Consumer Web Panel: Evolution of Social

Alex Taussig - Moderator

Principal, Highland Capital Partners

Alex is a Principal at Highland Capital Partners, a 24-year old venture capital firm with offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, Geneva, and Shanghai. He focuses on businesses that use high technology to solve significant problems in the enterprise, as well as those that leverage the power the internet to connect and engage communities around new forms of digital media. He is actively involved in Highland’s investments in 2tor, Bit9, Heartland Robotics, QD Vision, RentJuice, and VYou. 

Prior to joining Highland, Alex worked as a researcher in the Magnetic Materials & Devices Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, he synthesized and characterized a new class of magneto-optical perovskites capable of growth on semiconductor-compatible substrates. Alex also spent time at RockPort Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused exclusively on energy technology, and McKinsey & Company, where he provided strategic advice on business technology issues. 

An avid Red Line T rider, Alex received an A.B. in Physics summa cum laude from Harvard College, an S.M. in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT, and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. 

Alex blogs frequently at infinitetoventure.com and tweets compulsively at @ataussig.

Steve Cheney - Panelist

Head of Business Development, GroupMe

Steve Cheney currently leads Business Development at GroupMe and serves as a mentor at Techstars.  Steve has a rich technology background across consumer, mobile, infrastructure and web industries. A Silicon Valley native, he spent the majority of his career at Integrated Device Technology, marketing hardware and software to engineers, GMs, and CEOs at Apple, Cisco, Intel, Google, Nokia, Foxconn and hundreds of other OEMs/ODMs worldwide.

Steve has also worked as an M&A investment banker at Morgan Stanley, as a part-time associate at Investor Growth Capital, and in educational roles both independently and at Kaplan. Earlier in his career, he founded an independent software business which developed custom productivity solutions for construction and law firms, and co-founded a ten-person construction firm which served thousands of residential clients.  Steve also contributes to TechCrunch, and his writings have appeared in national publications including CNN and The Wall Street Journal. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MBA from Columbia University with an emphasis in finance and strategy.

Brett Martin - Panelist

Co-Founder & CEO, Sonar

Brett Martin is co-founder and CEO of Sonar, a new location-based mobile application that leverages social network data to reveal hidden connections and interests you share with the people nearby. Prior to Sonar, Brett helped found K2 Media Labs, a New York-based seed stage mobile incubator, and AppFund, K2’s investment arm.  Before K2, he studied strategic resource allocation in early stage startups as a Fulbright Scholar in Milan. He also helped launch Vice Magazine’s web presence, VBS.tv, and worked on Wall Street as an equity research associate. Some other things Brett is proud of include: teaching himself Ruby, going to Dartmouth, getting published by Harvard Business, founding a rock band, starting a non-profit, and sailing 6,000 miles in a 30ft ketch.  

Brett Martin is co-founder and CEO of Sonar, a location-based mobile application that leverages social network data to reveal hidden connections and interests you share with the people nearby. Prior to Sonar, Brett helped found AppFund, a seed stage mobile incubator from K2 Media Labs.  Before K2, he studied early stage startups as a Fulbright Scholar in Milan, helped launch Vice Magazine’s VBS.tv, and worked on Wall Street as an equity research associate. Brett attended Dartmouth College and grew up in Ocean City, MD.

Ari Shahdadi - Panelist

General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, Tumblr

ARI SHAHDADI is the General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of Tumblr. Prior to joining Tumblr, Mr. Shahdadi was an Associate working on corporate and technology transactions at Gunderson Dettmer, one of the nation’s leading business law firms for entrepreneurs; emerging growth companies; and venture capitalists.  Previously, he was an Associate at Fish & Richardson P.C. where he represented Microsoft and other large companies in patent litigation, including significant trial and appellate work. 

Mr. Shahdadi was a software developer at Oracle Corporation before attending law school. Mr. Shahdadi has a B.S. and an M.Eng. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

When he’s not working, Ari can be found blogging at http://arishahdadi.tumblr.com and on Twitter @arishahdadi.