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Venture Atlanta Announces Zach Nelson as Keynote Speaker
[July 12, 2018]

Venture Atlanta Announces Zach Nelson as Keynote Speaker


Venture Atlanta announced today that Zach Nelson, former CEO of NetSuite (News - Alert) and one of the most successful software CEOs in Silicon Valley history, will be a featured keynote at this year's Venture Atlanta conference. Now in its 11th year, Venture Atlanta is widely considered one of the top technology entrepreneurial and investment events in the Southeast.

Currently an active and successful investor in the technology, media, entertainment and hospitality sectors, Nelson's expertise runs the gamut from startups to IPOs to venture investment. During his tenure at NetSuite, the company grew from a start-up with annual sales of $1 million to revenue of $1 billion in 2017 with a global customer base of some 24,000 mid-size and enterprise companies and 5,000 employees. NetSuite was ultimately acquired by Oracle (News - Alert) for $9.3 billion, making it the largest SAAS acquisition in history and the third largest software company acquisition by enterprise value in the industry.

"With Zach's long tenure of successful leadership at NetSuite, he is sure to offer valuable insights and inspiration at this year's event," said Mike Becker, 2018 chairman of Venture Atlanta and managing director of Vocap Investment Partners. "Considering his passion for entrepreneurship, we're especially pleased to welcome Zach to this year's Venture Atlanta conference and look forward to what will be a uniquely engaging keynote address."

In April 2018, Venture Atlanta also announced Dave DeWalt as the conference's opening keynote speaker. DeWalt is managing director of AllegisCyber and former CEO of FireEye (News - Alert) and McAfee. DeWalt and Nelson join an impressive roster of top-level Venture Atlanta speakers over the last several years, including:

  • Mark Cuban - owner, Dallas Mavericks / "Shark Tank"
  • Scott Dorsey - CEO, ExactTarget (sold to Salesforce.com for $2.5B)
  • Brad Feld - founder, Foundry Group
  • Ernie Garcia - CEO, Carvana (startup to IPO to $3B+ market cap)
  • John Marshall - CEO, AirWatch (sold to VMWare for $1.5B)
  • Tom Noonan - CEO, ISS (sold to IBM (News - Alert) for $1.3B)
  • Ted Schlein - general partner, Kleiner Perkins
  • Jay Simons - president, Atlassian (startup to IPO to $12B+ market cap)
  • Jeff Sprecher - chairman, NYSE / CEO, Intercontinental
  • Rich Wong (News - Alert) - general partner, Accel



Nelson's keynote address will close the Venture Atlanta conference on Wednesday, October 17, 2018.

Now accepting applications for companies to take the stage and present, the 11th annual Venture Atlanta has relocated to a larger venue to accommodate more attendees and has also expanded its company showcase as it continues to successfully connect the Southeast's best and brightest innovators with top-tier investors. This year's conference will take place October 16-17 in the heart of downtown Atlanta at the Southern Exchange at 200 Peachtree. Atlanta technology innovation hub Tech Square Labs is returning as the event's premier sponsor.


Venture Atlanta showcases the most promising technology companies located in Georgia and its expanded footprint of Texas to Washington, D.C., that are at both early and later stages and seeking to raise capital in the next 12 to 18 months. For more information or to register, visit https://www.ventureatlanta.org/register/.

About Venture Atlanta

Venture Atlanta, the Southeast's premier venture conference and technology innovation event, is where the region's most promising tech companies connect with the country's top-tier investors, partners and customers. Recognized as the region's largest investor showcase with over 900 attendees and now in its 11th year, Venture Atlanta delivers an opportunity for the best and brightest entrepreneurs to get their businesses and products in front of leading local, regional and national venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others who can help them raise the capital and make the connections they need to grow their businesses. In operation for over a decade, the annual nonprofit event is a collaboration of three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.


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