The Northrop Grumman Entrepreneurship Course for Scientists and Engineers

Entrepreneurship Course, Session XI

Featuring William J. Link, Ph.D.
Managing Director
Versant Ventures

Location: McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium
Free and open to the public

The Northrop Grumman Entrepreneurship Course for Scientists and Engineers provides a real-world introduction to the theory and practice of entrepreneurship.  Through a series of presentations by prestigious entrepreneurs and industry leaders, participants will explore the various organizational, strategic and financial challenges facing successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs.  Topics include start-up strategies, business idea evaluation, business plan writing, and introduction to venture capital.

About the Speaker:
William J. Link, Ph.D., is the managing director of Versant Ventures, a healthcare venture capital investment firm with over $650 million in committed capital.  Link has a proven record of building and operating large, successful medical product companies. With extensive knowledge of medical devices and drug delivery, particularly in ophthalmology, his operating experience spans more than 23 years in general management in the healthcare industry.

Perhaps his greatest operational success was as founder, chairman and CEO of Chiron Vision, a subsidiary of Chiron Corporation specializing in ophthalmic surgical products, which was later sold to Bausch and Lomb in late 1997 for $310 million. Prior to Chiron Vision, Link founded and served as president of American Medical Optics, a division of American Hospital Supply Corporation sold to Allergan in 1986 for $165 million.

Before entering the healthcare industry, Link was an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Prior to co-founding Versant Ventures, Link was a general partner at Brentwood Venture Capital, where he invested in a number of early-stage companies, including Eyeonics, FeRx, Genyx, IntraLase, IntraTherapeutics, OraMetrix and Refractec. His Versant investments include AcuFocus, Cameron Health and Glaukos, Inogen, NeoVista and Second Sight.

Link earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. In February 2002, Link was named Engineer of the Year by the Orange County Engineering Council.