Newsletter January 2007

Upcoming Executive Council Events

The New IP Economy:
What’s at Stake and Why Top Executives are Listening Up

The Executive Council of New York, Orrick, and Microsoft cordially invite you to attend our annual Intellectual Property Licensing Forum taking place on March 6, 2007 at the Harvard Club of New York. This forum presents a way for CEOs, Directors and all other IP owners — CIO’s, IP executives, corporate counsel, and business development officers — to share practical and innovative strategies for maximizing the value of their company IP and IT portfolios, while minimizing the legal and business risks. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the varied business and legal issues around protecting, growing and leveraging their IP and IT investments. We’ll discuss business issues and also the tale of an unlikely partnership – Novell and Microsoft.

Speakers will include:
Marshall Phelps, Corporate Vice President & General Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property, Microsoft
Rob Cote Partner, Intellectual Property And Chair, Software Group, Orrick
Susan Heystee , Vice President & General Manager, Global Strategic Alliances, Novell

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Upcoming Executive Council Events

Executive Council’s 2006 Leadership & Innovations Summit: Cut to the Chase

Hosted by Executive Council and Stuart Levine & Assoc.

The Executive Council’s 2nd annual Leadership & Innovation Summit will take place on April 11, 2007 and we are lining up another all-star cast of executive speakers. In an age when Americans are spending more hours than ever at work, people share the troubling concern about how to maximize their most precious resource-time.  This Leadership & Innovation Summit, based on Stuart Levine’s new book, Cut to the Chase: and 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself and Gain Back the Gift of Time, will focus on how to regain the gift of time by cutting to the chase at work.

Speakers will include:
Stephen Rubin, President and Publisher, Doubleday
Josh Weston, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the Board, Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Dr. Jon R. Cohen, Chief Medical Officer, North Shore-LIJ Health System; Former Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, New York State
Theresa A. Bischoff, CEO, American Red Cross in Greater New York

Addt’l speakers to be announced
Read More

You can learn more about the book here

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Looking to get
Better Connected?

There are many business events where you can network in New York. And, there are lots of organizations and clubs. Right? But, how many times have you been disappointed and not met the people you expected to meet at these events?

As a non-profit trade association, the Executive Council exists to foster and create senior level connections in New York. That’s it. We do it every day. Just like making the donuts. Now is the time to make the right connections and stay ahead of the competition. By joining the Executive Council, you are increasing your visibility to decision makers and gaining the exposure and access you need to develop new relationships. We take our job very seriously – which is to provide you a place to make the right connections.
Membership for your entire executive team starts as low as $1,000 per year Download 2007 Membership Form (PDF)

The Executive Council is a powerful marketing and sales channel that provides you with access and exposure to new clients and partners. You can network anywhere. But, the Executive Council will help you make the right connections. Read More

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Executive Council Advisory Boards:
News & Activities

Christopher R. Lipsett, Partner, Wilmer Hale Joins Executive Council of New York Financial Services Advisory Board.
Christopher R. Lipsett, a partner in the firm's Financial Institutions and Litigation Departments, has a general regulatory practice with emphasis on financial institutions and their business, including counseling and litigation.  Mr. Lipsett has represented a wide range of firms on financial regulatory and litigation matters, including American Express, Citigroup, GC Services, GECC, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, MBNA, Sears, the ABA, AFSA and GC Services. His practice has included counseling on a wide range of major regulatory problems and issues; representing clients in rulemaking, enforcement and other regulatory proceedings; transactional matters; and litigation in federal and state courts. Read More

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The Next Net and New York
(Executive Council Op/Ed)

A monthly column of opinion & editorial

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, the new culture on the Web is all about consumer creation. Not your father’s “build-it-and-they-will-come” business model. This is leading to new companies, new business models and new opportunities. The good news is that you don’t have to go far to get in on the action - New York is leading the way on this front, with fresh new companies that—dare we say—have sound revenue models and active users. ThumbPlay, SeamlessWeb, The Newsmarket, MusicGremlin, Pando and ShopWiki to name a few.

Yes, you can feel the hype escalating, but it’s clear that this wave will result in more stable, long-term survivors than the last wave. Why? 1) Because with experience comes wisdom and New York took a pretty harsh hit during the crash; 2) This time around, many of the NY-based start-ups are founded by entrepreneurs that have been through the bubble in the 90’s and know the pitfalls and hurdles; 3) They are more savvy in creating companies that are relevant. Angels and early stage venture capitalists are actively pursuing these opportunities. Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures and Alan Patricof of Greycroft Partners just to name a few. However, many of the entrepreneurs are funding their companies with their own money or their friends’ money or their father’s money (Hey, it may not be Pop’s Oldsmobile but Pop is still the easiest person to sell). This is resulting in less of a need for institutional financing from the VC community. However, some VCs such as Bo Peabody of Village Ventures are willing to take the big risk in hopes of big returns. Bo is the contrarian right now, putting seed money into companies that are pre-revenue. We like his strategy. Many other VCs are at the ready for Series A funding post-revenue.

The other interesting trend is that the ad agencies are evolving their business models to adapt and serve these new companies, as well as partner with them. A plethora of smaller, stealthier agencies such as Thunder Factory and Kerosene Creative are taking away online business from the traditional agencies. There is angst on the part of the agencies that now is the time to re-invent and reduce overhead while ramping up new online accounts and at the same time adjust their pricing model for more favorable and flexible terms.

Agree? Disagree? Send your comments to bobj@execcouncil.org and we’ll post them in the February newsletter

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Johnston/On
Kevin Ryan, CEO & Co-Founder, ShopWiki

Executive Council President Bob Johnston talks with NY’s favorite entrepreneurial son, Kevin Ryan.

So...Why ShopWiki?
We'd been discussing the online shopping space for quite some time. Each of us– Dwight Merriman, Eliot Horowitz and myself– had been personally frustrated using the shopping engines. Like most people, when I search for a product, I want to see everyone who is selling that item. But on most comparison engines, the results are basically ads. We knew there was a better way.

We designed ShopWiki from a consumer's point of view, not a merchant's point of view. So, first of all, we built technology capable of searching any store on the Web. Our competitors only list the merchants that pay them. Second, we created wiki gift and buying guides, to best compile all the knowledge that consumers have about refrigerators and bicycles and ping-pong tables and whatnot into one central repository of buying information. If you're no expert on air conditioners, we have a buying guide that will get you oriented. Being wiki, anyone can contribute or edit.

Since our launch back in April 2006 we've introduced things like video reviews and search by color, features that had never been seen before, and we continue to pride ourselves on innovation. We're only getting started.

The obligatory revenue question – how does ShopWiki make money?
ShopWiki is advertising-supported. The business model is exactly the same as Google's: Our natural results stay front-and-center and alongside them we display clearly designated ads that can also be helpful to consumers.

Monetization is not really a problem. A user searching for "toaster" has a very clear intent to purchase a toaster and you'll always find ways to monetize that. Advertising on comparison shopping sites may be the most lucrative form of advertising not just on the Internet, but in all types of media.

After starting and selling DoubleClick, why not just retire and head off into the sunset?
There's nothing more exciting than taking a small company with a few employees and turning it into an industry leader. We did that with DoubleClick. Now we have an opportunity with ShopWiki to really fill a need for consumers. 

What makes New York special?
Startups are all about people and New York has superb people, in both technology and business. And being here puts you close to all the media and business. I've always said New York is a fantastic place to launch a company.

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