Our speakers will share their stories of how they got started and succeeded.
Entrepreneurial Women Share Their Stories
Thursday, Apr 19, 2012
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Ming's Chinese Cuisine and Bar
1700 Embarcadero Road
Palo Alto, CA 94303
6:00 to 7:00: Reception, sign-in, and dinner
7:00 to 8:30: Discussion and Q&A
Cost: $30 Harvard Club members, $40 non-members (includes dinner). CBSACBA members receive Harvard Club member pricing. Register as "guest", show proof of CBSACBA membership at the door and receive $10 refund.
Registration link: http://www.harvardclub-siliconvalley.org/events/register1.php?event=244
Though entrepreneurship remains notably male-dominated, the growing number of highly successful and high profile women in business in general, and entrepreneurial roles in particular, provides new inspiration for women considering taking the plunge. Working women face issues daily that generally elude their male counterparts. Entrepreneurs face issues daily that generally elude their traditional corporate counterparts. The intersection of these two groups represents a diverse set of challenges and opportunities unique to women entrepreneurs. The speakers on our panel discuss the experiences that formed their unique path to entrepreneurship, and share perspectives on the trade-offs, struggles, rewards and realities of being a woman entrepreneur.
MODERATOR:
Vivian Lee, Aqua Partners LLC
Vivian started her business in 1983, consulting in the then fledgling biotechnology industry. She has advised hundreds of companies, investment firms, universities and government agencies worldwide, is a frequent speaker at biotechnology investment conferences in US, Europe and Asia, and served as a reviewer to the US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment in its first report on commercial biotechnology. She began her career as an analyst at chemical conglomerate WR Grace & Co. Vivian holds an AB in Biochemistry from Harvard College.
SPEAKERS:
Robbie Baxter, Peninsula Strategies
Robbie Kellman Baxter brings over 15 years of strategic planning and marketing expertise to Peninsula Strategies. Her clients have included start-ups and mid-sized venture-backed companies as well as industry leaders such as Netflix, Yahoo!, Oracle and Sun Microsystems.
A sought-after writer and speaker, Robbie has presented to business school alumni at Stanford, Wharton and Haas, as well as chapters of the Product Development and Management Association, the Business Marketing Round Table and Women in Consulting. She has been quoted on business issues in the Wall Street Journal, eCommerce Times and Tampa Bay Journal, and has been asked to write articles for American Venture, Marketing Profs and Management Consulting News.
While honing her analytical skills as a consultant in Booz-Allen & Hamilton's Marketing Intensive Practice, she helped Global 2000 companies respond to competitive threats, market dips and new opportunities. She has since played key roles at a number of Silicon Valley start-ups, developing marketing organizations and mapping out strategy across a range of industries.
A longtime resident of the Peninsula, Robbie has developed very strong relationships throughout the Silicon Valley community, with investors, attorneys and business leaders.
Robbie received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated with honors from Harvard College.
Diane Heditsian, deClarity
Diane Heditsian is CEO of deClarity, a communications firm specializing in dynamic media serving the life science, high tech, clean tech, financial, and consumer products industries. She founded deClarity while in her 20’s and is celebrating thirty years in business. Historic and current clients include Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Adobe Systems, VISA, Levi-Strauss, and Chevron. Prior to founding deClarity, Diane worked in broadcast television, most recently serving as producer of the nationally syndicated television program, PM/EVENING Magazine, where she gave Maria Shriver her on camera start.
Diane is from a family of entrepreneurs, which includes her grandfather, father, and now her 25 year-old son. In her “spare time” Diane serves as a science advocate for UCSF’s NIH-funded Breast Cancer Specialized Program in Research Excellence (SPORE) and an active Board Emeritus member and advocate at Breast Cancer Connections in Palo Alto where she chairs the Marketing Task Force. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Tufts University and serves on the Alumni Admissions Committee and is an advisor for the Communications and Media Studies Department. Diane is eager to encourage would-be entrepreneurs and says that starting deClarity was among the top three best decisions she’s ever made.
Anula Jayasuriya, Evolvence India Life Science Fund
Anula Jayasuriya is a life science venture capitalist. She is the co-founder of the Evolvence India Life Science Fund, established in 2006 to make investments in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and related contract service companies based in India. She was previously a partner with Skyline Ventures in Palo Alto, and prior to that with the German-US venture capital firm TVM, in San Francisco. Anula's expertise consists of a unique combination of business, basic science and medical knowledge. Her prior positions include VP-Corporate development at Genomics Collaborative Inc., and Vice President, Global Drug Development at Hoffman-La Roche for opportunistic infections in AIDS and Transplantation.
Anula received a BA from Harvard College summa cum laude, and an MD and PhD (in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics) from Harvard Medical School. She interned in Pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital and received an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. Anula also has a M. Phil. in pharmacology from the University of Cambridge, England.
Cost: $30 Harvard Club members, $40 non-members (includes dinner)
Registration link: http://www.harvardclub-siliconvalley.org/events/register1.php?event=244
