Xconomy Needs An Entrepreneur-Tennis Player to Take on the VCs

With the second annual VC vs. Entrepreneur Davis Cup 2008 Challenge just around the corner—set for the afternoon of September 16 on the grass at Longwood—Xconomy is looking for one more entrepreneur to round out its doubles team. This is a golden opportunity to serve up your message to top VCs (pun intended).

More importantly—really, far more importantly—you will be helping a great cause. The event will benefit Tenacity, which helps thousands of Boston students through its unique tennis and literacy program that builds strong academic skills, fitness, and the confidence and resilience needed to shine in school and beyond. The event is hosted by BSG Team Ventures.

If you make the team, you’ll have a great partner—Jim Daniell, CEO of EdNets, a veteran executive who’s on the board of EdNets and GateRocket, and who serves as a Trustee of both the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council and the Museum of Science. And, yes, he is also a co-founder and member of CommonAngels, the lead investor in Xconomy.

On the tennis front, Jim is a member of both Longwood Cricket Club and the Badminton and Tennis Club (he won the B tournament there a couple years ago and has organized and won the CommonAngels tourney a few times). “My style is that of a competitive grinder and I like to smack the ball,” he reports. And his tenacity on grass and clay is legendary.

Here’s the basic event agenda:

2:00 – 2:30pm – Warm up with Pros and Rules

2:30 – 5:00pm – Tournament

5:00 – 6:00pm – Finals

6:00 – 7:30 – Awards, Networking and Dinner

If you’re interested in playing, send details about yourself and competitiveness level to [email protected].

And for more information about the tournament, or to field your own team, write to [email protected].

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.