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The Resource Center has all the info you'll need From content to user feedback, the resource center has the information you need for every level of the entrepreneurial process.
As senior vice president, Worldwide Marketing, Ken is responsible for all palmOne marketing activities, including product marketing. Prior to joining the company, Ken was the founder and chief executive officer of Riffage.com, a venture capital-funded music media company backed by Mayfield Fund, Bertelsmann and AOL. The management team he recruited built Riffage into a popular music site on the Internet, with 1 million unique visitors per month, signing major sponsors including Sony, Sega, Lipton's and Telocity. Before founding his own company, Ken was vice president of corporate marketing for Diamond Multimedia Systems, a leading PC peripherals company, where he managed all worldwide marketing functions, tech support, customer service and Internet marketing. Ken also led the introduction of the Rio portable MP3 player, which established the MP3 market and maintains a leading share today after the entry of Sony, Compaq, Philips, Samsung and Intel, among others. Previously, Ken headed marketing for Apple Computer's PIE (personal interactive electronics) division, overseeing all Newton marketing programs. Ken also has held key marketing roles at NEC Technologies, Cognitive Systems and Atari. He holds a master of business administration degree from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.
An entrepreneur turned mergers and acquisitions specialist advises owners selling a privately held company to secure representation and educate themselves about the process.
As Senior Vice President of Hardware, Matt Hershenson brings a wealth of experience to Danger. He is responsible for Danger's hardware engineering, development and design efforts. Before co-founding Danger, Matt managed the hardware group at Mainbrace Corporation, a Windows CE systems integrator. Prior to Mainbrace Corporation, Matt served in various roles at Philips Electronics. During his tenure with the Philips Mobile Computing Group, he was responsible for the hardware of the Velo-1 handheld PC, one of the first Windows CE devices. While at Philips Semiconductors, Matt served as a systems architect, where he played an integral role in the design of numerous consumer handheld devices, including the Sharp Mobilon, Philips Nino, and the Compaq C-series. Before Philips, Matt was a hardware engineer with Catapult Entertainment, since acquired by Hearme. He was part of the team that turned the vision of multi-player gaming over the Internet into a reality. He handled all aspects of product development and design for the XBAND Video Game Modem. Matt also played a key role in the product development and design of the Apple Powerbook 150, then Apple's most affordable PowerBook computer. Matt also co-founded MOTO Development Group, a product design consultancy firm specializing in product development. MOTO aided in the design of many technical products, such as remote controls for Apple Interactive TV.
Ann Winblad is the co-founding Partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. She is a well-known and respected software industry entrepreneur and technology leader. Her background and experience have been chronicled in many national business and trade publications. Ann has over 25 years of experience in the software industry. She began her career as a systems programmer at the Federal Reserve Bank. In 1976 Ann co-founded Open Systems, Inc., a top selling accounting software company, with a $500 investment. She operated Open Systems profitably for six years and then sold it for over $15 million. Prior to co-founding Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Ann served as a strategy consultant for prestigious clients such as IBM, Microsoft, Price Waterhouse, and numerous start-ups. In addition, Ann has co-authored the book Object-Oriented Software and has written articles for numerous publications. Ann received a BA in mathematics and in business administration, as well as an MA in education and international economics from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. Ann also has an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of St. Thomas. Ann has served as a Director of start-up and public companies and currently serves as a director of Intacct, The Knot, Voltage Security, Krillion and Mulesource. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of St. Thomas and is an advisor to numerous entrepreneur groups.
Entrepreneurs need to be leaders to motivate people to undertake the daunting task of turning a vision into a tangible entity, says the founder of the nation's largest pediatric home healthcare provider.
Before co-founding Fluidigm, as Mycometrix, Mr. Worthington held a variety of engineering, operations and marketing positions at Actel Corporation, which designs, develops and markets field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and associated design and development software and programming hardware. Mr. Worthington served in several departments during his tenure at Actel, including product engineering, R&D engineering management, program management, product planning, and strategic marketing. His last position at Actel was Director, Strategic Marketing and Product Planning. Mr. Worthington received his undergraduate degree in Physics and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Dr. John Hennessy has been President of Stanford University since 2000. He became a Stanford faculty member in 1977. He rose through the academic ranks to full professorship in 1986 and was the inaugural Willard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1987 to 2004. A pioneer in computer architecture, in 1981 Dr. Hennessy drew together researchers to focus on a computer architecture known as RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer), a technology that has revolutionized the computer industry by increasing performance while reducing costs. In 1984, he used his sabbatical year to found MIPS Computer Systems Inc. to commercialize his research in RISC processors. Dr. Hennessy is a recipient of the 2000 IEEE John von Neumann Medal, a 2004 NEC C&C Prize for lifetime achievement in computer science and engineering, and a 2005 Founders Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Hennessy earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University and his master's and doctoral degrees in computer science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Randy Komisar joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers in 2005 as a partner. For several years prior Randy has partnered with entrepreneurs creating businesses with leading edge technologies. He was a co-founder of Claris Corporation, served as CEO for LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, and acted as a "virtual CEO" for such companies as WebTV, Mirra and GlobalGiving. He was a founding Director of TiVo where he is currently chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee. Earlier Randy served as CFO of GO Corporation and Senior Counsel for Apple Computer, following a private practice in Technology Law. Randy holds a BA in Economics from Brown University and a JD form Harvard Law School. He is a Consulting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Stanford University and author of the best-selling book The Monk and the Riddle, as well as several articles on leadership and entrepreneurship. Randy frequently speaks here and abroad on such topics.
Entrepreneurs must have a strategic reason for expanding and execute according to a plan that works for their company, says a cofounder of a major oil-change service company.
Entrepreneurs aiming to expand need to keep their eye on the regional, national, or global markets they covet while preserving and enhancing existing client relationships, says the founder of a private swim school that is poised for growth.
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