digitalMBAs-Silicon Valley 1/12/09 Newsletter
Monday, January 12, 2009

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1. digitalMBAs-Silicon Valley / MBA-related events
2. Upcoming Silicon Valley / Bay Area Events / Events
3. News / MBA News
4. Job Fairs / Job Postings

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1. digitalMBAs-Silicon Valley / MBA-related events
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a. Please join us for sunset cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with alums
from other top business schools, including Chicago-Booth, Columbia,
Duke Fuqua, UC Berkeley-Haas, Harvard Business School,
Northwestern-Kellogg, Stanford-GSB.

Successful Options for Accredited Investors in Commercial Real Estate:
Why Financial Diversification Really Matters in an Economic Storm

Our vibrant cross-examination will deliver:
* Commercial Real Estate Investment Market Update
* Trade-offs of Direct Investing, Pooled Equity Investing, or REIT
Investing
* Testing Your Personal Real Estate Investment Strategies With The Experts

National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) study
found that an investment portfolio that includes 20% real estate
assets delivered superior returns with lower risk when compared to the
same portfolio without real estate.

Wednesday, February 11th
6:00PM-9:00PM
St. Francis Yacht Club – Northwest Room
99 Yacht Rd., San Francisco, CA

You're invited to participate in an engaging, objective fireside chat
with three commercial real estate experts, including Kellogg alums,
Ron Sann and Scott Peterson:

1) Pooled Equity Commercial Real Estate Investments
Ron Sann - Principal
Ron Sann began his real estate career at Chase Manhattan Bank where he
helped underwrite, manage and syndicate a commercial real estate loan
portfolio consisting primarily of construction loans for office
buildings, residential and regional shopping centers. Prior, Mr. Sann
worked for Cambridge Management Consulting, a strategy and process
re-engineering firm, and Niku Corporation, a software company, where
he worked in mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Sann founded Ratel
Investments in 2001. He holds a BA from UCLA and an MBA from
Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Founded in 2001, Ratel has deployed more than $60 million of equity in
more than 25 investments whose combined value exceeds $300 million.
We have delivered a 28.6% internal rate of return and provided a 1.53x
return on investor's original equity for realized investments, net of
all fees. www.ratelinvestments.com

2) Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) Investments
Scott Peterson - Senior Vice President, Acquisitions
Scott E. Peterson is Digital Realty Trust's Senior Vice President
responsible for our acquisition activities. From 2002 until our
initial public offering in October 2004, Mr. Peterson was a Managing
Director of GI Partners where he was responsible for property
acquisitions with an emphasis on technology-related properties.

Mr. Peterson has more than 17 years of real estate experience and was
most recently a Senior Vice President with GIC Real Estate, the real
estate investment entity for the Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation. Previously, Mr. Peterson was active in investments,
development and asset management with LaSalle Partners, a real estate
services company, and Trammell Crow Company, a real estate developer.
Mr. Peterson received a B.A. degree and an M.B.A. from Northwestern
University.

As one of the largest REITs in the Bay Area, Digital Realty Trust,
Inc. owns, acquires, develops, redevelops and manages
technology-related real estate. The Company is focused on providing
Turn-Key Datacenter(TM) and Powered Base Building(TM) datacenter
solutions for domestic and international tenants across a variety of
industry verticals ranging from information technology and internet
enterprises, to manufacturing and financial services.

3) Direct Commercial Real Estate Investments
Erik Doyle - President, Cornish & Carey Commercial
Erik's impressive background comes with over 24 years of brokerage and
development experience. During his career, Erik has been involved with
sales of over 35 million square feet of property and more than 700
acres of land with a value in excess of $7.1 billion and is actively
working on an additional $434 million in transactions.

As an Executive Vice President at CBRE, Erik was the top producer in
Silicon Valley from 2004 to 2007, and the top producer for the region
in 2007. A member of the Colbert Coldwell Circle, he was nationally
one of the top sales professionals in CBRE's Institutional Investment
Group.

From 1998 through 2003 Erik was an Executive Vice President and
Principal at Deerfield Realty Corporation where he was responsible for
overseeing all aspects of the investment, development and management
for a portfolio of Office, R&D/Flex and Industrial properties from San
Francisco to San Jose.

Founded in 1935, Cornish & Carey Commercial • ONCOR International
provides real estate services for tenants and occupiers as well as
owners and investors in the lease and sale of all types of properties
including office, R&D, industrial/manufacturing, warehouse,
multi-family residential, land and retail.

You'll enjoy included hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, and a world-class
sunset right on the water overlooking sail boats, the Golden Gate
Bridge, Marin Headlands, and Angel Island.

Please purchase your tickets via Acteva:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=173542

Early Bird $40 by 1/14/09
Regular Admission $50 after 1/15/09

We look forward to meeting you on Wednesday, February 11th at St. Francis!


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2. Upcoming Silicon Valley / Bay Area Events / Events
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a. VC Outlook 2009: Looking Down the Money Trail
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Palo Alto

Spaces are limited for this event. (We had to turn away some walk-ins
last year.) Register and pay online early to reserve your seat.

About the Event

These are certainly uncertain times. With a new President in
Washington, financial turmoil on Wall St., Detroit teetering on the
kindness of taxpayers, looming credit card crunch, and of course, the
mortgage crisis, no one is untouched and no investment is sacred.
Within the context of such historical structural upheaval, what will
happen to venture capitalism? What will it mean to entrepreneurs?

In this first event of the year, we bring together a panel of
distinguished venture capitalists, and ask them to examine the
investment landscape and look into their crystal balls. Where will VCs
put their money in 2009? What sectors are hot? What sectors are not?
What has happened to valuations? What would be their advice for
entrepreneurs?

As is now our tradition, we will begin with a presentation of the
latest MoneyTree Survey* from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Join us for an
informative and insightful evening as we kick off 2009 in uncharted
waters.

Moderator
* Steve Bengston, Managing Director of Emerging Company Services
(ECS), PricewaterhouseCoopers

Speakers
* Prashant Shah, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
* Ashmeet Sidana, General Partner, Foundation Capital
* John Steuart, Managing Director, Claremont Creek Ventures
* Gus Tai, General Partner, Trinity Ventures

Registration: http://cspa09vcoutlook.eventbrite.com
More Info: http://www.cspa.com/eventdetail.php?eid=20090113

Schedule
06:30 pm - 07:00 pm Registration and Networking
07:00 pm - 07:05 pm Introduction
07:05 pm - 07:25 pm MoneyTree Survey Presentation
07:25 pm - 08:45 pm Panel Discussion

Location
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
2475 Hanover Street, Palo Alto
(650) 233-4500

Directions and Map

Pricing
Pre-register Online Drop-in At the Door
CSPA Premium Members* $15 $20
CSPA Basic Members+ $20 $25
Non-Members
(Sign up as a Basic Member for Free) $25 $30

* Premium members: Sign up for Annual membership for only $45 at
http://cspa08premium.eventbrite.com/
+ Basic Members: Sign up for free at http://www.cspa.com/add2email.php

Students with a valid ID pay Premium Member prices

Food & Drinks
Appetizers and drinks will be served.

Journalists requesting media credentials:
CSPA requires proof of applicant's professional status, including a
titled business card.

Spaces are limited for this event. (We had to turn away some walk-ins
last year.) Register and pay online early to reserve your seat.

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b. National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) - Silicon
Valley presents:

Clean Tech - What's Ahead for 2009?
DATE/TIME: Tue, Jan 13, 7:30am-9:30am
LOCATION: DLA Piper, Ground Floor Boardroom, 2000 University Ave.
(across from Four Seasons Hotel), East Palo Alto

COST: $20 for members & non-members (includes breakfast).

Will 'Clean Tech' continue to be the growth engine of Silicon Valley
in 2009?

What exactly is 'Clean Tech' and how will it affect the economy and
our businesses in the year ahead?

NAWBO Silicon Valley invites you to join our panel of experts,
including two venture capitalists, a strategic consultant and an
attorney, as they provide insights and perspective on the road ahead
for Clean Tech in 2009.

This special panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A session on a
topic certain to be on the minds of all business owners, executives and
investors.

MORE INFO:
Website: http://www.nawbo-sv.org/events_midpeninsula.html
Email: jrobertson@...
Phone: 650-678-3222
Contact: Jan Robertson

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c. The Churchill Club:
www.churchillclub.org

Thursday, January 15
Browsers are Hot Again!
Speakers:
Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager Internet Explorer, Microsoft
Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera
Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management, Google
Mike Shaver, VP Engineering, Mozilla
Moderator:
Steve Wildstrom, Technology & You Columnist, BusinessWeek

Thursday, January 22
Personal Genome Computing: Breakthroughs, Risks and Opportunities
Speakers:
Linda Avey, co-founder 23andMe; former executive at Affymetrix and
Perlegen
Karoly Nikolich, US partner, dievini Hopp biotech holding; CEO,
Amnestix; research director, Genentech
Andras Pellionisz, Founder, International HoloGenomics Society;
HolGenTech, Helixometry holding; formerly, NASA Scientist and Res.
Professor, NYU
Dietrich Stephan, founder, Navigenics; founder Amnestix; former
director of neurogenomics, Tgen
Moderator:
Phyllis Whiteley, Executive-in-Residence, Mohr Davidow Ventures

Wednesday, February 11
An Evening with Bill Joy, in conversation with Brent Schlender (A
Premier Event)
Speakers:
Bill Joy, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Moderator:
Brent Schlender, Writer/Editor/Consultant, & Former FORTUNE Editor at
Large

===============================================

d. China in 2009: How will China's Venture Market be Affected by the
Changing World Markets?

Current market conditions in the U.S. are now affecting the entire
world, altering prior growth predictions for China. How might this
affect the purchasing power of China's emerging middle class, and the
young Chinese companies that depend on the market growth to survive?

Hear investment insights from Gavin Ni, Founder, President and CEO of
Zero2IPO, a Beijing-based company and China's leading provider of
financial data to the private equity market. During the event, Gavin
will be releasing 2008 China VC investment figures for the first time
and providing his perspective on investment trends for 2009 and beyond.

Following Mr. Ni's presentation, Danny Lui, co-Founder of Lenovo and
now Managing General Partner of Startup Capital Ventures, will host a
panel of leading China venture capitalists to address the following
questions:

- Is venture capital still growing in China?
- Is this a time for caution or proactive investing?
- How might new government regulations affect China's drive towards
capitalism?

Our team of experts will discuss the key challenges facing those who
are doing business in China. They will also recommend strategies for
survival and how to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.

This event is particularly relevant to venture capital, private
equity, and investment professionals who are interested in or already
active in the China market. The event will also be of interest to
entrepreneurs and service providers who want to understand the
long-term prospects for growth in China.

Please join our distinguished panel to discuss China in 2009. From the
boardrooms of growth companies to VCs on Sand Hill Road, everyone with
an interest in China will benefit from participating at this event.

Moderator:
Danny Lui | co-Founder of Lenovo and Managing General Partner at
Startup Capital Ventures

Panel:
Gavin Ni | Founder, President and CEO of Zero2IPO
David Chao | co-Founder and General Partner at DCM
Sonny Wu | co-Founder and Managing Director of GSR Ventures
(more speakers to be confirmed)

Event Details:
Event Name: China in 2009: How Will China's Venture Market Be
Affected By the Changing World Markets?
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009; 6:00-9:00 PM
Location: Ming's Restaurant
1700 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303
Cost: Early Bird Rate (by 1/12): $25 Members, $40 Non-Members
Regular Rate: $40 Members, $60 Non-Members
At the Door: $55 Members, $75 Non-Members
Register:
https://s08.123signup.com/servlet/SignUp?P=17214191158151700&PG=17214182300

Information:
https://s08.123signup.com/servlet/SignUp?Info=&P=17214191158151700&PG=17214182300

For more information, please contact:
Asia America MultiTechnology Association
Phone: 650.738.1480
Email: aama@...
http://www.aamasv.com

===============================================

e. GABA (German American Business Association) presents:
Managing Across the Generations
DATE/TIME: Thu, Jan 22, 6:00pm-9:00pm
LOCATION: Cooley Godward, 3175 Hanover Street, Palo Alto
COST: Members $20, Non-Members $35, At the door $50.

As more 'Millennials' (age 28 and younger) enter the global workforce
with very different attitudes, ideas and demands and Baby Boomers
approach retirement, learning and adapting to different management
styles is critical for all companies.

Executives, HR managers and service providers will gain a greater
understanding of and techniques for working and communicating with
team members of the 'workforce of the future' - Millennials, Gen
X-ers, Baby Boomers & Traditionalists.

Workshop attendees will leave this session with an improved
understanding of the drivers, needs & challenges faced by employees
across generations.

Complimentary wine, beer, soda, cheese & crackers will be served.
MORE INFO:
Website: http://www.gaba-network.org
Email: info@...
Phone: 650-386-5015
Contact: Caroline Raynaud

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f. Software Development Forum – www.sdforum.org
www.sdforum.com

Events for January 2009
01/12/2009 6:30 PM Marketing SIG: What Entrepreneurial Success Type
are You?
01/14/2009 6:30 PM Emerging Tech SIG: Emerging Technologies in
Physical Retail
01/14/2009 5:00 PM Legal 1 on 1 - Visiting Hours for January
01/14/2009 11:45AM PMI Silicon Valley Tools and Techniques Forum for
January
01/15/2009 8:30am Australian Innovation Day
01/15/2009 6:30 PM Engineering Leadership SIG: Reflecting on What We
Learned as Engineering Leaders
01/19/2009 6:30 Startup SIG: No meeting this month.
01/20/2009 6:30 PM Business Intelligence SIG: Numbers not Napkins:
Simple Metrics & Business Models for Startups
01/22/2009 5:30 PM Tech Womens Program: Life Plan Light
01/22/2009 6:30 PM Windows SIG:
01/26/2009 6:30 PM Virtual Worlds SIG: Using Virtual Worlds for Remote
Collaboration
01/27/2009 8:00 AM SDForum Quarterly Venture Breakfast with Pillsbury
Winthrop and PWC
01/27/2009 6:30 PM Cloud Services & SOA SIG: Services in the Cloud
Demo Night
01/28/2009 6:30 PM SAM SIG: Mashups
01/29/2009 6:30 PM Venture Finance SIG:
01/29/2009 9:00am VC One-on-One Coaching with Lisa Lambert
01/30/2009 8:30 AM State of the Green Clean Industry

===============================================

g. eWomenNetwork 'Accelerated Networking' Dinner presents:
eWomenNetwork 'Accelerated Networking' Dinner - Lisa Lewis

DATE/TIME: Tue, Feb 10, 5:00pm-8:15pm
LOCATION: Argonaut Hotel, 495 Jefferson St., San Francisco
COST: $64; $54 for eWN Member; $74 for all late registrations
beginning 2/5/2009.

Lisa Lewis
Success Strategies for Quickly Moving Through, Around or Over
Obstacles in Your Life and Your Business

Have you ever wished you had a magic formula to get you past the
obstacles and on to the successes that await you in life and in
business? Lisa will share with you her experience and the system she
uses to make dreams come true in her life and her business.

What you'll take away from this powerful session:

The confidence to identify and deal with the obstacle with complete
truth. A specific formula on how to handle and cope with quandaries.
Tools to empower you to know you can deal with anything more effectively.

MORE INFO:
Website: http://events.ewomennetwork.com/event/details.php?eid=10478
Email: lellis@...
Phone: 925-299-1920

===============================================
3. Silicon Valley News / MBA News / High-Tech News
===============================================

In Silicon Valley, Venture Capitalists Turn Cautious and Focus on the
Short Term
The New York Times. January 4, 2009
"MENLO PARK, Calif. — Venture capitalists make their fortunes, or lose
them, on the strength of their predictions. As they hunt for barely
hatched ideas and nurture them with money and advice, they are hoping
that the new idea grows into the next Google. On Sand Hill Road, the
wide boulevard here where investors study ideas in offices tucked
behind palm trees and redwoods, the recession has tempered their
optimism with caution. Conversations with some of the leading venture
capitalists about the types of companies that will receive some of the
estimated $31 billion venture capital firms raised in 2008 offer a
glimpse at the future of technology… Even Accel, an early investor in
Facebook, might have turned that company away if it approached the
firm today, said Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, an Accel partner. For Web
sites that do not already have large audiences, "your business model
may be just as plausible as it was 18 months ago, but we're all more
cautious about giving you a slug of money," she said."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/technology/start-ups/05venture.html


Cover Story: Whatever Happened to Silicon Valley Innovation?
Short-term thinking and increasing risk aversion have stifled the tech
center's spirit. But innovators still lurk there, if you look for them
BusinessWeek. January 12, 2009
"… Venture capitalists' taste for risk has changed for a number of
reasons, including the difficulty of taking tech companies public or
selling them for lucrative paydays. The result is that venture firms
are putting much less money into tech startups than in the past, and
the money they do invest goes into less expensive, less risky deals,
including social networking startups such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp,
and Digg. These so-called Web 2.0 companies are creating exciting new
forms of socialization, information sharing, and entertainment. But
some of the Valley's old guard are skeptical they'll grow big and
important enough to deliver sizable productivity gains for business
and the nation or to produce an upswell in new core technologies.
Today's startups "give us refinements, not breakthroughs," says Andy
Grove, former chief executive of Intel (INTC)."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_02/b4115028730216.htm


Palm Unveils iPhone Competitor, the Pre
The New York Times. Published: January 8, 2009
"LAS VEGAS ― Seeking to revive its sharply fallen fortunes and produce
a successor to its aging Treo device, Palm unveiled a sleek new
smartphone, the Pre, on Thursday and an exclusive partnership with
Sprint to distribute it. Palm executives say the touch-screen device
and the new operating system inside of it, WebOS, break new ground in
the fiercely competitive smartphone market. The phone's selling points
include an emphasis on fast Web browsing and efficient multitasking.
Jon Rubinstein, executive chairman of Palm, resisted comparisons
between the Pre and the iPhone from Apple. "Our intention was never to
build an iPhone killer but to build a killer Palm product," Mr.
Rubinstein said in an interview. He said he felt Palm had been
fighting an uphill battle with outdated devices and software, and was
doing so no longer. "The Pre allows us to get back in the game," he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/technology/personaltech/09palm.html


To Connect to the Internet, Just Turn on Your TV
The New York Times. January 11, 2009
"LAS VEGAS — If there was one overarching theme from the Consumer
Electronics Show here last week, it was that absolutely every device
in our lives is becoming a computer connected to the Internet… These
developments can be seen as more of the electronics industry's
constant quest for something new to tantalize gadget lovers. But there
is a darker side, too, for the companies that make the devices. If the
most exciting thing about your phone or truck or TV is the Web sites
you go to and the software applications you download, then the device
itself is less important. That is what happened to the computer
industry, with its relentless price pressure and indistinguishable
products. It is hardly an attractive business model, even for consumer
electronics companies already accustomed to low profit margins."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/technology/personaltech/12cesexec.html


Quietly, AOL Becomes an Overseer of Niche Sites
The New York Times. January 11, 2009
"Point a Web browser to Engadget.com, TheBoot.com, or TMZ.com, and
elaborate sites about technology, country music and celebrity gossip
will appear on the screen. They could easily be mistaken for
stand-alone brands. But a small link to the owner, in a corner of the
screen, shows otherwise. That owner is AOL, the long-suffering unit of
Time Warner. And the subtle links are intentional. Akin to a magazine
model of niche titles for fragmented audiences interested in specific
subjects, AOL counts more than 75 sites in its publishing portfolio
and plans to add 30 more in the coming year. On Monday, the company is
expected to announce a formal business unit, MediaGlow, to organize
the efforts. The sites are AOL's latest attempt to make a clean break
from its "walled garden" past of dial-up Internet access."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/business/media/12aol.html


Meg Whitman Leaves Three Boards, Mulls California Run
The Wall Street Journal. JANUARY 5, 2009
"Former eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman has stepped down from
the boards of Procter & Gamble Co., eBay, and Dreamworks Animation SKG
Inc., in moves that political observers say means she is likely to
throw her hat in the ring soon for the 2010 California governor's
race. A person close to the Silicon Valley star said she could
announce her candidacy for governor in the next four to six weeks. A
Republican Party official in California said she will have a team
assembled by the end of the month, and is bringing in people from the
campaign of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who lost to
John McCain in the Republican primaries. Ms. Whitman at first
supported Mr. Romney but went on to back Mr. McCain."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123118472853954675.html


For Inauguration, Google Plans a Party to Cross Party Lines
The party, on Jan. 20, is meant for both Democrats and Republicans,
Mr. Kovacevich said, even though Eric E. Schmidt, Google's chief
executive, publicly endorsed Mr. Obama in the fall.
The New York Times. January 11, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/technology/internet/12google.html


Logitech to slash 15 percent of workforce
CNET News. January 6, 2009
"Correction at 8:00 a.m. PST: Logitech employs over 9,000 people.
Swiss peripherals manufacturer Logitech plans to cut approximately 15
percent of its salaried workforce. Logitech has more than 9,000
employees worldwide. In a statement Monday, the company cited the
deepening economic gloom as the reason for the cut."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10132392-92.html



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4. Job Fairs / Job Postings
===============================================


Job / Networking web sites
http://www.tradevibes.com/
http://www.StartupAgents.com
http://gigaomjobs.com/
www.indeed.com
www.crunchboard.com
www.techcrunch.com
www.venturebeat.com/ventureboard/
www.xing.com
www.linkedin.com
www.venture-capital-forum.com
www.openbc.com
www.streamjobs.net
www.orkut.com
www.4marketeers.com
www.ryze.com
www.craigslist.org
www.workit.com
www.bajobs.com
www.brassring.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.jobnext.com
www.flipdog.com
www.monster.com
www.startuplynx.com
www.friendster.com

Would you like to list a job for free - please send us the job posting
to digitalmbas@...

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