• Valerie Kahn - Managing Partner
  Prior to co-founding 151 Ventures, Valerie was EVP for Emitac Mobile Solutions (EMS) where she drove the Company’s business development and enterprise sales efforts and was directly responsible for signing multi-million, multi-year agreements with both Etisalat in the UAE and Etihad Etisalat Mobily in Saudi Arabia for the BlackBerry Solution. Prior to EMS, Valerie was VP Business Channel Marketing, Sales and Business Development for Cingular Wireless. Before the merger of Cingular with AT&T Wireless, Valerie's roles at AT&T Wireless included managing the Enterprise Product Marketing Team with responsibility for the first American operator introduction of BlackBerry products. In addition to her most recent endeavors Valerie held the position of SVP of the AXA Group; Paris, France, where she was responsible for eBusiness activities in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Previous to AXA, she held executive positions at Dun & Bradstreet’s (D&B's) E-commerce Subsidiary, Eccelerate, Sungard Data Systems, Security APL (CheckFree Investment Services), Citibank, and Donald, Lufkin and Jenrette.  More...
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  Valerie has over 25 years of business development, operating, technology and marketing experience helping to build some of the world’s most successful businesses. Her experience in these areas, as well as her technical, operating and marketing management expertise, spans corporate, venture and entrepreneurial settings.

  Valerie was most recently a principal and EVP of Emitac Mobile Solutions, LLC, (EMS), a Dubai based solutions and service provider focused on the delivery, implementation and support of the BlackBerry® Solution and other mobile business applications. Valerie was responsible for the overall management of Marketing, Global Business Development, Sales and Channel Sales. Valerie was responsible for introducing BlackBerry in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

  Before joining EMS Valerie was SVP of Business Channel Marketing, Sales and Business Development for Cingular Wireless where she had responsibility for Cingular’s third-party business channel, specifically designed to market and sell wireless solutions through large, medium and small businesses and government. Valerie was instrumental in driving relationships and business ventures with Intel, CDW, Ingram Micro, TechData, and Lucent amongst many hundreds of companies.

  Prior to the merger of Cingular with AT&T Wireless, Valerie's roles at AT&T Wireless included managing the Enterprise Business Development and Product Marketing Team, creating relationships and go-to-market offers with Microsoft, Oracle, Comverse, Palm, Dell, IBM, RIM, TellMe, CDW, and many others. Valerie produced year over year growth of over 300% and exceeded targets by over 200%.

  Previously, Valerie was SVP of the AXA Group; Paris, France, where she was responsible for building strategic eBusiness relationships and offerings to address the AXA financial markets in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. She created and led the worldwide AXA partnership program with 140-members across 58 AXA companies and re-designed business processes, and generated new customer acquisition programs with major corporations including Microsoft, AOL, Shell Oil and Cap Gemini.

  Prior to AXA, she held executive positions at Dun & Bradstreet Corporation as Managing Partner of the E-commerce Subsidiary, Eccelerate.com, a company dedicated to delivering secure business certificates for merchants globally. Valerie launched and managed this start up business which was later sold to AIG.

  Valerie’s entrepreneurial experience includes Security APL, a leading provider of portfolio management, trading, software services, and information products for investment management that was sold to CheckFree Corporation and is now known as CheckFree Investment Services. While serving as COO of Security APL, she founded PAWWS, the first company in the world to offer market data and brokerage trading to the consumer via the Internet. Valerie built PAWWS from startup to breakeven within 18 months, and created and launched the websites and trading services for such companies as National Discount Brokers, Vanguard Brokerage, and American Express Brokerage. Valerie was also instrumental in developing strategic relationships with IBM, CompuServe, Adobe, the Securities Industry Association, and Netscape.

  Valerie has also held senior positions with such world class companies as SunGard, Citibank, and Donald, Lufkin and Jenrette.

• Bill Rom - Managing Partner
  Prior to co-founding 151 Ventures, Bill was COO and co-founder of Emitac Mobile Solutions (EMS), a Dubai-based mobile solutions and service provider of the BlackBerry Solution. He was instrumental in securing the Company’s initial capital funding, establishing the company in the United Arab Emirates, recruiting the start-up team and driving the company to revenues of more than $5M in the first year. Prior to the formation of EMS, Bill was EVP of Outercurve Technologies, a company he joined after negotiating the sale of the Vaultus Wireless Division to Outercurve. In 2002 Bill was with Vaultus Mobile Technologies as VP of Sales and before that a principal and VP of Sales for Wireless Telecom, Inc., a wireless application service provider that was sold to Vaultus in January 2000 as part of capital raise that he facilitated. Previously Bill was CEO and co-founder of Mobile Computing Solutions, Inc, a mobile computing integrator and Managed Services company. Bill has over 25 years of sales, marketing and management experience in the computer and mobile computing industry. More...
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  Bill has over 25 years of technical, venture fund raising, sales, marketing and operating experience, helping to build very successful small companies. His vast executive and entrepreneurial experience, together with his operating and executive management success, spans corporate, venture and entrepreneurial settings.

  Most recently Bill was co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Emitac Mobile Solutions, LLC. (EMS) a Dubai, UAE based solutions and service provider focused on the delivery, implementation and support of the Research-in-Motion BlackBerry® Solution. He was instrumental in the Company’s initial $16M capital funding, recruiting the startup team and ongoing and direct responsibility for operations, business development, service, application development and marketing activities. Bill’s responsibilities included the launch of the BlackBerry Solution for Etisalat in the UAE and Mobily in Saudi Arabia respectively.

  Prior to starting EMS, Bill was EVP for Outercurve Technologies where he was responsible for sales, marketing, business development, professional services and operations. Bill spearheaded the creation and implementation of a mobile subscription based application sales model that repositioned the Company as one of the world’s first On-Demand wireless solutions. Bill closed contracts with hundreds of business customers and, at the same time executed multi-year global content agreements with Dow Jones & Company, The Financial Times and Interactive Data to deliver their content, eventually expanding the go-to-market strategy to include mobile operators such as Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile, O2, Verizon, Nextel, Orange, StarHub and Hutchison. Bill also licensed the Company’s software platform to Bloomberg and Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil companies.

  Joining Outercurve as part of the acquisition of Vaultus (previously Wireless Telecom), Bill was responsible for the initial $25M in venture capital for Vaultus, one of the first authorized Microsoft Mobile Solution Providers and MVNO for the Research-In-Motion BlackBerry Solution. Vaultus, raising another $40M in capital in Series B and Series C rounds of financing, created one of the first end-to-end wireless solutions businesses. Additionally, to ensure value creation, Bill closed multi-year global contracts with customers including General Electric, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley, CIBC, Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Deutsche Bank to provide a full complement of mobile services including handheld acquisition, deployment, technical support, warranty repair and depot services and mobile application development.

  Bill has built several companies, including Mobile Computing Solutions (MCS), one of the first mobile systems integration firms, a MicroAge Computer Center franchisee, grew under his management to $30M in less than 3 years. He was responsible for the development and creation of the NCR Virtual Office, the first mobile solution integrated with wireless service. MCS was NCR’s (subsequently AT&T) OEM partner and delivered the mobile solution and services to some of AT&T’s largest customers, including Ecolab, Whirlpool, Kraft General Foods, and AT&T who purchased more than 12,000 units under the Virtual Office program. This Virtual Office Solution offering was eventually sold to AT&T at a significant profit.

  Bill also has held the position of Regional Sales Manager for NEC Technologies where he was responsible for new business development and distribution channels. Prior to NEC, he held executive sales positions at LinkData and Victor Electronics.

  Over his professional tenure Bill has been responsible for and has created a proven track record for building successful businesses, raising significant capital through strategic investors and venture capitalists, and building these funded ventures from conception through to revenue success and exit.

• Andy Maunder - Principal, Corporate Development
  Andy has significant experience in building companies. With more than 25 years in both funding and managing emerging and growth companies, Andy has assisted companies from start-up fund raising, through later stage growth, and eventually through Initial Public Offering and M&A transactions. Andy has built a reputation for strong leadership and strength in operational and financial management and is effective at all levels including board, executive, management and advisory levels. He has served as a board member for companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and served as a member of the Executive Committee for the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA).  More...
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  Andy has significant experience in building companies. With more than 25 years in both funding and managing emerging and growth companies, Andy has assisted companies from start-up fund raising, through later stage growth, and eventually through Initial Public Offering and M&A transactions.

  Andy has built a reputation for strong leadership and strength in operational and financial management and is effective at all levels including board, executive, management and advisory levels. He has served as a board member for companies in the United Kingdom and the United States and served as a member of the Executive Committee for the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA).

  Most recently, Andy served as CFO of Traffic.com, the market leader in the collection, processing and delivery of traffic information to consumers, media groups and businesses. During Andy’s tenure he had full responsibility for internal and external financial and accounting reporting, including to all governmental agencies and the SEC, before, during and after the company’s IPO in 2006. As an instrumental member of the senior management team, Andy completed the IPO preparation requirements and participated in the IPO road show to major financial institutions. Andy was a key member of senior management when the company was sold to NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT) in 2007.

  Prior to joining Traffic.com, Andy was CEO and co-founder of Kayak Interactive Corporation. Kayak, a spin-out of Valaran Corporation and a publisher of mobile games to wireless carriers, focused on community and multiplayer games. Andy managed the early stage development of Kayak while he maintained his CEO position at Valaran. He created the Kayak business plan, hired the management team, and helped recruit the initial customers. He raised the USD $12M required in funding in less than 6 months during what was one of the most difficult US economic periods.

  As the entre into Kayak Interactive, Andy co-founded and held the position of CEO of Valaran Corporation, a premier infrastructure software company providing path-breaking products for business process modeling, application and network interoperability and integration within the enterprise. Beyond his responsibilities for setting strategic direction, operational and management plans and the execution of those plans, Andy was successful in raising the initial USD $18M and all follow-on funding.

  At Telesciences Inc, where Andy served as CEO, he took the company public on the NASDAQ in 1997 and subsequently managed the sale of the company in 1999. In 1994, as CFO for UK-based Oxford Molecular, he managed the IPO process, raising USD $50M through the London Stock Exchange. During the late 1980’s, as CFO for UK-based 3Net Ltd, an ISDN technology company, he was part of an executive team that rose USD $10M over a 5-year period, ultimately selling the company to the Securicor Group.

• Karen Davis-Farage - Senior Director
  Karen has more than 25 years of experience in Strategic Alliances, Channel Management and Sales Management with both corporate and venture backed organizations. Along with her extensive knowledge and experience promoting and selling a variety of hardware and software technologies, Karen has a successful track record of serving and contributing at the Executive level while consistently delivering on quarterly & annual objectives.
  
  Prior to joining 151 Ventures, Karen was the Vice President of Business Development at Antenna Software where she led Business Development & Strategic Alliances. In this role, she created and managed partnerships through reseller, referral and collaborative selling models while growing the partner contribution to 70% of net sales. Karen’s thought leadership drove new channel strategy and distribution models for software services through partners when the wireless and mobility sector was in its infancy. She recruited a mobility ecosystem including Carrier, Platform, Device, ISV and SI Partners such as AT&T, Verizon, Microsoft, RIM, Motorola, HP, Oracle, Accenture and Bearing Point. More...
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  In addition, Karen executed an exclusive White-Label Reseller agreement with a major US carrier with annual revenue commitments. During Karen’s tenure at Antenna, she also held advisory leadership roles with Strategic Partner Councils including Oracle and Microsoft.

  Prior to Antenna, Karen was Vice President of Business Development at Calico Commerce. Karen successfully built partnership and SaaS strategies with the world’s leading consulting organizations such as Accenture, KPMG, Technology Solutions Company and others. Karen developed a hosting strategy for Calico which culminated in a formal agreement with USInternetworking, among other resellers, and grew partnered-enabled business from 30% to 60% of sales in less than one year.

  Karen spent nine years with Borland Corporation in several business development, sales management and operational positions. As the Director in charge of US Business Solution Partners, Karen created and executed on a business plan enabling Borland to move from a “Developer” focused partner program to a new “Enterprise” partner program. Her team engaged large system integrators, VARs and training partners resulting in a 22% increase in US sales revenues in the first year. Karen was also responsible for the partner web site, training & certification, annual partner conferences, contractual agreements and contract negotiations. Leading the Northeast Sales Region, Karen developed innovative sales strategies and marketing programs for diverse markets including corporate, government, channel distribution & retail business.

  Additionally, Karen has led national and regional sales and channel management teams at Oracle Corporation, Alpine Datasystems and Burroughs Corporation.

• Dan Polito - Senior Director, Marketing
  Dan has over 25 years of marketing, business development and operational experience helping to build some of the world’s leading brands. His expertise in these areas, coupled with his sales and marketing management experience, extends from more traditional corporate settings to venture-funded and highly entrepreneurial technology-focused areas.
  
  Dan was most recently Chief Marketing Officer of Lamina Lighting Incorporated (Lamina), an LED lighting technology manufacturer and spin off from the Sarnoff Corporation. There Dan was responsible for the overall management of Marketing, Global Business Development, Product Development, Sales and Channel Sales. He is also credited with grooming and re-launching the Lamina brand, spearheading a string of industry partnerships and introducing a new line of highly successful products, all of which helped to nearly triple sales over prior year. More...
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  Before joining Lamina Dan was VP of Marketing for Environmental Lighting Concepts an early-stage venture and manufacturer of natural lighting products. There Dan had primary responsibility for new product development, channel development and the re-engineering of the Ott-Lite brand. Dan was instrumental in developing a network of distributors and manufacturers representatives which helped to place product in over 13,000 locations globally.

  Previously, Dan was VP of Marketing and Communications at Reuters America, where he was responsible for building a global CRM for marketing infrastructure which served as a catalyst to address the client-centric needs of Reuters’ offices throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He also led the development of the company’s unifying KNOW NOW global brand repositioning. Dan was also responsible for instituting “brand stewardship” curriculum and training across the Reuters’ enterprise which provided comprehensive processes, tools, and guidelines for delivering a best-of-breed brand experience at all customer touch points. His efforts increased brand awareness, equity and brand value by +7% (2002 vs. 2001), as ranked by Business Week’s survey of The World’s Most Valued Brands.

  Prior to Reuters, he held executive positions at Dun & Bradstreet Corporation as Vice President of Marketing and Communications, where he led the creation of the new D&B “Decide With Confidence” brand repositioning which has since established D&B as the leading global provider of innovative information products & services.

  Dan’s entrepreneurial experience includes The Shiva Group, which he grew to be a leading brand and marketing consultancy in New York. He later merged Shiva with arch rival, Van Brunt & Company, adding such clients to its roster as Apple Computer, Nabisco and AT&T.

  Dan has also held senior positions with such world class marketing consultancies as Ogilvy & Mather and Foote Cone & Belding.

  Dan is a highly-accomplished marketing thought-leader, strategic planner and business development professional. He is the author of numerous articles on corporate and product branding and recently published a book on direct marketing.

• Phil Sheehy - Senior Director
  Phil Sheehy has more than 25 years experience in all aspects of business development in the software industry. Beginning his career with IBM mainframe system software and computer telephony solutions, Phil has spent the last 10 years helping mobile and wireless software companies launch new products via innovative sales, marketing and business development practices and actions.
  
  Prior to joining 151 Ventures, Phil was Vice President of Business Development for iEnterprises, a mobile CRM solutions company, where he grew revenue over 200% year over year, taking these revenues from zero to over $3 million in less than 2 years. During his tenure, Phil successfully guided product development and was responsible for marketing and sales for the company’s wireless CRM solutions based on the iEnterprises MobileEdge software platform. These solutions wirelessly extended popular CRM platforms such as Siebel, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sugar CRM, NetSuite and Lotus Notes to BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and iPhone devices. More...
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  Phil pioneered wireless Software as a Service (SaaS) CRM solutions by launching products such as Mobile Edge for NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics On-Demand. He also pioneered wireless CRM for Open Source with Mobile Edge for SugarCRM and Concursive Corporation. Phil’s vision that powerful CRM tools should be available anytime, anywhere, and his delivery of solutions based on this vision has helped lead the CRM and mobile CRM markets.

  Before joining iEnterprises, Phil spent four years as the Director of North American Operations for CommonTime Limited, a UK based software company that developed wireless synchronization solutions for Windows Mobile, Palm and Symbian platforms. Phil was instrumental in evolving a Windows Mobile desktop PIM synchronization tool into a suite of mobile and wireless products that include wireless VPN, device management and mobile application development modules for Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm mobile and wireless devices. Phil and his team successfully delivered more than $10 million dollars in Enterprise sales and he was directly responsible for major deals with JP Morgan Chase and the US Forest Service.

  Prior to CommonTime, Phil held the position of Director of Business Development at Ericsson for the Mobile Internet Solutions Group. Phil was responsible for, and launched the Ericsson Virtual Office driving more than $6 million dollars in revenue through wireless carriers in North and South America including AT&T, Rogers Wireless, T-Mobile, Omnipoint, Movistar SA, Ram Mobile Data and ISP’s such as GoAmerica and Wireless Telecom Inc.

  Phil has worked with many Fortune 100 Enterprise customers to plan and execute wireless strategies in industries such as Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Government, Retail and Defense Contractors. He has nurtured key partnerships with companies including IBM, Microsoft, RIM, Apple and Avaya while working closely with wireless carriers and device manufacturers.

  Phil’s contributions at the executive level and his track record of success are invaluable to clients bringing new products to market. His wealth of experience building, launching and selling mobile and wireless products and services are the foundation to helping clients increase sales and develop strategic partnerships that drive new revenue and positively impact the bottom line.

  Phil is a member of the Board of Directors of ARC Morris, dedicated to the care, support and advancement of people with intellectual and related developmental disabilities and their families. He is proud to have completed the 2000 New York City Marathon and is an avid hiker and traveler.

• Morten Hofstad - Executive Director – Dubai, U.A.E.
  Morten has 15+ years of experience in marketing, business development and technology. For the last 10+ years Morten has focused his expertise on the electronic and mobile payments arena. He has led mobile payment institutions in Europe, and was the first to take electronic mobile payments to the Middle East and North African region where he served as CEO of Mobile Value Systems, Ltd. (MVS). Morten was instrumental in driving the partnership and launching LUUP with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the first bank outside Europe to launch LUUP. Prior to joining MVS, Morten was CEO of Contopronto-Europe, the company providing the LUUP electronic mobile payment solution. The LUUP solution was one of the first electronic mobile payment services according to the E-Money Regulative in the European Union. Prior to Contopronto, Morten led companies in the media and mobile industry for over 8 years. Morten was Managing Director for Webad AS and NorgesTeleAuksjon, the online advertising division of the Modern Times Group MTG, the first online auction launched in Norway. Morten was instrumental in working with RIM and TrigCom, Norway’s first BlackBerry MVNO, to introduce BlackBerry in Norway in 2005. In addition to these leadership roles, Morten served as the leader of You, one of the largest and most influential mobile operators in Norway. Morten is current based in Dubai and is driving the entrance of several new projects to that region.
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  Morten has 15+ years of experience in marketing, business development and technology. For the last 10+ years Morten has focused his expertise on the electronic and mobile payments arena. He has led mobile payment institutions in Europe, and was the first to take electronic mobile payments to the Middle East and North African region where he served as CEO of Mobile Value Systems, Ltd. (MVS). Morten was instrumental in driving the partnership and launching LUUP with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the first bank outside Europe to launch LUUP. Prior to joining MVS, Morten was CEO of Contopronto-Europe, the company providing the LUUP electronic mobile payment solution. The LUUP solution was one of the first electronic mobile payment services according to the E-Money Regulative in the European Union. Prior to Contopronto, Morten led companies in the media and mobile industry for over 8 years. Morten was Managing Director for Webad AS and NorgesTeleAuksjon, the online advertising division of the Modern Times Group MTG, the first online auction launched in Norway. Morten was instrumental in working with RIM and TrigCom, Norway’s first BlackBerry MVNO, to introduce BlackBerry in Norway in 2005. In addition to these leadership roles, Morten served as the leader of You, one of the largest and most influential mobile operators in Norway. Morten is current based in Dubai and is driving the entrance of several new projects to that region.

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