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Speaker/Panelist
Biographies AeA Venture Forum and Technology Industry Golf Event Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation - Greensboro, GA Speakers and Panelists:
Robert E. Grady serves as managing partner for Carlyle’s U.S. venture operation, Carlyle Venture Partners. In addition, Mr. Grady coordinates Carlyle’s global venture capital group, which has over $1.7 billion under management in five funds. He is based in San Francisco. Mr. Grady is a former Director of Blackboard (Nasdaq: “BBBB”) and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Carlyle portfolio companies AuthenTec, Ingenio, Panasas, Secure Elements, Verari Systems, and USBX. Mr. Grady is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and is the Chairman-elect of NVCA for 2006. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Grady was a Managing Director and member of the Management Committee at Robertson Stephens, the San Francisco-based technology investment bank. At Robertson Stephens, he invested in or led financings for such technology and market leaders as InVision Technologies (acquired by General Electric, NYSE: "GE"), Eltron (acquired by Zebra Technologies, Nasdaq: “ZBRA”), FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: “FLIR”), Align Technologies (Nasdaq: “ALGN”), Printrak (acquired by Motorola, NYSE: “MOT”), Barringer Technologies (acquired by Smiths Group plc), OSI Systems (Nasdaq: “OSIS”), Protection One (sold to Westar Energy, NYSE: “WR”), Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE: “SSD”), Fritz Companies (sold to United Parcel Service, NYSE: “UPS”), and many others. Mr. Grady served from 1994 to 2004 on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he taught a course on "Investing in Highly Regulated Industries." Prior to moving to California in 1993, Mr. Grady served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and as Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He had previously served as Associate Director of OMB for Natural Resources, Energy and Science (1989-1991); Chief Speechwriter and Senior Advisor for the successful 1988 Bush/Quayle Presidential Campaign (1988); Director of Communications for New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean (1983-1986); and Legislative Assistant and then Chief of Staff to U.S. Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick (1979-1982). Mr. Grady is a graduate of Harvard College and of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Trade and Policy Negotiations (ACTPN), by the Administrator of NASA to be a member of the NASA Advisory Council's Task Force on the cost and management of the International Space Station, and by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Commission on Military Base Support and Retention. He is a Trustee of Environmental Defense and is Chairman of the Board of Resources for the Future.
Trusted Counsel is a corporate and technology law firm headed by Evelyn Ashley. Ms. Ashley is a unique lawyer who has been both the chief executive and the entrepreneur. As a result, her 26 years of experience building businesses, advising executives and protecting technology gives her clients a unique advantage. Ms. Ashley advises private company clients and individuals on matters such as executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture financing and investments, technology licensing, intellectual property protection, entity structure and related issues, corporate spin-outs and international transactions. She has wide ranging experience and brings a refreshing, results focused, pragmatic approach to the practice of law. Ms. Ashley founded and grew Red Hot Law Group, which quickly became a noted technology law firms. Red Hot Law was acquired by Long Aldridge & Norman, (now McKenna Long & Aldridge) in 2001 and Ms. Ashley served as a Partner heading the Firm's technology practice. She left McKenna Long & Aldridge at the end of 2003 to form Trusted Counsel. She is also co-founder of Red Hot Venture Consulting, a strategic consulting firm for technology businesses, formerly a technology incubator. She also serves as Chairman of Alexander Babbage, Inc., a market research firm. Ms. Ashley is active in community service and professional organizations serving as the Chairman of CowParade Atlanta, a public art event which generated over $36M in economic impact to the City of Atlanta and raised over $250,000 for artists and charities. She was a Founding Board member of TechBridge, a non-profit organization working to make technology more accessible to charitable groups and presenting serves on the Board of Directors of Who-Ha-Da-Da, Inc. a Georgia non-profit working to create a “community” that supports “outsider” folk artists in the Southeast through assistance in applying for research grants, participation in art shows and similar events, as well as group health and dental benefits. Ms. Ashley is an active member of Vistage (formerly, The Executive Committee) where she participates in a monthly CEO roundtable with 16 other CEO’s and business owners. She is also a member of the Advisory Board for GROWE, the Georgia Roundtable of Women Entrepreneurs (www.growe.biz) and is serving as a judge for the 2006 Women in Technology Woman of the Year awards in the small/medium technology business category. She is also infinitely “quotable” most recently have a Fast Company Magazine “First Impression of the Day” quote on December 30, 2005 (http://trax.fastcompany.com/k/w/mailman/firstimpression/20051230/redhot). Ms. Ashley holds her B.A. from Eisenhower College in Seneca Falls, New York, and her J.D., cum laude, from Georgia State University College of Law.
Christopher Banas joined UTEK Corporation as Director of Technology Alliances. In this position, he regularly interfaces with clients, Universities, and government laboratories around the world to source and transfer exciting and commercially viable technologies. Mr. Banas specializes in the physical sciences with over 15 years of background experience in the high tech arena including aerospace, IT and semiconductor equipment design. He has successfully transferred technologies in the areas of medical devices, network security, and telecommunications. Prior to joining UTEK Corporation, Mr. Banas was General Manager of Semiconductor Diagnostics, Inc, a company he led from a small startup to become a world leader in the manufacture of silicon wafer metrology equipment.
David L. Day is the Director of the Office of Technology Licensing. Mr. Day oversees the commercialization efforts of all UF technologies. The University of Florida has one of the top licensing offices in the country and ranks tenth in licensing revenue. Mr. Day is also the Director of the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator in Alachua, Florida. He serves on the Board of Directors of BioFlorida and the Florida Research Consortium. He also serves on the Advisory Panel of the UF McKnight Brain Institute. Prior to coming to UF, Mr. Day served as the Director of the UAB Research Foundation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was also the Director of the Technology Assistance Program for the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium. He led in the development of a statewide program and assisted over 200 manufacturing and high technology businesses.
Stephen Fleming has over 10 years of private equity experience at the General Partner level. Prior to his venture capital career, he spent 15 years in operations roles at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Nortel Networks, and LICOM (a venture-funded startup). An Atlanta native and summa cum laude graduate of Georgia Tech, Mr. Fleming returned to his alma mater in mid-2005 as Chief Commercialization Officer. His appointment led a reorganization designed to streamline the handling of intellectual property, accelerate the licensing of technology, and make the Institute¹s resources more readily accessible to business and industry. Mr. Fleming is also active in the "alternative space industry" and is an investor in two private spaceship companies. Mr. Fleming also serves on the Board of Trustees of Tech High School, a charter high school emphasizing science, math, and technology in urban Atlanta.
Robert Gallagher has been in executive search for nine years. He joined Heidrick & Struggles in 2000 and is an active member of the Venture Capital & Private Equity Practice, as well as, the International Technology Practice. Mr. Gallagher has successfully completed searches for a range of technology clients for consumer, enterprise and telecommunication markets. Client’s range in size from the Fortune 500 to newly formed emerging start-ups. Functionally, Mr. Gallagher is focused on searches for CEOs, and their direct reports. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Mr. Gallagher was with Christian & Timbers where he helped establish their presence in the southeast while serving technology and telecommunication clients. He started in executive search with the Highland Search Group (formerly Lamalie Amrop International). Prior to his career in executive search, Mr. Gallagher was in marketing for a major hotel company where he helped launch a new brand of hotel for the business traveler. He has a BA from the University of Georgia, and resides in Atlanta with his wife and two children.
Scott Geller is President and Chief Executive Officer of Invistics, an Atlanta-based, venture-backed manufacturing software company. Before joining Invistics in December 2003, he served as entrepreneur-in-residence at ATDC. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Geller co-founded and served as the first Executive Director and then Board Chair for TechBridge, a nonprofit organization that has helped hundreds of area nonprofits utilize technology to better serve the Greater Atlanta community. Prior to TechBridge, Mr. Geller was founder and CEO of another venture-backed software company, 2order.com (formerly BT Squared), a provider of quotation management and product configuration software for large manufacturers that was acquired by Primus Knowledge Solutions, a public company at the time, in January, 2000. Mr. Geller also founded Business Systems Design, a manufacturing systems integration company that he sold in 1996. He started his career as a Manager in the systems consulting practice of Ernst & Young. Mr. Geller has an MS in Computer Science from the University of California at San Diego and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2004, and serves on the Board of Directors of TechBridge and Jewish Family & Career Services and the Board of Visitors of Emory University.
Mr. Igoe’s practice is focused on working with entrepreneurs and companies growing their businesses. His clients raise private equity from angel investors, venture capital funds, and other institutional investors. His public company clients raise capital in the public markets. Mr. Igoe has worked in the venture capital arena since he started practicing law in 1981. He has advised start-up companies from inception to IPO and beyond. He has a strong reputation in Florida for his knowledge of venture capital transactions and securities law. He also works on complex corporate structuring, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and general corporate matters.
Mr. McRobbie has spent over 14 years in the US with successful start-up ventures. Prior to joining Byotrol LLC in 2001, he established the US business of Trimite, a specialist powder coatings business, as President and chief executive officer of Trimite USA. Prior to moving to the US, David held senior positions with companies such as Trimite Limited, BASF AG, and Valentine Varnish & Lacquer Limited and trained as an industrial chemist with the Donald Macpherson Group and Holt Lloyd International. He holds a masters degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bath.
Kenneth Millar, Managing Director, joined SunTrust Equity Partners in 2001, after eight years with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey where he led the Private Capital Group within Investment Banking and managed the General Partner of RH Capital Partners, L.P. At SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Mr. Millar specialized in private capital raising and merger and acquisition strategies for growth companies. Previous experience includes ten years as Senior Vice President and Director at GE Capital Corporate Finance Group, Inc. where he marketed debt and equity to companies and buyout funds for highly leveraged transactions. Before joining GE Capital, Mr. Millar was a business development officer with Barclays/Americas Business Credit and a commercial loan officer with Citizens and Southern Bank from 1978 to 1983. He earned a B.A. degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Emory University. Mr. Millar also earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1992.
Steve Nussrallah joined NMP in late 2000 and has focused his investment activities on communications technology and business services companies. Mr. Nussrallah has served on the board of several NMP portfolio companies, including Cypress Communications (sold to Arcapita), EG Technologies, Jacket Micro Devices, and Privaris. Mr. Nussrallah has extensive operating experience in the communications industry, particularly in cable television. Prior to joining NMP, he served as President and CEO of Concurrent Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: CCUR), a leading provider of video-on-demand systems, high-performance computer systems, and related software and servers. Mr. Nussrallah still serves as Concurrent’s Chairman. Mr. Nussrallah has also served as President and COO of Syntellect, an NMP III portfolio company and leading supplier of call center solutions to the cable TV industry, and Vice President of Engineering at Scientific-Atlanta, where he was responsible for a diverse product offering including set-top converters, satellite receivers, transmission equipment, and related software products. Mr. Nussrallah received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Laurie Olivier is a partner of Veritas Venture Partners, a veteran VC firm in Israel, and manages its Atlanta office. In his capacity as a general partner of Veritas’ latest fund, VVP II, he serves on the boards of an enterprise software company, ClickFox Inc., a medical device company, CytoDome Inc., and a network optimization company, Asankya. He is a member of various technology related industry forums – he currently serves as vice chairman of the American Israel Chamber of Commerce, and is on the board of the Atlanta Venture Forum. Mr. Olivier has been involved in venture capital since 1990. As SVP Private Equity at Anglo American (AA), a leading global mining concern, he represented AA's interests in a number of venture funds, including the AAV fund managed by Veritas. He served on the boards various AAV portfolio companies. He was also a board member of MCPEPA (an East Asian private equity fund) and MCA (a South African VC fund - Chairman of the Investment Committee). At AA, he pioneered the establishment of new technology-driven businesses, and served on the boards of a variety of publicly traded and privately held businesses, including Anglo American Industrial Corporation Ltd and some of its joint venture companies with major East Asian corporations, including Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, Temasek of Singapore, and the Daewoo Group of South Korea. In South Africa he currently serves as a technology commercialization advisor to the major government controlled research organization and the University of Pretoria. Mr. Olivier was born and raised in South Africa, and holds a B.Engineering (Electronics) from the University of Pretoria, and a B.Com (Hons) and Dip. Datametrics from the University of South Africa.
Tim Patrick is President and CEO of Windward Medical, Inc., an Atlanta-based company founded in August 2005 to focus on high potential emerging healthcare technologies. Prior to founding Windward Medical, Inc., Mr. Patrick was President, CEO and co-founder of Proxima Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on the localized delivery of radiation for the treatment of cancer. Prior to co-founding Proxima, which was acquired by Cytyc Corporation in 2005, Mr. Patrick was President of Gesco International, Inc., the leading manufacturer of peripherally inserted central venous (PICC) catheters. Gesco and its parent company, MedChem Products, Inc., were acquired by C.R. Bard, Inc. in 1995. Before serving as President of Gesco, Mr. Patrick ran two high-growth divisions for McGaw Laboratories, serving most recently as President of Central Admixture Pharmacy Services and previously as Vice President and General Manager of the Alternate Site division. He also served in various sales and sales management roles at American Hospital Supply Corporation. Mr. Patrick, an inventor on several patents in the field of local radiation delivery, earned his Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Miami University in Ohio. He has served on the boards of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and the Georgia Biomedical Partnership.
Mr. Poliner is President of Antares Capital Corporation, a private venture capital firm investing equity capital in expansion stage companies and management buyout opportunities. Mr. Poliner was a founder and Chief Operating Officer of Macrodyne, Inc., an instrumentation and signal processing company, which he led from product definition to, established revenues and eventual sale of the business. Mr. Poliner successfully led the publicly-held turnaround of Scientific Systems Services, Inc., a consulting and systems integration concern, and served as Vice President of Scientific Systems Services for Computer Task Group, Inc. which purchased the company. He also guided Flood Data Services as President and CEO from $4 million to $70 million in sales over four years and provided the sales leadership for First American's Information Services group which purchased the company resulting in an increase of revenue from $147 million to $248 million in one year. Mr. Poliner earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Mr. Poliner has been involved in numerous professional, civic, and alumni organizations. He holds 2 patents for electronic instrumentation in the energy field. He is currently active in several venture capital clubs, on the Advisory Board of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, a Trustee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, a Director and Chairman of the Business Oversight Committee of Florida Institute of Technology, and with the Harvard Business School Fund.
Tim Redfern joined the corporate finance team at Beeson Gregory in July 1996 and has almost 10 years experience in corporate finance and corporate broking, working with growth companies. In 2002, Evolution Securities acquired Beeson Gregory, since then, Mr. Redfern has tended to focus on the technology and resources sectors, specifically in the areas of i) next generation networks, and ii) mining and oil and gas. Mr. Redfern has worked on numerous AIM IPO’s and secondary fundraisings and advises a large number of UK-listed clients, the majority of which are listed on AIM.
Andrew Saul is the Chairman of the corporate practice group for the Osborne Clarke Alliance and specializes in corporate transactional and advisory work. Approximately two-thirds of his work is cross-border in nature, working closely with Osborne Clarke Alliance firms and lawyers in other jurisdictions. Mr. Saul has acted for a significant number of US headquartered companies on their European transactional work; his core practice involves advising on initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions (for both public and private companies), and joint ventures. Mr. Saul acts for clients that include US and UK companies based in the technology, telecoms and property sectors. He has acted for both issuers and nominated advisers since the inception of the AIM market in 1995, and is co‑author of Osborne Clarke’s recent white paper ‘Is AIM the new NASDAQ?’. Mr. Saul’s experience includes acting on the first retail share offering via the internet in connection with a London Stock Exchange listing, a number of hostile and recommended takeover bids, the sale of a UK public company to a US bidder by means of a scheme of arrangement and a variety of property joint ventures (including the use of limited liability partnerships, or LLPs). Mr. Saul qualified in 1986 and joined Osborne Clarke in 1996. He is registered to practice English law in California and is a member of the ABA committee on international negotiated transactions.
Heather Stone recently joined the firm as a partner in the Boston office focusing on private equity and venture capital and is Chair of the firm's Fund Formation practice group. She has over 13 years of experience in a range of domestic and cross-border corporate and securities transactions and fund formation work. Ms. Stone has represented many private equity firms, as well as many growth-oriented software, emerging technology and media companies in all stages of development, from start-ups to multi-national public companies. In 2001, she was voted by Digital Industry as the "Best General Lawyer for a High-Tech Firm", and has been designated a "Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics and Boston Magazine. Ms. Stone has advised private equity fund managers and investment advisors on a broad range of capital formation, buyout/separation, internal governance and portfolio investment matters. She has represented private and public companies in buy and sell-side acquisition engagements and has also represented issuers, underwriters and placement agents in public and private equity and debt financings. Ms. Stone is an active lecturer on private equity, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions topics, and has had articles on these topics published in American Venture, Women's Business and other notable publications. She is frequently quoted in such publications as The Boston Business Journal, The Deal, Entrepreneur, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity International and the Venture Capital Journal. Ms. Stone frequently teaches for the Kauffman Fellows Program, as well as at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, in Babson College's MBA program and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Business. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Stone was a partner at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault in Boston. While in law school, she was the Articles Editor and the Chairman of the Selection Committee for the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law. Ms. Stone is a board or advisory committee member of several non-profit groups and for-profit companies, including The Commonwealth Institute, an organization that helps women entrepreneurs and CEO's grow their businesses through peer-to-peer mentoring and other programs, and The Kelly Packowski MS Foundation, which focuses on awareness, education and assistance for people suffering from multiple sclerosis. She is also a member of the Boston Athenæum, one of the oldest and most distinguished independent libraries in the United States.
Martin Tilson is a partner in the Atlanta office of the 500 attorney international law firm, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. He started the firm’s Technology Practice in 1995. KS has more than 100 IP attorneys and more than 140 Corporate attorneys involved in various technology sectors. Mr. Tilson’s areas of practice include general corporate and M&A, corporate finance, securities, venture and private capital, and Strategic Intellectual Property Asset Management. His business advisory experience ranges from growth companies to middle market companies and Fortune 500 companies in digital commerce, information technology, software, electronics, communications, health and life sciences, and a variety of venture capital and private equity funds. Mr. Tilson has been named to Who’s Who in Atlanta Technology (1998-2003) by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and was recognized as one of the top 50 most influential people in Southern technology in 1998 and in 1999 by Digital South Magazine. He is an active member of the Executive Committee for the 2000 member Technology Association of Georgia; he chairs the Communications Group, Atlanta’s oldest angel venture capital investor organization. He is the founder and chairman of the Southeast Life Sciences Association and chairs the Southeast CEO Life Science Forum. In 2002 and 2003, the Atlanta Business Chronicle named him one of the top 25 leaders in Life Science. He is currently a member of the Board of Advisors for the Emory University Goizueta Business School and has advised Emory University, the Medical College of Georgia and the University of Alabama at Birmingham on technology transfer. From 1977 to 1986, he was a member of the Board of Trustees, the University of the South (Sewanee). Mr. Tilson has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Atlantans by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 1999-2003 and Georgia Trend Magazine named him one of the most 100 most influential Georgians in 2001-2003. He was the 1997 vice-chairman and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (1997-2002). He is a member of the Atlanta Venture Forum and has been an active member of the Society of International Business Fellows, serving for fourteen years as a Board member and several years as vice president. He has served on the Major Gifts Committee of the Woodruff Arts Center since 1997.
Currently a General Partner with Kingfisher Partners, Weathers has been involved in all major facets of the venture capital industry since 1986. He has built an exceptional network in the venture capital/private equity community. As the Chief Investment Officer of a group of trusts and foundations, he created and implemented an investment program including private equity / venture capital funds, co-investments, and direct deals with allocations to public equity and debt managers. His career has also included banking, wireless communication, investment banking and real estate investing. In 2004, Weathers worked with a long time collaborator and Kingfisher GP, Chris Allen to focus on special projects utilizing his network relationships and wireless communication experience. Prior to joining Kingfisher, he focused on expanding Weathers Investments L.L.C. and Weathers Asset Management, a venture “fund of funds” and direct investment vehicle, respectively. In 2001, Weathers Asset Management, General Partner of Penultimate Ventures, led a “C” round and has participated in subsequent rounds for Syntricity, a yield management solution for the semiconductor industry. Other direct investments include Accelerated Networks, (IPO / acquired), Tandem Medical, (private), E2O, (acquired), Occam Networks, (public), Troika Networks, (acquired), Wayport, (private), and Myelos Neurosciences, (acquired). He also sourced, placed and negotiated all buy side terms for a Special Limited Partner status in an underwriting of the Montague Newhall Venture Capital Fund. Additionally, Weathers Asset Management served in various advisory/consulting roles. Serving as a regular M&A and Business Development Consultant for a venture backed healthcare services company; he oversaw all aspects of identifying, acquiring and establishing existing or de novo plastic surgery practices commensurate with a predetermined plan. Weathers serves on the advisory boards of OVP Venture Partners, Northwest Capital Partners, Windward Ventures, New Venture Partners, Cordova Industrial Technology Fund and as a director of Syntricity. He maintains relationships with Evergreen Pacific Partners, Banyan Capital, Vanguard Venture Partners, Woodside Fund, JMI Partners, Trellis Partners, Coleman Swenson, Noro Mosley, New Enterprise Associates, Red Abbey and funds based in London, Basil, Tel Aviv, Warsaw, Jakarta, Hong Kong and Beijing. Weathers is a native of Atlanta, GA where he lives with his wife Helen Dobbins Weathers and daughter, Laura. He has served in various roles for charitable originations such as the High Museum of Art, director of the Center for Global Ministries in Mughar, Israel, Strategy Leader in the Levant for the IMB and director of the Pathway Foundation. He earned a BBA in Finance from the University of Georgia, and later completed The Venture Capital Institute, both primary and graduate levels, at Emory University.
Professional experience has been focused in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. This experience encompasses a variety of functions, including general management, business development/licensing, research and development, investment banking/venture capital and technology commercialization. Specific positions include: President/Business Leader of Integrated Protein Technologies, a unit of Monsanto Company, President/CEO/Director of BioCache Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Chairman of the Board of Croptech Corporation. Experience also includes consulting for various academic institutions and governmental agencies defining the processes and infrastructure necessary to form new technology companies with the goal of facilitating the growth of knowledge-based economies. He joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham in June of 2004 as Chief Executive Officer of the Research Foundation. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Biotechnology Association, the Birmingham Venture Club and Southeast Bio. Educational background includes an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Virginia, a pharmacy degree from the Medical College of Virginia and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Within his 20 years in technology Mr. Woan has spent the past 10 working cross-culturally between the USA and UK. Mr. Woan is the West Coast representative for UK Trade and Investment’s Global Entrepreneur Program (www.entrepreneurs.gov.uk) and is also CEO of Bampton Group, a firm with offices in San Francisco, London and Stockholm that since 1997 has provided interim management and consulting to, and sometimes invested in, small and medium European and US technology companies seeking to expand transatlantically. Each company in the Bampton investment portfolio has gone onto either IPO or successful trade sale and Mr. Woan himself has served as interim CEO or board member of companies across enterprise software, internet security, healthcare systems, online banking and e-commerce, and online media and marketing. These companies have received funding from VC’s and other investors in both the USA and Europe. Before Bampton, Mr. Woan was Chairman and CEO of Clinical Computing, a UK healthcare solutions provider for whom he established the US operations that came to generate the majority of the company’s revenues with a 40% share of its market in North America. He also led the company through successful IPO and secondary offerings. Prior to Clinical Computing, he was Deputy CEO of Tadpole Technology, a Cambridge (England) based supplier of high performance board level computing systems and developer and manufacturer of the SparcBook with the majority of its operations and business in the USA. In addition to his operational responsibilities, Mr. Woan re-structured the company’s financial base and positioned it for and led it through a highly successful IPO. Previously, he spent 8 years as technology analyst working for a number of leading UK and US investment banks, focusing on small and medium technology companies. During this period he achieved a number of top 3 ratings in annual institutional investor surveys. In addition to his work with Bampton Mr. Woan has lectured and presented at events on the US West Coast on management issues and challenges in early stage venture backed technology companies, especially those seeking to expand their businesses internationally. He has also been asked to write articles on these topics, including one commissioned by Corporate Board magazine in the USA. Alongside his professional commitments and dividing his time between San Francisco and London he is an internationally competitive sailor who has coached a number of California high school and college students to medal wins in national championships in recent years. Mr. Woan holds graduate degrees in law and international law from Cambridge University.
John C. Yates is the partner-in-charge of the technology group of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP. Mr. Yates is one of the pioneers of the technology law field and has been practicing exclusively in this area for over 24 years. The firm’s technology group has represented hundreds of technology companies and provided legal services in such areas as IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, patent prosecution, Internet law, ecommerce/distribution, corporate finance and venture capital, international law and dispute resolution. Mr. Yates is internationally recognized in the computer and software legal area. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Computer Law Association and the Technology Association of Georgia and is a co-founder of the Minority Technology Entrepreneurs (MiTE). He also is on the Board of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Metro Atlanta Chamber Political Action Committee (MAC PAC), and served as the co-chair of the Chamber’s Business Recruitment Sub-Committee. Mr. Yates is a co-founder of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), CEO Council, Technology Tax and Finance Forum, and the Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA). Mr. Yates serves on the editorial board of The Computer Lawyer and is a contributing author for the European Intellectual Property Review. His articles have been widely cited in the computer law area, including citation by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kodak vs. Image Technical Services. Mr. Yates is a frequent speaker at national, regional and local computer organizations. He has delivered more than 100 speeches, and his presentations have included COMDEX, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Practicing Law Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University. Mr. Yates is currently co-authoring a book, entitled "The Art of Business Friendship." Mr. Yates received his B.A., magna cum laude, and his J.D. from Duke University. This page was last updated on 03/17/06. |
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