Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance

About the Center
In the News
Team Bios
Research Activity
Program Calendar
Contact Information
CVP Home

Seminar Faculty

Entrepreneurial Finance Seminar—February 2001 Session

Agenda

CURTIS BEGLEY
President, HarmonyCom

Curtis is an industry veteran of 23 years. He has worked at Fortune 500 businesses and start-up companies developing and implementing strategic marketing, business plans, and building sales channels - both on the service and vendor sides of the industry. As President of HarmonyCOM, Begley is responsible for driving the business and marketing direction and establishing operations in the United States. Prior to HarmonyCOM, Begley held high-level management positions at Bell Canada, Open Networks Engineering, TMSI, and TSB International.

His adeptness as a leader in marketing, sales, and operations management has credited him with past successes such as increasing sales over 350 percent in a year at one company, and achieving annual growth over 15 percent two years in a row, at another. Begley has been instrumental in helping HarmonyCOM successfully raise $37 million in venture capital funding.

DICK BEEDON
Founder, Chairman and CEO Just Talk, Inc.

As Founder and CEO of University Netcasting, Dick Beedon created the FANSonly network that grew to be the sixth most-visited sports site on the Internet. During that time Beedon was responsible for all fundraising (four rounds) and strategic direction. Beedon merged FANSonly with Student Advantage (STAD) conditional upon the completion of a successful IPO, which occurred in June 1999. Beedon has won many national sales awards during his career including Sales Manager of the Year at Prime Computer Inc. in 1985. Prior to University Netcasting, Beedon was VP of Sales for Horizon Technology, a $100M software company in San Diego. Beedon also held sales and sales management positions at IBM and Prime Computer where he consistently finished in the top 5 percent of all sales representatives and sales managers. Beedon holds a BS from the University of Michigan.

ANTHONY D. GROVER
Vice President,
White Pines Ventures

Tony has over ten years of private equity, capital markets, operating, and technical experience spanning a wide array of industries and corporate settings. His diverse background allows him to assess both the financial and operational aspects of an investment opportunity.

Prior to joining White Pines Ventures, Tony was co-founder of a west-coast based online promotions, marketing, and services start-up. He was responsible for developing corporate strategy, overseeing day-to-day operations, managing technical aspects, and database development. Before this, Tony was a Business and Cost Analyst with Intel Corporation. He began his career as a Manufacturing Engineer for Cummins Engine Companys Fuel Systems Division.

Tony holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in industrial engineering from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University.

KEN SMITH
CFA - Senior Portfolio Manager, Munder Capital

Ken Smith is a member of the team responsible for management of the Munder NetNet Fund, the Munder Future Technology Fund, the Munder International NetNet Fund, and the Munder @Vantage Fund. His other responsibilities include equity security analysis, specializing in the technology sector. In addition to his association with Munder, Ken worked at American Century Investment Management, where he was responsible for equity security analysis in the technology sector, and also worked for Arthur Andersen LLP, where he was a manager in the audit and specialty consulting practice. Ken received a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Michigan, a member of The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a Chartered Financial Analyst.

DR. MICHAEL P. KUREK
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Genomic Solutions

Dr. Kurek manages the Companys global marketing, sales, and customer support activities. Prior to joining the Company in December of 1997, Dr. Kurek was Vice President of Business Development for Gene Codes Corporation, an Ann Arbor-based bioinformatics company, where he was responsible for the companys global sales, marketing, and business development efforts. Prior to Gene Codes, he was Vice President of Business Development for the Michigan Center for High Technology, where he managed a business incubator and provided management assistance to over 50 start-up companies. Previously, Dr. Kurek had been Director of Marketing and Sales for BioPolymers, Inc., a start-up medical device company in Connecticut. Prior to BioPolymers, he was Director of Business Development for Repligen, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company and Product Manager, Life Sciences for the Millipore Corporation. Prior to joining Millipore, Dr. Kurek had conducted biomedical research at Case Western Reserve University, the Boston University School of Medicine, and the Boston Biomedical Research Institute. Dr. Kurek received a B.S. in Biology from Boston College, a Ph.D. in Genetics from Florida State University, and an MBA from Boston University.

ROGER S. NEWTON, Ph.D.,
President and CEO, Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, was founded in July 1998 and located in Ann Arbor, MI. Esperion is dedicated to the discovery and development of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Dr. Newtons research interests over the past twenty-five years have focused on the nutritional and pharmacological regulation of cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism as they relate to atherosclerosis and vascular diseases. During his tenure at Parke-Davis from 1981-1998, he was Chairman of the Atherosclerosis Drug Discovery Team, during which time he co-discovered and was the product champion of what is now the most widely prescribed cholesterol reducing drug, Lipitor. Dr. Newton is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He has co-authored more than a hundred peer-reviewed articles and chapters during his research career.

TOM PORTER
General Partner, EDF Ventures

Tom Porter has a broad range of experience in founding, managing and advising successful technology growth companies. In EDF Ventures he has served as interim Chief Executive Officer for several health care companies in the portfolio, and was a founder of four: Theragen, Inc., a gene therapy company, subsequently merged with GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNVC), Coagulation Systems, Inc., a diagnostics company, Matrigen, Inc., a tissue regeneration company, subsequently merged with Prizm Pharmaceuticals to form Selective Genetics Inc., and IntraLase Corporation, an ophthalmic laser company for which he serves as Chairman. Currently, he serves as a Director of Selective Genetics, Inc., Synthon Corporation, IntraLase Corporation, HandyLab Corporation, MemeStreams, Inc., and ican, Inc. His previous experience includes serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Environmental Research Group, Inc., which he helped build to be one of the nations leading environmental monitoring firms. Mr. Porter has also held various marketing management positions in Procter & Gamble and other consumer products companies.

Mr. Porter holds an MBA degree from the University of Michigan where he also teaches and sits on its Corporate Advisory Board. Mr. Porter also is a Mentor for the Kauffman Foundations Venture Capital Fellows Program. He has chaired the Governors (Michigan) Committee for Recruiting and Retaining High Tech Talent to Michigan and the Governors Life Science Corridor Task Force.

DONALD J. WALKER
Managing Director, Arbor Partners

Don Walker oversees the operations of Arbor Partners. In addition, Mr. Walker coordinates the later-stage due diligence along with providing guidance to portfolio companies. His experience with sales force construction, management, marketing, and executive recruiting in the information technology industry makes him invaluable to our portfolio companies.

Mr. Walker served as Vice President of Sales and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Comshare from 1974 to 1996. During this time, he successfully directed the company through the well-publicized transitions from timesharing to mainframe software and then from mainframe to client/server software.

Mr. Walker was a key player in the introduction of executive information systems (EIS), a new software category that grew to a significant market leadership position. Mr. Walker was also instrumental in moving Comshare into vertical specialization by leading its thrust into decision support and supply chain management software for the retail industry. His successful integration of two acquisitions and proven track record of partnering with other software companies helped Comshare to increase market share, while creating barriers for the competition.

Mr. Walker is a private investor in several start-up companies. He was a seed investor in Network Express, which went public in 1994. Mr. Walker serves as a director for Bulbs.com, CMS Technologies, and New Enterprise Forum.

Mr. Walker attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he studied business. He received a BA in philosophy from St. Pauls College in Washington, DC.

TIMOTHY MAYLEBEN
Vice President, Finance and Administration & CFO Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.

In 1987, Mr. Mayleben began working with high-growth technology companies. Most recently, he held senior management positions with two successful software development companies. Prior to that, Mr. Mayleben was a manager with the Enterprise Group of Arthur Andersen & Co.

Mr. Mayleben received a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

IAN R. N. BUND
President, White Pine Ventures

Ian R. N. Bund, President, has been involved in venture capital and private equity investing since 1969. In addition to White Pines Ventures, he has participated in the successful development of several other private equity firms: Research & Science Investors; Doan Associates; The Michigan Investment Fund; and MBW Venture Partners. In 1999, he co-founded Innovation Capital, a provider of venture capital to early-stage Australian technology companies.

Ian has accumulated a broad background in the venture capital industry having invested in more than 300 companies. These investments comprised a wide range of industries including biotechnology, healthcare, information, telecommunications, and computers. Prior to entering the private equity industry, he gained investment banking experience at Morgan Stanley and turnaround management skills as President of Sea Life, Inc., an oceanarium. Ian began his career in audit, tax, and business advisory services at Price Waterhouse & Co., Sydney, Australia.

Ian received a B.Ec. from the University of Sydney (Australia) and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He is an Australian Chartered Accountant.

JOSEPH GOLDEN
Chief Technology Officer, Camelot ventures

Mr. Golden currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Camelot Ventures, a technology-oriented venture capital firm based in Southfield, Michigan. His responsibilities include industry and technology assessment, sourcing opportunities, structuring investments and supporting company management teams. Joe was previously President of PaeTec.net, an integrated communications provider. At PaeTec, Joe was responsible for the development of data services including Internet, premise based data solutions, and applications services.

Before serving as a President at PaeTec, Mr. Golden was the CEO of CampusLink in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a leading provider of telecommunications services to the higher education marketplace, which merged with PaeTec in 1999. Prior to joining CampusLink, he spent 15 years with EDS where he most recently served as a Vice President leading a global team providing IT services to multinational corporations. Joe graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont.

 
RETURN TO TOP

UMBS
University of Michigan Business School
University of Michigan Business School
Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance
701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor MI 48109-1234
(734) 936-3528   FAX (734) 615-8929
CVPUMBS1@umich.edu