The 16th edition of the Founder Showcase will gather over 400 investors, founders and press to hear talks from global change agents in technology; including Peter Diamandis, Chairman & CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation & Co-Founder of Singularity University; Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder of The Social+Capital Partnership & Owner of the Golden State Warriors; and Gabe Zichermann, the World's Leading Expert on Gamification & Founder of Dopamine and Gamification Co.
Guests will also see an entertaining Pitch Competition featuring 6 promising seed-stage companies, and enjoy appetizers and drinks in a networking hall full of other hot startups demoing their wares.
For more information, visit the full website at www.FounderShowcase.com.
Keynote Speakers
Peter Diamandis, Chairman & CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, Co-Founder of Singularity University, Human Longevity & Space Adventures
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis is an international pioneer in the fields of innovation, incentive competitions and commercial space. In 2014 he was named one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” – by Fortune Magazine. Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, and Co-Founder of Human Longevity Inc, a genomics and cell therapy-based company. He is also the Co-Founder of Singularity University, an institution that studies exponentially growing technologies and their ability to solve humanity’s grand challenges. Diamandis is the NYT Bestselling author ofAbundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think, and BOLD – How to go Big, Create Wealth & Impact the World.
Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder of The Social+Capital Partnership, Owner of the Golden State Warriors
Chamath Palihapitiya is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Social+Capital Partnership (Social Capital) – a venture capital fund based in Palo Alto, CA that incubates and invests in breakthrough companies in healthcare, education, financial services, mobile and enterprise software. Preceding his focus as an investor, Chamath was the longest tenured member of Facebook's senior executive team and helped drive its ascension to one of the most important companies in the world. In addition to his focus at the fund, Chamath is Owner and Director of the NBA's Golden State Warriors.
Gabe Zichermann, World's Leading Expert on Gamification, Founder ofDopamine and Gamification Co, Conference Chair at GSummit
Gabe is the world's foremost expert on the subject of gamification, user engagement and behavioral design. His highly-anticipated forthcoming book - Gamification by Design 2 (2015) - updates the definitive reference guide on the use of game mechanics in non-game contexts - The Gamification Revolution (McGraw Hill, 2013). In addition, Gabe is the Founder of the industry's primary publication, Gamification.co; co-designed the live-event gamification platform livecube (http://livecube.co); and co-founded strategy/design consultancy Dopamine (dopa.mn) where he works with leading brands to drive customer and employee engagement.
Additional Keynote Speakers for the 16th Founder Showcase will be announced shortly.
Panelists
Boris Wertz, Founding Partner, Version One Ventures
Boris Wertz is one of the top tech early-stage investors in North-America and the founding partner of version one ventures. His portfolio encompasses over 50 early-stage consumer internet and enterprise companies, including Clio, Edmodo, Flurry, Frank & Oak, Indiegogo, Julep, Top Hat, Unbounce, and Wattpad. Boris is also a board partner with Andreessen Horowitz and one of the founders of start-up accelerator GrowLab. Before becoming an investor, Boris was the COO of AbeBooks.com, the world’s largest marketplace for new, used and rare and out-of print books which got sold to Amazon in 2008.
Cyan Banister, CEO at Zivity, Owner of Banister Capital
Cyan is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Zivity, a prolific angel investor with her husband Scott Banister (Tagged, SpaceX, Uber and others), board member, advisor and also a contributing writer for TechCrunch and Women2.0. Cyan co-founded the controversial website Zivity.com, which is a subscription based social networking site for creators and fans of beautiful and tasteful glamour photography. She currently serves on the board of directors for Mimoco, best known for their MIMOBOT line of designer USB storage devices.
Jed M. Katz, Managing Director, Javelin Ventures
Jed Katz is the Managing Director of Javelin Venture Partners, and has led investments in BoostMedia, Famo.us, Linqia, Netpulse, SmartAsset, SmartZip, Spikes Security, Thumbtack, Trumaker and WeddingtonWay. Prior to joining Javelin, Jed was a Managing Director of DFJ Gotham Ventures, COO of Yamcon, and COO and Founder of Rent Net, the Internet’s first rental and relocation guide, whose infrastructure was the starting point for the formation of Move.com, which was acquired by Homestore for over $900 million. Jed holds a B.A. in Business Economics from UCLA and an M.B.A. from The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was awarded the Price Fellowship from the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, of which he is currently on the advisory board.
Manu Kumar, Founder & Chief Firestarter at K9 Ventures
Manu previously founded, grew and sold two successful ventures, including SneakerLabs – a company which developed software and services for web-based customer interaction – and iMeet – a provider of webconferencing services. After the merger of iMeet with Netspoke (August 2002), Manu served on the Board of Netspoke until its acquisition by Premiere Global Services (August 2005). He also serves as an investor and/or advisor for Refocus Imaging, Dolores Labs (CrowdFlower), Twilio, DNAnexus, and others.
Jessica E. Lessin, Founder & Editor in Chief at The Information
Jessica E. Lessin founded The Information in 2013 and is the publication's Editor-in-Chief. She covered Silicon Valley and the technology industry for eight years at the Wall Street Journal. At the Journal, she wrote nearly 1,000 articles for the paper, consistently breaking news about major products, management changes and strategy shifts at Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter and other Internet companies. She was part of a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for a 2011 series on digital privacy and has appeared on CNBC, NPR, CNN and PBS’s “The Charlie Rose Show.” Jessica graduated from Harvard University in 2005 and lives in San Francisco.