Schwab’s Vice Chairman Discussed Technology Trends With Private Equity Investors

PALO ALTO, CA–May 9, 2002–Investment bank for startups, Garage Technology Ventures, last night hosted a CIO Fireside Chat featuring Dawn Lepore, Vice Chairman of Technology and Administration for The Charles Schwab Corporation. Garage CEO, Guy Kawaski, moderated the discussion with Ms. Lepore, which was attended by approximately 150 technology private equity investors. Mr. Kawasaki and Ms. Lepore covered a wide range of topics, including spending plans, Web services, application integration, security, wireless technologies, and opportunities for startups to work with large enterprise customers.

“Schwab continues to look to startups for innovative solutions,” explained Dawn Lepore. “Scalability is my primary concern when working with them. Many startups don’t spend the money to design solutions for the volume or scale that Schwab needs.” Ms. Lepore went on to say that the good news is that today companies have time to scale. “This isn’t the Internet boom time of a few years ago, when Schwab was installing additional servers overnight between close of market one day and the opening bell the following day.”

“Ms. Lepore provided great insight about what technologies are top-of-mind for the next twelve months and what it takes for startups to sell into large organizations such as Schwab,” said Guy Kawasaki. “Today, startup success depends on traction and signing large enterprise customers, so this is critical information for anyone who invests in or works closely with emerging tech companies.”

About Garage Technology Ventures
Garage Technology Ventures is an investment bank for startups, providing private placement services for high technology companies and investors. Garage Technology Ventures serves companies in the communications, network infrastructure, and software sectors that seek to raise between $2 million and $15 million in a first or second institutional financing round. Since 1999, Garage has completed 82 transactions raising over $340 million in venture capital for clients including Digital Envoy, Digital Fountain, LeftHand Networks, Tripwire, and Xora, among others, through its wholly-owned broker/dealer subsidiary, Garage Securities, Inc.

Media Contact:
Krause Taylor Associates
Betty Taylor
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408-918-9082

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