|
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).
|
