DesignSight: Volume II

JOIN US! Tuesday, April 28^th 6:45pm – 10:00pm

DesignSight is an event series developed to help stimulate some important conversations in the design community.

Volume II promises to be an engaging night! Anyone considering making the entrepreneurial leap or those looking to fine tune their business practices should attend. Come ready to discuss your concerns with experts on entrepreneurial topics specific to: venture capital funding, bringing your product to market, licensing, and of course, entrepreneurial best practices.

BUY Tickets and RSVP | Comments, Questions, or Issues With Registration

$35 IDSA members, $45 non-members

Andalu Restaurant | in the Mission District of San Francisco
3198 16th St., San Francisco CA | (415) 621-2211

How It Works: We'll have a table dedicated to each topic genre. You pick your first, second and third choice of who to sit with and Andalu Restaurant will provide some great food and drinks to fuel the conversation. Each table is limited to 7 attendees. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, and your printed proof of registration is required to attend.

Your ticket includes dinner, a drink (soda or iced tea etc.) and wine. Please arrive no later than 6:45 to be seated.

Table #1: Mark Dwight, Founder, Rickshaw Bagworks
Table #2: Stephen Key, Co-Founder, inventRight
Table #3: Jeff Barnes, General Partner, Clean Pacific Ventures
Table #4: Scott Yu, Chief Creative Officer, Vode Lighting LLC

Here's a bit about each of the people sitting at each table.

Mark Dwight, Founder, Rickshaw Bagworks
Mark Dwight is the founder and CEO of Rickshaw Bagworks, a new San Francisco-based manufacturer of messenger bags, computer carrying cases and lifestyle luggage. Dwight was formerly the CEO of Timbuk2 Designs (2002-2006), where he oversaw a financial turnaround and period of rapid growth, and then sold the company to private equity investors in 2005. Previously, Mark worked at Cisco Systems (1997-2001). Additionally, Mark was the co-founder of Astro Studios, a San Francisco-based product design consultancy, and Director of Product Development for Kensington, a leading brand of consumer PC accessory products. Dwight has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (’82) and an MBA (’89), both from Stanford. Dwight currently serves on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Mavericks Surf Ventures.



Stephen Key, Co-Founder, inventRight
Stephen Key is a successful award-winning inventor who has licensed over 20 products in the past 25 years. A holder of over twelve patents, Stephen’s products have sold in Wal-Mart, 7 Eleven, Disney Stores and theme parks worldwide and have been endorsed by basketball great Michael Jordan and Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. Stephen is a Disney licensee and has a new fruit beverage call Twist N Chill due to hit stores in the Spring of 2009 featuring Hannah Montana and Cars.

Along with business partner Andrew Krauss, Stephen runs inventRight, a company dedicated to educating inventors about selling their ideas and teaching them the skills needed to successfully license their ideas. You can ask questions and get advice on the inventRight forum, check out the resource center, and listen to the weekly radio show on inventing.

Recognized as an outstanding leader in the field of innovation, Stephen has appeared on national TV including the CNBC show “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch”, an expert guest on Dr. Phil and has been interviewed for national magazines, newspaper articles and books. Stephen was also a consultant for the first season of this hit ABC reality show American Inventor from Simon Cowell.


Jeff Barnes, General Partner, Clean Pacific Ventures

Jeff Barnes has had three successful results with start-ups, providing a strong operational and strategic experience base for managing venture investments. Prior to co-founding Clean Pacific Ventures, Jeff spearheaded business development and marketing for Purfresh, a venture-backed clean technology water and food purification company with a long list of Fortune 500 customers. Jeff also was the first marketing and business development executive of two successful technology start-ups, VocalPoint (acquired by Telecom Italia) and Acendi. Previously, Jeff spent 5 years at Bain & Company in the Private Equity and Technology practices consulting to private equity funds and to major technology companies. Jeff has invested in Blingo (acquired by Publishers Clearing House), VocalPoint (acquired), Advanced Educational Corporation (acquired), Purfresh, SunLink and Marrone. Jeff holds a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and a MS in Management from the London School of Economics.


Scott Yu, Chief Creative Officer, Vode Lighting LLC

Scott Yu is Chief Creative Officer at Vode Lighting LLC, a self-funded company, which he co-founded with partners George Mieling and Tom Warton in 2005. At Vode, Scott brings his passion in design and sustainability to the manufacturing of low-energy consumption lighting. Vode has enjoyed tremendous recognition since its inception and has been involved in numerous projects including California Academy of Sciences, Autodesk (a LEED Platinum project) in San Francisco, Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Microsoft Corporate Campuses near Seattle, the King County Library System in Washington State and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia.

Scott graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena with a B.S. degree in Transportation Design in 1982. He worked in Europe for Peugeot S.A. as a Chief Designer. In 1986, he returned to the United States to work for Ford Motor Company as Design Manager. In 1990, he returned to San Francisco and co-founded Gingko Design Inc.