Benjamin
F. Kuo, founder of socalTECH.com
SPEAKER
BIOs:
Lynn
Foster is the Emerging Technologies Director of Greenberg
Traurig, LLP, one of the largest law firms in the United States.
In this position he advises technology companies on technology
transfer, patent licensing, strategic partnerships and raising
capital. He has extensive experience in raising capital from
government grants and venture capital. He has more than 10 years
of experience with the federal grant process as a government
manager at both the Federal and State level in addition to experience
with the process as an entrepreneur. Lynn managed the State
of California CalTIP seed grant program that matched federal
research and development grants with commercialization funding.
He is also a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation
and serves on the Advisory Board of Finaventures, a Venture
Capital fund focused on early and mid-stage technology ventures.
Lynn is the editor and co-author of “Nanotechnology: Science,
Innovation & Opportunity” (Prentice Hall, 2005) and
serves on the Executive Committee of the Caltech Enterprise
Forum as well as the Advisory Board of the Nano Science and
Technology Institute.
Eric
Speer, Managing Director at Vencore, a full service Venture
Debt company, not a broker. Eric provides venture financing
to early-stage, emerging-growth companies. He has more than
20 years' banking and asset based lending experience, structuring
revolving, term, and cash-flow loans. For 7 years, he was a
senior VP with Coast Business Credit in Los Angeles, providing
financing for acquisitions, recapitalization, restructuring,
and growth capital. Eric has an MBA from University of California,
Irvine, and a BS from the University of California Berkeley.
Jim Taylor,
Vice President, Temecula Valley Bank. Temecula Valley Bank is
the 14th largest SBA Preferred Lender. Jim Taylor provides a
full range of SBA loans as well as commercial real estate financing,
land loans, construction and permanent financing for owner-user
projects and investor properties.
MODERATOR:
Benjamin
F. Kuo is the founder of socalTECH.com, a widely read newsletter
and web site focused on Southern California's high tech industry.
socalTECH.com tracks venture capital funding, high tech news,
events, and runs frequent interviews with local entrepreneurs
and venture capitalists. The site also features a venture database
with lists of local high tech companies, venture capital firms,
executive bios, and more. www.socaltech.com
