Startup Weekend

Speakers

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  Jeff Barr

  Speaking: Friday evening

  Topic: Speaker & Mentor

  Bio: I have been in the software business since I was 16, starting out at one of the first retail computer stores in the world. As you can see from this resume, I've done all kinds of interesting things throughout my career.

  I've worked at startups, I've worked at big companies, and I've even had my own consulting practice. I bring a lot of energy, passion, and experience to the table. I relish jumping into new environments and new technologies with both feet, and I enjoy "living in the future," always working on the bleeding edge of practicality. I still write code, but currently focus on technical evangelism, coupling my software development background with my speaking and writing skills to get developers excited about new techonlogies. Developers still see me as "one of them" and this gives me a lot of credibility when I go out and speak with them. I am a geek at heart and never mind getting my hands dirty. I'm not afraid to dig into kernel level source code, but I am just as comfortable traveling around the world and presenting high-level business and technical concepts to a professional audience. While maintaining an intense schedule at work I still find time to write for my personal blog and to enhance and maintain Syndic8, my 5 year old RSS Feed directory.

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  Eric Koester

  Speaking: Sunday evening

  Topic: Startup Law

  Bio: Eric A. Koester is an associate in the Cooley Godward Kronish Business department and a member of the Emerging Companies practice group.

  He joined the firm in 2008 and is resident in the Seattle office. Mr. Koester's practice focuses on emerging growth technology companies, with a particular interest in clean and digital technologies. He counsels his clients in all areas of venture capital and bank financings, technology licensing transactions, corporate partnerships, commercial agreements, public offerings and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Koester was an associate at Heller Ehrman. Before beginning his law practice, he held financial and accounting-related positions at Morgan Stanley and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. While attending law school, he worked for the Enforcement Division of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., as a Summer Associate at the Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C., and in the legal department of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA), where he focused on issues of antitrust in the healthcare contracting industry. Mr. Koester has also maintained an independent consultancy practice authoring numerous publications relating to environmental and emerging technologies.

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  T.A. McCann

  Speaking: Friday evening

  Topic: Startups & Entrepreneurship

  Bio: T.A. McCann serves as founder and CEO of Gist. His past experience includes Vulcan Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, where he was an entrepreneur-in-residence.

  Prior to Polaris, he held senior positions at Microsoft, leading future strategy and product planning for the Exchange Server Group and developing the burgeoning Service Delivery Platforms group, focused on mobile applications development. In addition, he is a founder of Jump2Go - providing innovative solutions for the radio industry, HelpShare - a web Q&A company and Soft Labour, a web design and development consultancy. He currently serves on the board of Art with Heart and is an advisor to Wishpot, Asset Archives and Notary One. In addition to his deep technology background, T.A. has won sailing’s America’s Cup and sailed around the world. He has a wife and daughter and a yellow lab named Daisy.

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  Greg Gottesman

  Speaking: Sunday evening

  Topic: Tech Stars Seattle

  Bio: About 10 years ago, after first joining Madrona, Greg Gottesman was meeting with managing director Tom Alberg and Matt Williams, the CEO of LiveBid, a new Madrona investment.

  “Matt looked barely old enough to have just attended his senior prom, but he had a cool product, was smart and highly energetic,” Greg recalled. “Tom leaned over to me and said, ‘Wouldn't it be great to make this guy a lot of money?’ I nodded. That was when I knew I would love this job.” Today: Greg joined Madrona in 1997 and currently serves on the boards of AdReady, Bocada, BuddyTV, Intrepid Learning Solutions, Physware, ThinkFire, and WildTangent. "I love early-stage. I like really early-stage, like two guys and a great business idea. That's the most fun time working with a business, when every decision counts and every hire is critical.” Successes: Greg managed the firm's investments in Dantz Development Corporation (prior to its acquisition by EMC), Rendition Networks (prior to its acquisition by Opsware), Singingfish.com (prior to its acquisition by Thomson Consumer Electronics), LiveBid.com (prior to its acquisition by Amazon.com), and AdRelevance (prior to its acquisition by Media Metrix). Before joining Madrona, he worked as an Associate of the Boston Consulting Group. Extracurricular: Greg is a board member of the Evergreen Venture Capital Association and Mercer Island Schools Foundation. He is an advisory board member of the University of Washington Technology Transfer Office, Boeing Technology Alliance, and Seattle Repertory Theatre. He is the author of three books. Greg is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington Business School, where he teaches a class with fellow Managing Director Matt McIlwain on venture finance. When not working, he spends time with his wife and three kids, watches too much reality TV, and regularly injures himself playing non-contact sports. Education: Greg graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors and distinction from Stanford University, with honors and distinction from the Harvard Business School, and with honors from Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.