Spike Ventures Team

Bio: Michael Whitaker “Whit” is Senior Vice President of Emerging Solutions for ICF. He specializes in advancing organizational approaches to innovation management, high-value collaboration, and emerging solution development across both the public and private sectors including domains such as resiliency, smart cities, cyber security, digital transformation, public health, international development, and disaster management. Previously, Whit co-founded and successfully exited a startup focused on using advanced data analytics and behavior change to achieve quantifiable improvements in urban sustainability. He has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Design) from the University of Colorado–Denver and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Science and a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

Bio: Don has an extensive track record of success in semiconductors. He began his career as a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Labs and held management positions at Honeywell SPT and Sierra Semiconductor before co-founding Integrated Sensor Solutions where he served as COO and VP of Engineering. He took the company public and headed up the integration team when subsequently acquired by Texas Instruments. Don then joined Linear Technology where he was VP & GM for a $500M+ power products business unit. He played a key role in the $14.8B acquisition of Linear Technology by Analog Devices. Don received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

Bio: Arun Penmetsa is a Partner at Storm Ventures and invests in early stage Enterprise SaaS companies. Some areas of focus include Security, Devops and Digital Health. Specifically, Arun is excited about how modern data architectures and AI are disrupting industries and creating innovative solutions. Previously, Arun built enterprise solutions at Google (Google Apps for Business) and Oracle (Enterprise Manager). Arun holds a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon and an MS in Computer Engineering and an MBA both from Stanford University.

Bio: Canyon has over 25 years of investment management experience in asset owner and asset manager roles. He was most recently the chief investment officer of HP Inc. and was responsible for managing over $30B in investment assets for HP’s pension and retirement plans. Prior to HP, Canyon was a senior vice president and portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Investments. He held various investment and portfolio management roles in Franklin’s global fixed income, alternative investments, and US equity investment teams. Canyon graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in quantitative economics and is a CFA charterholder.

Bio: Sam is a transactional attorney for entrepreneurial companies. He helped develop the first RSA wireline cellular company in the Rocky Mountain region. He has lead M&A transactions in a number of industries, including cable television, specialized mobile radio and medical device. He was in-house general counsel for a VC-backed internet data center company, a Japanese-owned geophysical company, and a PE-backed REO company. He is currently general counsel for a 503A/503B compound pharmacy. Sam received his BS in Accounting from Brooklyn College (CUNY) and his MBA and JD from Stanford University.

Bio: Dr. Middleton is internationally recognized as a serial innovator and as thought-leader in clinical informatics and healthcare information tech. He is Chief Informatics and Innovation Officer at Apervita, which delivers a PaaS for the democratization of healthcare data and analytics. Earlier, he was a professor of Biomedical Informatics and of Medicine at Stanford, Harvard, and Vanderbilt. He has also held executive leadership roles at Stanford, MedicaLogic/Medscape, Partners Healthcare System, and Vanderbilt. He studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Colorado, received a Master’s in Public Health from the Yale University School of Public Health, and an MD from SUNY Buffalo.

Bio: Cameron has an extensive background in venture investing, digital finance, software management, and industrial artificial intelligence. His recent projects include mobile financial retention research in sub-Saharan Africa for The Gates Foundation and the financial fraud prediction system for Starbucks. He served as founder and CEO of ClickStream Technologies (acquired by Microsoft) and went on to lead Microsoft’s Telemetry practice, managing all inbound data systems globally. Cameron serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at StartX, is a Venture Studio Advisor at Stanford’s GSB, and co-manages the Oxford Angel Fund. He serves on the External Technology Advisory Board for Accenture. Cameron holds a BA from Dartmouth College, an MBA from Oxford University and MS in Statistics from Stanford.

Bio: Rishi started his career in consumer internet at Mozilla and later as Head of Business Development at Cooliris (acq. Yahoo). He transitioned to mobile with Qik, leading Business Development and then becoming Head of Product, leading development of the first US mobile video chat app. After Qik was acquired by Skype, Rishi became Principal Program Manager of Mobile before Microsoft acquired Skype ($8.5B). He is now Co-founder and Managing Partner of HiFi Ventures, a boutique VC firm that builds and advises early-stage companies. Rishi graduated from Stanford, where he was VP of the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students.

Bio: Lyon Wong has an extensive investment track record of working with companies across multiple stages, focusing on founder growth and product market fit. He co-founded Spectrum 28, a $170M early stage venture fund with investments in Plangrid, Rhumbix, Karius, Freenome, Duetto, Reflecktive, Bizzy (acq. by Sendgrid), and more. At Lightspeed, he invested or worked with companies such as Blend, Affirm, Comprehend Systems, Kitematic (acq. by Docker), and Branch. He is a Creative Destruction Lab Fellow and a C100 member. Lyon received his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Systems Design Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo.

Bio: Lonnie works at Intellectual Ventures, where she helps support funds that create and commercialize intellectual property. At IV, she helped launch a $160M fund with Microsoft and other investors, formed TerraPower (financed by Bill Gates and others) and the Global Good Fund (with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). She also developed a novel legal structure for sponsored invention that has been used by the BBC and others. Earlier, she was COO at Azulstar, SVP and General Counsel at Blue Frog Media, VP of Corporate Development at AT&T, and Associate at Preston Gates and Ellis. Lonnie has a JD from the University of Washington and a BA from Stanford.

Bio: John is a tech investor, founder, and CEO with decades of experience in funding, launching, and leading companies. As an entrepreneur and CEO, he focused on database technologies, including Tokutek (as CEO) and StreamBase Systems (as Co-founder) with Turing Award-winner Michael Stonebraker. At Accel Partners and Summit Partners, he sourced and/or led investments in Rapt Corp. (acq. by MSFT), Counterpane Internet Security, and comScore. He now focuses on foundational and infrastructure technologies such as machine learning, blockchain, and databases. He has an undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford.

Bio: Gina is the Founder & CEO of Mighty Networks, the fastest way to create and grow a community-powered brand on your own deep interest network on mobile and web. Previously, Gina and Marc Andreessen co-founded Ning, a pioneering social platform for niche networks online. Under her leadership, Ning grew to 90 million people across 300,000 active communities in entertainment, politics, and education. In addition to Mighty Networks, Gina serves on the board of directors of Scripps Networks, The Food Network, and The Travel Channel. Gina has also appeared on Charlie Rose, CNBC, and CNN. She received her BA and MBA from Stanford.

Bio: Originally from South Africa, Sam is experienced in investing, investment banking and business operations. He is passionate about working closely with cross-functional teams to better understand their technology and to provide financial guidance where needed. Sam holds a joint MBA/MS degree from Stanford.

Bio: Ashwin works as a Product Manager at Tableau, where he owns product development for mapping and spatial analysis. He also sits on the boards of the Stanford Club of Washington and the Tableau Foundation Community Council, organizations through which he leads various community service engagements in the Greater Seattle Area. Ashwin holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford.

Bio: Samantha is currently an MBA Candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a non-profit founder and a strong advocate for others. She envisions a world in which all are equipped to live their best lives and hopes to be one of the trailblazers leading the way to increased prosperity for future generations. Prior to Stanford, Samantha worked on the Executive Compensation team at Google. Samantha holds a bachelors degree in Film & Digital Media from Baylor University.

Bio: Dennis has previously worked with StartX and the Alchemist Accelerator, improving their products and offering for their entrepreneurs; at McKinsey & Company as a Business Analyst; and as a Cofounder at Buzz Solutions, a drone enterprise software solution for inspecting and analyzing the electric grid infrastructure. He holds a Master’s degree in Management Science & Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science & Engineering, both from Stanford./p>

Bio: Michelle has spent her career working in global financial markets and financial services and has a proven track record in portfolio management, investment and financial analysis. She began her career at Morgan Stanley, where she built an award-winning equity portfolio risk analysis and trading platform called BasketLink™. Mid-career, Michelle opened the first Manhattan office of Edward Jones in its 88-year history. She subsequently launched her own Registered Investment Advisory firm, where she has consistently grown AUM by over 58% year over year. She was a senior advisor to the board at Lehman Holdings during their $82B liquidation, and has advised CXO’s overseeing more than $85B in revenue on maximizing IT digital transformation ROI. She holds Electrical Engineering degrees from Rice and Stanford Universities, is a licensed investment advisor, and has earned over 12 finance and advanced technology certifications.

Bio: Jason is an emergency medicine trained physician with a passion for backing early stage life science companies. He graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Urban Studies, attended medical school at the University of Chicago and completed his residency training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago. Jason has practiced emergency medicine with Kaiser Permanente in San Leandro and Fremont, California and currently works in the Emergency Department at San Ramon Regional Medical Center. He has also worked for a telemedicine startup in San Francisco and a litigation consulting firm in New York City. Jason is an active angel investor with a particular interest in the areas of life sciences and medical devices.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Chris was a Customer Advocate at Graphic Packaging and in Sales & Marketing at Putnam Investments, where he created materials for reps and investors. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Manning School of Business, where he studied Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Studies.

Bio: Previously, Anne was an Applied Behavioral Analysis Counselor for Melmark and a medical biller for Physicians Resources. She is also a certified Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, with her own clientele. Anne has a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Hilary was a Staffing Executive and Program Manager at Robert Half. Previous positions include Retirement Planning & Guidance Consultant for Fidelity and an Investor Assistant for an independent investor. She has a Bachelor of Science, Business Management & Marketing from Fisher College.