The second day of CompTIA’s Tech Summit kicked off with an engaging presentation from J.C. Raby, Co-Founder and partner of Boston Meridian Partners, one of the leading venture capital firms in the media and technology sectors, followed by a fireside chat between the investor and Elizabeth Hyman, Executive Vice President of Advocacy for CompTIA.
Boston Meridian’s clients include Fortune 500 acquirers like IBM, Cisco, Lockheed Martin and Accenture as well as middle-market growth companies across a number of industries including media and technology (software, business services, and communications equipment) manufacturing and consumer products, together accounting for over $9 billion in transaction value.
Raby’s resume is packed with experience from Wall Street and Silicon Valley. He has more than 16 years of investment banking experience in mergers and acquisitions as well as private and public financings.
During his presentation, Raby held up his personal biograph to illustrate how government regulations have always and will likely continue to intersect with the world of technological innovations.
From the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which opened up the massive telecommunications market to more competition and eventually led to the types of networks the nation needed to support the growth of the Internet, to Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Washington and the tech sector are connected – in good times and bad times.
The problem is that Washington and the tech sector general approach their jobs in completely different ways. For instance, Raby told the audience that while innovative technology companies often look to be the first and biggest disruptor of an industry, lawmakers in Washington aren’t always quick to embrace or even recognize disruptors.
They do embrace regulating certain innovations or innovative developments. Raby said most events or changes in the tech sector are followed by some sort of regulation. He listed new European and U.S. privacy protection laws, social media political advertising rules, net neutrality repeal at the federal level and preserved in California, and proposed laws or regulations surrounding autonomous vehicles and drones.
Raby also ventured into international trade and how Washington approaches the issues facing the technology industry and investment community. Most of his insights focused on China.
- Chinese venture capital Investment was 15 percent greater in the second quarter of this year than it was in the United States, according to Raby.
- Every leading U.S. technology company has its more-rapidly growing or larger Chinese equivalent. Google has Baidu, Amazon has Alibaba, and Facebook has TenCent.
- American venture capital firms also are shifting significant investments to China.
- Capital will always chase opportunities beyond borders.
- State or federal Carried Interest Tax Regulation could accelerate this movement offshore.
Raby concluded his remarks by saying that regulations at the state and federal level must take into account the competitive environment for global capital, and maintain a healthy domestic environment for economic reward.
Venture capitalists tend to always be two to three steps ahead of the curve when it comes to uncovering and then backing the technologies that will eventually disrupt and then redefine entire markets.
With that it mind, I’m sure more than a few attendees at Tech Summit this year would love to see Raby return next year to provide updates on what he sees happening in Silicon Valley around the world.
