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Turner is a producer at Electronic Arts specializing in action-hero titles. She is working on her second James Bond game and recently completed production on the Gameboy Advance version for release this November. Turner joined EA from another area of entertainment and technology: digital music. In 1999 she co-founded and led Gigabeat, a Kleiner Perkins company. Gigabeat provided music personalization and delivery technology and was acquired by Napster in 2001. Prior to Gigabeat, she worked on a series of projects in film and online music in Los Angeles. Turner holds a M.S. and B.A. from Stanford University.
As the Chief Strategy Officer, Tien Tzuo brings to Salesforce.com over 16 years of experience in the enterprise software industry. Since he joined the company in 1999, Tzuo has been responsible for setting the vision, strategy, direction and design of Salesforce.com's award winning product line, including overseeing the launch of Salesforce, Supportforce, Customforce, Sforce, and Wireless Edition. In 2004, Tzuo was named CMO of the Year Finalist by the CMO Council and BusinessWeek Magazine. Tzuo came to salesforce.com from CrossWorlds Software, where he spearheaded CrossWorlds product, marketing and sales push into the Telecommunications vertical worldwide. Prior to CrossWorlds, Tzuo spent over six years at Oracle Corporation in a variety of sales and professional services roles. Mr. Tzuo holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and a master's in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Armen Berjikly graduated with honors with a Bachelors in Computer Science from Stanford University. His primary research focus was Human-Computer Interaction, where he worked closely with professor Clifford Nass. He went on to obtain a Master's Degree from Stanford in Management Science and Engineering, with an emphasis on Organizations, Technology and Entrepreneurship. Armen was also a Mayfield Fellow, a prestigious fellowship that provides intensive training in entrepreneurship for those with an engineering background. After Stanford, Armen took a product management role at Echelon Corporation, helping manage their "intelligent utility grid" solution from paper concept to hundreds of thousands of units shipped. After a close friend's diagnosis with a serious medical condition, Armen began creating online communities designed to sponsor hope through research and community. Witnessing the power of connecting people with a shared experience, and therefore common understanding, led to the creation of Experience Project. Armen's passion is building technology that unites people who can improve each other's lives, and Experience Project is the epitome of these efforts.
Equitas is led by P.N. Vasudevan, a visionary and entrepreneurial leader with a background in commercial finance. He has almost 20 years experience in the Indian finance sector, specifically launching businesses lines at Chola Finance Ltd, one of India's most successful finance companies. Recently, he has successfully helmed the Equitas team.
Vic Verma joined Savi Technology in 1990. He previously held the positions of vice president of engineering and chief operating officer at Savi, before becoming president and chief executive officer in 1997. As VP of Engineering, Vic helped design and develop Savi's product offerings, and as COO, he helped negotiate the acquisition of Savi by Texas Instruments in 1995. In 1997, the unit was sold to Raytheon. Vic led the management buyout of Savi from Raytheon in May 1999. He earned a B.S. degree from the Florida Institute of Technology, an M.S.E. degree from the University of Michigan, and an Advanced Engineers degree from Stanford University, all in electrical engineering. He also completed all the coursework and passed the qualifying exam for his Ph.D. candidacy in electrical engineering from Stanford University before leaving to join Savi. In addition, he attended the executive management program for CEOs at Harvard Business School, the AEA Executive Institute at Stanford University, and the Financial Management Program at the University of California-Berkeley. Vic has been granted eight patents and has several other patents pending. In 1994, his DF/Tag product was recognized as the "Most Innovative Technology Developed by a Small Business" by the White House Office of Science and Technology. In 1999, he was the recipient of Florida Institute of Technology's Distinguished Achievement Award.
Greg was the founding investor in eHarmony and as CEO he has overall responsibility for leading all aspects of eHarmony's business. He has been closely involved with the company since its inception in 2000, recruiting several members of the executive management team and contributing to many areas of the company's development and growth. Greg brings extensive experience working with high growth companies as an entrepreneur, investor, and executive. Greg holds a BA from the University of California at Los Angeles, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has been cited on matters relating to investing and technology in the New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, and BusinessWeek among other publications and he has made numerous broadcast appearances on CNBC. Greg's entrepreneurial endeavors include being a co-founder of Startup, an East Palo Alto non-profit that has provided business training for nearly 500 aspiring entrepreneurs in that community since 1994. Additionally, Greg is a founding member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Management Board.
Rick Wallace was appointed chief executive officer of KLA-Tencor Corporation on January 1, 2006. Wallace brings 17 years of experience at KLA-Tencor to his current role, and has held a variety of senior management positions at KLA-Tencor. These include president and chief operating officer, executive vice president, overseeing the company's Reticle and Photomask Inspection Division, Films and Surface Technology Division, CTO Software and Customer Groups, and executive vice president of KLA-Tencor's Wafer Inspection Group. He also served at KLA-Tencor as group vice president for the Lithography Control Group, as well as vice president/general manager and vice president of marketing for the Wafer Inspection Division. He joined KLA-Tencor in 1988 as an applications engineer.
Steve Westly is the Founder and a Managing Partner of the Westly Group. He formerly served as the Controller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the state of California - the world's sixth largest economy. As Controller, he chaired the State Lands Commission and served on 63 other boards and commissions, including CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation's two largest public pension funds, which together invest more than $350 billion. During his four-year term, Westly spearheaded innovative tax programs that helped close the State's budget deficit and also led an effort to commit more than $1 billion to clean technology investments. Before running for office, Westly helped guide the online auction company eBay through its period of most rapid growth, serving as the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, M&A and International. Westly helped bring eBay to Europe and Asia and developed the marketing and acquisition strategies that paved the path for the firm's exponential growth. He began his career in Washington, D.C., first working on Capitol Hill and later in the Office of Conservation and Solar at the U.S. Department of Energy. Westly returned to California to become special assistant to the President of the California Public Utilities Commission. While there, he published two books on alternative energy and the utilities. He?s also held senior positions at Sprint Communications, Netcom, and WhoWhere?. Westly holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he served on the faculty for five years. He and his wife, Anita, run the Westly Foundation, which provides education and health care services for children and underserved communities throughout California.
Ken Wilcox is president and CEO of SVB Financial Group. Since January 2000, when he took on the role, Wilcox has successfully pursued a strategy of expansion and diversification, while remaining focused on the company's core niches of technology, life sciences, private equity and premium wineries. Wilcox joined Silicon Valley Bank in 1990 when he co-founded the company's East Coast Technology Division. In this role, Wilcox managed the first regional office of Silicon Valley Bank and was responsible for all lending activity east of the Mississippi River. Upon promotion to chief banking officer in 1997, Wilcox moved from Massachusetts to California and became president and CEO within four years. Prior to joining Silicon Valley Bank, Wilcox spent two years as a member of the Technology Lending Group with the Bank of New England and five years at Shawmut Bank in Boston. Prior to his banking career, Wilcox was a professor of German at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wilcox received a bachelor's degree in German studies from Oakland University and a Ph.D. in German Studies from The Ohio State University. He also earned a master's of business administration from Harvard Business School. Wilcox is a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Evan Williams co-founded Pyra Labs in 1999 and led the team that created Blogger, a major player in helping pioneer the blogging phenomenon. In early 2003, Williams sold Pyra Labs to Google, where he led the Blogger group until October 2004. Prior to Pyra, in 1994, Williams started an early internet company in Nebraska, his native state, and later worked for O'Reilly Media, Intel, and HP as a web application developer. He now resides in San Francisco and is co-founding a new startup, Odeo, which is helping democratize media in new ways.
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