Ned Desmond ’76 Speaks at Inaugural Technology Industry Networking Event

A night that was three years in the making finally came together on Tuesday, April 19. Ned Desmond ’76 served as the keynote speaker at St. Sebastian’s inaugural Technology Industry Networking event after being postponed from its original date of March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic. This time around, alumni, current parents, and parents of alumni were all in attendance at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Boston. Mr. Desmond’s colorful career spans his years as a reporter in war torn locales, stints as bureau chief for Time magazine in India and Japan, leadership roles at multiple media outlets including eight years at technology industry must-read, TechCrunch, before arriving at his latest position as Senior Operating Partner at SOSV, a multi-stage, deep tech venture capital fund. Mr. Desmond’s commentary covered the state of the technology industry following the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. While tech startup valuations are experiencing a sharp decline, the depth of talent in the Silicon Valley will recover with an emphasis on different metrics: ARR, IP and profitability versus growth at any cost. Addressing topics including Deep Tech, ChatGPT, and the future direction of venture capital funding, Mr. Desmond covered a wide range of subjects and addressed numerous questions from the assembled audience. 

A special thanks to our host for the evening, Ted Dillon ’06, and our moderator and Chair of the Alumni Board’s Professional Networking Committee, Alex Cook ’91.

Based on the interest in the event, there is no shortage of tech industry expertise in the St. Sebastian’s community. We are all grateful for Mr. Desmond’s contributions to an exciting evening!