Michael Travis, Principal of executive search firm Travis & Company, will co-moderate the May 13, 2008 meeting of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Venture Forum. The meeting will focus on building executive teams at start-up companies.

Ashby, MA (PRWEB) May 12, 2008 -- Michael Travis, Principal of executive search firm Travis & Company, will co-moderate the May 13, 2008 meeting of the WPI Venture Forum. Travis will be joined by Co-Moderator Shelley Dropkin, President of Dropkin Consulting.

The meeting, entitled "Building Your Start-up Team", will focus on the common issues entrepreneurs face as they build executive teams for their companies. For first time entrepreneurs, building the team can be a daunting enterprise. How do you attract, identify and retain top talent? When should you add key positions, and when should you fire executives who aren't working out? And how will investors be evaluating you?

Keynote speakers Tom Crotty and Vic Odryna will address these questions from the perspectives of an investor and an entrepreneur.

Tom Crotty is General Partner at Battery Ventures, a leading venture capital firm that focuses on technology investments. Tom has extensive experience investing in communications and e-commerce companies. He has worked with dozens of entrepreneurs and their management teams in his more than 20 years in venture capital.

Vic Odryna is a serial entrepreneur who is co-Founder and CEO of ZeeVee, a start-up that is bridging the last fifty feet between the computer and the HDTVs in the home. Vic was also Founder of PixelVision, a pioneer in flat-panel monitors, President & CEO of Inceptor, a search marketing company, and has been a key marketing executive at other companies.

The evening's case will be presented by Sunil Bhatia, Founder, President & CEO of Invesra, a technology-enabled services company that provides retirement planning and investment management services to individuals for the management of their retirement assets. Invesra's services are marketed through employers, banks and bank platforms, affinity groups and membership organizations.

The WPI Venture Forum meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at the Campus Center - Odeum Room, on the WPI campus in Worcester, MA. Registration and networking begin at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Registration cost is $15 individual, annual, and lifetime members; and $25 nonmembers. Pre-registration is available online at http://www.wpiventureforum.org/Programs/Registration/.

About Travis & Company:
Travis & Company is a leader in retained executive search for medical device, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Since 1978, Travis & Company has recruited hundred of senior executives for a wide range of clients, from early stage start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. The company's website is at http://www.travisandco.com .

About Dropkin Consulting
Dropkin Consulting is an outsourced Human Resource consulting firm which serves emerging and mid-sized companies on a part-time basis providing customized strategies and solutions which improve employee productivity and company profitability. Shelley S. Dropkin, Founder and President, can be reached by calling: 508-494-3860 or at Shelley@dropkinconsulting.com .

About the WPI Venture Forum
The WPI Venture Forum (http://www.wpiventureforum.org), part of the Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in the Department of Management at WPI, was created in 1990 to promote the entrepreneurial spirit and to serve those who engage in technology-based entrepreneurial enterprises. The group provides advice, support, and education tailored to meet the needs of entrepreneurs through such activities as monthly programs, a business plan contest, a weekly radio show on News Radio 580 WTAG (Saturdays, 5-7 pm, 580am), networking events, and a monthly newsletter.

Contact:
Michael Travis
Travis & Company, Inc.
(978) 878-3232 x112
http://www.travisandco.com

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