Angel’s Best Practices

Jeff Pulver, Chairman/Founder pulver.com, and one of the true pioneers of the VoIP industry and a leader in the emerging TV on the Net industry. Leveraging well over a decade of hands-on experience in Internet/IP communications and innovation, Mr. Pulver is a globally renowned thought leader, author and entrepreneur. His blog is well read within the IP Communications Industry and in high-tech communities around the world. He is the publisher of The Pulver Report and and creator of the industry standard Voice on the Net (VON) events. Additionally, Mr. Pulver is the founder of FWD, the VON Coalition, PrimeTimeRewind.TV, Vivox and is the co-founder of VoIP provider, Vonage. You can find Jeff on Twitter @jeffpulver

Zohar Levkovitz, Founder/former CEO Amobee, the leading mobile corporation for far reaching mobile advertising. Within just a few years Amobee has reached hundreds of millions of people and has begun a revolution in the way advertising can truly utilize the mobile medium. Amobee was recently sold for over $300M. Zohar’s recognition in the professional world as Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2011 in California, CEO of the Year 2010 in Israel, and Technology Pioneer for the World Economic Forum, all attest to Zohar’s mark on the face of world advertising and the power to affect change. Prior to Amobee, Zohar has been at the forefront of mobile and internet technology development for over a decade in leading companies.  You can find Zohar on Twitter @Zoharlev

Bill Reichert, Garage Ventures has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and an operating executive. Since joining Garage in 1998, Bill has focused on early-stage information technology and materials science companies. He sits on the Boards of CaseStack, WhiteHat, ClearFuels, cFares, and ThermoCeramix. Prior to Garage, Bill was a co-founder or senior executive in several venture-backed technology startups, including Trademark Software, The Learning Company, and Academic Systems. Earlier in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and the World Bank. Bill earned a B.A. at Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He was a founding board member and a Chairman of the Churchill Club, and a Charter Member of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs. Currently he is the Chairman of the Small Fund Roundtable of the VC Taskforce and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.  You can find Bill on Twitter @billreichert

Wayne Sutton Founder/CEO PitchTo, which helps investors make smarter decisions and entrepreneurs make exceptional pitches.  Prior to PitchTo Wayne, co-founded the NewMe Accelerator, the first minority led startup accelerator/incubator in Silicon Valley which was featured in CNN Black in America 4 in 2011 and launched a mobile location-based startup in 2009.  With 10 plus years of experience in internet technology, Wayne has worked with large brands, Inc 500 companies and advises several technology startups.  You can find Wayne on Twitter @waynesutton

Neal Strickberger Consultant/participative Angel Investor in early-stage software startups.  His background includes a wide range of development, management and executive roles at large corporations (Xerox, Adobe) and startups (ebrary).  His focus is on connecting strategic business objectives to tactical action, execution and scaling.  Neal is also an avid motorcyclist and art collector.  He serves on the board of ArtSpan, a San Francisco non-profit democratizing access to visual arts by directly connecting artists with the public through programs like Open Studios.  You can find Neal on Twitter @nealitc

Prashant Shah early stage Venture Investor since 2001. He is an active Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley and a member of its Board of Directors. He also helped launch TiE Angels and is on its Steering Committee. Previously, he spent nearly 10 years at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and was instrumental in many investments including Baynote, Bridgestream, Cenzic, InMage, Jareva Technologies, Krillion, Pancetera, Scalent, and Voltage Security. Prior to Hummer Winblad, Prashant spent many years defining and launching high tech products. His background spans all seven layers of the OSI stack with product management roles at enCommerce (acquired by Entrust), Cypress Semiconductor and AT&T. In addition, he was on the Board of Trustees for Astia from July 2007 to April 2011. Prashant received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. You can find Prashant on Twitter @prashca

Gwen Edwards, Managing Director Golden Seeds is an accomplished executive with 30 plus years of experience from the technology/telecommunications industry.  From  Stanford Research Institute to operating executive running a $400M business unit of SBC/now AT&T, to CEO of a venture backed company.  The constant thread in her career – from R&D to Sales VP and General manager, is one of commercializing innovation, and turning customer needs into revenue opportunities.   Gwen now consults and advises both early stage and F500 companies on the art of innovation, and relishes opportunities to engage key customers, front line employees, and other stakeholders in defining next stage opportunities.   She is an avid supporter of engaging women in the angel and venture investment community, and in associated leadership opportunities with new ventures.  You can find Gwen on Twitter @gwenedwards

Kathy LaPorte CoFounder HealthTech Capital in 2010.  HealthTech Capital is the only angel group focused exclusively on the HealthTech space which applies information technologies to bring efficiency to healthcare.  She was also a co-founder of New Leaf Venture Partners, a venture firm focused on life sciences investing, in 2005.  Kathy was previously a General Partner with The Sprout Group from 1993-2005 and started her venture career with Asset Management Company in Palo Alto.  Kathy has been a Board member of approximately 25 companies, many of which have gone public and/or been acquired successfully.  She holds an MBA from the Stanford GSB and a B.S. in Biology from Yale.