Past Events > 2011 Information Technology and Web Venture Forum

Keynote Speakers

		Mike Maples, Jr. FLOODGATE Mike Maples, Jr., managing partner of FLOODGATE, was recently named as one of "8 Rising VC Stars" by Fortune Magazine and is a member of the Forbes Midas List of the top 20 VCs. Before becoming an investor, his background spanned a variety of markets, including consumer technology, small business, and the enterprise. Prior to his investing career, Mike co-founded Motive, Inc., which went public in 2004, and headed worldwide product marketing at Tivoli System, from early-stage through to its 1995 IPO and acquisition by IBM. He holds an Engineering degree from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

		Dana Settle Greycroft Partners LLC Dana Settle is a Founding Partner with Greycroft LLC, and she heads the firm's west coast office. Prior to Greycroft, Dana spent several years as a venture capitalist and advisor to startup companies in the Bay Area, including six years at Mayfield, where she focused on early stage companies in the mobile communications and consumer Internet markets. Greycroft was founded by venture capital pioneer, Alan Patricof, after spending thirty years building what would become Apax Partners, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $35 billion under management. Patricof returned to early stage investing with the launch of Greycroft Partners in 2006.

Investor Feedback Panel

		Rajiv Bala S3 Ventures Rajiv Bala is a Senior Associate with S3 Ventures. His responsibilities at S3 include deal sourcing and structuring, due diligence, partner engagement and portfolio management. Rajiv’s investment focus includes software, internet/web, telecommunications, technology-enabled services, and medical device. Rajiv was a Marketing Manager at Texas Instruments where he led marketing for Automotive Infotainment in the North American region. Prior to marketing, Rajiv was an Applications Engineer with the Digital Radio Group at Texas Instruments where he helped grow the business from zero to over a million units shipped. Rajiv holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BA in Economics from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

		Rudy Garza G51 Capital Management As founder and managing general partner of G-51, Rudy focuses on the development of all portfolio companies, syndication partnerships and deal flow. Through mentoring as well as serving on portfolio boards, he is instrumental in driving success through defining and then guiding the implementation of well-grounded business and marketing strategies. Rudy applies his expertise which includes an extensive knowledge of successful hardware and software business models, market shaping services, business growth strategies and talent sourcing. Rudy knows start-ups and what it takes to build market value.

		Keith Kreuer Red House Associates Keith Kreuer has over 27 years of experience in starting and building innovative, customer-oriented information technology companies. As a Principal with RedHouse Associates, Keith specializes in early stage angel investments and currently sits on the Board of Directors of BBS Technologies, Golfnet, and Target Hunger. He is a venture adviser with DFJ Mercury and serves on Advisory panels for Gazzang and Performix. He co-founded PentaSafe in 1997 and served as its Director of World-Wide Services & Support until it was acquired by NetIQ in 2002. Prior to that, Keith was co-founder and President of Penta, Inc., a Houston-based software consulting firm which was acquired by VeriCenter in February 2000. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kreuer served in various positions as Director of Operations for Generator Systems, Consulting Manager for Ernst & Young, and Software Development Project Manager for Exxon, U.S.A. Mr. Kreuer is a graduate of Iowa State University, where he received a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Computer Science.

		Preetish Nijhawan Cervin Ventures Preetish Nijhawan is Managing Director of Cervin Ventures. Most recently, Preetish was Chief Financial Officer for Neon Enterprise Software. Before that, Preetish was Vice President of Strategic Alliances at NeoEdge Networks, a video game advertising company. Preetish was also Vice President, Portfolio and Program Management for BMC Software. Prior to BMC, he was Vice President, Operations of iVita Corporation, an asset management software startup he helped found. Preetish has advised senior executives in hardware, software and telecom industries for McKinsey and Company. He co-founded Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) in 1998, He also worked for nearly six years in the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) division at Intel in various engineering and program management roles. Preetish earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from The University of Southern California, and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

		Alan Ying, MD Chrysalis Ventures Alan Ying, MD, is a Houston-based Venture Partner at Chrysalis Ventures, the largest early stage healthcare and technology venture capital firm in the Midwest, based in Louisville, KY. Alan is also an Owner and Director on the Board of KLAS Enterprises, the leading vendor evaluation firm for the HIT market; a Visiting Scholar at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Director on its Health Sector Advisory Board; and an Advisor to investment firms, publicly traded corporations, and early stage businesses. Alan was a Surgeon at Duke University before he left to found MercuryMD, a provider of enterprise mobile information systems for hospitals. After growing MercuryMD into the market leader over six years, he sold the business to the Thomson Corporation (NYSE:TRI). At Thomson he served as Chief Medical Officer and was responsible for Strategy and Corporate Development.