SILVERWOOD PARTNERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor
- Industry Advisor / CTO, SRS Labs
As Chief Technology Officer of SRS Labs, an IP licensing and audio technology company, Alan Kraemer was instrumental in the growth and ultimate sale of the company. Over an 18 year period Mr. Kraemer was granted over 38 patents in key areas of audio signal processing technology. He also lead the team that developed MDA (Multi-Dimensional Audio) an object based authoring and playback system for game and cinema sound that is currently in use in theaters worldwide. Subsequent to his tenure at SRS he worked with UCSD on the development of audio beamforming technology. Mr. Kraemer also has extensive experience in consumer electronics and with marketing and licensing of intellectual property.
Job Titles:
- Founder, Chief Executive, Global Market Technologist of the US
- Industry Advisor
Allan McLennan's 20+year history of results driven leadership in traditional media, digital technology & infinite entertainment places him among some of the most respected figures today focused at the intersection of TV, IP streaming Media (OTT/SVOD), data/AI and its impact on digital engagement, distribution and intelligent interaction with audiences & global culture.
Allan is the Founder, Chief Executive, Global Market Technologist of the US based PADEM Media Group, and is one of the world's recognized voices, analysts and advisers for corporate growth in the advancement of infinite entertainment via IP based Next Gen television/OTT, video streaming, connected devices & data intelligence. Allan's current work with global corporations and innovators addresses the deployments, acquisitions and the overall revision of the entertainment/media multi-platform video distribution and consumption models being explored today.
Allan has participated in the creation/innovation, packaged and/or sold multiple new offerings throughout the world in 17 countries with close to four billion households as both a corporate executive and innovator, including the first multi-million household IP video on demand channel (OTT)/service offering worldwide - SelectPlay; first fully mobile shot television series "Africa Diary;" and interactive/educational game series "The Lion King" and more. He has held five patents in targeted advertising and has worked or works with corporations such as Ericsson, Siemens, Microsoft, ARRIS, TIVO, COMCAST, APPLE, Universal, Disney, Ooyala and more on projects involving the advancement of IP/digital media distribution. Additionally, he was the founding AMI divisional President of the US publicly traded entertainment data analytics corporation - RENTRAK (NASDAQ: RENT), serving 100% of the studio and network marketplace. Allan is asked to speak regularly and contributes annually as a Chairman at the OTTtv World Summit, TVConnect NAB & IBC, as well as quoted throughout the industry press. He is a hop-a-long runner on Mt. Tamalpais and consistent grinder on sail boats in the SF Bay Area and where he calls home.
Job Titles:
- Allexe Law / Industry Advisor
- Industry Advisor
Job Titles:
- Brand Manager
- Sales Consultant
- Industry Advisor
- National Sales Director for New Leaf Brands
Andy Stallone is a veteran brand manager and sales consultant in the healthy living consumer products industry. Mr. Stallone has experience as a distributor and supplier of food and beverages and a long history of training sales teams and introducing retailers to new and innovative products.
As CEO of SAS Sales and Marketing, Mr. Stallone provides executive level management and sales expertise to emerging food and beverage brands. This includes brand positioning and launch strategy, business planning, budgeting, pricing & margin analysis, financing, building distribution networks, broker selection and management, sales team oversight, and key account sales calls.
Mr. Stallone's background on both the distributor and the supplier side of the business brings a unique and valuable perspective to emerging companies. He co-founded Boca Beverage Corp., a start-up distribution company that became the first and ultimately exclusive distributor of Arizona Iced Tea in the state of Florida. Boca Beverage expanded its reach by obtaining master distribution rights, and by launching many emerging brands including Nantucket Nectars, Fiji Water, Hansen's Natural and Red Bull. Since selling Boca Beverage Corp., Mr. Stallone has been instrumental in the successful launch and expansion of several businesses in both the healthy snack and beverage categories including Odwalla/Fresh Samantha in the Southeast, the launch of "Shelflink", and overseeing the introduction of Monster Energy Brand on the East Coast.
Previously, as National Sales Director for New Leaf Brands, Mr. Stallone managed a nationwide network of 100+ distributors and was responsible for all DSD, broker and direct warehouse sales. In addition, he managed national sales and distribution strategy development and implementation for Onli Sparkling Water, Purity Organic Juice, Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, Trevi Essence Water, and Hi-Ball Energy Drinks among others.
Job Titles:
- Independent Analyst
- Industry Advisor
Ben is an independent analyst and board-level advisor in the Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) space. He has over 30 years of experience helping companies and investors make better-informed decisions based on data-driven understanding of the future.
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor With
- Managing Director at Opaka Partners
- Supply Chain and Operations Executive
Mr. Patrizio is an Industry Advisor with Silverwood Partners in the technology sector. Mr. Patrizio is Managing Director at Opaka Partners, a firm he founded in 2013 and specializes in providing advisory services for broadcast and digital media technology, production and distribution investors, business owners, directors and executives. Recent projects include assisting private equity firms, and technology, media and telecom companies embrace innovation and disruptive technology to achieve their strategic growth aspirations.
Previously Mr. Patrizio was Chief Executive Officer and Board Director at Red Bee Media, a PE backed $250M creative, broadcast and digital media software and services company in the UK, whose clients include TV and film content owners, broadcasters and platform operators such as the BBC, Canal+, BskyB, Disney, ABC TV, ESPN, UPC Broadband, NHK, ITV, Microsoft, Google, Channel 4, Samsung and many others. He successfully led the sale of the company to Ericsson, the global technology and communications firm. Prior to Red Bee, Mr. Patrizio was President, Broadcast Network Services at Technicolor SA, where he led the development and execution of the growth strategy and competitive positioning. The business was acquired by Ericsson.
In addition to his extensive general management and leadership experiences, Mr. Patrizio is an accomplished supply chain and operations executive serving as Senior Vice President, Chief Procurement Officer at JPMorgan Chase, and Senior Vice President, Strategic Sourcing and Procurement for The Walt Disney Company. He was recruited to JPMorgan following the merger with Bank One to lead a global integrated strategic sourcing, procurement and supply chain management corporate function managing over $12 billion of annual spending. At Disney, Mr. Patrizio assembled and led a global team of over 300, managing over $6 billion of annual spending.
Mr. Patrizio has also held senior roles at Universal Studios, Joseph E Seagram & Sons and Kellogg's. He has significant experience in the Media and Technology industry with diverse exposure in the Financial Services and Consumer Goods industries and with large public and midsized private equity ownership structures. He received the Queen's Award for Enterprise and Innovation in 2011 from HM Queen Elizabeth II for the development and commercial success of Piero, a sports broadcast graphics and presentation technology.
Bill is a senior leader with a growth mindset and passion for developing and driving new business, product, and market opportunities. He has a diversified deal and technology background including leading acquisitions, exits, sales, financing, and licensing transactions with dozens of companies across the mobile, video/media, and technology (i.e. software, social media, consumer hardware/device) industries.
Over the past decade, Bill has held leadership roles at innovative intellectual property licensing organizations including VideoLabs, Kudelski Group and Intellectual Ventures. In those roles, he was responsible for developing creative go-to-market strategies, driving revenue and business development activities, and managing all of the financial and operational aspects of the business including leading licensing, business development, acquisitions, patent sales, channel licensing, finance and operations functions.
Bill's previous experience also includes more than 10 years at JPMorgan Chase as a VP in corporate finance and risk management groups and as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting advising Fortune 100 clients and leading teams to achieve business strategy and performance improvement objectives.
Bill is a US Navy veteran and received his BA in Business from the University of Washington and an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands. Bill has served on several for profit and non-profit boards.
Bob Egan brings extensive experience to the Technology sector. Currently, he is the Chief Research Officer and Founder of the Sepharim Research Group, a technology research and executive advisory firm. He is a globally recognized influencer and independent thinker with an insatiable curiosity to discover new technologies and apply them to impactful new business models and markets especially in the areas of Mobile, IoT and Cloud. Mr. Egan has held executive positions with several Fortune 1000 companies including Digital Equipment Corp (DEC), GTE, MasterCard, CEB-TowerGroup and Gartner.
As Director of Emerging Technologies at CEB-TowerGroup Research Mr. Egan's foundational work helped to develop the mobile banking and payments industry. While at Gartner he pioneered the use of Gartner's MQ metrics for mobile. As Research Director at DEC, he was the architect behind the first dual band, dual radio Wi-Fi Access Point and an author of the first IEEE Wireless LAN Standard.
Mr. Egan received his BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree from Wentworth Institute of Technology and his MBA, Economics from Bryant University.
Brad Haggen has spent a lifetime in the food industry including 35 years with Haggen, Inc., once the largest privately held supermarket chain in the Northwest with sales approaching $900 million. He held various positions of increasing responsibility including store operations management, food service management, led advertising/marketing/loyalty marketing, and created new business units within Haggen, including a new smaller store concept, catering division and TerraVida Coffee with numerous retail locations including CPG and bulk programs. During the last ten years at Haggen, Brad was also a member of the Executive Staff, Retail Advisory Team and Store Design Team.
Since selling his interest in Haggen, Inc., Brad has continued to participate in the food industry by working and consulting with both established and emerging domestic and international food brands. As EVP of Jovan's Natural Foods, he directed the company's efforts to distribute natural CPG products on a national scale before transitioning to Waypoint Marketing Group as COO and currently managing the sales efforts of eleven brands with national distribution.
Brad received his BA from Western Washington University and a certificate in Food Industry Management from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. He continues to travel the world learning about current food trends and has been a member/participant of CIES, an international food business forum, Food Marketing Institute and Western Association of Food Chains.
Brian has a consistent record of success and achievement in both North America and Europe within Fortune 200 companies and entrepreneurial ventures. As an executive with a global perspective, his leadership is characterized as entrepreneurial, motivational and collaborative in business development and implementation. Throughout his many business ventures, Brian has showcased his strategic strengths and innovative thought leadership in organizational development processes.
A long-term employee within The Gillette Company, his expertise in management encompassed marketing, supply chain management and sales management responsibilities; to include, VP North American Operational Services and President, Central Europe. Conducting business, living and traveling extensively in the U.S., Canada, the Far East and across Europe, Brian's global perspective works hand-in-hand with his executive-level manufacturing and management expertise in demand planning, production, warehousing and distribution.
Partnered with a world-renowned entertainment and marketing icon in 50 Cent, Brian led a team focused on building SMS Audio into a world-class, performance-driven brand within the consumer electronics industry.
Additionally, Brian established two companies; founding World Touch Group, LLC a boutique marketing company that worked to improve distressed or underperforming companies and KoNo Enterprises, LLC, a designer, developer and manufacturer of fashion headphones that was acquired by SMS Audio, LLC.
A graduate of Florida International University, Brian also holds an advanced management degree from Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
Brian Powell is a 30-year veteran of the Better-For-You Food Industry. Mr. Powell is a seasoned entrepreneur working within (his own or others') successful startups since 1990. He is an experienced Founder with a demonstrated history of working in the consumer goods industry.
Brian is the Founder of Powell & Mahoney, allGoode Organics, Upgrade Partners and Junto Bicycle Works, Ltd.
Balance Bar Company, allGoode Organics, Stirrings and Powell & Mahoney are companies that all grew from a great idea to $5M, $10M, $20M, and $100M companies. Mr. Powell is a visionary with an uncanny ability to see "around the corner."
Brian's previous experience also includes Executive Vice President of Stirrings, Vice President Sales Special Projects/Business Development of Balance Bar Company, as well as, Foodservice Sales Director of The NutraSweet Company.
Currently Carl works with Linkage Research & Consulting Inc., based in Chicago. He is heading their Free From Forum vertical, delivering cost-effective insights, training and consulting to companies in the organic space. Carl provides guidance on global consumer wellness trends throughout the enterprise and to the company's key retailer customers, manufacturer partners and consulting clients.
Carlos Barroso has more than 30 years of global Research and Development expertise in food and consumer packaged goods. Carlos is the Founder and President of CJB and Associates, a very successful R&D Consulting firm helping companies solve product and innovation challenges. He works with several Fortune 100 companies as well as startups. Clients of CJB and Associates include Weight Watchers, Hillshire, Walmart, Starbucks, Popchips as well as pre-revenue companies and European and Latin American companies. Previously, Carlos served for five years as the Senior Vice President-Global Research and Development (R&D) and Quality for Campbell Soup where he joined in July 2013 reporting directly to Denise Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer. He recently retired from Campbell to return to his R&D Consulting firm.
While at Campbell's, Carlos led 500 R&D employees worldwide, focusing on accelerating innovation and new product development to both strengthen the company's core businesses and expand into higher growth spaces, including new consumer segments, categories, and geographies.
Prior to starting CJB and Associates in 2009, he was Senior Vice President of R&D at PepsiCo, where he oversaw all R&D efforts for PepsiCo Foods, including Frito-Lay North America and Quaker Foods and Snacks, a $27 billion business with more than 800 R&D associates. He played a key role in driving the company's international growth by leading global new product development and sharing product technology collaboratively across regions. Carlos began his career at Procter & Gamble where he had senior R&D roles in the Foods and Paper divisions in the U.S. and Internationally.
Carlos graduated highest honors from Georgia Tech with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He serves as a trustee for the Georgia Tech alumni association and was past chair of the External Advisory Board for the school of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He has an MBA from Arizona State University.
Chuck Slotkin is a Managing Director Advisor with Silverwood Partners. He is also the Founder and Managing Director of Nature's Equity, LLC, a business advisory firm founded in 1990. Mr. Slotkin is an investment banking professional and entrepreneur who has been focused onthe sustainable consumer products sector since the early growth of the industry.
Mr. Slotkin developed his middle-market investment banking experience at the New York based firms of Herzfeld & Stern, and Gruntal & Co. He combines his professional competencies in mergers & acquisitions, equity financing, and valuations with his entrepreneurial instincts and personal commitment to natural products and alternative health care. Since 1990 Mr. Slotkin has been developing relationships with entrepreneurs in all sectorsof the sustainable food and supplement industry (growers, manufacturers, marketers, distributors, and retailers) working toward a sustainable economy. He has a successful track record in completing mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, venture capital, restructurings, valuations, and strategic business planning for companies of all sizes.
Mr. Slotkin has a BA degree from Colorado College in Political Science, History and Economics, and an MBA from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor
- Principal and Strategic Advisor at Endeavour Partners
Dan Ledger has held leadership roles in the connected health, wearable technology, IoT and machine intelligence industries since the late 1990s.He is Principal and Founder at Path Collaborative, an advisory/consulting firm that is focused on the broader intersection of connected health, wearable technology, IoT and machine intelligence. There, he assists startups, established companies, buy and sell-side analysts and other consulting firms.
Previously, as Principal and Strategic Advisor at Endeavour Partners, Mr. Ledger worked with care providers, startups related to overall business strategy, definition of new offerings and business models, service design, partnerships, acquisitions, and go-to-market planning. In addition, he led the authoring of expert witness reports in connection with intellectual property litigation; and, he headed consulting projects for OEMs, mobile network operators, service providers, and infrastructure providers around the evolution of mobile and wearable technologies, the design of new product and service offerings, and the anticipation of future technology landscapes, market demand and consumer behaviors.
Mr. Ledger was the keynote speaker at the 2016 Connected Health Symposium on the Future of Wearable Technology Experience. He holds a BSoE, Computer Engineering and BSEE, Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St Louis and a MS in Engineering and Management, System Design and Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor
- Principal Director at Sage Brain Group
David Gilby is the Principal Director at Sage Brain Group. Sage Brain provides sales, marketing, and consulting services for companies, CEOs, and C-Suite executives to drive growth during times of growth, disruption, and transformation. Clients include enterprise SAAS, AdTech, and health tech companies.
David has spent the last 15 years providing sales and marketing leadership, developing business opportunities, and leading revenue growth across software, media, and advertising technology companies. David lead sales and business development for SweetLabs, a company backed by Google Ventures and Intel Capital, where was responsible for sales growth and business development, ultimately reaching more than $500 million in revenue growth for the company during his tenure.
Previous roles include VP of Business Development for ChaCha Mobile Search. ChaCha was the #1 mobile question and answer service in the US and was a top 100 website in the US. David helped launch the first people-powered mobile answers service, which answered over 2 billion questions. ChaCha served over 32 million users per month via mobile text, mobile video, phone apps, online, and through social networks.
David also directed marketing and sales efforts for a Digital Rights Management platform enabling pay media solutions for the Internet and mobile devices for content owners and consumers. Clients include MTV, Major League Baseball, NBC, Viacom, Sony Connect, Intel, and the Olympics. He was also General Manager and a Director for NaviSite Streaming Media, Inc (Now owned by Akamai), a content delivery platform. NaviSite Streaming Media accumulated over 100 Enterprise and Entertainment clients.
As one of MP3.com's early employees, David served as Director of Partner Marketing and Advertising. He is listed on the patent for the first on-demand Internet audio subscription model, which was later purchased by Vivendi Universal. He has spoken on Advertising, Online Video, AdTech, Search, and Subscription models at numerous digital media and search conferences in Europe, Asia, and the US.
David has driven transformational activities providing advanced technology in the multimedia industry since the transition to digital technology. He has driven aggressive top and bottom line growth as an executive in a number of leading communications technology companies around the world. Currently he holds a number of board and advisory positions in the TV and Media technology industry. Previously he held the position of Vice President, Strategic Business Development, TV and Media at Ericsson based in Silicon Valley, USA.
David was also Founder and Board Member of the Ultra HD Forum, the VR Industry Forum and the DASH Industry Forum and is past-President of the MPEG Industry Forum. David has also been selected three times as one of the "Euro 50" by Cable & Satellite Europe.
Prior to Ericsson, David was a member of the executive team at Harmonic Inc and helped profitably grow revenues from less than $50m to over $500m when he left. David was previously Vice-President with TV/COM International and prior to that, Vice President at M/A-COM Linkabit (Hughes).
David Sowerbuttsis the CEO of Oxygen Associates Limited and anIndustry Advisor to Silverwood Partners. Mr. Sowerbutts has over 25 years of software applications, business consulting and M&A consulting experience globally; primarily in Europe, Africa and the United States.
Mr. Sowerbutts has provided software strategy, business consultancy and mergers and acquisitions services to a broad range of banking, IT, media, manufacturing, retail, aviation, telecommunication and defencecompanies. As CEO of Oxygen Associates, he continues to advise such companies regarding revenue growth, industry consolidation, new market entry strategies, strategic alliances, cost base reduction and capital formation. Prior to Oxygen Associates, Mr. Sowerbutts co-founded and led Business Innovation Associates, a software business consultancy specializing in the business systems of global500 companies.
From 1995 to 2002, Mr. Sowerbutts was Global Channel and Partner Manager for Microsoft during a time of significant growth for the company from a desktop PC software provider into a leading supplier of mission critical enterprise applications. His primary focus was the leading global IT consultants and systems integrators and leading enterprise software vendors. Mr. Sowerbutts worked directly with Bill Gates on many occasions in connection with providing senior executive briefings for Microsoft's key partners.
Prior to Microsoft Mr. Sowerbuttsheld managerial positions with Fujitsu, where he ran the Oil Industry Division and then the Artificial Intelligence Development Division. Mr. Sowerbutts also was previously with Hewlett Packard in account management and solution sales.
Mr. Sowerbutts graduated from the University of Liverpool (John Moores) with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science- Application Software Design and Databases.
Job Titles:
- CEO of Oxygen Associates Limited and AnIndustry Advisor to
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor
- Senior Sales Leader
David Woods is an accomplished and respected Senior Sales Leader with an emphasis in establishing and nurturing global client and partner relationships while selling custom labeling and packaging solutions specifically for food products. Mr. Woods has over 38 years of comprehensive food packaging and product development experience. His background includes the development of packaging products, while sourcing, selling and marketing consumable products from suppliers worldwide, as well as, in marquee companies such as Stop & Shop, Safeway, Albertsons, Trader Joes, Walmart, Costco, Wegmans and Hannaford Brothers. He is accomplished in all aspects of flexible films including polyester, PE, nylon, LDPE, HDPE, polypropylene, forming/non-forming, MAP, shrink, barrier, breathable, susceptor, synthetic paper, steam cooking and various laminations. Additionally, he has strong experience in rigid packaging including polypropylene, A-PET, C-PET, PET-G, HIPS, dual oven-able paperboard, aluminum, fiberboard, compostable, thermoformed & injection molded plastics. Mr. Woods has served a variety of industries such as senior meals and schools, meat, frozen, produce, fresh prepared foods, seafood, bakery and military.
Most recently he served as National Sales Manager with Aripack where he was responsible for new business development in branded and private label flexible and rigid packaging. He was the New Business Development Manager for Pretium Packaging responsible for new business development, primarily in the CPG and Food Industries. He served as President for Numarks Associates, LLC delivering an average of $5MM revenue annually, representing more than $60MM over a 12 year period.
Other assignments included Eastern Sales Manager for Oliver Products Company where he sold packaging directly to supermarkets, Regional Sales Manager for Pressware International, Sales Associate for Kenerson Associates where he was responsible for $1.6MM in sales and Eastern Sales Manager for Cellu Tissue Corporation responsible for $3MM of sales. He serves as Area Sales Manager for Scott Paper Company where he increased business and profitability by over $3MM in the Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont markets over a two-year period. Won awards at Hoffmaster National Sales meeting for greatest increase in sales percentage in Holiday stock program through distributors.
David graduated from Siena College with a Bachelor of Science and lives in Simsbury, Connecticut.
Professor/Dr. Alvin Berger holds numerous advanced degrees and Professorships in Nutrition and lipids (fats), with a plethora of high-profile publications, and pioneering discoveries in metabolomics (measuring hundreds of molecules at once) and endocannabinoids (a hot field right now). On the commercial side, he has over 30-years' experience heading up innovative teams for large multi-national companies, leading to numerous, diverse nutritional product launches. On the communication side, he is a frequent guest on podcasts, radio shows, and his work has been increasingly featured in consumer media. He is currently CEO at Sciadonics/SciaEssentials developing anti-inflammatory lipids; and co-founder of Life Sense Products developing "keto-friendly" products. He is a featured specialist in the web series, "Real Skinny on Fat," where he provides insights about KetoMCT and other ketogenic fats, which most recently was spotlighted on "The Dr. Oz" show. He is a proud member of the Cannabinoid Medicine Studies Advisory Board.
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor
- Media Executive and a Subject Matter Expert
Dr. Jay Yogeshwar is a global media executive and a subject matter expert in the fields of Broadcast, Digital Video, Streaming, Immersive, Interactive and Over the Top Television. He is the founder of Media Translation Inc., a media-tech venture helping companies with non-disruptive transition from Enterprise Tape and legacy storage to Object Storage and Cloud technologies.
Prior to founding Media Translation, Dr. Yogeshwar managed the Technology Alliance and Solutions portfolio for Hitachi Vantara (formerly Hitachi Data Systems). As a global lead for their M&E practice, he was responsible for their media vision and direction that transformed Hitachi from a traditional Enterprise Storage and IT Platforms Company to a mobility, cloud and big data analytics company. Prior to that, he was the founder and CTO of Front Porch Digital, a broadcast and video content storage management software firm and a Research Scientist at Toshiba Advanced Television Research.
Eben Jenkins has over twenty years of communication industry experience, spanning RF design, wireless network operations, long-haul optical infrastructure, and most recently video content creation and network monitoring applications.
Mr. Jenkins's most recent corporate role was as the Vice President of Video Sales for Tektronix (a Fortive Company), overseeing a global team of direct and partner resources with solutions for content houses, broadcasters, and content delivery networks. Previously, he was the General Manager for the Video Business at Tektronix, directing the development of video solutions with a multi-national engineering and marketing team. These products and solutions were used by international broadcasters, content production and post-production facilities, and video infrastructure manufacturers. During this time, Mr. Jenkins also led the acquisition of a private company focused on video monitoring. This ultimately formed the basis of a monitoring, software and support strategy initiative that delivered both revenue and margin expansion over four years. Prior roles at Tektronix included Director of Marketing for the Mobile Business Unit, and numerous marketing and product management roles in optical and RF design and testing solutions.
Outside of the communication fields, Mr. Jenkins has also held a variety of positions including design engineering for production equipment in the petrochemical industry, and assistant inorganic research chemist. Aside from industry work, he also serves various financial roles for charitable organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
Mr. Jenkins holds a bachelor's degree in Engineering from Rice University, and an MBA from the Haas School at the University of California, Berkeley.
Edward Lindsey brings a breadth and depth of strategic and tactical experience from over two decades in healthcare. He has held global marketing and business development (M&A) positions at Medtronic, an executive position with an early-stage healthcare company, provided business consulting services and led medical device product development, engineering groups and a variety of technical assessment and market analysis teams. Ed has led Marketing efforts for Capital Raise and PPM construction, C-suite Presentations, Clinical Management and Regulatory and vendor oversight. Additional experience includes spine, biologics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and electronics manufacturing and quality assurance roles with a Motorola supplier.
Ed holds an MBA and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Memphis, and he has completed executive education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and California Institute of Technology. Ed is a co-inventor on a patent and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
EJ Culhane joined Silverwood Partners in 2021 and supports the firm's M&A and private placement advisory services for technology, consumer and healthcare companies.
Eric Baron is an entrepreneurial CEO in the Technology, Media, Telecom and Broadcast sectors who recently founded EBA Performance Ltd, a provider of strategic and operational consulting services to leading technology ecosystem providers with a focus on early-stage to mid-cap firms. Over the last 25 years, Mr. Baron has launched, built, expanded, rationalized and transformed Technology, Media and Telecom businesses organically and via M&A into regional and global sector market leaders. Specifically his work included a large number of accelerated incremental business and market growth initiatives, realization of M&A strategies, negotiations with M&A targets, plus five major new innovative business launches and two major turnarounds.
From 2012 to 2016, Mr. Baron served as Head of EMEIA - TV and Media at Ericsson, a leading global provider of technology and services to telecom operators, broadcasters and content owners/aggregators. Previously, he served as EVP of the Compression Business Line for Ericsson, where he had full worldwide P&L responsibility for the entire portfolio comprised of seven product ranges.
Mr. Baron was formerly President of EMEIA at TANDBERG Television (now part of Ericsson), which provides award-winning advanced compression systems, and on-demand and content distribution solutions that enable new television experiences and revenues.
Mr. Baron holds an MBA from Institut Supérieur de Gestion in Paris and degrees in Economics, Management and International Business from Universities in Tokyo and San Francisco.
Eric has been deploying new technology in media facilities for 35 years. He has extensive experience in digital media, media asset management, file-based content delivery, automated content monitoring, and operational workflow systems.
Having worked at Television Networks, Equipment manufacturers, and Systems Integrators, Eric has a wide and deep view of emerging media technology. He holds a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a MSEE from NYU/Brooklyn Polytechnic, and has been recognized with 3 Emmy awards. Currently Eric has been focusing on Drone image acquisition and image processing.
Eugene Wang has extensive experience in developing and manufacturing vegetarian food products. Mr. Wang grew up immersed in the vegetarian food business. For over 20 years his family led the way in the quality manufacturing and distribution of vegetarian food throughout Asia and North America. Mr. Wang's broad scope of professional experience provides him with a uniquely qualified capability to assist vegetarian and vegan food product companies with successful growth and development initiatives.
In 1996 Mr. Wang began consulting and leading food companies in the vegan and vegetarian food sectors. Since 2004, his vision for launching a company focused exclusively on vegan seafood products has become the successful and growing Sophie's Kitchen business. The innovative approach taken with Sophie's Kitchen has been widely recognized by the press, social media thought leaders, and natural trade industry leaders, earning Mr. Wang the accolade ‘Vegan Visionary.'
Mr. Wang has significant experience as an entrepreneur launching and developing growing businesses. As President of Super Elephant, Taiwan, in 2004-2010, Mr. Wang acquired national distribution for the top US natural distributor, UNFI, and was responsible for all aspects of developing sales in the natural and specialty marketplace in Asia for leading US natural product companies. In 2001, Mr. Wang founded a software company in Silicon Valley that built web-based CRM software. Previously, Mr. Wang in 1999 joined Sherpa Research Limited, Tokyo, to spearhead a leading Japanese company into the Chinese market by developing important business alliances and creating proactive, strategic marketing plans. Mr. Wang started his career in 1995, at a management consulting firm in New York City, shortly after earning his MBA from Columbia University, Columbia Business School, New York.
Gabriel Perera's hallmark of success is his ability to translate sophisticated business strategy, market knowledge, technical data and competitor insights into tactical business plans, sales strategies, and customer-centric solutions that have delivered substantial gains in revenues, profits, and ROI in the intensely competitive consumer health market.
His capability has been well evidenced in roles with TSI International where based in Shanghai he served as Chief Strategy Officer across raw materials (TSI is the #1 Glucosamine manufacturer and supplier in the world), TGA and cGMP contract manufacturing and a range of new business models including bespoke premix supply and innovative turn-key manufacturing models to global customers.
Prior to TSI, Gabriel served on the Executive Team at publicly-listed Blackmores Ltd where, as Director of Business & Product Development-Asia, he was chosen by the CEO to transform the product development function in Asia by creating a two-year product development pipeline across 11 Asian markets, and a cross functional new product development process. He was additionally charged with delivering the first international Joint Venture to build Blackmores' operations in the high growth Indonesian market.
He successfully negotiated a joint-venture with Kalbe Farma that commenced trading in 2015, and oversaw program/project, product registrations, development and negotiations, due diligence, Board approvals and contracts for that business which is currently forecasting AU$7M revenue in its first year of operation. He exceeded the budget for new product development by 400% or AU$16.5M in FY15 and, working with a global network of suppliers and partners, developed a two-year portfolio of 200 products for 11 Asian markets. The contribution of new products was >16% of Asia revenues in FY15, and is forecast to contribute >26% of Blackmores' Asia revenues in FY16, including a significant contribution from China FTZ sales.
Prior to this position, as Director of Business Development, he was asked by the CEO to join the Executive Team and drive growth for the Group, delivering the company's largest acquisition - BioCeuticals. He concurrently undertook General Management of Pure Animal Wellbeing, completing and operationalising a strategic review that effectively positioned the business in the marketplace with a pipeline of products and customers ensuring ongoing success.
Additionally, he supported the CEO and Board to complete a detailed market analysis of Blackmores' Australian business, enabling a corporate refocus and a revised go-to-market strategy that underpinned the move from flat to double digit growth which was supported by the immediately earnings accretive BioCeuticals acquisition providing AU$45M in revenue and EBIT of >AU$5M in year one. AU$1M of slow-moving and obsolete stocks were cleared via establishment of a channel for the business to move through underperforming SKUs and Pure Animal Well-being delivered a 32% year-on-year growth in invoiced sales and record-breaking positive EBIT for the first time in seven years. In that business, Gabriel re-energised a team of 13, successfully launched the operation in key Asian markets, and built a pipeline of registered and non-registered animal health products. Prior to Blackmores, he had the opportunity to run consumer health brands and also worked as a Strategy Consultant for Accenture in Australia and China.
Gabriel has a Master of Business (Hons) 1999, a Bachelor of Laws 1998, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) 1996. He graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) in 2012 and has qualifications in Ayurveda. He strongly supports developing the next generation of leaders in an organisation and plays an important role in acting as a lifelong mentor to talented individuals in the teams he oversees. A father of 2 young children, Gabriel resides in Sydney and enjoys travel, keeping fit and learning from new cultures.
Job Titles:
- CEO, General Manager or Commercial Director
- Consultant and Adviser
- Industry Advisor
Greg Fea is an experienced Consultant and adviser to companies and boards in the Food and Beverage Industry and/or in Global Luxury Goods developing and executing strategies for dynamic growth, achieving global expansion with special expertise in European companies wanting to enter or grow in the Americas or US companies looking to expand globally, and/or in building strong regional or global brands. Extensive experience in leading companies and/or serving on the BODS of both start-ups and 2nd phase (10 million to 500 million USD) companies , with specific expertise in all facets of marketing, commercial operations, strategy, and building winning organizational cultures.
Job Titles:
- Senior Executive
- Industry Advisor
Hammad Atassi is a Senior Executive with 20+ years' experience as a Brand Pioneer and Sustainable Business Leader with demonstrated success in growing mission-driven enterprises and steering a profitable, Triple Bottom Line market presence across multiple channels resulting in increased stakeholder value at all levels of engagement.
Hammad is a versatile, entrepreneurial, resourceful and results-oriented consumer packaged goods (CPG) top-level executive - specializing in the natural products industry - with comprehensive, multi-channel experience in the US, Canada and globally. A visionary leader with extensive expertise in developing & implementing comprehensive growth strategies for smaller companies, startups, and brands through expanded distribution, as well as partnering with founders to identify and solidify funding.
He currently serves as President/North America of Nutricare Holdings Limited. Prior to Nutricare, his former roles include CEO of American Sustainable Business Network, Vice President/Strategic Development of Numi Organic Tea, as well as consultant and advisory roles within the financial services industry.
Hammad has significant Board Membership experience advising innovative Companies and Foundations on best practices to realize successful brand growth, product development, increased stakeholder value and positive Net Impact.
Hammad graduated from The George Washington University-School of Business with an MBA and received his BA from Northwestern University.
Harrison Parsons currently works as an Associate at Silverwood Partners. He joined Silverwood in 2021 and supports the firm's M&A and private placement advisory services for technology, consumer, and healthcare companies.
Prior to Silverwood Partners, Harrison worked at BNY Mellon in Alternative Investments covering several hedge funds.
Harrison graduated from Union College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.
Jim has deep experience in telecom, technology and life sciences. He began his career as part of a three-person team who took control of and turned around a biotech firm, delivering >100% IRR to their investors and he remained a board member of this public company for several years after its sale.
Later, he was a partner in a technology consulting firm, becoming its leading rainmaker selling and delivering projects, eventually rolling up a series of telecoms into what is today AT & T. He is an advisor to senior executives and investors in emerging and industry-leading communications, media, and technology companies as well as private equity and venture capital firms.
Earlier, Jim was a senior partner at Adventis and Oliver Wyman, where he delivered key strategy projects for some of the largest network communications service providers in North America and Europe.
Jim is one of the founding partners of Boston-based boutique management consulting firm that focuses exclusively on the communications and internet infrastructure industries. His clients range from global leaders with >$100 billion in revenues to small, rapidly growing companies that drive innovation in technology and customer business models. He also advises large Private Equity firms on their investments.
Jim recent focus is on companies that are taking advantage of trends driven by evolving technology and customer needs:
• Rapid growth in and the evolution of an "edge ecosystem" as applications, computation, and content move closer to the end user
• Evolution of and rapid adoption of applications that lever data collected from IoT devices to transform enterprise efficiency, save cost, and improve services
• The acceleration of wireless network densification driven by the shift in economic tradeoffs between spectrum and infrastructure and by the need to improve customer experience as wireless data demand rapidly increases
• New sources of revenue that result from virtualizing network and IT functions.
He is an established industry expert who is frequently quoted in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week on industry trends and issues affecting the wireless, telecom and data center industries.
Prior to his consulting career, Jim was a partner in Benchmark Associates, a Boston-based financial investment and turnaround boutique. Jim has been an active early-stage investor, and advisor to technology companies with a number of successful exits.
He has a BS degree in Life Sciences in from MIT, and an MBA from Harvard. Jim is on the Board of the New England Aquarium , and is a member of the angel fund, Walnut Ventures.
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor With
- Vice President of Global Marketing at SMS Audio
James Lamie is an Industry Advisor with Silverwood Partners in the Consumer and Technology sectors.
Mr. Lamie is currently Vice President of Global Marketing at SMS Audio, a premier headphone and accessories company founded by Curtis "50 Cent " Jackson. Mr. Lamie is responsible for leading SMS Audio's global brand building initiatives and increasing brand equity.
Previously, Mr. Lamie was Principal from 2007 to 2012 at JPL Consulting, a Boston based consumer products consulting practice. The company provided strategic brand advisory services, new business development support, and capital raising assistance to global companies, emerging breakout brands, media companies and sports properties.
Prior to 2007, Mr. Lamie was with The Gillette Company for more than 25 years where he held positions in sales, brand management, and sports & entertainment marketing. During his tenure at The Gillette Company, Mr. Lamie held the position of Director, Global Corporate Marketing. In this position he was responsible for corporate marketing initiatives that included the Gillette, Duracell, Braun, and Oral-B business units. Within Global Marketing Resources, Mr. Lamie had functional responsibility for industry leading global sports marketing programs, global e-marketing, strategic licensing, and multi-cultural marketing. He also established global marketing best practices, actively contributed to marketing innovation, led the cross-functional integration of corporate scale programs, and ensured program alignment with corporate strategiesto optimize Gillette's global marketing effectiveness.
Mr. Lamie received an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a BS in Marketing and Finance from The University of New Hampshire.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Principal
- Industry Advisor
Jeff Liebl is a Principal at JFL Advisors.
Since 2006, Jeff Liebl has served as a consultant and on advisory boards for a variety of tech companies - ranging from startups to established public companies and investment banks. Jeff's professional background includes executive-level experience in cloud software, wireless and predictive analytics companies. He is currently co-founder and CEO of Atmosphere IoT Corp., an Internet of Things SaaS startup. Previous roles include serving as president, IoT Group for Anaren, Inc. and as chief marketing officer at Digi International (NASDAQ: DGII). Earlier in his career, Jeff held leadership roles in sales, marketing and general management at eBureau, Ubiquity Software, Jetstream Communications, and 3Com Corporation. Mr. Liebl holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Jeff Mandell is a proven market-led business leader with over 25 years experience establishing and growing successful businesses In Consumer Technology, Mobility/Wireless, Software & Services. eCommerce, and Consumer Goods. He has worked for a broad range of leading companies with sales of $5 million to $30 Billion, including large Global Corporations, Private Equity-backed growth companies, and Venture-backed Start-ups. Mr. Mandell is a change agent and world class expert in identifying, creating, and commercializing new businesses, and has a strong track-record of revitalizing mature and under-performing businesses. He has extensive international experience across North America, Latin America, China, India, Russia, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. His direct contributions have led to over 50 Awards for business leadership, marketing excellence and product innovation.
Most recently he served as Executive Vice President for Wacom, where he led a global transformation on the $500 million Branded Business and oversaw two BU with a staff of 250 professionals operating on 6 continents. Prior to this, he held dual roles at Softbank including President, Mobile Accessories and acting COO for an accessories venture between Softbank and Brightstar. Prior to this he was Vice President, Global New Business Development at Brightstar during a time the company grew from $3B to $8B. Other assignments included President/GM at Arcsoft, where he established the Online Photo-sharing division, VP Marketing (Americas) for Ericsson Mobile Phones, and GM/Director of Image Capture and Projection Products at Epson. Earlier in his career, he was a CPG brand manager on Tampax Tampons® and Brut® Toiletries, and was a corporate strategy consultant in NYC serving Fortune 500 companies.
Jeff graduated from Babson College with a Bachelor of Science, and lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
Job Titles:
- Industry Advisor
- Principal of Wave7 Research
Jeff Moore is Principal of Wave7 Research, a wireless research company that covers U.S. postpaid, prepaid, smartphone, and fixed wireless competition. Carriers' retail presence is covered thoroughly. The reports provide original information based on industry sources, store visits and surveys, and access to a comprehensive advertising database. Jeff Moore writes a monthly column for Fierce Wireless and he is the Conference Director of the All Wireless & Prepaid Expo, which occurs every August in Las Vegas.
He has over 25 years of telecom industry experience and worked for Sprint for more than 13 years. From 2006-2015, Jeff was the lead official responsible for gathering competitive intelligence for Sprint about wireless competitors and was Chairman of Sprint's Competitive Intelligence Roundtable. During 2001-2006, Jeff did competitive intelligence and strategy work for Sprint LTD, Sprint's local phone company operation. Prior to Sprint, Jeff worked as a telecom analyst for Current Analysis and The Strategic Group. Jeff holds an MBA from Cornell University.
As Founder and Board Member of Green & Tonic, Jeffrey Pandolfino, is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the Quick Service Restaurant industry. Mr. Pandolfino has a strong background in all aspects of concept development. Mr. Pandolfino's food service experience spans over two decades and his love of food has been a lifelong passion. Earlier in his career, he was a Catering Manager with Dean & Deluca, a General Manager at Cosi, as well as, an Operations Manager with Pret A Manger.
In early 2003, Jeffrey and his then business partner, Cai, and now also wife opened their first company-Plum Pure Foods, an all-natural catering business, café, and cheese shop in Cos Cob, CT. It was at Plum Pure Foods that Jeffrey and Cai realized the impact they could have on community, learned the significance of good service, and appreciated the value of building relationships with locals.
This experience propelled Jeffrey and Cai into launching their next food endeavor and in 2012 Green & Tonic was born. This time they dove into the world of vegetarian, vegan, then raw food and juice, exploring the techniques and flavors that made good-for-you foods that were delicious, inviting and accessible. Green & Tonic is a café that offers dine-in or take-out service, catering, as well as, meal plan options with 5 locations throughout Connecticut.
Jeffrey received his Bachelor of Science in Restaurant Management from Florida International University, as well as, received his Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University.
Job Titles:
- Business Leader and Technologist With Several Emmy Awards
- Independent Consultant for Companies
- Industry Advisor
Jerry Gepner is an experienced business leader and technologist with several Emmy Awards for his work on major sporting events such as the Winter Olympics Games, and The World Series for CBS Sports and Fox Sports.
He was part of the founding team and COO of Sportvision, a silicon-valley company that was responsible for the creation of products that are now ubiquitous in sports television; the virtual first down line used in American football, the GPS-based tracking system for NASCAR and various other products for baseball, basketball and golf telecasts. Mr. Gepner became president of National Mobile Television (NMT), the largest supplier of outside broadcast facilities in North America. During his tenure Mr. Gepner guided the company through the HD transition and in the creation of new services and technologies for NMT's many network clients.
Mr. Gepner subsequently joined The Vitec Group, a publicly held broadcast, live-event and photographic conglomerate in 2005. As Chief Technology Officer he was responsible for technology strategy and technology development for new products across all of the VitecGroup companies. In 2009, Mr. Gepner was promoted to Division CEO and oversaw the operation of the broadcast services businesses in Los Angeles, along with aluminum truss manufacturing businesses in Texas and Italy, and a custom scenic and staging company in the UK. He developed and managed transformational strategies for each of the businesses that resulted in significant operational improvements for each of the companies. Mr. Gepner reported directly to the Group CEO and was a member of the Group executive board.
Since Vitec Group, Mr. Gepner has been an independent consultant for companies seeking guidance in the areas of media technology, startup financing and the development of business and technology strategies.
Job Titles:
- Yadim Medore / Industry Advisor
Job Titles:
- Yojak Vasa / Industry Advisor