Tiecon 2011 Ponders 'New Decades, New Horizons'

Tuesday, 15/11/2011

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/TiECON-2011-Ponders-New-Decades-New-Horizons/articleshow/10726313.cms

The main ballroom of the downtown Hyatt Regency here was teeming with entrepreneurs, business executives and working professionals as TiECON 2011, the annual conference of The Indus Entrepreneurs, convened Nov 5 to ponder the past, present and future of free enterprise.

With breakout sessions delving into business opportunities in such industries as technology, entertainment, transportation, healthcare, social media and finance, TiECON 2011's "New Decade, New Horizons" was a solid platform for networking and the exchanging of fresh ideas, many of which were presented by a trio of entrepreneurs and executives.

TiE Global chairman Ashok Rao opened the annual conference with a motivational presentation about innovation, the value of entrepreneurship and the keys to long-term success as a business leader.

"Entrepreneurs innovate," Rao said. "They come up with ideas and translate them into businesses."

He said there is no such thing as an "entrepreneur gene." Instead, he pondered the existence of an "entrepreneur virus," as the entrepreneurial mindset is a concept captured by only a small percentage of people.

In his keynote address, James Zukin, the co-founder and senior managing director of Houlihan Lokey, laid out how a proper understanding of global markets and opportunities in foreign lands are vital for today's decision-makers and leading executives.

The ultimate strategy in creating and sustaining long-term wealth is by the efficient and effective management of capital, Zukin said.

"The greatest creation, in terms of wealth creation in the last 200 years, has been the creation of capital," he noted. "There is much more capital in the world than there appears to be tangible assets."

Zukin also discussed the value the Chinese government found in its historic space docking recently and the fundamental operations of central banks in the European Union.

Henrik Fisker, the CEO of Fisker Automotive, provided a personal example of entrepreneurship. Once a leading executive at such high-end automotive manufactures as Aston Martin, where he led the design team of the acclaimed DB9, Fisker recounted his venture in creating the plug-in hybrid luxury sports vehicle in the Fisker Karma, which currently carries a sticker price of about $96,000.

The three keynotes set the tone for the remainder of the conference, which featured nine breakout sessions.

Leading off the morning breakouts were panel sessions on the convergence of Hollywood and Bollywood, strategies in improving healthcare in the United States and the types of business opportunities available across the Indian subcontinent.

The first round of afternoon panels broached such issues as venture capital and private equity funding, the use of social media for professional gain and a technology panel featuring insights of various chief information officers.

TiECON 2011 closed with a trio of breakout sessions focusing on mergers and acquisitions, "cloud" computing and the managing of relationships between founder, investor and employee.

Key panel speakers included many Indian Americans and such business leaders as Ashok Grover of Sony Pictures, film producer Bhuvan Lall, Maneesh Goyal of Miramar Venture Partners, Anthony Gabriel of DaVita, Arun Rajan of Zappos, filmmaker Sonia Bhalla and Ravi Tilak of Almex USA, among others.

With TiE Southern California as the lead organizer of the day-long event, several vendor booths lined the lobby area to give attendees greater insight into some of TiECON 2011's sponsors and key participants.