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By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two San Francisco Bay area venture capitalists have arranged for University of Hawai‘i officials to meet Silicon Valley finance and technology luminaries at a Palo Alto, Calif., event designed to strengthen the university’s contacts with the global technology community.
Billed as a "friend-raiser," the event was arranged by John Dean, chairman of Silicon Valley Bank, and Barry Weinman, managing director of Allegis Capital LLC, two proponents of Hawai’i’s technology industry. Both live part-time in Honolulu, and Weinman donated $1.1 million to help found the UH business school’s Center for Entrepreneurship and E-Commerce.
UH President Kenneth Mortimer, research vice president Alan Teramura, and several deans are expected to attend the Feb. 28 dinner. Also invited are dozens of venture capitalists and executives including Sanford "Sandy" Robertson and Paul Stephens, co-founders of investment bank Robertson Stephens; Thom Weisel, co-founder of Montgomery Securities; Guy Kawasaki, chairman of Garage.com; Paul Wythes, co-founder of Sutter Hill Ventures, one of the nation’s leading venture firms; Daniel Case III, chairman of Chase H&Q (formerly Hambrecht & Quist) ; Craig Johnson, co-founder of the Venture Law Group and co-founder of Garage.com; Gary Reischel, managing director of Softbank Technology Ventures; and Charlie Bass, co-founder of hardware manufacturer Ungerman Bass and an investor in Hawai’i start-up HotU. All the invitees have ties to, or homes in, Hawai’i.
"This is not at all about fund raising; rather, the point is to make connections with successful business people, many who already have some natural relationship with Hawai’i," said David McClain, dean of the UH College of Business Administration, who will attend along with Edwin Cadman, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and Barry Raleigh, dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
"We’ll say, ‘Here’s the University of Hawai‘i,’ and show that there’s lots of opportunity for them to get involved," McClain said. UH is looking for potential speakers, advisers and technology partners.
Weinman said about 100 Silicon Valley and 20 Hawai’i executives might attend. Other potential Isle attendees include Ron Higgins, founder and former chief executive officer of Digital Island; venture capitalist Bill Richardson, partner in HMS Hawaii; Walter Dods, chairman of BancWest; and Patrick McFadden, president of the UH Foundation.
John Duchemin can be reached by phone at 525-8062, or by e-mail at jduchemin@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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