SWAN VENTURES - Key Persons
Jon, Stephanie, and Mark, all of whom will share in the General Partner's carried interest, are responsible for identifying and gaining access to top-tier venture capital funds. Jon, as the Managing Member of the General Partner, is also responsible for managing the daily operations of Swan Ventures.
Jonathan Parmer is the founder and Managing Partner of Swan Ventures. He also maintains a part-time gynecology practice in Palo Alto and consults with healthcare venture capitalists regarding medical investments, as well as with start-up medical companies. Besides maintaining his practice, he has been deeply involved in the corporate healthcare industry. He served for five years as Medical Director for the Progestasert intrauterine device at Alza Corporation. In addition, he has been a consultant to Alza, Syntex, Medasonics, Matrix Pharmaceutical, Genesis Medical Technologies, iScribe, and Cord Blood Registry. Jon is also a founder of TiVaMed, a gynecologic device company.
An Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, Jon has served on the Strategic Planning Committee of Stanford University Hospital and as Deputy Chief of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Jon is a graduate of Princeton University, where he was a Biochemistry major. After obtaining his M.D. degree at New York University School of Medicine, he interned at Los Angeles County Hospital and did his residency training at Stanford University. Since starting Swan Ventures, he has cut back significantly on his medical practice to focus on the venture firm.
Mark's primary role in Swan Ventures is to help secure slots in top-tier venture funds. Mark has over 20 years of operating experience in sales, marketing, international business, and corporate venture capital. He currently is a consultant for The Bell-Mason Group, which advises corporations on venturing. Mark, in his previous position as Managing Director of Eastman Ventures, Eastman Chemical Company's corporate venture capital arm, started up and oversaw the company's efforts to invest in, and partner with, private companies that brought to Eastman early access to emerging technology and growth options. He and his team forged relationships and co-investments with premier venture capitalists and corporations. Eastman has invested with a top-quartile IRR track record in 25 ventures and 5 venture funds in areas spanning information technology, life sciences, advanced materials, energy, and environmental technologies. Mark is a former Board Member of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and is past Chairman and current member of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board for the Corporate Venture Group. He has been an active investor in medical technology companies and is a co-founder of Uptake Medical, a medical device company treating emphysema.
Prior to leading Eastman Ventures, Mark was the Assistant to Eastman's CEO and Chairman. He previously headed up the Coatings and Industrial Chemical businesses for Eastman in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, where he was located in The Hague, The Netherlands. Mark earned a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA in Management from Roosevelt University.
Stephanie's primary role in Swan Ventures is similar to Mark's - to help secure slots in top-tier venture funds. Stephanie has more than 25 years of experience in finance, accounting, and operational management. Known in the industry as a financial leader, Stephanie takes high-growth technology companies to the next level. She is in constant contact with the top-tier IT venture capitalist network.
Stephanie is CFO of Nextance and is on the Board of Directors of Kana Corporation (NASDAQ:KANA). Most recently, she was CFO of Alphablox Corporation, where she led a restructuring of the company and, in 2004, helped complete the cash sale of Alphablox to IBM. Prior to joining Alphablox, Stephanie was CFO of Edify, where she was instrumental in facilitating the company's rapid and successful growth. One of Edify's first employees, she led them through multiple funding efforts and, in 1996, guided them through their IPO and through a merger, in 1999, with S1 Corporation. At both Alphablox and Edify, she successfully concluded multiple rounds of financing with venture investors, including Accel, DB Capital, Greylock, Highland, Integral, Interwest, Mohr Davidow, Sigma, Sutter Hill, and TVI.
Stephanie, who began her career at KPMG, has also been director of finance for Lumisys Corporation and Spectra Logic Corporation. She is a CPA and holds a BS in accounting from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from Stanford University.