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Dominic Orr was named President and CEO of Aruba Networks in April 2006. Prior to that, Mr. Orr served as the company's Chairman of the Board. Previously, Dominic Orr was the president of Nortel Networks, Intelligent Internet Web Systems. He previously served as the president and chief executive of Alteon WebSystems which was merged with Nortel Networks in Oct. 2000. Mr. Orr has more than 20 years of experience in the computer systems and communication networking industry and has held senior positions at Bay Networks, Hewlett-Packard and Hughes Aircraft. Mr. Orr. is a member of the Sciences Board of Visitors at UCLA. He holds a BS in physics from City University of New York and a MS and PhD from California Institute of Technology.
What's the best way to communicate with funding sources? Guy Kawasaki provides both best-case and worst-case tactics for tracking down and capturing the money you need to grow.
There are pros and cons associated with using a convertible note structure before doing a Series A round of investment. A venture capitalist explains the ins and outs with a brief, straightforward introduction, including blog comments from other sources.
For quick reference and review, present your board with a one-page summary of your company's finances at your quarterly meetings. Open-book management companies can use it for employees, too. This technique doesn't exempt you from standard financial reporting, but it does help key stakeholders more quickly see and appreciate the big picture.
Pulling legal documents from the internet may be quick, cheap, and easy, but keep in mind you get what you pay for. Sometimes more is less. An experienced, straight-talking start-up veteran provides three best practices about how to avoid mistakes, what you should pay, and how to negotiate fees.
This brief, to-the-point VC blog entry explains why investors often consider operating cash flow as the best measure of business health. The piece also explains one way for entrepreneurs to calculate it with investors in mind.
When seeking venture capital, entrepreneurs may be asked to sign a term sheet with a no-shop clause. That means the entrepreneur agrees not to seek other investors during the final negotiations. This blog entry contains some good advice that isn't necessarily obvious to the uninitiated.
Investors can have a high degree of influence on the operations of their portfolio companies because of their capital and their board roles. Such influence, at times, may push through ideas that are not in alignment with the leadership team's strategy. This article offers one VC's insights into the relationship between investor and the entrepreneur or CEO.
The mysteries of how VCs determine company value can be daunting to entrepreneurs. This uncertainty is due, in large part, to the uncertainty of the valuation process itself. From the VC Confidential blog, here is a glimpse of what that process looks like.
Dan Springer brings over 20 years of executive leadership and strategic sales and marketing consulting experience to Responsys, with proven success in interactive marketing, e-commerce, and finance. As Chief Executive Officer, Dan is responsible for charting Responsys' strategic direction and extending the company's leadership into new realms of digital marketing. Prior to Responsys, Dan was Managing Director in the San Francisco office of Modem Media where he was responsible for general management of the agency's western United States operations. Dan led the development of the agency's Performance Marketing capability by leveraging database marketing, web site analytics and search engine marketing techniques. Prior to Modem Media as the CEO of Telleo, Inc., he refocused the business from online advertising to business partnerships with leading brands like Taco Bell. Previously, Springer was also the Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager for NextCard, where he built the fastest-growing credit card in history by creating one of the Internet's top five advertisers. He started his career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and DRI/McGraw-Hill. Dan holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Occidental College. He also sits on the board of directors for ITI, E-LOAN and The Randall Museum.
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