Internet + Thought Leader Series: Winning Strategies in Social Gaming

Michael's at Shoreline
2960 North Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA 94043

Tuesday, Oct 05, 2010
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

The Harvard Club of Silicon Valley invites you to the first installment of the Internet + Media Thought Leader Series.

Join us at Michael's at Shoreline in Mountain View for an evening presentation and panel discussion with thought leaders about drivers of success in the social gaming space.

Social gaming is one of the hottest areas in internet and media. The number of games and the ecosystem's revenues are exploding. Come hear from a cutting edge panel about how companies are achieving success and future directions for this exciting market space.

Confirmed Panelists:

Gurbaksh Chahal, Founder and CEO, gWallet.

Gurbaksh Chahal is an Indian American self-made entrepreneur, author, TV personality, and motivational speaker. By the age of 25, he founded two companies, ClickAgents and BlueLithium, worth $340 million. In his interview with Oprah Winfrey, she introduced him as "one of the youngest and wealthiest entrepreneurs on the planet." gWallet provides brands, platforms, and publishers the opportunity to monetize growth in social media and gaming through a virtual currency platform.

Kevin Chou, Co-founder and CEO, Kabam (previously Watercooler).

Kevin Chou drives Kabam’s overall business and growth strategy. Before co-founding Kabam, Kevin was at the global venture capital firm Canaan Partners, where he invested in 14 consumer technology and online media companies. Earlier in his career, Kevin advised public technology companies on M&A and corporate finance as part of Deutsche Bank's investment banking technology practice. Kevin graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley with a BS in business administration.

Jonathan Flesher, VP & GM Business Development, Zynga.

Jonathan Flesher is a Vice President and General Manager of Business Development at Zynga. Zynga is the largest developer of social games with more than 200 million monthly active users and is the creator of such popular games as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Zynga Poker. Prior to joining Zynga, Jonathan worked as a Sr. Director of Business Development at Electronic Arts focusing on online games, Vice President at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.’s fixed income funds, a consultant for MC Venture’s venture capital funds, and a Vice President in JPMorgan’s investment banking division. Jonathan currently serves as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of HandsOn Bay Area. Jonathan has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BA in Philosophy from Pomona College.

Alex Rampell, AB '02, Co-founder and CEO, TrialPay.

Alex Rampell is the co-founder and CEO of TrialPay, where he is responsible for general management and building corporate infrastructure. Prior to TrialPay, Alex co-founded FraudEliminator, the first consumer anti-phishing company, which merged into SiteAdvisor and was acquired by McAfee in April 2006. Alex began his career writing and selling consumer software on bulletin board systems and the nascent Internet. His first successful company gained hundreds of thousands of paying consumers worldwide and had products featured in Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, "Today," CNBC and BusinessWeek. He holds an AB in Applied Math and Computer Science, cum laude, from Harvard University.

Moderator:
Adam Siegel, AB '92, Electronic Arts.
Adam Siegel is an interactive producer at Electronic Arts. He was previously lead producer for The Sims, one of the most popular video games of all time. Adam has worked extensively with digital music, virtual worlds and streaming video and has successfully built online services and communities around all of these. He co-founded Psynchro Labs, which developed new user-generated entertainment experiences by marrying videogames with unscripted reality TV show concepts, and also an early online video platform, Earthnoise, Inc. Adam graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Visual and Environmental Studies.

$30 for HCSV members, $45 for non-members, $60 for walk-ins

About the sponsor. . . Sponsor Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP is the third largest IP firm nationwide with specialized expertise in the area of intellectual property law including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, rights of publicity, unfair competition, and related litigation and licensing.

Price: $45Price for members: $30

Tuesday, Oct 05, 2010
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Michael's at Shoreline
2960 North Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA 94043

The Harvard Club of Silicon Valley invites you to the first installment of the Internet + Media Thought Leader Series.

Join us at Michael's at Shoreline in Mountain View for an evening presentation and panel discussion with thought leaders about drivers of success in the social gaming space.

Social gaming is one of the hottest areas in internet and media. The number of games and the ecosystem's revenues are exploding. Come hear from a cutting edge panel about how companies are achieving success and future directions for this exciting market space.

Confirmed Panelists:

Gurbaksh Chahal, Founder and CEO, gWallet.

Gurbaksh Chahal is an Indian American self-made entrepreneur, author, TV personality, and motivational speaker. By the age of 25, he founded two companies, ClickAgents and BlueLithium, worth $340 million. In his interview with Oprah Winfrey, she introduced him as "one of the youngest and wealthiest entrepreneurs on the planet." gWallet provides brands, platforms, and publishers the opportunity to monetize growth in social media and gaming through a virtual currency platform.

Kevin Chou, Co-founder and CEO, Kabam (previously Watercooler).

Kevin Chou drives Kabam’s overall business and growth strategy. Before co-founding Kabam, Kevin was at the global venture capital firm Canaan Partners, where he invested in 14 consumer technology and online media companies. Earlier in his career, Kevin advised public technology companies on M&A and corporate finance as part of Deutsche Bank's investment banking technology practice. Kevin graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley with a BS in business administration.

Jonathan Flesher, VP & GM Business Development, Zynga.

Jonathan Flesher is a Vice President and General Manager of Business Development at Zynga. Zynga is the largest developer of social games with more than 200 million monthly active users and is the creator of such popular games as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Zynga Poker. Prior to joining Zynga, Jonathan worked as a Sr. Director of Business Development at Electronic Arts focusing on online games, Vice President at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.’s fixed income funds, a consultant for MC Venture’s venture capital funds, and a Vice President in JPMorgan’s investment banking division. Jonathan currently serves as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of HandsOn Bay Area. Jonathan has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BA in Philosophy from Pomona College.

Alex Rampell, AB '02, Co-founder and CEO, TrialPay.

Alex Rampell is the co-founder and CEO of TrialPay, where he is responsible for general management and building corporate infrastructure. Prior to TrialPay, Alex co-founded FraudEliminator, the first consumer anti-phishing company, which merged into SiteAdvisor and was acquired by McAfee in April 2006. Alex began his career writing and selling consumer software on bulletin board systems and the nascent Internet. His first successful company gained hundreds of thousands of paying consumers worldwide and had products featured in Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, "Today," CNBC and BusinessWeek. He holds an AB in Applied Math and Computer Science, cum laude, from Harvard University.

Moderator:
Adam Siegel, AB '92, Electronic Arts.
Adam Siegel is an interactive producer at Electronic Arts. He was previously lead producer for The Sims, one of the most popular video games of all time. Adam has worked extensively with digital music, virtual worlds and streaming video and has successfully built online services and communities around all of these. He co-founded Psynchro Labs, which developed new user-generated entertainment experiences by marrying videogames with unscripted reality TV show concepts, and also an early online video platform, Earthnoise, Inc. Adam graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Visual and Environmental Studies.

$30 for HCSV members, $45 for non-members, $60 for walk-ins

About the sponsor. . . Sponsor Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP is the third largest IP firm nationwide with specialized expertise in the area of intellectual property law including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, rights of publicity, unfair competition, and related litigation and licensing.

Price: $45 Price for members: $30

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