A Roadmap for the Tech/Mobile/Telecom/Media Sectors: Top Entrepreneurs Reflect

Expert Panelist included: Scott Belsky, the Founder of Behance, Landy Ung, Founder of 8coupons, David Horowitz, Managing Director of Comcast Capital, Jeff Pulver, the Founder of Vonage & 140 Characters Conference, with moderator Stuart Goldfarb from Orrick.

The panelist strongly suggest using the power of technology to connect local consumers with local retailers. Allow technology to provide information that makes it easier to facilitate the idea of connecting people to people. Through self-funding and bootstrapping entrepreneurs can focus on branding and building a name for themselves.

What makes a successful entrepreneur, is the person itself. Through social networking allow yourself to be vulnerable so people can hear your actual voice. Your opinion matters to your consumers and followers. Don't underestimate the power of other people restating what you say. You can't hide good/bad brand experiences anymore, and use that to your advantage. Landy Ung suggested, if you're using technology make sure you have a self-service platform to help with your technical difficulties.

The panel agreed that transparency is something that people still don't understand and they expect some industry breakthroughs within this area. Jeff Pulver said, "If you could actually build relationships, that's how you can change lives. New media will never replace old media, but if you connect the two you create a 'now media'." The possibility of the future by crowd-sourcing, hyper-communication, and managing your presence is endless. Jeff Pulver believes this is the year of the consumer revolution.

- Katie Evans