Board of Directors
Shri Dodani is the President and Chief Executive Officer at StrataLight Communications, Inc., a leading supplier of 40G DWDM systems. Shri Dodani is a veteran executive of computer and communications industry with engineering, sales and marketing experience at major silicon, systems and software companies. Prior to joining StrataLight, Shri held several executive positions at Intel including business development in the Consumer Electronics Group and general management in the Communications Group. Shri was the President & CEO at VxTel, a Silicon Valley Voice-over-IP silicon and software start-up that was acquired by Intel. Before VxTel, Shri was the Vice President, Engineering and Operations, at Carrier Access Corp. (CACS), with responsibility for engineering, product development, manufacturing and market introduction activities. He joined the company at an early stage, managed company's triple digit growth leading to company's successful IPO. Prior to Carrier Access, he served as an executive with major computer & communications companies such as Nortel, Alcatel, ADC Telecommunications and Computer Automation.
Roland Van der Meer
Partner, Velocity Interactive Group
Roland has more than 25 years of experience in the communications industry as an engineer, strategist and investor in the communications, media, technology and infrastructure sectors. He is a founding partner of Velocity Interactive Group and was a General Partner with ComVentures, the firm he originally co-founded in 1987. Over the course of his career, Roland has invested in and helped manage more than 50 companies.
Chris Rust
General Partner, U.S. Venture Partners
Chris Rust joined USVP as a General Partner in November of 2004. Chris brings over 20 years of electrical engineering, product management, sales/sales support, and early stage venture capital experience to USVP.
Chris currently serves on the Board of Directors for Commerce5, Dilithium Networks, LVL7 Systems, Veriwave and Akros Silicon. Chris joined USVP from Mahi Networks, where he held the position of President and CEO since November 2001. Prior to Mahi, Chris spent over four years at Sequoia Capital, where he was instrumental in funding 19 early-stage startups focused on components, software and systems for enterprise and carrier networking applications. Chris held founding director or active board observer seats at Abrizio, Avanex, Mellanox, SwitchOn, Telera and VxTel. Chris also served on the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
Mark J DeNino
Managing Director, TL Ventures
Mark joined the Wayne office of TL Ventures in 1994 as a Managing Director. During his tenure, Mark has been extensively involved in the creation, incubation, development or consolidation of a number of information technology and communications companies.
He is also the co-founder of, and senior advisor to, EnerTech Capital, a venture capital firm specializing in investment opportunities emerging from the reshaping and convergence of the energy, utility and telecommunications industries.
Mark is on the board of directors of a number of TL companies.
Louis Toth
Managing Director, Comcast Interactive Capital
Louis oversees the investing activities at CIC and is responsible for evaluating investment opportunities, coordinating due diligence efforts and assisting in the negotiation and structuring of financial terms for new portfolio investments. In addition, Louis works with the management of CIC portfolio companies on strategic, business development and operations issues. Previously, Louis had worked in investment banking and as an Associate at a venture capital firm focused on technology and communications services. Louis graduated with honors and holds a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in International Studies from the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also graduated from the Management & Technology Program at the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science & Engineering from the School of Engineering & Applied Science. Louis is involved as a Director, Board Observer or adviser for Arcwave, Cedar Point Communications, Exent Technologies, Expand Networks, MegaPath Networks, Nuera Communications, RF Magic, RGB Networks, and SkyStream Networks.
Catherine P. Lego
Managing Partner, The Photonics Fund
Ms. Lego brings to her portfolio companies her expertise in the semiconductor and telecommunications fields, as well as financial and corporate management skills, gathered during her twenty-five years of venture investing. Prior to forming The Photonics Fund, Ms. Lego established Lego Ventures in 1992 to provide consulting services to early stage electronic companies by helping them develop business plans, obtain seed and expansion financing and support strategic growth through mergers and acquisitions. From 1981 through 1992 she was a General Partner at Oak Investment Partners, and focused her investing in the telecommunications, semiconductor and semiconductor equipment markets. Prior to Oak, Ms. Lego was a CPA with Coopers and Lybrand for three years. She received her M.S. from NY University School of Business in 1979 and her B.A. from Williams College in 1978. Ms. Lego currently sits on the Boards of Directors of three publicly traded companies; SanDisk Corp., Lam Research and WJ Communications.
Mr. Otto has served as a senior executive and strategic advisor for over 25 years in growth-oriented communications and other technology-oriented enterprises. He was most recently CEO of Optical Communication Products, Inc. (”OCP“), a NASDAQ-traded international manufacturer of transceivers for fiber optic communications systems, until its acquisition by Oplink Communications Inc. in late 2007.