April Think Tank: The Advent of Android

April 27, 2010

When:      Tuesday, April 27, Networking starts at 7:00 PM.  Program starts at 7:30 PM.
Cost:        FREE
Where:     Seattle University, Wyckoff Auditorium, Engineering Building, Networking in Wyckoff lobby located on first floor at the main entrance to the building.

Parking: Visitors can park in the Murphy Garage or the Main Visitor parking area. Both of these parking areas have meters where guests can pay. The Murphy Garage’s pay station is on the 1st level only, but guests can park on any level of the garage. Click here to download a map of the SU campus which will help indicate areas for parking. You may not park in the Broadway parking, parking passes are required.

ANDROID COMETH
Three years ago when Google CEO Eric Schmidt congratulated Apple's Steve Jobs on the introduction of the iPhone at MacWorld, few could have seen Android looming just over the horizon. Now the two tech titans are clearly locked in a bitter struggle for market share, and for preeminence in the smart phone market. Yet far more is at stake here than cool, new features and slick handsets.

This is a battle to shape the very future of the mobile computing space. With Apple controlling, or containing every aspect of the user experience within a closed ecosystem and Google opening its platform to developers and a variety of carriers we can feel the tectonic plates of high technology shifting beneath our feet. The advent of Android clearly signals a tipping point in the evolution of the smart phone and mobile computing, but some would argue Android is much more than that.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
What will Android mean for developers, carriers, investors and consumers? Is Android transforming the smart phone market and the mobile computing space? Has Google truly innovated with Android, or is it a "me-too" solution? Android may change everything- but how? The US smart phone market is a mosaic of carriers, operating systems, and devices. Is there room for everyone or will there soon be a massive shakeout? Does Android herald the beginning of a new age of mobile computing?

With limited resources entrepreneurs must prioritize and choose the most strategic platforms for their business. How will you place your bets? We will address these questions and much more at our April Think Tank on Android. As with all Think Tank events we will spend most of our time in "Q&A"; arguably the most dynamic and informative part of our programs. There will be plenty of opportunity for you to interact with our panelists. Please join us for what is certain to be an animated discussion!

Geoff Entress (Venture Partner, Voyager Capital)
Geoff is an active angel investor in the Pacific Northwest, focusing broadly on investments in information technologies. A former venture partner with Madrona Venture Group, Geoff is a current investor in over thirty private companies in the Pacific Northwest and is a current board member of five companies, including drugstore.com (NASDAQ GM: DSCM), Dashwire, Judy's Book, LiquidPlanner and Sandlot Games. Geoff is also a long-time member of the Executive and Screening committees of the Alliance of Angels, the largest angel investor organization in the Pacific Northwest, and is an advisory board member of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington and of the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. A former securities lawyer and financial analyst, he has also held positions at Perkins Coie, Jones Day, UrbanEarth.com, Salomon Brothers, The Prudential Home Mortgage Company, Mellon Bank, Priority Investment Management and Duquesne Capital Management. Geoff is a graduate of the The University of Michigan Law School, the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Notre Dame.

Wesley Chan (Investment Partner, Google Ventures)
Wesley Chan is an early employee and fun-loving entrepreneur at Google, where he is tasked with scouting new opportunities and turning them into disruptive billion dollar businesses. Two of his favorite products he's founded and launched include Google Analytics and Google Voice. Wesley is currently an Investment Partner on the Google Ventures team. Wesley is a recipient of Google's founder award--the company's most prestigious recognition--for leading the development of Google Toolbar and building out Google's early client efforts. Wesley also holds several patents from his work on starting the business for targeted display advertising at Google. Additionally, Wesley has held positions as a research lead at HP Labs, a Program Manager at Microsoft, and holds both Masters and Bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT where he did his graduate research at the Media Laboratory. In his spare time, Wesley also serves as Google's Chief Photographer Emeritus. His favorite camera is the Canon EOS-5D Mark II.

John Sangiovanni, (Co-founder, Zumobi)
John SanGiovanni has more than eight years of experience as a wireless strategist and mobile user interface designer. He is to blame for Zumobi's obsession with design and to-the-nanosecond interest in technical and cultural trends. Before Zumobi, John was Technical Evangelist and Program Manager for Microsoft Research, where he managed external academic research funding in the areas of mobile technologies and user interfaces. In this role, he filed several patents concerning information visualization, hardware interfaces and interaction techniques for next-generation mobile devices, some of which provide the foundation for Zumobi's core user experience. Before joining Microsoft, John worked on the Advanced Technology Learning Solutions team at PPI/Knowledge Universe and worked in Studio Entertainment for the Walt Disney Company. John has a Bachelor of Science in Advertising and a concentration on Computing from the University of Florida.

Colin Prior, (CEO, Reaxion)
A seasoned technology executive and serial entrepreneur successfully driving organizations from start-up to the next level, Colin engineered the merger of Reaxion Corp and Mobliss Inc to form a fast moving mobile technology firm as mobile games publisher and supplier of mobile application development services. Colin is the founder and former CEO, CTO and Chairman of NetReflector, a highly successful customer satisfaction measurement solutions company. Prior to Reaxion and NetReflector, Colin developed and implemented the first European re-seller support programs for Sun Microsystems.

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