Investor Bios for our Early-Stage Venture & Angel Workshop, Thurs. July 29, 2004 in DC Area

Investors at a FundingPost Venture Event

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Here are the Investor speakers from our Sold-Out Early-Stage Venture & Angel Workshop, sponsored by Duane Morris, Grant Thornton. This event was in DC Area on Thurs. July 29, 2004.

Tony Ricciardella, Partner, Grant Thornton

Tony is newly promoted Assurance Partner in Grant Thornton’s Technology Industry Practice. He is located in the Vienna, Virginia office and services clients throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area. Tony has over twelve years experience in public accounting and two years experience as assistant director of finance for a $50 million professional services firm. He has extensive experience in audits of both public and privately held commercial clients, including numerous audits of technology companies.

Tony is an active provider of value-added assurance and business advisory services, primarily to information technology, professional and technical service, commercial, and government contracting firms. In this regard, Tony has assisted his clients with merger and acquisition due diligence, finance, public registrations, and general business advice. As Assurance Partner, he is responsible for coordinating all assurance services delivered to his clients, providing technical advice on complex accounting issues and reviewing public filings.

Tony is an active member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, and Tech Council of Maryland and serves as an advisor to the Reston Chamber of Commerce Incubator Program. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and earned a BS in Business Administration/Accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Roger Widing, Managing Director, SpaceVest

Roger Widing has been a Managing Director of SpaceVest since 1993. Prior to joining SpaceVest, Mr. Widing was Vice President and General Manager of Jarl Extrusions Inc. , a privately-held manufacturer of metal goods. Additionally, Mr. Widing was a member of the Board of Directors of Jarl Extrusions Inc. Earlier in his career, Mr. Widing practiced corporate law, focusing on antitrust, environmental and communications matters, as an attorney with Kirkland and Ellis in Washington, D.C. Mr. Widing received his B.A. in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, from St. John Fisher College and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. In addition to graduating Cum Laude, Mr. Widing was Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.

John May, Manager, Active Angel Investors & The Dinner Clubs

(Angel Investor Focus) John May is the managing partner of New Vantage Group, a Vienna, VA firm that innovatively mobilizes private equity into early-stage companies and provides advisory services to both funds and private investors. Mr. May’s experience in private equity capital over the last 15 years ranges from venture capital fund management to angel investing.

Mr. May is a venture capitalist and has been an advisor to six venture funds. Currently he is Managing General Partner of Calvert Social Venture Partners, LP, a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm specializing in providing early-stage capital and assistance to emerging growth companies. Mr. May is also an advisor to and a member of the Investment Committee of the Women’s Growth Capital Fund, LP, a Washington, DC-based $30 million fund, and is the fund advisor to Next Generation Partners, L.P., a $10 million Fairfax, VA, information technology venture fund. New Vantage Group is the mid-Atlantic advisor to Solstice Capital, which manages $85 million in two venture funds headquartered in Boston, MA. He is an investment committee member of Verde Ventures, a social venture fund of Conservation International.

Mr. May has been at the forefront of the angel investor movement. In 1991, he co-founded the Investors’ Circle, a national non-profit group of 125 family and institutional investors working to grow the social venture capital industry. Additionally in 1996, he co-founded and became executive director of the Private Investors Network, an angel network sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, which he led until 2002. John is vice-chairman of the newly formed Angel Capital Alliance, a program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which is an outgrowth of the Angel Organizational Summits, which John co-founded. Mr. May co-founded The Dinner Club, an investment group of 60 regional angels who collectively invest in regional early stage ventures. A larger private investor pool, the eMedia Club with 75 members, followed it. In 2000, the Washington Dinner Club with 75 members was started. In 2003, Active Angel Investors, a “pledge” fund was created. New Vantage Group administers all of these groups.

Rusty Griffith, Walker Ventures & Maryland Angels Council

In his role of Principal at Walker Ventures and Maryland Angels Council, Rusty plays a key role in the search for, and evaluation of, suitable portfolio investments. He is also responsible for analyzing, evaluating and forecasting the performance of the Walker funds, negotiating the structure and terms for investment deals, performing financial and operational due diligence reviewing and analyzing of economic trends and quarterly reporting of the funds. Additionally, our portfolio companies benefit from Rusty's experience as he assists them in developing advanced integrated business models and operating plans that incorporate business goals and strategies.Rusty is a member of the Board of Directors of several portfolio companies.

Rusty brings more than 15 years of business management, finance, and accounting experience in the high tech industry. His four years as an IT consultant have provided him with invaluable insight into some of the unique operational, accounting, and financial challenges that may be experienced by our client companies. Rusty has held senior level finance and accounting positions with technology companies including Siemens-Nixdorf, Trusted Information Systems, Network Associates and Lockheed Martin IMS.

Rusty holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Loyola College in Baltimore. He is also a licensed CPA in Maryland, a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), Mid Atlantic Venture Association's YAVA, and AICPA. Additionally, Rusty is helping to cultivate successful entrepreneurs at The Idea Lab located at University of Maryland Baltimore Campus.

Roland Oliver, President & Chairman, Monumental Venture Partners

In early 1999, Mr. Oliver launched and organized Monumental Venture Partners, LLC, the general partner to MVP America, LP. Mr. Oliver successfully recruited the founders including MCI’s New Ventures team, raised capital for the general partnership from selected investors, and formed the MVP America, LP Advisory Board. Mr. Oliver has extensive experience fund raising, joint ventures, technology transfer, acquisitions, investment assessments, and international expansion in the wireless telecommunications and information technology industries. From 1993 through 1998, Mr. Oliver was the Group Vice President of Corporate and Business Development for Grayson and Comsearch Wireless, divisions of Allen Telecom International (in 2003 merged with Andrew Corporation), a NYSE firm with revenues over $400 million. During his tenure, Mr. Oliver identified and recruited the management for a new venture that grew from a $1 million investment to the current Geometrix Division with over $100 million in revenues in under 4 years. Mr. Oliver also developed Allen Telecom’s $1 million investment in Encompass that grew to $20 million in revenue. Mr. Oliver developed broad contacts with AT&T, AirTouch, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Ericsson, HP, Lucent, MCI, Nortel, Sprint and Qualcomm. Earlier at Comsearch, Mr. Oliver held division level P&L responsibility and directed the design and test labs. Mr. Oliver has held management positions with Storage Technology, Cable & Wireless, and Centel prior to the merger with Sprint.

Mr. Oliver has studied advanced business and technology at Oxford University and the University of Kansas Business School. After his education in psychology at Lynchburg College, Mr. Oliver continued studies in business at the University of Virginia. Mr. Oliver also has lectured at George Mason University on Strategic Planning for Emerging Companies.

Mr. Oliver serves on the board of two of MVP America, LP’s portfolio companies: Digital Sandbox, Inc., and SonoMedica, Inc. and is on the Advisory Board of Abraxas Corporation and Chairman of the Advisory Board of JB Cubed, Inc. In addition, Mr. Oliver served on the board of Telverse Communications, Inc. through its successful acquisition by Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Jonathan Joseph, In-Q-Tel (CIA & Intelligence Community)

Similar to many corporate strategic venture firms, In-Q-Tel seeks to optimize potential returns for our clients—the CIA and the broader Intelligence Community—by investing in companies of strategic interest. In-Q-Tel engages start-ups, emerging and established companies, universities and research labs. We structure attractive win-win relationships through equity investments, as well strategic product development funding, and innovative intellectual property arrangements and government business development guidance.

Moderator: Daniel Weitzel, Partner, Duane Morris

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