Entrepreneurship Forum by Stanford Club and The Financial Women’s Association

FWA and the Stanford Club have brought together an outstanding panel of new and experienced entrepreneurs who have struck out on their own in fields ranging from retail and media to financial services and software.

Particularly at this time of economic uncertainty, more and more professionals are assessing their priorities and looking at setting up their own companies. Starting up something new seems daunting yet it can also offer tremendous opportunities.

This panel session gives you a chance to hear how entrepreneurs decided to set up their own businesses, what worked well and what didn’t, and how they’re faring in today’s difficult times.

Moderated by NUS Adjunct Professor Eric Tachibana, the panel features Jeremy Brest of financial services firm Framework Capital, Forrest Li from online gaming company Garena, Deborah Ng of clothing rental store Maternity Exchange, and Joel Lin from the media company Omnimedia that produced Contender Asia.

The range of experiences these participants bring will offer valuable insights that can help you make your own decision about whether and how to leverage your expertise and passion. More information about each of the panelists is on the following page. The panel discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session, and you’ll be able to talk with the panelists as well as fellow participants over light refreshments before and after the event.

Event Details

Date: Tuesday, 25th August, 2009
Time: 6:30pm
Venue:, UBS AG Auditorium, One Raffles Quay, #49-00 North Tower
Cost: Stanford Club members: $30/person; Non-members: $45/person

To reserve your place, please complete this form and email it to Richard Hartung at rlhartung@stanfordalumni.org or Liew Weylin at liewweylin@gmail.com. Reservations must be received by 20 August 2009, and you must register prior to the event.

Panelists

Jeremy Brest, Managing Director, Framework Capital Solutions [Financial Services]

Jeremy is co-founder of Framework capital, a specialist investment and advisory firm that works for both investors and capital users. Before founding Framework, Jeremy spent four years at Credit Suisse First Boston in Singapore structuring principal transactions for CSFB’s own account and for external investors. Jeremy has extensive experience in Indonesia, where he has worked on a range of transactions from non-performing loan investments to large, syndicated acquisition financings. Prior to CSFB, Jeremy worked at Goldman Sachs in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. He holds a JD and an MBA from Stanford University, and an AB in Mathematics from Swarthmore College.

Forrest Li, CEO, Garena Online

Forrest started Garena in early 2007 and grew the company from scratch to a 30 people team, located in Singapore, Taipei and Hanoi. In less than 2 years Garena has built a world class online gaming community and acquired more than 17 million users in 200 countries. Forrest also secured Garena’s venture funding from international investors. Prior to Garena, Forrest worked for MTV Networks as senior manager of digital media business development for Asia Pacific. Forrest holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University and a MBA from Stanford University.

Deborah Ng, Maternity Exchange

Deborah is the founder of multi-label maternity boutique Maternity Exchange. Maternity Exchange’s concept allows customers to buy or rent maternity wear, allowing expectant mothers to balance fashion and affordability during their pregnancy period. The idea for the store grew out of her own first pregnancy, when she was looking for an economic yet varied way to make the most out of maternity wear. The Maternity Exchange store at Marina Square and their online store at www.maternityexchange.com.sg has been featured widely in the local news, TimeOut, parenthood magazines and on MoneyWeek. Deborah is a dedicated mother to two daughters and prior to running Maternity Exchange, she was a journalist with Singapore Press Holdings.

Joel Lin, Managing Partner, Green Mountain Investments

Joel is the founder and managing partner of Green Mountains Investments Pte Ltd, a corporate finance advisory and investment holding company. He plays an active role in a portfolio of companies including roles as Executive Director of Imagine OmniMedia and Executive Producer of reality TV show The Contender Asia, founder and president of the Singapore office of sales management training company Sandler. Before starting Green Mountains, Mr. Lin was the co-founder of IB Capital, a boutique advisory and investments firm. Mr. Lin’s other work experience included The Boston Consulting Group, Monsanto and the US Army. He has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S., Aerospace Engineering, from the US Military Academy at West Point.

Eric Tachibana, Adjunct Professor, NUS and Business Manager, Bank of America

Eric Tachibana is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore business school. He currently works for Bank of America-Merrill Lynch as the Business Manager for the Global Markets and Research Technology organizations in Asia Pacific and across Bank of America’s Business Technology Centers globally. Before joining Merrill Lynch, Eric was an entrepreneur for over 14 years – creating, building, and eventually exiting, successful small and mid-sized companies in Silicon Valley, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the U.K. Today he continues as an active angel investor regionally. Eric is also an author of 8 books on technology development and innovation management.