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Seminar 3: Business and Revenue Models
Monday, April 22nd
7:15pm
Co-Merge Workplace, San Diego, CA
Guest Speakers
Neil Senturia, CEO of Blackbird Ventures
Objective
To understand various startup business models, the key lessons in business models, how business models have evolved with the internet and the importance of scalability. Scaling a Non‐Technology Business-Objective: What to consider while working a non technology business –how to scale it and decide on pricing, channel issues, positioning versus the customer perception.
About Blackbird Ventures
Blackbird Ventures invests in diverse businesses including emerging technology companies and real estate development. Our mission is to work with entrepreneurs who are passionate about the relentless pursuit of their dreams
About Neil
Neil Senturia, CEO of Blackbird Ventures, has more than 25 years of diverse entrepreneurial endeavors. His wide range of experiences includes starting two software companies, serving as CEO of a third, real estate development, and screen writing for popular television sit-coms. Currently, he also serves as the CEO of Oberon Fuels, which is developing a clean alternative to diesel fuel, and LonoCloud, which is developing a secure cloud software platform.
Past companies include:
–Quanlight, material sciences company focused on the development of the next generation of red LEDs.
–Soflinx Corporation, a software and systems integration company providing monitoring and control solutions through wireless sensor and device networks (WSN). The company was funded by In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the CIA, and was sold to Lockheed Martin in 2004.
–Mohomine, a software company focused on the management of unstructured data. Founded in January 2000, Mohomine was sold in March 2003 to Irvine based Kofax Image Products.
–Atcom/Info, the pioneer in internet and e-mail kiosks and high speed internet access in hotel rooms. The company was sold in September 1999 in a deal valued at more than $80 million and is currently owned by Cisco.
From 1985-1995, Neil focused on real estate development of office, condominiums and hotels in Los Angeles and San Diego and built more than 1.8 million square feet of space. From 1980-1985, he was an executive in the financial services industry and worked in real estate syndication. Prior to that, he was a television and screenwriter and wrote for shows such as M*A*S*H, Alice, and Tony Randall among others.
Neil and his wife Barbara Bry teach entrepreneurship at UC San Diego’s von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement in the Jacobs School of Engineering. He is a member of San Diego Social Venture Partners and UCSD Chancellors’ Associates. Neil’s newest endeavor is “I’m There For You Baby, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Galaxy,” an inspiring and humorous book about his entrepreneurial life with rules-lessons that apply to all of our lives.
Honors and awards include:
Winner, 1997 Microsoft Retail Application Developer Award
Winner, 1998 Microsoft Retail Application Developer Award
Winner, 1998 Arnie Karush Award from the San Diego Software and Internet Council
Winner, 1998 UCSD CONNECT Most Innovative Product Award
Neil graduated from Tufts University with a B.A. degree in English and received a masters’ degree in cinema from New York University. He was a Fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and served in the U.S. Army from which he received an honorable discharge. He is married to Barbara Bry, and the couple has four children between the ages of 26 and 30.
