004, Mr. Shamir served as CEO of VCON Telecommunications Ltd. and from 2004 to date, serves as the chairman of the firm. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Shamir served as executive vice president of the Challenge Fund-Etgar L.P. From 1994 to 1995, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Elite Food Industries, Ltd. From 1988 to 1993, Mr. Shamir served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Scitex Corporation, Ltd. Mr. Shamir served in the Israeli Air Force as a pilot and commander from 1963 to 1988. During his term in the Air Force, Mr. Shamir attained the rank of colonel and served as head of the electronics department, the highest professional electronics position within the Air Force. He currently serves as a director of DSP Group Corporation (NASDAQ: DSPG) and also serves as a director of few private hi-tech companies as well as a director on the Board of the Technion. Mr. Shamir holds a B.Sc. Electronics Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

Barak Shein
Director of Business Development
Microsoft Israel R&D

Barak leads business development activities with Israeli startups and VCs. He leads Microsoft Israel R&D’s Industry Outreach and is the Israeli member of Microsoft’s Strategic & Emerging Business Team. Before joining Microsoft, Barak held various product management roles at startup companies such as Quigo, Textology, and VocalTec. Barak holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Tel Aviv University, and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

Yossi Vardi Ph.D.
Principal, International Technologies Ventures

Dr. Vardi is one of Israel’s high-tech veterans, with 35 years experience of founding and participating in building over 30 high-tech companies, in the fields of Internet, software, telecommunications, electro-optics, energy, and the environment. Several companies Yossi Vardi founded eventually went public, among them Advanced Technologies (Tekem - which became at the time the largest software company in Israel), International Technologies (Lasers), Granite Hacarmel and others. He is the principal of International Technologies, which engages in private high-tech investments for its own account. Yossi is the founding investor and the former Chairman of Mirabilis Ltd, the creator of the highly popular instant messaging program ICQ, which pioneered the internet-wide instant messaging phenomena, making it one of the most successful and popular Internet products of all times, with currently close to 400 million downloads. The company was acquired by AOL, to which he still serves as an advisor. He also serves as a strategic advisor to Amazon.

Stef Wertheimer
Founder
Iscar Metalworking

Stef Wertheimer has spent his life fostering the economic independence of Israel and promoting peaceful coexistence with its neighbors. Export manufacturing and education have been the vehicles to achieve these goals. The firm he founded in 1952, ISCAR, Ltd., is today one of the world's leading manufacturers of precision carbide cutting tools. Since 1982, Mr. Wertheimer has built six industrial parks: five in Israel and another in Gebze, Turkey. All of his parks are designed to promote export and to ensure a better quality of life. To encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs, they include incubator facilities, where start-up firms begin their operations. They also offer cultural facilities, schools, and aesthetic landscapes. In addition, Mr. Wertheimer has built designed residential communities near two of the parks. From 1977-1981, he served in the Ninth Israeli Knesset as a member of the DASH party, which he helped to found. He has received numerous international awards, but none is more meaningful to him than his nation's highest honor, the Israel Prize, awarded in 1991. He has held volunteer leadership positions at such distinguished institutions as Harvard University and the Technion. In addition, he has received honorary doctoral degrees from Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Daniel Zajfman Ph.D
President, Professor, and Scientist
Weizmann Institute

Prof. Zajfman was appointed associate professor at the Weizmann Institute in 1997 and full professor in 2003. Since March 2001, he has been an external member of the Max Planck Institute of Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, and in 2005, he was appointed Director in that institute. In November 2006, Prof. Zajfman was elected the tenth President of the Weizmann Institute by Institute’s Board of Governors. He assumed this position on December 1, becoming, at 47, the youngest president the Institute ever had. His research interests focus on atomic and molecular physics, with a strong emphasis on molecular breakup via electron or photon interactions. These issues are most relevant not only to the field of molecular dynamics, but also to the understanding of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. In essence, Prof. Zajfman wishes to determine how, under harsh conditions, molecules are formed in galaxy's diffuse and dense interstellar clouds. Prof. Zajfman and his colleagues work to solve the riddle of star formation by recreating interstellar conditions in a laboratory environment.

Ram Banin Ph.D

Dr. Banin was a co-founder and executive of several companies in Silicon Valley. Since 2000, he is providing Israeli technology companies ‘hands on’ management coaching and international business development. In 1992 Ram joined TCSI, a public software company, as general manager of its Telecom division, becoming president and CEO in 1997. In 1980 he co-founded Daisy Systems, which pioneered the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry. In a bold move for a young company, Ram opened Daisy’s R&D center in Israel that employed 150 engineers at its peak and became the model for future Israeli startups. In the early 1970s he participated in the development and deployment of the Arpanet, the ‘Granddaddy’ of today’s Internet. Banin holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, M.Sc. in Nuclear Physics and B.Sc. in Physics and Math from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Ruti Alon
General Partner
Pitango

Ms. Ruti Alon joined Pitango in 1997. With over 25 years of international experience in the high-tech medical industry. Ruti is a General Partner investing in life sciences companies. Pitango, is Israel’s largest venture capital fund with approximately $1.3 billion under management. She previously worked on Wall Street where she held senior positions with Montgomery Securities and Kidder Peabody & Co. As a senior medical device analyst, Ms. Alon was rated as one of the top in her field for four consecutive years. She also managed her own independent consulting business in San Francisco, providing broad-based services to early-stage companies and venture capitalists in the medical devices industry. Ms. Alon is the force behind the establishment in 2005 of ILSI, Israel Life Science Industry, a non-for-profit organization representing the mutual goals of approximately 800 Israeli life science companies. Ms. Alon is the current Chairperson of ILSI. Ms. Alon has a B.A. in Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an M.B.A. from Boston University, and a M.Sc. from Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons.

Sam Arditi
Chairman
Tigo Energy

Sam Arditi is a successful entrepreneur who spent 6 years at Intel after the acquisition of DSPC, the company he managed (Symbol: DSPC). Arditi's most recent role at Intel was the Vice President and General Manager for the Cellular and Handheld Group (CHG). In late 2006 CHG was sold to Marvell for 600 million dollars. Prior to his position with CHG, Arditi was the head for Intel Capital Investment and Business Development of the wireless group (about 2 billion dollars in revenues). Before joining Intel, Arditi was CEO and co-founder of CTP Systems, a company specializing in satellite and wireless systems. The company merged with DSPC and Arditi was appointed as the General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of DSPC. Under Arditi's leadership, DSPC was acquired by Intel, setting the record as the largest ever cash acquisition by Intel. In 1995 Arditi founded ComBox, a cable communications company, and served as the Chairman of the board. In February 2000, he lead the acquisition of ComBox by Terayon, a publicly traded U.S. company. In 1995, he received the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation Award for the most successful deal between a U.S. and Israeli company for that year. Investment Interest in Solar, telecom, wireless, consumer electronics.

Yossi Bachar Ph.D.
Managing Director
Dr. Yossi Bachar, Economic Consulting & Business Development

Dr. Joseph (Yossi) Bachar is the managing director of Dr. Yossi Bachar, Economic Consulting and Business Development Ltd. Dr. Bachar was appointed Director General of the Finance Ministry in November 2003. As Director General at the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Bachar led most of the major economic affairs of the Israeli Government. Among other things, he was in charge of advancing structural reforms and privatization processes. Dr. Bachar also led the international affairs of the Finance Ministry, in particular - the economic dialogue with the American Administration. Prior to joining the Government, Dr. Bachar served as Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen in Israel. In 2002, following the dissolution of Arthur Andersen Worldwide, Dr. Bachar led the process of repositioning the Andersen practice in Israel and later – its merger with Ernst & Young. Dr. Bachar served as a faculty member at the Business School of Tel-Aviv University. He also was a faculty member of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. Dr. Bachar holds a B.A. in Economics and Accounting from the Hebrew University and an Israeli CPA license. Dr. Bachar received his MBA and Ph.D. in Finance from the University of California (Berkeley).

Haleli Barath
Founding Partner
Eitan Mehulal Law Group

Haleli Barath is one of the founding partners at the law firm of Eitan Mehulal Law Group.  The firm is a leading corporate finance and commercial law firm with an emphasis on cross border transactions.
Haleli’s practice focuses on corporate law, financing, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, cross-border strategic partnerships, joint ventures, technology transfer and licensing transactions, governmental and other tenders, regulatory and telecommunications and intellectual property. Haleli’s practice is such that she is deeply involved in the strategic decision-making and implementation levels with her clients, both on the commercial and on the legal level. Ms. Barath serves as General Counsel to several high profile clients and provides strategic counseling at board level to such clients. Ms. Barath represents fortune 500 international corporations, investors (funds and wealthy individuals) and several mid size and fast growing enterprises in a wide range of industries including software, retail, medical and bio, communications, semiconductors, cleantech, homeland security, plastics and automobile sectors. Haleli periodically lectures at Universities and various business forums on corporate and business law, and technology and regulatory issues.

Ronit Bendori Ph.D.
General Partner
Evergreen

Ronit joined Evergreen in mid 2000 as a General Partner. Ronit focuses on Evergreen's investments in the healthcare sector. Ronit is a former Vice President and QA/QC Director of Pharmos Ltd. (NASDAQ: PARS). Prior to that Ronit held senior positions as an expert in technology transfer at InterPharm Ltd. (Israel) and Ares-Serono (Switzerland). As one of its most experienced figures, Ronit is an active promoter of Israeli health care industry. She was one of the founders of the Israeli Biotechnology Organization (IBO), and an adviser to the former Chief Scientists at the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade on biotechnology issues. Currently, she is a member of the National Committee for Biotechnology and a member of the advisory board of the Israeli Scientific American. Ronit has taught biotechnology in various institutions, including the Israeli Center for Management and Weizmann Institute of Science. She has a Ph.D in molecular and cellular biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Ronit initiated and was responsible for Evergreen's investment in Colbar, which was sold to Johnson & Johnson for $160M. Ronit represents Evergreen on the boards of Transpharma, Niti, Activiews, CorAssist and Neurosonix.

Isaac Berzin Ph.D.
Founder
GreenFuel Technologies

Isaac Berzin is a highly respected authority in clean energy. Dr. Berzin has been named one the 100 most influential people in politics, business, and science in 2008 by the Time magazine. He was nominated “as a representative of all the scientists and entrepreneurs working on solutions to global warming." Dr. Isaac Berzin is the founder of GreenFuel Technologies in Cambridge, MA (www.GreenFuelonline.com). GreenFuel's energy farms employ biotechnology to recycle carbon dioxide from flue gases to produce biofuels (biodiesel, ethanol). His innovative work in CleanTech and BioTech has won several awards – including the 2006 Platts Global Energy Award for Energy Emission Project of the Year and the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Bio-Based Fuels Technology Innovation of the Year Award – and been widely highlighted by, among others, the MIT Energy Research Council, American Scientific Frontiers, National Geographic Magazine and the Boston Museum of Science.

Doron Birger
President and CEO
Elron

Mr. Birger has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Elron since August 2002, President since September 2001, Chief Financial Officer from 1994 to May 2002 and Corporate Secretary from 1994 to September 2001. Mr. Birger is Chairman of ChipX Corporation as well as a director on Given Imaging, Galil Medical, RDC, NetVision, Teledata, AMT, Starling, Wavion, Jordan Valley, AqWise, Neurosonix and Pocared. From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Birger was Vice President-Finance at North Hills Electronics Ltd., an advanced electronics company. From 1990 to 1991 Mr. Birger served as Chief Financial Officer of Middle-East Pipes Ltd. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Birger served as Chief Financial Officer of Maquette Ltd., a manufacturer and exporter of fashion items. From 1981 to 1988, Mr. Birger was Chief Financial Officer and director at Bateman Engineering Ltd. and I.D.C. Industrial Development Company Ltd. From 1979 to 1981, Mr. Birger was the Chief Financial Officer of Fibronics Ltd.

Meir Brand
Country Director
Google Israel

In Sep 2005, Meir Brand was appointed to set up and lead Google's operations in Israel as Country Director for Google Israel. Brand has a 12 year successful track record as a business and marketing executive with leading global companies such as: Microsoft, Booz Allen & Hamilton, and P&G. He is an experienced internet veteran and joined his first Internet company in 1999 as Business Development Manager at Excite@Home and later as VP Sales and Marketing for ICQ (AOL Timewarner). Meir holds a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard University Graduate School of Business (Honors) and B.A in Economics from Tel Aviv University (Magna Cum Laude). Brand has lived and worked in Europe, Israel and the U.S and speaks English, Hebrew, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Tim Connors
General Partner
US Venture Partners

Tim Connors joined USVP in June 2001. He focuses on early stage investments in the IT sector. Prior to USVP, Tim was a Partner at Sequoia Capital. Tim's operating experience spans seven years in engineering, marketing, manufacturing and sales roles at successful high-growth start-ups like C-Cube Microsystems and large companies like Tandem Computers. Tim is currently a Director of 4info.net, Adify.com, Guidewire Software, M-Factor.com, Right90.com, and Yoomba.com. Tim conceived of and co-founded Spoke.com. Previously, Tim was a Director of Redline Communications (LSE: REDL), ClickShift.com (acquired by WebTrends), StorePerform (acquired by Red Prairie) and SupplierMarket.com (acquired by Ariba). Tim serves on the Board of Advisors of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship at Notre Dame. Tim received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

Charles Cooper
Executive Editor
CNET News.com

Charlie Cooper is an executive editor and columnist with CNET News.com, an award-winning technology news site. Cooper produces News.com's daily podcast and also runs the Commentary and Newsmaker sections. He was the 2002 winner of the Excellence in Journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists for Northern California. He previously worked at ZDNet, PC Week, Computer Shopper and Computer & Software News. Cooper also worked as a sports reporter for the Associated Press. He has a Masters Degree in Political Science from Columbia University.

Ora Dar Ph.D.
Head of Life Sciences, Office of the Chief Scientist
Ministry of Industry and Trade, Israel

Dr. Ora Dar currently serves as head of the Life Sciences sector at the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Israel. Her responsibilities include evaluating the technology and market potential of R&D projects performed by industrial and research companies and academic institutes. She also provides recommendations for granting support by the Office of the Chief Scientist, defines the technical objectives, and is responsible for budget concern and follow-up. Ora is also a consultant for Biotechnology to the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Israel. She promotes and defines R&D frameworks to advance the industry. Ora has completed 15 years of academic research at the following institutes: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv University Medical School, University of London, and The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Boaz Dinte
Managing Partner
Evergreen

Mr. Dinte joined Evergreen in 1996. He is a Managing Partner and focuses on Evergreen's investments in the communications and semiconductor sectors. Prior to joining Evergreen, Mr. Dinte was a Corporate Business Development Manager for M-Systems Ltd., a global leader in flash-disk memory Boaz initiated and was responsible for Evergreen's investments in Exalink which was acquired by Comverse, Metalink, P-cube that was sold to Cisco and Envara that was acquired by Intel. Boaz is currently acting as a board member in BigBand Networks, Etagon, Pontis, Montilio, Exanet, and Xcitel.
He holds a B.Sc. in electrical engineering, specializing in computer design and communications, from the Technion, and has an MBA, Magna Cum Laude from Tel Aviv University.

Amir Elstein
Executive Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Resources
Teva

Amir Elstein serves as Teva's Executive Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Resources, at The Office of the CEO as of March 2007. Amir Elstein joined the Office of the CEO since January 2006, and assumed responsibility for overseeing the generics global supply chain.  Amir Elstein serves as Teva's Group Vice President – Global Specialty Pharmaceutical Products since January 2006. He served as Teva's Group Vice President - Biogenerics from January 2005 to January 2006. Mr. Elstein was a director of Teva from 1995 to 2004. Amir Elstein was the General Manager of Intel Electronics Ltd., Jerusalem from 1998 to 2004. He received his B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from the Hebrew University in 1980 and his M.Sc. in the Solid State Physics Department of Applied Physics from the Hebrew University in 1982. In 1992, he received his diploma of Senior Business Management from the Hebrew University.

Gonen Fink
Co-Founder and CEO
Pythagoras Solar

Before founding Pythagoras Solar, Mr. Fink was at Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP) for twelve years as Vice President of Products (R&D) and Vice President of Solutions & Strategy. As one of Check Point's first employees, Mr. Fink was instrumental in building the company from an early stage start-up to a multi-billion dollar global market leader in Internet Security. Prior to Check Point, Mr. Fink served for seven years in the Israeli Defense Force's elite intelligence unit as a Captain and continued as a special consultant to the Ministry of Defense. Mr. Fink holds a B.Sc. summa cum laude in Physics and Computer Science and M.A. in Digital Philosophy from the Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Gerd Goette
Managing Partner
Siemens Venture Capital, Inc.

Gerd is a Managing Partner, based in Palo Alto, CA. He specializes in investments in energy, communications and industrial solutions.
His investments include Broadlight, Dune Networks, IP-Unity Glenayre, Kagoor Networks (acquired by Juniper Networks), Myrio (acquired by Siemens), Reactive NanoTechnologies and Verimatrix. In addition he manages SVC’s investments in G2 Microsystems, Prenova and SmartSynch. With more than 20 years of worldwide industry experience, he combines a strong technical background with wide-ranging operational skills. Prior to joining Siemens Venture Capital in September 2000, Gerd held the position of Vice President and Head of CableTV Solutions in Siemens Information and Communication Networks. Additionally, Gerd's managerial and operating expertise stems from earlier focus on R&D, system integration, product line management, technical sales support, project management and general management in the fields of telecommunication equipment and solutions.Gerd received a master’s degree in electrical engineering (Dipl. Ing.) from Technical University Darmstadt, Germany.

Ehud Hausman
Senior Partner, Head of the Hi-Tech Department
The Reinhold Cohn Group

Ehud Hausman heads the hi-tech department of The Reinhold Cohn Group, the largest, earliest established intellectual property firm in Israel. The Hi Tech a department handles a wide range of technologies including physics, software, hardware, electronics, medical devices etc.
Ehud has extensive experience in various aspects of intellectual property, including strategic consultation on the management of intellectual property assets for multinational companies, leading industrial companies and start-up companies.  He has gained professional experience as a software engineer in various capacities in the hi-tech industry. Ehud specializes in protecting inventions in the fields of computer science, physics and electronics, specializing, in particular in: communications and telecommunications, internet, cellular technology, databases, multi-media and other software, hardware, and integrated systems and processes; semiconductor devices and semiconductor related processes; medical devices and methods of doing business. In addition, Ehud lectures on intellectual property at Israeli academic institutes and additional forums. Ehud is personally recommended in the International Guide Chamber & Partners. They refer to him as ".. respected by peers and clients for his expertise in physics, electronics and medical device matters. He has experience as a software engineer and is considered “brilliant, meticulous and the lawyer to see for great advice.” He has a strong reputation for successfully handling patent matters".

Tal Lavian Ph.D.
Principle Scientist
Innovations- IP

Dr. Lavian brings 20+ years of innovation to the high tech industry. He teaches Patent Innovations at UC Berkeley Engineering. Dr. Lavian has been doing his research in the UC Berkeley RAD Lab, focusing on Datacenter communication. He has served as a DARPA Principal Investigator for three projects and as the Technical Chair of the Patent Committee for Nortel’s Enterprise Data Business Unit. Dr. Lavian has been facilitating the generation of hundreds of inventions. He conceived 63 invention disclosures, has issued 16 patents and has an additional 11 pending. Dr. Lavian co-authored more than 20 publications, journal articles, and peer-review papers. He serves as a Principal Scientist of Innovations-IP, focusing on innovations and patent consulting. Dr. Lavian leads scientific analysis of inventions and patents to defeat claims of patent infringements. He provides unique expertise in locating prior art in technical publications and Ph.D. dissertations to prove invalidity through Obviousness. He is specialized in the technology areas of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering related to Networking, Telecommunications, and the Internet. He holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Computer Science & Networking with a minor in Patent Law.

Leonardo Leiderman Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Tel Aviv University

Leonardo Leiderman is Professor of Economics at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel Aviv University, and the Chief Economic Advisor of Bank Hapoalim. Previously, for two-and-a-half years up to October 2002, he served as Managing Director and Head of Emerging Markets Economics at Deutsche Bank, based in New York and London. Prior to that, from 1996 to 2000 he was Senior Director and Head of the Research Department at the Bank of Israel. Leiderman (who was born in Argentina, and is a citizen of Israel) joined Tel Aviv University in 1979, after completing his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago under the supervision of Nobel Laureate Professor Robert E. Lucas, Jr. From 1988 to 1991 he was Chairman of the Economics Department, and from 1994 to 1996 he headed the Pinhas Sapir Center for Development at Tel Aviv University. Over the years, Leiderman visited various entities especially in the US, such as the University of Chicago, Boston University, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the IADB. Professor Leiderman has also consulted for various central banks and ministries of finance. Leonardo Leiderman's published work includes more than 70 articles in professional journals and books, and 7 written or edited books. His research has covered an ample list of topics within the areas of macroeconomic policy, monetary theory, and international finance.

Shmil Levy
Partner
Sequoia Capital Israel

Shmil Levy is a Partner with Sequoia Capital Israel and focuses on semiconductor, software and systems investments. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 2000, he was the President of Lucent Technologies’ Internetworking Systems Division. Shmil joined Lucent following Lucent's acquisition of Lannet where he served as the President and CEO. Shmil joined Lannet as VP for R&D. Shmil also served as VP of Madge Networks. Before joining Lannet, Shmil held senior technical positions at IAI, Boeing and Astronautics in the area of Avionic Systems. Shmil has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Ben Gorion University.

Shlomo Maital
Academic Director
TIM-Technion

Shlomo Maital was a summer visiting professor for 20 years in MIT Sloan School of Management's Management of Technology M.Sc. program, teaching over 1,000 R&D engineers from 40 countries. He is the author co-author or editor of 8 books. He is co-editor of a new journal, International Journal of Technology & Innovation Management Education. He was co-founder of SABE-Society for Advancement of Behavioral Economics. He has published over 80 scholarly articles in refereed journals. He has written guest editorials for Barron's, and writes regular columns for The Marker (Haaretz business daily) and Jerusalem Report (fortnightly). He served as Director of the National & Economic Planning Authority, Economics Ministry, Government of Israel. He has taught managers from 200 Israeli companies. His research currently focuses on profit-driven innovation -- how to combine creativity and discipline to achieve marketplace success.

David Naveh, Ph.D., M.B.A

Dr. Naveh has worked for Bayer Corporation since 1992 and currently serves as Chief Technical Officer of Bayer Biological Products, Worldwide. Prior to Bayer Corporation, Dr. Naveh served in the capacity of Process Development and Plant Management at Schering Plough from 1984 to 1988 and Director of Operations at Centocor from 1988 to 1992. Dr. Naveh has participated in the development and commercialization of a number of FDA approved drugs including: Intron, Reopro, Remicaid, Myoscint, Centoxin, Kogenate, and Kogenate-FS. He currently holds seven patents including first authorship of key GM-CSF and IL-4 patents. He is a graduate of Technion in Haifa, Israel in Food Engineering(1980). He received a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in 1982. From 1982-1984, he was an Assistant Professor (tenure track) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he taught plant design and biophysical chemistry. He has authored over 30 peer reviewed papers and is on the editorial board of "Bioseparations." Dr. Naveh has been on BOD's of public and private companies since 1995 , and is passionate about Higher Education in Israel, windsurfing ,and gourment dining. David is highly involved in the Israeli Biotech scene, where he recently closed a half billio dollar deal between Bayer and a privately held Biotech startup called Zilip.

Ajit Nazre Ph.D.
Partner
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Ajit joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 2003. His areas of investment are enterprise software and services, new materials and greentech. Ajit came to KPCB from SAP. At SAP he worked for Dr. Hasso Plattner, CEO, Chairman and co-founder, SAP. He co-founded SAPMarkets in 2000, a fully owned company of SAP, and was Managing Director of SAPMarkets Americas. In 2002, he was SVP of SAP's New Venture Unit, SAP Inspire. Prior to SAP Ajit worked in the medical device industry, first at Zimmer, Inc., a division of Bristol Myers and Squibb, and then at Mathys AG (Synthes) in Switzerland. Ajit has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering Poona (COEP), India. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech, a PhD in Biomechanics from the Technical University of Hanover, Germany and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Eli Opper Ph.D.
Chief Scientist
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, Israel

Eli Opper has been the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor in Israel since July of 2002. Previously he was a partner at Giza Venture Capital (2000-2002) and held numerous top positions during his time with RAFAEL (the Armament Development Authority) from 1973 to 2000. His key official positions as Chief Scientist include Co-Chairman of the Board on U.S.–Israel Science & Technology Foundation, U.S.–Israel Science & Technology Commission and BIRDF (U.S.–Israel R&D Foundation), EU-Israel Joint Committee of the Scientific Technological Agreement. Dr. Opper also serves as Chairman of the board on CIRDF (Canada–Israel R&D Fund), BRITECH (Britain–Israel R&D Fund), KORIL (Korea–Israel R&D Fund), SIIRDF (Singapore–Israel R&D Fund) and Chairman of the Board of 10+ Bi-National Committees for Industrial R&D (France, Italy, etc.). He has written 14 papers in journals and at conferences and more than 50 internal papers at Rafael. Eli is a member of numerous professional committees at Rafael and with other major organizations in Israel. He has lectured in the areas of Computers, Communications, R&D, Technology and Management at Rafael and at other business and academic organizations throughout the world.

Zeev Pearl
Managing Partner
Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer LLP

Zeev Pearl is one of the founding partners and the managing partner of Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer ("PCZL"). PCZL is a leading full service intellectual property law firm with offices in Israel and New York providing intellectual property, litigation, corporate and commercial legal services (www.pczlaw.com).  Zeev has over 15 years of experience serving as in-house and outside counsel advising clients on diverse areas of intellectual property including patent prosecution and portfolio management, hostile licensing and litigation, and related licensing and commercial transactions. Zeev graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Geology.  He earned his M.Sc. at the Weizmann Institute of Science where his thesis involved the application of analytical chemistry to archeology.  He then worked on a Ph.D. thesis in physical chemistry involving the application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to visualization of fluid mixing processes for several years until he decided to focus on a career in law earning his Ll.B. from Tel Aviv University in 1992.  He is admitted to both the Israel bar and the Israel patent bar is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  He is the author of a number of scientific and legal articles and a member of LES, INTA, AIPPI and AIPLA.

Daniel Ruben
Physician, Entrepreneur and Investor

Dr. Daniel Ruben is a member of Silicom Ventures advisory board. Most recently he was at Aurec Capital in Israel where he was Managing Director of Fastercures-Israel, an organization that globally engaged in translating biological research into clinical therapies. He served as a Venture Partner at the Yozma Group, one of the first Israeli VC firms, where he was responsible for life sciences investments in Yozma III, and advised Ofer Bros. Ltd., one of Israel’s largest conglomerates, and NAIOT, a technology incubator regarding their investments in medical device and biotech companies. Prior to his years in Israel, Dr. Ruben was in California where he had an active medical practice, served as department chairman at Sherman Oaks Hospital & Burn Center, developed a multi-specialty medical group and a health services management company. He has accumulated a wealth of experience managing physicians, executive and clinical professionals and has active experience in advising private and public life science companies. Dr. Ruben received his Bachelors Degree in Bacteriology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), his MD from the University of Texas, his Master’s degree in healthcare policy and research (MPH) from UCLA, and his MBA from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). His residency training is in Internal Medicine and clinical research & epidemiology.

Mordechai "Mudi" Sheves Ph.D.
Vice President for Technology Transfer
Weizmann Institute of Science

Prof. Mordechai Sheves studies the “chemistry of vision” – how light energy is converted into chemical energy, or vision. Born in Tel Aviv, Prof. Sheves studied chemistry at the university level, earning a B.Sc. degree in 1969 at Bar-Ilan University (Ramat Gan, Israel) and M.Sc. (1973) and Ph.D. (1978) degrees from the Weizmann Institute of Science. While still a graduate student, he became interested in the relationship of chemistry to vision. His postdoctoral work with Prof. Nakanishi of Columbia University, a leader in this field, further fostered his interest in the subject. In 1981, Prof. Sheves returned to Israel and the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Organic Chemistry, where he was appointed Associate Professor in 1987, and Full Professor in 1994. In 1992, he served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana), where he worked in the Beckman Institute and in the Department of Biophysics. From 1994 to 2004, Prof. Sheves headed the Weizmann Institute’s Chemical Research Support, which comprises 11 separate service units; from 2004 to 2006, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, and in December 2006, he was appointed Vice President for Technology Transfer. Prof. Sheves is the recipient of numerous awards.

Doron Simon
President and COO
Vasucorp

Doron Simon is a member of Silicom Ventures advisory board. Mr. Simon has held numerous operational and customers support positions as well as sales management in Tower Semiconductors Ltd. since it’s inception in 1993 till 2001. Since April 2001 He served as President of Tower Semiconductor USA, Inc. and Corporate VP Marketing, overseeing the foundries sales, marketing and business development activities world wide till 2006. Prior to this phase Mr. Simon was employed by National Semiconductor in various planning and production control management positions.  Recently Mr. Simon has joined a new start up in the embedded controls domain. Mr. Simon holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt Business School, Edinburgh, UK and B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the Technion, Israel.

Nava Swersky Sofer
President and CEO
Yissum

Ms. Swersky Sofer joined Yissum at the end of 2005, bringing to the position twenty years of venture capital, industry and legal experience gained in Europe, the United States and Israel. She was a partner at Sanderling Ventures (California) and Concord Ventures (Israel) and founded Columbine Ventures in Israel. Prior to moving into the venture industry 12 years ago, Ms Swersky Sofer was a vice president and member of the senior management group at Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) at the company’s worldwide headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. She holds a law degree from the Tel Aviv University; an MBA from IMD International in Lausanne, Switzerland; diplomas from the Goethe Institute (Munich), the Instituto Trentino (Italy) and the Sorbonne (Paris); and is a member of the Israel Bar Association. Ms Swersky Sofer chairs the board of Atox Bio and currently sits on the boards of Novagali, Tiltan Pharma, BioCancell Theraputics, Optonol, and several other privately-held companies, as well as the non-profit regional development organization Bio-Jerusalem.

Benjamin Soffer
Head of the Technology Transfer Office
Technion

Mr. Soffer serves as head of the Technology Transfer Office at the Technion Research and Development Foundation (TRDF). Prior to the Technion, Ben served as Managing Director at TopNotch Capital – a leading life sciences investment banking boutique. During the years 1999-2003 Ben served as Israel's Economic Attache` in New England and as representative of the Bi-National Industrial R&D (BIRD) Foundation, and the Israeli Industrial Cooperation Authority (ICA).
Prior to his tenure in Boston, Ben served as special advisor to Israel's Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Prior to joining the private sector Ben has worked as a legal advisor to one of Israel's leading investment and real estate groups. Ben is a gratudate of the Tal Aviv University and is certified as a lawyer in Israel and the state of New York.

Ehud Spiegel
Founder
Mobilliance - Mobile Applications Consulting and Solutions

Ehud Spiegel has over 20 years experience in leading and managing technology development and solutions deployment, with deep experience in the mobile sector acquired by serving in key-positions at mobile ventures over the last 10 years. In early 2007 Ehud have established Mobilliance consulting, to help ventures in Israel for successfully developing and deploying their mobile applications to the global market. The last two positions Ehud held prior to establishing Mobilliance were Director for Customers Solutions at Mobixell Networks, responsible for deployment of multi-servers Transcoding systems at leading mobile operators, and CTO of Zlango Inc. that is delivering innovative messaging applications to the mobile and internet markets. Prior to these Ehud served at leading positions, of which some as a founder,  in various ventures that have developed innovative solutions for the Internet, Telecom, Electronic pre-press and Video post-production markets. Ehud has participated in the invention of numerous patents, and has actively contributed to world's standards, as part of his work in the MPEG, 3GPP and OMA comities on behalf of companies he served. Ehud holds a BSc in Electronic & Electrical Engineering and a BA in Economics, both from Tel Aviv University.

John Steuart
Managing Director and Co-Founder
Claremont Creek Ventures

John has spent the last 20 years managing, building and investing in technology and life science companies. John focuses on the intersection of the information technology and life sciences markets including bioinformatics, molecular diagnostics, genomics, proteomics software and instrumentation for med-tech industries. John serves on the board of directors of Arcxis, Tibion, Fluxion, Gene Security Network & Wired Benefits. Early in his career, he joined Alafi Capital, an Emeryville-based venture firm specializing in early-stage biomedical companies, where he served as an officer of the General Partner. At Alafi, John lead investments in more than a dozen successful start-ups, and served as the senior executive and board member of various firms such as Tanox, Software Ventures, Lipomatrix, and Megan Health. In the mid-90s, together with colleague Nat Goldhaber, John helped start Cybergold, an Internet marketing and payments company, serving as the early COO and CFO through its IPO, merger with Mypoints and sale to United Airlines. John continued with the Mypoints unit of United serving as the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.

Dan Vilenski
Former Chairman
Applied Materials Israel

Mr. Vilenski is responsible for the successful integration in Israel of three independent subsidiaries for leading American high tech companies: Kulicke and Soffa (K&S), KLA Instruments and Applied Materials. All three firms operate in the field of semiconductor capital equipment and employ a combined total of 1500 employees in Israel. Mr. Vilenski served for four years (1993-1996) as Executive Director of the Israel - US joint Bi-national Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, spearheading innovative industrial cooperation between Israeli and US high tech companies. During the period of his management, the BIRD Foundation created about 160 unique cooperation programs. Mr. Vilenski received his B.Sc. in 1964 and his Mechanical Engineering M.Sc. in 1967 from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. From 1967 to 1969 he was a staff member at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and subsequently began as a design engineer at Kulicke and Soffa in Philadelphia. He eventually served as a Vice President at K&S. From 1985 to 1992, he served as the Vice President and General Manager of KLA Instruments in Israel.

Zohar Zisapel
Chariman
RAD Data Communications

Mr. Zisapel is Chairman of RAD Data Communications, which he founded in 1981 together with his brother. Since then, RAD has grown into a group of 15 companies with aggregate sales of $640 million in 2005. Six of those companies are traded on Nasdaq. Prior to founding RAD Mr. Zisapel served as head of the Electronic Research Department of Israel’s Ministry of Defense. He received bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the Technion and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Zisapel served as Chairman of the Israel Association of Electronic Industries.

"Entrepreneurship in super-competitive markets"

Lower funding requirements, global economy and the availability of VC money make it easier to start a company, that is good news for you... and for your competitors. Whether it is in advertising, e-commerce, social networking or any other market, you are likely to compete with dozens of companies. What can you do to improve your chances?  

Amir Ashkenazi
Co-Founder and CEO
adap.tv

Amir drives the overall strategy and manages operations for Adap.tv. Most recently, Amir was Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Shopping.com (formerly DealTime.com), a leading online shopping service that helps consumers make informed purchasing decisions by comparing products, prices, and stores Web-wide. Amir launched and successfully led Shopping.com's technology and research efforts. Shopping.com completed an initial public offering in October 2004; the company was later acquired by eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) in August 2005. Previously, Amir was Director of Research for CommTouch Software. He studied Computer Science and Economics at Tel Aviv University.

"Patent Pending"

Joseph Bach
Partner, Intellectual Property and Technology
Nixon Peabody LLC

Mr. Bach has more than a decade of legal experience in all aspects of intellectual property law, including patent prosecution and litigation. Joseph has developed methodologies for, and counsels clients on, efficiently building and managing effective patent portfolios. Joseph has successfully handled and managed cases in a broad range of technologies and has litigation experience before the International Trade Commission and federal courts. Joseph was formerly Senior Director of Intellectual Property at Applied Materials, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company's intellectual property internationally. He hold a law degree from the Duke University School of Law and a B.S. Engineering and Applied Science from California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

"Semiconductor Nanocrystals; Building Blocks for Devices in Nanotechnology"

Semiconductor nanocrystals manifest unique size, shape and composition dependent properties with both basic and applied significance. They serve as a model system for the evolution of properties from the molecular regime to the solid state, and are emerging as building blocks of devices in Nanotechnology. The potential of combined hybrid metal-semiconductor photocatalysts in solar energy harvesting will be discussed.

Uri Banin Ph.D.
Professor and Founding Director
Kreuger Center for Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, Hebrew Univ.

Uri Banin received his B.Sc. degree in Physics and Chemistry from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) in 1989, graduating with honors. He completed his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at HU in 1994 working on femtochemistry (with distinction). He then moved to the University of California at Berkeley to work for three years as a postdoctoral fellow, studying the chemistry and physics of semiconductor nanocrystals. Dr. Banin joined the faculty of the Institute of Chemistry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1997, became an Associate Professor in 2001 and full professor in 2005. Banin is the founding director of the Harvey M. Kreuger center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at HU and also serves on the University’s Executive Committee. He is a member of the board of Yissum , served on the scientific advisory board of Nanosys, and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) in the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. His distinctions include the Intel prize for a Ph.D. student (1992), the prize of the Israel Chemical Society for a graduate student (1993), and the Rothschild postdoctoral fellowship (1994-1995). Banin received many awards, including the Israel Chemical Society prize for a young scientist (2001), and the Kaye prize for applied research (2005). His research focuses on nanoscience and nanotechnology of nanocrystals.

"Raising Money from Silicon Valley VCs:
The Top Ten Mistakes Israeli Entrepreneurs Often Make"

Why great entrepreneurs either receive unfair valuation or fail to raise money from Silicon Valley VCs. The mistakes Israei entrepreuners often make when managing a VC fund rasing campaign. The seminar will include examples of great entrepreneurs raising VC funds for promissing companies who have failed due to making common mistakes.

Amos Barzilay Ph.D.
Walden International Investment

Amos Barzilay has been a Venture Capitalist with Walden International a top VC firm in the Silicon Valley since 2001. He has evaluated hundreds of start-ups and has been a board member in a dozen companies. He also has been an angel investor and an entrepreneur. Some of his exits include Kiva (sold to Netscape for $180m), Rightworks (sold to ICG for $1.3B), Mergent (sold to CommerceOne for $200M) and Business Signatures (sold to Entrust). Dr. Barzilay has an engineering degree from the Technion in Israel and a M.B.A. and Ph.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

"Trends in advanced post 45nm Semiconductor Industry"

As the semiconductor industry marches to full production ramp of 45nm technology node we will address several issues relating to the future of the industry.. Could we possibly continue with Moore's law? Inflection point in several  major building blocks of MOS device i.e. high k, metal gate, mobility enhancement etc. Snap shot of the industry in 5 years due to the high cost of R&D and the skyrocketing cost of new manufacturing facility. What are the next killer apps?

Israel Beinglass Ph.D.
Managing Director
ISB Ventures

Dr. Beinglass has over 25 years experience in the semiconductor manufacturing and semiconductor equipment industry in different management roles. Dr. Beinglass joined Applied Materials in 1989 and served in a variety roles at the company. He was most recently in charge of the strategic marketing and competitive analysis group for the Thin Films group. He also served as the general manager of the High temperature films and a managing director and a CTO for the Front End equipment group, the process diagnostics and control and Applied Materials global service. Dr. Beinglass was involved in numerous M&A activities and was a member of Applied Materials Strategy and Marketing councils. Before joining Applied Materials, Dr. Beinglass worked at Intel Corporation and IMP at a various positions, including process development manager and engineering manager of fab operations. While working at Intel he was the co-inventor of the Selective Tungsten Deposition. Dr. Beinglass has a Ph.D degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in materials science and holds 27 US patents.

"Technology Enabled Services"

The application of information technology – particularly communications, processing, analytics and storage has reshaped service businesses such as payroll processing, payment systems and freight logistics and will transform more sectors of the economy in coming decades.   Israeli entrepreneurs can tap into this burgeoning trend by utilizing their technical innovation and by leveraging the increasingly flexible infrastructure to sell into the global market place. 

David J. Blumberg
Managing Partner
Blumberg Capital

David Blumberg brings more than 22 years of investing experience in venture capital backed technology companies including Zoran [ZRAN], ABIC - acquired byTeva [TEVA], Vista Research – acquired by McGraw Hill [MHP], PureSight - acquired by Boston Communications Group, Inc. [BCGI], and GoNetworks - acquired by NextWave Wireless [WAVEX].
Prior to founding Blumberg Capital in 1991, David managed technology investments with Claridge Investments, Adler & Co., Apax, and T. Rowe Price Associates. David’s operational experience includes launching the highly successful business development, marketing, and public relations efforts for CHKP in the US and Japan, helping build a substantial revenue stream prior to its IPO. David earned his AB in Government, cum laude, from Harvard College and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and INSEAD. David speaks French and is proficient in Hebrew and Spanish. He serves as a member or observer on the Board of Directors of CaseStack, Siperian, Damballa, Insightix and Correlix. He also serves on the board of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco and is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

early-stage, innovative, information technology companies across a range of sectors including technology enabled services, software, internet, networking, security, mobility and communications.

 

early-stage, innovative, information technology companies across a range of sectors including technology enabled services, software, internet, networking, security, mobility and communications. early-stage, innovative, information technology companies across a range of sectors including technology enabled services, software, internet, networking, security, mobility and communications.

"Partnering with Cisco"

"Cisco is famous for its partnership and acquisition strategy. But navigating through its large organization can be daunting. How do you reach the right people, generate interest and build momentum? Baruch Deutsch came to Cisco through an acquisition 4yrs ago. He has since been involved in several partnerships and acquisitions. Baruch will share his experience and insights on partnering with Cisco."

Baruch Deutsch
Senior Director of Product Marketing (WAAS)
Cisco Systems

Baruch Deutsch holds product marketing responsibilities for Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) product line. These products optimize the delivery of applications, services and rich media over the wide area network (WAN). Since launching the products in Sep’2006, the team under Mr. Deutsch drove revenue growth to over $200M per year. Prior to joining Cisco, Mr. Deutsch was the VP of Products at Actona technologies. The company had R&D operations in Israel and sales/marketing operations in the US.  Mr. Deutsch established the company US operations and was responsible for the definition and customer delivery of its WAN optimizations products. Actona was acquired by Cisco Systems in August of 2004. Prior to joining Actona, Mr. Deutsch served as a VP of Products at two other companies – a dot com company focused on the semiconductor space and an eLearning company. Mr. Deutsch was a Director of Marketing at Cadence Design Systems, where he was responsible for system-level design tools for semiconductors.  Mr. Deutsch holds an MBA and MSEE degrees from Tel Aviv University, and a BSEE from the Technion, Israel.

"Start-up Seed Funding, Angels or VCs, Best Practices"

1) When angel or VC seed funding is appropriate
2) How to pitch to each of angels or VCs
3) How to structure angel funding to be follow-on VC friendly

Ted Driscoll Ph.D.
Venture Partner
Claremont Creek Ventures

Ted Driscoll is a Venture Partner at Claremont Creek Ventures. He is also an active angel investor and managing director of the Sand Hill Angels, a 50-person angel group. Prior to his venture capital experience, Ted helped found five successful companies in imaging- related markets. He was founder and CEO of Be Here Technologies, a pioneer in Internet, Broadcast and Videoconferencing technologies. He served as a Division President and CTO of Diasonics, with responsibility for its MRI, ultrasound, digital X-ray, lithotripsy and acoustic ablation technology areas. He had earlier directed the Diasonics technology team that developed the first commercial MRI scanners and numerous advance in MR imaging. Previously, Ted was also Vice President of Engineering and R&D of Identix, now a world leader in fingerprint and face recognition, and Director of R&D at International Imaging Systems, an early pioneer in remote sensing. His research and patents in ultrasound therapy and acoustic hemostasis also led to the founding of another company, Therus, now partnered with Boston Scientific. A wide variety of investment interest, ranging from Web, to Medical Device and Informatics, to Security.

"How to Optimize a Company Exit in the $5 to $30 Million Range"

Not every exit is in the $billion range.  A success can be achieved even with more modest numbers.  Exiting under $30 million can be very challenging, because of lack of support from the investment banking community.  Learn the fundamental differences in the exit dynamics of a high tech private firm in this range versus larger transactions.  Learn how to optimize your company exit even in that lower range. Learn the things to look for, and things to avoid.

Adi Gamon
Director
Nif/T, LLC

Adi Gamon has over 20 years experience in high-tech enterprises, both mature and start-up. He serves on the Board of Directors of Effective Rewards, EquipNet (sold to MKS), GlobalFactory, and MyDTV, as well as on the Advisory Board of RightOrder; he is a very active Board member, working closely with and advising the entrepreneurs. He was CEO of Carnelian, Inc., the first spin-off from Paul Allen's Interval Research, which developed an Internet-enabled customer-communications system. Previously, Adi was co-founder and co-manager of Chip Express Corporation, where he was responsible for all the business activities of this semi-custom chip start-up, including fund raising, finance, marketing and sales. He has also served time in executive and management positions in larger companies such as AT&T Paradyne (VP and General Manager) and Texas Instruments. He started his involvement in high tech flying for the Israeli Air Force. He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science, Math and Economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

"Green IT-- What does it mean?"

The exponential growth in the use of Information Technology (IT) has grave green consequences. What is green IT and what does it mean for my organization? This presentation, based on extensive research conducted by Gill and Sayeed, focuses on 6 issues: (1) the range of initiatives that can be defined as Green IT, (2) the reasons for organizations to adopt Green IT measures, (3) the relationship between organizational resources and Green IT, (4) the potential for IT governance as a vehicle to promote Green IT, (5) the readiness of organizations to implement Green IT measures, and finally (6) the maturity levels of organizations with respect to Green IT efforts.

Sam Gill Ph.D.
Professor of Information Systems
San Francisco State University

Dr. Gill’s IT career spans five decades of computing from the infant days of MAMRAM, the Israeli Ministry of Defense Computing Center, through his latest professional engagements as a consultant to fortune 1000 companies and state and federal agencies. During this span, Dr. Gill has been involved in several IT start-ups as well as managed several computing centers. Dr. Gill’s latest venture was DataWiz Centers, one of the first Microsoft Solution Provider partners and the first Microsoft certified training partner. Dr. Gill publishes (articles, books, and courseware) and teaches in the planning, architecture, design, development, and implementation of information technology solutions. He has recently co-authored two books: “Climbing the Ladder of Business Intelligence” and “CIO Perspectives”. Currently, Dr. Gill, in collaboration with Dr. Lutfus Sayeed, is conducting a very large research effort into Green IT.

"Evaluating the performance of Cyclical Businesses"

When business is good, the tide raises all ships and everybody is a genius. When the tide rolls back out, management are bums, even though some of the most skillful management is done in downturns. But it is possible to separate out great management from good management by focusing on quantitative improvements to a company¹s business model, independent of where they are in the cycle. We will show how to perform this cycle-independent analysis with examples from the semiconductor capital equipment industry.

Lance Glasser
Senior Advisor
KLA-Tencor

Lance Glasser is presently an industry consultant and Board member of D2S. He is also a senior advisor at KLA-Tencor. Previous positions at KLA-Tencor include Chief Technical Officer, Group Vice President of the Wafer Inspection Group, and Vice President and General Manager of RAPID, the Reticle and Photomask Inspection Division.Before joining KLA in 1996, he was Director of the Electronics Technology Office at the Advanced Research Projects Agency. His responsibilities included all electronics technology at ARPA. Lance is also co-founder of the iNEMI, the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative. Before coming to ARPA as a Program Manager in 1989, he spent one year as a Visiting Senior Researcher at Hitachi Central Research Laboratories in Tokyo.He was a member of the faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1980 until 1988. In addition to numerous articles and patents, he has written, with Dan Dobberpuhl, The Design and Analysis of VLSI Circuits. He is the 1986 recipient of the ASEE Frederick Emmons Terman Award.

 

"Lesson learned: Selling an Israeli startup to a US corporation"

I will share my experience, first as part of an Israeli startup that was acquired by a US corporation, and later when I was involved with acquisitions and integration of other companies for five years.
I will present the  initial steps of how we organized pre-acquisition, key items we focused on, the acquisition process until closing and the post acquisition activities. I will provide tips and recommendations based on hands-on experience.

Ron Hadar
President and COO
Tigo Energy

Ron Hadar currently serves as President and COO of Tigo Energy, a Silicon Valley based start up that develops Software and Hardware products for the Photovoltaic Solar, balance of system market. Prior founding Tigo Energy, Hadar was a Vice President and General Manager at MKS Instruments (NASDAQ MKSI), Control and Information Technology product group (CIT) which combined six multinational MKS acquisitions. Hadar led the integration and turnaround which resulted in successful and profitable business units. Prior to MKS , Hadar was co-founder and CEO of Tenta Technology, a US-Israeli based company that developed control system solutions for semiconductors capital equipment and which was acquired by MKS during 2002. During the time at Tenta Technology, he founded Tega Systems, an integration and final test facility, based in Karmiel Israel. Prior to Tenta Technology, Hadar worked at Applied Materials in Santa Clara and Israel, in various positions, including system engineering and operations. Hadar also serves as a board member of Neoclarus , an on-demand software company. During the past ten years Hadar lives in Cupertino California with his wife Esther and their three kids Lior, Tal and Noa. Investment Interest in good people,, good market and good plan.

"Evaluating start-up and early stage companies"

This seminar outlines major pointers for effective “due diligence”
1. Strong management team with seasoned and savvy entrepreneurs.
2. Large target markets with ability to generate significant enterprise value.
3. Clear value proposition; reason for customers to buy must be compelling.
4. Methodical, reasonable growth expectations with the team’s ability to build accurate financial projections.
5. Defensible products with advantages of time to market and better technology.

Sam Haddad Ph.D.
President and Principal Consultant
HTCS

Dr. Sam David Haddad has evaluated 42 start-up and early stage companies for venture capitalists and angel investors to determine pre-IPO funding. Dr. Haddad is a Consulting Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University since 1990 and he served as president of Silicon Valley Engineering Council for two years and for 4 years as chairman of Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame. Formerly, he occupied executive positions at Solectron WW NPI, Lucas CAV Fuel Injection, EPRI, Anatrol Noise & Vibration Corp., Cummins Engines and at Daura Oil Refinery. Dr. Haddad has over 30 years experience in engineering R&D, management consulting, new product development and in leading training courses for major Fortune 500 companies. These include Applied Materials, IBM, nVidia, SAIC, NASA Ames, EPRI, US Navy & Army and several multinational companies. Since 1974, Sam has consulted in noise and vibration control, diagnostics, electronic cooling, predictive maintenance and coaching CEO’s and entrepreneurs of start-up companies. S Dr. Haddad holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering with honors and a Ph.D. in Engineering from Southampton University in UK.

"Leveraging emerging technologies and new markets to satisfy corporate needs"

Our business in Silicon Valley is TTB, Technology -to-Business" for Omron Corporation.  We try to realize the business through "Collaborative Innovation"  By introducing the Omron's technologies and business I would like to capture potential partners.

Kimihiko Iwamura
President
Omron Silicon Valley

Mr. Iwamura has been leading Omron Silicon Valley since 1996 as general manager and president. Mr. Iwamura is a fund management and cross-border business development professional with extensive experience in Silicon Valley that built a broad and deep network among VCs and start-up companies in the valley.He also has successfully developed extensive relationships with universities and national laboratories. His business relationships include not only with companies in the U.S. but also with Japanese corporations. Previously, he was with Fuji Xerox for more than 15 years as a strategic planning manager. Mr. Iwamura holds a B.S. in physics from International Christian University in Tokyo.

"Patents – why and how?"

What patents are about, what you can do with them in a startup, and how you can get them - a short presentation, followed by a workshop/discussion.

Dan Kikinis
Founder
Lextron Systems

Dan Kikinis is a member of Silicom Ventures advisory board. Dan Kikinis is the Chief Intellectual Property Officer of iSurfTV. Mr. Kikinis has more than 20 years of experience in the development of high-technology products and intellectual property, with more than 250 registered patents worldwide in technology areas such as PCs, Net/Web, networks, and systems. Before joining iSurfTV, Mr. Kikinis was founder and President of Lextron Systems, where he helped develop intellectual property strategy as a basis for strategic technology claims for several enterprises, most notably Genesys Telecommunications Labs, Inc., in 2000 acquired by Alcatel. Prior to founding Lextron Systems, Mr. Kikinis was President of Elonex Technologies, with a mission to deliver best-in-class systems and raw patent technology in the general field of PC computing. In addition to designing award-winning PCs, as well as Enterprise Software, he filed and participated in filing for more than 500 patents, some of which are now widely licensed. He received a BS in Electronic Engineering and an MS in Computer Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

"Exploring for Innovation: what does it take?"

Technology firms must innovate to succeed long term, but internal R&D may not be sufficient. What should such firms do to be able to find valuable IP externally?

Raphael Klein
President and CEO
Itonix, Inc.

Raphael Klein is a member of Silicom Ventures advisory board, a private investor, and currently involved in studies of technology transfer from university to industry. From 1978 to 2000 he was CEO of Xicor, Inc. (Integrated Circuits). Prior to Xicor, Mr. Klein was Technology Development Manager in Intel Corp. Between 1975 to 1976 he was Technology Development Manager at Fairchild Semiconductors. Before that, Mr. Klein was Process Engineering Manager at National Semiconductors Corp. From 1971 to 1974 he was Process Engineering Manager at Monolithic Memories Inc. Previous to Monolithic Memories, Mr. Klein was Technology Development Engineer at Tadiran Semiconductors (Tel Aviv, Israel). Mr. Klein has B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

"Updates on the real-estate and infrastructure markets in Israel"

Danny Lustiger
CFO
SHIKUN&BINUI – Arison Group

Danny Lustiger currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Housing and Construction Holding Company Ltd.  From June 2004 until May 2007 he served as Chief Financial Officer of Optibase Ltd.. Prior to this position, Mr. Lustiger served as Vice President Finance and President of Optibase Inc. from July 2001 and November 2003. From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Lustiger held the position of Group Controller and Financial Manager at Optibase Ltd. From 1993 to 1996 Mr. Lustiger held the position of an accountant and auditor at Igal Brightman & Co. (currently Brightman Almagor & Co., a member of Deloitte & Touche Tomatsu International). Mr. Lustiger is a Certified Public Accountant in Israel. Mr. Lustiger holds a B.A. degree in Accounting and Economics and an MBA in Finance and International management from Tel-Aviv University.

"The Orthopaedic Market"

Worldwide, musculoskeletal conditions remain among the most costly illnesses to treat, consuming on average three percent of total gross domestic product in developed countries. The orthopaedic market is dynamic and growing at a faster rate than population growth. I will outline the orthopaedic market, the major players, market segments, and future directions.

Amir Matityahu, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor, Trauma/Pelvic & Acetabular
UCSF/SFGH Orthopaedic Trauma Center

Amir Matityahu was born in Israel and moved to Palo Alto, CA in 1978 where he learned English as a second language and matriculated through Palo Alto High School. He received his bachelor of science degree in Kinesiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) in 1992 and graduated from the Hahnemann University Medical School in Philadelphia in 1997. He received his orthopaedic residency training from Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. In 2002, he further trained in Orthopaedic Traumatology through a fellowship at the Adams R. Cowley Shock Trauma Center, a world-renowned trauma center. In 2003, Dr. Amir Matityahu joined the staff at UCSF/SFGH. He is presently the Director of Pelvis and Acetabular Trauma Reconstruction at San Francisco General Hospital and is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of California, San Francisco, (UCSF). His clinical areas of interest are high-energy complex periarticular fractures, pelvis and acetabular fractures, and the polytraumatic patient with orthopaedic injuries. His research interests include the bio mechanics of fracture fixation and the post-traumatic hip joint. In addition, Dr. Matityahu is constantly developing innovative and minimally invasive surgical techniques to speed healing and return patients back to work and athletes back to the field more quickly.

"Healthcare Technology / Streamlining Healthcare Deliveries"

Current trends in applying web based technologies to deliver efficiency in healthcare.

Barak Mevorak, MD
Co-Founder
Advanced Medical Reviews Inc.

Dr. Barak Mevorak is a co-founder of Advanced Medical Reviews Inc., which provides productivity enhancing capabilities for managed care organizations.  He has over thirteen years of experience with the U.S. healthcare market, and healthcare technology, providing fully integrated, innovative, web-based applications and technology solutions that help modernize the internal operations. Dr. Mevorak received his Bachelor’s Degree in Physiology at UCLA in 1992. He completed one year of post-baccalaureate training, with an emphasis in Public Health, at Harvard University. He obtained his Medical Doctorate from St. George’s University. Dr. Mevorak has clinical training in Internal Medicine and completed a residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UCLA. Dr. Mevorak’s clinical experience includes inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services, industrial medicine, and he is a Qualified Medical Examiner. He served as Director of Pain Management and Occupational Medicine, where he directed interdisciplinary pain management and rehabilitation programs, and was responsible for development of a comprehensive industrial medicine program. 

"Intellectual Property Issues and Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions of Technology Companies"

Mergers and acquisitions of technology companies often trigger many issues related to the protection of intellectual property assets – perhaps the most important asset being acquired. Over the past several years there is a growing awareness among the players in the industry of the need to identify potential risks in such transactions. Such problems may result from the acquisition of ownership of intellectual property assets and rights (e.g. patents, designs and trademarks) that may infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, thus putting the investment at risk, or ensuring that the intellectual property rights and assets being purchased can be legally protected, and are not within the public domain.   

Yoav Oestreicher Ph.D.
Partner, Head of Corporate Law Department
Gilat, Bareket & Co., The Reinhold Cohn Group

Dr. Oestreicher heads the Corporate Law Department of Gilat, Bareket & Co. of The Reinhold Cohn Group, the largest, earliest established intellectual property firm in Israel. Dr. Oestreicher's work includes many aspects of intellectual property law, mergers and acquisitions, patent, trademark and copyright litigation, corporate law, antitrust law, commercial law and  international transactions.  He holds a doctorate degree from Duke University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Israel and the United States, where he has gained extensive experience practicing in New York and Charlotte, representing Israeli and international clients, ranging from young technology companies at the entrepreneurship stage, via corporations in the field of technology, telecommunications and biotech.  In addition, Dr. Oestreicher holds a position as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Haifa and Bar Ilan Universities in Israel and lectures in additional forums.

"IP Protection and Licensing from a Founder, Inventor and CEO Experience"

The seminar will provide practical guidance to obtaining an effective patent including important information which you will not here from your lawyer. The seminar will follow on to some key issues and pitfalls in licensing IP.

Zvi Or-Bach
Founder and Board Member
eASIC

Zvi Or-Bach founded eASIC in 1999 and served as the company's first CEO for 6 years. He achieved traction and validation for the No-NRE ASIC products with 24 hours from RTL to tapeout, raising capital from leading investors Vinod Khosla and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Buyers (KPCB) in successive 3 up-rounds. Under Or-Bach's reign, eASIC won the prestigious EE Times' 2005 ACE Award for ultimate product of the year in the Logic and Programmable Logic category. Or-Bach is also the founder of Chip Express Corporation (now called Chipx) and served as the company's President and CEO for about 10 years, managing both the headquarters in USA and the subsidiary in Israel, bringing the company to $40M revenue and to be recognized for 3 consecutive years as a high-tech fast 50 company. Or-Bach has been leading innovative developments in fast-turn ASIC for over 20 years. His vision led to the invention of the first Structured ASIC architecture, the first laser-based system for 1 day semiconductor customization and to the first Structured ASIC fabric at eASIC.Prior to starting Chip Express, Or-Bach held engineering management positions at Elbit Computers, Ltd., Israel (subsidiary of Elron) and Honeywell (Lexington, Massachusetts). Or-Bach served in the Israeli Defense Force (1975-1980) as Captain, in charge of Image Processing development and Electro-Optical Systems.

"How to Develop a Quality Patent Portfolio with Low Upfront Cash,
at 1/10th of the Effort"

Developing a patent portfolio for a private high tech firm consumes a fair amount of engineering time and cash. Not developing a patent portfolio, besides reducing its value as a firm, makes it very vulnerable to competitors. In addition, assuring getting patents approved requires further investments in time and money.  Learn the fundamental factors about patent portfolio development and how to achieve optimal results by balancing technical, legal and business aspects. Also, learn how to develop a patent strategy, and things to avoid.

Demetris Paraskevopoulos
Managing Director
Nif/T, LLC

Paraskevopoulos has been managing Nif/T during the last ten years. He has over 35 years experience in high tech development and management, in start up company environments as well as large corporations. His experience ranges from new product development and introduction, to extensive operational management in marketing and sales. In addition, he has extensive accomplishments in business development and strategic negotiations. His previous roles included General Manager of Tower Semiconductor USA, Inc. and VP of Business Development at an Internet related startup firm. Earlier positions were VP of Marketing and Sales at National Semiconductor and he held several management positions in technology management and operations at Xerox Corp. Dr. Paraskevopoulos has 4 patents issued and over 40 professional publications. He is currently an active member of various professional associations, including the Silicon Valley Band of Angels and the Association for Corporate Growth; he has served, or currently serving, on six Boards of Directors.

“Coming to America - Global Mobility and the Immigration Puzzle”

What you need to know about ensuring a successful transfer of executives and key employees from Israel to the US, as well as the hiring of local talent in the US in light of the ever-changing US Immigration policies

Mechal Perl, Esq.
Baker & McKenzie, LLP

Ms. Perl is an associate with law firm of Baker & McKenzie LLP (“B&M”).  Based out of their Silicon Valley office, she is part of the Global Migration and Executive Transfer Practice Group.  B&M, one of the largest law firms in the world, provides sophisticated legal services to many of the world’s most dynamic global organizations for over 50 years.  It has more than 3,600 internationally experienced lawyers in 38 countries. Ms. Perl’s law practice focuses in the field of business immigration law, and she is a member of the firm’s Compensation and Employment Law practice Group.  There she works closely with the high tech community, providing representation on the immigration needs of companies, from small start-up phases to large multinational corporations. Ms. Perl earned her LL.B from the Metropolitan University in Manchester, UK in 1998, followed by a LL.M from the University Of Santa Clara, CA in 1999. She spent a few years working as a corporate attorney in NYC, prior to joining B&M in June 2006.  Since joining the firm, she has lectured on business immigration related issues in many firm organized professional seminars, as well as regularly authors articles in the firm and legal publications.  She is admitted to both the CA and NY Bar Associations, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

PowerDsine story is about invention, innovation, IPO in NASDAQ, M&A and all in between...a young company that needed to re-invent itself 4 times, raised private money 5 times, went public twice, and its mezzanine round was schedule to be closed at Sep 11th 2001... PowerDsine founders led the company from inception through all stages, and finally sold the company for $250M in a public to public transaction.

Igal Rotem
Co-Founder
PowerDsine

Mr. Rotem co-founded PowerDsine (PDSN) in 1995 and served as CEO and director from inception until January 2007. PowerDsine pioneered the innovative Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology and is the global leader of this space. Mr. Rotem led all private funding rounds of PowerDsine as well as successful NASDAQ IPO in June 2004. In October 2006, he led the acquisition of PowerDsine by Microsemi Corp (MSCC) for $250M. Prior to co-founding PDSN, he managed Butterfly Communication that was later sold to TI for $50M. The company was one of the world pioneers in providing Bluetooth semiconductors. From 1981 until 1992, Mr. Rotem served as a Major in an elite R&D center within Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Intelligence Corps. He currently serves as the chairman of Stamp-Test Ltd, a privately held Israeli startup company that in involve in the area of low cost chemical identification methods of hazard materials. He was chosen as Ernst & Young 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year, representing Israel in Monaco that year. Mr. Rotem holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University specializing in industrial management marketing and finance, and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University, from which he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

"How efficient Networking can change the dynamics of your business"

Networking can be complex. You have to deal with cultures and different tools, like events and internet communities, such as the E Factor. You have to deal with different generations. Starting young and mixing networks is key.

Adrie Reinders
Co-Founder
E. Factor

Adrie Reinders began his entrepreneurial career in the I.T. field in 1975 when he founded Microlife B.V., a company specializing in customer related services and training for mainframe environments. With major clients including ING Bank and European Government Agencies, the company established subsidiaries in Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. In 1987, Adrie sold the business he had grown to 500 employees with annual revenue of 22.5 million euro. He went on to found two other I.T. businesses: I.C.T. Rijnhaave (later sold to Syntegra), and Plus Integration Supply Chain Solutions B.V. Over the course of his professional career Adrie has served as an advisor and board member for numerous successful private and public companies including Residex Ventures, as Chairman. As one of the founders of OHM Inc, Adrie is fiercely committed to assisting technology companies achieve quicker and more effective sales results by offering his considerable expertise, experience and access to his global network of high level business contacts. Furthermore, he is co-founder of the E.Factor and Cranevision. Next to all other activities, Adrie has co-authored the book "The N Factor how Networking can change the dynamics of your business" (May 2007).

"Bootstrap Financing"

Bootstrapping: an alternative way to financing a startup at its early stages.

Benny Schnaider
CEO and Co-Founder
QUMRANET

Benny Schnaider is Qumranet’s CEO and a Co-Founder. Over the past 20 years, Benny has held senior management, engineering and strategic consulting roles at many Silicon-Valley based companies including Cisco Systems, Amdahl/Fujitsu, Hitachi, IDT, Sun Microsystems and 3Com. Benny was CEO of PentaCom Ltd. a leading provider of products implementing Spatial Reuse Protocol (SRP) for IP based metropolitan networks which was acquired by Cisco in 2000. Benny led large Cisco engineering groups that developed high-end routing and digital video products.Benny also co-founded and served on the Board of Directors for P-Cube, a developer of IP service control platforms, which was also acquired by Cisco in 2004. Benny also developed and sold HW/SW co-simulation tools to leading system companies.Benny holds a Masters degree in Engineering Management from Santa Clara University, and a BS in Computer Engineering from the Technion (Israel Institute of technology).

"Scientific Adventures and the Optical Noise-Free Microphone"

Moti Segev
Professor of Physics
Technion: Israeli Institute of Technology

Mordechai (Moti) Segev is the Trudy and Norman Louis Professor of Physics, at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. He has received his B.Sc. and D.Sc. from the Technion, Israel, in 1985 and 1990, respectively. Moti Segev has spent three years at Caltech as a post-doc and Senior Research Fellow, and then joined Princeton in 1994 as an Assistant Professor, becoming an Associate Professor in 1997, and a Professor in 1999. Moti Segev's research interests are mainly in Nonlinear Optics, Solitons, and Quantum Electronics, although he finds some entertainment in Thermodynamics, Nonlinear Dynamics. He has more than 220 publications in refereed journals, 10 book chapters, and has given more than 80 invited, keynote, and plenary presentations at conferences. He has made numerous discoveries and started new areas in nonlinear optics and soliton science. Moti Segev is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (1997), a Fellow of the American Physical Society (2000). He has won numerous awards, among them the Quantum Electronics Prize 2007, which is the highest European award in optics, lasers, quantum electronics, and all related areas. He has served as the General Chair and Program Chair of several international conferences, is currently serving as the Topical Editor on Nonlinear Optics in the premiere optics magazine Optics Letters.

"Building a Great American Startup Team"

How Israeli based technology and clean tech companies can hire the best people to grow their US based companies.

Max Shapiro
CEO
PeopleConnect

Max Shapiro is the founder and CEO of PeopleConnect. His unique blend of experience, creativity and persistence has made it possible for many startups and established companies to add key members to their teams. PeopleConnect has helped many early stage high tech startups find employees willing to work for options only using its unique “Employees Without Paychecks” model. In addition, PeopleConnect fills a multitude of different positions for Fortune 1000 companies including Dolby and Ricoh as well many VC and Angel backed high tech and CleanTech companies. Shapiro was the youngest talent scout in the history of the NBA, serving as Chief Scout for the Phoenix Suns. He owned and operated a company that produced sports camps for children and baseball and basketball fantasy camps for adults. Partnering with some of the greatest names in sports to direct his camps- Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, John Wooden and Billy Casper, just to name a few. Shapiro brings a great deal of success in identifying talent, be it on a baseball field, basketball court on the corporate environment.

"New approaches for the treatment of cancer - can we win the battle?"

A new approach based on preclinical animal experiments and pilot clinical trials suggests that immunotherapy mediated by intentionally mismatched donor lymphocytes activated in vitro prior to cell infusion and subsequently in vivo following cell infusion, can eliminate minimal residual disease and result in cure of patients with cancer treated at an early stage of the disease.

Shimon Slavin M.D.
Professor & Chairman of BMT & CI Department
Hadassah University Hospital, Israel

Dr. Slavin currently serves as Professor & Chairman for the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation & Cancer Immunotherapy, and Director for The Danny Cunniff Leukemia Research Laboratory at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem in Israel. Dr. Slavin was the first to recognize the therapeutic potential involved in adoptive allogeneic cell therapy to eliminate tumor cells resistant to conventional anti-cancer methods. His initial successful studies in curing bone marrow transplant recipients resulted in the opening of an entirely new field in medicine based on the use of allogeneic blood lymphocytes with many potential clinical implications for cancer, autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation and infectious diseases caused by hepatitis viruses and AIDS. Based on the remarkable therapeutic potential of donor lymphocyte infusions, he introduced the use of non-myeloablative stem cell transplantation (‘mini transplant’) for the treatment of diseases correctible by bone marrow transplantation. He established Israel’s first bone marrow transplantation unit, the National Bone Marrow Transplantation Center of which he currently heads, attracting patients and medical teams from all over the world. He and his team are committed to clinically related basic science and pre-clinical studies in animal models of human disease as well as clinical research focusing on immunotherapy and other biologic therapies.

"Business Insurance in The US - What is and isn’t required"

"How to Buy Insurance" or What is and is not required by Law, Contract, or Good Business Practice. This is an overview for companies looking to do business in the U.S. and what is needed or required with regards to Insurance coverages. Also looks at the different ways to buy coverage and how to select the right broker for your company.

Dennis Teifeld
Founder and CEO
Teifeld and Company Insurance Services, Inc.

Founder and CEO of Teifeld and Company Insurance Services, Inc. A 16 million dollar San Jose based insurance brokerage started in 1982. Teifeld and Company Insurance Services, Inc. provides risk management and insurance services to many industries predominately the tech, the construction and manufacturing industries. Teifeld and Company Insurance Services, Inc. provides a full range of products including Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Professional Liability, Directors and officers to name a few. Teifeld attended San Jose City College and San Jose State University. He has traveled extensively and has lived in Europe and the Middle East. Teifeld has served or currently serves on the board of directors of many non profits including the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, past president of First Community Housing of San Jose, Hillel of Silicon, San Jose Downtown Association, to name a few. Teifeld has or currently serves on the advisory board of several start- up companies such as Corvigo, Inc. (sold to Tumbleweed Communications), Land Sonar, Inc., Inertia Beverage Group, Inc. and Costella- Kirsch a Venture lending fund. Teifeld was a founding shareholder in Silicon Valley Bank and Bridge Bank in San Jose. Teifeld and Company Insurance Services, Inc. does business in eight U.S. states as well as Europe, Russia, China, Mexico and Israel. Investment Interest in Software companies and real estate.

"US Investor and the Israeli Startup: Maximizing the Opportunity and Managing Expectations"

Many Israeli startups seek funding from a US Investor.  Despite the benefits, the relationship can be challenging for both parties.  During this seminar, we will address and discuss best practices for mitigating some of the challenges and maximizing the benefits for both the investor and the company.

J. Ari Tuchman Ph.D.
Founder and Managing Director
Nobska Ventures

Dr. Ari Tuchman is a founder and Managing Director of Nobska Ventures, which invests in early stage, market transforming technology companies in Israel and the Mid-Atlantic USA. Dr. Tuchman has "in the trenches" experience directing and managing on-budget and on-time technology development efforts for early stage companies. A seasoned technologist, entrepreneur and veteran corporate executive, Dr. Tuchman has 18+ years experience in cutting edge research and development of advanced photonic and electronic materials, devices and EO systems, and 12+ years experience managing in-house and outsourced technology development, in industrial, government and academic settings. He has been developing new venture opportunities and has provided technical, business and management consulting services to seed and start-up companies in the electronics, photonics, bio-tech and information technology sectors, since 1998. Dr. Tuchman graduated, summa cum laude, from Yeshiva University and received M.A., M.Phil and Ph.D. degrees, in physics, from Columbia University. He was appointed a US National Research Council Fellow at the US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC and a Visiting Scientist at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. Dr. Tuchman currently serves on the Board of Directors for two Nobska portfolio companies in Israel, ClassifEye (www.classifeye.com) and Innovea (www.innoveamedical.com). Nobska invests in early stage, market transforming technology companies in Israel and the Mid-Atlantic USA.  Focus areas include advanced Information and Communications technologies for Enterprise Management and Security, Financial Services, Defense Intelligence, Homeland Security and Healthcare.

"Cognitive Memory: Human/Machine"

A new understanding of how human memory works is leading to the design of a human-like memory for computers. Connected to a conventional computer, the human-like cognitive memory facilitates the solution to difficult problems in pattern recognition, face recognition, speech recognition, and learning control systems, all with commercial possibilities.

Bernard Widrow Ph.D.
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Stanford University

Bernard Widrow is Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Professor Widrow concentrates on adaptive signal processing, adaptive control systems, and adaptive neural networks. Adaptive systems have the ability to learn and improve their behavior through contact with their environments. Applications include signal processing, control systems, and pattern recognition. Dr. Widrow is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of AAAS. He received the IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984, the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal in 1986, the IEEE Signal Processing Society Medal in 1986, the IEEE Neural Networks Pioneer Medal in 1991, the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Engineering from the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in 2001. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 1995 and into the Silicon Valley Engineering Council Hall of Fame in 1999.

"Nanotechnology and Creativity and their economical and societal implications"

Today, we stand in the midst of a significant convergence of technological innovation and creativity. In the 21st century, nanotechnology will replace natural sciences taking us from the industrial age into the nanotechnical age where there is virtually no limit to the shape and size of the objects and devices that can be made. The new economy’s demand for creativity has manifested itself in the emergence of a “Creative Class”. Nanotechnology is becoming the world’s freshest expression of human creativity and is redefining the concept of what a successful leading technology company is.

Zvi Yaniv
President and CEO
Applied Nanotech, Inc.

Dr. Zvi Yaniv is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nano-Proprietary, Inc. (NPI) and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Applied Nanotech, Inc. in Austin, TX. Dr. Yaniv is an authority in electro-optics, liquid crystal technology, amorphous semiconductors, technology commercialization and business management. He has published over 100 articles, holds more than 100 patents, and has extensive contacts in the U.S., Europe, Israel and the Far East. Dr. Yaniv holds a B.Sc. in physics/mathematics and a M.Sc. in electro-optics with distinction from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and earned a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in physics at Kent State University. He has received awards from both universities and the Scientific Research Society. Dr. Yaniv is a Fellow of the Society for Information Display (SID) for "his innovation and leadership in the development of large area high performance active matrix LCDs and scanners." Dr. Yaniv is a Senior Research Fellow of the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas, a Research Professor in the Physics Department of Texas State University and a recipient of the 2005 Innovator Award by Nanotech Briefs for his “pioneering achievements in advancing the state of the art in nanotechnology”. Investment Interest in startups in nanotechnology new developed materials and their applications.