Planning and Executing an Exit Strategy
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"Planning and Executing an Exit Strategy"
Whether you are an entrepreneur or investor, liquidation events can be great! Converting your hard work and/or risk into some measure of wealth and financial security is a wonderful thing.
It is never too early or late in your entrepreneurial or investment journey to obtain a well-rounded understanding of exit realities and the details, planning and preparation required to successfully execute an exit.
Join Venture Lab speakers Craig Sherman - Partner - Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, John Heffernan - VP Corporate Development - Infospace and Villette Nolon - former CEO and President - NetReflector as they share their knowledge and experience regarding this very important topic.
Buyer, seller and legal perspectives will be discussed.
Speakers:
Craig Sherman - Partner - Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Craig is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he focuses on corporate and securities laws, representing companies, venture capital firms, and investments banks in private placements and public offerings. Craig also has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, technology licensing, and domestic and international joint ventures.
Representative mergers and acquisitions deals that Craig led include: 4thpass in its sale to Motorola; AdRelevance in its sale to Media Metrix; Atom Films in its sale to Shockwave; Avogadro in its sale to Openwave Systems; iShip.com in its sale to Stamps.com; Marketwave in its sale to Accrue Software; and Rendition Networks in its sale to Opsware.
He began private practice in 1989 with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and Paris, and joined Perkins Coie in Seattle in January 1995. Craig became a director in the Kirkland office of Venture Law Group in December 1996 and was managing director of the Kirkland office from May 2000 until August 2002, when he joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
John Heffernan - VP Corporate Development - Infospace
John is currently the Vice president of Corporate Development at Infospace, Inc., where he focuses on acquisitions / strategic relationships to maintain Infospace's leadership position in the mobile entertainment space. Recent transactions include the acquisitions of three privately owned mobile entertainment companies.
Prior to his role at Infospace, John held executive corporate / business development positions at Hutchison Whampoa - where he led the acquisition and licensing of US based third generation mobile applications / technology and content for use in the group's European mobile operations; AT&T Wireless - where he focused on the acquisition of US based cellular operators, including Vanguard Cellular for $1.7B and Wireless One for $830M; and Onvia.com where he led the acquisition of several private companies in the B2B, B2G and eProcurement spaces - post IPO.
John began his career as an international tax advisor at Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouse Coopers), developing strategies for foreign market entries / withdrawals, corporate acquisitions / divestments, cross border structured financing products and tax optimized financing and repatriation techniques.
John is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Commerce from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Villette Nolon - former CEO and President, NetReflector, Inc.
Villette has a proven track record with over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience introducing successful new technology solutions and driving rapid revenue growth for multiple start-ups. Most recently, Villette was CEO and President of NetReflector, Inc., an international software company based in Seattle and with offices outside London and Moscow. During her tenure, from 2002 until 2005, revenue increased over 240% and the company received numerous regional, national and international awards for fast growth. In mid-2005, she spearheaded the sale of the Company to Global Market Insite.
Prior to NetReflector, Villette served as VP North American Sales for SafeHarbor Technology in Satsop, WA, and as Director of Marketing for Data Dimensions in Bellevue.
Villette began her career at in Boston at Xerox Corporation, and in 1984 co-founded Ameriscribe Data Resources, a successful regional competitor to Xerox Business Services. In various roles including Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Vice President, Product Management, she grew revenue to over $14 million in 8 years. In 1993, the Company was sold to Pitney Bowes Management Services for an undisclosed sum. Villette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and General Management with high honors from a joint program between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. She also completed an international work/study program at London University with an internship at the stock exchange in the City of London.
