Thanks to Our VC65 Speakers, Sponsors, and Partners

Our big VC65 event in MIT’s Kresge Auditorium was a tremendous success. The intent of course, was to celebrate the 65th anniversary of venture capital in America—but in a way that drew out lessons and insights about building great companies and great partnerships between VCs and entrepreneurs.

We drew an amazing crowd of nearly 1,000 people, including 500 from the National Venture Capital Association’s annual meeting. The speakers included leading venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from around the country. There was lively repartee on the “speed-dating” panels, capped by incredible stores of entrepreneurial and venture success—all followed by a reception in the MIT Museum’s MIT 150 Exhibit celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Institute.

You will soon be able to read our recap of the afternoon, and see photos of the speakers and crowd, elsewhere on Xconomy.com. But I wanted to take a moment to thank all the great partners and participants who made it happen.

First, our speakers, some of whom flew across the country to join us, in order of appearance,: Jack Lasersohn, Bob Metcalfe, Henry McCance, Mick Mountz, Ajay Agarwal, Ed Roberts, Bryan Roberts, Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, Noubar Afeyan, Jason Mendelson, Howard Hartenbaum, Scott Kupor, Bob Langer, Terry McGuire, Phil Sharp, John Durant, Bill Sahlman, Peter Brooke, Linda Rottenberg, and Tim Draper.

Thanks to our event sponsors, starting with Platinum Sponsor Microsoft, Gold Sponsors Silicon Valley Bank and WilmerHale, and Silver sponsors Advent International and SNR Denton. We really appreciate your support!

I’d also like to thank our event partners, the NVCA and the MIT Museum. The great teams at both of these organizations made the day smooth and successful.

Thanks as well to our Event Supporters: MFA–Moody, Famiglietti & Andronico; Mintz Levin; Charles River Ventures; TA Associates; and Wolf & Company.

Our excellent Design Partners were Mixture and Upstatement, and our great and comfortable stage furniture was provided by Turnstone.

We’d also like to thank the underwriters and venture members who support us throughout the year. Without you, none of this would be possible. First, our charter underwriters, who have supported us since our launch in mid-2007: Alexandria Real Estate Equities; Biogen Idec; Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and WilmerHale.

Our other great underwrites are: BNY Mellon Wealth Management ; Goodwin Procter; Invest Northern Ireland; J. Robert Scott Executive Search; Kauffman Foundation; Latham & Watkins; Schwartz Communications; SRI International
; Turnstone; and UK Trade & Investment.

Our venture capital members include: Advanced Technology Ventures; Arch Venture Partners; Atlas Venture; Avalon Ventures; Boston Millennia Partners; Flagship Ventures; LaunchCapital; North Bridge Venture Partners; and Polaris Venture Partners.

Thanks to one and all again. And, finally, thanks to you, our great audience. We look forward to seeing you at our next big event here in Boston, XSITE 2011 (the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship), which will take place at Babson College on June 16. A formal announcement will be coming soon, but save the date, and we will hope to see you there.

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.