Sep 13, 2013: Brazil in the 21st Century, edition #2

BayBrazil & Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance present:

Brazil in the 21^st Century
Date: Sep 13 2013, 9am – 5:00pm
Location: Rock Center at Stanford University Law School, 559 Nathan Abbott Way room 290, Stanford

Massive protests across the country, the steep cost of living, currency devaluation, concerns over inflation.

2013 has proven to be a challenging year for Brazilians as much as for foreign investors who once considered the country the darling of all BRIC nations.

Still, Brazil’s record level decline in unemployment and its rising middle class with tech-savvy consumers are contributing factors to make the country a top destination for investments in Latin America.

Brazil is the seventh-largest ICT sector in the world; the fifth-largest online market and the fourth-largest mobile phones market in the world. Smartphones users doubled from 9% in 2011 to 18% in 2012 and the country is the number one app developer in Latin America thanks to the nationwide entrepreneurship’s boom.

In the last two years, the number of business accelerators jumped from 90 to 400. Players include private investors, the Federal Government, which launched an incentive plan to support startups, and large firms such as Intel and Microsoft which have recently announced investments in R&D and tech labs in different regions.

Brazil in the 21^st Century conference will gather government representatives and private sector leaders to discuss technology, investments, entrepreneurship and the country’s role in the global economy.

AGENDA

9:00am Registration and breakfast

9:30am Welcome remarks
Speakers:
Evan Epstein, Executive Director, Rock Center for Corporate Governance
Margarise Correa, Founder & CEO, BayBrazil
Ambassador Eduardo Prisco Ramos, Consul General of Brazil in SF

9:45am Destination Brazil – the economic scenario
After hitting record numbers in foreign direct investment in 2011, Brazil has seen a sharp decline in its currency and asset markets. The government has recently announced reduction of expenditures by $4.5 billion and lowered this year’s economic growth forecast to 3% from 3.5% projected earlier.
This panel of seasoned executives will discuss Brazil as strategic market for their firms, reflect on the impact of recent mass protests in the economy and offer insights on how the country can overcome major challenges to stay competitive in a globalized world.
Panel discussion moderated by Heather Somerville, San Jose Mercury News
Speakers:
Andy Tsao, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank
Avanish Sahai, VP of Partnerships at Salesforce.com
Vicente Silveira, Director of Engineering, LinkedIn
Rodrigo Velloso, Head of Gaming, YouTube

11am The boom of mobile & e-commerce in Brazil
Presentation: Renata Quintini, Felicis Ventures, BayBrazil e-commerce Chair.
Brazilians own over 227 million phones, making the country a fertile ground for the mobile industry to flourish. Smartphones users doubled from 9% in 2011 to 18% in 2012.
As internet access proliferates in the country with over 88 million daily internet users, Brazilians are increasingly using the web to find discounts and purchase products, from electronic goods to home appliances and fashion items. As a result, the country has had an explosion in its e-commerce market, growing at a rate of 20% per year with total sales expected to hit $22 billion by 2016.
Panel discussion moderated by Ron Czerny, Founder & CEO of Playphone, BayBrazil board
Speakers:
Karl Mehta, Menlo Ventures
Renata Quintini, Felicis Ventures
Ron Piovesan, Mozilla

12:15pm Lunch break

12:45pm Guest speaker: Todd Chapman, Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy, Brasilia

1pm The Brazilian biotech industry
The Biotech industry has been growing rapidly with many multinationals expanding to Brazil and several new start-ups in both healthcare and energy. The market opportunity for novel products emerging from biotech technology is very compelling but start-ups face funding challenges as there are limited pools of capital available to invest in emerging companies. However, significant progress has been made as a number of dedicated funds have emerged over the last few years to address this growing opportunity.
Panel discussion moderated by Fred Aslan, VP Venrock; CEO, ADVANCE Medical; BayBrazil board
Speakers:
Claudio Joazeiro, Scripps Research Institute
Jad Finck, Industrials Director, Solazyme
Leonardo Faoro, Global Clinical Leader, Genentech
Lisa Rhoads, Managing Director, Easton Capital

2pm Keynote speaker: Subrah Iyar, Co-Founder & CEO of WebEx, Founder of MOXTRA will talk about innovation, digital media trends and his company’s focus on the Brazilian market.

Q&A with Harald Batista, BayBrazil

2:30pm Break

2:45pm Keynote speaker: Rorion Gracie, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor, UFC Co-Founder

3:15pm The Brazilian investment market
Brazilian companies have been very successful gaining scale, expanding internationally and finding liquidity in public markets both in Brazil and abroad. There have been over 50 IPOs in Brazil over the last decade across a number of different sectors. Investments by both Brazilian and foreign private equity funds have fueled this phenomenon, and the existence of several successful exits has built the stage for future opportunities.

Keynote speaker: Brett Rochkind, Managing Director, General Atlantic

3:45pm The Brazilian ecosystem of entrepreneurship & innovation
Brazilian tech startups are facing numerous challenges this year impacted by the macroeconomic conditions and the cost of doing business in the country. Yet, Brazil’s rising middle class with increasing purchase power and internet access continues to fuel the web market and a nationwide entrepreneurial boom.
The panelists will talk about Brazil’s startup scene, how they are succeeding in that market and what are the challenges facing the innovation ecosystem.
Moderator: Roi Carthy, Inicial Capital and TechCrunch contributor
Panelists:
Allen Taylor, VP Global Network, Endeavor
Anderson Thees, Founding Partner, Redpoint e.ventures
Brett Rochkind, Managing Director, General Atlantic

5pm Closing remarks & Cocktail reception

Musical presentation by Brazilian engineers from Google: Caio Villela and Luiz Barroso

Our 2013 conference gathered a distinguished group of 23 speakers and over 170 people.

It was a full day dedicated to information, analysis of trends in key industry sectors & exchange of ideas. We can’t thank enough all participants for sharing their knowledge and enriching our community!
Big thanks to our speakers, moderators, attendees, our host Stanford Rock Center, the Consulate of Brazil in SF & BayBrazil members and volunteers.
Special thanks to The Health Taste, Chappellet Winery, Crown Imports, Caio Villela & Luiz Barroso. Muito obrigada!