USA Passes the Joystick to India

I'm the former Chief Operating Officer of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? from 2000-2007 - and for the past 20 years I've coached entrepreneurs all over the world.  

This year I attended TiECON for the first time (I'll be back every year).  

I was astonished to see the power shift to India which is already so well underway.  I'd been to India for long trips twice before - once in 1991 and once in 1997 - and it's obvious that I'm overdue for another trip to see it for myself again.

In all my discussions and observations while at TiECON I could easily see the new world leader beginning the next 100 years.  USA has passed the controls to India - and frankly it's exciting to see.

I'm looking forward to connecting with and learning from the Indu entrepreneurs with TiE.

I'm asked to do Keynote Speaking events all over the world and I'll be raving about what I saw at TiECON 2008.

Cameron Herold

BackPocket COO

www.BackPocketCOO.com 

At TiEcon it's all about making the connection

"There was just as much buzz in the hallways and around the chai tea carts as in the assembly hall. That's where business cards are swapped and deals are sealed - or at least discussed." Check out John Boudreau's Mercury News article on TiEcon 2008 here.

TiEcon 2008 ... the wait is over

Truly INSPIRATION FROM THE FRONTLINES.
I am attending TiEcon from the first time and I am convinced that apart from being world's largest conference for entrepreneurs, it is a knowledge machine and network machine. I feel as if taking dip in holy river Ganga after listening to great great legendary Bill Campbell, chairmain of Intuit. The spark of energy oozes in every sentence he speaks. No wonder he was a football coach.



The Parallel sessions on "Trial and tribulations of starting a company" and "To VC or not to VC" were excellent. It gave a clear idea about what circumstances startups get into and what can the founders do. I had a chance to attend two last sessions of the day today, which I believe were one of the very few inspirational talks I have ever attended in my life. The story of Naresh Goyal, chairman of jet Airways from his days in Punjab, India to this day when Jet Airways operates flights from San Francisco to Mumbai is an excellent example of dreaming big, persistance and utilizing the network of friends. The last session of Robert Swan, the only man who walked both North and South pole was really awe inspiring and touched the heart. Robert cleary and precisely delivers the message that unless we all together work consciously to save the planet from global warming, we will be answerable to coming generations. As he says none of us inherit our time here on earth from our parents, we borrow our time here from our children .

Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan ex-prime Minister, keynotes TiE Global charter member event

TiE Global Charter member reception was an excellent event, starting with a keynote from Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2004 to 2007, and a former executive of Citi Bank. The keynote was followed by a panel of TiE's global chapter members, moderated by Ashok Rao, film producer, which discussed the challenges and successes of their efforts to build and scale their TiE organizations.








Ashok Rao, Executive Producer of the Merchant Ivory film, "Before the Rains", starring Rahul Bose, Nandita das, Linus Roache, and Jennifer Ehle, screened the trailer of the movie for the global audience. The global TiE charter members, from Europe, Canada, India, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and many other countries, continued networking at the banquet reception, which featured a live band playing foot-tapping Bollywood hits.

TiEcon 2008 agenda - Add to your calendar

Add the whole TiEcon 2008 Agenda to your calendar in one go .. click this button

TiE has been a culture-shifter in Silicon Valley

TiE HAS SPAWNED MANY COMPANIES...John Boudreau of Mercury News covers TiE's history and it's contribution to fostering entrepreneurship. He say, a study by Duke University that examined 2,054 engineering and tech companies founded from 1995 through 2005 revealed that 52 percent of valley start-ups had at least one immigrant as a key founder. Indians represented about 26 percent of start-up founders. Read more here.

TiEcon 2008 Sponsors

TiE chapters across the world

TiECON Creates new Opportunities

I have been associating with TiECON since 2003, when I was trying to establish a career path in US. I happened to attend a seminar on “Job hunting in Silicon Valley” held by TiECON, which led me to volunteer in the registrations team for the annual conference. The multitude of synergy that I witnessed in the TiECON annual conference was amazing. Entrepreneurs, VCs, students and job seekers; all had an instrumental role to play. Tie opened doors for meeting dynamic professionals and networking events. I was fascinated by the number of developers, testers and marketing professionals whom I met there. The chocolate fondue fountains, lavish breakfasts and most magnificent gala at the end of the event were exciting and unforgettable. I successfully established important professional contacts and met several entrepreneurs and VCs. This conference exposed me to the unbounded options that any individual can have. More than anything, rubbing shoulders with young enthusiastic professionals gave me the confidence that if they can do it, I can do it to.

I attend on-going seminars and events held by this organization. The panel discussions give me a strong flavor of what is happening in the technology industry. The yearly Diwali gala held in Bellevue by the TiE Seattle chapter was a lot of fun to be at. It is the focused effort of people from various walks of life and the beauty of networking that makes TiECON a highly beneficial event to be at.

TiE has been very open to volunteer opportunities, and long distance has not been a challenge by any means. In 2007 I got the opportunity to volunteer for the TiECON Marketing team, trying to market the booths and manage the annual conference arrangements. It was quite overwhelming to get an idea of the expenses and effort that goes into pulling this together every year. I was contributing from Seattle and the experience was still very rewarding. TiE is truly a global body and dedicated at fostering an infrastructure for implementing new ideas.

I got the opportunity to network with the CEO of Mobideos Inc. at TiECON annual conference and got engaged in their marketing division. Today, I aspire to take the company to new heights and achieve vertical growth. As everyone thinks TiECon is more for entrepreneurs, but in fact it is a great place for professionals too, where you can apply the ideas in large companies. fun fun....

Free Heart Health Assessments for South Asians at TiEcon 2008

The South Asian Heart Center at El Camino Hospital will offer free heart health assessments during TiEcon, the world's largest convention dedicated to entrepreneurs. The assessments are available to all South Asians both Friday and Saturday, May 16-17 at the event at the Santa Clara Convention Center and include a comprehensive lifestyle questionnaire and a physical exam. Read more here.

TiE Annual Sponsors 2008

TiEcon Preparation in full swing!

Did you know that TiEcon, the 2-day conference, is totally organized by volunteers? Its an amazing concept to see in action. People giving their time and energy to organize a conference to foster entrepreneurship! With less than a week to go, working side by side with TiE Silicon Valley officials, 300 plus volunteers are working in full gear, getting ready to host TiEcon 2008, the world's largest conference for entreprenuers. Over the 2 day period, the volunteers and TiE will host over 4000 attendees, 200 industry leading speakers, 100 VCs and manage over 50 separate events, including E-Bazaar and Entertain banquet! See you at the Santa Clara Convention Center next week on May 16-17th. Its going to a fabulous conference!

Success was in the cards for teen entrepreneur

Check out Elementeo and TiEcon story by Mercury News Columnist, Mike Cassidy, "YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR'S GAME EMPLOYS CHEMISTRY PRINCIPLES".

Some interesting statistics regarding startups participating in Entrepreneurs Bazaar:



More about the program here
http://www.tiecon.org/home/bazaar

This is the data from last year's (2007) E-Bazaar



Do you see any trends ? Post your comment...

TiEcon Volunteer Party Rocks!

On May 1st, TiE hosted a rockin Volunteer appreciation party at Illusions, in Palo Alto, CA. Every year, hundreds of volunteers come together to organize TiEcon, the world's largest conference for entrepreneurs. Seshan Rammohan, executive director of TiE’s Silicon Valley chapter, and Ajay Chopra, co-convener TiEcon 2008 and a venture capitalist with Trinity Ventures, recognized and awarded key volunteers for their outstanding contributions. After wining and dining at the sit-down banquet, everyone danced the night away to Bollywood hits. Thanks TiE for a fabulous party! Check out some pictures from the event here.

TiE entrepreneurial mixer held in San Francisco

Check out IndiaPost.com coverage on the TiE mixer held at the San Francisco here. Check out the pictures of the event here.

E-Bazaar a VC's perspective- Part 2

Lara Druyan, a top notch VC in silicon valley is a General Partner at Allegis Capital. Lara believes that when a company approaches VCs for funding, it should put itself in VC's shoes and think about what it wants as an investor. VCs get convinced more when they are told about what they get as an investor and not only the product that the company is working on. A VC according to Lara, as an investor wants
1) to focus on BIG markets
2) a good quality team
3) a defensible technology


Concentrating solely on technology in the pitch is not a good idea, she says. In other words, the technology should reach a point where it will be marketable and usable among the end users sooner - it's better to fail early so that you can make adjustments while you still have money. VCs also expect the team to have a highly qualified techie person on the team if the company is about hitech product. It makes more sense if the company is honest upfront about the resources and people they are lacking so that VCs can help fill in holes on the executive team. Knowing what you know or even don't know is of utmost importance, she says. Watch the video -- Neha Dadhbhawala from TiECon Live team interviews Lara Druyan to understand the functional skills VCs looks mostly in entrepreneurs in the E-Bazaar event of TiECon 2008.

TiECon 2008, the world's largest convention for entrepreneurs is being held on 16th and 17th May 2008 at Santa Clara Convention Center in silicon valley. More information on www.tiecon.org

E-Bazaar a VC's perspective- Part 1

Dharmesh Thakker is a Senior Associate with Advanced Technology Ventures based in silicon valley. Dharmesh is intersted in meeting high quality people and professinals and believes that TiE is one of the best platforms that serves this purpose. According to Dharmesh, TiE not only gives Venture Capitalists like him a good opportunity to meet aspiring entrepreneurs but also like minded VCs in the silicon valley with whom he can partner with in funding, growing and mentoring new companies.

Advanced Technology Ventures, according to Dharmesh, can help fund and grow companies that are early or mid stage. Early stage companies mostly have work in developing the technolgy and executing the project. The technical skills and execution ability of the whole team plays a key role in being VC friendly and attracting needed money. Mid size companies are those where the company has already graduated from the technological innovation and is trying to scale up the technology to cater to different and more users. An invincible business development strategy, enviable market positioning and best sales force are very important to pitch the company's growing financial needs, Dharmesh says. Advanced Technology Ventures is among numerous Venture Capital firms participating in the much sought after E-Bazaar event on 16th May during TiECon 2008 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Silicon Valley.

Are you attending ??

TiEcon 2008 Announces Distinguished Panel of Judges for Entrepreneurship Awards

TiEcon 2008 Announces Distinguished Panel of Judges for Entrepreneurship Awards to honor this year's most exciting entrepreneurs! This year's judges are:
-- Peter Burris: principal analyst, Forrester, following enterprise Web 2.0 apps and infrastructure
-- Melissa Drydahl: CEO and co-founder, Bring Light; former SVP of Marketing at Adobe Systems
-- Skip Glass: partner, Foundation Capital; previously held executive positions with IBM, Sybase, and Netscape
-- Om Malik: founder of GigaOm and a veteran technology journalist
-- Brad O'Neill: founding investor in StumbleUpon; CEO and founder, TechValidate Software
Learn about award categories and nomination forms for the Entrepreneur Awards here. Check out further coverage on CNBC and Yahoo Finance.

GigaOm signs up as TiEcon media sponsor

GigaOm, has signed up as TiEcon 2008 media sponsor. Om Malik, founder of GigaOm and a veteran journalist, is also on the Distinguished Panel of Judges for TiEcon 2008 Entrepreneurship Awards.

Rooly Eliezerov of Gigya speaking at TiEcon panel "Scaling: Monetization"

Gigya President, Rooly Eliezerov, to speak at TiEcon 2008 panel on, "Scaling: Monetization". Gigya delivers innovative discovery and monetization solutions to the social media ecosystem, connecting brand advertisers, content publishers and an enormous audience of active social media users. Read more here.

TiECon Success Story

Farzin Shahidi, the CEO of an early stage startup NextPlane during May 2007 was introduced to TiE charter member Sandip Gupta just prior to TiECon 2007. NextPlane signed up for the Entrepreneurs Bazaar, the only event of its kind where over 40 leading Venture Capitalists, Lawyers, Bankers, and other members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem come together to help you take your venture to the next level.


The business plan that NextPlane pitched infront of the prospective investors met with exactly what they desired. The candid perspective on their pitch by the prospective investors helped them shape the business plan that they are marching to with great pride and confidence today. Farzin believes that TiE network has proven more helpful to him than any other entrepreneurial network he got engaged in and that introductions at TiE with executives from different industries is just a beginning of a long time relationship. NextPlane has just closed its Series-A round of investment.

If you already have an early stage startup or if you are planning to start a startup and looking for money, Entrepreneurs Bazaar @ TiECon 2008 is the right place. Meet the top notch Venture Capitalist of silicon valley and convince them about your plan and walk away with loads of money !!

Visit Entrepreneurs Bazaar @ TiECon 2008 on 16th May 2008 at the Santa Clara Convention Center . Register today and get attractive discounts

Chamath Palihapitiya, the Facebook star, speaking at Tiecon

Graduating from the University of Waterloo with a degree in electrical engineering, Chamath Palihapitiya started his career as a derivatives trader. Through his professional growth, he worked at Spinner.com and Winamp, and then moved to AOL where he was the Vice President and General Manager of AIM and ICQ, completely responsible for overlooking both brands. After working with AOL for five years, Chamath focused on the consumer-based internet market as a part of Mayfield, a VC firm. This diverse experience in the consumer internet market brought Chamath to the now popular Facebook as a VP of Product Marketing. Attend Tiecon 2008 to find out more about Chamath's inspirational career journey and his contribution to Facebook!

Entertainment Unbounded!

The theme for this year's TiECon is "Entrepreneurship unbounded" . But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So after two days of intense hush hush work where entrepreneurs in making will hard sell their brilliant ideas to VCs, where many parallel panel discussions will be held and people will attend high luncheons, there is something to relax on 17th May evening. Unwind and relax yourself to the performance of professional dancers and musicians of different genre while sipping a cup of tea. And if you are someone who cannot see yourself as part of audience then let the Dance Fever catch you and you can dance the night away with a Live DJ. This is a sure sold out event.Visit Gala ..Hurry !!

Nicholas Negroponte to speak at TiEcon 2008!

Nicholas Negroponte is an architect and computer scientist, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab, and founder of The One Laptop per Child association (OLPC). He is also author of the 1995 best seller, Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In the private sector, Nicholas serves on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment. He has provided start-up funds for more than 40 companies, including Wired magazine.

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief Wired Magazine, author of "The Long Tail", speaking at TiEcon!

Chris Anderson is editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, which has won a National Magazine Award under his tenure. He coined the phrase The Long Tail in an acclaimed Wired article, which he expanded upon in the book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More (2006). He is the Chairman of a new startup, BookTour.com

Before joining Wired in 2001, he worked at The Economist, where he launched their coverage of the Internet. He also has a degree in physics from George Washington University and did research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has also worked at the journals Nature and Science.

Rama Bijapurkar , Indian thought leader, distinguished speaker at TiEcon

Rama Bijapurkar is one of India's most respected thought leaders on market strategy and consumer related issues in India. She is also a keen commentator on social and cultural changes in the evolving liberalizing India. She has her own market strategy consulting practice and works with an impressive list of Indian and global companies, guiding the development of their business-market strategies. She describes her mission as bringing "market focus to business strategy".

Rama serves as an independent director on the boards of Infosys Technologies, CRISIL, Axis Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, ENIL (Radio Mirchi), Give Foundation (a not-for-profit company), Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd. and Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd.

Her latest book, "Winning in the Indian Market - Understanding the Transformation of Consumer India", is available at Amazon here.

Bill Campbell, Chairman, Intuit, to Keynote at TiEcon 2008

Bill Campbell assumed his role as chairman of the board of directors in August 1998. He previously served as Intuit’s president and chief executive officer from 1994 to 1998 and as chief executive officer from September 1999 until January 2000.

During Campbell’s tenure, the company's market value grew from approximately $700 million to nearly $3 billion as Intuit solidified its position as the clear leader in tax, personal finance and small business accounting software. During that time, the company also invented a new class of Web-based finance businesses delivered through Quicken.com, Intuit's Web site.

Prior to joining Intuit, Campbell served as the president and CEO of GO Corporation. He also founded and served as president and CEO of Claris Corporation, which was purchased by Apple Computer Inc. in 1990. A director of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, Campbell spent six years as the head football coach for Columbia University and was recently appointed to the university’s board of trustees.

The Trials and Tribulations of Starting a Company

One of the topics of panel discussion on day one of TiECon 2008 is for people who have never made their hands dirty. Few serial entrepreneurs of our time will share their knowledge on what it takes to start a startup, build a winning team, protect the company's IP and much more. The panel discussion named "The Trials and Tribulations of Starting a Company" starts at 11:00 am on 16h May in Santa Clara Convention Center. Visit TiECon 2008 Agenda and register for TiECon 2008.

TiEcon 2008 Entrepreneur Awards announced!

TiEcon invites you to nominate yourself or someone you know and respect for the prestigious TiEcon Entrepreneurial Awards. The outstanding entrepreneur awards are in five categories: Gen Y, Female, Socially Conscious / Eco Friendly, Renegade, and Most Inspiring leaders.
Read more here.

14-Year-Old Creates Chemistry Trading Card Game

With $500 in seed money from the California Association of the Gifted, 13-year old Anshul Samar crafted a prototype of the two-player CCG. His company Elementeo, wowed them at entrepreneur conference TiECON 2007. Read more about this remarkable TiEcon success story at Wired.com.

Uncle Ramesh in action!

Get Inspired by Peter Thiel, Elon Musk & John Wood at TiEcon 2008

Check out who's speaking at TiEcon 2008!

Peter Thiel, Managing Partner, The Founders Fund
Co-founder of PayPal
Early investor and board member of Facebook
Invested in LinkedIn, Slide, Friendster




Elon Musk, Chairman, Telsa Motors
Co-founder of X.com, renamed to PayPal
Chairman of Tesla Motors, first electric car
Chairman of SolarCity, low-priced solar energy



John Wood, Founder & CEO, Room to Read
Left exec track at Microsoft to form Room to Read
Sponsored over 280 schools, 3800 libraries
Distributed over 3 million children's books