Jerry Brown, Managing Partner founded BVA in 1991 after a successful career at IBM and Texas Instruments. At TI he was an officer and VP of the company's Data Systems Group responsible for the systems, software and Systems Integration businesses. Prior to TI, he was with IBM where he held management positions in engineering, sales and marketing including General Manager, Caribbean Area and Program Director for IBM's first Interactive Multimedia project. Jerry has placed more than 200 CEO's and officers, as well as 20 General Partners. He has helped form six funds with over $1 billion under management. He also consults on new Venture Fund formation and Fund restructuring. He manages Brown Ventures which invests typically after Placements are made.
Jerry was instrumental in the formation of numerous successful companies with IPOs such as SCM Micro, ONI Systems, Virata, Aspect Development, Adflex Solutions, Superconductor Technologies, Synplicity, Accel Graphics, Network Peripherals, Bolder Technologies, Be, Kofax, Speedfam, Summit Systems, Cal Micro, CEVA and Nuance.
Acquisitions include Apptitude (HiFn), Network Alchemy (Nokia), ISI ( Global Center), Qualix (Legato), Netratings (AC Nielsen), ARTX (ATI), ISD (Wind Bond), Ashtech (Magellan), Intraspect (Vignette), Supply Base (i2), Invio (Veritas) and Phonetics (ScanSoft), Siperian (Informatica) and Virtutech (Intel).
He is a Founder and Board Member of Element Energy.
Jerry holds a BS in Engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and has completed coursework for an MS/CS at NYU. He served on the Advisory boards of AVI/MTV, Diamondhead Ventures and Horizon Ventures and was a Venture Partner at Rembrandt Ventures and Wavepoint Ventures. He is the sole Limited Partner in Brown Ventures LLC which has invested in over 50 Venture Backed Companies with 20+ liquidity events. .
Industry Advisors
Dan Lankford, Software, Systems and Cleantech, is a managing director with Wavepoint Ventures, an early-stage information technology and life sciences venture fund located in El Dorado Hills, California. His primary areas of expertise are communications, semiconductors, and energy technology. Dan has years of experience in the telecommunications equipment, software, semiconductor, and energy technology industries, at AT&T/Bell Labs/Agere Systems, and early stage companies.
Dan is former member of the Colorado Governor's Commission on Science and Technology and former chairman of the American Electronics Association Mountain States Chapter. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering (with honors) from Johns Hopkins University, and he received his MS in Management as a Sloan Fellow from Stanford Business School. He has also attended the Senior European Executive Program at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Jim Hogan, Software, is the General Manager of Vista Ventures Partners in Campbell, California. His experience includes time as a senior executive in electronic design automation, semiconductor intellectual property, semiconductor equipment, and fabrication companies. Prior to Jim’s position at Vista Jim was a General Partner at Telos Venture Partners. Previously, Jim had worked in a number of operating roles at several Semiconductor and supplier companies.
Before Telos, Jim was Senior Vice President of Business Development of Artisan Components; Jim was Senior Vice President of Business Development and the senior member of the Office of Chief Technologist at Cadence Design Systems. Jim was a Cadence Executive Fellow and held several positions at Cadence including President of Cadence Japan, Corporate Vice President of Marketing, and Corporate Vice President for Field Operations. He was also Chief Operating Officer of Smart Machines, Inc., a semiconductor equipment automation company.
Jim also worked for National Semiconductor for 10 years and for Philips. At both companies, he established and managed device physics laboratories globally.
Jim holds a BA degree in mathematics, a BS degree in computer science and an MBA all from San Jose State University. He serves on the Board of Advisors at San Jose State's School of Engineering, and on the board of directors for several early stage technology start-ups.