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"Learn to Speak the Language of the Market," Says Howard Lindzon, Investor and Tech Expert, at UTC Annual Members' Meeting Event
[April 28, 2015]

"Learn to Speak the Language of the Market," Says Howard Lindzon, Investor and Tech Expert, at UTC Annual Members' Meeting Event


If "super angel" investor Howard Lindzon had immediately recognized the value of Twitter or had invested in Uber at its valuation of $4.5 million in 2010 (now "half the size of FedEx"), "I would be skiing on my own mountain after manufacturing my own snow," he told Utah leaders. Lindzon addressed Utah tech businesses at the 2015 Utah Technology Council (UTC) Annual Members' Meeting this week at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake.

But how do investors recognize an untraditional value proposition like Uber or Twitter? "Wall Street is broken," Lindzon maintains. "There's no way for investors to value companies like this according to the metrics that are existing today. We're following growth that's never been heard of, and there are fewer analysts covering these new technology spaces than before."

"There is a language to the market," he says. "You can learn to speak this language yourself. Finance is complicated, but I want to make it simpler."

As one of the Internet's most popular social media personas with a Twitter following of 275,000, Lindzon is cofounder and Chairman of StockTwits, recently named to the list of "top 10 most innovative companies in web" by Fast Company and one of "50 best websites" by Time magazine.

Are we in a bubble? Lindzon noted that as tech entrepreneurs and executives, individuals and businesses, we need to learn to get away from the concepts of "fear" and "greed" and instead to make good individual decisions. For example, in all of the world's concern over credit and banking in the past few years, "nobody talked about the oil bubble, which was the real bubble."

In his current work, he is advancing education to individuals and investors through social leverage, making expert use of the ability to share meaningful information through the new "social currency" he employs. At the event, UTC members noted that despite Lindzon's failures to invest in Twitter and Uber, his foresight has served him exceedingly well: As a super angel investor, Lindzon has accomplished successful investments in companies such as Rent.com (purchased by eBay (News - Alert) in 2005 for $415 million), Golfnow.com (purchased by Comcast (News - Alert) in June 2008), Buddy Media (acquired by SalesForce in 2012 for $745 million) and LifeLock (2012 IPO) and Twitter (2014 IPO).

In addition to Lindzon's presentation, which had a Q&A format with Alex Lawrence, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Weber State asking the questions, UTC members ratified 2014 board actions, elected board officers and trustees for the coming year, and presented 2014-2015 industry awards in the following categories:





Legislators of the year:   Speaker Greg Hughes (News - Alert)
Representative Patrice Arent
Representative Francis Gibson
Representative Dean Sanpei
Representative John Knotwell
Representative Val Peterson
President Wayne Niederhauser
Senator Ann Millner
Volunteer of the Year Mark McBride, LANDESK
Educators of the Year Lillian Tsosie-Jensen, Utah State Office of Education
Helen Hu, Westminster College
HR Executives of the Year Cathy Donahoe, Domo
Teresa Schlegel, School Improvement Network
Jeff Weber (News - Alert), Instructure
Marketing Executive of the Year Mark Fredrickson, SnappConner PR
Sales Executive of the Year John Reagh, Experticity
Emerging Executive of the Year Bob Vukich, Inneuvate
CTO of the Year Chris Marsh, Aviacode
CFO of the Year Mathew White, XMission
CEO of the Year Jeff Flamm, Infinite (News - Alert) Mind

"The individuals we are acknowledging have provided tremendous service and values to not only our industry sector and the membership of UTC, but to the entire economy of Utah and to the customers and partners they are working to serve," said Chet Linton, Chairman of UTC and CEO of School Improvement Network.

"We are extremely pleased at the success and continued growth of our technology sector," said Richard R. Nelson, president and CEO of the Utah Technology Council. "While we celebrate our annual successes, particularly in the recent legislative session, UTC also looks forward to playing an integral role in advancing the strengths of our technology companies and addressing our serious talent shortage and exporting of jobs which will be our most-pressing challenge in 2015."

About the Utah Technology Council

The UTAH TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL is the state's premier professional association for over 5,000 high tech, clean tech and life science companies, representing nearly 10 percent of the state's total payroll. At its core, UTC exists to help Utah technology businesses become more relevant and competitive by creating VALUABLE CONNECTIONS with members and others who offer peer experience and advice, by addressing the serious TALENT SHORTAGE faced by member companies and by assisting members to gain ACCESS TO FUNDING. Members join UTC to share insights with industry peers, counsel with government and academic leaders and receive help from professional service providers and funding resources. www.utahtech.org.


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