Each year, MAVA invites senior industry veterans to lead Capital Connection. This year is no exception! We are pleased to announce that Jonathan Perl, Boulder Ventures, Carter Griffin, Updata Partners, Niloo Howe, Paladin Capital Group and John Burke, True Venture Partners have agreed to lead the conference as the Capital Connection ’10 co-chairs.
Jonathan Perl
General Partner, Boulder Ventures
Co-Chair, Capital Connection '10
Mr. Perl, a General Partner, has more than 11 years of investing experience, focused primarily on early-stage information technology companies. He led BV investments in iLumin Software, Era, Millennium Pharmacy Systems and Zenoss. ILumin was sold to Computer Associates (NYSE: CA) in October 2005. Era was sold to SRA International (NYSE: SRX) in July 2008.
Mr. Perl joined Intersouth Partners in 1997 as a member of the third class of Kauffman Fellows. In 1999, he became a Partner. He was responsible for the sourcing, due diligence, structuring and negotiation of more than a dozen early stage investments, including several highly successful companies.
From 1991 to 1995, Mr. Perl was the Director of Washington Operations for IICC, a placement agent, where he was responsible for a variety of consulting arrangements with both investment management firms and venture backed companies. Prior to joining IICC, Mr. Perl was in the management development program at American Security Bank (now BofA).
Mr. Perl holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College (1997) and a BA (magna cum laude) in classical history from Tufts University (1988).
Carter Griffin
General Partner, Updata Partners
Co-Chair, Capital Connection '10
Carter Griffin is a General Partner at Updata Partners in the Reston, Virginia office and joined the firm in early 2005.
Prior to joining Updata Partners, Mr. Griffin co-founded Brivo Systems in 1999 and served as Chairman and CEO until selling the company to a unit of Duchossois Enterprises Group in December 2004. Brivo Systems pioneered the software-as-a-service model in the physical security market by introducing the first-ever on-demand system for facility access control. Before starting Brivo Systems, Mr. Griffin spent four years as a Senior Vice President at Kaiser Associates, where he advised Fortune 500 clients on competitive positioning and new-market entry strategies. Earlier in his career, Mr. Griffin worked in London for the Coca-Cola Company and held positions at American Management Systems and Arthur Andersen.
Mr. Griffin holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Mr. Griffin serves as a director on the boards of Updata Partners portfolio companies: Alert Logic, Bradford Networks, iContact, and LogiXML.
Niloo Howe
Managing Director, Paladin Capital Group
Co-Chair, Capital Connection '10
Niloo Howe is a Managing Director of Paladin, and her responsibilities include the development and implementation of new investment opportunities for both Paladin Homeland Security Fund and Paladin Capital Partners Fund. She also assists in the strategic oversight and monitoring of Paladin’s investments. Prior to joining Paladin, Ms. Howe served as Principal at Zone Ventures a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm. Ms. Howe has also served in the capacity of Chief Executive Officer and President of an online retail company funded by Zone Ventures. Previously Ms. Howe worked with McKinsey & Company as a strategic consultant. In that capacity, she worked with senior management of Fortune 500 companies in the retail/consumer goods, technology and healthcare sectors on issues of strategy, new product/market entry, change management/turnaround and electronic commerce. Her previous experience also includes working as an attorney with O'Melveny & Myers. Ms. Howe graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School and received her B.A. from Columbia College.
Ms. Howe currently serves as a board member of AgION, Courion, DigitalBridge Communications, Initiate Systems and OQO.
John Burke
Partner, True Venture Partners
Co-Chair, Capital Connection '10
John’s passion for building and growing companies began 22 years ago during his days as an engineer for a startup in Oakland, California. As the fourth employee, it was as clear to him then as it is now that it is all about the team. The guiding principle of team has stayed with him throughout his career – first on the programming team in California, then as an engineer for Bechtel Power in San Francisco, and ultimately as a venture investor. However, nowhere was the team principle more important to him than when he started his software company.
John lived through the balancing act of building his own company at BMI Software. There, the constant challenges of deciding who to hire and when to hire them, who to partner with and (of equal importance) who not to partner with fostered essential values that he carries with him today. The overarching importance of working with the right team has been seared into John’s professional life and investing philosophy. For a startup, there are no more important decisions than partnering – whether in business development, selecting the right venture investor, or hiring and firing employees. Having lived through those decisions and having made the mistakes that can be so painful, John is able to guide his portfolio companies through the difficult times with a deftness that only those years of operating experience bring.
Equally important as partners and employees of a startup are the partners in a venture firm. Phil Black and John Burke have been partners since 1999, when they both joined ABS Ventures. Having worked together that long, there is an implicit trust that only years together can build. Phil Black and Jon Callaghan have either worked together or invested together for almost 17 years. These bonds that hold the True partnership together have taken years to forge, and the results of which are evident in the partner interaction and woven into the fabric of the firm.
John holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, BA in Economics from U.C. Santa Cruz and an MBA from Harvard Business School.