The first panel of the day at the Silicon Valley Summit, moderated by Victor Boyajian, National Chair/Venture Technology Group, Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal LLP, dealt with M&A, IPOs and Venture Capital exits in the high-tech world. When asked about trends in the technology sector, panelist Cole Bader from Thomas Weisel Partners talked about a migration away from the IPO to mergers and acquisitions. He noted that exits are following close to an 80/20 ratio, where as they used to be 50/50 M&A to IPO.

Vishal Bhagwati, vice president of corporate development at Oracle, countered by saying that the rebounding IPO market has actually raised the premium acquirers are paying in the technology sector, but there is a silver lining, because companies who are filing for an IPO are forced to be much more transparent. The panel was in agreement that companies are following a dual track to exit, pursuing both an IPO and acquisition at the same time. Glenn Solomon, managing director, Granite Global Ventures, said the IPO is still the preferred exit for a VC, but the hurdles are higher. A word of caution from Bader regarding dual tracking, "Assume the merger or acquisition isn't going to happen, the IPO is going to happen. You have to be ready to go through with the IPO."

Boyajian concluded the panel by asking the panelists for words of wisdom for any entrepreneurs in the crowd. Bader responded, "Find a niche and exploit it." Solomon's response, "Don't always choose profitability over growth in the early stages." And Bhagwati ended by saying the entrepreneur needs to start building relationships now with what could become acquirers or partners in the future. — Brian Ward

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