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Investor Speakers (alphabetically by Fund)
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Brett Hickey, Managing Partner, Aegis Capital Group
Mr. Hickey is an Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Aegis NY Venture Fund, LP. Mr. Hickey is also a member of the Investment Review Committee of Aegis Texas Venture Fund, LP, and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of Aegis NY Venture Fund, LP. Prior to co-founding Aegis Capital Group in 2003, Mr. Hickey was an investment banker with the Insurance and Asset Management division of Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. where he worked on significant capital raising transactions, corporate development projects and mergers and acquisitions, including, the $16.1 billion merger of The St. Paul Companies, Inc. and Travelers Property Casualty Corp., the $1.3 billion initial public offering for Eaton Vance Tax-Advantage Dividend Income Fund and other significant transactions. Mr. Hickey graduated with distinction receiving a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University in Montreal , Canada with a major in Finance and Concentration in Accounting. He was on the Principal's Student-Athlete Academic Honour Roll where he played for the McGill Rugby team, was granted membership in the Golden Key International Honour Society and was on the Dean's Honour List for having a grade point average in the top 10% of the Management faculty.
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Walter Barandiaran, Managing Partner, Argentum Group
Walter H. Barandiaran is a Managing Partner and co-founder of The Argentum Group. Walter has more than 18 years of private equity experience, during which time he has led over 30 investments for Argentum investment funds. Walter’s areas of investment expertise include outsourced services, manufacturing, clean (environmental) technologies, and enterprise software.
Walter currently serves as Chairman of two portfolio companies, HorizonWimba (software platform for online education) and AFS Technologies (ERP software to the food industry); and has served as CEO of HorizonWimba from March 2002 until June 2004.
Walter currently serves on the boards of directors of Conner Industries (lumber distribution & manufacturing), LifeStar (healthcare transportation & logistics), M3 Technologies (advanced material sciences), Medsite (marketing services to the pharmaceutical industry), Metalico (metals recycling & manufacturing), and StructuredWeb (software for sales & marketing). Walter also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Baruch College Fund.
Prior to co-founding Argentum in 1988, Walter was a Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance of Steinberg & Lyman (now Healthcare Ventures, LLC). Walter received a BBA in International Business from Baruch College (CUNY) and attended the New York University School of Business.
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Charles Crockett, Founding partner, Ascend Venture Group
Charles Crockett is a founding Partner of Ascend. Prior to the formation of Ascend, Mr. Crockett was a Director of The Beacon Group, a New York-based private investment and advisory firm that manages more than $2.0 billion in private equity capital. Mr. Crockett was the first Associate hired by The Beacon Group and spent six years evaluating, structuring and monitoring investments in a variety of industries. Prior to the formation of The Beacon Group, Mr. Crockett spent approximately three years at Goldman Sachs in the Structured Finance Group with experience in independent power financings, leveraged lease financings, partnership financings, project financings and private placements. Mr. Crockett currently serves as a director of AEP Networks Inc.
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Andrew Clapp, Founding Partner , Brook Venture Partners
Andy is a Partner of Brook Venture Partners (www.brookventure.com), which manages Brook Venture Fund I and II, plus 10 co-investment limited partnerships. The fund makes sub-$5 million investments in expansion stage companies within the information technology and medical technology fields, located in the northeast. He has written a number of published and often referenced articles on venture capital, some of which are on his firm’s website.
Andy’s approach to funding companies was began while with Downer & Company, a transatlantic investment-banking firm with offices in Boston and Paris, which did the first $4 million placement of Staples. There he completed a number of private venture capital placements as well as launched the firm’s highly successful sell-side practice. His previous experience included a corporate stint with Equifax, Inc., and five great years at Arthur D. Little, Inc., then the worlds largest international consulting firm. He also launched his own publishing firm on the side and sold it 12 years later to a division of Thompson.
Currently Andy is a Director of Mobile Medical Corporation, Texterity, Inc., Hamilton Thorne Biosciences, Inc., and is a board observer for Wandrian, Inc., Point Care Technologies, and Laser Projection Technologies, Inc. Previously he was a Director of the New England Venture Capital Association, and in 1978 he founded the Boston chapter for the Association for Corporate Growth, which is currently the nation’s largest chapter. He has served as a trustee of the Aloha Foundation and the Essex County Greenbelt. He has two grown children, lives in Ipswich, MA with his wife Jean, and spends time in the Adirondacks and Vermont.
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Daniel Ciporin, Venture Partner, Canaan Partners
Dan Ciporin is committed to building innovative businesses that make the Internet a more engaging place for consumers. Dan joined Canaan’s Connecticut office in 2007 to invest in emerging leaders in online advertising and digital media in the New York corridor, as well as in communications infrastructure companies that deliver interactive content to connected consumers.
Dan brings two decades of executive-level operational experience to Canaan. He was the former Chairman and CEO of Shopping.com, the pioneer in online comparison shopping, where he oversaw growth from zero to over $100 million in revenues in just five years, culminating in the company's IPO in October 2004 and later acquisition by eBay in 2005. Previously, Dan served as chairman of the Internet Lab, a US-Israeli incubator for early-stage consumer Internet startups, as Senior VP of MasterCard International, where he was responsible for the marketing and product management of all online global debit products, and as a strategy consultant for both Mars and Co. and Corporate Value Associates.
At Canaan, Dan sits on the board of Lending Club, an innovative online lending community where people borrow and lend money, bypass the banks, and get better rates; and Peer39, the global leader in semantic advertising solutions. In addition to his work with Canaan, Dan is on the boards of three public companies: Primedia (PRM), one of the world's leading targeted media companies; VistaPrint (VRPT), which supplies more than 10 million global customers with customized printed products online; and leading graphics software company Corel (CREL).
Dan earned an AB from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and an MBA from Yale University. Dan is committed to improving the lives of people living in poverty in Southeast Asia. After serving in 1980 as Director of Educational Programs for the UN-funded Sakaeo Refugee Camp in Thailand – where he lived in a teak stilt house in the middle of a remote rice paddy – Dan has continued to support volunteer organizations in that part of the world.
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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, 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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Bob Greene, Partner, Contour Venture Partners
Bob Greene is a co-founder of Contour Venture Partners and has been a venture capitalist since the late 1980's. He has invested in all stages of venture capital across several industry sectors.
Prior to launching Contour, Bob was one of the three managing partners of Flatiron Partners. Located in New York City, Flatiron was a leading venture capital firm focused on the information technology sector. The firm backed over 50 companies with over $500 million of venture capital. Bob has also been an active private investor, where he has invested his own capital in emerging technology companies. Prior to joining Flatiron full time in 1999, Bob was a General Partner at Chase Capital Partners (also known as JPMorgan Partners). Bob joined Chase Capital in 1994 when it was known as Chemical Venture Partners. In the ensuing five years he started, built and led Chase Capital's
Technology and Internet practice, which included building the technology team and portfolio within Chase Capital, launching Flatiron in New York City in 1996, backing Pitango Venture Capital in Israel in 1996, and launching Techfund Capital in Silicon Valley in 1997.
Some of Bob's notable investments during his career include 3Dfx Interactive, Acurian, Agamatrix, Cobalt Networks, EXIT41, Fundquest, iXL Enterprises, GeoCities, Homebid.com, Kinkos.com, Managed Systems,
Media6Degrees, Multex, N*Able Technologies, Nextec, NuRide, Resonate, SeamlessWeb, Stamps.com, SwapDrive, Total Pharmaceutical Care and Vindigo.
Bob started his venture capital career in 1988 with Prudential Equity Investors (later known as Cornerstone Equity Partners) as a generalist investor, working on venture investments and buyouts in retailing, consumer, media, business services and healthcare services. Prior to this, he was a banker for five years with First Boston and Fleet Financial.
Bob is the President of the Venture Investors Association of New York and has been on the VIANY Board since 1994. Bob has been a guest
lecturer at The MIT Sloan School of Management since 2000, and formerly served for five years on the Undergraduate Financial Aid Committee of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.
Bob received a BS from the Wharton School of Business and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
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Ronald Thompson, Founder & Investor, Corporate Angels
Ron Thompson is a founder of CAIL.
Having started in the technical side of the industry, moving to product management and then to profit / loss responsibility, Ron has accumulated considerable business experience with an ability to successfully generate bottom line results.
With this background and having made many investments over the years, venture Founders benefit with Ron’s extensive entrepreneurial insights, knowledge of applying technology to enhance processes and value for Customers, establishing business development plans, and the ability to contribute to corporate strategic direction. Mr. Thompson’s focus is companies with a large market opportunity, a business model designed to generate a significant financial return, intellectual property, and a highly competent operations team that is able to deliver important benefits to Customers including –
1. Increasing revenue
2. Delivering competitive advantage
3. Improving operational efficiency and profitability. Being an active Angel since 2000 and founder of the Corporate Angels, Ron maintains a portfolio of 15 to 20 venture investments (in both the US and Canada) and is a Board member on several of them. In addition, Ron is a member of the Canadian Venture Forum Selection Committee, an important industry event for funding companies with high growth potential. As well, Mr. Thompson presents in various venture community industry events to support entrepreneurship and provide insights on becoming more sophisticated in venture investing.
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Rahul Singh, Principal, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners
Rahul Singh is a principal at Cross Atlantic. He is involved in deal sourcing and investment due diligence and works closely with several portfolio companies in the Enterprise Software and Communications sectors.
Prior to joining Cross Atlantic, Rahul was the Chief Technology Officer at Intesys, the IT solutions subsidiary of the HSS Group, a leading Malaysian Construction Consulting firm. At Intesys, he helped launch the e-business solutions practice and led the professional services group in implementing e-business initiatives for leading South East Asian corporations. Prior to Intesys, he led the e-Procurement product group at Virinchi Technologies, one of the first India-based companies to offer a productized e-Procurement solution.
Rahul was previously a consultant with the Telecom Business Unit at Trilogy Software where he architected and implemented Sales Configuration and Order Management solutions for Fortune 500 clients. He has also spent time at i2 Technologies as a member of their core R&D team responsible for developing industry leading Supply Chain Optimization solutions.
Rahul received an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
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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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Warren Haber, Jr., Managing Partner, Crossbar Capital
Warren Haber, Jr. brings twelve years of venture capital experience to Crossbar. Until Mellon Ventures ceased pursuing new investments, he ran the New York office. Prior to Mellon, Warren was a founding Partner of Grand Central Holdings, an early-stage, regionally-focused venture firm. Previously, he was with GE Equity, where he was responsible for evaluating early- and expansion-stage venture investments. Earlier in his career, Warren worked with a leveraged buyout firm, distinguished himself in BankBoston’s management development program and spent two summers as an Investment Analyst with Allen and Company.
Warren received his MBA from the Wharton School and his BA from Brown University.
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Charlie Federman, Managing Partner, Crossbar Capital
Charlie is a Managing Partner of Crossbar Capital, an early stage venture capital fund located in New York City. Charlie's domain focuses on Software. Prior to joining Crossbar, Charlie was a Managing Director of BRM Capital, an Israeli/US venture fund.
Before joining BRM Capital, Charlie was chairman of Broadview, a Mergers and Acquisitions boutique for the information technology industry. Charlie has handled over 100 acquisitions and investments during his 25-year career in IT.
He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and holds a BS in Economics.
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Ross Goldstein, Co-founder & Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures
Ross is a member of the Board of Directors of Mimeo.com (Enterprise software/services), Lumeta (Network security) 422, Inc. (Wireless directory assistance), ContextWeb (Contextual advertising), Practical Engineering (ATE software and hardware), and Guidester (Online advertising network). Prior to co-founding Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures, Ross was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Interactive Imaginations, Inc., one of the East Coast's pioneering Internet companies, and the predecessor company to 24/7 Media, Inc. Ross helped manage Interactive Imaginations through the challenges of the early Internet industry and eventually toward its successful merger and IPO as 24/7 Media. Prior to joining Interactive Imaginations, Ross was with Morgan Stanley for 13 years, where he had most recently been a senior banker responsible for equity financings for the firm's technology, telecommunications and media clients. He also serves on the Board of Directors of New York Cares, a non-profit volunteer service organization based in New York City. Ross received a B.S. in Applied Mathematics-Economics, magna cum laude,
from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
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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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Tony Bifano, Partner, ETF Venture Funds
Tony Bifano has worked closely with ETF Venture Funds since the inception of the fund and has spent over 10 years operating venture capital backed early stage companies.
Prior to joining ETF, he was with Health Market Science, a leading healthcare data services company recognized by the INC 500, as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. In 1998, Bifano founded an online personal information manager publishing platform similar to today’s blogging and RSS platforms. That company was acquired by Aroundcampus, Inc., the largest collegiate telephone directory publisher, which was subsequently acquired by White Directory, a division of the Hearst Corporation.
Bifano was honored by Philly Tech Magazine as a "30 under 30" hottest technology executives in the region and has been featured in Philadelphia Magazine. He also has advised several early stage companies in the Mid-Atlantic region and over the last seven plus years has served on the board of software and media companies, including AroundCampus, Specialty Diets and Boomi.
Bifano spent the early part of his career as a manufacturing engineer with Procter & Gamble and as a programmer with Anderson Consulting technology practice. Bifano earned a degree in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University.
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Divya Gugnani, Vice President, FirstMark Capital (formerly Pequot Ventures)
Divya Gugnani, a Vice President, joined Pequot Ventures in 2006, where she focuses on information technology investments. Previously, Ms. Gugnani was at Millennium Technology Ventures, where she made secondary direct investments in information technology and software companies.
Prior to Millennium, Divya was an associate at iFormation Group, a joint venture between The Boston Consulting Group, General Atlantic Partners, and Goldman Sachs. iFormation Group partnered with leading Global 2000 enterprises to acquire, develop, and build new businesses. At iFormation, she worked on several financings for site59, a web-based travel site, and the eventual sale of the business to Travelocity. Divya also engaged in the operational build of ipValue, an intellectual property commercialization firm, and provided the management team with ongoing strategic, financial, and recruiting guidance.
Prior to joining iFormation Group, Divya was an associate at Investcorp International, a premier source of private equity capital for companies in North America and Europe. At Investcorp, she executed leveraged transactions across a wide array of industries. Divya was also responsible for equity and debt transactions for CSK Auto, a specialty retailer of automotive aftermarket parts and accessories. Divya began her professional career as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she focused on mergers & acquisitions in both the High Technology and Real Estate industry groups.
Divya received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. She also holds a degree from the French Culinary Institute.
Divya serves on the Board of Directors of Superior Access Insurance Services and Swingtide.
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Michael Greeley, General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners (formerly IDG Ventures)
Michael A. Greeley founded the IDG Ventures Boston office in September 2001 and serves as a General Partner. Michael brings over 15 years of early and later-stage investment experience to IDG Ventures. Just prior to joining IDG Ventures, he was with Polaris Venture Partners, where he focused on both early and later stage financings for emerging growth companies. Prior to Polaris, Michael served for over five years as Senior Vice President and Founding Partner of GCC Investments, a successful $200 million private equity fund.
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Jung Yun, President, Global Media Fund
Jung Yun has more than thirteen years experience in the areas of operations, finance, sales, consulting, and as an entrepreneur. She has been responsible for raising capital for public/private companies, mergers and acquisitions, financial strategy, business consulting, implementations and strategic alliances. During her career, she has also set up and managed Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards. She has served as President and Chairman of Global Life Line LLC, a telecommunications startup and President of Mindography Inc, an eduportal for the education market. She currently serves as Director of Boston First Capital LLC, a private investment bank. Ms. Yun’s accomplishments include building direct sales, channels, and business development. The list of companies, which she contributed to their sales growth, include: ADP, Cahners (US division of Reed Elsevier), The Village Companies and many others. In her experience, she has grown and managed projects ranging from $25M to over $100M. Her experience consists of building an ecommerce division, managing mergers and acquisitions, and managing a sales force of over 300 representatives. She has also published a sales and management manual which was recognized by Dale Carnegie. She graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee and is a proud member of the Mensa organization.
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James B. Lockhart, Associate, Greenhill SAVP
Mr. Lockhart joined Greenhill SAVP in 2006. Previously, he was a Manager in Disney’s Strategic Planning Group, where he worked on the acquisition of Pixar and the formulation of Disney’s new media investment strategy. Prior to Disney, JB worked in media investment banking and technology strategic investments at Lehman Brothers.
JB currently serves as a Board Observer at Pontiflex and Serious. He is also a junior Board Member at The Beginning with Children Foundation, a non-profit charter school organization. JB received a BA with honors from Yale and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Brian Fenty, Associate, Hamilton Investment Partners, LLC
Brian joined Hamilton Investment Partners in 2007 and is responsible for investment, industry and sector research, as well as fund and partnership-related marketing communications.
Previously, Brian worked for the New York Yankees and specialized in marketing and stadium financing, sponsorship and promotions. Brian is an active member of the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative and represents The Hotchkiss School as a Lead Fundraising Agent.
Brian received a Bachelor of Arts from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, cum laude, with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from the Frank Hawkins Kenan Foundation for Private Enterprise.
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Toby Moskovits, Founder & CEO, Heritage Equity Partners / Gotham Angels
Toby Moskovits is the Founder and CEO of Heritage Equity Partners. She has spent the past 10 years advising companies across a range of industries and stages on strategic and operational growth strategies. Prior to founding Heritage Equity Partners, Toby served as Managing Director of private equity and venture capital investment activity at Cammeby’s Capital Group, a private family-owned firm, where she invested in companies across a diverse range of industries. In addition to traditional private equity investments, in her role at Cammeby’s Toby developed a merchant banking practice, working with entrepreneurs and companies to aggressive identify and execute on strategic growth opportunities, as well as generating significant proprietary deal flow in partnership with a network of virtual “entrepreneurs in residence” across a range of industries. Toby is also the founder of Gotham Angels, a New York based Angel Investment group focused on providing angel investors with opportunities to invest in mature growth and middle market private equity opportunities. Prior to joining Cammeby's Toby founded Cato Advisors, a boutique investment bank and consulting firm providing advisory services to early and growth stage companies. From 1998-2002 Toby lived in Israel during which time she worked at Israel Seed Partners, a $250 million fund based in Jerusalem, in addition to holding operational and advisory roles in a number of early stage technology companies. During her tenure at Israel Seed Partners, the fund invested in Cyota (sold to RSA) and Dealtime (IPO: Shopping.com, subsequently sold to Ebay). Toby currently holds seats on the board of directors of Melior Discovery, Blink Twice and Vumber. Toby has a B.Sc. from Touro College and an MBA from Bar Ilan University, both awarded summa cum laude.
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Gaurav Tewari, Senior Associate, Highland Capital Partners
Gaurav is a Senior Associate at Highland focusing on technology with specific experience and interest in internet, digital media, mobile and online marketing technologies.
Prior to joining Highland Capital Partners, Gaurav was a Corporate Strategy Manager at Microsoft Corporation, where he worked with the executive team to define and implement corporate-wide growth opportunities via organic initiatives and acquisitions. Before Microsoft, Gaurav was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he led strategic projects for Fortune 100 companies across a number of verticals, including high tech, financial services, healthcare and energy. At McKinsey, Gaurav extensively advised senior management on investments and divestitures, operational improvement and organizational initiatives, and in developing and executing technology strategies and roadmaps.
Gaurav’s other experiences include working within product management at Microsoft (.NET initiative), within software engineering at IBM and as an investment professional at Mission Ventures.
Gaurav holds 7 US technology patents. He has authored 9 published works of research and has spoken at various conferences about location-aware mobile-commerce technologies and business models.
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S., Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.Eng., Computer Science
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, M.B.A. (Ford Fellow, Palmer Scholar)
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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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Jeff Davison, General Partner, Inflection Point Ventures
Jeff has been investing in early-stage technology companies since 1984. He co-founded Tritech Partners, L.P., an early-stage fund managed by Triad Investors Corporation, Baltimore, MD, in 1994. Previously, he was a member of the senior investment team at Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) Boston, MA. Jeff earned a Master's degree in architecture and planning from MIT, and a Bachelor's degree from Hampshire College.
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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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Charles Scott, Director, Software & Solutions, Intel Capital
Charles Scott manages the vertical markets strategy for the Software and Solutions Group in Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's venture investment arm. Based in New York, he evaluates a broad range of deals in the enterprise segment, including financial technology software.
In his ten years at Intel, Charles has held a variety of management positions, including running international business development and marketing in the Enterprise Products Group, serving as chief of staff to the General Manager of Intel's Mobile Products Group, and managing Intel's worldwide strategic engagement with General Electric and NASDAQ. Prior to joining Intel, Charles worked in New York City at the U.S. Council for International Business, where he lobbied international governmental organizations on behalf of U.S. high tech companies.
Charles has an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and a Masters degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts and Harvard Universities. He speaks German and Japanese.
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Scott Kehoe, Managing Principal, Inverness Graham Investments
Prior to joining Inverness, Scott was a Senior Manager with Ernst & Young where he was a key player in the launch of two strategic business units within E&Y's Management Consulting practice: Strategic Advisory Services (E&Y's corporate strategy consulting practice) and Connected Enterprise Solutions (venture and consulting group focused on leveraging new technologies). Scott served as CEO of Mediastream, an early stage technology services firm, and has extensive experience assisting Fortune 500 companies in developing and executing growth-oriented strategies. Scott earned his BA from Dartmouth College and his MBA, Beta Gamma Sigma, from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.
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Todd Dean, Bellevue/Eastside Chapter President, Keiretsu Forum
Growing up in the big sky state of Montana, Todd learned first hand the value of relationships, hard work and community at a young age. After attending the Business School at Eastern Montana College, Todd has 18 years of experience in the business community building his acumen and relationship network. The majority of those years were spent working for Bernard Rapaport, the billionaire CEO of American Income Life Insurance, where Todd started in sales and successfully worked his way up to the top agent in the nation and a role as regional manager. Over the years, Todd has developed a wide and influential association of business relationships throughout the northwest.
Recently Todd has experience working as an investor relations advisor and assisted in the fundraising for several prominent local startup companies including NodeLogic Networks, BioPassword, PayScale and LINQware to name a few.
Todd donates considerable time and energy to several regional charities and non-profits including the City Team Men’s Homeless Shelter, Hope Heart Institute, American Cancer Society, and the Washington State Wine Industry.
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Dan Borok, Senior Associate, Millennium Technology Ventures, LP
Daniel joined Millennium in 2005 after working at the firm as a Summer Associate. Previously, Daniel was a Business Analyst in the sales finance group at Google. While at Google, he was part of the core team responsible for implementing a financial reporting and revenue projection infrastructure. In addition, Daniel worked with senior management on multiple new product initiatives, including the launch of Google Adsense. Prior to Google, Daniel was an Operations Analyst in the media division at DoubleClick, a leading provider of digital advertising technology and services. At DoubleClick he functioned as an internal consultant for the DoubleClick Advertising Network, focusing on business development and sales partnerships. Daniel began his professional career in the digital advertising group at J. Walter Thompson in New York. Daniel received a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School with honors and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont.
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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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Paul Sciabica, Executive Director, New York Angels
Paul Sciabica is currently the Executive Director of the New York Angels. He started his career as a technologist for the NASD and the Federal Reserve Board. He was involved in strategic planning for The Washington Post and Merrill Lynch. At Merrill, he was a investment banker and venture fund manager focusing on semiconductors (fab and fabless), software, telecommunications equipment and business services. Primarily a US focused investor, he also has invested in China, Japan, Sweden and Israel.
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Maria Gotsch, CEO and President, New York City Investment Fund
Maria is the President and CEO at the New York City Investment Fund and also serves as President of the Fund's Civic Capital Corporation, which manages the Fund's charitable investments. Prior to joining the Fund in 1999, Maria was a Managing Director at BT Wolfensohn (now part of Deutsche Bank), providing strategic and financial advice related to mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and the development of business strategies. Before starting with Wolfensohn, Maria worked at LaSalle Partners in the New York area and for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York and London. Maria has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Wellesley College.
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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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Adam VeVerka, Associate, NewSpring Capital
Adam VeVerka is an Associate of NewSpring Capital having joined the firm in 2006. Most recently, Mr. VeVerka was an Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse. In this role, he assisted on several transactions in the financial institutions and financial technology sectors where his primary responsibilities were financial modeling, due diligence and deal marketing. Prior to Investment Banking, Mr. VeVerka worked in Credit Suisse�s Information Technology division, where he worked closely with the Chief Technology Officer evaluating new technologies for the firm. While completing his degree, Mr. VeVerka spent two summers at Goldman Sachs and worked on the Chairman�s staff at American Financial Group / Chiquita Brands. Mr. VeVerka graduated from the University of Cincinnati�s honors business program with a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Technology and minors in Finance and Real Estate.
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Glenn T. Rieger, General Partner, NewSpring Capital
Mr. Rieger is a General Partner of NewSpring Ventures and a Partner of NewSpring Capital. Prior to joining NewSpring in 2004, he was a co-founder and managing director of Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, inc., the management company that oversees the operations of three venture funds with over $350 million in assets under management. He oversaw the operations of Cross Atlantic’s U.S. activities out of its Radnor, PA office and worked closely with several portfolio companies, including: Ecount, Gain Capital, and Management Dynamics. Prior to Cross Atlantic, he was a Senior Vice President for Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE) in charge of business development. In this position, he developed and oversaw merger, acquisition, investment and exit opportunities for Safeguard. In addition, he served as a business partner and director for five of Safeguard's partnership companies. Prior to joining Safeguard, he was a managing director of a boutique investment banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions, and President and Chief Executive Officer of a $1 billion California savings bank that employed over 250 people. He is active in the local venture capital community and for the 2004 program year chaired the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group, a trade association representing more than 80 venture funds representing approximately $12 billion in assets under management. He is a graduate of Colby College and has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Robert Rosenbaum, Partner, Nobska Ventures
Mr. Rosenbaum joined Nobska Group in 2003 as a Partner and will be a Director of the General Partner. He is an accomplished operations and business development executive with a history of building and managing high performance teams and organizations, both entrepreneurial and corporate.
Mr. Rosenbaum brings a focus on enterprise applications, IT infrastructure, technology implementation, and operations process design as key components to successful strategy and business execution. Additionally, Mr. Rosenbaum has been involved in business turnaround, crisis management, domestic and off-shore manufacturing, and off-shore sourcing. Mr. Rosenbaum leverages these skills to reduce costs and increase margins. Immediately prior to joining Nobska Group, as Vice President of Operations of $115+mm Agora Publishing, Mr. Rosenbaum orchestrated the redesign and subsequent implementation of a new customer service organization, reducing costs by more than 20%, while at the same time generating new "up-sales" accounting for approximately 2.5% of corporate revenue.
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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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Scott Nissenbaum, Managing Director, Novitas Capital
Mr. Nissenbaum joined Novitas Capital in 1998, and is focused on investments in Technology. Mr. Nissenbaum has served on the Boards of Directors of Traffic.com (NASDAQ:TRFC), USA Technologies (OTC.BB:USTT), EZ Prints, Commerce360, ImageTree, Haley Systems, and Fortera, and as an Observer to the Boards of Directors of eDuction, RenuitNow, and InGrid.
He developed his financial and analytical skills as a co-founder and Vice President of Quaker State Mortgage Corporation. Quaker State Mortgage Corporation is a commercial mortgage banking operation that provides debt restructuring and financing for distressed commercial properties throughout the US. During his tenure, the company achieved annual growth rates of over 100 percent.
While building the operations for Quaker State, Mr. Nissenbaum served as an adjunct faculty member in the Management Information Systems department of St. Joseph's University, focusing on business software applications. In 2007, Mr. Nissenbaum served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, focusing on Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Management in the MBA program.
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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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Lou Mazzucchelli, Venture Partner, Ridgewood Capital
Lou Mazzucchelli is an internationally recognized figure in the technology business. He joined Ridgewood Capital in 2001 as a Venture Partner, helping to manage its existing portfolio and source new investments, including AudioAudit, Bluesocket, CleverSet and Peregrine Semiconductor. Lou is a Director of Forgent Networks (NASDAQ:FORG), and a Fellow of the Cutter Information Systems Business Technology Trends Council.
Prior to joining Ridgewood, Lou was an investment banker at Gerard Klauer Mattison in New York, which he joined in 1996 as their PC and digital media technology analyst. He was named to the Wall St. Journal all-star team in his second year, and in his third was named one of nine "Home-Run Hitters" of 2,400 analysts analyzed for his stock-picking performance.
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Rob Weber, Co-founder, Robin Hood Ventures
Rob Weber has held a variety of executive positions for emerging technology companies. He is currently President of Intellifit Corporation (www.intellifit.com), a provider of guaranteed fit technology for on-line apparel shopping. Prior to Intellifit, Rob served as a co-founder of Antiphony. Prior to Antiphony he served as President of knoa, an e-learning software company, where he successfully redefined the corporate product strategy and repositioned the company to capitalize on new market opportunities. Additionally, he served as President of Elastomeric Technologies, a leading electronic connector manufacturer.
Rob is a founder of Robin Hood Ventures, an angel investment fund focused on emerging growth companies. Rob has served as a Lecturer at The Wharton School where he taught business planning and entrepreneurial management. Rob earned Bachelor of Science in Economics (B.S.E.) and Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.S.) degrees from The Wharton School and School of Engineering at The University of Pennsylvania.
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Matthew Growney, Founder & Managing Partner, Rudyard Partners
Matthew has become a well-known and successful investor for both his understanding of new technologies as well as his ability to build compelling new businesses for the commercial marketplace. He has created Rudyard Partners as a vehicle to deliver new products and solutions to both mass market consumers and specialized users alike. His areas of interest promote the creation of the most compelling user experience. Whether on a device or a network, Matthew explores technologies that implement or integrate content and software so that consumer expectations with new innovations can be surpassed. He is also focused on the monetization of old and new media and its interface with various combinations of bits and atoms.
Before creating Rudyard Partners, Matthew was a Founder & Managing Director of Motorola Ventures (MV), the corporate venture capital arm of Motorola, Inc. Matthew was directly responsible for building investment offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, and Beijing. He co-managed a $350M portfolio of 70+ companies. Matthew created the investment program in 1997 and established it as one of the premier corporate venture practices in the world. He developed MV’s investment thesis around monetizing both strategic and financial returns. He focused on emerging networks (3G, 4G, Wireline, Cable), new media, mobile devices, Web 2.0, enterprise software, and material science. He was responsible for making investments in innovative companies like E Ink, A123, Xanboo, Airclic, Cedarpoint Communications, Snaptrack, Camero, Ocean Broadband, and Netomat. He has also served on both the Investment Committee and the Board of Directors for Shanghai NewMargin Ventures, one of the leading domestic venture capital firms in China.
In November 2005, Matthew was named one of Boston’s “40 under 40″ by the Boston Business Journal for his professional achievement and community contributions in New England. He has been a featured speaker around the world and contributed to several books both on innovation and venture capital. He is a Visiting Lecturer at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad School of Business and Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. Matthew graduated from Michigan State University (BA) and the New England School of Law (JD). He has also studied Software at Harvard University and Civil Law with Loyola University- New Orleans in Costa Rica. Matthew is fluent in French, speaks Japanese, and is learning Mandarin.
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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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Jordan Levy, Partner, Softbank Capital
Jordan Levy is an experienced operating executive with an expertise in sales and marketing. He has led two lasting billion dollar technology companies to successful exits and he is a seasoned venture capitalist who has operated three venture funds where he has realized upper quartile returns. Mr. Levy is a Managing General Partner of Seed Capital Partners, an early stage technology venture fund which he co-founded in 1999 with Ron Schreiber. He currently serves as a Director of CompanyDNA, GT3, The NewsMarket, SilverCarrrot, CoKem International, and XOsoft. In 1990, Mr. Levy and Mr. Schreiber founded Upgrade Corporation, the first technology customer relationship outsourcing company. Mr. Levy served as the company’s President and Co-CEO with an emphasis on sales, marketing, and all customer-facing activities. The company’s customers included 80% of U.S. software vendors and it grew from $0 to $65 million in profitable revenue.
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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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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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Chris Starr, VP of Investments / Founder, The Science Center / The MAG Fund
Mr. Starr is responsible for the management of Science Center Capital, a venture capital fund targeting seed and early-stage technology and life science investments in the Greater Philadelphia region. Additionally, Mr. Starr is the Executive Director and Founder of the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Fund, I L.P. (MAG), the largest angel group and first structured angel fund in the Mid-Atlantic region. The MAG Fund has over $4.4 million under management and includes 89 institutional and individual accredited investors Mr. Starr is responsible for all aspects of administration and operations of the Fund and is the primary contact for both entrepreneurs and the funding community for the fund's membership.
Most recently, he was the Managing Director and Vice President of Investments at Innovation Philadelphia, where he was responsible for all of the company's investment programs. His responsibilities include executing economic stimulus investments, attracting new companies to the region, evaluating potential investment opportunities, performing due diligence, negotiating and structuring investments, and working with portfolio company management teams to execute their strategies. Previously, Mr. Starr was also a Principal of Lenfest Capital, LLC, a venture capital fund based in Philadelphia, PA that invests nationally in early stage companies in the media, cable and communications industries as well as in other venture capital and buyout funds. Prior to joining Lenfest Capital, he was an Associate at the Eastern Technology Fund, a venture fund for promising seed-stage Internet and technology companies in the Mid-Atlantic region and a feeder fund to PA Early Stage, an affiliated private equity fund of Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE).
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Christian Mayaud, Founder, The Verticom Group
Chris has extensive healthcare, technology, and operating experience managing companies from their start-up through their growth phases. Chris has a track record as an aggressive company builder and market entry strategist. In the late 1980's, Chris combined his proficiency and commitment to medicine with his background in engineering to develop clinical communication tools dedicated to empowering physicians in the practice of medicine. Chris founded several physician-centric healthcare companies headquartered in Westchester, NY (including Physicians’ Online, Inc., Med-E-Systems Corporation, Advanced Health Corporation, and vPORT). Chris founded The Verticom Group in 1996 and works closely with numerous healthcare and non-healthcare portfolio companies. A board-certified internist, bioengineer, and physicist, Chris received his clinical training at Columbia, Hahnemann, Mt. Sinai, and Lenox Hill hospitals.
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Nick Bellomo, Vice President, Trident Capital
Nick Bellomo joined Trident Capital in 2005 and is a Vice President in the Westport office. Prior to Trident, he was a Senior Analyst in Morgan Stanley's technology investment banking group where he focused on mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance transactions within the Internet services, IT services, communications technology and semiconductor industries. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Nick was an Analyst in Stifel Nicolaus' technology investment banking group.
Nick attended The University of Denver where he earned his B.S. in Finance and a minor in Economics.
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Ellen Sandles, President, TriState Investors
Ellen Sandles, President, brings over ten years of increasingly successful sales and marketing expertise to the capital raising process having worked within various start-up, high-tech divisions of AT&T Corporation, Harris Corporation and Commerce Clearing House.
Ms. Sandles has frequently lectured on Business Angel Financing, and was most recently heard at the Harvard Club, the New York City Venture Capital Conference, the Williams Club, the NYU Entrepreneurship Conference as well as the IBC Conference on Roll-ups and Mergers. She has been interviewed on numerous business programs including New Jersey Business News, the Ron Thomas Entrepreneur Forum and Bloomberg Small Business.
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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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