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OEN Speaker and Volunteer Bios

Vicki Ballou

Vicki is co-chair of the Intellectual Property practice group at Tonkon Torp, LLP. She helps both technology and brick and mortar companies protect their trade secrets, trademarks, original works and other intellectual assets. She drafts and negotiates patent, copyright and trade secret licensing agreements, co-branding agreements and nondisclosure, noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements, assists companies in registering their trade and servicemarks and copyrights, and helps companies perfect security interests in intellectual property collateral.

Vicki assists her start-up company clients with formation, financing, licensing and general contracting issues. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of Intellectual Property Law.

Vicki enthusiastically supports Banks High School basketball. Her husband, Norm, a teacher at Banks, coaches the boys' varsity basketball team. Vicki enjoys hiking, flyfishing, and reading.

Linda Brackett

Linda Brackett is the founder and president of Connor Bates, a hands-on business consulting firm that collaborates with management to assess market opportunities, set a clear strategic direction, and bridge strategy with execution. Linda has more than 20 years of experience in planning, managing, and carrying out the full range of market research, strategy, business development, and communications functions required to go to market, expand market presence, and enter new markets with a high rate of success. Prior to establishing her consulting firm in 1987, Linda headed the marketing function at a technology startup with global aspirations. She was responsible for all corporate and product marketing, positioning, sales support, and public relations during a period of 400% growth. Since then, Linda has provided research, consulting, and facilitation services to clients who cite her ability to bring clarity and confidence to chaotic environments along with her blend of strategic and tactical expertise as instrumental to their success.

Linda graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and continued her graduate studies at l’Institut de Sciences Politiques, Paris, France. She has served in various roles on the Boards of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN), Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and the Software Association of Oregon (SAO).

Spencer Brown

Spencer served as Chief Executive Officer of Euro RSCG where he led Euro RSCG MCM to become the nation's largest Direct Response Television Advertising agency, with 2005 billings of more than $320 million and 2006 annualized billings in excess of $400 million at the time of his retirement.

Spencer’s prior management experience includes his roles as Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at both private and public companies that include Euro RSCG Portland, 800.com, Now Software, Sundance Electronics, TriQuint Semiconductor, GigaBit Logic, CR Technology, and Compact Video. Spencer combines his operational and management expertise with his substantial finance experience, and has managed several mergers and acquisitions aggregating over $250 million.

Brent Bullock

Brent Bullock's practice focuses on the representation of emerging growth companies, established public and private companies, and venture capital and private equity investors in various corporate matters and transactions, including debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, as well as corporate governance and securities law matters. Brent is widely recognized as a leading practitioner in the areas of corporate and securities law, having served as chair of the Business Law Section of the Oregon State Bar. Brent has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and angel financings, public and private debt and equity financings, equipment financings, strategic partnerships and complex spin-outs and restructurings involving hundreds of transactions ranging in size from under $10 million to well over $1 billion. He is also a leading aviation and equipment finance lawyer. Brent's clientele includes public and private companies such as Louisiana Pacific Corporation, Fortress Credit Corporation, PacifiCorp, Knowledge Learning Corporation, Associated British Foods, and Papa Murphy's International, venture capital and private equity funds such as Endeavour Capital and OVP Venture Partners, and emerging companies such as Earth Class Mail, Pacific Star Communications and Max-Viz. Brent is a regular speaker at various professional and industry seminars on topics such as mergers and acquisitions and venture capital and angel financings.

Dr. Desh Deshpande

Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande co-founded Sycamore and has served as chairman of the board of directors since Sycamore's inception in February 1998. He also served as treasurer and secretary from February 1998 to June 1999 and as president from February 1998 to October 1998.

Before founding Sycamore, Dr. Deshpande co-founded Cascade Communications Corp., a provider of wide area network switches. From October 1990 to April 1992, Dr. Deshpande served as president of Cascade and, from April 1992 to June 1997, he served as Cascade's executive vice president of marketing and customer service.

Dr. Deshpande was a member of the board of directors of Cascade since its inception and was chairman of the board of directors of Cascade from 1996 to 1997. Dr. Deshpande also serves on the board of directors of Airvana, Inc., a provider of network infrastructure products used by wireless carriers, and as chairman of the board of A123 Systems, a leading supplier of high-power lithium-ion batteries. In 2007, Mass High Tech, the journal of New England Technology, honored Dr. Deshpande as the first recipient of the Distinguished All Star Alumnus Award.

Dr. Brian Druker

Dr. Brian Druker is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Director of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Cancer Institute, and JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research at OHSU. Dr. Druker is also a Scientific Founder of the successful molecular diagnostics start-up company, MolecularMD, in Portland, Oregon.

Upon graduating from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in 1981, Dr. Druker completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital, Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He then trained in oncology at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Druker then returned to the lab to begin his research career studying the regulation of the growth of cancer cells and the practical application to cancer therapies. His work was instrumental in the development of Gleevec (imatinib), a drug that targets the molecular defect in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

After completing a series of preclinical studies, Dr. Druker spearheaded the highly successful clinical trials of imatinib for CML. Imatinib is currently FDA approved for CML and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). His role in the development of imatinib and its application in the clinic have resulted in numerous awards for Dr. Druker, including the John J. Kenney Award from The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard Medical School, the American Society of Hematology’s Dameshek Prize, the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Pioneer of Survivorship Carpe Diem Award, the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor, the Kettering Prize from General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the David A. Karnofsky Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Robert-Koch Award, and the Keio Medical Science Prize from the Keio University Medical Science Fund. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2003, the American Association of Physicians in 2006, and the National Academy of Sciences in 2007.

Rosemary Colliver

Rosemary focuses her practice on intellectual property law, with an emphasis on copyright and entertainment issues, including music, television, film and publishing. Her experience includes copyright, music royalties and contract litigation as well as negotiating various licensing, recording and other intellectual property agreements. She has represented entertainment, publishing and technology companies as well as individual artists, and has appeared on television as a legal commentator on issues of DVD copyright infringement and piracy.

Rosemary's experience also includes work on green building development, construction and renewable energy projects. This includes litigation, negotiating defect remediation agreements, and advising project developers on construction licensing, warranty, and insurance issues.

She began her career with a Beverly Hills, boutique entertainment firm and most recently was an associate in one of Portland’s major law firms. During law school, Rosemary worked as an intern in the Network Television Legal Department at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles. She also served as a Consumer Representative in the Consumer Protection Division of the Washington State Attorney General’s office.

Brian Connolly

A 20-year veteran of the premium pet industry, Brian began his career as a Hong Kong distributor for Iams Company, expanding first to Taiwan and South Korea. In 1991, he began consulting to Iams to drive distribution in New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan.

In 1993, Brian and his wife and business partner Shelley Gunton acquired T&K Pet Products in Portland, building the business from $4 million in revenues to $26 million in 1999.

In 2000, he and Shelley launched Pet Appeal, Inc. d/b/a Castor & Pollux Pet Works. C&P produces Organix, the leading brand of dog and cat organic food and treats, the Natural Ultramix brand of natural food, and Cesar Milan’s Dog Whisperer food line.

Brian lives in Portland with his wife and three children. He holds an MBA degree in international marketing from the

University of Western Ontario.

Bill Etheredge

32 years experience in VP/executive global sales and marketing in numerous high technology sectors where responsibilities included developing and enabling product definition, product launch and distribution strategies with a primary focus on aggressive revenue and market share growth. The scope of these responsibilities ranged from the development of market and channel strategies for early stage companies to the major revamping of strategies for Fortune 500’s. Technology sectors spanned computer peripherals, high frequency GaAs FET components, client-server software, data communications, and test and measurement systems.

Participated in eight acquisitions/mergers, an LBO, and as a principal in two successful early stage IPO’s, developing a broad experience base in both due diligence and interim transition management. Overall management responsibilities have included revenues of $450M and headcount of 400+. Channel strategies have included direct, single and multi tiered distribution, manufacturers reps, dealers, VARS (Value-added Reseller), integrators and strategic partnerships in both end user and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) sectors. In addition, extensive telesales/telemarketing and on line sales and marketing have been integral to his overall success.

Kanth Gopalpur

Kanth Gopalpur is the CEO of Monsoon, Inc., a software company that provides pricing, inventory, and sales management software to retailers who sell in online marketplaces such as Amazon.com and Ebay.com. Monsoon was founded in 2002 and after bootstrapping its operations for three years raised a small amount of capital from angel investors in 2005. It is currently one of the fastest growing technology companies in Portland and processes several hundred million dollars worth of online marketplace sales annually through its suite of software products.

An e-commerce pioneer, Kanth saw the Internet as a new market for Powell's Books in 1994 and led Powells.com from its inception in 1994 until 2000 through a period of steady, profitable growth. Following that success he joined Django's as VP of e-commerce and marketing where he oversaw all aspects of the company's online business. Kanth was also a founder member of the Global Internet Initiative, a consortium of major online retailers established to set up common standards for ecommerce.

Peter Grillo

Pete Grillo has been active in Portland-area high-technology firms for over 20 years. In January of 2007, Pete formed Iterasi, Inc., which was launched at Demo 2008 in January 2008. In 1997, Pete founded WeSync.com, a venture-backed web and wireless data synchronization company. WeSync.com became widely recognized for its’ innovation and advanced technologies, which lead to its acquisition by Palm, Inc. in February 2001. In 1988, Mr. Grillo co-founded ProTools, Inc., a venture-backed developer of network management applications acquired by Network General in 1994. Previously he co-founded DWB Associates, a software consulting firm.

Mr. Grillo currently serves as an advisor to the board of directors of KryptIq Corporation, a provider of Business Process Management (BPM) solutions to the healthcare industry, and Concero, a provider of web-based solutions for employee benefits brokers.

Paul Gulick

Paul E. Gulick has been an active and successful entrepreneur in the Portland, Oregon area throughout his career. Most recently, Paul served as Chief Technology Officer of Planar Systems, Inc., a global leader in specialty display systems. He joined Planar following the acquisition of Clarity Visual Systems, a company the Mr. Gulick founded in 1995, and grew to be recognized as one of the world’s leading providers of networked visual information. Prior to founding Clarity, Mr. Gulick was a co-founder of InFocus Corporation. More recently he was CEO and Chief Technical Officer for Motif, Inc., a joint venture between In Focus Systems, Inc. and Motorola, Inc. Currently, Mr. Gulick is President of the Board for the Children’s Cancer Association. He is a board member of the Entrepreneur Foundation of the Northwest, is a member of the Business Advisory Council for Portland State University School of Business Administration, and is on the Executive Counsel of the Oregon Chapter of AeA. Mr. Gulick holds 17 US patents in the field of electronic displays and related technologies. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jared Holum

If Perkins was a basketball team, we'd always be in the finals with a standout like Jared in our lineup. Listed at 6'7" and weighing 225 lbs, this hardwood legend attended Pitzer College. There, he taught Greg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs, the substance over style play that would propel the then Pitzer coach into the NBA spotlight. At least that's how Jared tells it.

From hoops to calculators, Jared, an audit shareholder, joined the Perkins & Co team in 2003 following a substantial mix of accounting experience including three years as a CFO and Controller and 10 years at a Big-Four accounting firm. An important member of the audit and management teams, Jared lends his expertise to clients ranging from small business startups to multi-nationals. Jared is also a member of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Practice Group and the firm's recruiting team.

Jared's extensive experience includes public and private auditing in a wide range of industries, his specialties being insurance and financial services, manufacturing, and other service based companies. He's handled all the standard auditing tasks and also some specialized ones like SEC reporting, technical accounting, insurance statutory accounting issues, acquisition due diligence and related purchase accounting issues, employee benefit plan auditing, cash flow forecasting, internal company financial reporting, and internal control consulting, including SOX 404 issues. Jared brought his knowledge and know-how to Perkins & Co and we know clients appreciate that.

Irving Levine

Mr. Levin is a veteran of the credit card and consumer lending industries. Earlier he founded and ran two credit card companies, and sold Renaissance Holdings to Household International in 2000. Besides his current duties at Genesis, Mr. Levin is an investor / advisor / board member in a number of early and growth stage companies through Fluffco, LLC (his investment vehicle). He is also involved in a number of non-profit organizations and serves as a Trustee or Board member of Providence St. Vincent Hospital Foundation, The Children's Institute, Digital Divide Data and the Portland State University Foundation, among others. He is Trustee of The Renaissance Foundation and a co-sponsor of an I Have A Dream class in Portland, Oregon.

Mr. Levin has four children. He holds two degrees from the University of Chicago. He was a professional cellist in his early twenties, has held management positions with Pickwick Records, Visa and ITT, and served as a senior management consultant for Arthur D. Little.

Ray King

Ray has worked at four startups and enjoys the technical and business challenges that go along with birthing totally new

ideas. In high school he and a friend launched "The Computer Workshop" to train students on the use of Apple II's and IBM

PCs. This company was featured on EyeWitness news and the New York Times. Several years later, while in college at M.I.T., he wrote project management software for his father's architectural firm. This project turned into a company, Semaphore, Inc. and in 1990 had risen to be rated #1 among all of the competitors in the space (by ARCHITECTURE Magazine). By 2000, the company had over 2,500 clients, 100 employees and was acquired by Deltek.

Later that year, Ray moved to from New York City to Portland, Oregon to co-found SnapNames.com. Inventing several new ways for people to acquire domain names, the company eventually grew to over $49MM in revenue and was ultimately acquired by Oversee.net. His current venture, AboutUs.org has pioneered the idea of an "editable overlay" for the entire web. Serving over 8 Million unique visitors per month, the company profitably employs 30 people in both Portland and it's branch office in Lahore, Pakistan.

Gerry Langeler

Gerry Langeler joined OVP Venture Partners in 1992 and focuses on investments in the semiconductor, software, imaging and digital biology sectors. His investments include 800.com, Captivate Network, djangos.com, Elekom, Foundstone, Max-Viz, Now Software, Portland Software, Preview Systems, Surplus Software, TView, Unify, Vascular Solutions, Viral Logic Systems Technology (VLST), and Webridge. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Ambric, Collaborative Software Initiative, Max-Viz, and Viral Logic Systems Technology (VLST) and is a Board Observer to BioPassword, Octavian, and Tzero Technologies.

Prior to joining OVP, Gerry was co-founder of Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) in Portland, OR in 1981. There he served as President, and over eleven years helped lead Mentor through its IPO to over $400M in worldwide sales and over $1B in market capitalization. He began his technology career at Tektronix.

Gerry received his AB in Chemistry from Cornell University and his MBA from Harvard University. He is the author of The Vision Trap (Harvard Business Review, 3/92). He also authored a chapter in Venture Capital Best Practices (Aspatore Books, 2005). Gerry serves on the Advisory Board of Highway 12 Ventures in Boise, Idaho.

He is the father of two boys, and enjoys skiing (when his knees can stand it) and golf.

David Moffenbeier

David received a BA in chemistry from Wesleyan University in 1973 and an MBA from Harvard in 1977. In 1981, he co-founded Mentor Graphics in Oregon where he worked until 1993 in roles including CFO and Vice President of Worldwide Sales. In 1994, David joined MedicaLogic as COO, then a six-person start up, and helped grow the company to be the leading provider of electronic medical records in the US. In 2000, he became the Chief Executive Officer and subsequently executed the sale of MedicaLogic to GE Medical in 2002.

David is currently a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Absorbent Technologies, Inc., a privately held start-up based in Beaverton, Oregon. ATI has developed and patented a starch-based superabsorbent polymer called Zeba which absorbs 400+ times its weight in water and releases this water back to plants “on demand.” Zeba can increase agricultural crop yields 10% with 10% less water. Zeba is also sold to commercial nurseries, landscapers, golf courses and the home & garden market.

Steve Morris

Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, and Credence Corporation.

Prior to joining OTBC, he founded OregonStartups.com, providing consulting and web-based advice and information or startup companies.

He founded Teseda Corporation and served as CEO from 2001 to 2005, and prior to that founded two internal startups in larger companies. He has extensive experience in strategic marketing, business plan development, strategic partnerships, and venture capital fund raising.

He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration(now The Tepper School of Business).

Mark Paul

Mark Paul has 30 years of executive level leadership-from bootstrapping start-ups as an entrepreneur, building a $50 million business unit in two years at a Global 500 company as an “intrapreneur”, to CEO of a publicly traded company. He has 18 years of interim executive and business leadership consulting experience. Mark has helped over a hundred clients attract more customers: increase their revenue, profitability and company value. Mark is about to publish his 2nd book: “How to Attract Significantly More Customers” and recently published a new version of The Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide. Visit his website at: www.synergy-usa.com.

Dennis Powers

Dennis is currently the Managing Partner of Cornerstone Management Resources (CMR), a successful consulting firm focusing on all aspects of business development and revenue acceleration for emerging and mid-market companies. He has successfully completed numerous projects involving strategic planning, business plan creation, sales channel development, marketing communication programs, assistance with early stage funding, and numerous merger/acquisitions.

Before founding Cornerstone Management Resources, Mr. Powers was the vice president of marketing and sales at Merix Corporation, a leading supplier of electronic interconnect systems. During his tenure the company completed a successful public offering and grew the company over 200%. He actively participated in the corporate team responsible for several successful M&A transactions.

Prior to Merix, Dennis held senior management positions with Flir Systems and TriQuint Semiconductor. His early career involved roles in engineering, product marketing, and sales at Westinghouse and Thorson Company.

Dennis holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University and a master's of science in the management of science and technology from the Oregon Graduate Institute.

With more than 35 years experience in sales, marketing, general management and business development, Mr. Powers is well equipped to provide to provide a wide range of assistance to early stage and mid-market companies.

Kathleen Sego

Kathleen Sego is a financial manager with over 30 years of investment banking, treasury, corporate finance, and CFO experience with companies ranging from early stage to Fortune 500. Kathleen has raised over $1 billion of equity during her tenure - $125 million in change of control transactions, $10million of angel funding, and $900 million in domestic and international structured financings. Kathleen’s industry experience encompasses the high tech industry (software and hardware), utility industry, health care, and banking. Kathleen is known as a problem solver in start-up, turnaround and workout situations using her strong marketing, technical, transaction and team oriented skills. Kathleen passed her Series 7, 24 and 63 securities license exams.

Steven Wilker

Steven counsels clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, media communications and technology, energy, corporate governance, real estate and finance issues. He represents clients in their local, regional and national disputes and matters. An AV-rated litigator, Steven is a member of the firm’s Corporate Finance, Technology, and Intellectual Property Practice Groups. He handles both complex transactions and litigation in trial and appellate courts and in arbitration.

In commercial and financial matters, he represents shareholders in closely-held corporations and counsels both buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions.

In shareholder derivative and class action lawsuits, his experience includes representing directors and officers.

Steven’s extensive experience in intellectual property matters includes representing former employers, departing employees, and new employers in trade secret litigation. He also advocates for both plaintiffs and defendants in trademark, copyright and other intellectual property litigation. As an advisor to media, publishing and communications clients, such as KOIN-TV, Steven addresses issues such as applicability of media shield laws, reporters' privileges, prior restraints on publication, defamation, invasion of privacy, newsgathering methods, licensing, and copyright. He is 2008 chair of the Oregon State Bar's Bar-Press-Broadcasters Council.

After completing law school, Steven was a law clerk for The Honorable Stephen V. Wilson, United States District Court, Central District of California, and The Honorable Edwin J. Peterson, Chief Justice/Associate Justice, Oregon Supreme Court.
An active member of the Lawyers Committee for the ACLU of Oregon, Steven is co-chair of the firm's Information Technology Committee and served on the firm's managing board from 2003-2006.

Michael Wright

Prior to co-founding Wellpartner, Mr. Wright founded two other companies, Gene Therapeutics and MicroHeart, both of which were focused on providing site-specific drug delivery systems of genetic agents for the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Previously, Mr. Wright was President and CEO of TomTec Imaging, a developer and manufacturer of advanced ultrasound imaging software and hardware. The bulk of Mr. Wright's career, 27 years, was spent with the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies working in a number of the Johnson & Johnson operating units, both in domestic and international assignments. His last 15 years with the company were focused on acquisitions, turn-around scenarios and divestitures across a broad line of advanced medical products. Mr. Wright received a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from Midwestern University.

In addition to his role at Wellpartner, Mr. Wright currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of The Neuropsychiatric Institute at Oregon Health & Science University.