Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit

Safa Rashtchy, Managing Director, Senior Internet Analyst, Piper Jaffray & Co.

Managing Director, Senior Internet Analyst, Piper Jaffray & Co.
Safa Rashtchy is a managing director of Piper Jaffray and a senior research analyst focused on Internet media and marketing. He joined Piper Jaffray as a research analyst in 1997. Safa consistently enjoys the top ranking for his earnings accuracy, as compiled by Starmine. Safa has developed his research coverage with a focus on online advertising, search and e-commerce, and related Internet services. Safa’s research in online search has been the most extensive in the industry, and he is often considered an authority on the online search industry. He holds a master's degree in business administration, summa cum laude, from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Purdue University.

Bill Elkus is the Founder of Clearstone Venture Partners, with offices in Santa Monica, Menlo Park & Mumbai. Clearstone has over $650 million in committed capital for early stage technology investments. Clearstone‚s successes include PayPal, Overture, PeopleSupport,
and United Online. Bill was recognized as a top 100 VC by Forbes in its Midas List in 2004-06. Bill graduated from Harvard Law School (JD) and MIT‚s Sloan School of Management (SM). He was a Manager at the Boston Consulting Group, President at Nathan Todd (private family wealth management) and co-founder of a boutique Los Angeles merchant bank affiliated with Jefferies & Company.

For more than 25 years, Dr. Firman has been a leading force for innovation in services and programs for older persons. Under his leadership, NCOA has developed many nationally-acclaimed programs to improve the lives of older Americans. He has also directed NCOA’s development of core competencies in diffusion of innovation, public-private partnerships, networks and advocacy.

Dr. Firman has served in several national leadership roles including Chair of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations (twice), Chair of the Access to Benefits Coalition and Board Member of Generations of United and the National Human Services Assembly. Prior to joining NCOA as president and CEO in January 1995, Dr. Firman was, for 10 years, founder and CEO of the United Seniors Health Cooperative (USHC), a nonprofit consumer organization. He also helped develop the early versions of BenefitsCheckUp, now one of NCOA’s main impact areas. Dr. Firman earned his M.B.A. and his Ed.D from Columbia University.

With more than 20 years of experience, Mary Furlong is an expert in boomers and seniors. In 1985, Mary started SeniorNet and in 1996, she founded ThirdAge Media. She has raised over $110 million in venture capital and sponsorships. She founded Mary Furlong & Associates in 2003. She co-produces the annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit and Boomer Business Plan Competition, publishes the “Boomer/Senior Market Report” and serves the marketing, strategy, public relations and financing needs of her private client practice. Her client list includes: Shaklee, Posit Science, AARP, Microsoft, Pfizer, ASA, NCOA, and Quantum Intech, Inc. Her newest book, Turning Silver into Gold, How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace, Prentice Hall, was published in Spring, 2007. She is the Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University.

Kristen Gerencher is a reporter and health-care columnist for MarketWatch for Dow Jones in San Francisco. She writes the weekly Vital Signs column and regularly appears on webcasts and radio. She received a 2006 Excellence in Journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California chapter for a series she did on high-deductible health plans. Gerencher is currently writing a book examining baby boomers and volunteerism. She previously worked in KGO-TV‚s consumer unit and holds a master's degree from the University of California-Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

Jody Holtzman is Director, Knowledge Management for AARP, where he leads the strategic analysis group. He has over two decades of experience helping companies to develop and implement competitive business strategies and achieve their strategic market goals. He has worked with executives in Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations to turn market knowledge into actionable insight and strategy, and to design and put in place the organizational capabilities to succeed.

Previously, Jody was President of Strategy Dynamics Group, a consulting firm specializing in competitive strategy. As a Director of Strategy and Planning, and Project Leader of the Market Intelligence Network of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jody built and led a team in the U.S. and U.K., and directed and regularly presented insights, business implications and recommendations to the global leadership team. Prior to that, Jody was Vice President of Consulting for FutureBrand, where he helped clients develop and implement brand strategies and new corporate positionings. He has a graduate degree in international relations and political economy from the University of Chicago.

With over 6 million books in print, Mollie Katzen is listed by the New York Times as one of the best-selling cookbook authors of all time. She was recently chosen as the 2007 inductee into the prestigious James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame. She is a charter member of the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Roundtable. Mollie Katzen is best known as the creator of the groundbreaking classics Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Mollie Katzen Designs, provides creative menu designs for conferences and personal celebrations, and customized original Mollie Katzen artwork for collectors. In the fall of 2007, on the occasion of the Moosewood Cookbook‚s 30th anniversary, Ms. Katzen will be publishing her 10th book, The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without (Hyperion, October 2007).

Paul is co-founder and coordinator of the Journalists Exchange on Aging and edits its newsletters, Age Beat and Age Beat Online. His 1974 book, Senior Power: Growing Old Rebelliously, was among the earliest trade-press books on the contemporary politics of aging. He is widely regarded as the leading journalist on the U.S. age beat. In 2002, he testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on ageism in the media, and has spoken at numerous conferences in the fields of aging and journalism including Grantmakers in Aging, San Francisco State University's Osher Life Long Learning Institute and the Gerontological Society of America.

Aileen Lee joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1999. Her primary areas of investment are in consumer and Internet technologies, wireless services, and energy and environmental technologies. Aileen has worked closely with the teams and boards at Good Technology, Tellme, Segway, Zazzle, Friendster, Blue Nile, Miasolé, Genomic Health and other stealth ventures yet to be announced.

Prior to joining KPCB, Aileen worked at Gap Inc. in various operating roles. These included product management and marketing for Gap Online, as special assistant to Gap Inc.'s CEO, and in business development. She has also worked for Odwalla and for The North Face in brand and product marketing. Aileen began her career at Morgan Stanley in technology mergers & acquisitions. She has a Bachelor of Science from MIT and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Aileen is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and serves on the board of HYSTA (Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association).

Mark is a creative media innovator and pioneer in media for the Baby Boomer generation. He is president of 50+Digital LLC, which produces interactive media focused on the Boomer demographic, and provides consulting services to other media organizations focused on the market. Mark was the founding publisher and editorial director of Satisfaction, a groundbreaking lifestyle magazine and companion website targeting affluent 50-plus readers that was published by Chicago-based Tribune Company through 2006. Mark is the former editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, the nation’s most respected regional business weekly, and a former Sunday editor of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Emilio is a senior executive with over 17 years of development and management experience with non-profit, corporate and governmental organizations. As Chief Brand Officer, he is currently responsible for all creating, coordinating and integrating brand–related plans from across the enterprise. Prior to his new appointment, he was the Senior Vice President, Business Development at AARP Services. At AARP Services, he was responsible for all product development, product licensing, new market channel development, and joint ventures for AARP Services, Inc. He also managed all strategic alliances and corporate partnerships efforts for AARP, which included working with organizations like The Home Depot, United Health Care, The Hartford Group, Proctor & Gamble and Travelocity. Most recently, he served as one of the senior executives for Discovery Communications, Inc., where he was responsible for special projects and development spanning of all 14 broadcast networks, including Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, and FitTV.

Based in Highland's Menlo Park office, Bijan focuses on healthcare investments and specializes in medical devices and biotechnology. Prior to joining Highland, Bijan spent several years in marketing and strategic planning at Medtronic Vascular, a world leader in medical technology. Before Medtronic, Bijan was the Director of Business Development for HealthCentral, a venture-backed start-up that went public in 1999. During his medical training, Bijan conducted research in minimally invasive heart valves and left ventricular assist devices, and his work was published in several peer-reviewed scientific journals. He also served as a researcher at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, where he investigated coronary artery disease. Bijan also previously served as a member of the Kauffman Fellows program.

Bijan holds an AB in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, an MS in Health Policy from Columbia University, an MD from Columbia University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Sara Solovitch
Healthcare & Biotech Reporter, San Jose Business Journal

Jan Sola, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Executive Development Center
Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Jan is responsible for the design and implementation of management and leadership development programs. Previously, served as Director, Program Development for HandsNet, Inc., Cupertino, CA where she initiated an extensive national program and policy network focused on early childhood, youth development, child welfare, family economic security and comprehensive community-building strategies. Served as Director, Program Services for the YWCA of the USA, New York, NY where she directed all facets of nationally initiated programs for women and girls on work/life issues, health, sexuality, wellness in communities nationwide and provided consultative services to leadership of local agencies on effective management strategies for programs. Prior to this was Assistant Professor of Psychology at Lafayette College, Easton, PA. She received Ph.D. in Psychology from Iowa State University, and BA in Mathematics and Psychology from Concordia College.

Mr. Stein is a leader in nonprofit association management and brings to his new position more than thirty years of experience with a range of organizations in healthcare and philanthropy. He most recently served as Executive Director of the American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives (AAOE), the practice management partner organization of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; and previously served at Executive Vice President at Northern California Grantmakers. For 22 years, Stein worked for The Healthcare Forum, a membership association and think tank that served hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the United States and in countries around the world.

Dr. Vale is a Vice President in Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), Johnson & Johnson's venture capital subsidiary. JJDC invests broadly in innovative healthcare companies. Dr. Vale completed his PhD at Iowa State University in Biomedical Engineering and his DVM at Washington State University and has published in the area of medical device development. He was at Ethicon, a J&J subsidiary, working on preclinical studies, new business development, and in a coronary artery bypass graft spin-out company, Warren Labs, from 1982 to 1989 and joined J&J's Corporate Office of Science and Technology in 1989. Dr. Vale's medical device R&D experience included blood-compatible polymers, lasers, microsurgery, novel tissue closure methods, and adhesion prevention. He moved into venture capital, joining Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation in 1992 and in July of 1997 established JJDC's Silicon Valley office and has invested in over 30 companies for JJDC.

Vance Vanier brings to MDV a diverse blend of healthcare, industry, and international experiences. He focuses on life science and online health investments. In addition to investing, Vance also works to develop and guide MDV's life science companies including RiGen, iRhythm, CardioDx, Amigo, Enfold, and Neuropure.

He is a member of the clinical faculty in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford Medical Center. He received an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and did his residency training at UCSF and Highland Hospital.

Prior to joining MDV he received an MBA from Stanford University, worked in corporate development at Nektar Therapeutics, and traveled to Kosovo after the war to work with the WHO in creating the nation's first ambulance system. Vance did his undergraduate work at Stanford where he received dual bachelor's degrees with honors.

Susan Ayers Walker
Executive Director, SmartSilvers Alliance and Computer and technology Journalist, AARP.ORG

Susan Walker, a leading edge boomer and founder of the SmartSilvers Alliance. For the past three decades, she has been involved with implementing strategies leading to successful business partnerships and technology developments in emerging high tech systems companies. For the past several years Susan was Chairman of the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab (VLAB), a premier non profit technology forum in Silicon Valley. Susan's inspiration for SmartSilvers developed from years of caring for her aging parents and understanding the issues that will challenge the maturing Boomer generation ahead. Ms Walker earned her BS in Electrical Engineering at Northeastern and her Masters in Computer Science at Rutgers University.

Peter Ziebelman
Partner, Palo Alto Venture Partners

Peter Ziebelman started his career as a venture capitalist over 18 years ago. He is a general partner and co-founder of Palo Alto Venture Partners (www.pavp.com), a $150 million venture capital fund. PAVP is a 'hands-on' VC firm focused on early and development stage technology investments. Peter is on the boards of AssistGuide (long term care), PostX (secure email and statementing), and Aspectrics (chemical sensors). Peter enjoys teaching students as a guest lecturer for Stanford's, Wharton's, and Chicago's Business Schools. He is quoted in industry and business publications, such as USA Today, the Red Herring and the Wall Street Journal. Peter is a frequent judge for the University of Hawaii Business Plan Competitions.

For the past two decades, Jeff has implemented strategies to lead healthcare, information technology and consumer product companies to successful funding, high growth and liquidity. He is a former Venture Partner of Venture Strategy Partners, a former Managing Director of Lazard, where he founded and ran the investment bank’s early stage advisory business, and a former partner of Cooley Godward. Mr. Zimman earned his AB degree at Bowdoin College and his JD and MBA degrees at Stanford University. His current endeavor, Posit Science Corporation (formerly Neuroscience Solutions Corporation), is developing and testing products that target rejuvenation of a broad range of brain function, including immediate and delayed memory, attention, language, spatial and sensory skills.