Robert J. Majteles
Robert founded and manages Treehouse Capital LLC, a personal investment vehicle. Treehouse’s portfolio of private and public technology companies has been very successful in a wide array of markets and circumstances. Robert often serves as an active and involved board member for the companies in Treehouse’s portfolio. He is a venture partner with Oak Investment Partners. He has also held the title of CEO with CAMAX Systems, Inc., ULTRADATA Corp., and Citadon, Inc.
Connect with Rob on twitter @treehcapital.
John Corpus
Most Recently, John was the CIO of Mervyns. Previously, he co-founded and held the position of VP of Development for Agistics (ATA Ventures), a startup company acquired by Visage Mobile. He's also served as the VP of Merchandising Systems at Williams-Sonoma Inc., a co-founder at Groundswell Inc. (Behrman Capital), an eCommerce consultancy, and as a Global Services Practice Executive at IBM.
Connect with John on twitter @Lapu2X.
Hatch Graham,
ATA Ventures
Hatch is a co–founder and Managing Director of ATA Ventures. Following formation of the firm in early 2003, Hatch has made investments in telecom, enterprise, semiconductor, and software companies. He currently serves as a Director on the Boards of Jobvite, Milyoni, Actelis, Sales Portal, VMIX and Yottamark. A sample of his past ATA portfolio companies include FastScale (acquired by EMC), SPANSlogic (acquired by Cisco Systems), TeleCIS (acquired by QualComm), TelASIC (acquired by NTI), and Synfora (acquired by Synopsis).
Don Butler,
Thomvest Ventures
Don’s 20 year career spans a variety of roles with emerging growth technology companies. Don began his career doing investment banking at Lehman Brothers, where he worked on a number of initial public offerings as well as mergers and acquisitions. Don then did business development on behalf of a number of start-ups in the software and networking industries as a consultant with Asia Pacific Ventures. Don is currently on the Board of Directors for Apsalar, Axcient, Flashsoft, Milyoni, NetBase, and YottaMark. Don has a B.A. in Chinese from UCLA and M.A.s in both East Asian Studies and Political Science from Stanford.
Fred Harman,
Oak Investment Partners
Fredric W. Harman, Managing Partner, joined Oak Investment Partners as a General Partner in 1994. Fred’s primary investment focus is on Consumer Internet and Internet New Media. Fred is currently on the Boards of AdKeeper, Aspect Software, Demand Media, Federated Media, FRS, Knowledge Networks, Limelight Networks, MyLife.com, RazorGator, Rearden Commerce, Shop.com, Sutherland Global Services, and U.S. Auto Parts. Fred has also led investments in aQuantive (acquired by Microsoft), Allyes (acquired by Focus Media), Campus Pipeline (acquired by SCT), Fastclick (acquired by ValueClick), Captura (acquired by Concur), Cobalt, Connexus (acquired by Epic Advertising) Exodus, ILOG, IMS (acquired by Celestica) Inktomi, Pivotal, Primus Knowledge Solutions, Qpass (acquired by Amdocs), Quintus (acquired by Avaya), Sanmina/SCI, SportsGG and SPSS. Prior to Oak, Fred worked for seven years with Morgan Stanley’s Venture Capital Group where he was a General Partner. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Fred worked in Business Development at Hughes Communications where he was involved in the formation of the predecessor to DirecTV. Fred received an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University where he was a Hughes Fellow. Fred is also a co-owner of the Golden State Warriors and a Trustee of Sacred Heart Schools.
Sandy Climan
Mr. Climan is President of Entertainment Media Ventures, Inc., a company active in media investment & strategic advisory work. He has also been active in motion picture & TV production and was awarded a British Academy and a Golden Globe Award. Mr. Climan has served in a number of corporate senior management positions in media and entertainment, among which he served as the first CEO of 3ality Digital, as Executive VP and President of Worldwide Business Development of Universal Studios, and as a member of the senior management team at Creative Artists Agency, serving as both a talent agent and as founding head of CAA’s corporate representation practice.
Michael Della Penna
Michael Della Penna is a respected marketing thought leader with a solid track record of launching successful marketing, branding, and sales strategies for leading companies. Most recently, Michael founded Conversa Marketing, a leading provider of social CRM solutions and consulting services. Conversa Marketing was sold to StrongMail in July 2010. Prior to that Michael served as chief marketing officer for Epsilon, a leading provider of multi-channel, data-driven marketing services. While at Epsilon, Della Penna led all corporate marketing, branding, market positioning, lead generation, and communications efforts. Prior to joining Epsilon, Della Penna was CMO at Bigfoot Interactive, which became Epsilon after its 2005 acquisition. Before that, he was vice president of strategic development at CNET Networks, Inc., where he designed key strategic plans to increase revenue and grow and retain key audience segments. Previously, Della Penna was vice president of marketing at ZDNet, which was later acquired by CNET Networks and lead direct response marketing efforts for a leading enterprise software provider, Cheyenne Software (now CA/Computer Associates). Michael has been recognized as one of B-to-B Magazines “100 Most Influential People in Business-to-Business and Interactive Marketing five times for his ongoing contributions to establishing digital marketing best practices.
Michael received a B.B.A and an M.B.A. from Hofstra University.
Peter Dille
Peter Dille has more than 20 years experience in technology and entertainment companies, most recently serving as senior vice president, Marketing and PlayStation®Network, Sony Computer Entertainment America. At Sony, Dille oversaw marketing strategy and execution for the PlayStation brand across North America, including PlayStation® brand management, hardware and software marketing, advertising, channel marketing & events, corporate communications and promotions.
Dille also oversaw marketing and revenue generation for the PlayStation®Network service, including digital commerce, free online connectivity for online gaming and multiple modes of communication. The PlayStation®Network is supported by the PlayStation®Store, offering thousands of games, movies and TV shows, as well as content from leading partners including Netflix, Major League Baseball, Hulu and many others.
Previously, Dille was senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for THQ, a publicly traded global interactive software publisher. In this role, Dille reported to the President and CEO and was responsible for overseeing the company’s global brand management strategy and product planning.
Prior to joining THQ, Dille served as senior director of product marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America and was a key executive in the launch of the original PlayStation® console in 1995. In this role, he managed all PlayStation® advertising and oversaw all hardware, software and peripheral product marketing. Dille’s eight-year tenure at Sony also included executive marketing and communications roles throughout Sony’s interactive entertainment divisions.
Dille received his Bachelor of Administration degree from Rutgers University.
Matthew Kauffman
As the Head of Sponsorship Management at Visa Inc., Matt is responsible for the brand marketing strategy, business development, value assessment, and property management for the Olympic Games and the NFL. Visa is the world’s leading payment technology brand, and Visa’s global sponsorship portfolio includes the Olympic Games, FIFA, NFL, NASCAR, Kentucky Derby, and Broadway.
He joined Visa in 2004 after ten years at General Motors EventWorks, most recently serving as Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Marketing. Prior to GM EventWorks, he worked at Carlson Marketing Group where he led strategic development of event marketing programs for GM, including the launch of the Saturn brand and GM MasterCard.
Matt has a B.A. in communications from the University of Michigan and brings over 20 years of sports and entertainment marketing strategy and business development experience for major brands.
Delos L. Knight, III (Kip)
Kip is president of KnightVision Marketing, which partners with Fortune 500 as well as start-up businesses to provide strategic marketing consulting services. He serves as the Dean of the US Marketing College that works with the U.S. State Department to teach senior level government executives and diplomats how to apply modern marketing strategies and best practices to enhance America’s image abroad. He’s on the Board of Directors for Netbase, a leading consumer insights company based in Silicon Valley, as well as the Board of Advisors for Harvestmark, the world leader in traceable produce solutions. Kip is a Venture Partner with Thomvest Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Kip is affiliated with the Cincinnati Consulting Consortium and teaches senior executives the latest thinking on various marketing topics such as social media and advertising strategy.
Kip started his career in marketing research at Burke Marketing Research in Cincinnati, Ohio and over the past 30 years has worked in over 65 countries. He spent 10 years in Brand Management at Procter and Gamble in charge of various brands such as Ivory Soap and well as working on the development and launch of various new food and beverage brands.
He worked for 10 years in PepsiCo’s international restaurant division where he served in a variety of marketing and general management roles, including General Manager of North Latin America as well as head of marketing for KFC International. Kip also served as Chief Marketing Officer for Taco Bell based in Southern California.
From 2002 until 2008, Kip worked at eBay, the world’s largest e-commerce site. He was vice-president of marketing for eBay, North America. He was also responsible for managing eBay Canada, the leading e-commerce site in Canada. He was the first head of International Marketing as well as serving as Regional Vice President for eBay International for Latin America, Australia and Taiwan.
Kip has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences, such as Business Week’s Global Brand Conference, the Association of National Advertisers Annual Conference, the Silicon Valley Technology Conference, the Global Innovation Summit in Dubai, The Economist Digital Forum, The American Marketing Association and HP’s Global Marketing Congress. He’s actively involved as a Board member of C.E.O. Women, a progressive non-profit in the Bay area dedicated to helping immigrant women start their own businesses.
He earned his B.S. degree from LSU in marketing and his MBA from the University of Cincinnati. He is married to Peggy Day and has two sons.
Christian McMahan
Christian McMahan is the Chief Marketing Officer for TouchTunes Interactive Networks. TouchTunes is the largest interactive out-of-home entertainment network in North America. TouchTunes provides entertainment and marketing solutions to over 50,000 retail locations across the US and Canada. In his role, McMahan oversees the music, marketing, and advertising for the organization.
McMahan previously served as Chief Marketing Officer for Heineken USA where he was responsible for the long-term growth strategies for the company’s Dutch, Mexican, and English portfolios. He oversaw the execution of all the marketing platforms for each brand and led an industry-leading push in to digital and social media.
McMahan brings years of senior-level executive experience in the global beverage industry. Prior to his work at Heineken USA, McMahan served as Vice President of Marketing for Diageo North America as well as Brand Director for the Smirnoff and Captain Morgan brands. His extensive background also includes work at the Boston Beer Company, brewers of Sam Adams.
McMahan is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and currently sits on the board of directors of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation.
Bob Pearson
Bob serves as Chief Technology and Media Officer for WCG, a leading independent global communications company.
Bob has a unique combination of social media, marketing and communications skills acquired during nearly 25 years at three Fortune 500 companies and a major consultancy. He was most recently vice president of Communities and Conversations at Dell Inc, where he was responsible for developing an industry-leading approach to the use of social media, as highlighted in GroundSwell.
Before joining Dell, Bob worked for Novartis Pharmaceuticals as Head of Global Corporate Communications and as Head of Global Pharma Communications, where he served on the Pharma Executive Committee. Prior to Novartis, Bob was President of The Americas for GCI and was responsible for creating and building the firm’s global healthcare practice. He was previously Vice President of Global Public Affairs & Media Relations at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi Aventis) and worked at CIBA-Geigy in both communications and field sales.
Bob is a frequent speaker and blogger on social media and his thoughts can be found at the Common Sense blog at http://www.wcgworld.com. His team has been featured in numerous books and case studies related to their rapid adoption of social media techniques to improve how a company operates internally and externally. His new book, Pre-Commerce, is now available*.
Bob has served on a variety of Boards, including CancerCare, The Huntington’s Disease Society of America and the Dell Foundation. He currently serves on the digital advisory board for Procter & Gamble and serves as an advisor to emerging technology companies, such as http://www.myedu.com, http://www.mysharedvision.com/milyoni_dev/ and http://www.uservoice.com. He is also vice-chair of the The Emerging Technology Fund Committee for the State of Texas.
*Since its debut E-commerce has been centered on the transaction, which represents less than one percent of the time we spend online. Now, we are entering the era of Pre-Commerce where customers make their own decision to buy or support a brand before the transaction. Pre-Commerce explains how the exploding use of social media channels has fundamentally changed the way customers go about making their purchasing decisions, how they educate themselves and why they choose to support certain brands above others.
You can reach Bob on
twitter @bobpearson1845.
