Salt Lake City, UT – January 31st, 2023 – VentureCapital.Org announced today its keynote speakers for its annual Investors Choice conference on February 24 at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. Celebrating 40 years in business, Investors Choice 2023 will feature 20 startups in tech, therapeutics, medical devices, and consumer products industries that will be presented to the audience of investors. The conference, composed of four keynote speakers and four breakout panels, will be preceded by a Ski Day and Opening Reception on February 23.
We are pleased to announce the following keynote speakers:
- Gail Miller, Director of the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation
- Trish Costello, Founder and CEO of Portfolia
- R “Ray” Wang, Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst at Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc.
- Baie Netzer, Managing Director at Bank of America
Gail Miller will kick off the conference during breakfast, Baie Netzer and Trish Costello will speak to attendees at lunchtime, and Ray Wang will deliver a closing presentation at the close of the conference.
Gail Miller owns the Larry H. Miller Company where she is the Immediate Past Chair of the Board of Directors. The LHM Company is one of the largest privately-owned businesses in the western United States. Comprised of a diverse portfolio of businesses, the LHM Company’s focus includes real estate, health care, finance, entertainment, sports, long-term strategy and investments, and philanthropy.
Miller presides over the Larry H. Miller Education Foundation and the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, which support a wide range of charitable, educational, and humanitarian causes. Gail is actively involved in many other business, civic and educational endeavors. She is the chair of Intermountain Healthcare’s Board of Trustees and serves on the Zions Bank Advisory Board. She also serves on the President’s Campaign Senior Advisory Council at the University of Utah, and the President’s Leadership Council at Brigham Young University. She also co-chairs the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute’s Advisory Board. Miller is a member of the Utah Impact Partnership Board, and Shelter the Homeless Board. In addition, the Gail Miller Resource Center for homeless men and women bears her name. She is the author of Courage to be You: Inspiring Lessons from an Unexpected Journey.
Trish Costello is the founder and CEO of Portfolia, the leading venture investing platform designed for women. Her goal is to garner, in five years, over 100,000 women (and their colleagues and friends) as investors in Portfolia Funds. Her lifelong passions are supporting and investing in innovative entrepreneurs and unlocking womens’ personal and professional talents. Costello knows that women will be highly successful entrepreneurial investors and will bring along an entrepreneurial renaissance when they back the companies they believe in.
Costello is internationally recognized for her pioneering efforts to educate and prepare venture capital investment partners through the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program. As founding CEO and CEO Emeritus of the Center for Venture Education, Costello led the Kauffman Fellows Program for 10 years. She was the Founding President of CVE Capital Corp, the holding company of a $1.7 billion Fund of Funds. Costello was on the start-up team of the Kauffman Foundation’s entrepreneurship center, where for eight years she directed its efforts in venture capital, angel investing, and programming to accelerate high-potential women entrepreneurs. She played a leading role in increasing nationally the equity investments in women’s businesses and in funding initiatives supporting high-growth-focused women entrepreneurs.
Baie Netzer is a Managing Director and Senior Investment Strategist for Bank of America Private Bank. An investment thought leader, Netzer presents the national Chief Investment Office’s current market outlook and investment strategy to high-net-worth clients across the West. In this role, she works with clients’ dedicated advisors and portfolio managers to ensure that top-of-the-house macroeconomic, thematic and tactical portfolio strategies align with clients’ specific objectives and customized investment solutions.
With over 20 years in the financial services industry, Netzer began her career as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York. Prior to joining Bank of America, Netzer led the Northern California team of investment professionals managing portfolios for high and ultra-high-net-worth clients at Wells Fargo Private Bank. Before joining Wells Fargo, she served as Director of Manager Research and Chair of the Alternative Investments Committee at HighMark Capital Management. Previous to that role, Netzer co-managed approximately $2 billion in portfolios for registered investment advisor Litman/Gregory. She previously served as President of the Board of Directors for the CFA Society of San Francisco and as an advisory board member for UC Berkeley Extension’s Personal Financial Planning Certificate.
R “Ray” Wang is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc., a research and advisory firm that studies disruptive business and exponential technology trends. He is the co-host and co-founder of the widely watched DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode. Wang is also the author of the business strategy and technology blog A Software Insider’s Point of View which has received millions of page views per month. Wang also serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center.
Earlier in his career, Wang held executive roles at Forrester Research, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. His ground-breaking 2015 best selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press. His new book on Digital Giants and the future of business is titled, Everybody, Wants to Rule The World, was released in July 2021 by Harper Collins Leadership.
Peter Callister (peter@venturecapital.org), COO at VentureCapital.Org can answer questions about the conference, including purchasing a table and participating as a sponsor.
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About VentureCapital.Org
VentureCapital.Org is a non-profit 501(c)3 based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is celebrating its 40th year in business. Its mission is to assist entrepreneurs become investable and make connections to capital. VentureCapital.Org offers in-depth mentoring to assist entrepreneurs to develop and refine their investor presentations and to prepare to work with capital providers. VentureCapital.Org has programs specifically designed to accelerate women and veteran-led startups. Program outcomes include improved education, new investment capital, and new jobs.
Media Contact:
Lisa Sheeran
