What are the trends? What is getting funded? What’s hot? And how does the current economic condition effect VC investing? Join us to learn the insights from some of New Mexico’s most influential Venture Capitalists and investors: John Chavez, President of New Mexico Angels; Gavin Christensen, Principal at vSpring Capital; and Lee Rand, Partner at Sun Mountain Capital.
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009
Time: 6 – 8 pm
Location: Hotel Santa Fe
1501 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Google Map Link
Event Details
- 6:00 – 6:30 pm: Hors d’oeuvres & Networking
- 6:30 – 8:00 pm: Presentation
About the Speakers
John Chavez, President of New Mexico Angels
John J. Chavez is the President of Tafoya and Brainerd Partners LLC, a nationwide business development consulting firm. Mr. Chavez is also the Vice President Business Development at Financial Management Systems, a Chicago based financial services firm. Mr. Chavez has been an active angel investor since 2003. Prior to creating Tafoya and Brainerd Partners LLC, Mr. Chavez was appointed by New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as the Cabinet Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department. Mr. Chavez served as Cabinet Secretary for six years and as the President of the Federation of Taxation Administrators for one year.
Mr. Chavez is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Squash Blossom Classic – an organization that organizes a yearly adventure sport event in McKinley County.
Mr. Chavez received the following degrees from New Mexico State University.
- Master of Business Administration
- Bachelor of Art in Economics
- Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance
Gavin Christensen, Principal at vSpring Capital
Gavin heads vSpring’s New Mexico office where he is focused on funding companies in New Mexico’s technology-rich ecosystem.
Gavin joined vSpring as an associate in 2003, left in 2005 to attend the Kellogg School of Management, and in 2007 he rejoined vSpring as a Principal. Gavin’s efforts have had a significant impact on vSpring’s firm strategy and on the success of many of vSpring’s Fund I and II companies. During business school, Gavin worked as a Vertical Strategy Associate for Google’s direct sales organization. From 2000 to 2003, Gavin worked as a consultant in Monitor Group’s Boston office where he advised clients on a range of strategic, operational, and organizational improvements. Gavin began his career at Fidelity Investments as an investments representative.
Gavin is active in the New Mexico community: fostering entrepreneurship, education, and promoting the state. He is also active with his alma mater, Northwestern. He recently led an effort to create an experiential learning curriculum focused on venture capital and entrepreneurship. Gavin received a Masters of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.S. in Economics (with Honors), cum laude, from Brigham Young University. Gavin currently serves on the boards Intelisum and Symbiot.
Lee Rand, Partner at Sun Mountain Capital
Mr. Rand has over 15 years experience starting and managing technology businesses at both startups and large corporations. Prior to joining Sun Mountain, Mr. Rand founded Knogee a semantic search company, ran business development for Intel’s consumer electronics group, launched and managed the product marketing and standards team for Intel’s blade based server initiatives and led product management at semiconductor start-up Netboost which was acquired by Intel in 1999. Mr. Rand also has extensive business consulting experience having worked at Ernst and Young early in his career and more recently as an independent consultant brought in by investors and the board to work with start-ups on strategy and operations.
Mr. Rand has an
MBA from the Harvard Business School and a dual BA in computer science and mathematics from Cornell University.
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Coronado Ventures Forum and the New Voice of Business are co-sponsoring this luncheon discussion and you are invited to attend. The key topics are Federal Legislation and the Sustainable Economy.
Date: Monday, August 17, 2009
Time: 11:30 – 1:30 pm
Venue: Embassy Suites,
1000 Woodward Pl
Albuquerque, NM
Map: Google Map
$25 in advance (credit card payments)
$30 at the door (cash and check only)
Please RSVP ASAP to confirm your space!
- Lunch Included
- $25 per person in advance; $30 at the door (Cash or Check only, pending space available)
- Online reservations are now closed. We have a few seats remaining so please show up!
About This Event
Sen. Bingaman will speak, followed by a panel discussion led by Rusty Schmit,
CEO of CleanSwitch. The panelists include Brian Birk, Managing Partner of Sun Mountain Capital, Gary Geernaert, Director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Gary Tonjes, President of Albuquerque Economic Development.
New Voice of Business
New Voice of Business promotes economic, social and environmental sustainability in the United States. Our mission is to inform, engage, and mobilize an influential network of business people—a unified, new voice of business to advocate for a sustainable economy and encourage triple bottom line business practices. Our focus in 2009 is on energy policy that meets the challenge of global warming while promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth.
Emerald Sponsors
Pew Charitable Trusts,
UBS, Technology Ventures Corporation, Los Alamos National Bank
Green Sponsors
Am Energy, CleanSwitch, Earthstone, Miox, Moss-Adams
LLP, Schott Solar, SkyFuel
This article by Todd Hand, Managing Partner at Talent Capital Group and Board Member of Coronado Ventures Forum, was originally written for and published on FinanceNewMexico.org.
Recruiting top-drawer employees doesn’t stop just because hiring slows or freezes. The recession, however bad, isn’t permanent, and forward-looking executives realize that the most ambitious and productive workers—the ones they hope to attract—remain alert to opportunities from companies that market themselves vigorously and confidently no matter what the economic climate.
The following are some trends that will affect hiring as the economy rebounds:
- Don’t expect the best candidates to accept a smaller salary in return for additional stock options. Given the stock market’s performance over the past year, most employees would rather have a dependable source of income than gamble on stock options that might prove worthless. They also value their personal time and will likely negotiate for more vacation.
- The Internet has made it possible for job seekers to be more connected than ever through social- and professional-networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and various blogs. It’s also offered ways for job hunters to dig up all sorts of information about companies that interest them. An employer can use this as a qualifying tool: Given all the information that’s available online and elsewhere about most businesses, a candidate has no excuse for coming ill-prepared to an interview.
- Workers today expect more from their jobs than a steady paycheck and opportunities for advancement based on a willingness to sacrifice for the good of the company; they also want to feel that they matter personally to their employers. Knowing this, a savvy recruiter will craft job descriptions that define goals instead of listing tasks.
- Employers might be wary of people who drift from company to company, but they’re becoming more common than workers who spend many years or a whole career at one company. Rather than dismissing a job hopper outright, a wise recruiter will determine what the candidate is looking for that his or her company could provide—an opportunity that breeds long-term commitment.
- In today’s sluggish housing market, many prospective job seekers are willing to stick it out in an unsatisfactory job when the alternative is to sell their house at a loss for a slightly better job in another city. It’s the employer’s responsibility to demonstrate why the opportunity he or she offers is too good to pass up—and even to sweeten the deal to decrease the employee’s risk and make the offer more compelling.
Businesses that continue to actively recruit, even in a sluggish economic climate, are the ones that are more likely to benefit from the rewards provided by a workforce made up of people who genuinely enjoy their jobs.
Join Coronado Ventures Forum to learn the challenges, opportunities and implications around mobile computing. Our featured speaker is Bill Plummer, former VP of Nokia.
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time: 6 – 8 pm
Venue: Prairie Star, 288 Prairie Star Rd, Bernalillo, NM
Map: Google Map
$20 in advance (credit cards payments)
$25 at the door (cash and check only)
Event Details
- 6:00 – 6:30 pm: Hors d’oeuvres & Networking
- 6:30 – 8:00 pm: Presentation
- $20 per person in advance; $25 at the door (Cash or Check only)
About the Speaker
Bill Plummer, former Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia North America
Bill Plummer, featured on CNBC, CTIA, & CNET, joined Nokia in May of 1997. From 2007-2009 he served as GM and Vice President of Nokia’s North American Multimedia Business and then Nokia Americas-wide Go-to-Market, responsible for product roadmapping, program management and launch.
From 2004-2007 he was Nokia’s Vice President, External Affairs, responsible for Corporate Communications and Government and Industry Relations activities in North America. From June 2002 through January 2004, Bill was Nokia’s Vice President of Strategic & External Affairs, responsible for strategic corporate planning and execution in the Americas. Prior to June 2002, Bill was Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs, acting as Nokia’s lead representative to the U.S. Government and coordinating Nokia’s interaction with national and international industry associations.
Prior to joining Nokia, Bill served from 1990 through 1997 as a career officer in the United States Foreign Service, with positions in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs, the Office of Multilateral Trade, and the U.S. diplomatic mission to the Republic of Ecuador.
