SAN JOSE, Calif. -- SDForum, Silicon Valley's leading source of information and education in the technology community, announced the recipients of the 2010 Visionary Awards. Each year, SDForum honors the leading industry visionaries personifying the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. Past recipients include John Chambers, Vint Cerf, Jim Clark, Judy Estrin, Bill Gates, Reed Hastings, Vinod Khosla, Michael Moritz and Walt Mossberg.
"Silicon Valley is the pinnacle of technology," said Henry Tirri, SVP and Head of Nokia-NRC Systems Research, an SDForum sponsor and sponsor of the event. "The Visionary Awards seek to recognize and honor the exceptional individuals who fuel and power Silicon Valley every day."
The SDForum Board of Directors selected the award recipients based on their monumental achievements and ongoing dedication to improving our lives through superior technology. The winners below will be honored at the SDForum ceremony on June 24, 2010:
Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of LinkedIn and Partner at Greylock Partners
Reid Hoffman is executive chairman and a co-founder of LinkedIn—the world's largest online business network with over 63 million members. Mr. Hoffman was LinkedIn's founding CEO for the first four years before moving to a role as chairman in 2007 and president of the products division from 2007-2009. Continuing as executive chairman of LinkedIn, Mr. Hoffman joined Greylock Partners as a partner in 2009. Prior to Greylock, Mr. Hoffman invested in many significant companies including Facebook, Zynga, SixApart, Flickr, Last.fm, Ning, Ironport and Digg. He is a director of a variety of Silicon Valley businesses and non-profits, including Mozilla, Shopkick, Six Apart, Kiva.org and Zynga. Prior to LinkedIn, Mr. Hoffman was Executive Vice President of PayPal. Mr. Hoffman joined the PayPal board of directors at the company's founding. He graduated from Stanford University (where he won a Marshall Scholarship and a Dinkelspiel Award) with a Bachelor's degree with distinction in symbolic systems and he has a Master's degree in philosophy from Oxford University.
Arthur Patterson, Co-Founder Accel Partners
Arthur Patterson enjoys working with start-up entrepreneurial teams in Software and Services. As the lead investor he has helped management teams develop their companies into market defining leaders. IPO's of such companies include: Actuate; MetroPCS; Portal Software; UUnet/MCI-WorldCom; and Veritas. He has also been a Director/Investor in many other information technology companies that became public companies. He is currently on the Boards of several private companies including: Aptana; Arcot Systems; Centrify; Coremetrics; Integral Development; Iron Planet; NewlineNoosh; NextG. Recent private exits include: Counterpane sold to BT; Rapt sold to Microsoft; and Savi Technology sold to Lockheed Martin. Prior to co-founding Accel Partners, Mr. Patterson was General Partner of Adler & Company. He started in venture capital at Citicorp Venture Capital. At Citicorp, he also managed a fund of publicly traded equities. Previously, Arthur worked in Washington for the International office of the U.S. Treasury Department - International Monetary, Trade and Development Policy. Mr. Patterson served as the President of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists and as Director of the National Venture Capital Association. He received an AB and an MBA from Harvard.
Brent Schlender, Executive-Director, Co-Founder Techonomy
Brent Schlender is co-founder of Techonomy, a site that explores technology's relationship to the economy and celebrates innovative individuals and technological advances. Mr. Schlender has written extensively about high-tech industries, business strategy, management and leadership. He spent many years as a foreign correspondent for both FORTUNE and The Wall Street Journal in Latin America and Asia. He also co-developed a dramatic television series with Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau called Killer App and moonlighted playing saxophones in a Bay Area rhythm and blues band for 15 years. He is best known for his lengthy interviews and profiles of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Andy Grove, Akio Morita, Bill Joy, John Chambers, Peter Drucker and other notable business leaders. Mr. Schlender holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Kansas.
Chris Shipley, Co-Founder & Analyst at Guidewire Group
Chris Shipley is chairman and CEO of Guidewire Group, Inc., a global analyst and advisory firm focused on early-stage technology companies. A leading technology and product analyst for 25 years, Ms. Shipley is dedicated to the success of technology entrepreneurs, focusing on identifying market opportunities and building value into the most promising young companies. As the executive producer of the renowned DEMO Conference from 1996 until September 2009, Ms. Shipley identified and helped bring to market more than 1,500 products, including WebEx, VMWare, salesforce.com, TiVo, Xfire, Ribbit and Ironport. Ms. Shipley has covered personal technology since 1984 and has worked as a writer and editor for a variety of technology and consumer media. She has won numerous awards for her writing and often has been cited as a leading influencer. She served as chairman and currently is on the board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives, and is a board member and advisor to a number of early stage companies. Ms. Shipley holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Literature and Communication Arts from Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa.
The 2010 Visionary Awards ceremony will be held at a private home donated to SDForum by gracious hosts and is sponsored by Deloitte, Microsoft, Nasdaq, Nokia and Open-First.
"As a private company entrepreneur and public company executive, I have had the opportunity to work with amazingly talented individuals in Silicon Valley," said Ted Shelton, CEO of Open-First. "And at the Visionary Awards, SDForum and the community have the opportunity to recognize those who have gone beyond their own businesses and communities and have made meaningful contributions to the world."
"For 13 years SDForum has had the honor of organizing this distinguished event, honoring celebrated individuals in technology for their inimitable contributions," said Susan Lucas-Conwell, CEO of SDForum. "Due in large part to their ongoing contributions, dedication and vision for this industry, Silicon Valley continues to evolve and prosper as a global technology capital and a force in the global economy."
About SDForum
SDForum has been instrumental in setting the technology industry agenda for more than 25 years. As the largest and oldest non-profit in the valley dedicated to educating and creating relationships within the technology community, SDForum reaches 12,000 professionals in technology annually through more than 300 events. These programs provide the latest insights on emerging technology trends and best business practices as well as exceptional access to resources for entrepreneurs. Long-standing relationships include the Dutch Government, City of San Jose, multi-national technology enterprises (HP, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Microsoft and SAP), venture investment firms, as well as technology startups, and service providers. For more information, visit www.sdforum.org.
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