Michael Gale
Chief Executive Officer
Michael is one of the three co-founders of Gramercy Venture Advisors. Prior to Gramercy Michael spent the previous eight years as CEO of Double Impact, a leading San Francisco venture catalyst.
Michael has helped in the development, funding, growth and exit of over 100 early stage technology companies from around the world. He has extensive international experience in building, funding and managing start-up companies.
Prior to Double Impact, Michael was Managing Director of Macromedia's Asian operation during the three years leading to its very successful NASDAQ listing in December 1993.
As well as his involvement across the full range of activities at Gramercy Venture Advisors and Gramercy Private Equity and serving on the various group Boards and Investment Review Committees, Michael is also Chairman of Chat Ventures (New York) – www.chattheplanet.com, WebND Technologies (Beijing) – www.huanxun.cn and www.isino.com, Trusted Delivery (Melbourne) – www.trusteddelivery.com and E Ball Games (Melbourne) – www.eballgames.com.au . In addition Michael also sits on the Boards of Digital Marketing Solutions (Bangkok) – www.dmsasialimited.com, My Place Online (Adelaide) – www.myplaceonline.com.au and Byron Organics (Byron Bay).
Steven E. Marder
Director
Steven is Chief Executive Officer of Eurekster, the leader in
community driven search technologies. He is one of the three
co-founders of Gramercy Venture Advisors and is currently a
non-executive director.
Steven is an experienced corporate executive, venture catalyst,
strategic advisor and New York and California attorney with
over 17 years of professional experience in financial, operation
and corporate management with Fortune 500 companies as well
as multi-national start-ups. With his diverse background in
private equity, management, operations, marketing, finance,
licensing, information technology, business incubation, restructures/
restarts and international transactions, Steven provides corporate
finance advisory, mergers and acquisitions advisory, and corporate
development services to early to mid-stage clients primarily
serving the media/entertainment, communications and information
technology market segments.
Prior to Gramercy Venture Advisors, Steven served as Chairman
and CEO of eMemberDirect, Inc. (formerly PetPlanet.com), which
he founded, secured venture capital for and eventually took
public in 1999. Prior, Steven was a Principal of global venture
catalyst, Double Impact, with which he merged his management
consulting practice. At Double Impact, Steven advised emerging
growth Internet publishing and technology companies on strategic
relationships, mergers and acquisitions and business development.
On behalf of New Zealand based client, Globalbrain.net, Steven
sourced, structured and negotiated the exclusive multi-million
dollar licensing and investment transaction with CNET and NBC
joint venture entity (Snap.com). While also serving on the Globalbrain
Board of Directors, Steven negotiated its subsequent high-profile
sale to NBCi for US$32,000,000.
A former intellectual property and media/ entertainment attorney,
Steven previously ran business/ corporate development and licensing
at Compton's NewMedia, a $125+ Million new media unit of the
Tribune Company, and worked in the recording industry, where
he co-founded an independent recording company, NYC-based Metropolis
Records and then handled business development and affairs (including
acquisitions) at the Special Markets division of EMI Music and
CEMA Distribution. As both an operating executive and advisor,
Steven has facilitated, negotiated and helped drive the commercialization
of hundreds of consumer and business products.
Steven is currently serving on various Advisory Boards and
Boards of Directors. He is licensed to practice law in the States
of New York and California and is a graduate of Columbia College/
Columbia University and St. John's School of Law.
Silvio Salom
Executive Chairman
Silvio Salom is a proven chief executive, change agent and entrepreneur.
His expertise in successfully growing technology companies has
been acquired and proven through considerable experience. Silvio
is an experienced chief executive and non-executive Board member
of private and public companies. He has operational expertise
with start-ups, as well as with large, rapidly growing companies.
Silvio has deep strengths in technology commercialisation, international
expansion, mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and publicly
listed operations. The focus of Silvio's work has been as a
technology supplier to Aerospace & Defence, Telecommunication,
Aviation, E-commerce, Enterprise and Training markets on a global
basis. In 1987 Silvio founded Adacel Technologies Ltd, in Melbourne,
as a private company to service the aerospace and defence markets
with leading edge technology solutions. Silvio built Adacel
to be a $100m world leader in its markets, listing the company
in 1998, acquiring a major global player in North America and
transitioning the business to the USA. Silvio is Managing Director
of Adacel. In 1990 Silvio co-founded Lochard Pty Ltd to deliver
best-of-breed environment monitoring solutions to airports.
Silvio remains a non-executive director of Lochard and today,
the $20m company is the clear leader in its global market. As
with Adacel, Silvio used advanced technology to secure customer
preference and acquisition of a USA major to realise global
market leadership.
Silvio currently serves as Chairman of Gramercy Venture Advisors,
as an ITC Advisory Board member for the CSIRO, in the Cooperative
Research Centres for Intelligent Decision Systems and Smart
Internet Technology and as a non-executive director of LogoMedia
Inc, a company Silvio founded in Boston to address the on-line
machine translation market. He has also served as a director
for Melbourne University Private, Vice Chairman of Airport Industries
Australia and as founding Board member of the IT&T Skills
Hub.
Amy Swartz
Director, Corporate Development
Amy Swartz holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business,
Marketing from San Francisco Sate University. She is one of
the three co-founders of Gramercy Venture Advisors. She is involved
in the management of all aspects of the company, including finances,
process management, overall corporate development and customer
management.
Prior to this Amy spent several years as a consultant with
Double Impact, Inc., a leading San Francisco based Venture Catalyst.
At Double Impact, Amy worked with early stage companies from
concept through to mezzanine stage. On behalf of clients, Amy
was responsible for research and analysis, business development,
sales and marketing. In a corporate role, Amy was responsible
for corporate development which included relocating to and setting
up a new office in New York including recruitment and business
development. Later, she was responsible for and determining
which new geographies the company should address as part of
its expansion strategy. Earlier Amy worked in pharmaceutical
and neutraceutical companies in the US and France in sales and
marketing. She has studied and worked in France and speaks French
and conversational Spanish. Amy is on the board of the Light
of Lanka Foundation www.lightoflanka.org.
Dave Weinstein
Partner and Director
Dave is an accomplished entrepreneur and technologist. He is well know in the Silicon Valley community for his incisive analysis of technology trends and is a regular contributor to the technology press. He has held the position of Managing Editor for Gizmag Magazine (www.gizmag.com) since 2004, serving as technical expert. Prior to joining Gizmo Dave was VP of Business Development for Visto Corporation (www.visto.com) of Mountain View , CA, a leading mobile messaging and synchronization software provider. Prior to Visto, Dave founded and was Chairman and VP of Product Marketing for netdrive.com, an innovative online storage provider. Visto Corporation acquired netdrive.com in 2000.
Dave has served in a number of executive positions at The Wollonging Group, Quaterdeck Office Systems, and Pittsburg Powercomputing, which he founded in1988 and sold to Quaterdeck in 1993.
Throughout his career he has been highly effective combining a detailed understanding of technology trends with a wel honed instinct for user behaviour so as to place himself at the crossroads of technology and its commercial uptake.
Dave holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Roger Akers
Advisory Principal
Roger has over 25 years of experience in technology related environments. As an It Services executive, Roger managed the development and delivery of large-scale software systems in over 80 client environments. Efforts included technical and management assignments of national consulting firm, Systems and Computers Technology Corp., as well as the building of regional IT consulting firm as Managing Partner (PRODATA, Inc.). With a staff that ultimately grew to 480+, PRODATA, Inc. provided management and technical IT consulting to public and private sector clients in the western US. Upon the successful merger of PRODATA with a national IT services firm, Roger developed a consulting to industry leaders such as Intel and Cisco Systems. In addition, Roger helped develop and invested in a number of technology companies in the US and internationally.
In 1998, he co-founded Akers Capital LLC. After successfully raising the Pac West Technology Fund in 2000, Roger and the team have invested in, mentored and matriculated a number of emerging technology companies. His enjoyment of working with the best and brightest teams possible has been Rogers’s primary motivation throughout his career. Managing projects, participation in the building companies and investing capital has provided a great opportunity and provided many insights into the intricacies of technology based business development. Roger enjoys providing emerging companies support by participating on their boards, and acting as sounding board as the companies develop. He also enjoys working with other community minded individuals to develop an environment where such companies can thrive.
oger has undergraduate degrees in accounting (CPA) and Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration. He currently Chair of the Golden State Capital Network board; is immediate past Chair of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA); and immediate past Chair of McClellan Technology Incubator (MTI). In Addition Roger is a CSUS CBAC and University of California Davis Connect Program Board member. He also participates on advisory boards of the Graduate School of Management and the Department of Research (ERAB member) at the University of California, Davis. He is also a member of their Board of Trustees. Mr. Akers also serves as treasurer of the Sacramento Angels investment group.
Andrew Barlow
Advisory Principal
Andrew Barlow co founded Hitwise (www.hitwise.com) in 1997 and was the brain-child behind the original Hitwise product and methodology and was Chairman and Joint-Managing Director of Hitwise from 1997 to 2000. Hitwise is now based in New York and is one of the more successful Australian technology companies to ‘leap the pond”, and employs some 200 people worldwide. Hitwise has been ranked one of the top 10 Fastest Growing Technology Companies in the Asia Pacific region for the past 5 years by Deloittes, and has been the recipient of many awards including the Telstra AMP Small Business Award in 2004.
Andrew is also a Founder and Director of Oxia (www.oxia.com). Oxia is a world leader in personal bottled oxygen, manufacturing in Taiwan, and selling canisters in the US and Canada through high-end boutique hotel chains such as Starwood’s ‘W” Hotels, Westin Hotels, and the Four Seasons Hotel group.
Andrew is currently the Chief Executive Officer of max Super, a company he founded with his brother David, a former Merrill Lynch analyst, in 2005. max Super (www.maxsuper.com.au) provides a simple, low-fee superannuation solution to all Australians who prefer to manage their money online.
Joe Bruzzaniti
Advisory Principal
Joe was a founder and one of the driving forces behind Learning Seat, an exceptionally successful online eLearning company that was acquired by News Corporation in 2006. Joe holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree and Master of Business Administration, and has 17 years industry experience with senior leadership, management and technical experience. Prior to Learning Seat, Joseph acted as General Manager and European Director for MR/Red Sheriff (since acquired by Nielsen NetRatings), and as Business Development Manager, South East Asia for Honeywell. Joe’s professional experience includes positions in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US.
Martin Cooper
Advisory Principal
Martin is a solicitor and businessman who has worked for a number of major law firms in Sydney, New York and London as well as operating his own practice for the last 25 years. As a lawyer he has a higher degree in tax and trade practices law and has always specialized in entertainment and copyright law
As such a specialist, he spent 4 years at Network Ten and subsequently was General Manager Corporate Planning at the News Corporation Limited. Here he worked closely with Rupert Murdoch on the evolution of his plans for TV and film in Australia and world wide as well as on the acquisition of the London Times, Ansett Airlines and The Herald & Weekly Times. At this time he was also CEO of the production company for the film “Gallipoli”-a joint venture between the Robert Stigwood Organisation and News
As a lawyer he has been involved in the financing of approximately 70 feature films and many documentaries and television programs. He has also advised on more than 20 Offer Documents For public offers for films and has issued seven in the name of his licensed dealer company.
He has been a director of a number of companies in the Beyond International Group, television stations Ch10 in Sydney and Melbourne and has owned and operated a television station n Western Australia.
More recently, Martin has been CEO of multimedia investment fund, the Australian Multimedia Enterprise Limited and has worked in venture capital for information industry start- ups and related businesses. He has worked closely with Allen & Buckeridge, which acquired the AME, and has had extensive experience in international financing arrangements for games, completion bonding for games and the games market place. He has attended every E3 since 1996 and all but one ECTS in that period. He has extensive connections with publishers, financiers and bonding companies as well as lawyers in those areas in UK and US.
Martin is now pre-occupied with professional directorships in a number of start-ups in the new media and IT areas including Pre Angels Management Pty Limited, a VC investment facilitator, Team Bondi Pty Limited, which operates in the video game industry, Eball games Pty Limited, IDSecure Pty Limited, a leading provider of customer relationship management software, Hubonline Global Pty Limited (until April 2006), Rising Sun Pictures Pty limited (a film and computer special effects developer) and Depth Analysis Pty Limited, each of which is developing new technology for the internet. He is also a director of Barmetrix Pty limited, a provider of software to the liquor industry and a consultant to Global Optics Pty Limited and Brainbow Films Pty Limited.
He is and has been director of several listed companies and, through his directorship of Lloyd Cooper & Associates Ltd has had a dealer’s license with which he issued a number of prospectuses for films.
Martin is a keen yachtsman and has been for 30 years a Trustee of the Ted Noffs Foundation and is currently a Director of the Gut Foundation of Australia.
Murray Hancock
Advisory Principal
Murray is an early stage advisor, investor and entrepreneur in IT, telecoms and new media businesses. His strengths include firsthand experience and understanding of the issues and pressures faced by CEOs and other senior management in entrepreneurial companies; an extensive international network; his analytical skills; and his knowledge of a wide variety of capital markets and financial structures internationally. Murray began his career as an economist with the Federal Treasury in Australia, working in the main policy division, moving to the City of London where he was instrumental in several of the early listed vehicles for Western portfolio investment in emerging Asian economies, particularly South Korea and Taiwan. Returning to Australia, he led a turnaround of his family’s forest products group, during which he became interested in the power of IT to make dramatic improvements to mainstream businesses. In 1989, he decided to move into the early stage IT and new media sector. Since then he has been involved with numerous businesses in a variety of roles. Prior to joining Gramercy, Murray was founder and CEO of Fourleaf.com Limited, a pioneering London based interactive publisher focused on internet partnerships and investment. Murray has a first-class honours degree in Economics from the University of Queensland and a postgraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Oxford.
Chris Laurie
Advisory Principal
After a short career in medical practice, Chris Laurie has been a serial entrepreneur. After establishing a series of horticultural and floricultural enterprises, he founded Hillstowe Vineyards in South Australia in 1979 and Hoddles Creek Vineyards in the Yarra Valley in 1986. Following the sale of his horticultural and winery interests, he founded Micromet Pty Ltd, an IT irrigation management technology.
He is a Founding Trustee of the Australian Institute of Horticulture and was Chairman of Carrick Hill Trust (1985-1991) and Chairman of The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide (1985-1994).
Stephen Tolchin
Advisory Principal
Stephen Tolchin is currently an advisor, board member and investor in early stage technology companies. He is an Advisory Principal at Gramercy Venture Advisors. Tolchin is a limited partner in several venture capital firms. He has served on the boards of directors of MizBiz.com, Web Flow Corp., PowerPlan Corp., Movaris and Double Impact, Inc. He was an executive advisor for many years to Veritas Software Corp, and has been an advisor to Relational Technology Corp. (later Ingres), Bridge Communications (prior to the 3Com merger), Pyramid Technology Corp., Ramp Networks (from early stage through IPO) and Détente Technology (prior to acquisition by Cadence) and to the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He ran a V.C Fund Technology Partner at El Dorado Ventures and organized substantial angel investment rounds. He has also advised Toggle Entertainment, Optimize Solutions Inc., PeopleMover. Inc., and Intelic. Currently an advisor to Common Loop, Celunite, Enterprise Appliances, and a podcasting company.
Tolchin was previously CEO of Webflow Corp. (now Accentuate) and HAL Software Systems, the multi-platform application software products division of HAL Computer Systems, where he also was vice president, software engineering for the computer systems business, HAL is a Fujitsu owned company, participated in the sale of HAL to Fijitsu.
Prior to that, Tolchin was vice president of software development at Pyramid Technology, a public manufacturer of high performance, scalable Unix server computers (now owned by Seimens), and also had responsibility for various marketing functions, including the $80 MM Telecom Business Unit. Tolchin was also vice president of engineering and chief technical officer at NetLabs.
Tolchin was Technical Director at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he developed a large-scale client-server based clinical information system in the early-mid 1980’s, Tolchin was supervisor, software engineering, Unix systems and Principal staff at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, a $400 MM defense contractor, where he led the development of HIOS, a large-scale integrated office automation and collaboration system for the US Army. At APL he also led development of local area network technology ano database technology during 1979-1986. He was also vice-chairman of the graduate computer science program in the Johns Hopkins University GWC Whiting School of Engineering, and was an assistant professor with joint appointments in the School of Medicine and the School of Engineering.
Prior to this, Tolchin managed major information system projects for Blue Cross-Blue Shield of greater NY, and worked for Analytic Services Corp. He also founded and operated a manufacturing business in the consumer goods market.
Tolchin holds a B.S n Physics from City College of New York and an M.S and PhD. in Physics from New York University.
Barry Amor
Principal
Barry’s entrepreneurial business development skills manifested themselves early in his 40 year career spanning the sectors of telecommunications, industrial equipment and information systems. He is based in Brisbane, Australia. The focus of these skills has been on laying solid foundations for organizations intent on developing and exporting a range of complex products and equipment targeting industrial and commercial applications. Barry has cultivated a solid understanding of the issues associated with building export-oriented business which have targeted various south-east Asian countries, the USA and New Zealand.
With a solid background in engineering, Barry began his career in telecommunications, subsequently gaining extensive experience in industrial automation, mining equipment, computer and communications hardware and enterprise software systems. The hands on” experience gained founding businesses in several of these sectors has given him the ability to see the broad picture as well as the detailed nuances at work n the entrepreneurial environment.
Immediately prior to joining Gramercy he oversaw the foundation of a company which has set a new benchmark for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for mid range organizations. Those systems boast a growing customer base in domestic and international markets. As chief executive charged with driving both product development and market growth, he gained an in-depth understanding of government grants for research and development and exports and the tax concessions appropriate to a company operating at the leading edge of technology development.
This venture was preceded by a project in which he restructured and managed the sale of a national business distributing software and hardware. He has also run businesses distributing industrial control equipment, computer components and specialized equipment for application in coal mining and the oil industry.
Gary Buttsworth
Principal
Prior to joining Gramercy Gary Buttsworth had been engaged by British Telecom Plc (BT) to lead a New Ventures Programme in the United Kingdom. During this time he was tasked with developing ideas and business ventures to “kick start” revenue growth for BT. This program resulted in the establishment of several new businesses n the consumer markets for BT. Prior to this Gary had been a leader in establishing several business ventures in Australia that have become successful either in their own right or as a part of larger organizations. These ventures have all been in the Telecommunications & Information Technology industry in Australia and in the UK over a career spanning 25 years. Gary’s experience encompasses executive roles with large organizations such as Telstra and Computer Power Group alongside extensive experience in early stage and start-up businesses. Gary founded several successful businesses in his career and has successfully led those businesses. Gary’s achievements have been founded on excellent General Management skills strong sales experience and an aptitude for understanding technology and the challenges in delivering commercial success from it. Gary was awarded a Bachelor of Business Administration from Mitchell University in 1981 and in 1987 undertook further study with a Diploma in Effective Logistics Management at the University of New South Wales.
Julie-Ann Kerin
Principal
Julie-Ann has an extensive background in software, hardware and services companies in Australia, the US and Asia. Her background includes senior executive roles in both private and public companies as well as having participated in both start ups and management buy-outs.
Her most recent experience includes responsibility for operations in Japan, Asia and Latin
America for Actuate Inc. a publicly listed software company specializing in the financial services sector. Julie-Ann’s background includes having held positions based n the US where she was VP Worldwide Sales for Genasys Inc.
As well as having been a founder of start up operations in Australia for US software companies. Julie-Ann has a strong background in market entry in global markets and has experienced first hand the challenges of taking Australian technology companies to market in the United States. Julie-Ann has an extensive network in both direct and indirect sales channels globally and is experienced in working with organizations to select the most appropriate sales model for organizations commencing crossover activities.
Julie-Ann is acting as a board member and advisor to both Australian and US based technology companies.
Peter Lewis
Principal
Peter Lewis is a Principal with Gramercy Venture Advisors in Melbourne. In this role, he is responsible for working with clients to develop international business strategy, raise capital and enter US and Chinese markets. Peter leads Gramercy’s Security Technology and Wireless practices in Australia and is responsible for the development of Gramercy’s Private Equity and Venture Capital initiatives.
Peter was previously the General Manager of Corporate Business Development with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and a member of its Executive Management Council. In that role he had responsibility for organisation-wide business development with some of the world’s largest corporations including IBM, Sun, 3M, P&G, Intel, News Corp., Boeing and numerous others, as well as advising on technology commercialisation and investment issues to the Divisions. In addition, Peter was responsible for government level business development activities, initiating a number of major projects with the governments of China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the USA.
As Australia’s youngest ever appointed Consul-General and Senior Trade Commissioner with Austrade, based in Silicon Valley during the ‘dot com’ years, Peter assisted many hundreds of Australian technology companies to successfully enter the US market and raise significant US sourced venture capital. Peter and his team were directly responsible for generating AUD$400m in new investment and AUD$300m in new business.
During that time Peter also led Austrade’s Global ICT Trade Team with more than 60 members in more than 50 countries focussed on developing innovative business development and marketing strategies. Peter also led the Biotech Trade Team across North and South America.
In his prior role as National Manager – Communications & IT with Austrade, Peter led a team was responsible for the promotion and export growth of Australia’s IT, Communications, Multimedia and Film & Music industries to global markets leading to more than AUD$250m in sales.
Previous to these roles Peter held a number of senior positions in Engineering, Business Development and Marketing with a number of technology oriented companies based variously in the Asia, the UK and Australia.
Peter has served on numerous Government and Industry Consultative committees including membership of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council's (PMSEIC) Working Group on “Sustainable Technology SME Exports”. He was previously a Board Member of the US based Churchill Club the premier technology Public Affairs organisation in Silicon Valley the US and was the founder of Anzatechnet.com, now the largest Australian/New Zealand/US technology networking group in North America with some 4000 members. Peter is a Founder and Board member of the Churchill Club Australia, a not-for-profit Technology Business, Innovation & Policy Public Affairs forum which brings experienced and insightful speakers together in a public environment to discuss emerging issues around technology business and innovation.
Peter sits on the Governing Council of the Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCAL) and is the Chair of their Professional Development Sub-committee.
Peter has an MBA, a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and has completed a number of technology business oriented intensive executive courses at Stanford University, INSEAD and AGSM.
Irina Svirid
Analyst
Irina Svirid has diverse experience in the areas of competitive intelligence, M&A processes, due diligence and financial analysis. Prior to joining Gramercy Venture Advisors, Irina held a Senior Analyst position at Double Impact, Inc., where she worked with a select roaster of talented companies and entrepreneurs, primarily in the Internet and Wireless Telecommunications fields. On behalf of the clients, she conducted quantitative and qualitative market analyses, determined company valuations, screened potential partner and M&A candidates, and provided information and insight from these activities for business and negotiation strategy development. Before Double Impact, she worked as a market analyst at ISTAR, a French software company providing digital imaging solutions for the wireless telecommunications industry, where she identified, researched and analyzed new wireless market opportunities in selected East European countries.
Irina also spent several years with Worldwide Aeros Corporation where she was Director of Public and Government Relations and managed a project to introduce former Russian military aerospace technology into the commercial and US government markets. As a result of this successful effort, the Russian start-up gained world-wide recognition as a leading industry player.
Irina holds an MBA in International Finance, a BA in Philology and is pursuing the CFA designation.
Rihui Tan
Principal
Tan is a Chinese national with over twenty years experience in technology transfer to China. From 1982-1999 he worked for the State Science and Technology Commission focused on bringing foreign technology into China. In this role he worked with many foreign technology companies to assist them in entering the market. He was based in Hong Kong from 1984-1991 with the Xinhua News Agency (Hong Kong) Branch.
In 1992 he was responsible for establishing Macology Trading, the highly successful state-owned distribution company created to distribute Macromedia’s products in China. As General Manager of Macology he built a very successful market presence for Macromedia. In 1999 Tan left the Commission, which had become the Ministry of Science and established Allitech a software company focused on providing software applications for government ministries. In 2003 he established Wanlitech, a Hong Kong based developer of high end software for the location based entertainment industry. Tan joined Gramercy in early 2005.
Adrian Vanzyl
Principal
Dr. Adrian Vanzyl has spent his career in Silicon Valley and Australia, working as a technology executive with software, security, advertising driven and social networking internet companies. His experience includes working as VP of Business Development for Eurekster, the leading provider of vertical, community and social network based search. Prior to this he was Entrepreneur in Residence at Blumberg Capital in San Francisco. Whilst at Blumberg he ran two of their portfolio companies, and as the CEO of Seclarity, a security hardware and software firm, successfully raised funding from Intel Capital, Valley Ventures and Blumberg Capital. Adrian was Group Business Development Manager for Microsoft’s bCentral small business portal. His group managed business development and partnerships for the portal, both domestically and internationally (where he helped launch in 22 countries in two years). He joined Microsoft as a result of his role as VP International at LinkExchange, which Microsoft acquired and subsequently grew into bCentral. Adrian worked for two years as CTO of LookSmart, where he was responsible for managing the core search engine technology as well as building the company’s US-based team of engineers. Before moving to the US, he worked as CTO at Sausage Software, Australia's first listed Internet software company. He was a member of the three person board of directors that successfully took the company public on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Adrian has an MD degree (MB BS degrees with Honors) from Monash University Australia, and spent the first three years of his career post his medical internship as a researcher and lecturer in Medical Informatics at the University.
James Walsh
Managing Partner
Jim is a financial services industry executive with capital markets, private equity, private wealth management and asset management experience in the US, Europe and Asia. Prior to joining Gramercy he was a Managing Principal of Walsh Advisors, LLC, an independent advisory business with a core focus on marketing alternative investment solutions to international institutions, advising on private equity investments and raising capital for investment funds and technology companies. As an advisor to funds of hedge funds, the firm concentrated on institutional marketing in Asia and the Middle East.
Jim is a former director and currently an advisor to the board of Equus Total Return, Inc.
(NYSE: EQS) a private equity fund. He was a founding shareholder of Convergent Broadband Solutions, Inc. whose POWERLink™ technology will transform the AC infrastructure of any building into a robust network that will bring data, voice and video to all areas of the premises.
Previously Jim was with Zurich Financial Services, where he was a founding member of a group formed to identify and fund private equity investments in web-based financial services.
Subsequently he led a new initiative to develop a Pan-European private investment services
division targeted on existing Zurich HNWI insurance clients, and served as co-head of the
successful effort to sell the asset management business units in Germany, Italy and Spain.
During 1996–2000, Jim was the Chief Operating Officer of Société Générale Securities
Corporation where he helped to define the Société Générale (SG) expansion in the U.S. to a full
service US securities firm. Jim managed the private client, asset management and execution
services businesses, was a member of the SG Americas Executive Committee and an Associated
Member of the New York Stock Exchange as the SG Cowen Representative.
From 1984 to 1995 Jim was based in Tokyo for Credit Suisse First Boston (1984 - 90) and
Prudential Securities Incorporated (1990 - 95). At Prudential Securities he was a member
of the firm-wide Operating Council, as Senior Vice President and Asia Pacific Regional Director,
responsible for capital markets, commodities and private client business throughout the region.
Jim spent fourteen years (1976 - 90) at The First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse
First Boston in senior positions in New York, London and Tokyo. From 1984 to 1990 Jim
established CSFB subsidiaries in Japan and Hong Kong. Under his management the firm obtained
memberships on securities and futures exchanges in the region and built sales, trading, research
and operations to support these new initiatives. Prior to moving to Asia Jim managed the global
new business effort for the CSFB capital markets group in London and served as co-head of the
First Boston Capital Markets Group in New York.
Jim began his career at The Bank of New York in the National & Special Industry Banking
Division. He earned an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business,
and a BS and MS in physics from Stevens Institute of Technology where he currently is a
member of the Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the Foreign Policy Association.
John Warwick
Client Services Manager
John has had an extensive career progressing from professional
engineering in the power, mining and telecommunications industries,
via technology and general management in the IT sector and through
to the development, growth and sale of his own product manufacturing
business. This journey has taken him through working stints
in Europe, Africa, the USA and Australia.
In recent years, John has focused on consulting within the high-tech
SME marketplace, usually in assignments that involve aligning
technical product development and marketing operations.
John gained his electrical engineering degree in England, undertaking
professional development with GEC-AEI, before accepting an appointment
as an engineer with RCM in Zambia. He subsequently traveled
to Australia and had extensive engagements with Svenska Australia
and Telstra, before embarking on a career in the management
of technology development with JNAlmgren, NetComm, AWA and MSI.
During some of this period he was based in Denver, Colorado.
Over the past 10 years, John has mixed the development of his
own businesses (Simplecomputing and Business Vision) with consulting
assignments.
John's role in Gramercy is an extension of his previous consulting
interests, emphasizing market research, marketing and technology
development plans, business planning, re-focusing of key staff
and accessing government lines of funding. He undertakes a key
role in quality assurance and project supervision for Gramercy
consulting assignments.
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