Global Venture Network

Global Venture Network, held on Friday, March 23, 2001 at the Metropolitan Club on Fifth Avenue was a sellout. One of the highlights, throughout the day, were distinguished venture capitalists who spoke as panelists and offered insight for small companies. One of the speakers was Trident Capital managing director Venetia Kontogouris who said she will be spending more time with portfolio companies being pro-active to help them survive this difficult time. The consensus was that there is plenty of funding available, but securing will be selective and more difficult as the due diligence will be stiffer. Karen White, a principal of Pequot Capital Management spoke on "getting back to basics." Attending the conference and absorbing the intelligence were Pillsbury Winthrop LLP attorney Emily Campbell, Wilby Capital's Yoko Fukaya, Aclion Global Recruiting's Seth Damski, The Guerrilla Guide's Michael Roney and Schroeder Partners principal Rebecca Chiu. InHanse Corp. CEO & Chairman Robert Dansby, PhD told me about their hosting of next exchange services and I chatted with Maryland-based the Chancellor Group MD Rodney Azama; Empire State Development's Jack Van Wie, who mentioned they have money for NYC startup ventures; Oracle's Jennifer Kelley; Mindshare Ventures's Richard Friedman; LabMorgan's Alice Laidlaw; Carnegie Hill Ventures's Philip Siller and Katalyst's Sandeep Thrakar.