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Pitching Across America 6th Annual Competition Opening July 1!! |
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| Meet the Judges! These are the VCs and Angel Investors who will be reading and evaluating your company's profile. | *Click on the Logos Below for Fund Descripitons | |
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Greg Dracon, Principal, .406 Ventures Greg brings 14 years of venture investing and technology company operating and management experience to .406 Ventures. Prior to joining .406, Greg was a Vice President of Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early stage venture and small to mid-sized growth technology companies. At Core, Greg focused on software, digital media, technology-enabled services and wireless opportunities and led the investment process for five of the seven investments made during his tenure. From 1995 to 2005, Greg held various operating roles at Texas Instruments, including positions in technical and field sales management and business development. He has investing and industry expertise in wireless technologies; internet and digital media; telecommunications; technology-enabled services and enterprise software. Greg received his MBA, with majors in Entrepreneurial Management and Finance, from Wharton and his BS in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. |  |
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Andrew S. Whitman, Managing Partner, 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners Andy Whitman is a successful consumer products executive and investor who melds the experience of a Fortune 100 executive with the passion and resourcefulness of an entrepreneur. After a successful career with General Foods and Kraft Foods and recognizing that nurturing smaller businesses to achieve rapid growth was his passion, he founded 2x Management in 2001 to invest in and operate small- and mid-sized consumer products companies including Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard all-natural pet foods and Eagle snacks. Whitman contributed to tripling revenue at Wellness/Old Mother Hubbard and growing EBITDA significantly ahead of revenue growth rate despite aggressive growth investments. Importantly, he partnered with management to leverage his expertise, contacts and connections to build Wellness into a powerhouse brand in the natural products industry – now ranking in the top 2% in sales among all natural products industry brands and among the fastest growing of any leading brand. Whitman began his career managing icons like Kool-Aid and Tang. After years of delivering results on big brands, he jumped at the opportunity to run small, autonomous businesses within Kraft in a shirtsleeves environment. With unusually broad operating experience that included dedicated plants and/or sales forces but only a fraction of usual resources per dollar of revenue, he quickly proved his strengths as a collaborative, hands-on business builder. Taking charge of brands as small as $10 million that Kraft had been unable to grow or run profitably, Whitman’s entrepreneurial leadership produced outstanding results. For example, he grew a ready-to-drink beverage brand from a money-loser that the corporation wanted to divest into the foundation of today’s highly profitable $1 billion business. Whitman’s track record as an operator is equally enviable whether managing businesses small or large. Brands under his direction have grown exponentially on volume, revenue, and/or earnings fronts: Country Time and Tang powdered soft drinks, Taco Bell Home Originals Mexican foods, Mr. Freeze freezer bars, Philadelphia snack bars and DiGiorno pastas and sauces. Whitman’s ability to grow businesses comes from his proven general management experience built upon a diverse breadth of prior functional assignments, including marketing, sales, operations planning and corporate development. Whitman serves as a member of the board of directors of gDiapers and sits on the advisory board of Reserve Brands LLC (Eagle snacks) and The Nibble. He currently or previously assisted pro bono by serving as a board member for the Jewish United Federation Foods & Hospitality Trade Sector, Marketing Executives Network Group (MENG), Venture Board of the Women’s Self-Employment Project and White Plains Child Day Care Association, a Head Start agency. Whitman received a B.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is an outdoor adventure traveler, an aggressive skier, an avid college basketball fan, a Culinary Institute of America-trained cooking enthusiast, and a devoted Parrothead – as a result of traveling early in his career with singer Jimmy Buffett while leading the national introduction meetings for Corona Light, now the #1 imported light beer. |  |
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Donald Sussis, , Angel Investor Don Sussis has many years of experience as an entrepreneur, business executive, investor and investment professional. For many years he ran an investment firm for high net worth individuals that invested in public and private companies. Previously, he was retained by small and large cap companies as well as many pre-IPO companies to advise them on improving their communications and negotiating financial contracts. Mr. Sussis served 2 full terms as VP of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. He has also been a board member of several national charities and an executive of several professional organizations. He holds an M.A. in Communications from the U. of Wisconsin, Madison (1972) and an M. P.S. in Interactive Tele-communications from N.Y.U. (1995). He was on the full time faculty of The City University of New York/Hunter College-Park Ave. for seven years. For a dozen years he was President and Principal of a high end designer fashion manufacturing company with wholesale and retail components that enjoyed national distribution. For several years he was a contributing columnist to the WSJ and was the first eCommerce Columnist for Internet.com. Currently, Don is head of Business Development & Communications for a +$Billion Hedge Fund in Stamford, Ct. Mr. Sussis was a founding member of the New York New Media Angles Group and has invested, been a board member and an advisor to many start-ups. |  |
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John Ason, , Angel Investor John Ason has been an angel investor for over 12 years specializing in early stage pre-revenue companies. He has made over twenty eclectic investments in the areas of e-commerce, technology, advertising and entertainment. John was at AT&T Bell Labs for over 25 years, first involved in software and technology development, then in marketing and business management of large telecommunications projects overseas. He is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a guest lecturer at the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson and at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. John's hobbies include traveling, golf, GO (oriental game) and mentoring companies. For about half if his investments, John has been the lead angel devoting a significant amount of his time to mentoring the companies. A typical company consists of one or two people in a garage or kitchen with minimal or no revenues. Average investment from the angel network for the first round is $275K. Any low capital industry with high growth potential qualifies with the exception of medical and biotech. | |
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Annette Finsterbusch, Director, Applied Ventures, LLC Annette Finsterbusch is a director for Applied Ventures in the Corporate Business Development group of Applied Materials since 2004, responsible for identifying, recommending and managing venture capital investments. She is also a Kauffman Fellow. Prior to joining Applied Materials, Ms. Finsterbusch was the CEO at MindShadow.com, a technology spin-out of DaimlerChrysler's Research and Technology Center. Prior to that position, Ms. Finsterbusch was an investment manager for DaimlerChrysler Venture Capital since 2001, responsible for enterprise software investments. Ms. Finsterbusch also had previously worked for Applied Materials, leading its business development efforts in Russia, Belarus and Armenia from 1996 through 2000, chartering the company's first office in Moscow. Ms. Finsterbusch's philanthropic directorships include seats on both the Board of Directors for the Junior League of San Jose and the Exception Women Executives of San Jose State University. Ms. Finsterbusch received a Bachelor of Science in economics and geology from the University of Houston and a Master's in Business Administration in Strategy and Finance from San Jose State University, where she was honored with the Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award in 2004. |  |
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Sebby Kannukkaden, Associate, Arcapita Ventures Sebby joined Arcapita Ventures in 2008 with over four years of experience in management consulting and equity sales and trading. Prior to joining Arcapita, Sebby was an Associate with A.T. Kearney where he advised clients on strategic and operational issues across various industries including consumer products, defense, financial, automotive, and pharmaceutical. His functional experience includes acquisition due diligence, product launch and profitability analysis, organizational redesign, supply chain implementation, and BPO strategy. Prior to A.T. Kearney, Sebby was with UBS Investment Bank in the Sales and Trading program where he spent time on derivatives, proprietary, and international trading desks. Sebby holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with Distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and is a scholar and graduate of the Tauber Institute for Global Operations. |  |
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Chris Leong, Principal, Argentum Private Equity Capital Chris Leong rejoined The Argentum Group as a Principal after completing several years of management roles at growth stage ventures. Chris has over 11 years of operational (business development, sales, marketing) and venture capital / private equity experience. His areas of expertise include new deal origination, new investments, and corporate development (mergers & acquisitions) / business development / marketing for Argentum’s portfolio companies. Prior to returning to Argentum in 2008, Chris spent over 5 years with Sirit Inc., a leading developer and supplier of Near Field Communications (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. At Sirit, Chris was a key member of the executive team, where he held several senior management positions including VP NFC and Contactless, VP Corporate and Business Development, and VP Sales RF Solutions, and successfully grew revenues for numerous Sirit business divisions. In addition, Chris established Sirit’s Near Field Communications (NFC) division and was responsible for sourcing and securing several significant customers and partnerships across North America, Asia, and Europe, including NXP, Microsoft, BenQ / Qisda, Kyocera, and Intel. Chris has also held corporate strategy and marketing positions at HorizonLive (now Wimba), a leading supplier of collaborative learning software applications and services to the education industry. Previously, Chris was a Senior Associate with The Argentum Group and an analyst with the Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners private equity fund. Chris is a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. |  | |
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Mike Stowell, Partner, Arris Ventures Mr. Stowell brings 14 years of consulting, entrepreneurial, and technology experience to Arris Ventures. As a senior manager with Accenture, he assisted clients in a variety of areas including business process design and business strategies for marketing, eCommerce, and the launching of new businesses. As program manager of Accenture's eProcess initiative, Mr. Stowell developed and globally deployed eCommerce knowledge capital to over 30,000 of Accenture's professionals, as well as its clients. Prior to his work at Accenture, he served as a regional sales manager and technical consultant for Arizona-based, start-up software company, Sequentia. Mr. Stowell's early career included several engineering positions with Honeywell. He holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. |  |
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Bennett Dubin, Partner, Asset Management Company Ben Dubin joined Asset Management as a partner in 1998 and heads the venture capital team. Prior to this, Ben was the senior manager for Enterprise Java at Sun Microsystems’ JavaSoft. His responsibilities included the introduction, management,and marketing of the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) component technology as well as some other essential Java interfaces such as JNDI, JMS, RMI and JDBC technologies. |  |
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George Petracek, Partner, Atrium Capital George joined Atrium in 2000. Previously, he was a Corporate Business Development Manager at Hewlett-Packard, where he focused on M&A and venture investments across various HP businesses. Prior to joining HP, George was a Vice President of Corporate Finance at Union Bank of Switzerland, working with telecommunications, industrial, utilities and financial institutions clients. Prior to that, George was an Associate with Morgan Stanley in its M&A execution group. He began his professional career as a computer programmer for 3M. George received his MBA from Stanford University and his MS degree in Cybernetics from CVUT Institute of Technology. |  |
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Dr. Harry Ross, , Aweida Venture Partners Dr. Ross received his medical degree from Oregon Health Sciences University. He went on to receive post graduate training in Surgery and Emergency Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center, with National Board Certification in Emergency Medicine. He joined Aweida Venture Partners in 2000, where he specializes in Health Sciences. Dr. Ross has held both operational and directorial roles in portfolio companies as well as advisory roles in academic institutions. |  |
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Dan Aweida, , Aweida Ventures Dan joined the firm in 1991 to work closely with the portfolio investment companies in the telecom, data storage, and IT industries while also managing the stock portfolio of AVP. Today, his primary focus is in data storage, clean technologies, and ecommerce related businesses. He works with portfolio companies and assists them with strategic guidance, financial analysis and helps them to avoid navigational potholes without micromanaging their efforts. He serves on the board of Channel Intelligence, Privacy Networks, eStarcom, TerraXML, Atrato, and Storage Genetics. Dan is also the President of Aweida Properties, Inc., which develops commercial land and operates multple commercial buildings which house approximately 130,000 sq.ft. in Boulder County. Dan earned a B.S. in Business from the University of Northern Colorado and has an M.B.A. in Finance from Regis University. He was a founding member of the Regis Forum Technology Task Force, a group created to guide the technology curriculum at Regis. He also serves on the board of the Boulder Valley YMCA. | |
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Murat Bicer, Senior Associate , Battery Ventures Murat joined Battery in 2007 as a Senior Associate focusing on investments in communications infrastructure and enabling technologies. Prior to joining Battery, Murat worked at Mercury Computer Systems where he was responsible for growing Mercury's share in the communications market by managing the development of innovative communications systems and infrastructure solutions. Murat also worked in the financial services group, where he helped investment banks improve the performance of program trading and derivatives pricing applications. Previously, he worked as a software engineer at Intra Information Technologies, a startup company that developed GSM-based mobile transaction devices for financial institutions. Murat currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Software Defined Radio Forum, an international telecom trade association. He holds an M.B.A, summa cum laude, from the Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and an M.S.E.E from Northeastern University. |  |
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Terrence Hicks, Vice President, Investment Group, Ben Franklin Technology Partners Terrence H. Hicks is Vice-President, Investment Group at the Ben Franklin Technology PArtners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP). The Ben Franklin Technology PArtners is a State of Pennsylvania supported economic development corporation that supports the development of technology-based enterprises through a variety of investment programs and technology services. Mr. Hicks is responsible for all of the organization’s investment activities. BFTP/SEP has a portfolio of over 130 early and emerging stage technology companies; one of the largest such portfolios in the country. Mr. Hicks came to the Ben Franklin Technology PArtners in November, 1993 after twenty years of experience in small business lending and corporate treasury activities with Fidelity Bank (currently Wachovia) and Sun Company respectively. Mr. Hicks previously served as Vice President of Sun Company's Specialized Small Business Investment Company, Alliance Enterprise Corporation. He also served in numerous financial management positions at Sun, including manager of internal treasury operations and manager of special projects. |  |
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Michael Majors, Venture Partner, BEV Capital Prior to joining BEV in 2000, Mike worked as a Project Leader for the Boston Consulting Group. He also previously served as VP of Product Development for Cognective, an early-stage company focused on developing website navigation technology. Mike received his BSE from Princeton University and his PhD in Engineering from Cambridge University. |  |
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James Marra, Principal, Dir. Bus. Development, Blue Point Capital Partners Jim joined the group in 1991. Before joining the group, Jim held various positions with Citicorp in the Leveraged Capital, Investment Banking and Venture Capital Groups. Jim earned a B.S. in psychology from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. |  |
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Joan McCabe, Managing Partner, Brynwood Partners Ms. McCabe joined the Brynwood III Advisory Committee in 1997 and upon the formation of Brynwood IV joined the Firm full-time as a Managing Partner. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. McCabe managed her own mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. Previously, she spent 15 years as an investment banker at Kidder, Peabody & Co., Drexel Burnham Lambert Group Inc. and Paine Webber Group Inc. Ms. McCabe holds a B.A. in History from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. |  |
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Deepak Kamra, General Partner, Canaan Partners Deepak Kamra has a knack for identifying innovative companies that disrupt the status quo to become leaders in their fields. After an 11-year career growing technology startups into successful global leaders, Deepak joined Canaan in 1991 and is focused on investments in digital media, specifically as it relates to the seismic shift taking place in online advertising. Deepak led Canaan’s early investment in DoubleClick, the Internet’s first and leading online advertising solution; Match.com, the most popular dating site worldwide; and BharatMatrimony, the world’s number-one online matrimony site. He also invested in voice-over-IP infrastructure company Acme Packet, which became one of the top-ten performing IPOs of 2006, and his recent IPO, SuccessFactors, is the leading company in human performance and talent management. Deepak is interested in funding innovative companies in what he calls “B2B 2.0”, or enterprise applications and managed services that leverage talent from India and the US to improve business-to-business relationships, as well as companies providing software-as-a-service and open source software. He currently sits on the boards of technology-driven global companies such as On24, the leader in webcasting; and Zmanda, a leader in open source backup software. He also directed Canaan’s investments in AllBusiness.com, Concord Communications, ImpulseBuy Network, iPrint.com, Latitude Communications, PriorityCall Management, Recourse Technologies, SalesLogix and Zoosk. Recognizing early the global nature of venture capital, Deepak initiated Canaan’s investments in the India market starting in 2001. Before joining Canaan, Deepak gained 11 years of executive operating experience at growth companies in the telecommunications, computer and software industries. He was a key member of the startup team at Aspect Communications, helping lead the pioneer in call center technologies to a successful IPO in 1990, and has also held leadership roles at telecommunications companies like ROLM Corp. and TRW Datacomm International. Deepak received a BA from Carleton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In his spare time, he is involved in several microfinance initiatives to spur economic growth in developing nations and currently serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee at Deutsche Bank’s Global Microfinance Consortium. He was recently included on the Forbes Midas List, a prominent list ranking the best dealmakers in technology and is also on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association. |  |
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Teddy Tsai, Head of Research, CLSA Capital Partners - Pacific Transport Teddy Tsai is a senior research manager with eight years experience. Prior to joining CLSA Pacific Transport, Teddy led the regional research in Asian shipping companies for Merrill Lynch and was part of the ranked transportation research team for more than four years. Teddy's coverage spanned multiple shipping sub-sectors on listed companies in Asia Pacific markets. He was ranked 5-star on Starmine Corp's recommendation rating in 2006 and ranked highly in the AlphaStars competition in 2007. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Teddy worked at Morgan Stanley and in pre-IPO companies for three years. Teddy holds a dual BA degree from University of California, San Diego in Political Science/ International Relations and Economics. |  |
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David Arscott, Managing Director, Compass Technology Partners David has spent his entire professional career investing in private and public technology companies. In 1968, he joined the group which became Citicorp Venture Capital Limited (“CVC”) in New York. He established CVC's West Coast Office in 1973 which served as the focus of CVC's investing activities in the western United States for over 15 years. In 1978, he left to co-found Arscott, Norton & Associates (“ANA”), which formed three venture capital funds whose $75 million in capital funded 36 high-technology companies, including Iomega, Lam Research and Dallas Semiconductor. In 1988, David formed Compass Management Partners (“CMP”), which in turn organized Compass Technology Partners and Compass Technology Group. David’s formative premise for Compass is that information garnered in the venture capital investment process has direct applicability in the selection of high-potential publicly-traded investments. |  | |
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Matthew Smith, Managing Director, Investments, Connecticut Innovations Matthew B. Smith is Managing Director, Investments at Connecticut Innovations, Inc., a venture capital firm, and serves on the Board of Directors of several CI portfolio firms. Mr. Smith has a multifaceted range of healthcare experiences marked by leading edge business developments. His experiences include co-authoring the first federally funded HMO feasibility study and healthcare ventures with GTE New Ventures Corporation as well as other major medical firms, such as Technicon Corporation, American Hospital Supply Corporation and National Patent Development Corporation., where he rose to be the president of the Acme-Chaston subsidiary. Mr. Smith co-founded CompreMedx Cancer Centers Corporation (the first publicly traded firm to build freestanding cancer centers in partnership with oncologists and radiologists), co-owned Kramex Corporation (a privately owned portable and mobile radiology manufacturing and distribution firm), co-owned privately-held New World Healthcare Solutions, Inc. an executive recruiting and online medical education company for the healthcare industry and assisted in the turn around and sale of Medical Sterilization, Inc. (a publicly traded surgical instrumentation firm). In addition, he co-founded Health Excel Management, Inc. (a managed care firm specializing in disease state management) and turned around and sold venture backed HelpMate Robotics, Inc. (a publicly traded medical transport firm). He has served on the Board of Directors for Baseline Medical, Inc. and Campus Connects, Inc., and was Managing Director of Negin-Smith Partnership, a private real estate venture. Mr. Smith has served on the Board of Directors of selected non-profit organizations such as the Connecticut Venture Group (CVG), the Hamden (CT) Chamber of Commerce and the Long Ridge Club, Inc. Mr. Smith has been on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Quinnipiac University School of Business and served as the first Executive Director of the Q.U. Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Institute. He holds a BA in Psychology (1970) and an MBA with academic honors (1972) from Boston University. |  |
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Maneesh Sagar, Managing Director, Investments, Connecticut Innovations Maneesh is a Director of investments at Connecticut Innovations and is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, investing in and managing portfolio companies, primarily in the information technology sector. Connecticut Innovations was an investor in a Shelton-based software company that Maneesh co-founded and was instrumental in growing, NeuVis (acquired by IBM Rational). He has over fifteen years of hands-on operational experience with technology start-ups including DataEase (acquired by Symantec) and Vendavo. Maneesh has worked with Fortune 500 companies as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. He has held positions in corporate and business development, enterprise sales, product marketing and executive management. Maneesh graduated magna cum laude from Ohio Wesleyan University with a BA in economics management and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is actively involved with, and is a speaker for, events hosted by the Connecticut Venture Group (CVG), The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) TriState, Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES), Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and Columbia Business School. | |
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Grant Allen, Investment Professional, Core Capital Partners Grant Allen joined Core Capital in 2007 with nearly six years of strategy consulting and telecommunications industry experience. Most recently, Grant was at Liberty Associated Partners, where he worked with the CEO of Jingle Networks’ 1-800-FREE-411, and Microsoft Corporation, where he was a Product Manager in the Mobile & Embedded Devices division and developed field-level compete strategy for Windows Mobile. Previously, Grant was a consultant at Dean & Company, where he focused on transitioning telecom infrastructure providers to new growth sectors such as mobile media and location-based services, as well as cost reduction strategy for wireline carriers. He began his career working with a number of young companies, including Bates White, an economics consulting firm; Nextera Interactive, a Internet incubator and IT consulting firm; and A-k Presence, a web design and e-commerce services firm he founded. He remains actively involved with a number of non-profit organizations including Washington, DC-based FareShare and the Ocular Melanoma Foundation, which he also founded. Grant received his B.S.E. in Civil Engineering cum laude from Duke University and an M.B.A. with an individualized major in Private Equity and Venture Capital from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania. There, he was an Executive Director of the Wharton Graduate Association, a Leadership Fellow, and sat on the board of the Wharton Alumni Association. |  |
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Carter Caldwell, Principal, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners Carter Caldwell is a Principal at Cross Atlantic who is involved in investment due diligence, deal sourcing, as well as other Cross Atlantic operational efforts. Prior to joining Cross Atlantic, Carter founded and served as COO of Quazant Technology, Inc, the developer of the Transaction Accelerator, a high-speed transaction processing database. Prior to Quazant, Carter helped start Acorn Systems, Inc. and was integral in taking that company from pre-revenue to profitability. At Acorn, he served in the capacities of Director of Corporate Development, Product Manager and Engagement Manger. His experience is derived from positions at Acorn Systems, J.P. Morgan, Bear Stearns, and Business Philadelphia Magazine. While at Acorn Systems, and working with distributors in the Semiconductor, Electronics, Fluid Mechanics, Chemical, Food Service, and Steel industries, Carter succeeded in returning numerous businesses to profitability using a variety of methods, including activity-based costing. JP Morgan recognized Carter for creating a novel software analysis tool for all equities under their coverage. This tool, which utilized data such as equities' respective median volatilities and average daily volumes, enabled JP Morgan's institutional traders to make more informed trading decisions. Ultimately, this tool was used to alter the mix of equities that JP Morgan held in its Institutional Portfolio. |  |
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Paul Longhenry, Investor, D. E. Shaw Ventures Paul Longhenry is an investor with D. E. Shaw Ventures, primarily focusing on opportunities in the wireless technology and mobile communications markets. Prior to D. E. Shaw, Paul was an Investment Director with 3i Venture Capital, where he similarly invested in wireless businesses - including Mobile365 (acquired by Sybase), Bitfone (acquired by HP), Sonim Technologies and Kineto Wireless. Paul also spent several years as an executive with Sonim Technologies, where he was responsible for business development and operations and helped to drive the company’s product strategy and international partnership efforts across the wireless ecosystem. Earlier, Paul worked on late stage private equity investments for The Yucaipa Companies and began his career in M&A investment banking with Bear Stearns. Paul holds a BS in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Southern California. |  |
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Elizabeth Sigety, Assistant Director and Co-Founder, Delaware Crossing Investor Group Liz focuses her practice on business, finance and securities transactions, including private placements, public offerings, secured transactions, mergers and acquisitions, franchising and a wide variety of general corporate work. She also acts as a general counsel for numerous clients, including franchisees and start-up businesses. Liz co-chairs the firm’s Franchising Group and is also a member of the Securities Group and Technology & Venture Finance Group. Liz is a member of the American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, American College of Investment Counsel, the Bar Association of the City of New York, and the Women in Business Committee of the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce. Liz serves as a Board Member of Doylestown Hospital, Doylestown, PA; Board Member of The Village Improvement Association of Doylestown, PA; and a member of the Development Committee and Chair of the Annual Fund of the Buckingham Friends School, Lahaska, PA. Liz is the Assistant Director and Co-Founder of Delaware Crossing Investor Group, an angel investors network headquartered in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. |  |
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Julie Gerstenberger, Director External Alliances, Eastman Kodak Company Julie pursues technologies related to digital imaging systems and services, including applications/devices, infrastructure and enabling technologies for consumer markets. Particular areas of interest include online and mobile services, distributed content management and informatics. Julie's background is in the development and commercialization of digital imaging systems for a wide range of applications and markets, including project management, strategic planning and leadership roles. Julie has an MS in Optics and a BS in Electrical Engineering. |  |
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Harry Edelson, General Partner, Edelson Technology Partners Harry Edelson envisioned venture capital as more than just a quest for high financial returns. Venture capital would help multinational corporations establish and attain their overall objectives. He formed a venture capital partnership which was entirely unique. Only a few corporate partners would be admitted so that they all could be well served. The corporations would be in different businesses so they could work cooperatively and even assist each other. Corporate rather than pension money would be invested so that the General Partner could help the Limited Partners without violating ERISA rules which require investments to be made solely for maximum financial returns. Investments would be made worldwide because of the diverse geographic interests of the Limited Partners and because technological innovation is not limited to the United States. Five funds, 17 years and more than $150 million later the concept of combining investment banking services, a window on technology and stellar financial returns have proven to be successful. Harry Edelson has more than 30 years of experience in technology divided between industry and Wall Street. His former positions include senior systems computer engineer for Unisys, transmission engineer for AT&T, director of management information systems for Cities Service and director of marketing for a terminal manufacturer. Harry was a securities analyst on Wall Street covering computers, telecommunications, and office equipment for three leading investment banking firms: CS First Boston, Merrill Lynch, and Drexel Burnham Lambert. He formed Edelson Technology Inc., to serve the technology industry in venture capital, consulting, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Edelson is one of the most quoted technology industry figures in the world, his views often appearing in national and international financial and trade publications. He has frequently addressed major industry forums, often as keynote speaker, and has been retained as a consultant by dozens of technology companies. He is former President of the Analysts Club, the oldest club on Wall Street, founded in 1925. Education: BS in Physics from Brooklyn College, MBA in Management from NYU, Graduate Program in Telecommunications Engineering, at The Cornell Graduate School of Electrical Engineering. |  |
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Tim Foster, Business Development Manager, Edison Venture Fund Tim Foster serves as Manager of Business Development. Tim is responsible for managing and expanding Edison's referral source network of service provider professionals and financing sources in the Mid-Atlantic region (PA, DE, MD, VA, DC, NJ, NY, CT, MA) Tim identifies and builds new relationships for mutual referral opportunities. This includes trading deal flow and facilitating lead sharing with referral network contacts and sourcing Edison deals and portfolio company opportunities to service providers. In addition Tim represents Edison in the market on behalf of the regional investment teams. He increases awareness of and reinforces Edison's brand and strategy in each market. Tim regularly attends regional trade, venture and networking events and works closely with entrepreneurial and technology-related organizations such as ACG, MAVA, ETC, and the NJTC. Tim previously served as the Manager of Industry Development for 1SYNC. 1SYNC is a not-for-profit subsidiary of GS1 US which specializes in data synchronization. In his role, Tim was responsible for expanding data synchronization adoption across targeted industries and global regions as well as customer relationship management. Mr. Foster brings to Edison many years of proven experience in the software and technology industry. Prior to joining 1SYNC in October 2003, he served as Director of Sales and Operations for Consolidated Business Services. He has also served in several sales and account management roles with SAP and Princeton Softech. Tim earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania |  |
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David Nevas, Business Development Associate, Edison Venture Fund David Nevas focuses on generating investment opportunities and conducting analysis of emerging information technology companies in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He also specializes in E-Commerce, Customer Relationship Management, Human Resources, Education, Supply Chain/Logistics and Business Services. David has over 6 years of experience in both operating and consulting roles within the technology industry. He was previously a manager at Carpathia Consulting where he led engagements with early and growth-stage clients. David worked as a consultant at IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers on strategy and technology engagements within the High-Tech, Media, and Manufacturing industries. Additionally, David was a member of the product development team at Bookingzone.com, a startup, WAP-based reservation service. MBA, Finance and Strategy, New York University Stern School of Business B.S., Business Information Systems, Lehigh University | |
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Charles Beeler, General Partner, El Dorado Ventures Charles is an accomplished venture capital investor who has been with EDV since 1999. His primary focus is on companies with the potential to radically change the capabilities, cost/performance and energy efficiency of datacenters and enterprise computing environments. This includes companies in the systems, storage and cloud computing sectors. Prior to joining EDV, Charles served as a partner at Piper Jaffray Ventures, where he helped manage the firm’s technology venture capital funds. Charles gained early venture capital experience at Scripps Ventures, where he helped design and implement an early-stage investment strategy for a newly formed venture fund. Early in his career, Charles was involved with the design and implementation of healthcare IT systems at the Mayo Clinic, including Mayo’s first radiology information system. In addition to his for-profit boards, Charles serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Camp Chippewa Foundation, and works actively with several other education-based non-profits. Charles received a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Colby College and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. |  |
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Saul Richter, Managing Partner, Emerald Stage2 Ventures Mr. Richter has broad experience in the venture capital industry, having worked at a number of leading venture firms over the past 8 years. He brings to the Fund extensive experience performing due diligence and portfolio management through multiple venture cycles. Mr. Richter was most recently at Himalaya Capital, having joined in early 2002 as a Principal. Mr. Richter has significant investment experience and has been active on the boards of a number of companies. Mr. Richter additionally brings to Starling a strong technical background in software development and systems administration. Prior to Himalaya, Mr. Richter worked at Lucent Technologies in the New Ventures Group, where he focused on the creation and launch of software startups. In addition to Lucent, Mr. Richter has prior venture capital experience working at Softbank Ventures (now Mobius Venture Capital), Jerusalem Global Ventures and Flatiron Partners. Mr. Richter additionally has operational experience as the founder of Zapper Technologies’ US operations, where he formed and built out the company’s US office. Mr. Richter has additional prior experience working in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney and product development at Dubois, Brown & Co, now a division of SS&C Technologies (Nasdaq: SSNC). |  |
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Dean Sciorillo, Senior Associate, EnerTech Capital Dean joined EnerTech in 2004 and is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and supporting EnerTech portfolio companies. Prior to joining EnerTech, Dean spent 15 years with Exelon Corporation most recently in the corporate venture capital group. Prior to that, he was a Business Planning Manager focusing on the long term strategic and financial planning of the Enterprises Business Unit and worked closely with the retail energy, telecommunication and utility infrastructure businesses. Earlier in his career, he held financial positions with several start-up businesses of Exelon including the company’s energy management and consulting practice and onsite energy services business. Dean received a BS in Finance from LaSalle University and an MBA from the Fox School of Temple University. |  |
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Kjartan Jansen, Principal, Expansion Capital Partners, LLC Kjartan assists in the screening and due diligence of prospective investments, and also supports the team in various aspects of investment management, firm building, and research. Prior to Expansion Capital Partners, Kjartan spent time as a research associate covering medical technology at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, where his main focus was financial due diligence and modeling. He also assisted in writing quarterly research reports. In addition, Kjartan’s experience includes that of a business analyst at Scient, a former SF based internet consulting firm. Kjartan holds a MA in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan, and a BA in Economics from the University of Bergen, Norway, where he graduated number one in his class. In addition to English, Kjartan also speaks Danish, German, Norwegian (native), and Swedish. |  |
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Jim Macdonald , Managing Director, First Analysis Venture Capital Jim Macdonald is a managing director coordinating research and investment in selected areas of the outsourced services sector. He coordinates research coverage of leading private and publicly traded companies in his sectors. Prior to joining First Analysis in 1997, he was a general manager at Nalco Chemical Co., where he played a key role in expanding Nalco’s service offering to include operating and leasing equipment at customer sites, which led to the formation of a joint venture with U.S. Filter Co. Earlier, he was with a subsidiary of Ecolab Inc. He earned an MBA from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cornell University, where he also earned the university’s highest award in that discipline. |  |
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Phin Barnes, Principal, First Round Capital Phin joined First Round Capital as a Principal in 2009. Before joining First Round Capital, Phin founded ResponDesign, an independent videogame company that developed and published Yourself!Fitness, the first fitness game for Xbox and PlayStation2. While managing the marketing and distribution of Yourself!Fitness from 2003-2006, Phin secured retail partnerships with Nordstrom and Best Buy as well as promotional partnerships with Proctor & Gamble and McDonald’s. One of the earliest employees at AND 1 Basketball, Phin spent six years helping to grow the company from revenues of $15 million to over $225 million. While at AND 1 Phin led product direction, managed relationships with national retail accounts and created the initial concept for the signature AND 1 marketing property—the AND 1 Mix Tape. Phin also has consulted with several companies, including MTV Networks, where he focused on non-traditional games and the growth of the MTV Games division beginning in 2006. Phin earned his MBA with honors from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a double major in Operations and Information Management and Finance. He earned his BA in Economics and Sociology from Haverford College in 1998 and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society. A college basketball player, Phin maintains his addiction to sneakers and a decent mid-range jumper. He has also participated in several triathlons and marathons and looks forward to more. |  |
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Howard Morgan, Partner (and Angel Investor), First Round Capital (and NY Angels) Howard Lee Morgan is President of Arca Group Inc. in Villanova, PA, a Director of Idealab the Pasadena, CA based creator and operator of internet companies, where was a founding investor in 1996 and served as President of idealab! New York, a partner with First Round Capital, and a member of the New York Angels. He received a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Cornell University in 1968, and a B.S. in physics from City College of the City University of New York in 1965. He is helping to nurture a number of Idealab companies, including CarsDirect.com, the leading internet seller of automobiles, Partsearch, providing back end solutions for finding parts in the electronics field, Evolution Robotics, Enery Innovations, Newbury Networks and Picasa, Inc., offering digital photography acessing and sharing solutions. | |
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Scott Chou, Partner, Gabriel Venture Partners Scott Chou joined Gabriel Venture Partners in 2000, bringing a broad base of experience in venture capital, technology, and startup operations to the Firm. His extensive experience working with early stage technology ventures is a direct reflection of his passion for introducing innovations to society. Scott leads Gabriel's Disruptive Technologies practice and proactively manages relationships with universities as well as corporate and government labs in search of groundbreaking innovations with enormous market potential. Scott entered the venture capital arena via the Kauffman Fellows Program, a prestigious fellowship in venture capital awarded annually to a select number of recipients. He completed his fellowship at Onset Ventures, a groundbreaking firm in seed capital investing. Scott currently serves as Chairman of the Kauffman Fellows Alumni Association. He is also the author of Maxims, Morals, and Metaphors: A Philosophical Guide to Venture Capital , a popular book used in teaching the art of venture capital. Scott joined his first startup as a software developer while still in high school, working on a small business accounting package. He has since worked for five other technology ventures as well as world-renowned research and development organizations. At Bellcore, Scott conducted pioneering research in broadband packet switching for the Internet. At IBM, he received an Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for his design work in enterprise storage systems. Scott was also instrumental in the launch of the handheld computing market while working at Poqet Computer, a startup later acquired by Fujitsu. From there, he founded Memory Card Associates, a systems integration firm focused on portable computing. Most recently, Scott was the founding manager of the engineering and manufacturing organizations within Integrated Computing Engines (ICE), a venture-backed startup in the graphics workstation market. Scott is a director in three Asia-Pacific joint ventures launched by U.S.-based portfolio companies. These ventures typify Gabriel's strategy of assisting companies with outsourcing and business development in Asia-Pacific. Scott speaks Mandarin Chinese and splits time between his San Francisco and Shanghai residences. Scott serves as a director on the boards of Boston-Power, LVL7 Systems, NextG Networks, and SkyCross. In addition, Scott is a board member-elect for The Center for Venture Education, which runs the Kauffman Fellows Program. He also serves on the advisory boards of the University of Maryland Technology Visionary Series and the TiE Semiconductor SIG. MS – Engineering, Stanford University (full fellowship) MS – Computer Science, Harvard University (full fellowship) BS – Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology (with honors) |  |
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Thomas Bonetti, Managing Director, GlobalTech Ventures Mr. Bonetti is the Managing Director or GlobalTech Ventures. Mr. Bonetti has been involved in the Tech & Telecom sector for more than 20 years. His experience has ranged from Silicon Valley start-ups to billion dollar Telecommunications infrastructure projects, including participation in several successful Nasdaq IPOs. |  |
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Stephanie Hanbury-Brown, Founder, Golden Seeds Stephanie Hanbury-Brown spent 20 years in financial services in Sydney, London and New York. The majority of her career was with JPMorgan where she headed several global businesses. In 2004 she founded Golden Seeds. She is also a member of New York Angels and an investor with Boldcap Ventures. Stephanie obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. She currently retains board positions with Foster Wheeler Limited, Design2Launch, Morganae Foundation and Count-Me-In. |  |
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Peggy Wallace, Portfolio Manager, Golden Seeds Peggy Wallace, General Partner of the Golden Seeds Fund, is the Portfolio Manager for Golden Seeds. Peggy's 20 + year career prior to becoming an investor was in financial services. The majority of her career was with J.P. Morgan/Chase where she specialized in structured finance, risk management, and financial services M&A. Peggy retains a board position with private company Chromis Fiberoptics. She holds a B. A. from The George Washington University. |  |
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Paul Nolen, Associate, Graham Partners Paul joined Graham Partners in 2004. Paul has worked on several recent investments, and also plays an active role in sourcing investment opportunities and providing on-going support for a number of Graham Partners' current portfolio companies.Paul earned his B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame, Cum Laude. |  |
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John Filla, Angel Investor, Houston Angel Network Utilizing deep experience internationally in contracts, finance, sales and operations, John is able to arrange and/or deploy capital and human resources wisely in a variety of companies and industries. Strategic planning, governance issues and M&A are key areas of expertise. In the early-stage markets, he evaluates business plans and makes recommendations which will enable successful growth and significant exits within 4-6 years, to the ultimate benefit of the equity holders. John is on the Board of Directors at the Houston Angel Network, and also holds Board, officer, and/or equity positions in a number of the entities that he has invested in or consulted for through VES Partners. Via FundingPost events, John has both invested in and raised capital for deals in the past. |  |
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Lars Leckie, Principal, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners Lars is a Principal at Hummer Winblad and has played a key role in the firm’s investments in Aria Systems (SaaS billing and customer management) and vKernel (Virtualization Infrastructure). Prior to joining Hummer Winblad Venture Partners in 2006, Lars was involved in founding and operational roles at start-up companies. He was a co-founder of AutoFarm (now Novariant), a company focused on GPS and robotics. Lars was in charge of strategy, product marketing, business development and building the sales team across three continents. Lars has also been involved with the founding team of SportBug, a GPS and Internet fitness company. While Lars spends less time programming now, he started his technical career coding and hacking computer games. He is the holder of several US patents. Lars is an avid sailor and a former member of the Canadian Sailing Team. He represented Canada sailing Snipes in the Pan American Games as well as other international events. Lars has a Masters of Science (Engineering) from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of business. He also holds an Engineering Physics degree from Queen’s University (with Honors). |  |
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Ann Winblad, Managing Director and co-founder, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners Ann Winblad is the co-founder and a Managing Director of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. She is a well-known and respected software industry entrepreneur and technology leader. Her background and over 30 years of experience in the software industry have been chronicled in many national business and trade publications. Ann began her career as a systems programmer at the Federal Reserve Bank. In 1976 Ann co-founded Open Systems, Inc., a top selling accounting software company, with a $500 investment. She operated Open Systems profitably for six years and then sold it for over $15 million. Prior to co-founding Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Ann served as a strategy consultant for prestigious clients such as IBM, Microsoft, Price Waterhouse, and numerous start-ups. In addition, Ann has co-authored the book Object-Oriented Software and has written articles for numerous publications. Ann received a BA in mathematics and in business administration from the College of St. Catherine, as well as an MA in education and international economics from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. Ann also has an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of St. Thomas. Ann has served as a Director of numerous start-up and public companies and currently serves as a director of Voltage Security, Krillion, Mulesource and Star Analytics. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of St. Thomas. Ann is an advisor to numerous entrepreneur groups, as well as co-chair of SD Forum. | |
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Prashant Shah, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners Prashant Shah, Managing Director, joined Hummer Winblad in December 2000. He has been instrumental in many investments including Baynote, Bridgestream, Cenzic, InMage, Jareva Technologies, Krillion, Scalent, SyncVoice, Tizor and Voltage Security. He also observes a number of these boards. In addition, Prashant is an active Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley, where he is Chair of the Software SIG; and a member of the Board of Trustees for Astia. Prior to Hummer Winblad, Prashant spent many years defining and launching high tech products. His background spans all seven layers of the OSI stack with product management roles at enCommerce (acquired by Entrust), Cypress Semiconductor and AT&T. Prashant received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. | |
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Chris Kleinert, President, Hunt Investment Corporation, Hunt Ventures Chris Kleinert’s affiliation with Hunt Consolidated, Inc. began in 1996 as investment manager for Hunt Financial Corporation (which today is known as Hunt Private Equity Group). Today, Kleinert serves as president of Hunt Investment Corporation, which oversees and directs investments made by Hunt Investment Group, Hunt Special Situations Group, and Hunt Ventures. |  |
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Matthew Denesuk, PH.D., Partner, IBM Venture Capital Group I am currently a Partner in IBM's Venture Capital Group. Prior to this I held various positions in IBM Global Services, focussed on transforming the business toward models which are less labor-based and which improve productivity and differentiation through increased use of innovative technologies (what we broadly refer to as "services technology assets"). Prior to this at IBM, I have been involved with developing emerging businesses, based at least in part from technologies developed in our Research laboratories. This has included a variety of businesses based on hardware, software, services, and various nanotech-related technologies. I also serve as an advisor to several small companies. Prior to joining IBM, I co-founded and managed several companies in the areas importing, marketing, and distribution of consumer products; specialty polymer products; and intellectual property and product development. Previously, I was a Research Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona. I also served for eleven years as a consultant, where I assisted large and small businesses with managing product research and development efforts and with IP strategy and litigation. I have led fundamental and applied research efforts relating to optical and electrical properties of nanostructured materials and devices, with a focus on electrochromic technology for "smart windows." I have also led research efforts relating to interfacial properties of medical polymers and to wetting and fluid flow in microporous materials. I have authored numerous publications and book chapters in the technical literature. I received my B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from M.I.T., and I received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering and Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona. |  |
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Chip Austin, Partner, i-Hatch Ventures Chip has advised and built companies in the Technology and Media industries for his entire career. In addition to founding BOL.com, Bertelsmann’s E-commerce division, Chip was a member of the senior executive team leading the buyout and restructuring of Prodigy, and was a co-founder of McKinsey’s Interactive Practice, where he spent seven years advising Fortune 500 companies on their media strategies. Most recently, Chip was President and CEO of Bertelsmann Online, where he was responsible for building Bertelsmann’s global e-commerce business. Chip maintains an advisory and investor relationship with Bertelsmann Ventures, an independent venture capital fund capitalized by Bertelsmann. Chip also served as Acting CEO of European-based DealPilot.com, a Bertelsmann Ventures portfolio company. Prior to Bertelsmann, Chip was a member of the management-led buyout of Prodigy, where he was SVP of Sales and Business Development and General Manager of Prodigy's first Internet Service. Before joining Prodigy, Chip spent seven years at McKinsey in the Media and Interactive practices advising clients out of New York, Los Angeles, Australia and various European offices. While at McKinsey, as a co-founder of the Interactive Practice, Chip shaped the New Media strategies of the world's largest media companies in the fields of newspapers, magazines, yellow pages/classifieds, cable programming, network TV and film studio production. |  |
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David J. Freschman, Managing Principal, Innovation Ventures David J. Freschman is a Managing Principal of Innovation Capital Advisors, LLC (ICA). ICA serves as the management company of Innovation Ventures, L.P. (IV) and the Delaware Innovation Fund (DIF). He served as the President and CEO of the DIF since its establishment in 1995. The DIF is a seed and early stage venture capital fund that focuses on entrepreneurial ventures in the Mid-Atlantic region. Mr. Freschman has been responsible for all aspects of IV’s and the DIF’s management since its inception, including the business strategy, fiscal and operational management, raising investment capital, and evaluating all investment opportunities and portfolio company management. Mr. Freschman is active in the venture and entrepreneurial communities, sits on a number of Boards, and has been a lecturer on such topics at The White House Conference on Small Business, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, the University of Delaware, Goldey-Beacom College, and Loyola College in Baltimore. He is the creator and founder of Early Stage East – the premier early stage venture capital fair on the East Coast. In 2001, Mr. Freschman was appointed by Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to chair the venture capital study of the state’s Strategic Economic Council. Mr. Freschman was appointed and served a three-year term representing New Castle County, Delaware on the Small Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia through 2002. Prior to establishing the DIF, Mr. Freschman was responsible for the formation of the corporate finance advisory division of McBride Shopa and Company, one of the largest certified public accounting and consulting firms in Delaware. Mr. Freschman began his career with the Enterprise Group of the Philadelphia office of Arthur Andersen, LLP, from 1984 through 1989. Mr. Freschman graduated with honors with an MBA from Loyola College of Maryland and cum laude from the University of Delaware with a B.S. in accounting, where he was a John B. Lynch Scholar. He is also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma – the National Honor Society. |  |
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Sita Vasan, Senior Manager, Strategic Investments, Intel Capital Sita Vasan has worked for Intel Capital's Strategic Investment team for the past 4 years. During this time, she has closed over 30 venture capital investments in the media, semiconductor, wireless, enterprise software, storage, and optical sectors. She has 15 years of prior investment banking experience where she worked in London for Orion Royal Bank & Bank of Tokyo, in Paris as Vice President and head of Banque Indosuez’s Foreign Swap Marketing team and at the private sector arm of the World Bank, International Finance Corp (IFC). At IFC she managed the Client Derivative Management team and worked in the Telecom / Infrastructure project finance team. Her education includes an MBA from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania) and BA from Bryn Mawr College. |  |
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Debra Guerin Beresini, Managing Director, International Venture Fund Debra R. Guerin Beresini is a co-founder and Managing Director of International Venture Fund (IVF). IVF is a Silicon Valley based venture fund focused on seed and early stage emerging growth investment opportunities in the geographic areas of Hawaii, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, as well as Silicon Valley. Ms. Guerin Beresini has served as CEO of invencor, inc, manager of IVF, since its inception in April 1997. Ms. Guerin Beresini previously held senior positions at the seed/technology-transfer venture firm of AR&D Corp., at the venture leasing arm of Ford/US Leasing, as a venture investor at Technology Funding, and as Senior Vice President and Manager of the National Division at Silicon Valley Bank. Ms. Guerin Beresini specializes in life science companies, including TheraTx (IPO in 1994, acquired by Vencor for $550 million in 1997), Systemix (acquired by Sandoz) and Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPO in 2006, LSE). Ms. Guerin Beresini was on the board of Napo until its recent IPO. Ms. Guerin Beresini speaks at various national conferences on venture capital and technology transfer. She presently sits on the Board of AssistGuide, Inc., San Ramon, CA; the non-profit Hawaii Venture Capital Association and HiBEAM, a Hawaii based business accelerator. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Wayne Brown Institute located in Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated summa cum laude from Dominican University and has a certificate in Global Bio from UC Berkeley. |  |
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Kirk Westbrook, Principal, International Venture Fund D. Kirk B. Westbrook is a co-founder and Managing Director of International Venture Fund (IVF). IVF is a Silicon Valley based venture fund focused on seed and early stage emerging growth investment opportunities in the geographic areas of Hawaii, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, as well as Silicon Valley. Mr. Westbrook is also the President and Chief Financial Officer of invencor, inc., which manages IVF. In 1997, invencor, inc. assumed management of an existing seed fund associated with incubators in the State of Arizona , the Arizona Technology Venture Fund (ATVF). Several new investments were made and ATVF was fully liquidated in 2005. Mr. Westbrook has or previously has held board seats on four of IVF’s portfolio companies and was instrumental in the sale of AdOn Network, Inc. to Prime Visibility Media Group. Mr. Westbrook has been involved with finance for approximately 20 years. In 1989, he accepted a position with Silicon Valley Bank, a nationally recognized debt and equity provider which specializes in serving early stage, pre-profit technology companies, most of which are venture backed. While at Silicon Valley, Mr. Westbrook worked in all of the lending areas of the Bank, as well as managed an extensive portfolio for several years in the Bank’s workout group. His last position was as Vice President in the Bank's National Division, then one of the fastest growing divisions within the Bank, where he actively developed client and venture capital relationships in Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. He departed his post in April 1997 to form invencor, inc. In addition to his management and investment activity with IVF, Mr. Westbrook is a reviewer of Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology grant submissions and an invited business plan judge or company selection panelist for venture conferences in the states of Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Texas and Utah. He served for many years as a board member of the non-profit Hawaii Venture Capital Association and is a member of the executive committee of HiBEAM, a Hawaii based business accelerator. Mr. Westbrook is a graduate of San Jose State University. | |
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Katherine O'Neill, Executive Director, JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network Katherine is the Executive Director of JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network. Katherine is also President of O'Neill Associates, a consulting firm providing financial and management services to technology and growth companies. O'Neill Associates provides and assists companies with business plans, financial projections, and access to financing sources. Katherine acts as Chief Financial Officer and provides sophisticated financial management to growing companies. O'Neill Associates has been providing services for ten years in the Mid-Atlantic states. Katherine is a seasoned financial executive and investor in early stage enterprises with extensive experience in start up and entrepreneurial operations as well as operational experiences in a diverse range of businesses. She has particular expertise developing technology-based business as well as strategic business plans, budgets, cash and tax planning and financials. Katherine has extensive multinational experience and financial operation management and knowledge of healthcare pharmaceuticals, information systems, e-commerce and medical instruments and devices. Besides her entrepreneurial activities, she was a senior manager in corporate finance in pharmaceutical operations of the now GlaxoSmithKline as well as in industrial, agricultural chemicals and fiber operations at FMC Corporation. Katherine is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of Merion Mercy Academy, an independent school for young women in Merion PA. She is active in organizations that support women in businesses. Current memberships include the New Jersey Technology Council and its Chief Financial Officer Advisory Board, Forum of Executive Women and Women in Investment. In 2002, Katherine received a Chief Financial Officer of the Year Award from the NJ Technology Council. Other boards and committees she has served or chaired have included the Business Advisory Council of the Ben Franklin Technology Council of SE Pa, Board of Directors of the Forum of Executive women, Greater Philadelphia Girl Scout Council, Delaware Raritan Girl Scout Council, Steering Committee for the Strategic Plan of the City of Philadelphia, Hyde School (Maine) Advisory Board. Katherine earned a BS in Economics from the University of Maryland and an MA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. |  |
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Harry Lee, Entrepreneur Director at Keiretsu Forum, Keiretsu Forum Having grown up in the Chicago area- Harry received his degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Using his technical acumen he migrated to Texas performing Systems Engineering work and Project Management for Compaq, HP, and Dell Inc. to later become a highly successful Enterprise Corporate Salesman. In the Spring of 2007 Harry’s sales region covered the PAC-NW (WA, OR, ID, CO, and AK). Harry has earned awards for Dell salesman of the Quarter and of the Year through strong business relationships and superseding customer growth models. Running financial reviews that related companies’ historicals to it’s sector were pivotal to his success. On the entrepreneurial side: Harry has developed highly successful businesses in real estate, property management, and retail. He brings this drive and passion into developing other entrepreneurs’ visions and aiding them to capture the mind share and capital of active investors. Harry has passions for triathlons, motor-crossing, traveling, and living in Seattle to list a few. |  | |
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Larry Chaityn, President, Keiretsu Forum Larry Chaityn is President of the New York Tri-State Chapters of The Keiretsu Forum, the largest global private equity investment network of accredited angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate/institutional investors. Keiretsu Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities in emerging technologies, healthcare/life sciences, real estate, consumer products and other industries with high growth opportunity. Our community is strengthened through education on angel investing, as well as charitable and social activities. Larry is an expert in the development and execution of performance management and corporate acceleration strategies that help organizations achieve their financial and operational goals. His 18 years of experience consulting in industries such as Technology/Software, Healthcare, Life Science and Manufacturing on multi-million dollar engagements has helped shape the vision and strategy for True North Global Partners. Larry is an active member in the National Association of Health Services Executives, Turnaround Management Association, and The Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Health Leaders of NY, The American College of Healthcare Executives, and the American Society for Quality's Healthcare Division and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce in NYC. He often speaks on topics of change, systems thinking, effective communication, and causal problem analysis. Larry held senior management positions with the consulting practices of Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young and Oracle Corporation. Larry graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and a Masters in Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has completed additional executive education programs in Management from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. | |
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Kyle Harris, Managing Director, Liquidity Works Kyle Harris is the Managing Director of Liquidity Works. He began his career in the Foreign Military Sales group for the Navy's F-18 aircraft program, ultimately running the team that sold over $3.5 Billion dollars is USG equipment worldwide. He next ran international marketing for the NYMEX crude oil contract working with foreign governments and multinationals to develop risk management programs around the world's largest traded commodity. After receiving his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Business he began an early stage incubator which funded several notable projects. As a operator/entrepreneur, he was COO of IMTI Systems an insurance software provider, and was the founder of Global Detection and Reporting, Inc a company offering innovative risk detection tools for illegal drugs in the workplace. Kyle is married, has three children and lives in NYC. |  |
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Brett Topche, Senior Associate, MentorTech Ventures Mr. Topche joined the General Partner in 2007 and serves as a Senior Associate. He was previously a member of the Fund Investments Team at Hamilton Lane Advisors, a fund-of-funds manager and private equity investment consultant. In this capacity, he evaluated private equity funds across a broad spectrum of stages and strategies on behalf of both discretionary and non-discretionary clients. During his time at Hamilton Lane, Mr. Topche reviewed more than 100 funds, including venture capital, mezzanine, buyout and real estate funds. Based in part on reports he drafted, more than $1 billion was invested into these funds. Prior to working for Hamilton Lane, Mr. Topche was an Associate with NJTC Venture Fund, where he focused on investments in early-stage companies in the software, Internet and communications sectors. His responsibilities included deal flow generation, initial company reviews, performing due diligence on potential investments, participating in deal structuring, reviewing legal documentation and working with companies post-investment, occasionally as an Observer on Boards of Directors. He previously worked for MRA International in real estate development consulting and for the accounting firm Frankel and Topche. Mr. Topche is a 2002 magna cum laude graduate of the Wharton School, with a B.S. in Economics, with concentrations in Finance and Legal Studies and a Political Science minor from the College and Arts and Sciences. |  |
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Catherine Lockhart, Executive Vice President and COO, Meridian Management Group, Inc. Catherine D. Lockhart is the Executive Vice President and co-founder of Meridian Management Group, Inc. (MMG), which was established in 1995. With more than 19 years of financial experience, Ms. Lockhart specializes in commercial lending, venture capital investing and program development for primarily minority and small businesses. In 1990, Lockhart became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Detroit BIDCO, Inc., a business and industrial development corporation. She left the private and for-profit, minority-owned and operated firm in December 1994. Before her leadership at BIDCO, Ms. Lockhart was the Deputy Director of the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority (MSBDFA) for seven years. |  |
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Thomas Penn, General Partner, Meridian Venture Partners Mr. Penn is a General Partner of the Meridian Venture Funds and has over 15 years of experience in starting, managing, and financing high growth companies in the Mid-Atlantic region. Before joining Meridian Venture Partners as a General Partner, he served as a Partner at Boston Millennia Partners, a $600 million private equity firm. From 1994 to 1998, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Tektagen, Inc., a leading contract services organization which provides a wide range of services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Immediately prior to joining Tektagen, Mr. Penn was President of Independence Ventures, Inc. a firm that specialized in starting and growing high potential, technology based companies. Earlier in his career he held a variety of positions in industry and venture capital. He has been on the founding team of three biotechnology firms. He is immediate past President of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association and recently served as Co-Chair of Pennsylvania's Technology 21 Biotechnology Network. | |
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Robert P. Mahoney , Principal, Middlebury Venture Partners Mr. Mahoney holds a B.A. (cum laude) in Mathematics from the University of Rochester and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from New York University. From 1977 until 1988, Mr. Mahoney held various positions with Continental Can Co., Inc., where his last position was General Manager of Development and Real Estate. In 1996, Mr. Mahoney joined with a partner to organize BTS Capital Holdings, L.P. (ABTS@) as a Managing Principal. In 2004, Mr. Mahoney organized Hillcrest Capital Partners, LP and associated entities as a new investment fund with a plan to invest in intermediate term, fully-secured, high-yield notes. Mr. Mahoney also serves as a member of the Board of Directors or Advisory Boards of several companies. |  |
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Paul Hsu, Principal, NeoCarta Ventures Paul joined NeoCarta Ventures in 2000 from Merrill Lynch's Technology Mergers and Acquisitions Group. While at Merrill Lynch, he advised on and executed transactions across a number of technology and commerce sectors, including software, contract manufacturing services, semiconductors, retailing/apparel, and Internet and ecommerce. Previously, he worked in equity research at Salomon Smith Barney and conducted research in Asia on foreign direct investments and technology transfer. Paul received a BA with distinction in economics and in political science from Yale University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. His outside interests include snowboarding, tennis, golf, and the arts. |  |
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Robb Doub, General Partner, New Markets Venture Partners Robb joined New Markets Venture Partners as a General Partner in 2003. Robb is the lead administrative partner and serves as a board observer for BDMetrics, Navtrak, Appfluent, and ARPU, Inc. Robb also serves on the board of Egeen International and the Conflicts Advisory Board of the off-shore hedge funds managed by Deutsche Asset Management's Absolute Return Strategies Group. Robb has been investing in high growth companies since 1993. Prior to New Markets, Robb was a Managing Director of the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF), a $200 million managed emerging market venture capital company. Robb served on the board of SEAF portfolio companies in industries including pharmaceutical distribution, cable television, internet services, food retail and distribution, biotechnology, and enterprise software. Prior to SEAF, Robb was an Associate of Private Equities at the Calvert Group, a $10 billion socially responsible mutual fund and has worked for two start-up companies. Robb was a visiting professor at the University of Warsaw 's School of Business teaching finance to MBA candidates and has been a guest speaker the at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern and at the Johnson School of Business at Cornell. Robb graduated from the University of Vermont, with a major in History, and received a MBA with Honors from the Georgetown University. Robb is married with three children. |  |
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Bob Gailus, Angel Investor, New York Angels Robert (Bob) Gailus is an experienced venture investor and advisor. He was a founding member in 1983 of Schroder Ventures / U.S., the venture affiliate of Schroders, the London merchant bank. During the 1983-1993 time period, Mr. Gailus was one of four partners, initially in Silicon Valley and then New York City that managed $92 million and made 53 venture investments. Eight of the 22 IT investments and 10 of the 13 bio/healthcare companies became publicly traded companies (including Opcom/VMX (original voicemail patents) which merged in Octel and was acquired by Lucent for $1.3Bin stock; and Stratacom which commercialized fast-packet switching and was acquired by CICSO for $3B in stock). In 1994 Bob founded Software Technology Venture Partners (“STVP”) in New York City to invest in and advise IT companies in the Boston to NYC corridor, and in 2000 Bob joined with Bob Levenson, a successful entrepreneur and Fortune 500 operating executive (ADP, Medco and First Data Corp.), and formed LENOX Capital Group, L.L.C., to invest in early-stage IT technology and service companies. Since 1994, he has invested in 14 early-stage ventures. Five of the companies (DynamicWeb, VIE Systems, Epicon, ServiceSoft and SolidWorks) have become public through acquisition, and a sixth has filed its registration for an IPO. Mr. Gailus is also a member of the NY Angels. |  |
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Robert Brill, Managing Partner, Newlight Associates Mr. Brill is a founding Managing Partner of Newlight Associates and was previously a General Partner of PolyVentures, venture capital funds whose principal investment focus was on early stage investments in technology companies. Before joining PolyVentures, Mr. Brill was a successful "turn around" CEO at two technology companies, Algorex Corporation and Sipex Corporation. Previously, Mr. Brill served as General Manager of Harris Corporation's CMOS Semiconductor Division, where he was responsible for launching the world's first two commercial 16-bit CMOS microprocessors. From 1972 to 1980 he was employed by the IBM Corporation where he held various positions in engineering and management. Mr. Brill was a founding member of the Technical Advisory Board of the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Mr. Brill holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University and a B.A. and a B.S. in Engineering Physics from Lehigh University, both with honors. Mr. Brill holds multiple patents and invention disclosures. |  |
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Matthew E. Cole, Managing Partner, North Bay Equity Partners Experience: More than fifteen years of private equity and investment banking experience in Latin America. Former Principal at Newbridge Latin America, a $300 million private equity fund sponsored by Texas Pacific Group and Richard C. Blum & Associates. Former investment banker with J.P. Morgan in New York, Chile, and Brazil with particular experience in private equity, mergers & acquisitions, and equity capital markets transactions. |  |
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Robert Wilson, Principal Owner, North Sea Ventures Robert A. Wilson is Chairman, CEO & President of Sea Holdings, Ltd. He has led a distinguished career as manager and developer of companies; he has twenty years experiences in the business and financial world. Mr. Wilson has worked with many companies in many industries in many stages of development. Mr. Wilson has spent time as a professor of Finance at both the Brentwood and Southampton campus’s of Long Island University, as well as the Riverhead and Selden Campus of Suffolk County Community College. Mr. Wilson holds a degree of Associates in Applied Science in Business Administration from Suffolk County Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Management of the Sports Industries from the University of New Haven and a Master of Science in Finance and Financial Services from the University of New Haven. |  | |
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David Stahl, General Partner, OmniCapital Group * Twenty five years in information technology and venture capital * Director and founding member of Lucent New Ventures * Director of Bell Labs technology commercialization * GM of AT&T CRM software unit * CEO and CFO of several start-ups * Board of directors of numerous start-ups * Ph.D., MBA |  |
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jim Schultz, Managing Partner, Open Prairie Ventures In 1999, Jim founded Open Prairie Ventures I as a $40 million fund focused on Midwest seed and early stage technology opportunities. Jim has a diverse background in start-up companies, investment banking, and entrepreneurial ventures. He has been an active investor in a wide variety of industries, including: medical services and medical device technologies, semiconductor, software development, e-commerce, construction, financial services, and information technology. Jim remains active on the boards of Epiworks and Venomix. He has served as Chairman of the Board/CEO of Telemind Capital Corporation, a Midwest-based merchant banking group, and has served as Chairman of the Board of Prime Banc Corporation, a Central Illinois multi-bank holding company. In addition, he has served on the board of numerous Midwest-based technology corporations. |  |
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Matt Bieber, Senior Associate, Originate Ventures Matt was formerly with Bear Stearns in the Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions group (F.A.S.T.). Matt was also an investment banking analyst with Fairmount Partners, a regional investment banking boutique. He has been a member of Barclays Capital in the distressed debt group, an overseas research analyst for Deloitte & Touche based in Prague and an intern for Senator Arlen Specter’s office in addition to a volunteer for former Senator Rick Santorum's campaign. Prior to his formal business experience, Matt founded an online entertainment company focused on massive online roleplaying games, which he rolled into IGE.com where he became a premier account vendor. Matt has recently been named Treasurer of the Lehigh Valley Network of Young Professionals and has been a judge for Wharton’s VCIC competition. Matt is a graduate of Lehigh University with a BS in Business with a concentration in Financial Mathematics. |  |
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Martin A. Stever, Principal, Pacific West Land, LLC Martin had previously worked in publishing and telecommunications in both the U.S. and Europe before taking up real estate investing full time. He originally came to the Seattle area to join Microsoft, after completing his MBA in Finance and Strategy at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Martin is an aviation historian, angel investor, and a tireless football fan. He lives on Bainbridge Island with his wife of eleven years, Dianne, and their daughter. |  |
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Lou Anne Flanders-Stec, Fund Executive, Piedmont Angel Network Lou Anne Flanders-Stec is the Fund Executive for the Piedmont Angel Network. She was previously the CFO for the United Way of Greater Greensboro & eDesignerSource, an Internet start-up. Her background includes 20 years of financial, budgetary and cash management responsibilities for small to medium sized businesses. She has her BA in Business Administration and received her MBA from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Lou Anne serves on the Board of Advisors to the Angel Capital Association and was recently named one of “The Triad’s Fifty Most Influential People”. |  |
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Richard Irving, Managing Partner, Pond Venture Partners Based in Silicon Valley, Richard has over twenty years experience in venture capital, business management, marketing and engineering in technology companies including Pond, AT&T Bell Labs, Advanced Micro Devices, Brooktree, and Irving International. Starting as a chip designer at Bell Labs, and strategic marketing manager at AMD, Richard later managed three business units at Brooktree with full P&L responsibility. These grew from as small as $1M up to $90M. Richard has been involved in over $400 million worth of deals, including two initial public offerings, several acquisitions, and many private financings. Co-founder of Pond, Richard serves as Director of Transitive,picoChip, and Nanotech. Richard has a B.Sc. (1st Class Hons.) and an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Manchester University. |  |
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Jeffrey M. Krauss, Managing Member, Psilos Jeffrey joined Psilos in March 2000 with a focus on investments in the healthcare services, healthcare information technology, specialty pharmaceutical and medical instrumentation segments. He currently serves on the Boards of Versamed, Valera Pharmaceuticals, HealthEdge, OneShield. Prior to joining Psilos, Mr. Krauss was a general partner at Nazem & Company, a New York-based venture capital firm, from 1990 to 2000, where he specialized in investments in the healthcare services and healthcare information technology segments. Prior to joining Nazem & Company, Mr. Krauss was an attorney with the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, where he specialized in private equity transactions and worked extensively on transactions originated by KKR. Prior to that, Mr. Krauss was an auditor with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young. Mr. Krauss is currently a volunteer with the New York City Investment Fund in the Fund’s Healthcare Sector Group. Mr. Krauss performs various services for the Fund, including representing the Fund on the Boards of several portfolio companies. Mr. Krauss graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the State University of New York at Albany and he graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School . Mr. Krauss is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of New York , and is also licensed in the State of New York as an Attorney. |  |
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Habib Kairouz, Managing Partner, Rho Ventures Prior to joining Rho in 1993, Habib worked in investment banking and leveraged buyout in New York with Reich & Co. and Jesup & Lamont. He received an MBA from Columbia University. His current and former board seats include: Avolent, Innerwireless, Intralinks, iVillage, ReachLocal, Tripod, Tacoda, Travel Ad Network, Waterfront Media, and Yantra. Habib is a Managing Partner of Rho Capital Partners and Rho Ventures and serves on the investment committee of Rho Fund Investors and Rho Canada. |  |
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Mohammed Alzubi, Angel Investor, Sand Hill Angels Mohammed Alzubi is a founder and CEO of Sulaf Solutions, an IT solutions provider based in Silicon Valley. Mr. Alzubi has over 12 years of experience in the network infrastructure and Internet space and has worked for a wide range of customers, including Cisco System, Sun Microsystems, American Express, and various Internet startups. Mohammed is an Angel investor, and an advisor to VCs on business and technical matters. Mr. Alzubi is an Advisory Board member of LinkSV; an Advisory Board member of Kyube.com, a founding Board member of Techwadi; an advisor with the non-profit Pacific Community Ventures and a member of the Gerson Lehrman Group Council. Mr. Alzubi has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University and holds various technical certifications including CCIE, MCSE, CCSP, and MCDBA. |  |
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Frank Maresca, President, Saratoga Equity, Inc. Frank R. Maresca, Jr., Currently is the President of Saratoga Equity and World Medical both firms specializing in Technology and Life Sciences. Mr. Maresca companies serve dozens of clients globally. In the course of his career, Mr. Maresca has successfully taken companies public, effectively led several mergers and acquisitions and raised funds for public and private ventures poised for rapid expansion. He also serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Micro Algae Corporation a Chilean based Pharmaceutical Company. Mr. Maresca also serves on the Board of Arcimboldo, a Swedish based Pharmaceutical company, Arcimboldo AB is a Swedish Biotech company located in Stockholm and dedicated to the research and development of krill enzymes (Krillase®) for pharmaceuticals (wound healing, virology) and OTC (dental plaque products). Mobile-XS, an international company which provides highly cost-effective solutions based on wireless data and internet technologies and Lab Mentors which provides guided on-line labs for web-based training. Mr. Maresca was the Vice President of Strategic Acquisitions and than CEO of Dstage.com a reverse incubator from December 1999 until January 31, 2003. Mr. Maresca also served as the CFO of Longport Inc., a medical technology company specializing in high resolution ultrasound imaging. From 1995 to 1997 he served as a Trader for D. Weckstein & Co. an Institutional Investment Banking firm. Prior to that Mr Maresca was the CEO of BMV Financial, he oversaw the operations of Yee, Desmond, Schroeder and Allen, Inc west coast (OSJ) office of supervisory jurisdiction, directing and supporting all brokerage activity and operations. |  | |
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Benoit Toulouse, Investment Partner, Schneider Electric Ventures Benoit joined Schneider Electric Ventures in 2004. He began his career at Deutsche Bank in London as a mergers and acquisitions analyst. As an investment banker, he worked on the sales processes for several international businesses with a special focus on media, technologies and telecom. Benoit graduated in engineering from Centrale and followed a finance specialisation at the EM Lyon Business School. Benoit is responsible for managing the investments in Agilence, Teem Photonics, Oxford Sensor Technologies, Casanova and Semisouth. |  |
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Elad Yoran, CEO and Founder, Security Growth Partners Elad Yoran is the CEO and founder of Security Growth Partners, a private equity fund focused on investments in homeland security solutions. Prior to founding SGP, Mr. Yoran co-founded, managed, and led Riptech, Inc. (Riptech), a leading managed security services provider. Ernst & Young recognized Mr. Yoran for his success with the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2001. Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: "SYMC") acquired Riptech for $145 million in 2002, ranking in the top 2% in transaction value of all technology merger and acquisition transactions of that year. From 2002 to 2003, Mr. Yoran served as Vice President, Global Business Development at Symantec. Prior to Riptech, Mr. Yoran served as Vice President at Broadview International, an investment bank that focuses on mergers and acquisitions in the technology industry. Mr. Yoran is a MBA graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and holds a BS with honors from the United States Military Academy at West Point. |  |
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William Paiva, Partner, Sevin Rosen Funds William joined Sevin Rosen Funds in 2006 as a Venture Partner operating out of the Dallas office. He currently serves on the boards of several private healthcare companies and aides Sevin Rosen in identifying early-stage venture opportunities at the intersection of traditional technology sectors and healthcare. William also uses his healthcare industry focus and network to assist SRF portfolio companies developing applications and services for the healthcare market. William brings 20 years of venture capital, biomedical industry, and management consulting experience to Sevin Rosen. In addition to his venture experience with Chisholm Private Capital and the Oklahoma Life Science Fund, William served as a management consultant for the Life Sciences Industry Group at Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM) where he consulted with the top five pharmaceutical companies on product development and technology management projects. William also served as an investment banking associate at JP Morgan in New York, providing strategic and investment banking advisory services to Fortune 100 Health Care companies. William holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Dartmouth College's Amos Tuck School of Business. |  |
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John Adler, General Partner, Silver Creek Ventures Mr. Adler joined Silver Creek Ventures as a General Partner in 2007. His areas of expertise include data and voice communications, semiconductors, and wireless applications. Mr. Adler has also served as a board member of the Texas Venture Capital Association since its inception in 2004. Prior to joining Silver Creek, Mr. Adler served as a Partner with InterWest Partners since 2001, a leading diversified venture capital firm in information technology and life sciences. Representative investments include Covaro (acquired by Adva Optical), kajeet, Nuventix, Venturi Wireless and VizionWare. Prior to InterWest Partners, Mr. Adler developed 17 years of operating experience in product management and engineering from Rockwell International, Alcatel, Monterey Networks and Cisco Systems. Mr. Adler received a BSEE and MBA from Southern Methodist University and has authored or co-authored four US patents. |  |
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Jeanne Sullivan, Partner, StarVest Partners Jeanne M. Sullivan has been investing in and growing tech companies since 1990! She has 17 years of private equity experience and has spent 27 years in the technology sector encompassing both extensive operating and investing experience with technology companies. Jeanne is a co-founder and General Partner of StarVest Partners, L.P. a New York City based venture capital firm with over $300 million under management. The firm invests in technology-enabled business services companies. As a General Partner of StarVest Partners and previously with Olivetti Ventures, Ms. Sullivan has served on the boards of many technology company boards. Ms. Sullivan has extensive experience creating 'go to market' plans for expansion stage companies. Her expertise also includes strategy, a keen understanding of the technology landscape and industry trends. Ms. Sullivan is a sought-after industry speaker on the subject of investing in and building technology companies and serves as an adjunct professor of marketing at the graduate level. Her credentials also include: lousy golfer, Yankee baseball and sports addict, and oldest of eight kids where she learned the most about managing people and getting results. |  |
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Chad Lyne, Associate, Stolberg Equity Partners LLC Mr. Lyne is an Associate with Stolberg Equity Partners (www.stolbergpartners.com), with primary responsibility for sourcing and executing new investment opportunities in the lower middle-market. In addition, Mr. Lyne leads the firm's CEO Sponsorship program, which partners with socially-conscious executives to acquire and build leading companies in various outsourced business service and healthcare service niches. Mr. Lyne is also involved as a board advisor for portfolio company Alpine Access, the leading provider of customer care solutions utilizing at-home agents. Prior to joining Stolberg, Mr. Lyne worked with the private equity firms Kirtland Capital Partners and Graham Partners. In addition, Mr. Lyne spent five years with Harvey & Co. LLC, a West Coast-based merchant bank where he consulted with and developed acquisition strategies for a number of corporations, private equity firms, and venture capital groups. Mr. Lyne holds a MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in International Business from Azusa Pacific University. He is an active member of the Keiretsu Forum, the Rockies Venture Club, and the Denver chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. |  | |
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Brian Model, Managing Director, NY, Stonehenge Growth Capital Mr. Model is responsible for Stonehenge Capital's Early Stage and Start-Up investment activities in New York State. Stonehenge currently has 10 active Early Stage and Start-Up portfolio companies in New York. He has been with the firm since 2001. Mr. Model currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lumetrics, PixFusion, Lorica Solutions, Knovel (observer), Medidata Solutions (observer) and iCardiac Technologies (observer). Prior to joining Stonehenge, Mr. Model spent 12 years in the retail industry as Founder of a men’s sportswear e-tailer, Vice President and Merchandise Manager of an upscale multi-store apparel retailer in New Jersey and as a graduate of the Macy's Executive Training Program in San Francisco. Mr. Model received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Duke University. He has an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School. |  |
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Pamy J.S. Arora , Executive Vice President, The Cornell Group Mr. Arora is Executive Vice President with The Cornell Group with more than 20 years of experience. Until recently and over nine years he was a Principal with Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc. - one of the world’s largest management consulting firms - and was responsible for their business in restructuring and privatization of ports and other transportation enterprises worldwide. He has successfully assisted in attracting investments to and completing several Build Own Operate (BOO) and Build Operate Transfer (BOT) deals for newly privatized ports and other transport enterprises. Mr. Arora is currently advising a consortium of major industrial conglomerates in Korea about determining the feasibility of a $2.3 billion greenfield port project, and making the project bankable. Mr. Arora is currently advising the governments of India, Guatemala and Georgia privatize the major ports in each country. Mr. Arora has recently advised a consortium of US, German and Russian investors define the value of and acquire the majority shares in a major port in Russia. He is currently the principal advisor to the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka on determining the value of a $ 600 million privatization BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) transaction for the port of Colombo. |  | |
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Irvin Barash, President, Vencon Management, Inc. Mr. Barash has close to four decades of comprehensive experience regarding venture capital and entrepreneurism. Mr. Barash holds an MBA from the Columbia University Business School and a chemical engineering degree from Drexel University. As President of Vencon, a venture capital firm, Mr. Barash has created numerous high technology ventures. He has a broad experience in the growth of enterprises and advises on the complexities and implementation of long range business planning and the management of company growth particularly those firms experiencing high growth, which are usually vulnerable to improper asset deployment. He has acted as chairman of industrial companies. Vencon has been involved in renewable energy, electronics materials and semiconductors since the early 1980’s. In other affiliations, Mr.Barash was an executive in strategic planning and M&A activities with industrial companies including W.R. Grace and EBS Industries, which owned subsidiaries in electric power, chemicals, and engineering construction. Barash was Director of Planning of BASF, a $40 billion manufacturing business. At Belco Petroleum Company, an international petroleum and coal producer, Barash was Assistant to the President. During the early 1970’s, Barash was Director of Economic Studies for the Price Commission, a White House initiative to stabilize pricing. |  |
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Jung Yun, President and CEO, Yun Capital Jung Yun has more than fifteen years experience in the areas of finance, banking, operations, sales, consulting, and as an entrepreneur. She is currently the Managing Director for Yun Capital. She also serves as a Fund Manager and Partner of Global Media Fund with over $400M under assets. In addition, Ms. Yun is a partner of Boston First Capital, a boutique Investment Bank focused in International Transactions in such countries as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, China, Montenegro, Kingdom of Tonga, and the Bahamas. Ms. Yun's experience has been in the capacity of both Fund Manager and Investment Banker. She has worked with many public/private companies in transactions ranging from $1M to $8B. She has completed over $300M in mergers and acquisitions, and serves as both designer and architect in these ventures. She also delivers financial strategy, business consulting, operations, implementations and strategic alliance expertise to the companies she invests in. In addition, her career has included setting up and managing Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards. She has served as President and Chairman of Global Life Line, a telecommunications company and President of Mindography Inc, an eduportal for the education market. Ms. Yun's accomplishments on the operational side include building direct sales channels, managing a team of 300, business development, Joint Ventures and mergers & acquisitions. The list of companies to which she has contributed to their growth include: JPMorgan, Reed Elsevier, The Village Companies and many others. She graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee and is a proud member of the MENSA organization. |  |
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Rob Brown, Chief Operations Officer, ZINO Society Rob Brown comes to ZINO Society with a unique perspective as both an entrepreneur and an investor. He is the founder and former CEO of Healionics. Prior to Healionics, he was spent over 15 years in technology development. The last 10 were spent at Microsoft, in the areas of, financial analysis, strategy development and product development bringing nine products to market.. Previously, he led broker/dealer relations for American Funds. Mr. Brown holds an MBA from the University of Washington. |  |
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