How do small start-ups with a brilliant idea turn into big businesses? The Momentum Summit explores that question with a series of in-depth conversations and strategy talks from notable local founders and CEOs. It's a chance to hear from innovative leaders about what they've done that has truly moved the needle, in terms of product development, technology, sales and marketing, and... [read more]

How do small start-ups with a brilliant idea turn into big businesses? The Momentum Summit explores that question with a series of in-depth conversations and strategy talks from notable local founders and CEOs. It's a chance to hear from innovative leaders about what they've done that has truly moved the needle, in terms of product development, technology, sales and marketing, and team-building. Each speaker at the Momentum Summit is interviewed by a fellow entrepreneur or investor. You can see photos and hear audio from the 2010 event here. Who's it for? The Momentum Summit is geared to entrepreneurs and CEOs, as well as senior sales, marketing, and business development executives. We hope you can join us for this special event on Wednesday, March 23rd. (The Twitter hash tag for the event is #mosum.) Produced with the support of the MIT Sloan School, The Momentum Summit takes place in Kendall Square at MIT's Tang Center. It begins with breakfast and networking at 8:00, and wraps up with interactive lunch discussion sessions on topics like effective search engine optimization and search engine marketing strategies; crafting partnerships that make strategic sense; working with investors; raising your company's profile using blogs, Twitter, and social media; and building and managing a high-octane sales force. Agenda 8:00 - 8:45 AM Registration, breakfast, networking 8:45 - 9:00 AM Welcome and introductions 9:00 - 9:45 AM Kayak co-founder and CTO Paul English, in conversation with Jeffrey Bussgang of Flybridge Capital Partners: Creating a Product People Will Love to Use, and a Company Employees Will Want to Work For 9:45 - 10:15 AM Carbonite co-founder and CEO David Friend, in conversation with Maria Cirino of .406 Ventures: How We Became the Fastest-Growing Business in Boston, and the Fastest-Growing IT Services Company Nationally (According to the Most Recent Inc. 500 LIst) 10:15 - 10:30 AM Networking break 10:30 - 10:50 AM Christopher Ahlberg, founder of Recorded Future and Spotfire, on Targeting the Early Customers That Lead to Growth, introduced by Eric Paley of Founder Collective 10:50 - 11:15 AM A123 Systems co-founder Ric Fulop, now a partner at North Bridge Venture Partners, on Doing Big Things with a Small Team 11:15 - 11:30 AM Networking break 11:30 - 12:00 PM HubSpot co-founder and CEO Brian Halligan: How You Can Generate Massive Marketing Momentum, introduced by Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe 12:00 - 12:30 PM Swipely and Tellme co-founder Angus Davis, in conversation with Lee Hower of NextView Ventures (formerly of LinkedIn and PayPal): Lessons Learned About Scaling B2B and B2C Companies 12:30 PM Wrap-up and Announce Lunch Discussion Groups 12:30 - 2 PM Lunch Discussion Groups Our lunch discussion leaders will include: > Antonio Rodriguez, General Partner, Matrix Partners; founder, Tabblo: "Advice from an Entrepreneur-Turned-Venture Capitalist on Working with VCs" > Adam Medros, VP of product at TripAdvisor: "Making Products More Social" > Michael Feinstein, vice president of sales and marketing at Digital Lumens: "Scaling Up the Sales Effort" > John Landry of Lead Dog Ventures: "Finding and Working with Angel Investors" > Matt Douglas, CEO of Punchbowl: "Forging Business Development Deals & Partnerships That Make Sense" > David Hauser, Co-Founder, Grasshopper Group: "PR & Buzz for Start-Ups" > Performable co-founder David Cancel: "Making the Most of A/B Testing" > Sean Lindsay, chief technology officer at Viximo: "Hiring & Managing Awesome Developers" > BuySellAds CEO Todd Garland: "Secrets of a Bootstrapper" > Rob Weisberg, chief marketing officer at Zipcar: "Blending Online & Offline Marketing" > Lee Hower, Co-Founder of NextView Ventures: "Lessons from the Early Days at PayPal & LinkedIn" Our Sponsors The Momentum Summit 2011 is presented with generous support from AisleBuyer, Fresh Tilled Soil, and High Start Group. Each sponsor of the Momentum Summit will be leading a lunch discussion group on a topic related to their expertise. > Richard Banfield, CEO, Fresh Tilled Soil: "How Good Design Can Improve the Bottom Line" > Andrew Paradise, CEO, AisleBuyer: "Checking Out vs. Checking In: Leveraging Mobile Strategies to Increase Customer Loyalty" > Nitzan Shaer, Co-Founder, High Start Group; formerly director of the mobile product group at Skype: "Mobile Applications: What Your Customers Need, and How to Get Started"   For information about high-impact sponsorship opportunities at the Momentum Summit, please contact Shayne Gilbert at 617/367-1400 or sgilbert@silverweave.com. Partners The Momentum Summit is proud to support Stay In MA, a scholarship program for Massachusetts-based college students.  If you are a college student interested in getting financial assistance to attend this event, please visit stayinma.com for scholarship opportunities. MassChallenge is running a global startup competition and accelerator to catalyze the launch and success of high-growth, high-impact new businesses. The first contest launched on April 14, 2010 and received ~450 entries by the application deadline on June 11. Sixteen winners were announced on October 21, 2010 and split $1M in cash awards. The next competition  is launching in March of 2011.