Tech Thursdays Lunch and Learn: Show Me the Money!

The Blank Center’s Tech Thursdays Lunch and Learn series will host its last session on Thursday, April 18, 12:30pm in the Blank Center Televideo Room: Show Me the Money with Babson Entrepreneur-in-Residence, John Landry!

High Anxiety: The Ying and the Yang of Entrepreneurial Finance

Think about the stunningly disruptive changes in tech that have occurred over the last 40 years e.g. transaction processing, supercomputers, mobile phones, touch interfaces, smart speakers, ad nauseum! Now think about the method of financing tech-centric businesses – it virtually hasn’t changed at all while everything around it has! Why? Does the winner-take-all model of Venture Capital equity investment so necessary to finance tech-centric businesses of the past really work that well for the tech-centric start-ups of today? Do you really understand how VCs work – what their business model works and how it affects you? Do you know how successful that fund or partner has been? Do you realize that in order to achieve personal financial success in a VC invested business, you need to sell the company either through an acquisition or an IPO, and by that time they’ll likely literally have control over your business? Yikes!

Are there other models available to you? Is the idea of building a tech-centric ‘life style business’ to be considered? Can you build a ‘bootstrapped’ business of the chute and avoid the anxieties of using OPM (Other People’s Money)? The answer is a resounding YES and we’ll explore this wild world of entrepreneurial finance with gusto.

About John Landry
John Landry has spent over 40 years as a serial software entrepreneur and innovator, a 12-time Chief Technology Officer in enterprises ranging from start-ups to the largest software companies, 20+ years as an passionate angel investor funding over 100 companies, and a Board Director of over 42 tech companies including 10 publicly traded.

John is currently Managing Director of Lead Dog Ventures which provides emerging technology enterprises access to a well-developed network of relationship, technology, and financial capital. He is also currently a Venture Partner and member of the Investment Committee at Boston VC firm Converge Ventures Partners.​

Previously, John served as VP Technology Strategy at IBM where he led IBM's Internet Strategy Task Force working directly for then IBM CEO Lou Gerstner to design and develop IBM's Internet strategy across the corporation. Prior to IBM, John was CTO/SVP Development at Lotus Development Corporation responsible for all product management, engineering, and R&D. Prior to Lotus, John served in similar capacities as CTO/EVP Development at global software leaders Dun & Bradstreet Software, Cullinet Software, and McCormack & Dodge.

In addition, John was Co-founder/Exec Chairman/CTO of Agility Systems, Adjoin Solutions, and Adesso Systems and Exec Chairman/CTO of Distribution Management Systems, Narrative Communications, ​ AnyDay.com, and Infostoria -- with ALL of these companies targets of successful acquisitions.

He has served as President of the American Software Association and as a long-time Trustee of both Babson College and the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC). In 2018 he was awarded MassTLC’s Commonwealth Award, the organization’s highest honor, for a lifetime of commitment to technology innovation and inclusion. He holds a BA in Finance from Babson and currently serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at the college. John lives with his wife Ann on a working farm in Wayland, Mass, a location frequently and joyfully populated by his six grandchildren.