We would like to extend our thanks to Wharton Executive Education for their support in making possible this special lecture by Prof. Percival to WCNC members and also to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati for hosting us at their Palo Alto office.

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Wharton alumni often tell us was that they want to see more events with Wharton professors--"offer us events that only a Wharton-related organization can offer." You asked, and we're answering! Wharton Finance Professor John Percival is one of Wharton's star professors, and for the last 15+ years, Wharton has kept him busy with Wharton Executive Education and Wharton Executive MBA (WEMBA) classes. For alumni who don't personally know Prof. Percival, all you need to know is that (1) the topic he'll be discussing is relevant for any businessperson--especially finance people--in technology companies; and (2) he consistently gets rave reviews from his students, many of whom are C-suite executives. Reserve your seat now.
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Technology companies can be worlds apart from their counterparts in non-technology service sectors, financial services, and low-technology manufacturing when it comes to Corporate Finance. Join the Wharton Club of Northern California on Thursday, March 30th for an evening with Wharton Finance Prof. John Percival as he discusses these differences at both strategic and tactical levels.

Date: Thursday, March 30th
Time: 5:30-6:30pm. Reception with appetizers. 6:30-8:00pm. Presentation
Location: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
950 Page Mill Road, Terrace 2C/D, Palo Alto, California 94304-1050, 650-493-9300. Directions
Registration Fee: $20 each for current WCNC members and their accompanied guests. $40 each for non-member alumni and other guests. $20 each for current members of affiliate clubs/organizations. Additional $10 after Monday, March 27th if seats are still available.
Register online

Prof. Percival will give a special hour-and-a-half presentation and discuss in detail many of the reasons why Corporate Finance in technology companies is different, including:

- The growth that technology companies are financially capable of can be out of line with actual growth objectives, and senior management in these companies may not realize it. Resource allocation is a complex process which must incorporate risk analysis in a way that allows for growth but does not disregard risk.

- Equity markets value technology companies quite differently than companies from other sectors. Indeed, there have been disappointing returns to shareholders of "glamour" stocks compared to "value" stocks.

- Going public is a complex exercise in timing so that capital is available when needed but not at an excessively high cost.

- Cash management and dividend policy have been real challenges for technology companies which may generate large amounts of cash just as their growth rates slow down.

- Financing decisions must take into account the reluctance of lenders to take on risk since they do not commensurately share in the upside potential of technology businesses.

- The importance of growth, intellectual property, and brands is heightened.

Prof. John Percival
Dr. John Percival is currently CEO of JRP Associates and an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. John has been at Wharton since 1971. He has previously held the positions of Assistant Professor, and Associate Director and Associate Vice Dean of the MBA Program.

He has been very active in developing and teaching in executive education programs. At Wharton, he has been the Finance Area Coordinator for the Advanced Management Program and the Academic Director for the Creating Value Through Financial Management Program and the Co-Director for the Integrating Finance and Marketing Program. John developed the finance module for the Wharton Direct distance learning program. He is a past recipient of the Anvil Award for Teaching Excellence in the Wharton MBA program and the Core Teaching Award in the Wharton Executive MBA program.

He has consulted to organizations in both the public and private sectors, including the Federal Trade Commission, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, U. S. Department of Labor, AT&T, Ford, DuPont, Price Waterhouse and many others.

Articles or chapters that he has authored or co-authored have appeared in publications such as the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the Financial Times, and Wharton on Emerging Technologies among others. He is a member of the American Finance Association and the Financial Management Association. John received his BA, MBA, and PhD degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo.