Axel Bichara is a Partner in the technology group at Atlas Venture and focuses on software and services technology.. Before coming to Atlas Venture, he was Vice President of Product Development at Premise, a venture-backed software company which he co-founded in 1987. Premise was acquired by Computervision in 1991. Axel was lead investor in SolidWorks, a mechanical design automation software company that was acquired in 1997 by Dassault Systemes. Axel also participated as a first round lead investor in SpeechWorks. As a Board Member, Axel helped build the company through an IPO in 2000 and its later sale to ScanSoft in 2003.
Axel currently serves on the boards of Atlas portfolio companies BlueShift, Bluespec, CLK Design Automation, CloudSwitch, Liquid Machines, Marathon Technologies, NaviMedix, Skinstore.com and VideoIQ. He also continues to serve on the board of Phase Forward (IPO in July 2004) where he was the first round lead investor.
Axel holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Master of Science degree from MIT and a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Technical University in Berlin.
Todd Dagres is a founder and General Partner of Spark Capital. He leads the drive to find the home runs, to uncover the 100x opportunities. He has said that his work to bring Akamai from idea to publicly traded company was his doctoral thesis in venture capital. It is that bedrock of knowledge and the experiences built upon it that he brings to Spark and our partner companies. Todd has led Spark’s investments in Veoh Networks, Menara Networks, Verivue, EQAL, Covester, TJet and Intune Networks.
Todd was previously a General Partner and Executive Committee Member at Battery Ventures. There he led the Communications Investment practice while focusing on the media, entertainment and communications industries. Some of his investments at Battery include Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM), Qtera (acquired by Nortel Networks), XCOM (acquired by Level 3 Communications), Redstone (acquired by Siemens), River Delta Networks (acquired by Motorola), Broadbus Technologies (acquired by Motorola), Arbor Networks and Cedar Point Communications.
Todd was named to the Forbes Midas List, which ranks top venture capitalists who have created the most wealth for their investors, three times. He was also named to the 2008 Hollywood IT List by AlwaysOn, which features the top entertainment executives and dealmakers in information technology.
Todd was also a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management for a number of years, where he taught a course entitled “New Enterprise.” His entertainment and media endeavors include establishing two film and television production companies (Prospect Pictures and Ealing Studios) that together have produced over 10 films and TV shows since 2003. He has also been involved in the production of several films, including “Pretty Persuasion” (2005 Sundance Film Festival), which was released by Samuel Goldwyn and Sony Pictures Entertainment, and “TransSiberian” (2008 Sundance Film Festival), which was released by First Look Studios.
In 2004, he established the Face of an Angel Foundation. Face of an Angel is a nonprofit, charitable foundation dedicated to education, research and treatment in the area of vascular malforma and tumors that cause severe birthmarks and disfigurement in 0.2 percent of newborns. He has served on the Board of Fellows at Trinity College and on the Board of Trustees at Governor’s Academy.
Prior to Battery Ventures, Todd was Principal and Senior Technology Analyst at Montgomery Securities; Senior Technology Analyst and Vice President at Smith Barney/Robinson Humphrey; Vice President of Communications at the Yankee Group; and Business Development Manager for Networks and Communications at Digital Equipment Corporation.
Todd Dagres holds an MBA from Boston University and a BS in psychology from Trinity College, Hartford, CT.
As president and founder of Derby Management, Jack Derby provides strategy, marketing and other management services.
Prior to forming Derby Management, Jack served as CEO of Mayer Electronics Corporation, President of CB Sports, President of Litton Industries Medical Systems, CEO of Datamedix Corporation and President of Becton Dickinson Medical Systems.
Recently named to Mass High Tech’s All Star Team, Jack is a frequent speaker at numerous business organizations including the MIT Enterprise Forum, the Small Business Association of New England, Harvard Business School, and the WPI Venture Forum. He is also a guest lecturer at MIT where he teaches classes in business plan writing for undergraduate students and for the MIT-Singapore University Program.
Jack is an active board member in a number of emerging companies including The Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Brainshark Corporation, Hybricon Corporation and Beacon Hospice. He has served as the Vice Chair of the Smaller Business Association of New England and in 2004 was the recipient of SBANE’s Pro Bono Publico Award for his significant contributions to the entrepreneurial community. Jack has also been a Director of MIT’s Technology Capital Network and the President of the University Club of Boston.
Michael T. Fitzgerald is a Founder and Managing General Partner of Commonwealth Capital Ventures. He has more than 20 years of experience in early stage venture investing. His investment activity has been focused on early stage technology and service companies with an emphasis on all aspects of the software industry.
Prior to founding Commonwealth, Mike was a General Partner at Palmer Partners, the manager of three early stage venture funds. During that time he also ran Distribution Management Systems, an enterprise supply chain software company which was later sold to Cullinet Software. He began his career and association with the software industry at IBM where he was a top performer in the sales and marketing organization. Mike earned a BA from Amherst College and a MBA from the Harvard Business School.
John Simon, Managing Director of General Catalyst Partners, invests in both new and existing technology businesses. Areas of special interest include technology-intensive, industry-leading software and systems platforms; in particular: mission critical enterprise software applications and subsystems; software-based connectivity platforms with an emphasis on wireless; and software-based companies which sit at the intersection of media and technology. John is a board member of the following mission critical enterprise software applications and subsystems companies: Bullhorn, GTESS; OutStart; and Vette. He also is a board member of connectivity platform companies, such as: Hands-On Mobile; and JumpTap (General Catalyst co-founded the company). John is a board member of media/technology companies, such as: Big Fish Games; BzzAgent, go2 Media, and QuickPlay Media. He formerly served on the boards of: Maven Networks, acquired by Yahoo!, NASDAQ:YHOO in February 2007, m-Qube, (General Catalyst co-founded the company) a General Catalyst investment that was acquired by Verisgn in May 2006; ProfitLogic, a General Catalyst investment that was acquired by Oracle in July 2005; and Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO; f/k/a: Recruitsoft), which went public in September 2005.
Prior to co-founding General Catalyst Partners, John was founder, Chairman and CEO of UroMed Corporation. UroMed completed its initial public offering in 1994 and was subsequently merged to form Alliant Medical Technologies. Prior to founding UroMed, John led marketing and sales at Adaptive Networks and was a venture capitalist with Highland Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures.
John is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He is a co-founder and current trustee of The Steppingstone Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities to deserving inner-city students. In addition to serving on the boards of Steppingstone and Steppingstone-Philadelphia, John has continued his involvement with the non-profit sector by founding the GreenLight Fund Network, which catalyzes the replication and growth of innovative non-profits.
John earned a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.