Conference Special Guests

A graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics and managerial postgraduate courses at the Warsaw School of Economics and the University of Finance and Management in Warsaw.

Completed a number of courses and training sessions on management, business development and functioning of financial markets.

From 1994 with the Warsaw Stock Exchange, from 2000 as Director of Trading Department and from 2005 Director of Trading and Market Development Department.

From June 28, 2006, Member of the Management Board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

From June 28, 2006, Member of the Supervisory Board of the National Depository for Securities. Former member of several supervisory boards, including MTS CETO (2000-2006), XTrade (2003-2006), Polish Financial Exchange (2002-2004).

Head of the Advisory Group to the National Depository for Securities and Examining Commission for exchange brokers and dealers. Author of numerous publications on practical aspects of capital markets functioning, concerning, in particular, derivative instruments.

Languages: English, Russian Hobby: travel, psychology, poetry (also as a poetry writer), science-fiction literature Born: January 31, 1967; married, two daughters

Paul’s areas of focus are digital media & internet, convergence technologies, software and services. Paul was previously Associate Director and an early investor in First Capital, where he helped to build this European leader in technology investment banking and advisory for the venture capital market. He has also worked in a number of early stage technology companies, including Rawflow, Reevoo.com, OmniPerception and MintDigital and also on M&A for Cassium Technologies, Smart421 & Aim Software. Before First Capital, Paul worked in investment banking at Citibank and Salomon Smith Barney where he worked on the equity -backed derivative market. Paul is a graduate of Warwick University and a member of the Securities Institute where he studied corporate finance.

Paul’s Blog can be found here:Paul’s Blog can be found here: ww.thecoffeeshopsofmayfair.com.

Reshma joins Seedcamp from the Venture team at 3i. Prior to 3i, Reshma spent over 3 years at Vodafone in their Commercial Strategy team, working across the Europe and Japan footprints in marketing strategy and pricing functions. Reshma started her career in the US in investment banking (Broadview) and venture capital (Softbank). For more on Reshma’s background please go to www.3i.com.

Marcin Hejka, Director of Strategic Investments - Eastern Europe, Intel Capital, is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and completing strategic equity investments in Central Eastern European Region. Marcin joined Intel Capital in 1999. Prior to this he was Investment Director at the Poland Growth Fund (1995-1999), Resident Polish Specialist at Banexi (1993) and Financial Analyst at Paribas Capital Markets Group (1990). Mr. Hejka is Vice President of the Polish Venture Capital Association since 2004. He also served as a Supervisory Board Member in Kredyt Bank (1997-1999) and Bank Komunalny (1995-1999), two Polish banks listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dromex (1998-1999), the largest Polish road construction firm.

Marcin has an MA in Economics from the University of Gdansk.

A laureate of numerous prestigious awards: in 1997 Leader of Polish Business by Business Center Club; in 2000 one of the TOP-10 most influential people in the European Internet by Business Week; in 2001 the Global Leader for Tomorrow by World Economic Forum in Davos.

A graduate of Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw University of Economics and MBA studies at the University of Minnesota. In the years 1990-1998, Founder and CEO of JTT Computer SA, which he built into the leading Polish PC-manufacturer and IT-distributor with over $100 mln. Since May 1998, Founder and CEO of MCI Management SA - the First Polish Venture Capital Firm, which manages TechVentures'99 and TechVentures'03 funds. With over 25 technology investments and 4 highly successful IPO's MCI has become the leading technology fund in Central Europe.

Zbigniew works in the Warsaw office and is responsible for Polish investment sourcing, transactions and portfolio management. Zbigniew prior to joining 3TS in September 2005 worked as a CFO in WSE listed telecommunication company Netia, Regional Telecom Analyst for Deutsche Bank, Equity Analyst for Creditanstalt Securities SA and Investment Officer for UNIDO. Zbigniew is also a Supervisory Board member of few listed and privately held Polish companies. He holds a M.Sc. from the Warsaw School of Economics.

3TS Capital Partners (www.3tscapital.com) is one of the leading private equity and venture capital firms in Central and Eastern Europe. 3TS is the exclusive adviser to three funds totaling approximately € 200 million of which Funds I and III are focused exclusively on TMT. Investors in the Funds include 3i Group, Sitra, EBRD and KfW among others. 3TS operates through dedicated teams and offices in Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, Bucharest and Vienna.

Lukasz Gadowski is founder & president of Spreadshirt, the internationally-renowned european market leader in online merchandising, bootstrapped in 2002. He studied computer science and business in Paderborn, the University of Mannheim, the Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL) and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. Lukasz is a passionate entrepreneur and a well known private investor and business angel in Germany, focusing on investments in seed and early-stage Internet companies.

His portfolio includes amiando.de, autoki.com, imedo.de, dawanda,com, StudiVZ (sold to Holtzbrinck), Hitflip.de, Rapleaf.com, brands4friends.de, epulse.pl, Smava.de etc. He is also an active blogger about entrepreneurship at his blog gruenderszene.de.

Rafal Stroinski holds a Ph.D. in law from Warsaw University Law School, an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School, a master's honors degree from Warsaw University Law School and a master's degree in Iberian Studies from Warsaw University. He is admitted in New York State as Attorney and Counselor at Law. Mr. Stroinski is an Associate Professor (Adiunkt) at Warsaw University Law School and Partner to CMS Cameron McKenna in Warsaw.

He is the author of a book and numerous law journal publications on corporate law and law and economics in Poland. Mr. Stroinski has nine years of experience in the practice of law working initially with Clifford Chance and then CMS Cameron McKenna in Warsaw. His practice included advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and corporate governance. His recent transactions include advising on the $400M acquisition of Grupa Onet.pl, Poland's leading internet portal listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, settlement of the dispute between owners of Allegro, Poland's leading internet auction company and the $150M sale of RMF FM, Poland's largest private radio station also listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Mr. Stroinski has been consistently listed in "Chambers Global - the World's Leading Lawyers for Business" (2004-2005 and 2006 editions) as one of the leading lawyers in the Corporate and M&A practice in Poland. During 2005-2006 Mr. Stroinski stayed at Stanford Law School as a Visiting Scholar, following his receipt of scholarships from the Fulbright Commission and the Foundation for Polish Science to carry out research on board member liability regulations.

Mr. MacDonald is the founder and managing partner of CAG, an independent investment banking partnership dedicated to providing its clients with high-quality sell-side M&A and private equity placement advisory services.

As the managing partner of CAG Mr. MacDonald has participated in the execution of some 35 deals in the past seven years in Poland, Romania and former Yugoslavia. Transaction sizes ranged from € 5 million to € 130 million. Industries included financial services, outsourced business processing, technology, media, telecommunication and FMCG. Larger deals include the sale of Żabka, Ultimo, Dom Finansowy QS, Energis and Credisson. The result is a broad base of experience in successfully selling or rising capital for some of Central Europe’s fastest growing companies.

Prior to founding CAG, Mr. MacDonald served as a director of corporate finance of ABN AMRO Poland. Completed transactions included a US$40 million convertible debt offering for EMPiK Centrum Investments, a subsidiary of Eastbridge, which also operates the largest department store chain in Poland (Domy Towarowe Centrum) and the largest multimedia retailer (EMPiK); a US$21 million private equity placement of shares of Eastbridge; a US$20 million private equity placement for Bresnan International Partners (Poland), the second largest cable operator in Poland, and subsequent advisory work on a US$60 million bridge loan; a US$30 million private equity placement for Canal+ Polska, the Polish affiliate of Europe’s largest pay television provider.

Mr. MacDonald’s experience with private equity dates back to 1993, when he worked as a business analyst for Enterprise Investors. While at Enterprise Investors, Mr. MacDonald analyzed a wide variety of projects and was a key member of the teams that: purchased, together with INVESCO, Capital Research International and Owens - Illinois, Jarosław Glass, Poland's largest container glass manufacturer, from the State Treasury for US$20 million; purchased Pakpol, a large state-owned packaging company; structured a US$6 million convertible loan to ITI, one of Poland’s largest private media and entertainment companies; and completed, together with OPIC and the EBRD, a US$5 million loan to Lodom, a cold storage facility in Poland.

Mr. MacDonald began his investment banking career in 1987 as an analyst and then associate at Donaldson, Lufkin& Jenrette. Mr. MacDonald graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Harvard College in June 1987 with an A.B. in International Relations and speaks English and Polish.

Holds a Master Degree in Law from University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin (UMCS Lublin).

Piotr Gębala worked in financial sector through last 9 years by dealing with capital investments on non-public market.

He worked as Investment Director/Member of the Management Board in Lubelski Fundusz Kapitałowy Spółka z o.o. (Capital Fund of Lublin) – local investment fund in Lubelskie voivodeship; then he worked as Investment Director/Member of the Management Board in Fundusz HALS (HALS Fund) – twinning project of Bank Gospodarki Żywnościowej S.A. and British Know How Fund (Fundusz HALS specialized in investments of PLN 4 m investment limit in Polish SME sector ).

Piotr has extensive knowledge and experience in Private Equity/Venture Capital funds, especially in the scope of fund management, investment project analysis and company due diligence and monitoring.

He is familiar with the problematics of investing in SME sector, including support for SMEs in strategy creation and implementation of risk management and controlling. He was a member of CRESCENDO Thematic Network – an EU project aimed at creating an international knowledge sharing platform for PE/VC experts (concerning investments in SME sector, especially in innovative enterprises).