Frankel Commercialization Fund - Advisors

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Frankel Advisors

The Frankel Fund is directed by a board of advisors who are selected based on their in depth industry experience, experience founding and growing early stage companies, and or experience investing in early stage companies. The advisors serve as strategic advisors to the Frankel Fund as a whole and, based on the background of the advisor, as an advisor to one of the four Frankel Fund Teams. By complementing the experience of the Frankel Fund Team members, the Frankel Fund Teams are able to provide a very deep level of technical and business management expertise to the start-up companies in which they invest.

Tom Porter, Managing Director
In addition to his role as managing director of the Fund, Tom is general partner for Trillium Ventures in Ann Arbor. He has a broad range of experience in founding, managing and advising successful technology growth companies over a thirty-year period. Tom co-founded and is a general partner emeritus in EDF Ventures, an Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm investing in early-stage market-driven companies in health care and information technology.

Advisors

Technology Advisors

Jim Adox, Managing Director, Venture Investors
Jim joined Venture Investors in 2007 as a Managing Director and heads up our Ann Arbor, Michigan office. He leverages his technical, operational and venture capital background by focusing on investment prospects in medical devices, hardware, software, and communications. Jim’s prior venture capital experience includes a combined nine years as a partner at RidgeLine Ventures and  EDF Ventures, where he led the spin-out, sourcing, financing, syndication and exit of numerous investments. During this time,  he performed the role of President, CFO and COO of select opportunities until a management team was recruited. Jim served on the Boards of Directors of Avail Networks and HandyLab, and as an observer for Alfalight, Ardesta, TherOx and Xtera Communications. Prior to his venture capital positions, Jim had nine years operating experience both domestically and internationally. In these roles, he wore many functional hats: marketing, engineering, business development and operations. Jim currently serves on the Boards of Directors of HistoSonics, Incept BioSystems, the Michigan Venture Capital Association, and is Chairman of Tissue Regeneration Systems. Jim led the firm’s highly successful investment in LenSx Lasers, which was acquired by Alcon in 2010.  He is on the Board of  Advisors  to  the  Frankel Commercialization Fund, The Medical Innovations Center, Tech Arb, and Huron River Ventures. Jim earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an  MBA  with  High  Distinction, all from  the  University  of  Michigan. He is a competitive triathlete and an IronMan finisher.

Lindsay Aspegren, General Partner, North Coast Technology Investors
Lindsay Aspegren is a co-founder and general partner of North Coast Technology Investors where he has led investments in Avidimer Therapeutics, Inc.. Gema Diagnostics, Inc. and Virtela Communications, Inc., among others. Prior to North Coast, Lindsay was a co-founder of Chromatic Research, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company. He also held a number of executive positions at Lotus Development Corporation, Approach Software Corporation and Everex Systems, Inc. Lindsay began his career with Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he worked in Corporate Finance with emerging technology clients. Lindsay received his M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and his BA from Yale University. He also attended the London School of Economics.

David Hartmann, Mentor-In-Residence, UM Tech Transfer
Dave is currently a Mentor-in-Residence with UM Tech Transfer and the co-founder and CEO of Arbor Blue, an emerging technology company. Dave most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of Convergent Systems and Corporate Development for Sycamore Networks. He is an accomplished senior executive with successful experience in technology company startups, turn-around and public companies with extensive business development and operating experience in computing and communications technology. His experience includes the founding and management of a first wave internet equipment company from startup to IPO in 5 years. He then sold the business to a larger public company for $100 million. Dave has also had success unlocking the value of a semi-publicly held high technology company by creating a strategic plan to drive the next-step corporate investment strategy. The business grew 45% Y/Y with this new strategy and was acquired for $80 million.

Al Kortesoja, Formerly Capgemini/Ernst & Young
Al is a former vice president of the Critical Technologies Group at Capgemini/Ernst & Young, most recently focusing on enterprise integration services and the development of eCommerce strategies. He has extensive experience in the software, automotive, telecommunications, financial services and health care insurance industries. Al is currently an independent management consultant and an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan's computer science department.

Chuck Salley, CEO, NextCAT, Inc.
Chuck Salley is the CEO of NextCAT, Inc. a Detroit-based company commercializing biodiesel catalyst technology developed at the National Biofuels Energy Lab at Wayne State University that will allow biodiesel producers to use cost-effective raw materials. Chuck is an experienced entrepreneur who has founded two technology based companies and previously led information technology sales teams. He is past President of the Ann Arbor IT Zone and founding Executive Director of the Ann Arbor SmartZone Business Accelerator. He co-founded with Kurt Riegger, Entrepreneur Boot Camp and he continues to facilitate and teach this seminar semi-annually for Ann Arbor SPARK. He advises early stage technology companies and is a member of several Advisory Boards at UM Ross Business School.

Ken Spenser, Director, Interphase Corporation
Ken serves as a Director at Interphase Corporation (NASDAQ: INPH), a supplier to the global telecommunications market where he is Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, and also a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees. Ken is also President of Better Rehab, LLC a supplier of content to the Health Services Industry.  Previously Ken was a founder and President/CEO of two venture backed software development companies, MicroEngineering Solutions, Inc. and Entivity, Inc. MicroEngineering Solutions was successfully sold to Autodesk in 1993 and Entivity was sold to Phoenix Contact, GmbH in 2003.  Prior to his experience with venture capital backed companies, Ken was Vice President at Texas Instruments leading TI’s worldwide Industrial Automation Division.  Ken attended the US Naval Academy, graduating “With Distinction” in the top 10% of his class with a BS Degree in Physics and Applied Math.  He was one of 11 Midshipmen awarded Immediate Graduate Education and completed his MSEE (Acoustics) before going to Flight School.  Ken retired as a Navy Captain.

Medical Technology/Life Sciences Advisors

Arik Anderson, Vice President of Product Development, Terumo Cardiovascular
Arik Anderson is currently the Vice President of Product Development for Terumo Cardiovascular. Anderson was Senior Vice President, R&D and Operations and General Manager for Somanetics from October of 2007 until the completion of the integration with Covidien in May of 2011. From July 2005 until joining Somanetics, Anderson served as Director of Product Development for Delphi Medical Systems, a provider of technology and products to the infusion, respiratory care, vital signs monitoring and power mobility medical device markets. He was in charge of a team of 45 engineers in the US, Mexico, and India who supported existing products and developed next generation products. From April 2004 until July 2005, Anderson was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tasso Solutions, a product development and manufacturing consulting firm specializing in helping companies outsource design and manufacturing work. From December 2002 until April 2004, Anderson was the Vice President of Engineering Services for TriVirix International, a design and manufacturing services company focused specifically on the medical device industry, serving customers such as Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. In this capacity, he was in charge of 50 engineers for TriVirix in the US and Europe. Mr. Anderson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Larry Hagerty, President, MedAptus Inc.
Larry is currently President of MedAptus, Inc., a healthcare software company focused on revenue cycle management applications. Larry is a recognized leader in the healthcare information industry and, earlier in his career, successfully led Ann Arbor-based Medstat through tremendous growth as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Medstat’s track record as a public company, prior to its later acquisition by Thomson Reuters, was recognized by the company’s inclusion on the Forbes’ Corporate Honor Roll and Business Week Best Small Companies lists. Larry has also held executive and management positions with R.L. Polk & Co., The Carroll Group, Hoover Universal, Gould, and Arthur Andersen & Co. He is currently a member of the Health Policy and Management Executive Council for the Harvard School of Public Health, the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University of Michigan School of Nursing and a number of other for-profit and not-for-profit boards.

Kalyan Handique, CEO, DeNovo Sciences
Kalyan Handique is currently the CEO of DeNovo Sciences, a cancer diagnostics start-up. Prior to joining DeNovo Sciences, Kalyan co-founded HandyLab, a start-up molecular diagnostic company which was recently acquired by Becton Dickinson (BD) Diagnostic Systems in a landmark deal valued at more than $275 Million. He served in a variety of roles including President (2000-2001), CTO (2000-2009) and Board Member (2000-2009) for HandyLab. He was pivotal in forming the vision, vibrant culture and team and was a key contributor in HandyLab’s successful entrepreneurial journey from start-to-exit. Contributions included: technology transfer, raising venture capital and government grants, growing the team, developing intellectual property, strategic collaborations, developing and launching FDA approved molecular diagnostics platforms to the eventual sale of the company. After HandyLab’s sale to BD, Kalyan served as the VP of R&D Systems Development for BD Diagnostics from 2009-2011. Kalyan has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan with Prof Mark Burns as his adviser and received a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 1995.  Kalyan is active in the entrepreneurial community and serves as an adviser for the Frankel Fund, Augment Ventures, Wireless Integrated Microsystems and sits on the board of 3D Biomatrix.

Paul McCreadie, Managing Director, Arboretum Ventures
Paul McCreadie joined Arboretum Ventures in 2006 and is responsible for sourcing and leading new investments in promising healthcare companies. He led Arboretum’s investment into Delphinus Medical Technologies and Wellfount Pharmacy and currently serves on the Board of Directors of each company. Paul has also been a board observer at VasoNova (acquired by Teleflex) and NeoGuide. He is the former Chief Operating Officer for CerviLenz, a portfolio company based in Ohio, where he led the re-design of the company’s first commercial product from concept to launch. Prior to joining Arboretum in 2006, Paul worked at Ford Motor Company for eight years, holding management positions within new product development, manufacturing, and business strategy. He was a member of the Wolverine Venture Fund (WVF) while an MBA student at Michigan's Ross School of Business. Paul was the fund’s liaison with IntraLase, one of the WVF's most successful investments to date, which was acquired by American Medical Optics in 2007. Paul earned a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Gerard P. Spencer, Retired Partner, Arthur Andersen
Gerard has spent most of his career (28 years) as a partner at Arthur Andersen. While at Andersen, he specialized in technology based clients (8 IPO’s and numerous financings), small and medium sized manufacturing and service companies, and Japanese transplants. He was the manager of the Emerging Company Business for Arthur Andersen’s Michigan Region and manager of Andersen’s Ann Arbor office. Following Arthur Andersen, Gerard became CFO of a $50 million sales manufacturing company. As CFO of the manufacturing company, he was instrumental in increasing per share value 4 times in three years after more than a dozen years of no growth. He then oversaw the sale of the company. Gerard has served on numerous boards of directors during his career. He received his MBA from the University of Michigan and a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Cleantech Advisors

Peter Adriaens, Director, Global CleanTech Cluster Association
Dr. Adriaens is Director at CleanTech Acceleration Partners, a business investment services firm, and Director of the Global CleanTech Custer Association (GCCA), focused on open innovation and economic development by screening, repositioning and connecting best in class Cleantech clusters and companies. He is co-developer (with T. Faley) of the KeyStone Compact™, a startup positioning and investment analysis tool that has been applied on more than 400 early and later stage CleanTech companies in North America, Asia, and Europe.  Aside from GCCA, its clients include OnGreen, a broker for Chinese venture capital in US cleantech startups.  He founded Global CleanTech LLC, and executive education and legal advising firm, and is Director of Asian Operations at LimnoTech, an environmental services company focused on business water risks in the US and China.  He is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy in the Ross School of Business. His professional appointments include past-President of the Association of Environmental Science and Engineering Professors (AEESP), and a member-by-eminence of the American Academy of Environmental Engineering. Following a 20-year career focused on validating laboratory-based bioremediation, environmental sensing and green building technologies in the field, his current work focuses on CleanTech innovation and entrepreneurship. He teaches courses on Business Models, Entrepreneurial Business Fundamentals, CleanTech Venture Assessment, and Sustainability Finance.

Lauren Bigelow, CEO, Growth Capital Network
Lauren Bigelow is the CEO of the Growth Capital Network (GCN) which serves business community by executing programs to connect entrepreneurial and growth companies with the investors and capital to accelerate their vision. With this platform, Lauren and her team manage the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the Midwest Green Technology Entrepreneur Academy, and the Midwest Midmarket Capital Survey and provide evaluative services for the foundation community. Prior to the Growth Capital Network, Lauren was the North American Commercial Director for New Energy Finance, the leading independent provider of information and research to investors in clean energy and the carbon markets. Before its acquisition by Bloomberg, New Energy Finance had 11 offices globally, providing a range of newsletters, data, economic, policy and technology analysis and carbon price forecasting to senior decision makers. From early 2004 through 2008, Lauren was the Managing Director of the Cleantech Group where she oversaw the firm's technology and entrepreneur pipelines. Working directly with over two hundred early stage CEOs, more than $1.4 billion was raised by presenting companies. Lauren built fourteen of the Cleantech Forums and coordinated the outreach for to incubators, universities, labs, angel organizations and investor groups. She worked closely with the Cleantech North America, EU and China advisory boards to lead the next wave of investment opportunities and social responsibility in both continents. Lauren is on the board of the Clean Economy Network and the Advisory Boards of the Erb Institute at the Ross School of Business and the New Enterprise Forum. She is also on the advisory board for the entrepreneurial company InPore. Prior to joining Cleantech, Lauren was the Director of the IT Zone, a networking and education organization that promoted the growth of the IT industry in Michigan. Lauren received a BA from the University of Michigan, an MA and PhD from Northwestern University.

Pedro Guillen, Managing Partner, Kinetek Partners
Pedro Guillen currently serves as a Managing Partner at Kinetek Partners where he leads the Technology and Innovation practice. He advises business leaders on innovation strategy driving performance and long-term value. He previously served as the director of Industry Services at Next Energy where he contributed his expertise in diverse clean energy and transportation projects. Areas of expertise include product commercialization, technology road mapping and manufacturing strategy. Prior to joining Next Energy Pedro worked for various clean technology, and defense consultants. Pedro has led global engineering teams focused in new product development and operations management.  Pedro has taught corporate seminars in the areas of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Product Development. Pedro received his MBA from the Ross Business School, University of Michigan. Pedro holds a Master of Engineering in Manufacturing from the University of Michigan. He also received dual B.S. degrees from Columbia University with concentrations in Mechanical Engineering and Liberal Arts.

Kim Pargoff, Grid Storage Manager, Government and Military Solutions, A123 Systems
Kim Pargoff is the Grid Energy Storage Manager for Government and Military Solutions at A123 Systems.  Kim has over 10 years experience in the clean energy and clean technology space.  At A123, Kim is responsible for business and new market development for advanced grid energy storage solutions for all government and military customers worldwide.   Kim’s focus is on applying “smart” storage solutions to micro-grid, renewable integration, ancillary service, and vehicle-to- grid military applications.  Prior to A123 Kim spent 3 years at the Cleantech Group as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development where Kim developed new markets and  cleantech growth strategies for governments in  North America, China, India, Brazil and the Middle East.   Previously, Kim also served as the Clean Energy Policy Director for an NGO in Washington D.C. and as Business Development Manager for Capstone Turbine Corporation.  At Capstone Kim developed new distributed generation markets and programs with partners such as Chevron Energy Solutions and United Technologies Corporation (UTC Power & UTC Fuel Cell).  Kim also has 4 years experience in high-tech and strategy consulting with Diamond Technology Partners and Accenture working on strategic and technology engagements with clients such as Goldman Sachs, T-Rowe Price, Alltel, Bell Mobility, and Telefonica SA.  Kim has a MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a dual Certificate in Corporate Environmental Management and Sustainability in Business from The Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara.  Kim has a Bachelors of Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in Industrial and Environmental Engineering.

Sonali Vijayavargiya, Founder and Managing Director, Augment Ventures
Sonali Vijayavargiya is the Founder and Managing Director of Augment Ventures, an early stage cleantech, industrial technologies and IT focused venture fund based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Fund invests in early-stage companies with high caliber teams and transformational technologies and solutions geared to increase efficiency and productivity in global markets. Sonali has over 16 years of experience in both project finance and investment banking. She has worked closely with early stage companies in several industries, nurturing them and developing them from proof of concept to final IPO or strategic sale. Her strong insight into understanding technologies and business models for early stage companies has helped her shape commercial success for clients. Sonali’s global work experience has helped her developed a keen sense of leveraging economic and regional efficiencies to develop profitable cross border alliances for companies operating in different sectors. In 2005, prior to launching Augment Ventures, Sonali founded Augment Capital, LLC, a venture advisory practice.  She provided strategic advice to many seed and early stage companies in CleanTech and IT, successfully positioning her clients to secure over $60 Million in institutional funding. Prior to forming Augment Capital, Sonali worked in Mumbai with organizations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and Edelweiss Capital where she raised over $100 million for her clients and advised start-up companies from incorporation to fund raising to exits. She holds an MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Fergusson College both from Pune, India. She is a recipient of the Leaders and Innovators award by Grant Thornton and the Corp! Entrepreneur of Distinction Award.

Ryan Waddington, Mangaging Director, Huron River Ventures
Ryan Waddington is co-founder and Managing Director of Huron River Ventures, a seed and early stage venture fund focused on cleantech opportunities in Michigan.  Mr. Waddington has over 14 years of experience in investing, operating and consulting roles in the alternative energy and environmental sectors, and is widely respected as an experienced cleantech investment professional. Ryan has invested in and managed more than 15 energy technology companies at seed, venture and growth stages, totaling approximately $100 million of invested and committed capital.  Prior to co-founding Huron River Ventures, Ryan helped establish an energy-focused private equity group within New York-based Ziff Brothers Investments, one of the largest and most successful family office investment firms in the country.  There he became part of the core team of investment managers and worked on multiple transactions in renewables, biofuels, power transmission and advanced materials sectors.  Ryan began his career in venture capital working inside DTE Energy’s corporate venture group and also established and executed a seed funding program at Detroit-based alternative energy incubator NextEnergy.  While in business school at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, he co-founded a "dot com" for outdoor enthusiasts, and worked as a consulting environmental engineer early in his career.

Consumer Advisors

Gregg Hammerman, Co-founder, Larky
Greg is the Co-founder of Larky. The company provides an application to help consumers manage discounts from retailers, membership organizations increase loyalty, and merchants generate business. He previously served as the team leader, product and business development for GloStream, an early stage company providing doctors with certified, voice-enabled Microsoft Office-embedded electronic medical record and practice management solutions. Prior to joining gloStream, Gregg co-founded and served as President of TechStreet, a Web site that provides engineers, librarians and technical professionals with efficient, convenient, reliable access to mission-critical industrial codes and standards. Techstreet's Web-based tools and services help users efficiently acquire and manage information resources. Through an e-commerce Web site and Web-based subscription service, customers can freely access an online database of over 300,000 industry codes and standards aggregated from 350 of the world's leading Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs.  TechStreet was acquired by Thomson Reuters.  Gregg received his BSE  and MBA from the University of Michigan where he also was a Frankel Fellow.

David McCann, National Small Business Development Team, Google
Dave McCann heads the National Small Business Development Team at Google in the Ann Arbor office. The team focuses on understanding and providing customer support for the thousands of small and medium businesses that use Google AdWords. Dave previously served as a manager providing support to key business-to-business advertisers in Google’s Business and Industrial Markets Vertical. Prior to Google, Dave was a Treasury Analyst at Ford Motor Company. In this role, he developed funding plans for the Canadian, Australian, Mexican and Brazilian markets. Dave received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA in Finance from Michigan State.

Joshua Pokempner, Entrepreneur
Joshua Pokempner is a recovering Architect and a founder of Architects Four where he worked until launching a series of award winning consumer product companies. With a dedication to products that are clever, innovate and fun, Giddy Up!, Color Loco, Flying Colors Toys and Colorbok Paper Products, where founded and eventually successfully sold. The companies continue to thrive and serve the mass and specialty stationery, children’s toys and publishing markets. Currently Josh is dividing his time between product design at Giddy Up!, which is now part of Elmer’s Products, Inc. and involvements with several nonprofit organizations.

Phil Roos, Consultant
Phil is an expert on innovation and branding, a successful entrepreneur, and a consultant to a wide range of for-profit and non-profit organizations.  He formerly served as the CEO of Rooster Works LLC, an organization focused on promoting economic revitalization, environmental sustainability, and health and wellness for Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Prior to Rooster Works, he was the Managing Director of GfK Strategic Innovation, the practice area formed by the acquisition of Arbor Strategy Group (ASG) by GfK Group, a leading global marketing research and consulting firm. Phil founded ASG in 1998, creating a consultancy with recognized expertise in strategic brand innovation and a model for predicting and developing tomorrow’s successful innovation.  Prior to ASG, Phil was Chief Marketing Officer for Frank’s Nursery & Crafts (a leading lawn and garden retailer), Senior VP Marketing for Little Caesars Pizza, President of Delicious/Frookie snack company, and Managing Director of Marketing Corporation of America’s consumer industry consulting practice.  Phil started his career in brand management with the Quaker Oats Company. Phil currently serves on a variety of boards, including the Michigan Environmental Council, Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, and CTI Industries (a publicly-traded company) – as well as in advisory capacities for a variety of other organizations.  He is on the advisory board of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters and the Conservation Voters of Michigan Political Action Committee. Phil earned a BBA from the University of Michigan and a MBA from Harvard. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Ted Serbinski, Vice President, Detroit Venture Partners
Ted Serbinski is the Vice President at Detroit Venture Partners, where he leads investments in early stage technology companies. Recently, he relocated from San Francisco to Metropolitan Detroit with his newlywed wife to help form and found a blossoming startup ecosystem through his roles as seed-stage investor, adviser, and interim-CTO. Additionally, he sits on the boards of Are You a Human, Detroit Labs, Marxent Labs, and UpTo. Before coming to the Midwest, he founded Stanson Ventures, a successful micro fund, with a current ROI of 2.2x. Top investments include GraphScience, which recently closed a $2M round led by Raptor VC, and CrowdMob, which closed an undisclosed round including Adreesen Horowitz and Eduardo Saverin. Ted is also an adviser to GraphScience and is adviser/interim-CTO to MomTrusted. Prior to his investment career, Ted was a serial entrepreneur, most recently as co-founder and CTO of ParentsClick, which was acquired by Lifetime Television in 2008. He also was the founding engineer at Lullabot, where he architected numerous websites for a variety of Fortune 500 companies, including Sony, MTV, and Lifetime. For six years, Ted was a top developer and early contributing pioneer to the Drupal framework. He contributed more than 1,000 code patches and drove the framework through its most fundamental releases before mainstream adoption (Drupal is currently powering over 2% of all websites). Ted earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Engineering from Cornell University.

Advisors-at-Large

Terry Cross, Entrepreneur/Investor
After graduating from Wayne State University with an MBA in Finance, Mr. Cross entered the machine tool business in Detroit, Michigan, with The Cross Company, (publicly traded) the world’s leader in Automated Machine Tools. Mr. Cross worked in many departments of The Cross Company, learning the business from the ground up. Mr. Cross co-founded, CP Systems Company specializing in high-speed, small parts, automated assembly machinery and built it up to an annual revenue base of $ 10.0 million. Mr. Cross sold CP Systems Company to Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, a NYSE listed company. Mr. Cross entered the securities business through a training program with Eastman Dillon Union Securities in 1972.  In 1974, Mr. Cross joined Kidder, Peabody & Company in their Detroit, Michigan office and remained there until 1985 when he was transferred to Kidder’s flagship Park Avenue office in New York City.  In 1985, Mr. Cross was elected a Senior Vice President and shareholder of Kidder, Peabody & Company.  In 1988, Mr. Cross was transferred to Kidder’s San Francisco office and remained there until 1998.  During his years in San Francisco from 1989 until 1998, he focused almost entirely on the technology companies and venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. In 1995, Kidder was acquired by PaineWebber.  Mr. Cross left PaineWebber in July of 1998 to pursue private investments.  In February 2000, Mr. Cross co-founded Sonoma Photonics, Inc. in Santa Rosa, CA where he served as CEO and Chairman until he resigned to return to Michigan in August 2002.  During his tenure, Mr. Cross spearheaded the development of the business plan and raised $10.7 million in venture funding from domestic and European investors. Sonoma Photonics was sold to Lockheed-Martin in 2008 for a significant return. In August 2002, Mr. Cross returned to Michigan and founded Windward Associates, a private investment partnership, where he focuses on capital formation advisory. Mr. Cross’ past board memberships include: G2 Networks, Inc. of Los Gatos, CA, Safari Technology Inc. of Lawton, Michigan, GCB Technologies of San Jose, CA, InGenius Technologies of Kalamazoo, MI., Wordenglass Inc. of Kalamazoo, MI., Machine Vision International of Ann Arbor, MI, Inivest of Detroit, MI, and Triumph Resources of New York City, and Pure Entropy Solutions of Lake Orion, MI [as Chairman]. Mr. Cross was a founding investor of three companies resulting from MIT’s Technology Transfer Department:  Intellitec, Axiomatics, and LNL Technologies. He served as a board member for Axiomatics and Intellitec. He was also a member of MIT’s Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity. He has served as a financial advisor to Triscend Semiconductor of Mountain View, CA, Macropore Corporation of San Diego, CA. and All-American Semiconductor of San Jose, CA. He currently serves as a Director of Monarch Antenna, a Delphi Corp. spinout, as Chairman of MIST Innovations, Inc. of Detroit, MI., and as an advisor to ArdentCause L3C., eCyren LLC,  NextCAT of Detroit, MI, as Interim CFO and advisor to InfoReady Corp. and NextGen Metabolomics of Ann Arbor, and AutoHarvest as Senior Director, among others. Since 2002, he has mentored over 50 company founders in Southeast Michigan and has been instrumental in helping entrepreneurs raise in excess of $ 100 million of capital funding. Terry resides in Oakland County, Michigan.

Jim O'Connell, Director, Venture Center U-M Tech Transfer
Jim leads the Venture Center within the University of Michigan Office of Technology Transfer, focused on creating high quality startup companies based on U M intellectual property.  He has extensive corporate experience from Stryker Instruments, as well as local Ann Arbor startup experience from Xoran Technologies and Sensicore. In his more than 13 years of industry experience, Jim’s roles have always focused on product commercialization and business development, as well as operations and engineering responsibilities. He has helped commercialize over 30 different products including biomaterials, RF Ablation devices, infusion pumps, surgical power tools, high volume sterile disposables, CT Scanners, surgical navigation systems, resorbable plates and screws, and amperometric electrochemical sensors. He has a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer and an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Maryland.  Prior to industry, Jim was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.