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ROCK STARS OF INNOVATION

CONNECT and Xconomy present the 2012 Rock Stars of Innovation summit!

This meeting will open with an All-Star VC Jam Session and premier networking reception hosted by the renowned Bill Walton.

Walton, NBA basketball legend and diehard Grateful Dead fan, will host an evening of rock and roll starring VC Rockers Chuck McDermott, General Partner of RockPort Capital, Jason Mendelson, Managing Director of Foundry Group and David Cremin, Co-founder and Partner of DFJ Frontier. Supported by McDermott's band mates from Caballo Blanco, the jammers will show off their talents to an audience of fellow VCs, entrepreneurs and business leaders. There is even a rumor that Bill Walton himself may take the stage, jamming on the drums to a few 'Dead hits.

This entertaining evening is meant to kick-off the Summit the following morning, which will feature two keynotes - one by TED rock star Juan Enriquez of Excel Ventures and the other, a rare appearance by San Diego wireless rock star, Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs. Also on the agenda is a crossfire panel of top-tier national VCs - Nagraj Kashyap of Qualcomm Ventures, Scott Kupor of Andreesson Horowitz, Jason Mendelson of Foundry Group and Chuck McDermott of Rockport Capital, in-depth conversations with the scientific and business leaders behind companies like MOGL, Sapphire Energy and Tocagen and CONNECT's hallmark line-up of leading San Diego scientists Eric Topol, Larry Smarr and John Reed. This rapid-fire program will wrap up with quick pitches by 10 of San Diego's most investable start-ups.

With an audience comprised of VCs, institutional investors, academic leaders and company executives, this summit will be an unparalleled networking event and undoubtedly one of the premier venture capital summits on the west coast.

For more information and the agenda, click here

ROCK STAR VC JAM SESSION
Location: Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Date: March 28, 2012
Time: 6 – 9pm

ROCK STARS OF INNOVATION SUMMIT
Location: Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Date: March 29, 2012
Time: 8:00am – 3:00pm

KEYNOTES

Juan Enriquez, Managing Director, Excel Venture Management

A serial biotech investor and author of a number of books that proved eerily accurate in their ability to predict economic and political trends, Enriquez is widely recognized for being a leading authority on the economic impact of life sciences on business as well as for his prescient TED talks.

Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO, Qualcomm

As a leader in the field of mobile communications for over two decades and the key driver behind Qualcomm's strategic vision, Jacobs has spearheaded the company's mobile technology breakthroughs—making Qualcomm the trailblazer of the communications industry.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS / VC JAMMERS

Steve Briggs, Distinguished Professor, UC San Diego; Co-founder, Sapphire Energy
Jon Carder, CEO, MOGL
David Cremin, Founder & Managing Director, DFJ Frontier
Harry Gruber, Chairman, CEO and President, Tocagen
Nagraj Kashyap, VP, Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures
Scott Kupor, Partner and COO, Andreesson Horowitz
Chuck McDermott, General Partner, Rockport Capital
Jason Mendelson, Managing Director, Foundry Group
Amir Nashat, General Partner, Polaris Venture Partners
Jason Pyle, CEO, Sapphire Energy
John Reed, CEO, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Paul Santinelli, Venture Partner, North Bridge Venture Partners
Paul Schimmel, Professor, Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute
Larry Smarr, Founding Director, Calit2; Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UC San Diego
Steve Tomlin, Managing Director, Avalon Ventures
Eric Topol, Chief Academic Officer, Scripps Health; Vice-Chairman, West Wireless Health Institute; Director, STSI; Professor, The Scripps Research Institute

COMPANY PRESENTATIONS

FIRMS WHO HAVE ATTENDED IN THE PAST:
5AM Ventures | Aberdare Ventures | Adams Capital Management | Agility Capital | Allegis Ventures | Artiman Ventures | Athenian Venture Partners | Batelle | Biogen Idec New Ventures | BioMed Ventures | Biotechnology Value Fund LP | Blade Ventures | Burrill & Company | California Technology (CT) Ventures | Chicago Growth Partners | CMEA Ventures | Correlation Ventures | Crystal Cove Capital | DBL Investors | DFJ Mercury Ventures | Domain Associates | Draper Fisher Jurvetson | Enterprise Partners Venture Capital | Evercore Partners | Express Ventures | Finistere Ventures | Forward Ventures | Frazier Healthcare | Gemini Strategies | GMT Ventures | Greenhouse Capital Partners | Hamilton BioVentures | Harris & Harris Group | Hillcrest Venture Partners | Huntington Capital | InLab Ventures | Johnson & Johnson | Keiretsu Forum | Koffler Ventures | Latterell Venture Partners | Leading Ventures | Lighthouse Capital Partners | Linkagene | Miramar Venture Partners | Mohr Davidow | MPM Capital LP | NanoDimension | New Leaf Venture Partners | Palomar Ventures | Pappas Ventures | Partech International | Pearl Street Venture Funds | Pfizer | POSCO BioVentures | Propel Partners | ProQuest Investments | Qualcomm Ventures | RiverVest Venture Partners | Sanofi-aventis | Sherbrook Capital Management | Skyline Ventures | Southern Cross Venture Partners | Steelpoint Capital | StepStone Group | SVB Capital | T2 Ventures | Tavistock Life Science | Tech Coast Angels | Telegraph Hill Partners | Thomas, McNerney & Partners | Torrey Pines Investments | Ventana Capital | Versant Ventures | Windansea Capital Partners | Windward Ventures

Program Contacts: