<p>Jonathan Klein is the Founder and Managing Partner of Topline Strategy Group. Prior to founding Topline, Klein was VP of Marketing at Promptu, a venture-backed CRM software company. He also served in senior marketing roles at Documentum and Docent. Klein also worked as a Case Leader in the Chicago office of The Boston Consulting Group, advising Fortune 500 clients in a range of industries on corporate growth.</p> <p>Jon Klein holds an MBA from The Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. </p>
<p>Brent Gloy is a professor of agricultural finance and agribusiness management at Cornell University. He teaches an undergraduate course in Agribusiness Strategy and a graduate course in Agricultural Finance. He co-teaches a two-week international field study that allows students to gain exposure to the food and agribusiness systems in foreign countries. In the past three years, groups have traveled to Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Australia. He has also participated in farm management study trips to California, Florida, and Georgia and has been actively involved with the Farm Credit Fellows program.</p> <p>In addition to his activities at Cornell, Brent remains involved in the family farming operation located in southwestern Nebraska.</p> <p>Brent Gloy received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University.</p>
<p>Eric Young was a co-founder of Canaan Partners and has served as a General Partner since its inception. At Canaan, Young has concentrated on opportunities in communications systems and enterprise automation, having led its investments in Argon Networks, Copper Mountain Networks, Diffusion Software, Frame Technology, INS, Kalpana, ONI Systems, Spectrian and Visigenic Software. </p> <p>Prior to Canaan, he was a Senior Vice President of GE Venture Capital. During his five years there, he was responsible for several successful investments in companies such as Nellcor and Octel Communications. Young joined GE in 1979, holding successive managerial positions in sales, marketing and manufacturing within two GE industrial product businesses before joining GE Venture Capital. </p> <p>Eric Young is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in mechanical engineering and received his MBA in finance from Northwestern University. </p>
<p>Richard Saltz is the founder of Business Innovative Strategies International. His consulting company provides custom-tailored financial management, interim CFO, public relations and marketing management services to its clients who consist of emerging and middle market companies. He is also CFO for the Westport YMCA in Connecticut.</p> <p>Richard Saltz has a B.S. and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. Richard currently serves as an Advisory Council member to Cornell's Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program.</p>
<p>Johannes C. "Hans" Severiens earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Johns Hopkins. He worked as a scientist at Perkin-Elmer, Columbia University, the Atomic Energy commission, and the Niels Bohr Institute. </p> <p>He eventually began a "second" career in finance and became a Vice President in investment banking with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Merrill Lynch, and Paine Webber. </p> <p>Over the last 10 years, Severiens has been an officer in three venture capital funds. In 1995, he co-founded the Band of Angels, a Silicon Valley investor group of over 100 executives, which invests in tech companies. </p> <p>Dr. Severiens passed away on February 3, 2004 in Sonoma, California, after battling lung cancer for more than a year. He was 74. </p>
<p>Alison Gerlach is a successful entrepreneur and business executive with expertise in and passion for building businesses. After doing extensive research in optimizing the business start-up process, Gerlach went on to build businesses in industries including technology, entertainment services, consumer packaged goods, and professional services. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors, she was a strategic management consultant and an overseas investment banker. </p> <p>In addition to building and growing her current venture, "Allie's Edibles", Gerlach spends a great deal of her time teaching, consulting to both start-up and large corporations, and giving lectures to both business and academic audiences on optimizing the business start-up process. </p> <p>Alison Gerlach earned a BA in economics from Cornell University and an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management.</p>
<p>Tony Eisenhut is Co-Founder, CEO, and President of KensaGroup. He has launched seven university-derived technology start-ups since KensaGroup's inception. Tony has served as former CEO of Tarjac Inc., a supplier of finishing services to consumer goods manufacturers. He also served as Vice President of Aldi, Inc., a $40 billion international food retailer. </p> <p>Eisenhut has been advisor to NextGen (Senator K. LaValle) in conjunction with New York's Task Force on Economic Development and Emerging Industries. He also served as advisor to Center for Life Science Enterprise (New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research Center for Advanced Technology at Cornell.</p> <p>Tony Eisenhut earned his B.A. degree in 1988 from Cornell University.</p>
<p>Rick Berenson is the Managing Director of Venzyme. Rick has been leading organizations and developing practical, breakthrough strategy for more than twenty years. He has been CEO or COO at 9 startups, brought in by the investors on an interim basis to effect a new strategic direction. </p> <p>Rick began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a member of technical staff where he helped launch internal ventures. He then spent several years at software startups in the Boston area before joining McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. Subsequently, Rick has been CEO of ActivBiotics (early stage biotech), Banton Precision Wood Products (consumer products manufacturer), NewSphere (knowledge management software), Student.Com, Inc. (new media), and TVGrid (technology for the entertainment industry). He has also served as COO at ChannelHealth.Com (healthcare information and services), Morpace Pharma Group (medical market research), and AltiComm (telecom). Rick has been president of Alliance Management Consultants-US and, most recently, a senior partner at Monadnock Associates. </p> <p>Rick Berenson received a JD-MBA from Harvard Business and Law Schools in 1984 and is a graduate of Harvard College.</p>
<p>Dave was a Principal at R.E. Pinard & Co., Inc., which focused on Management Consulting and sell-side transaction service for small businesses. He subseqently left to become CEO of one of his client companies, Annalee Mobilitee Dolls, Inc.</p> <p>Prior to joining R. E. Pinard, Dave was co-founder and President of a start-up company providing specialized value added manufacturing services to the worldwide appliance industry. Dave has also held several executive positions with a Fortune 500 electrical/electronic components' company including VP/General Manager of an entrepreneurial high tech fiber optic division, VP of North American sales and marketing and Director of the company's European operations. </p> <p>Dave received a B.S. from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Colorado in Organizational Development. He also attended Columbia University's six-month Executive Development Program in Organizational Dynamics. </p>