NEVCA - Coffee Connect with a VC, Flybridge's Jeff Bussgang

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When: Thu January 10, 2013 10:00 am

Organization: New England Venture Capital Association

Location: Voltage Coffee & Art - 295 3rd St., Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA

Website: http://www.meetup.com/Coffee-Connect-with-a-VC/events/94320962/

Jeff is a General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners whose investment interests and entrepreneurial experience are in consumer, Internet commerce, marketing services, software and mobile start-ups. Jeff currently represents the firm on the boards of Cartera Commerce, ClickSquared, DataXu, i4cp, Plastiq, SavingStar, SimpleTuition, tracx, and is a board observer ZestFinance. Jeff was previously a director at Brontes Technologies (acquired by 3M), BzzAgent (acquired by Tesco), Convoke Systems, go2Media, oneforty (acquired by HubSpot), PanGo Networks (merged with InnerWireless), Ready Financial (merged with AccountNow), and Transpera (acquired by Tremor Video).

Jeff's book on venture capital and entrepreneurship, Mastering the VC Game, is an insider's guide for entrepreneurs on financing and company-building. The book has been hailed by the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, TechCrunch and The Financial Times as an essential guide for entrepreneurs. 

Jeff serves as a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and teaches a class on entrepreneurship and lean start-ups called Launching Technology Ventures. He has co-authored three HBS cases that are taught in “Founder’s Dilemma” (Curt Schilling’s Next Pitch) and “Launching Technology Ventures” (foursquare and Predictive BioSciences). Jeff is also the co-author of "Ruling The Net", a 1996 Harvard Business Review article on the Internet’s potential for commerce. He is also on the board of MITX, the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange and is a Founding Executive Committee Member of FirstGrowth Venture Network, a network of venture and angel investors supporting first and second time entrepreneurs building exciting companies in the New York area.

Jeff's popular blog on helping demystify the venture business for entrepreneurs, "Seeing Both Sides", can be found at www.SeeingBothSides.com, which is syndicated by BusinessInsider.com, Reuters, PE Hub and others. You can follow Jeff on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bussgang.

Background

Prior to joining the firm in January 2003, Jeff co-founded Upromise (acquired by Sallie Mae), a loyalty marketing and financial services firm with 12 million members that currently manages over $35 billion in college savings assets, where he served as President, Chief Operating Officer and Board Director. Prior to Upromise, Jeff was an executive at Open Market, an Internet commerce software leader that went public in 1996 and grew to nearly $100 million in revenues. During his five-year tenure, he served as Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development, Vice President of Worldwide Professional Services and head of Product Management. Prior to Open Market, Jeff was with the strategy consulting firm, The Boston Consulting Group.

Education

Jeff holds a BA in Computer Science from Harvard University where he graduated magna cum laude and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar and a Ford Scholar. 

Interests

Jeff is married with three children and is an avid baseball fan. He is an active community member, serving as vice-chair of the The Alliance for Business Leadership, vice chairman of the board of educational non-profit, Facing History and Ourselves, and has served on various civic boards, including Governor Deval Patrick’s Council for Innovation (to use technology to make government more efficient), Economic Development Council (creating an economic development plan for the State) and the Readiness Finance Commission (education reform).