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Keynote Speakers |
Howard Berke, MBA ‘78
Chairman and Cofounder, Konarka Technologies
Howard Berke is a senior advisor to Good Energies, a private investment firm in solar photovoltaic companies and wind developers. Good Energies contributes as a strategic investor to the ongoing energy transition process through its long-term investments and its support of development initiatives in the field of clean energy technologies. Good Energies (www.goodenergies.com) is a member of COFRA Holding AG, Zug/Switzerland and is represented through offices in London, New York, Toronto, Washington DC, and Zug.
Berke has nearly 30 years of hands-on management experience launching, building, and leading both public and private technology companies. This includes over 20 years of general management with full P&L responsibility for eight start-up companies, and ten years of business development and marketing experience focusing on emerging technologies. Berke is currently chairman and cofounder of Konarka Technologies, an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic™, a material that converts light to energy.
He has founded or cofounded 13 start-up companies and has initiated and completed numerous corporate acquisitions, mergers, and R&D joint ventures in the United States, Europe and Asia. He advises start-up companies and entrepreneurs in a wide range of fields including medical devices, biotech informatics, software, networking, telecom, and energy technology.
In addition to serving as delegate to the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers, he sits on the board of directors for ACORE, has helped to found and organize the New England Clean Energy Council, and has guest lectured on entrepreneurship at Yale, Harvard, MIT, and elsewhere throughout the world.
Berke received a MBA from Chicago GSB and a BA from Yale University. His academic training includes finance, accounting, operations research, corporate law, architecture, and physics.
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George Conrades, MBA '71
Executive Chairman, Akamai Technologies
and Venture Partner, Polaris Ventures
George Conrades was named chairman and CEO of Akamai Technologies in April 1999, bringing a broad range of business experience in the computing, Internet, telecommunications, and media industries. Conrades became executive chairman of Akamai in April 2005, and was succeeded as CEO by Paul Sagan, Akamai's president.
Before joining Akamai, Conrades was executive vice president and president of GTE Internetworking following the firm's acquisition of BBN Corporation in 1997. At GTE, he was responsible for creating GTE Internetworking and leading GTE's rapid growth in the data and Internet business, including integrated telecommunications services.
From 1994 until GTE's acquisition of BBN, Conrades served as CEO of BBN, where he built the company into one of the industry's top-tier ISPs. BBN helped build the ARPANET, the forerunner to today's modern Internet.
Prior to BBN, Conrades was an IBM senior vice president and member of IBM's Corporate Management Board. There, he ran many of its key businesses including IBM United States, IBM Asia/Pacific, and two manufacturing and development groups.
Conrades serves on the Board of Directors for Harley-Davidson, Cardinal Health, BBN Technologies, and Microbia. He also serves as a venture partner at Polaris Venture Partners, an early stage investment company. In addition, Conrades serves on the Board of Trustees for the Scripps Research Institute, Ohio Wesleyan University, and New Profit, an early stage venture philanthropy investment organization. Conrades also is a member of MIT's Corporation Visiting Committee for The Engineering Systems Division and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Conrades received a BA in physics and mathematics from Ohio Wesleyan University and his MBA from Chicago GSB.
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© 2007 Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital & Private Equity Group
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Date & Location:
Friday, November 16, 2007
Gleacher Center
Tickets Required
Panels:
Avoiding Classic Startup Mistakes
Sourcing VC Deals
Effecting Social Change
Going Global with Your Idea
The New New Thing
Partnering for Success
Register Today:
Registration now open to students and alumni.
Conference Program:
A downloadable copy of our program is now online.
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