John Balen - Canaan Partners
John Balen is general partner, Canaan Partners, in the firm's Menlo Park, California office where he focuses primarily on investments in communications and mobility as well as next-generation enterprise technology companies. Prior to joining Canaan in 1995, John served as a managing director of Horsley Bridge Partners, a private equity investment firm in San Francisco. During his nine-year tenure, he was responsible for a wide spectrum of investments in high-tech companies, venture capital and buyout partnerships. Earlier in his career, he was a sales applications engineer at Codenoll Technology Corporation, a fiber communications start-up, and an engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation. John currently sits on the boards of Blurb, Cardlytics, Casabi, Command Audio, Dexterra, Echopass, ID Analytics, Silicon Optix and SOASTA.
John Davidson - Startup Capital Ventures
John Davidson is a special fund advisor and former general partner with Startup Capital Ventures. During his 35 years as a successful entrepreneur, John founded and led two communications networking companies. Ungermann-Bass, Inc., the first local area networking company, was founded in 1979. As Chief Technology Officer, he helped grow the company to $400 million in revenue and 1,600 employees and led the company's development efforts through its IPO in 1983 and $260 million sale to Tandem Computers in 1988. In 1993, John founded and served as chairman and CEO of Network Telesystems, Inc., a self-funded internet infrastructure software company. NTS was acquired by Efficient Networks in 2000, which itself was acquired by Siemens in 2001. Earlier in his career, John served as the University of Hawaii's liaison to the Technical Working Group for the ARPANET program, out of which the Internet evolved.
Tina Fitch - ezRez
ezRez co-founder, President and CEO Tina Fitch has led the strategic direction, positioning, finances and business development efforts for the company since its 2003 incorporation. Before forming ezRez, Tina led international business development for hospitality investment joint ventures of Lend Lease Capital, Colony Capital and Oakwood Worldwide in Asia and Europe from 1996 to 2002. She previously focused on economics and finance, working on significant economic development policies at the Seoul Development Institute in South Korea, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Ford Foundation’s Beijing Office. Tina received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Cameron Lester - Azure Capital Partners
Cameron Lester is a founding general partner with Azure Capital Partners, specializing in software and related infrastructure technologies. Immediately prior to Azure, Cameron was a managing director and the group head of the software investment banking group at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). He was previously a director and the group head of the software investment banking group at Deutsche Bank Securities. Cameron was previously a vice president at PaineWebber where he focused on software. Over the course of his career, Cameron has provided strategic and investment advice to numerous leading private and public software companies. Cameron currently sits on the boards of Brightkite, PSS Systems, Silk Road Technology, SourceCode Technology, and Zend Technologies.
Kathy Misunas - Essential Ideas
Kathy Misunas is a principal of Essential Ideas, a consultancy specializing in the global travel and tourism, consumer retailing and marketing/communications fields. As a 30-year travel and technology industry veteran, Kathy has supported companies in many capacities including advisory services, board directorships, lecturing and speaking engagements, and temporary management assignments. Kathy previously served as CEO of San Francisco-based AirTreks (High Adventure Travel), specializing in multi-continent international travel planning and fulfillment. She previously led New York-based brandwise, LLC by launching its comparison shopping and purchasing website. She has held executive roles with Reed Travel Group, The Sabre Group, AMR/American Airlines and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Mark Leslie - Advisor to the Board
Mark Leslie was the founding chairman and CEO of Veritas Software. During his tenure as CEO, the company grew from 12 employees to 5,500 employees deployed globally, and from an annual revenue base of $95,000 to $1.5 billion. In 2000, Veritas was the 10th largest independent software company by revenue, third largest by market capitalization, and a member of the Fortune 1000. Mark currently serves on the board of NetApp Corporation (NSDAQ: NTAP) and a number of privately held high-technology corporations, including Cassatt Software, Doostang, Librato Software, Model N Software, Servo Software, SugarCRM, Wall Street Systems and Xsigo Corporation. He is also on the boards of multiple nonprofit organizations, including the NYU Board of Overseers, the NYU Science Advisory Board, Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life, Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, and the Leslie Family Foundation.
