For more than 20 years, James Kollegger, CEO of Genesys Partners, has held court at The Union League Club, inviting high-profile venture capitalists, investment bankers, lawyers, innovators, academics, entrepreneurs and media folks to trade stories, talk deals, burnish images and sketch out what the future looks like—who's creating it, who will fund it, who will own it and who's likely to miss out.
This year would be no different, if, that is, you didn't count the debut of GP's new media asset, Agility First!, and the influx of new players associated with it. The private, invitation-only affair kicked off with a networking reception, followed by dinner, emceed by Kollegger and Gerry Mintz, co-founder of Agility First!, and in which industry vets Alan Patricof, Brian Cohen, John Patrick, Mark Walsh, Dirk Kanngiesser and a host of others captured the spirit of what's to come with their remarks throughout the night. Not that it was all wine and roses, as evidenced by Patricof's parting wisdom for the evening: "It's a good time to hold tight to your chairs; be willing to say no. If you're a startup or early-stage company, be realistic when you go out and raise money. Don't just run to the most money." - Holly Sraeel
Read more on the Agility First! website
The German Accelerator, which began in Silicon Valley three years ago, has expanded to New York, bringing the most promising German technology startups to The City. The German Accelerator is a growth acceleration program that supports German ICT and Green-IT startups and helps them to gain access to the U.S. market. New York is the perfect place to mesh Germany's outstanding innovation and engineering talents with the voltage of American startup culture. The accelerator in New York is operationally supported by Genesys Partners and German American Chamber of Commerce New York. Read More
[Article from NY Business Journal] Even though it's been up and running since the summer, a startup accelerator focused on German companies seeking to break into the U.S. market put on a big show today to highlight its presence in New York. The German program, which is officially called the German Accelerator, expanded to New York after operating for three years in Silicon Valley. Both outposts are focused on German technology startups. Another branch is set to open next year in Boston that will have a bio-tech concentration. See full article
Genesys Partners is a cofounder of the Information Industry Summit, now in its 13th year, in collaboration with SIIA. Kollegger also anchors the popular keynote panel CEO Outlook, which this year included Ken Auletta, Author and Columnist, The New Yorker; Brad Burnham, Managing General Partner, Union Square Ventures; Bob Carrigan, President and CEO, D&B; and Dan'l Lewin, Corporate Vice President, Technology and Civic Engagement, Microsoft. Video recap of the panel can be found here.
The Software and Information Industry Assn., the largest industry trade group, has awarded the 'Peter Jackson Innovation Award' to Genesys CEO James Kollegger. The award recognizes individuals who are leaders of the digital content industry that are inspirational to the people around them. The award is named after the late Thomson-Reuters chief scientist who had a profound impact on the B2B publishing industry. See press release here.
Genesys also produced two additional, star studded panels: Media Techtonics
and Stair Steps of Capital. Media Techtonics was anchored by Gordon Crovitz, Co-founder of
Press+, and featured Henry Blodget, CEO and Editor-in-chief, The Business Insider; Jonathan
Knee, Senior Managing Director, Evercore; Justin Smith, CEO, Bloomberg Media Group, and Alan
Spoon, General Partner Polaris Partners.
The Stair Steps of Capital panel was moderated by Michael Chen, General Partner and CEO of
Chen and Associates, and featured panelists, Brian Cohen, Chairman, New York Angels; John
Elton, Partner, Greycroft; Wilma Jordan, Founder and CEO, Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc; and
Bob Nolan, Managing Partner, Halyard Capital.