This presentation will address what VCs are looking for in technology and markets and why companies are being funded. The presentation will cover trends and address that VCs are looking for as they invest in companies and what the exit strategy is. Historically, 34 to 36 percent of venture money has been spent in Silicon Valley. In 2006, $25 billion was invested in the United States — $9 billion of that in Silicon Valley. Although management is in Silicon Valley, much development is being done elsewhere else in the world, not only India and China.

Innovation can happen anywhere and the key to innovation is communications. Innovation is happening in Israel and eastern Europe, and there are new technology companies being created in Latin America. There is an opportunity to create new companies with collaboration between government, universities, and the private sector.

Latin America presents an enormous opportunity, specifically in telecom infrastructure build-out, and is a more attractive market for a U.S. telecom supplier (specifically a start-up). The presentation will cover all the industries and what the impact is on both datacom and telecom, as well as discuss valuation at seed, first-, and second-round stages and summarize how to build a successful business and raise money.

Dan Gatti Managing Partner Innovative Capital Ventures

Mr. Gatti has founded Innovative Capital Ventures to focus on companies developing highly differentiated enterprise and infrastructure technologies that offer a compelling value and have the prospect of achieving market leadership. He serves as chief executive officer of OnSite Systems, a provider up next-generation wireless backhaul systems delivering quadruple-play applications over Ethernet and SDH/SONET transport.

Alberto Duran Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mundivox Communications

Mr. Duran worked in the telecommunications sector for J.P. Morgan in New York and Bain and Company and Monitor Company in Boston and London. During those years he specialized in the development of strategies for major industry players worldwide, including privatizations and M&A in North America, Europe, and Asia. In 1999, Mr. Duran founded Mundivox Communications in Brazil. He holds a B.S. in engineering from PUC RJ, an M.S. in engineering from Cornell University, and a M.B.A. from the Wharton Business School.

Michael Howard Principal Analyst and Co-founder Infonetics Research

Mr. Howard is recognized worldwide as one of the industry's leading experts in emerging markets, service provider network market trends, and user buying patterns. He started working on operating systems and programming language compilers for ARPANET, which later became the Internet, and then created network accounting at Tymshare/Tymnet in the 1970s. He led the First Interstate Bank project that developed the world's first pre-Internet in-home banking system. Mr. Howard founded Infonetics Research in 1990, and today he focuses on optical technologies from the service provider edge to the core, metro Ethernet, and access networks.

Darren Logue Vice President, International Sales and Global Accounts Call Genie

Mr. Logue is a telecom and IT executive with more than 25 years of experience and a record of accomplishment in global sales and business development. Prior to joining Call Genie, he served as vice president and general manager for LHS Americas, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mr. Logue was the president and founder of Strategic Vision International Ltd., a business integration and telecom consulting company based in Hong Kong, with operations in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America.