Val Rahmani – Director and Chief Executive Officer, Damballa
Val Rahmani brings over 25 years of customer-driven business and technical leadership to Damballa. Prior to Damballa, Val served as General Manager of IBM's Internet Security Systems (ISS) division after IBM's $1.3 billion acquisition of the company. At ISS, she was responsible for the strategic direction, growth and integration of all ISS products, services and research into IBM's overall security offerings. Prior to ISS, Val held several general management roles within IBM, including multi-billion dollar hardware, software and services businesses. Her IBM experience includes UNIX, mainframe, telco, utilities, global wireless and media markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She also ran a strategy unit, where she focused on emerging markets, global alliances and services business models.

Philip Eliot – Principal, Paladin Capital Group
Philip Eliot is a Principal of Paladin Capital Group, a leading multi-stage private equity firm. He focuses on investments in technology-driven companies in a variety of industries. Philip has been working with early-stage technology companies since 2000, when he joined FBR Technology Venture Partners ("FBRTVP"), a $200 million venture capital fund focused on software and telecommunications companies in the mid-Atlantic region. Prior to joining Paladin, he was a Vice President at Core Capital Partners, where he led investments in software and infrastructure companies including SilverStorm Technologies (acquired by QLogic, NASDAQ: QLGC) and RulesPower Corp. (acquired by Fair, Isaac; NYSE: FIC). Philip began his career as a consultant at Dean & Company, working in the telecommunications and utilities industries as well as the firm's private equity practice. He received an A.B. in Physics with Honors from Harvard University.

Jim Gauer – Director and Managing Partner, Palomar Ventures
A veteran venture capital fund manager with expertise in all aspects of Information Technology investing, Jim Gauer has produced well over $1 billion in gains for his investors during his career and has established himself as one of the venture industry's premier IT investors. Prior to forming Palomar Ventures, Jim led early-stage IT investments as general partner for Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Jim has led investments in such market leaders as webMethods (WEBM), Efficient Networks (EFNT, Siemens), Borland (BORL), American Home Lenders (LEND), Rendition (Micron), XLNT Designs (Intel), Isocor (ISOC, Critical Path), Digital Style (Netscape), and numerous other successful public and private companies.

Ron Nash – Director and Partner, InterWest
Ron Nash joined the InterWest IT team in the Dallas office in 2000, focusing on the software and services sector. Ron brings 25 years of experience as a business executive in the technology industry, and has worked with both large multinational corporations and entrepreneurial startup firms. Ron's international experience includes overseas assignments and business operations management in Europe and Asia. Prior to joining InterWest, Ron had a successful tenure at Perot Systems where he was a senior vice president. He previously served as president of three smaller firms, Advanced Telemarketing, Teleci and Rubicon - all of which became publicly held companies. In addition, Ron was a business manager at EDS.

John Mandile – Director and Managing Director, Sigma + Partners
John Mandile joined Sigma in 1996. Prior to Sigma, John was the President and CEO of Vermeer Technologies, Inc., the developers of FrontPage, the leading Web authoring tool. Vermeer was acquired by Microsoft, providing Sigma and the other venture investors a very successful return. Previously, he was an early principal at SQL Solutions, where he created and led an engineering organization chartered to build heterogeneous database tools. Following an acquisition of SQL Solutions by Sybase, he took responsibility for the new Systems Management Product unit, which he grew to $55 million in sales in 30 months.

Dr. Merrick Furst – Director and Associate Dean, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
Merrick Furst holds an endowed chair as Georgia Institute of Technology's first "Distinguished Professor of Computing." Merrick was also founder and CEO of Essential Surfing Gear, where he grew the company to include customers such as Barnes and Noble, CNET and MySimon, until the company was sold in 2001. Merrick was a tenured computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was president and director of the International Computer Science Institute, and at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was associate dean in the School of Computer Science. Merrick has authored over 25 articles and books, is the inventor on two U.S. patents, received the first Presidential Young Investigator Award, and created multiple commercially-successful software artifacts including electronic post-it notes.

Francis A. (Fran) Dramis – Director and Chief Executive Officer, F. Dramis LLC
Fran Dramis is the CEO of F. Dramis LLC, a consulting firm servicing high tech businesses and providing IT infrastructure management. Fran currently serves on the boards of Damballa, NanoLumens and Urjanet. Fran was formerly the Chief Information, Ecommerce & Security Officer for BellSouth. During his tenure, BellSouth's IT and Security groups received numerous national awards. Prior to BellSouth, Fran founded CIO Strategy, Inc., where he led technology transformation efforts at Citibank, Coopers & Lybrand, NASD and Bankers Trust. Fran was also managing director and CIO at Salomon Brothers, served as president and CEO of Network Management Inc., and president and COO of Telic Corporation. One of the country's top IT leaders, Fran has received awards from CIO Magazine and Computerworld, among others.

Alan Taetle – Observer and General Partner, Noro-Moseley Partners
Alan Taetle joined NMP in 1998 and has focused his investment activities on software and information technology companies. He currently represents NMP on the boards of BroadSource, Clearleap, SecureWorks, Virtustream, and Vocalocity. Prior to NMP, Alan was the EVP of Marketing and Business Development for MindSpring, where he oversaw the company’s subscriber growth from 4,000 to over 325,000 in just three years. Alan has served in various systems and product management roles with CogniTech Corporation, Itochu International, and Electronic Data Systems, and was a board member of ChoicePoint. Alan is the Chairman of the Florida Venture Forum, serves on the board of the Atlanta CEO Council, and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Georgia Tech College of Computing. Alan received a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

I.Sigmund Mosley, Jr. – Observer and President, Imlay Investments
Sigmund Mosley is President of Imlay Investments, Inc., the personal investment company of John P. Imlay, Jr. Sigmund serves on the board of directors of Contract Packaging, Inc., eQuorum Corporation, Invistics Corporation, Kelly Registration, Inc., Photobooks, Inc., Pramana, Inc., and Skyway Software Inc. In addition, Sigmund is a director of The Imlay Foundation, Inc., Techbridge, and Entrepreneurs Foundation of the Southeast. Sigmund received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Emory University in 1968, and then joined Peat Marwick & Mitchell as a staff accountant. He began at Management Science America in 1969 as a staff accountant, served as Secretary-Treasurer from 1972 to 1990, and was a Vice President from 1982 to 1991. Mr. Mosley is also a director of GATV and Technology Association of Georgia.

Jeffrey Leavitt – Counsel and Partner, DLA Piper
Jeffrey Leavitt is a partner at DLA Piper, one of the largest legal service providers worldwide. He works with emerging growth companies, venture and growth capital investment entities, and mature technology companies. Jeffrey is the only practicing attorney in the country to have completed the Kauffman Fellows Program, a highly competitive national fellowship for venture capital professionals. Jeffrey began his career at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he consummated the merger of Qwest and US West as well as Exxon and Mobil. He co-founded Axiom Legal, negotiated transactions for Morgan Stanley and CSFB, and was a board observer with SecureWorks, RF Solutions, Omniguide and Xytrans. Jeffrey is an accomplished speaker and author in the legal and technology communities.

Technical Advisory Board
Founders