“Entrepreneurs: Critical Success Factors for Technology Start-up Companies”

Mr. Roman Kikta 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 6:30pm

Location: Photodigm Inc.

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Abstract

As every entrepreneur knows, you need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and successfully raise capital funding at the right time is crucial. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed. Roman Kikta, a seasoned intrapreneur and entrepreneur is the managing partner and co-founder of venture capital firms Genesis Campus and Mobility Ventures. Roman will share his experience and insights on the DNA of a successful entrepreneur-- what it takes to go from idea stage to funding stage. Roman begins by discussing the state of venture capital today, and takes the audiences step-by- step through how seed/ early stage venture capital firms differ from angel investors or larger VC funds, and provides a brief explanation of investment criteria and how start-ups can increase their chances for successfully raising capital at the early stage with emphasis on management.

Biography

Roman Kikta is the Managing Partner and co-founder of Genesis Campus and Mobility Ventures, Texas-based venture capital funds. A 25 year wireless industry veteran, seasoned entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author, he is an expert in the launch and growth of new products and services.  Roman has held senior strategy, marketing, corporate development and product development and management positions with global wireless equipment companies: Nokia, Panasonic, GoldStar (LG), and OKI.  He is also a founder of Global Wireless Holdings (GWH), E-Life (a proposed spinout from Nokia), SpeedLink Communications, and ChangeAgent Media.  Roman has written numerous articles and has co-authored four books published by McGraw-Hill on communications technologies including: “Wireless Internet Crash Course”, “3G Wireless Demystified”, “Delivering xDSL”, and “CDMA IS-95 for Cellular and PCS: Technology, Economics and Services” and is also a contributing editor of the  The Animated Telecom Dictionary,  Mobile Video magazine, NowPublic.com, Dallasblog.com and the Thought Leader Network.

Roman’s corporate track-record includes the management of teams that pioneered several wireless industry “firsts” including: cellular pay-phones, cellular in-building and PBX systems, voice recognition dialers, Smartphone, and several generations of mobile phone designs features and functions and the launch of analog (cellular) and digital (PCS) in the U.S.  He had instrumental roles in building multiple business units and divisions, brands, market development and channel/distribution development of cellular communications since 1983.

Beginning in the mid-1990s Kikta served as the Director of Marketing for Nokia Mobile Phones PCS Group in the Americas.  He then became Nokia’s Director of Product Concepts, Applications and Technologies.  This assignment took him to over 40 countries where he studied the underlying anthropological, psychological and sociological factors of the individuals markets, which resulted in developing over two dozen new products and services, including the convergence of next generation wireless broadband and wireline networks.  Following this Kikta was named Director of Strategy and Business Creation within the Nokia Ventures Organization where he worked to create a balanced portfolio of new sustainable businesses outside Nokia’s natural growth path.  This involved identifying new growth opportunities, extensive due diligence efforts and business plan development. Expertise in managing start-up organizations incubated from larger companies.   Roman left Nokia in 2001 to start Genesis Campus, an early stage venture capital fund with Wu-Fu Chen.  Roman serves as the Managing General Partner, responsible for fund formation, raising of capital, making investments and managing the overall portfolio.  

As a venture capital investor, Roman has a demonstrable track record in fund formation, operations management and identifying, attracting, evaluating and advising portfolio companies.  He has worked closely with entrepreneurs, providing the experience, global perspective, and extensive networks of relationships thereby increasing the probability of success.  Roman has a proven ability to identify and invest in emerging opportunities, as well as to scale opportunities across geographies. He is well traveled in Asia, Europe and the Americas.  Roman has a finger on the pulse of the marketplace and relationships with technology development centers around the global via his extensive personal and professional networks that combine domain and operational expertise from seasoned executives and advisors worldwide. This global network includes academics with leading universities, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, senior corporate managers and thought leaders.  Roman possesses significant experience of structuring, negotiating and implementing successful partnerships and multi-party business activities.  He’s a results driven, motivational leader that fosters creative business solutions to meet or exceed expectations. With a perceptive sense of market trends and opportunities involving technology solutions, Roman has guided Genesis Campus to be named a "Top 100 Venture Capital Firm for Entrepreneurs" by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2004; Finalist for the Tech Titans Technopolis Award in 2005; Top Venture Capital Firm 2004 by Austin Business Journal.  His notable investments include pioneering companies- Spatial Wireless (acquired by Alcatel), Arrowping Networks (acquired by Xinwei), InnerWireless, and Alereon.  Roman has sourced deals evaluating over a thousand business plans over the years resulting in over two dozen “seed stage” and early stage investments and has lessons learned from his 5 company shut downs.   Roman has exceptional insight, foresight and understanding of opportunities provided by existing and future wireless communications, Internet and related technologies and businesses.  

Roman is a Fellow of the Radio Club of America and was named a 2001 High Tech All-Star by DFW Tech Biz. Roman currently serves on the Board of Directors or Advisory Boards of Always@Market, ChangeAgent Media, Hunome, ThoughtLeader Network, the Texas Chapter of the AEA (American Electronics Association), the Entrepreneurs Foundation of North Texas and the University of Texas at Dallas, School of Management - Executive Education.  Roman has a B.A. degree from Rutgers University; he is a graduate of the Private Equity & Venture Capital Program at the Harvard Business School and The Strategy & Innovation Program at MIT Sloan School of Management.  Roman is a sought after keynote speaker and panelist on future wireless technologies, innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital issues in the United States and internationally.  He also serves as a regular guest lecturer at the Entrepreneurial Finance course at The University of Texas at Dallas, School of Management.