Wow! What a day. More than 500 Massachusetts’ executives, entrepreneurs, investors, students and tech lovers met at the Cambridge Hyatt for MassTLC’s 2012 Annual Meeting. The event was power-packed with insights into the state of tech in Mass today, the future of the US economy, and what it takes to be a successful leader in technology.
 |
| Bill Taylor interviews Bill Campbell joeylibbyphotography.com |
The highlight of the day was the candid and insightful fireside chat with Bill Campbell, the “Coach of Silicon Valley,” and longtime friend and advisor to Steve Jobs. Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO said of Bill Campbell, “His contribution to Google is literally not possible to overstate. He essentially architected the organizational structure.” While Steve Jobs commented, “He loves people, and he loves growing people.”
Campbell was interviewed by Bill Taylor, co-founder of the magazine FastCompany, who started the interview asking that it not be recorded or live blogged so that Campbell could be as candid and colorful as possible, and that he was. He shared his opinions about Google, Apple, Steve Jobs, media, and the Massachusetts’ venture capital community. Additionally, he provided coaching to a dozen audience members, many students and entrepreneurs who sought out his advice for starting and running companies.
We caught up with Bill briefly after the event and did get some of his insights “on the record,” including what students coming into tech should focus on, the biggest mistakes CEOs make, what we can learn from Steve Jobs “maniacal” focus on creating great products and lastly, a challenge to the Massachusetts tech community. Catch the interview below.
Other top highlights of the morning included:
MassTLC Chairman, Mohamad Ali, Senior Vice President of Avaya shared his vision for the council and the Massachusetts tech community as whole, calling companies to innovate “or you won’t be here in 5 years”
A new MassTLC video that includes the voices of tech leaders shows why Massachusetts is the place for technology and how MassTLC supports this vibrant community.
Roger Brinner, Economist and Principal of the Parthenon Group offered a deeply insightful and surprisingly humorous perspective on the economy, challenging media’s take on the subject.
Pamela Goldberg, CEO of Mass Tech Collaborative and Pat Larkin, Director of the John Adams Innovation Institute, shared Massachusetts Technology Collaborative findings from the 2011 Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy report. The stats that garnered the most twitter activity were:
- 38.4% of MA jobs tied to the innovation economy, highest of any state
- MA is still top in US per capita in patents with 4900 patents in 2011
- MA companies got more than 10% of all Venture funding in 2011, #1 per capita among US states
Thank you also to MassTLC Trustees for underwriting tickets for 70 students and young entrepreneurs and to MassTLC Trustee Dan Bricklin for photographing the day. See his photos here.
