Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurship in Asia
With a booming economy and fast growing venture capital investment, Asia has been attracting more and more enthusiastic entrepreneurs to chase their dreams in this land full of live and energy. While such adventures certainly present unprecedented opportunities to these talented and passionate minds, they also come with some challenges, especially for people who are not familiar with local business environment and the unique culture in that area. Are you thinking of developing your business in Asia? Do you want to get some real-world advice to help make your experience more smooth and successful? Our panelists will share their experiences and insights on the following topics:
- What is the next hot industry segment for new ventures in Asia?
- Can you leverage Asia to become a global entrepreneur? For
example, using technology developed in Asia to service a global market?
- What is the most valuable asset from Asia: the market, the cheap labor or the innovative
minds?
- What is the impact of government relationships on business development in Asia?
- How do you handle intellectual property protection in Asia?
Panelists
Immanuel Thangaraj, Managing Director & General Partner, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures
Mr. Thangaraj has been a Managing Director at Essex Woodlands Health
Ventures for the past ten years. With nearly 25 years of investing and
$3.0 billion under management, Essex Woodlands is one of the world’s oldest
and largest healthcare venture capital firms. With offices in Palo Alto,
New York, Houston and London, the firm invests internationally in companies
at all stages and in all sectors of healthcare. In addition to his US
investment activities, Mr. Thangaraj led the firm’s investment
in two Chinese companies, MicroPort and
China Stem Cell and spends a portion of his time developing other Asian
investment opportunities.
Mr. Thangaraj sits on the boards of several private and public companies. He also serves on the Advisory Board of China Medical and Technology Ventures and the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago.
Mr. Thangaraj holds an AB and MBA from the University of Chicago and received the 2003 Distinguished Young Alumni Award from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago.
Jim H. Boettcher, General Partner, Focus Ventures
Jim
is a founding Partner of Focus Ventures, and has led successful investments
in Cosine Communications, Starent Networks, Telera (Alcatel) and Netscaler
(Citrix). He is currently responsible for Focus’ investments in Infoblox,
Miradia, PA Semi, Pure Digital and Teknovus.
In addition to his investment work, Jim spearheads Focus’ efforts in Asia, to which he brings to bear his 30 years experience in the region. Jim has initiated customer and partner relationships for numerous Focus portfolio companies including inCode Telecom, NetScaler, PixelWorks, PureDigital and Silicon Optix. Jim is frequently tapped to speak about his experiences at events hosted by organizations such as Asian Venture Capital Journal and International Business Forum.
Before Focus, Jim co-founded Amsterdam Pacific Corporation, a successful merchant banking boutique that was purchased by a large European bank in 1994. He was also Vice President in the Telecommunications Section of Bank of America's Investment Banking Group where he led media and high technology assignments in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Jim has lectured on corporate and project financing at Stanford and has written numerous finance related articles including one published in the May-June 1982 issue of the Harvard Business Review, which was subsequently selected as one of the year's best and published in a hardcover collection.
Jim has an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin and MBA (as an Arjay Miller Scholar) and MA degrees from Stanford University. Prior to attending business school, he worked for four years as a telecommunications engineer in the U.S. Air Force, specializing in analog/digital voice systems and digital networking.
Jon Metzler, Founder & President, Blue Field Strategies
Jon
Metzler is Founder and President of Blue Field
Strategies. Jon provides a variety of US
and Asian clients with wireless business, regulatory and strategic
consulting services, including regulatory analysis and advocacy, technology
and market due diligence, and market ecosystem development.
Jon has new business creation experience in technology, services, and media. Prior to founding Blue Field, Jon was Business Development and Government Affairs Director at Rosum Corporation. There he secured government contracts, drove business development in mobile device markets, and also handled government affairs on regulatory issues such as E911 and other wireless spectrum issues.
Prior to joining Rosum, Jon was Vice President at Performance Analysis, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in business development in Japan for US technology companies in the wireless and software fields. Prior to joining PAI, Jon helped launch the Tokyo office of Prophet, an international brand strategy firm, and the Japanese version of shockwave.com.
Jon is fluent in Japanese and is a published author in Japan. While living in Japan, Jon held both corporate and field positions at leading media firms such as Asahi Shimbun Publications, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), and CBS News.
Jon is a graduate of the MBA/MA-Asian Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he co-founded the Berkeley Asia Business Conference! He also authored a thesis comparing technology entrepreneurship models in Silicon Valley and Japan. Jon is now an advisor to the UC-Berkeley Management of Technology Program. Jon also has a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Japanese and Asian Studies.
Jon publishes regularly on technology and policy issues. He is also co-author of the forthcoming Lore of Wizards, a book about the consulting industry. Jon is a member of the E9-1-1 Institute, and a member of the board of San Francisco’s Stern Grove Festival Association.
Keita Mori, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, SanBio, Inc.
Mr.
Mori is a Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of SanBio, a
biopharmaceutical company in Mountain View, CA, whose major breakthrough is
in the treatment of neurological disorders. SanBio has innovated and
patented the Neural Deficit Recovery™ (“NDR™”) drug discovery technology
platform and developed a pipeline of cell-based products for the stroke,
Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. He has
also served as a member of the Board since SanBio's inception in 2001.
Prior to founding SanBio, Mr. Mori was Head of New Product Development from 2000 to 2001 at Xuma, an informatics startup in San Francisco. From 1993 to 1999, Mr. Mori held positions of increasing responsibility in R&D and Manufacturing at Kirin Brewery, Ltd. in Japan.
Mr. Mori has an MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Biochemistry from University of Tokyo.
Moderator
John Liu, Of Counsel, Fenwick & West LLP
John
Liu is of counsel in the Corporate Group of Fenwick & West LLP, a law firm
specializing in technology and life sciences. Fenwick & West is
headquartered in Mountain View, California. Mr. Lui’s practice focuses on
general corporate matters, intellectual property transactions and equity and
debt financings.
Mr. Liu serves as U.S. corporate counsel to numerous U.S. and off-shore start-up and emerging growth companies. His intellectual property practice includes intellectual property protection and licensing, reseller and distribution agreements, joint development agreements, trademark filings and the transfer of trademarks, patents, copyrights and other intellectual property rights. He has represented clients on transactions involving foreign jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China.
Mr. Liu has significant software engineering experience working for several Bay Area companies serving the technology and financial technology sectors.
Mr. Liu received his undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and English and a graduate degree in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University. He also received an honorary graduate degree from the Department of Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. He went on to complete his legal education at the University of California at Davis.
Prior to joining Fenwick & West, Mr. Liu was a corporate partner with Charter Law Group, a corporate boutique firm in Silicon Valley representing companies and investors in general corporate matters, business transactions, finance, intellectual property rights and mergers and acquisitions.
Mr. Liu is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney.