Tuesday, November 12th, 2019

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Track I: Finance - Film-TV - Innovation - Haas, Room. 172 & 173: Webcast

VCs, Private Equity and Corporate Investments: The Funding and Accelerating the Content and Technology Marketplace

Scott Brown, VP of Ventures & Outreach, CableLabs/UpRamp

Seth Shapiro, CEO, AlphaNetworks

Gregory Bedrosian, Managing Partner & CEO, Drake Star Partners

Megan Jones, Attorney, Withers Bergman LLP

Larry Gerbrandt, principal, Media Valuation Partners, Moderator

Scott Brown has been a long-time technologist and eight-time entrepreneur with a strong history of building companies from inception to profitability. Currently, he is the VP of Ventures & Outreach for the global connectivity industry as part of CableLabs. In addition, Scott is the Executive Director of UpRamp, an industry-wide platform that connects radical entrepreneurs to the most powerful network in the world. UpRamp is all about doing deals, not demo days. As an active angel investor, advisor and bestselling author, Scott has helped hundreds of startups perfect their pitch with a framework he created called (C)lean Messaging. Available on Amazon, (C)lean Messaging is a system

to help innovators and entrepreneurs talk to humans. A sought-after speaker, Scott has presented around the world for Fortune 500 companies, startup events, TEDx, and many more. His unique perspectives on corporate innovation and entrepreneurship have inspired thousands. From Hamlet to hiring, and (C)lean Messaging to the Speculative Startup, Scott is known to speak about the magic that happens when ideas collide.

Seth Shapiro, CEO, AlphaNetworks: A two-time Emmy® Award winner Seth Shapiro is a leading advisor in business innovation, media, and technology. He is an Adjunct Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and has served as a Governor of the Television Academy and member of its Executive Committee. His clients include The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, DIRECTV, Intel, AT&T, IPG, NBC, Showtime, RTL, Telstra, Universal, Slamdance, Goldman Sachs, government bodies, and a wide range of startups. In the blockchain space, he is Head of Strategy at VideoCoin.io, Head of Business Development at Alphabit Digital Currency Fund, and an Advisor to projects including KodakCoin, WorkCoin, Verses, and EBoost. Shapiro has been quoted in outlets including The Economist, The New York Times. The LA Times, CNBC, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg, The Associated Press, PBS and The Daily Mail. As Head of Production at DIRECTV Advanced Services, he launched over 25 services, including NFL Sunday Ticket Interactive and TiVo by DIRECTV, the world’s first major DVR platform. His first book, Television: Innovation, Disruption, and the World’s Most Powerful Medium, was published in 2016 and is a bestseller on Amazon.

Gregory Bedrosian is Managing Partner & CEO of Drake Star Partners. Gregory is an award-winning, seasoned investment banker and private equity investor whose experience spans both domestic and cross-border M&A and private equity transactions across the US, Europe and emerging markets.  Amongst his numerous honors, Gregory received the 2016 M&A Advisor Leadership Award and is an M&A Advisor Hall of Fame inductee. Prior to Drake Star Partners, Gregory was a co-founder of Renaissance Capital, a leading investment bank focused on the emerging markets of Russia, Eastern Europe and Africa and co-founder and General Partner of The Sputnik Funds, a $1 billion private equity investment firm. Gregory began his career in the merchant banking department of Credit Suisse First Boston in London and the leveraged buyout group of Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup) in New York. Gregory is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and he is a regular speaker and panelist at leading industry and academic forums. He has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards across the US and Europe. He is currently an Advisor at the Harvard Innovation Lab (i-Lab) and sits on the Business Advisory Council of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He also chairs the Investment Committee of a $100 million New York-based foundation and sits on the Board of a $100 million emerging markets investment fund. He previously served on the Harvard Business School Alumni Board of Directors (Emeritus). Gregory holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Megan Jones, is a tax attorney at Withers Bergman LLP. who advises on business, estate planning and complex structuring issues. She has extensive transactional and fundraising experience.  Ms. Jones has both a J.D. and an LL.M. in tax from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Undergraduate work was completed at Pepperdine University. Megan focuses on advising clients on a wide range of tax and other structuring and administrative legal issues.  Having worked as an investment banker for Lazard Freres and Needham & Company, her grasp of financial complexities provides a solid foundation for transactional, valuation or fundraising issues.  She has sold businesses from inside and outside trusts, handling complex partnership, S Corporation or public company issues.  Her expertise includes both domestic and international estate planning.   Megan’s clients include individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Ms. Jones is a member of the Beverly Hills, the San Fernando, the Los Angeles and the American Bar Associations. She is a continuing education instructor for Loyola Law School, CEB, Pincus Professional Education, PFAC and NBI, among other organizations, and speaks at numerous conferences. Ms. Jones is a STEP member, has written three books and has a California real estate broker’s license.  Megan is an education advocate and on the board of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

Larry Gerbrandt, principal, Media Valuation Partners: A leading media and entertainment executive, research analyst and consultant for more than 25 years, he focused on the economic and strategic implications of the intersection between traditional media and emerging content delivery technologies. Background includes experience in film and video production, commercial photography, cable TV system operations and magazine publishing. Joined Kagan World Media, a groundbreaking media research organization, in 1984. As senior analyst and senior vice president of Kagan's entertainment division, oversaw more than two dozen of its newsletters and databooks, led its valuation practice and was the creator of Kagan's definitive Economics of Basic Cable Networks database. In 2000, after Kagan's sale to Primedia, became COO and led its integration into Primedia's MediaCentral division. Upon Kagan's subsequent sale to MCG Capital joined AlixPartners to lead its entertainment consulting and litigation support practice. In 2005 was recruited by The Nielsen Company to become SVP/general manager of Nielsen Analytics, focusing on emerging media technology economics and conducting primary research on consumer adoption of new media platforms. Following Nielsen's sale to a group of private equity companies he formed his own research and valuation practice, Media Valuation Partners, in 2007. Widely quoted as an expert on trends and economics in the M&E industries and has served as moderator of more than 200 Kagan and industry panels and conferences. Have served as an expert witness and expert consultant on dozens of major litigations in the media, entertainment and intellectual property arena, including the landmark Katzenberg v. Disney case. An award-winning fine art photographer and a graduate of Regis University with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Author of two monthly columns in leading industry publications: “Letter From America” in Euromedia Magazine and the “Media Math” column in The Hollywood Reporter.