The Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Fourth Annual EnterPrize Business Plan Competition for 2002-2003 will officially kick off at 5:30 on Thursday, Dec. 5 at Dowe’s on Ninth, 121 Ninth Street, in downtown Pittsburgh.  In addition to music from vocalist Jessica Lee and guitarist Tony Janflone, featured guests at the launch will include Lisa Kustra, CEO of Plan4Demand, Pittsburgh Logistics Systems CEO Gregg Troian, CoManage CEO Dave Nelsen, and Pittsburgh Technology Council CEO Steve Zylstra.  Registration deadline is Dec. 3.  Contact sdurham@pghtech.org for reservations.  A $15 registration fee will be charged.

Using a novel crossover format, hostess/singer/lawyer Jessica Lee and guitarist/composer Tony Janflone, have parlayed their considerable musical talents, as well as their business acumen, into a growing following among the city’s business and professional communities.  They have done it by artfully mingling cool jazz, candid interviews, and laid-back networking, with hot new businesses and innovative nonprofits at Dowe’s on Ninth, a downtown jazz club near the Ninth Street Bridge. 

Split personality

For Ms. Lee, a 30-something independent attorney specializing in business finance and investing with private, early-stage companies, the unusual fusion represents a link between two separate but equally important parts of her persona.  “My background is that I’ve been split down the middle like Carnegie-Mellon,” she said.  “I’ve always been a musician.  I started playing piano when I was five and singing in my early teens, and have done all kinds of music.” 

Originally from the Pittsburgh area, Ms. Lee spent eight years in North Carolina, where she earned her J.D. from Duke University Law School.  “I learned about jazz and blues when I was there and started to study jazz and composition and got away from my serious classical training,” she said.  “Then I learned about improvisation, and how truly open music can be, about how you can do your own thing and be a real entrepreneur in music.”

“On the business side, I became partner in a law firm, and then had a chance to do some interesting things – mixing the investment world with the legal world,” she said.  “I have all kinds of investment banking licenses as well as a law degree, and I had a really nice practice develop as well.  So I have really been glad to mix the two parts of my life into this community service event – to use the music to enhance entrepreneurial networking.  That’s what this event is about; it’s really just people coming together, and lessons learned from successful entrepreneurs and investment bankers and venture capitalists.  And it’s not just about the for-profit world; we’ve also had a lot of innovative nonprofits here talking about how you start up and build nonprofit entities.  It’s really anything that’s innovative and positive and emerging growth.” 

Casual format

November 21, the last Entrepreneurial Thursday before a Thanksgiving hiatus, was typical.  A little after six o’clock, Ms. Lee opened with her soulful rendition of what has now become the program’s down-on-your-luck theme song, “Why don’t you do right?”  An eclectic mix of jazz, soul, and original instrumental music followed in the opening set.  Then it was showtime.

Entrepreneur Mel Perchesky of Eagle Ventures strode onto the stage and took a seat, where he was joined by Ms. Lee.  In a free-form interview lasting less than 20 minutes, she skillfully coaxed from him a series of recollections, experiences, advice, and lessons learned ranging from his youth in the family’s Mon Valley junkyard through to the present day.  Then it was back for more music while the Club’s patrons – including investors, entrepreneurs, and support professionals – continued to mingle and network around the bar.

Improvization

Why jazz?  “Jazz, blues, soul, rhythm and blues are very innovative musical forms,” she replied.  “Popular artists want to be original and push the envelope and do things that people haven’t done in the same way before.  So it’s a very innovative type of music.  It’s not like you’re memorizing something and giving it back just as you memorized or heard it.  It’s really a form of communication. 

“Same thing with an entrepreneur: ‘I want to do something my own way that’s new, that’s fresh, that’s innovative, that serves a certain market.’  And we’ve seen a lot of crossover between the musicians and the entrepreneurs, and vice versa.  You’d be surprised how many entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial types are also musicians.  We’ve had some of them actually perform on the stage.  And a lot of musicians are doing all kinds of interesting things using IT.  So there are an amazing number of crossovers in the creativity and innovation that’s involved.” 

All that jazz

As to the musical program itself – for which there is typically no cover charge – the only constant is change.  “We keep it fresh, but we keep it in the jazz, soul, rhythm & blues genre,” Lee said.  “The main differentiating factor of each night is really what type of group is going to be our featured sponsor for the evening.  And if we’re able to find some artists in the audience, we like to feature them as well and pull them up on stage.  It’s just very laid back – not an overly planned event.  And intentionally so.  Laid back, casual.  People just come and network.”