|
Dado Banatao
Board Chairman, Managing
Partner, Tallwood Venture Capital
Dado Banatao provides Tallwood with a unique entrepreneurial
perspective. Mr. Banatao is currently the Managing Partner of Tallwood Venture
Capital.
As an engineer, he is credited with developing several
key semiconductor technologies and is regarded as a Silicon Valley visionary.
As an investor, he has a keen sense of trends and opportunities involving
technology solutions for computing and communications. Prior to forming Tallwood,
Mr. Banatao was a Venture Partner at the Mayfield Fund. He has co-founded
three technology startups, S3 (SBLU), Chips & Technologies (INTC) and
Mostron. He has also held positions at National Semiconductor, Seeq Technologies,
Intersil and Commodore International. Mr. Banatao was honored with the prestigious
Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award sponsored by Ernst & Young, Inc.
Magazine and Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services in 1997.
Dado serves as Chairman for SiRF Technology (SIRF) and
current Tallwood portfolio companies. He also served as Chairman and led
investments in Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), Acclaim Communications, acquired
by Level One (INTC), Newport Communications, acquired by Broadcom (BRCM),
Cyras Systems, acquired by Ciena (CIEN), and Stream Machine, acquired by
Cirrus Logic (CRUS).
Dado holds a B.S.E.E. cum laude from the Mapua Institute
of Technology in the Philippines and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science from Stanford University.
Peter Buhl
Co-founder BlueRun Ventures
Peter Buhl, Partner, co-founded BlueRun Ventures and is
based in the Menlo Park office. Pete's investments span the IT spectrum from
wireless and enterprise solutions to semiconductors and systems.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of 3i Systems,
Atrua, FreedomPay, Nevis Networks, Sequoia Communications, Vusion, Wavemarket
and Zmanda. Previous board experience includes PayPal (EBAY), Netli (AKAM)
and Pogo (ERTS).
Prior to starting the firm, Pete had 12 years of operations
and finance experience in venture backed companies, including executive positions
with Ipsilon Networks and Software Alliance Corp. Pete started his career
at Price Waterhouse and holds a B.S. from the Haas School of Business at
UC Berkeley.
Robert Schwartz
Managing Director, Third Point Ventures
Robert Schwartz is Managing Director of Third Point Ventures,
LLC (the Venture Arm of Third Point Management, a NY-based fund with over
$4.5B in funds under management). In addition to serving on the Board of
Sequoia Communications, he is currently a Board member of Global Locate,
Crimson Microsystems, Liga Systems, Inapac, and Technocom Wireless.
Mr. Schwartz is the President of RF Associates North, Inc., a
leading technical manufacturer's representative firm in Northern California
specializing in wireless and wired communications components. RF Associates
North has developed long-term relationships with key companies in the market
areas of: Mobile and Fixed Wireless Communications, Cellular Communications,
Satellite Communications, GPS, Telecom Equipment, Datacom Equipment, Optical
Networking, Digital Microwave Radio, Communications Test and Measurement
Equipment, and all manner of Semiconductor related technologies.
Mr. Schwartz holds two undergraduate Engineering degrees
from the University of California, Berkeley.
Scott Chou
General Partner, Gabriel Venture Partners
Mr. Scott Chou is a General Partner at Gabriel Venture Partners.
He is known within the venture industry for his focus on disruptive technologies
and for authoring Maxims, Morals, and Metaphors – A Philosophical Guide
to Venture Capital. Scott’s passion for early stage technology ventures
extends back to high school when he joined his first startup as a software
engineer. He has since worked for five more technology ventures including
Poqet Computer and ICE in addition to world-renowned research and development
organizations such as Bellcore and IBM. His broad technical expertise spans
manufacturing through software development and even chip design. Scott completed
the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program with Onset Ventures and currently
serves as Chairman of the Alumni Network. He later joined Gabriel Venture
Partners where he pursues research labs for basic innovations. Scott’s
educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering
with honors from Caltech as well as master’s degrees from Harvard University
and Stanford University.
Scott Burri
Managing General Partner, founder Huntington Ventures
Over the last 13 years, Scott Burri has worked closely
with management teams as a venture investor in early stage technology companies,
with an emphasis in the communications, semiconductor and semiconductor equipment
sectors. Mr. Burri founded Huntington Ventures and is currently Managing
General Partner of the company.
Prior to founding Huntington, Mr. Burri was the Investment
Manager of Ventana, leading their technology venture investment fund. He
has been responsible for a number of successful venture investments in information
technology sectors, including Innovent Systems (acquired by Broadcom), PairGain
Technologies, Pathlight Inc. (acquired by Advanced Digital) and SenSys Instruments
(acquired by ThermaWave).
Mr. Burri received his MBA in Finance and Operations from
the University of Southern California, and holds a B.S. from Oregon State
University in Business Administration with a focus in Computer Science.
Professor
Dennis Roberson
Vice Provost,
New Initiatives, Illinois Institute of Technology
Dennis Roberson is Vice Provost and Executive Director
of the Institute of Business and Interprofessional Studies, as well as Acting
Director of the Jules F. Knapp Entrepreneurship Center and Research Professor
of Computer Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In
this capacity, he is responsible for its undergraduate business and related
co-curricular programs and is concentrating on the entrepreneurship, leadership,
and technology based projects. Professor Roberson is also responsible
for assisting the university in technology transfer and the development of
new research centers and business ventures.
Prior to IIT, he was Executive Vice President and Chief
Technology Officer of Motorola. Professor Roberson has an extensive corporate
career including major business and technology responsibilities at IBM, DEC,
AT&T, and NCR. He is and has been involved in leadership and public
and private board roles in a wide variety of Technology, Cultural, Business
and Youth organizations. He is a frequent speaker at technology meetings
and conferences around the globe.
Professor Roberson has undergraduate degrees in Electrical
Engineering and in Physics from Washington State University and an MSEE degree
from Stanford.
Dave Shepard
Chief Executive Officer, Sequoia Communications
Dave Shepard brings to Sequoia Communications over 17
years of leadership experience in the semiconductor industry from Texas Instruments
(TI). Mr. Shepard joined Sequoia Communications in October, 2003 as the Chief
Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors.
Prior to being appointed CEO and a member of the Board
of Directors of Sequoia Communications, Mr. Shepard was General Manager of
Wireless Infrastructure Products at TI, focusing on DSP and ASIC products,
where his responsibilities included developing and implementing TI’s
chipset strategy for UMTS, as well as managing business across four continents.
During his 17 years at TI, Mr. Shepard also served as General Manager of
ASIC-Europe as well as Director of EDA Software Development, ASIC Products.
Mr. Shepard held various management positions at TI, including General Manager
of North America ASIC Products and Director of North America Customer Design
Centers. He was also instrumental in the development of TI’s 3G basestation
chip business.
Mr. Shepard received his B.A. in physics in 1984 from
Lawrence University and his M.S. in electrical engineering in 1986 from the
University of Wisconsin.
John Groe
Chief Technology Officer, Sequoia Communications
John Groe is the company founder and key architect of
Sequoia Communications’ technology. Currently, he serves as the Chief
Technology Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Groe’s
extensive experience includes over 20 years of RF systems design.
Before founding Sequoia Communications in 2000, Mr. Groe
worked at Nokia, where he managed RFIC design activities and directed research
into advanced CDMA radio architectures. Prior to Nokia, he designed integrated
circuits and RF systems for Japan’s PHS communication system at Pacific
Communication Sciences, Inc. He has also worked at TRW, designing RF,
PLL and data converter integrated circuits for satellite communications and
radar applications as well as at Brooktree Corporation, designing integrated
circuits for the automatic test equipment market.
Mr. Groe received a B.S. in electrical engineering in
1984 from California State University at Long Beach and an M.S. in Electrical
Engineering in 1990 from the University of Southern California. Mr.
Groe is a senior member of the I.E.E.E. He has been granted 19 U.S.
patents and has applied for several others, all in the area of wireless communications. He
is co-author of the book CDMA Mobile Radio Design (Artech House, 2000).
|
