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Mari Baker is the CEO of PlayFirst and the former CEO of Navigenics. Previous to that, she was an executive-in-residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which she joined in 2006. Prior to that, she was president of BabyCenter, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company. Under her leadership, BabyCenter became the world's leading Web site for new and expectant parents, winning numerous online health awards and expanding significantly offline and internationally. Prior to her tenure with BabyCenter and Johnson & Johnson, she was a senior vice president at Intuit, Inc., which she joined in 1989 as product manager for Quicken. Baker led Quicken to grow into the number one personal finance product in the world, along with international expansion and the launch of Quicken.com. Baker also held executive or product management positions at Now Software, Migent Software, and E.F. Hutton. Mari Baker attended Stanford University, graduating with degrees in economics and sociology. She served on the board of trustees of Stanford University from 1996 to 2003, where she oversaw the Stanford Medical Center, and she continues to serve as a trustee emeritus. Baker currently serves on the board of directors of the Cozi Group and she is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization.
Steven A. Ballmer is Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer of software for personal and business computing. Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 and was the first business manager hired by Bill Gates. Since then, Ballmer's leadership and passion have become hallmarks of his tenure at the company. Ballmer was born in March 1956, and grew up near Detroit, where his father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Co. He graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics. While in college, Ballmer managed the football team, worked on the Harvard Crimson newspaper as well as the university literary magazine, and lived down the hall from fellow sophomore Bill Gates. After college, he worked for two years at Procter & Gamble Co. as an assistant product manager and, before joining Microsoft, attended Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, shares his optimism for emerging innovation in the midst of economic turmoil, and the story of his own entrepreneurial path. He also speaks of his company's continued investment in Internet-ready hardware and software that seeks progress in healthcare, education, and science.
Dr. Craig Barrett recently stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Intel Corporation, a post he held from May 2005 to May 2009. He is a leading advocate for improving education in the U.S. and around the world. He is also a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards globally. Dr. Barrett joined Intel Corporation in 1974 as a technology development manager. He was named a vice president of the corporation in 1984, promoted to Senior Vice President in 1987, and Executive Vice President in 1990. Dr. Barrett was elected to Intel Corporation's Board of Directors in 1992 and he was named the company's Chief Operating Officer in 1993. He became Intel's fourth President in May 1997, Chief Executive Officer in 1998, and Chairman of the Board on May 18, 2005. Craig Barrett was born August 29, 1939 in San Francisco, California. He attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, California from 1957 to 1964, and received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science. After graduation, he joined the faculty of Stanford University in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and remained through 1974, rising to the rank of Associate Professor. Dr. Barrett was a Fulbright Fellow at Danish Technical University in Denmark in 1972 and a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Physical Laboratory in England from 1964 to 1965. Dr. Barrett is the author of over 40 technical papers dealing with the influence of microstructure on the properties of materials, and a textbook on materials science, Principles of Engineering Materials. Dr. Barrett served until June, 2009 as Chairman of the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, which works to bring computers and other technology to developing parts of the world. He co-chairs Achieve, Inc., is Vice Chairman of
Venture firms are approaching angel investor groups to co-invest at the growth stage of startups. Read more about the impact this could have on startup health IT companies.
A crowdfunding website for healthcare innovators will launch soon, providing startups an alternate funding source. Read more about this resource for healthcare startups.
Steve Blank is a retired serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in high technology companies and management. He is a Consulting Professor at Stanford in the Graduate School of Engineering STVP Program. Steve has been a founder or participant in eight Silicon Valley startups since 1978. His last company, E.piphany, started in his living room. His other startups include two semiconductor companies (Zilog and MIPS Computers), a workstation company (Convergent Technologies), a supercomputer firm (Ardent), a computer peripheral supplier (SuperMac), a military intelligence systems supplier (ESL) and a video game company (Rocket Science Games). Steve is on the board of CafePress.com, an on-line marketplace, and IMVU, a 3D IM social network. Steve was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Coastal Commission and is the Chairman of Audubon California and on the board of the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST.) His Google Tech talk, "The Secret History of Silicon Valley" (available on YouTube) is one of the definitive views on the early history of innovation in Silicon Valley. Steve teaches entrepreneurship and a methodology of managing marketing, sales and business development in high technology startups. His course text "Four Steps to the Epiphany" is the definitive work on Customer Development and is one of the foundations of Lean Startups.
Although HandR Block had always been philanthropic, Henry Bloch wanted to establish a company foundation truly committed to the needs of the community as opposed to furthering corporate objectives.
Teresa Briggs currently serves as a Managing Partner at Deloitte's Silicon Valley office. Over the past two years, Briggs has worked to double the firm's staff to at least 1,300. She joined the firm when only seven percent of the partners were women. She arrived at Deloitte & Touche as one of the youngest partners in the company. Rising quickly, she moved to Deloitte's New York office working to redesign the company's corporate strategy at a national level, which then led to her current position. On top of all her accomplishments at Deloitte, Briggs has served on the Management Board of Advisors at her alma mater, the University of Arizona, and she spent eight years serving on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco. Teresa also recently participated in the Leadership Group's Annual CEO/Elected Official Cycle‐To‐Work Day Challenge to help curb climate change, riding from Redwood Shores to downtown San Jose and back. She was also recently named a "Woman of Distinction" in the San Jose / Silicon Valley Business Journal, and she has been added to the Business Journal's "Who's Who in Silicon Valley" list. Briggs holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Larry Brilliant is the Executive Director of Google.org, where he leads major initiatives aimed at reducing global poverty, improving the health of the least advantaged in the world, and working to halt the effects of the climate crisis. Larry is an M.D. and M.P.H., board-certified in preventive medicine and public health. He is a founder and director of The Seva Foundation, which works in dozens of countries around the world, primarily to eliminate preventable and curable blindness. He serves as a member of the strategic advisory committee for Kleiner Perkins (KPCB) Venture Capital and also sits on the boards of The Skoll Foundation, Health Metrics Network, Omidyar Networks Humanity United, and InSTEDD, an organization bringing technological tools to improve disaster response. In addition to his medical career, Larry co-founded The Well, a pioneering virtual community, with Stewart Brand in 1985. He also holds a telecommunications technology patent and has served as CEO of two public companies and other venture-backed start-ups. The author of two books and dozens of articles on infectious diseases, blindness, and international health policy, Larry has worked at every level of government. He was recently a "first responder" for CDC's smallpox bio-terrorism response effort, volunteered in Sri Lanka for tsunami relief, and established an interdisciplinary consultancy to prepare for possible pandemic influenza. Larry lived in India working as a United Nations medical officer for more than a decade where he played a key role in the successful World Health Organization (WHO) smallpox eradication program and has recently worked for the WHO polio eradication effort as well. He was Associate Professor of epidemiology, global health planning and economic development at the University of Michigan. Larry earned a Masters in Public Health in health planning and economic development from the Univ
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