THOMAS HONG - CEO

Thomas is an advisor to hi-tech CEOs in Silicon Valley and during the past five years was Principal Founder/Partner of CEONetworking; a paid membership organization for hi-tech CEOs in Silicon Valley. Thomas has facilitated meetings of CEO groups and has advised CEOs in Silicon Valley during the past five years.

Earlier, Thomas was the CEO/Principal Founder of four computer peripherals and networking companies:

• Davong Systems
• Tiara Computer Systems
• Aquila Communications
• Acculan Technologies.

In addition to CEO experiences, Thomas was the Director of Engineering at both National Semiconductors Corporation and Intersil Corporation. Other engineering management experiences include Apple Computer, Memorex Corporation and International Business Machines. Thomas has a BSEE and MSEE in computer design from University of California, Berkeley and and University of Santa Clara, respectively.

Key accomplishments:

• Principal Founder/Partner of CEONetworking, a paid membership organization for hi-tech CEOs in Silicon Valley; facilitated meetings & advised hi-tech executives for over four years.
• Active Advisory Board member of several Silicon Valley hi-tech companies.
• President/CEO/Founder of four computer peripheral and network companies.
• Managed one startup to $23 million revenue and $1 million profit in 2nd year. Raised over $15 million equity and $5 million credit lines.
• Negotiated and sold 12 network technology licenses to 6 hi-tech companies including 3 public companies.
• At National Semiconductors, created/managed an engineering organization from inception to market leader in the IBM mainframe compatible memory systems market within two years.

BILL HESLEY - Partner

Bill is a consultant and executive coach, has assisted executives from over 200 technology companies with the planning and development of new businesses. He has consulted on strategic marketing and business issues with founders of early stage technology companies and top executives in established technology companies including Gartner, Hitachi, IBM, McAfee and Novell.

Active in the entrepreneurial community, Bill regularly screens and critiques business proposals as well as coaching CEOs on various business issues. He frequently lecturers on starting and funding new businesses, and he conducts workshops for early stage technology companies both public and on the client's premise. Bill regularly serves on the advisory board for early stage companies. He received a BS in Physics and Computer Science from Texas A&M University-Commerce and completed the Stanford University Program for Marketing Executives.

Key accomplishments:

• Balanced experience between corporate (nearly 15 years) and consulting (over 15 years) that includes engineering, sales, marketing and general management—with a focus on starting new technology businesses.
• Developed over 100 business, product and marketing plans for both startups and for established companies, and published several industry reports.
• CEO and founder of Hesley Corporation a PR and advertising firm for early stage technology companies that achieved ranking as 14th largest PR firm in Santa Clara County (1984).
• CEO and co-founder of ErgoDevices Corporation where he raised two rounds of Angel financing, secured five utility patents, and developed a retail-dealer sales channel.
• Investment Banking registered representative (Series 7 Securities License)
• Associate Partner of CEO Networking for 18 months (a paid membership organization for hi-tech CEOs in Silicon Valley).

JOE HUGHES - Partner

Joe has over 25 years of executive management experience in computer software and networking businesses, his expertise coming from the various marketing and sales management positions that he held at seven Silicon Valley start-up organizations.

Joe was the CEO and VP of Sales/Marketing for Mark Systems, a software firm specializing in Large Scale Data Retrieval systems and telephone-computer integration. As VP and Director of Sales and marketing for Corvus Systems, he developed distribution channels to systems resellers, OEM's, large end-users and international markets.

Over the last few years Joe has specialized in helping small technology companies build their sales and marketing departments. As a part time Sales/Marketing VP for two software companies Joe has dramatically increased revenue while building an on-going sales and marketing team.

Joe has a BS in computer science and math, has graduated the Stanford MBA program for Senior Executives, and has completed the E-Commerce Management program from SJSU.

Key accomplishments:

• A history of building successful sales and marketing organizations, in one case from one employee to over 300 professionals.
• Increased sales for a start-up from $1 million to over $47 million within three years by building a successful telemarketing, direct and international sales force
• Focused product promotions and innovative product marketing that led to a number of product awards, such as product-of-the-year award and cover stories in publications such as PC World.
• As VP of Sales/Marketing for a small network company grew the dealer channel from 20 to over 500 dealers
• Developed international sales channels for several companies. Increased international sales from 5% to 40% of one company’s total sales.
• Established partnerships with large organizations such as IBM, AT&T, NCR, EDS and others to maximize sales for small companies.
• Created reseller and direct sales contracts, pricing policy, and negotiated license agreements for a variety of products and services

STEVE TSAI – Partner

Steve is a business executive with more than 20 years of executive and entrepreneurial experience. Steve has worked at hi-tech companies in various stages of life cycle – from successful start-ups like Pyramid Technology to growth company like Sun to large established company like Unisys. He has broad functional experience ranging from engineering, operations, strategic marketing, business development, sales management, to founding and running a new company. Steve has expertise in Internet marketing, e-Commerce, mobile communications, eSecurity, and global business development.

Steve is the president of The IPO Group. The IPO Group helps clients achieve their business objectives - win market leadership. Clients range from large global companies to start-ups in Internet, communications, supply chain management, and eScurity industries. Steve is a frequent speaker on eSecurity marketing. He was a board member of Int’l Angel Investors. Steve is a frequent participant of the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leadership seminars meeting with business executives, VCs, and startup entrepreneurs. Steve holds a MSEE from UC, Davis and MBA from University of Phoenix.

Key accomplishments:

• President of The IPO Group, a hi-tech business consulting firm that helped companies like NTT, Gartner Group, and NetScaler (acquired by Citrix for $330M)
• Cofounder and President of Internet Image, an Internet software company. Took the company from inception to being acquired for $50M in 3 years.
• Director of strategic marketing and business development for Unisys Web Server business and server cluster OEM business.
• Various management positions at Sun Microsystems in product development, product strategy, and marketing for workstations, high-end servers, graphics, HDTV, and networking products.
• Early member of Pyramid Technology, a supermini computer company that went public in 4 years. Developed the first commercial RISC computer system from concept to production in 9 months.