Friday Q&A: Novitas Capital and PACT’s Dean Miller, silobuster

When Technically Philly gave Dean Miller a ring yesterday, he admitted to spending the majority of the conversation staring out of the window.

“We have our summer celebration tonight, and I’m worried about this thunderstorm,” he says.

Miller, a partner at Novitas Capital, shouldn’t be worrying. For one, the event is inside. Two: Ealier this month Miller oversaw the merging of two of the regions high profile technology groups: Eastern Technology Council and Mid-Atlantic Capital Alliance. Both had the similar mission of helping foster technology entrepreneurship and investing.

“We knew that if you put them side by side you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart,” says Miller. As head of the MAC Alliance, Miller helped oversee the consolidation of the two groups into the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology, or PACT.

“We’re kind of a one stop shop and strategic hub now whether you are an investor or an entrepreneur,” he says.

We chatted with the local tech veteran about the roaring 90s, PACT’s new event strategy and Miller’s plans for world domination.

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VC Roundup: MAC and ETC merge, MindSnacks accepted into DreamIt

Welcome to the VC Round-up, where we’ll parse through venture capital news related to Philadelphia-based private equity firms and the companies they fund. Subscribe to the roundup as an email newsletter. If you have any VC-related news to pass along to us, please drop us a line.

DEFINITE READS
Peter Key reports that the Eastern Technology Council and MAC alliance are merging. Both organizations focus on connecting business owners with investors. Dean Miller, managing director at Novitas Capital will be the new organization’s CEO. The new organization will reveil its name June 3rd, during the MAC Alliance Awards Luncheon as reported in Key’s followup post.

Either someone is lying, or DreamIt Ventures has started to notify companies that have been accepted in the program’s Summer 2010 class. MindSnacks, a social game dev shop, claims it has been accepted to the University City-based incubator and has posted that it is looking for a “generalist developer” to possibly serve as a co-founder. A social media search by Technically Philly revealed no other companies coming forward.

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MAC Alliance CEO Thomas Balderston steps down

Thomas Balderston

According to Peter Key over at the Philadelphia Business Journal, Thomas M. Balderston has resigned his post as the Chief Executive of the Mid Atlantic Capital Alliance.

The MAC alliance is an affiliate of the city’s Chamber of Commerce that works to link up entrepreneurs and those with capital in our area. The group regularly hosts events for local business owners and investors.

Balderston made the move known at the group’s annual awards luncheon last Thursday, presumably making the move to focus on his own fund at King of Prussia-based Balderston Capital that he started in 2001.

The move is a big deal for the MAC Alliance, and is its first change in CEO since the group widened its coverage area. When Balderston took the helm of the then-named Greater Philadelphia Venture Group in 2006, he announced that he would be stretching the group’s reach from New York City (a.k.a. the 67th ward) to Washington D.C. Using his 20-plus years in the venture business he did just that, helping MAC Alliance expand to outside of city limits while continuing its march back to relevancy.

Balderston is still listed as CEO on MAC’s Web site. He also is still on the Board of Directors for Ben Franklin Technology Partners and is listed as a Principal investor in Rosemont Investment Partners.

Hat tip to the Phildelaphia Business Journal.