Board of Directors
Dave
Wright : Dave Wright left Stanford in 1998 to help
start GameSpy Industries, a leader in online video game media,
technology, and software. While at GameSpy, Dave led the team that
created a backend infrastructure powering thousands of games and
millions of gamers. GameSpy merged with IGN Entertainment in 2004
to create one of the largest Internet gaming & entertainment
media companies. Dave served as Chief Architect for IGN and
lead technology integration with FIM / MySpace after IGN was
acquired by NewsCorp in 2005.
In 2007 Dave founded Jungle Disk, a pioneer and early leader in
cloud-based storage and backup solutions for consumers and
businesses. Jungle Disk was acquired by leading cloud
provider Rackspace in 2008 and Dave worked closely with the
Rackspace Cloud division to build a cloud platform supporting tens
of thousands of customers. In December 2009 Dave left Rackspace to
start SolidFire.
Bill Chambers : Bill
Chambers specializes in creating and developing markets for
innovative storage technologies. Bill has more than 20 years of
executive and management experience at high technology startups and
Fortune 500 companies. This includes serving as vice president of
the LeftHand Networks Division in the HP StorageWorks
organization.
Bill founded and served as the president and CEO of LeftHand
Networks prior to its acquisition by HP. He led the company through
three rounds of successful venture financing and development of the
storage industry's first IP SAN solution. Prior to Bill's LeftHand
Networks experience, he held leadership roles including President
and CEO of GE Fanuc Asia Pacific, a joint venture between General
Electric Inc. and Fanuc Ltd. of Japan.
Currently, Bill is serving on the SolidFire Board of
Directors. SolidFire, is a provider of all-solid-state (SSD)
primary storage systems for cloud service providers.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering and a certificate of completion from the Stanford
University Executive Management Program.
Ron Bernal
: Ron joined NEA in 2010 as a Venture Partner and
focuses on information technology and alternative energy technology
investments. Prior to joining NEA, Ron was a Partner at Sequel
Venture Partners where he focused on cleantech, enterprise
infrastructure and enterprise software investments. While at
Sequel, he led the firm's investments in HelioVolt and Buzzwire.
Ron previously served as a Venture Partner at Sutter Hill Ventures,
where he led the firm's investments in Data Domain, Drobo, ProStor,
LifeSize, Indicative and Redseal Systems. Prior to joining Sutter
Hill Ventures, Ron worked for Cisco Systems as Vice President of
Operations for the Product Technology Groups and the Service
Provider Line of Business. He joined Cisco following the
acquisition of Growth Networks in 2000, where he was President and
CEO. Ron co-founded Growth Networks, a fabless Internet switching
fabric semiconductor company, in 1998 while serving as an
entrepreneur-in-residence at NEA. Prior to working with NEA, he
spent more than seven years with Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) in
roles of increasing responsibility, including Senior Vice president
and General Manager of the $1 billion-plus server division and
President of the MIPS group, the microprocessor subsidiary of SGI.
Ron was also Vice President of Engineering and COO of Edge
Computer, a computer company he co-founded in 1983.
A strong advocate of alternative energy technologies, Ron is a
founding member and chairman of the Colorado Cleantech Industry
Association and serves on the Colorado School of Mines Advisory,
Colorado State University Ventures and NREL VC advisory boards. He
holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from DeVry
Institute of Technology.
Charles
Curran : Charles Curran has been a technology
venture capital investor since 1998. Prior to that, he was an
investment banker.
Before joining Valhalla, Charles was a partner of Saturn
Venture Partners, a $280 million early stage venture firm backed by
Telecom Italia Mobile, which is located in New York, NY. He led
enterprise technology investing at Saturn. He also worked as an
associate with New Enterprise Associates (located in Reston, VA)
working closely with Art Marks. Prior to NEA, Mr. Curran worked as
a telecommunications and technology investment banker for Lazard
Frères & Co. and DLJ Securities Corporation, advising premier
clients on over $35 billion announced M&A and capital markets
transactions.
Charles received a Masters in Business Administration from
the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor
of Arts in Economics with Distinction from Stanford
University.
Harry Weller
: Harry focuses on early stage consumer, enterprise
and energy technology investing. He is frequently recognized as one
of America's top venture capitalists with recent honors including
the Forbes "Midas List", Washingtonian's "Titans of Technology" and
Business Insider's "Top 5 East Coast VCs".
Prior to joining NEA, Harry was a Partner at FBR Technology
Venture Partners where he learned the costs and benefits of a
bubble! Early in his career, Harry managed technology
initiatives in the energy, financial and telecommunications
industries with several consulting firms including the Boston
Consulting Group. Prior to his business career, Harry served as an
aviator in the U.S. Navy. Harry received his MBA from Harvard
Business School and his bachelor's degree in Physics from Duke
University.
Harry serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association
(MAVA), is a past Chairman of MAVA Capital Connection, and
co-founded the Young Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (YAVA).
Phil Bronner
: Philip Bronner joined Novak Biddle Venture
Partners in 1999 and is focused on investments in information
technology. Prior to joining Novak Biddle he founded a media
technology company, and served as a management consultant with
McKinsey & Co. in New York. He advised high-tech clients
on corporate strategy and worked as a software engineer at
IBM.
Phil has been named one of Washington, D.C. area's 100 "Tech
Titans". Phil earned a BS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon
University; a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania's
School of Law; and a Master of Business Administration from the
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Phil currently serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for Carnegie
Mellon's School of Computer Science and is a board member for
In2Books, a Washington, DC-based reading and literacy program.
