Chris Farmer, Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners

Chris Farmer joined Bessemer in 2005 and focuses on media related and consumer wireless investments. He serves on the boards of Access 360 Media, Cecure Gaming and GoTV Networks and is actively involved with Enforta, Hands-On Mobile, Kajeet, Millennial Media, and Way Systems. Previously, Chris was a consultant with Bain & Company, where he advised on private equity transactions in sectors ranging from entertainment and media through software and telecom. Prior to Bain, Chris spearheaded the turnaround of Skybitz, a wireless services company ranked #2 in the inaugural 2007 Deloitte/CTIA Wireless Fast 50, a list of the wireless companies with the fastest revenue growth over the past five years. As vice president of finance, Chris led fundraising for the company, helping to raise two rounds of venture capital. He also served as vice president of product management and business development, guiding product design and establishing strategic alliances with AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Motorola, and Qualcomm. Chris joined Skybitz from Geostrategy Partners, an investment advisory and management consulting firm he founded to provide services to angel investors and private equity funds. Chris also served as a Venture Advisor to a fund affiliated with Hummer Winblad Venture Partners where he led investments in SkyBitz and Applied Semantics (acquired by Google). Chris started his career in the private equity group of Cowen & Company. Chris holds a degree in international business from Tufts University, where he won high thesis honors.

George Zachary, Partner, Charles River Ventures

George Zachary joined Charles River Ventures in 2004. He brings more than 17 years of operating and investing experience in computing and consumer technology. George’s focus is on building great services and software technology companies. George led CRV’s investments in cRight and GoTV, and is on the board of directors at both companies. Previously, he was a general partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures (MDV). His directorships included: Accrue Software (Nasdaq:ACRU), Andale, Critical Path (Nasdaq: CPTH), Ovation Entertainment, Sandcastle (acquired by Adobe, Nasdaq:ADBE), Securify (acquired by Kroll-O’Gara, Nasdaq: KROG), Shutterfly, Supertracks (acquired by Centerspan) and Telebot (acquired by Z-Tel, Nasdaq: ZTEL). Prior to MDV, George led the Nintendo 64 development business at Silicon Graphics, managed sales and marketing for virtual reality pioneer VPL Research, and served as a product marketeer at CATS Software. He is a board advisor at the MIT Sloan School of Business and Stanford BASES. He is also an advisor to X PRIZE. George earned a joint BS from MIT and MIT Sloan School of Business.

Richard E. Harrison, CFO and Director of Business Development,
Five States Energy Capital, LLC

Richard E. Harrison serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Five States Energy Company and its affiliate, Five States Energy Capital.  Collectively, the Five States entities manage over $300 million in funds focused on oil and gas investments and over $80 million in funds focused on early-stage power storage, mobile advertising and wireless technology.  Mr. Harrison currently serves as a Director of ZPower, GoTV Networks, and Digital Sidebar and is on the advisory board of Dispersive Networks.  Previously, Mr. Harrison founded and was the President of Taconic Partners, a Texas based venture capital firm focused on startup and early stage companies.  Before that, he was a senior consultant with Towers Perrin, where he specialized in strategic planning and organizational development.  Mr. Harrison began his career as a sales engineer for Reliance Electric Company.  Mr. Harrison holds a B.B.A. degree in Finance from Baylor University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin where he received both the Sord Scholar and Dean’s Awards.  Mr. Harrison is also an alumnus of the Dallas Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.

 

Carmi Zlotnik, Head of Global Media Operations, IMG Global Media

Carmi Zlotnik, Head of Global Media Operation for IMG Global Media joined GoTV’s Board of Directors as Executive Chairman in October 2007. Previously, Zlotnik held the position of executive vice president of the New Media Programming Group for Home Box Office, Inc. Responsible for the creation of video-based programming as well as interactive entertainment for new media platforms, including broadband, wireless, portable devices, on-demand, as well as radio and audio devices, Zlotnik excelled in the development of new media and interactive extensions of existing HBO shows and franchises, focusing on programming and relationships with up-and-coming talent and established veterans indigenous to new media. Zlotnik joined HBO in August 1987 as director of production, original programming. In 1991 he was named vice president of West Coast Production, original programming and senior vice president, HBO Independent Productions. In 1996 he became vice president, original programming, creative operations and promoted to senior vice president in the same area in January 2000. He was named executive vice president, original programming, business development and new media in February 2003.