Tags: Human Computer Interaction, John Canny, Macintosh, Steve Jobs, Yogen Dalal

I caught up with Navin at the Pan IIT Global Conference to find out how he transitioned from being a successful serial entrepreneur to a venture capitalist. Navin was the founder and CTO of VXtreme, which was acquired by Microsoft and eventually became Windows Media. He then went on to co-found iBeam Corporation and was the CEO of Rivio.

Navin has been actively involved in investing in India for the past 10 years. As managing director at Mayfield, Navin is leading their India strategy. Earlier this year Mayfield invested in India-based Tejas Network, and Navin joined the board of the company. Besides Tejas Networks, his other Mayfield investments include Mimosa Systems, Seedfund and WinChorus.

Tags: Mayfield Fund, Navin Chaddha, Pan IIT Global Conference, VXtreme, iBeam, Rivio, Tejas Network, Mimosa Systems, Seedfund, WinChorus

In Part-2 of our conversation, Kevin talks about investing in China and the synergy between India and China. He thinks the two neighbors have a lot in common and is quick to point out that there could be some challenges that might stall this synergy.

I asked Kevin, what he would change in China if all he had to do was wave a magic wand? Tune in to find out what Kevin has to say.

China and India are two of the fastest growing economies in the world, and many investors have their eyes trained on these two Asian neighbors.

This interview was recorded at the Pan IIT Global Conference in Santa Clara in July 2007.

Tags: Mayfield Fund, Kevin Fong

Kevin has been with Mayfield since 1988. His past investments include Alantec, Crescendo Communications, Legato, Latitude, Mobile 365, Redback Networks and Tasman Networks. Kevin currently sits on the boards of 3PARdata (where he serves as non-executive chairman), Cemaphore Systems, Fultec, Hammerhead Systems, Mendocino Software, ONStor and Velocity11.

Tune back in to listen to Part-2 of our conversation.

Tags: Mayfield, Kevin Fong, Pan IIT, 3PARdata

In the interview, Yogen answers some tough questions, like what to do if your venture fails, and how to handle failure, generally.

Yogen was part of Vint Cerf’s team at Stanford, working on TCP/IP protocol. There, he co-authored the TCP specification. TCP/IP is what makes it possible for all of us to use the Internet today. Tune in to find out what Yogen has to say about his TCP/IP-related work as a graduate student at Stanford.

Yogen currently sits on the boards of Affinity Labs, Consorte, Packet Design, PacketHop, Podbridge and Revenue Science. Yogen’s investments include Arbor Software, BeVocal, BroadVision, Concur, Nuance, OuterBay, Packet Engines, Snapfish, TIBCO, Vantive and Whistle.

Yogen has an undergraduate degree from IIT, Mumbai and a PhD from Stanford University.

Tags: Yogen Dalal, Mayfield Fund, Silicon Valley, Pan IIT Global, entrepreneurship, Vint Cerf, TCP specification

Topping the investment this week is SKS Microfinance that received $11.5 million in investments. The investment round was led by Sequoia Capital. Other investors include Unitus Equity Fund, Vinod Khosla, Ravi Reddy, Odyssey Capital, SIDBI.

Mumbai-based Games2win received $5 million from Clearstone Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank Financial Group according to Red Herring.

U.S. company Mayfield Ventures is acquiring a minority stake in Avendus Advisors for $15 million.

Indian media is turning out to be the latest sector to receive investments. Recently India TV, a HIndi TV channel received $15 million in Foreign Direct Investment from FUSE+Media reports Agencyfaqs. Fuse+Media is an arm of Comventures, a venture capital company.

ChryCapital is acquiring a minority stake in Hathaway Cable, according to media reports.

Citigroup Venture Capital Group has acquired a 20 percent stake in Anand Rathi Securities, an Indian financial company, according to a report in Market Watch.

Tags: SKS Microfinance, Games2win, Avendus, Agencyfaqs, Comventures

Navin Chaddha joined the board of Bangalore-based Tejas Networks, an optical networking company. Navin is a serial investor and entrepreneur who founded VXtreme, which was later acquired by Microsoft and eventually became Windows Media.

Adventity, a KPO and BPO firm, received $20 million in funding.

The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners. With this funding, Pramod Haque will join the board of Adventity. Norwest Venture Partners and Pramod Haque have also made investments in Persistent Systems, Yatra, and Sulekha.

The race to acquire Hutch Essar, India’s fourth largest mobile operator, continues.

Bangalore-based Subex Azure Ltd has acquired Canadian company Syndesis for $164.5 million. Syndesis is a telecom operation support software company.

Mobile Bollywood is a new initiative started by Hungama Mobile, Roamware, and GSM Association headed by noted film director Sanjay Gupta.

Hutch recently signed a deal with the Walt Disney Internet Group.

And, how much does an iPod cost in India? Take a guess. You might be surprised.

Tags: Mayfield Funds, Navin Chaddha, Tejas Networks, entrepreneur, Microsoft, Adventity, Pramod Haque, Hutch Essar, Sanjay Gupta

MENLO PARK, CA. (May 1, 2006) PodTech.net, Inc.a media company dedicated to podcasting and delivering Fresh Voices™ for the iPod generation, today announced the debut of a new podcast brand called Marketing Voices™ on the InfoTalk™ network. The show represents the second in a new series of podcasts launched by PodTech in the last two weeks.

Under the Marketing Voices™ brand, PodTech will feature the fresh voices of innovative provocative leaders examining, among other topics, how social media tools such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and online videos are changing marketing throughout the world. Marketing Voices™ will be hosted by industry veteran and known marketer, Jennifer Jones. Jones has counseled many of Silicon Valley’s premier companies including Apple Computer, Goldman Sachs, and Mayfield venture capital during her more than two decades in the technology industry.

According to John Furrier, CEO of PodTech.net, “Marketing Voices™ is unique in the podcasting industry. There is no other show being offered today that has this type of guest or content. Offering fresh voices who are driving the new perspectives of marketing is key to the podcast’s success. Given Jennifer’s marketing savvy and strategic expertise in branding and marketing, her background in technology and broadcast news and love of communicating new concepts, I am certain the show will resonate with our podcast audience,” Furrier added.

GUESTS ON MARKETING VOICES™ (MV)

The first guest on Marketing Voices is Steve King, Senior Counsel of Institute for the Future (ITF). King’s focus at ITF is how new media technology is impacting consumers and marketing. Future MV guests include, Ross Mayfield, CEO of Socialtext; Robert Scoble, recent author of the book, “Naked Conversations:How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers”; and Pete Blackshaw, Chief Marketing Officer of Nielsen Buzzmetrics.

ABOUT JENNIFER JONES
Jennifer Jones is a 25-year technology marketing veteran. Prior to PodTech, she was the first marketing partner at Mayfield, a premier venture capital fund based in Menlo Park. Jennifer worked with Mayfield and its portfolio companies providing strategic marketing and branding expertise for more than 15 years. Before Mayfield, Jennifer was a former Senior Vice President and General Manager of Regis McKenna, Inc (RMI) where she counseled technology companies including Apple Computer, Intel and Tandem Computers. Jennifer was the first marketing expert to develop and host a television show focusing on technology, called High Tech Visions, which was broadcast in the Bay Area in 1988. Prior to RMI, Jennifer also spent numerous years developing advertising and public relations campaigns for consumer companies while a Vice President at Ketchum Communications in San Francisco. Jennifer started her career in broadcast journalism as a reporter and producer at local and national news organizations.

Congrats to Jennifer.

Innovation journalism is journalism dedicated to the coverage of innovation. Innovation is the leading driver of economic growth and the core activity of many leading industries. Innovation Journalism stretches across traditional newsbeats, such as business, technology and politics, reporting on innovation and innovation processes. The practice of Innovation Journalism involves identifying the key issues and key actors in the innovation systems, and reporting on how they interact. The reporting combines issues such as science and technology trends, science and R&D policies, intellectual property, investments, standardization, industrial production processes, marketing of new technologies, business models, politics, and more.

David Nordfors, Publisher and Editor, organized the event and if anyone is interested please come and join the discussion. The complete conference documentation is available at www.innovationjournalism.org

The conference has 31 presentations, each one followed by a panel discussion. There are 87 speakers and panellists. The main themes are: Innovation Journalism, Innovation Communication & Journalism, Innovation Journalism Initiatives Around the World, The Role of Journalism in Innovation Systems.

The list of speakers/panelists includes
Professional Journalists working for (USA:) Business 2.0, Center for Citizen Media, CNET News.com, Fortune, PodTech Networks, Red Herring, PC World, Reuters, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Spot-On, Technology Review, US News and World Report, Wall Street Journal, Wired Magazine, Common Sense Media, (in SWEDEN:) Affärsvärlden, Aftonbladet, Computer Sweden, Elektroniktidningen, Entreprenör, Göteborgsposten, Process Nordic, Rapidus (in FINLAND:) Helsingin Sanomat, Arvopaperi (UK:) BBC, (France:) Le Monde, (Spain:) El Pais, (Mexico:) Reforma, (Chile:) El Mercurio

Academic Researchers from Stanford University, Linköping University (Sweden), Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Tampere University (Finland), University of Jyväskylä (Finland), University of Helsinki (Finland), University of Hohenheim (Germany), Univeristy of Southern California (USA)

Innovation Experts from Stanford Center for Innovations in LearningI (SCIL), VINNOVA - Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Google, ICANN, SRI International, J E Austin Associates, Embassy of Sweden in Washington, The 451 Group, Vibacom (Slovenia), Fish & Richardson, Addison Marketing, International Knowledge Cluster of Basque Country (Spain), Mohr Davidow Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, GZ Group (Sweden), AlwaysOn Networks, Socialtext, PodTech Inc, US Venture Partners, Hoffman Agencies, Wallenberg Global Learning Network, Reuters Digital Vision Fellowships (Stanford), Media-X (Stanford), CSLI (Stanford), J E Austin Associates, TeliaSonera (Finland), TEKES - National Finnish Technology Agency, SITRA - Finnish Industry Fund, USAID