• Rules from the BABY’s Book on Becoming a Billionaire
  
  

  • Rule #77: The need and desire to connect is universal.

  • Rule #90: The great problems of today need the warriors of tomorrow, and their weapons will be their brains, their passion and their novel solutions.

  • Rule #2: Networking is a profession. Become a professional at it.

• Results, not retainers. David Oates advises new companies to seek performance-based agreements with public relations firms to ensure their money is spent on the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

• Dive in and swim like crazy. Funding expert Rohit Shukla contends that entrepreneurs who seek a big “pool” for their technology become stronger swimmers and their businesses stay afloat.

• Looking for a "dreamy" get-away? Gregory Patrick captures a share of the luxury vacation market by creating once in a lifetime experiences for clients.

• It's a "yes" and know situation. Neil describes how Robert Metcalf’s Ethernet rule of networks also applies to people.

• Out with the old…in with the new. Although innovation often necessitates painful change, the long-term "pros" outweigh the cons."

David Oates, CEO of Stalwart Communications possesses more than a decade of extensive experience managing marketing and public relations programs on a tactical and strategic level through a long and successful career that spans both agency and government environments. Most recently, Oates was Marketing Director for Financial Profiles, a 35-year old financial planning software company based in Carlsbad California. In that role, he supervised all marketing-related strategies and programs, including lead generation, partner/reseller, customer/sales support, brand enhancement, public relations, competitive analysis and market strategy/situation analysis programs.

Prior to Financial Profiles, Oates was the Strategy and Planning Manager for ContentOne, a public relations firm based in Carlsbad, California. In that role, he developed strategic marketing communications initiatives for all of the agency’s high-tech clients. Oates conducted market intelligence, analysis, benchmark surveys, perception studies and industry analyst relations while supervising the agency's execution of tactical PR programs in accordance with client business objectives and budget lines. Oates is an accredited public relations (APR) expert affiliated with the Public Relations Society of America. He received his MBA from the Executive Program at San Diego State University in 2004 and his bachelor's of arts from the University of Maryland in 1991.

Rohit K. Shukla is the chief executive officer of Larta Institute which is a professional services firm providing entrepreneur training, commercialization, and technology transfer services for governments, companies, and universities. In 1993, Shukla was involved in the creation of a well-known technology program in the State of California, which established the regional technology alliances (RTA’s), the California Technology Partnership (or CalTIP) and a federal-State partnership program to facilitate funding for both high-profile and grass roots projects. Shukla was selected to personally direct the Los Angeles chapter of the RTAs (Larta). The program operated successfully under state funding from 1994 through 2003 as the State’s principal agent on innovation in the state’s largest region. Under Shukla’s leadership, Larta has become recognized worldwide as a convener and facilitator, and as an active “incubator without walls.” Larta is the principal commercialization agent of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has assisted other federal agencies including, NIST-ATP and DARPA.

Shukla established and annual Venture Forum, focused on providing “guided entrepreneurship” assistance to companies seeking private investment capital. Reflecting the organization’s attention and focus on technology transfer to the marketplace from the rich ground of research in California, Shukla was the force behind the creation of Network T2, the largest consortium of universities and research institutions in the country, which serves as a conduit for collaborative projects, a training ground for spin-offs from universities, and a calling card to global industry and academic players.

Prior to founding Larta, Shukla served, from 1991-94, as director of aerospace and high technology business at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. He oversaw an ambitious program funded by the federal Economic Development Administration, the first federally-funded ‘defense adjustment’ program in the country. Shukla has worked in high technology industry since 1983, first as an entrepreneur and founder of his own small company providing database and communications solutions and devices, and later, from 1989-1991 as the executive director of The Presidents’ Roundtable, a mentor group of CEOs from defense and aerospace companies throughout the U.S., based in Los Angeles. That group included such leading figures as Peter Drucker, Bill Perry (who later became Secretary of Defense) and Mal Currie (then CEO of Hughes Aircraft Company, who later became co-chair of Project California)..

Shukla holds a Masters in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University and a Masters in Communications Arts from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He is a U.S. citizen and has been a resident of Los Angeles since 1979.

Gregory Patrick is the founder and CEO of Dreammaker International which plans experiences—not just a trip.

A client’s pre-set notions about destination mean nothing to Patrick. He wants to know who you are. What are your passions? What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to happen to your body? What do you want to have impact your mind? The destination is irrelevant. Patrick wants to know how to touch your soul.

Born in Las Vegas in 1963, Patrick was inspired early on by the showmanship of legendary entertainers like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. The family moved to England where he attended an elite boarding school and was assimilated into British culture in the old tradition. He was also exposed to other cultures during trips throughout Europe. He left school and started his first business at the age of 15. Too young to drive, Patrick’s father drove him from location to location to get contracts for his sales business. Eventually, Patrick set off on his own and landed in Houston.

Whether it’s designing the ultimate family reunion at an Irish castle for the CEO of Nasdaq, or giving the first Americans ever the privilege of a cultural exchange with the descendants of Shaka Zulu in South Africa, each experience is firmly imprinted with Patrick’s magic. Patrick’s “designs” have included dinners with prime ministers and European royalty, arranging an all night party with Sting and his band, coordinating a backstage meeting with Bono from U2 and even staging an actual robbery at gunpoint in front of Bloomingdale’s in New York. A particularly memorable project was a time travel fantasy to the year 1274 where clients were immersed in a simulation of life and the realities of the various socio-economic levels that existed during that time.