Investor Panelists
Kevin Efrusy – General Partner, Accel
Kevin joined Accel in 2003 and serves as a General Partner. His background is primarily as an entrepreneur and operating executive. He served two stints as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers where he started Corio, an ASP pioneer which went public on Nasdaq and was acquired by IBM in 2005. Later he served as the first CEO of IronPlanet, an online marketplace for heavy equipment which currently sells in excess of $170M/year of equipment. Prior to KPCB, Kevin served as a product manager at Zip2 and a consultant at Bain & Company.
Kevin invests broadly in software and internet businesses, but he focuses on consumer internet companies, open source software, and wireless application providers. He co-led Accel’s investment in The Facebook and Tumri, currently serves on the boards of BBN Technologies, Hyperic, Medio Systems, Metacafe, Mig33, Xensource, and Terracotta. He is also actively involved in Riverbed Technology and Transera.
Kevin has an MSEE, BSEE, and BA in Economics all from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller scholar.
Dan Eilers - General Partner, Vanguard Ventures
Dan has 20 years of technology and venture capital experience. Prior to joining Vanguard Ventures, Dan was an angel investor, advisor and board member to several early stage private and public companies including WEBEX Communications, SiteSmith, and Carrier Access Corporation. Dan also served as President and CEO of CIDCO, Inc., a telecommunications products company which achieved over $250 million in revenue under his leadership. During his tenure as CEO, the company increased its market share in its core telecommunications products business to 80 percent. Dan also served as CEO-in-residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, assisting in the evaluation of numerous venture capital investments, and advising portfolio companies on operational and strategic matters.
Dan also served as CEO and President of NAT Systems, a private enterprise software and services company backed by KPCB, which was subsequently acquired. He spent nine years at Apple, held the Chief Marketing Officer position (Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing), and established and led for Apple's strategic investment group, which included venture capital investing, joint ventures, acquisitions and alliances. Dan also led Claris Corporation as President and CEO as it grew from being the world's 13th largest to the 8th largest vendor of personal computer software applications. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Washington, and an MBA degree from Stanford University.
Wayne Embree - Founder and Managing Partner, Reference Capital Management
Wayne has been a seed-stage investor since 1986, co-founding six funds with investments in nearly 100 companies. He was a founder of Cascadia Partners and has played a major role in creating over 20 spin out companies from research universities and corporate labs. His prior experience includes policy work for the Oregon Legislative Assembly and former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt. He also served as a tactical operations officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1975 to 1980, directing real-time command, control and communications systems where he was consistently given responsibilities reserved for higher ranks.
Embree holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences from Western Oregon University and a Masters of Urban Planning from the University of Oregon. He was a founding board member of the Oregon Bioscience Association, the Oregon Young Entrepreneurs Association and the Northwest Capital Network. He is a frequent speaker on technology commercialization and venture creation. Embree is an active private pilot, flying classic and antique aircraft.
Gordon Hoffman - Managing Director, Northwest Technology Ventures, LP
Gordon Hoffman initiated a large corporate intrapreneurial venture and from there founded five start-ups, some with venture funding, building them from inception through to growth and exit. He has been an early employee at seven startups, including five he founded - one of which as entrepreneur-in-residence at a venture fund. These five include two software venture-funded companies, an intrapreneurial semiconductor operation within a major corporation, an electronic components sales representative company, and a consulting firm.
In the public policy realm, Gordon has served for four years by appointment as the governor’s commissioner for the Colorado Advanced Technology Initiative (CATI), a statewide entity charged with coordinating the strategic reorganization of the state’s major universities, creation of distinctive centers of excellence, and a personally-directed program to create a high-speed telecommunication infrastructure linking the state’s campuses. In the academic sector, Gordon created and served as director of the Oregon Graduate Institute’s Office of Technology Commercialization. He has also served on numerous corporate boards, representing both management and investors, and on various academic and civic boards including the Oregon Council on Knowledge and Economic Development, the Portland State University Foundation, and its Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Advisory Board. Gordon has an MS in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
Eric Rosenfeld - Managing Partner, Capybara Ventures
With 15 years of high-tech management and venture capital experience, Eric has helped start over 20 new businesses, joint ventures, and partnerships on the West Coast, Latin America, and Europe. He co-founded and directed the Bay Area Regional Technology Alliance (later TechVentures Network) in California, which structured equity investments with state matching grants for start-ups from leading Bay Area firms, including Applied Materials, Hewlett-Packard, and Silicon Graphics. Eric also co-founded the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a leading business and civic organization in San Jose.
Eric has worked as a business strategy consultant for SRI International, a research fellow at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and as a member of the executive team at Mentor Graphics. Most recently, Eric served as the business director of Second Story Interactive Studios, a producer of interactive media for DreamWorks, Virgin, Miramax, Discovery, National Geographic, and Nike.
Eric is currently a board member of Eleven Wireless, The Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum and The Jewish Federation of Portland. Eric received his MBA from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and earned degrees in Industrial Engineering and American Studies from Stanford University.
Dino Vendetti - General Partner, Formative Ventures
Dino joined Formative Ventures in July 2006 as a general partner, bringing with him over 20 years of operating and investment experience. Dino invests in early-stage companies across a broad range of technologies including wireless equipment, software and services, semiconductors, and communications. His investment and board leadership experience include Staccato Communications, Cswitch, PulseWave RF, Northpoint Communications, and Wavetrace (acquired by Harris).
Prior to joining Formative, Dino spent six years as a general partner at Bay Partners, an early-stage Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm with over $1 billion of capital under active management. As one of Bay’s six partners over the span of three funds, Dino led investments in companies such as Staccato, Capella, PulseWave RF, Turin Networks, and TV Head.
Dino began his venture capital career in 1997 as an investing partner at Vulcan Ventures, the Seattle-based investment firm led by Paul Allen. While at Vulcan, Dino invested in a variety of telecom and wireless companies including Northpoint, Wavetrace and Sharewave. Prior to Vulcan, Dino was Vice President and Research Analyst at Dain Rauscher, where he covered the telecom industry.
Prior to embarking on a venture capital career, Dino held a variety of key operating roles at some of the communications industry’s leading companies. He was Vice President of Product Management at MetaWave, a leading developer of smart antennas for wireless networks. He also held product management and business development positions at Qualcomm and US West Cellular. Dino began his operating career as an engineer at TRW, where he designed satellite communication systems. Dino earned his MSEE and MBA degrees from the University of Washington and a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from San Diego State University.
Denny Weston - Senior Managing Director, Fluke Ventures
Denny joined FVP at its inception in 1982 with substantial experience in the areas of finance, operations management and retail merchandising and was solely responsible for FVP's venture capital activities from 1982 until 1997. Denny's responsibilities include overall fund management and administration as well as deal flow generation, due diligence, deal structuring and portfolio management. He currently serves on the Boards of Calidora Skin Clinics, Inc., Carena, Inc., ISR, Inc., PayScale, Inc., Pacific Star Communications, Inc., Confirma, Inc., and Veratect Corporation.
With over 26 years in the venture capital industry and deep experience gained through his involvement with more than 60 portfolio companies, Denny brings a wealth of understanding of the investment and portfolio management process. He is known for his strengths in strategic and financial planning, mentoring and coaching the chief executive, and in maintaining a disciplined approach to corporate governance.
Prior to joining Fluke Venture Partners, Denny spent four years in public accounting in Seattle and five years as a member of senior management responsible for the operations of two sister corporations involved in manufacturing and distribution in Seattle and Anchorage. Often lauded as an early leader in the Pacific Northwest venture capital industry, Denny was a founder of the Evergreen Venture Capital Association and has long been active in business and community affairs. Denny received his BA in business administration, from Central Washington University and his MBA, with honors, from the University of Washington. Denny is married and has two grown children and enjoys fly fishing, bird hunting and horse ranching.
