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InvestMidwest
Venture Capital
Forum
InvestMidwest
Venture Capital Forum will bring together more than 250 of the
country's leading venture capitalists, investors, bankers, and
accounting and legal professionals for presentations by 15 to
20 emerging growth businesses seeking funding. The forum is endorsed
by the National Venture Capital Association and is presented by
the St. Louis RCGA, the Missouri Venture Forum and Technology
Gateway Alliance. Approximately 100 applications by "deal ready"
entrepreneurs are expected for this first year's event, which
is May 23 and 24 at The Ritz-Carlton.
RCGA
President and CEO Dick Fleming, notes, "The primary objective
of InvestMidwest is to provide access to capital for emerging,
privately-held companies, and to promote overall greater entrepreneurship,
business growth and expansion in the region and to enable the
national venture capital community to experience the St. Louis
market firsthand."
Steve
Broun, senior vice president to Capital for Business, Inc. and
a Missouri Venture Forum Board member adds, "The St. Louis region
is experiencing impressive entrepreneurial business growth. Accordingly,
the time is right for InvestMidwest, which will serve as a catalyst
to provide the necessary seed capital to fuel the growth of these
emerging businesses."
InvestMidwest
presenting companies were scrutinized and chosen based on several
factors: the company management team, marketing strategy, the
proprietary nature of their products or services, market opportunity
and financial information. The companies will receive presentation
guidelines and guidance to insure the professional level of all
presentations. Conference attendees will be able to analyze pre-screened
business plans from presenting companies who will have undergone
a rigorous selection and training process. The company presentations,
each 10 minutes in length, will be held during the morning and
afternoon of May 24.
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Michael
Marks, chairman and CEO, Flextronics
Marks
has been the company's CEO since January 1994 and chairman
since 1993. Under his leadership, Flextronics has shown
steady growth from $93 million in 1993 to a current run
rate of $6 billion in annual revenues. In the 1980s, he
was CEO of Microterm, Inc., a circuit board manufacturing
company in St. Louis and raised significant venture funds
for the company. Marks received a B.A. and M.A. from Oberlin
College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Marks
will share his vision of technology in the new economy.
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Watts
Wacker, Futurist and co-author of "The 500 Year Delta" and
"The Visionary's Handbook"
Lecturer,
best-selling author, political commentator and social critic,
Watts Wacker is one of the most celebrated and influential
minds in modern business. A futurist of uncommon versatility
and vision, he helps the world's top corporations (his client
list includes Nike, General Motors, MCI, Sony) navigate
the sea of change that is taking us into the future. He
is the futurist at SRI International, the legendary Menlo
Park think tank, and spent 10 years as the resident futurist
at the preeminent social research organization, Yankelovich
Partners.
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Thomas
M. Wendel, chairman, president and CEO, Bridge Information
Systems, Inc.
Wendel
has been with Bridge, a leading source of global financial
information and transaction and network services, since
1995. He is also a director of SAVVIS Communications, a
global Internet provider. Prior to joining Bridge, Wendel
was founding president and CEO of Liberty Brokerage Inc.,
a major U.S. government securities brokerage firm. He has
also served as executive vice president and managing director
of Paine Webber Inc., where he was responsible for investment
banking. He holds a bachelor's of science in mathematics,
a master's of arts in economics and a master's in business
administration.
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