http://www.avcjforum.com/

Thursday, 13 November 2008

8:00 / Registration and networking breakfast

8:20 / Welcome remarks

8:30 / Opening keynote address [via video link]
DAVID BONDERMAN, Founding Partner, TPG CAPITAL LP

9:15 / Silicon dragon: Asia rocks the venture world
As the world's venture community searches for opportunity beyond the Internet, Asian venture has begun to hit its stride: The region has moved from adapting successful technologies and business models from overseas towards creating and developing its own ideas and technologies. The Asian venture ecosystem is taking on its own personality, from lower start-up costs to faster rollouts. Panelists profile the challenges and opportunities.
Why the Asian enterprise cycle is shorter—less capital upfront, greater demand?
India—the Sultans of Software: A different model than China?
Korea—Confucian traditions with a tech attitude
Betting on smart people with Western education and experience
Can Asia replicate the Silicon Valley venture infrastructure?

10:15 / Coffee / tea networking break

10:45 / Portrait of an Asian entrepreneur
In recent years Asian entrepreneurs have built and subsequently listed a number of highly successful companies. In this panel we hear from several of these extraordinary individuals—what inspired them, how they got started and the lessons they learned on the way, including:
Bootstrapping, the Asian way
Why they chose venture capital funding
Skill sets that VCs brought—what they will need in the future?
Sourcing—and managing—Asian start-ups

12:00 / Luncheon
Keynote address
DICK KRAMLICH, General Partner & Co-Founder, NEW ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATES

13:30 / Asia's innovation hotspots
"Tech hotspots", including Beijing, Bangalore, Seoul, Singapore and Tel Aviv, are well known for incubating successful companies in the field of information and communication technologies. This panel of experts picks their favourites, explains why and highlights best practices across the region:
Where is Asian venture most likely to succeed?
Working with US and European partners
Where are the most favourable investment destinations in Asia in terms of government support, tax regulations, entrepreneurial flair and appetite for funding?
Can the Valley rebound, whither Europe?

14:30 / Coffee / tea networking break

15:00 / Social networking, media and services
Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul have had mobile penetration rates greater than one per capita for many years. Streaming content onto the ubiquitous mobile phone has become commonplace in Asia, as has online gaming and social networking via such sites as MySpace and Facebook. Simultaneously, platforms such as Skype have achieved worldwide usage.
What are the latest developments in this space?
How do you build a business around user-driven content?
What revenue models are currently being employed, and with what degree of success?

16:00 / Consumer deals
Much of Asia's venture capital goes into funding the growth of businesses catering to the region's rapidly expanding consumer class. Healthcare, education, financial services and travel and leisure are oft-quoted examples by private equity groups. Venture investors discuss:
The trends in consumer spending in Asia
Prime sectors for VC investment
The risk/return profile of consumer versus technology deals

18:00 / Buses leave from the JW Marriott lobby entrance for the Four Seasons Hotel

18:30 /
Gala cocktail reception
Venue: Four Seasons Hotel, Level 2, Grand Ballroom Foyer

19:30 /
Gala banquet dinner
Venue: Four Seasons Hotel, Level 2, Grand Ballroom
Keynote address
GEORGE R. ROBERTS, Founding Partner,
KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS & CO

Friday, 14 November 2008

8:45 / Registration and networking breakfast

9:20 / Welcome remarks

9:30 / Asian venture funds in a competitive world
Asian venture capitalists have moved beyond their traditional comfort zones to encompass new areas. Today VCs are now investing in everything from technology start-ups to consumer-oriented plays that could just as easily be classified as private equity growth capital. Limited partners, meanwhile, are left in a quandary as the lines between specific asset allocations have become blurred. This multi-faceted panel highlights and discusses the different strategies that Asia's VC firms are following as the competition for deals and ideals continues to heat up.
Venture or private equity--which is it?
Which industries or sectors are natural investment progressions for VCs?
Building a staff and reputation
The LP perspective on the diversification of Asian VC fund strategies

10:30 / Coffee / tea networking break

11:00 / Monetising new ideas
Entrepreneurs and investors alike invariably face the challenge of making new ideas pay off: Google famously succeeded by transforming its search utility into targeted advertisements. What is less clear is how social networking platforms and other forms of streaming media can do the same. The experts share their insights on:
How, if ever, social networking platforms can monetise mindshare
How Asian entrepreneurs can leverage technologies developed elsewhere into profitable business models
Recent case histories of successfully imported business models
Where hope springs eternal—great ideas that will never earn a yuan

12:00 / Cleantech
From a relatively new buzzword only a few years ago, cleantech has grown into the second largest (20%) investment category by venture firms across the globe. In Asia, where industrialisation and infrastructure are in various development stages, cleantech's attractions are even more marked. The continent has an insatiable appetite for energy that has taken a heavy toll on the environment, and unique opportunities have arisen for Asian firms to lead the innovation of new technologies that could create a better world. Panelists discuss:
The latest trends and opportunities in cleantech
Update on government policies and regulations
Financing cleantech: VC, bank financing and regulatory incentives
Issues in the adaptation of clean technology

13:15 / Luncheon
Concluding remarks
Conference concludes

Goto Top