February 15, 2012
Dinner Meeting
5:30PM - Omni Interlocken Resort & Hotel

Directors are regularly faced with decisions regarding the valuation of their companies. Some of these decisions lead to litigation. The panel will discuss how a director can be prepared for these issues. The panel will discuss best practices, including outside valuations. It will discuss how valuations play into strategic decisions, especially those regarding exits, and into awards of restricted stock and stock options. The discussion will address valuation in both public and private companies. 

Mark Soane, Moderator: Mark is the Managing Director, Appian Venture Partners, an early-stage technology fund. Board of Director memberships include NACD-Colorado, Carefx, OpenLogic, AdPay, OneRiot, Vessels Coal Gas, Colorado Venture Capital Authority (Vice-Chairman) and Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (former Chairman). Former director roles at Voyant Technologies 1999-2004, Active Education 1999-2005, Datria Systems 1998-2009, Ischemia Technologies 1999-2005, Cadre Technologies 2004-2009, Controlled Products Systems Group (Executive Chairman)1999-2007, Pixxures Corp. 2000-2007 and Colorado Venture Capital Association (Chairman) 2000-2007 As an experienced venture capital investor, Mark works closely with management and co-investors in strategy and corporate development, management recruitment and oversight, and equity and debt financing. He has sat on multiple Audit, Compensation and Nominating Committees. He has been a frequent lecturer on Venture Capital at UC Denver and has served as an expert witness in venture capital related matters. Mark holds a B.A. in History, with highest distinction, from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from Stanford Business School.

Timothy J. Keating is the President of Keating Investments, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser, which was founded in 1997. Mr. Keating is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Keating Capital, Inc., a publicly traded business development company (Nasdaq: KIPO). Prior to founding Keating Investments, Mr. Keating was a proprietary arbitrage trader and also head of the European Equity Trading Department at Bear Stearns International Limited (London) from 1994 to 1997. From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Keating founded and ran the European Equity Derivative Products Department for Nomura International PLC in London. Mr. Keating began his career at Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc. where he was active in the Financial Futures Department in both New York and London. Mr. Keating is a 1985 cum laude graduate of Harvard College with an A.B. in economics.

Shina Culberson, CFA: Shina manages Quist's Boulder, Colorado office and heads Quist's Tax and Financial Reporting valuation practice. Since joining Quist in 2007, Shina has performed numerous business and securities valuations for corporate finance, tax and financial reporting purposes, including incentive stock options, recapitalizations, mergers and acquisitions, preferred stock, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, gift and estate taxes, intellectual property, restricted stock and purchase price allocations. Shina has over 20 years of experience as a securities analyst. Prior to joining Quist, Shina worked in San Francisco as an equity analyst for Cohen Independent Research Group, covering the biotech and software industries and as a fixed income analyst for Charles Schwab Asset Management, covering international financial institutions and sovereigns. She is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Denver. She graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Economics.

Daniel Williams, is a Partner with Faegre Baker Daniels. Dan's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation in trial and appellate courts, with a particular emphasis on high-stakes and bet-the-company disputes. He has litigated a broad variety of civil and criminal matters, including consumer, securities and employment class actions; unfair competition actions; consumer and financial fraud actions; legal malpractice disputes; defamation actions; federal grand jury proceedings; and other business disputes. In addition to litigating in court Dan specializes in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") investigations as well as other internal investigations. Prior to joining Faegre Baker Daniels, Dan practiced at the leading litigation firm in Washington, D.C. Before becoming an attorney, Dan was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow, serving as an advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In that position, he gained extensive experience in welfare reform policy and federal grants to local governments and community organizations. Dan is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and also has a BA and MS from the University of Rochester.