Investment Committee:
STEPHEN FLEMING:
Stephen began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories. While at Bell Labs, he published some of the first experimental data regarding single-mode optical fiber splicing. After graduating valedictorian from Georgia Tech in theoretical physics, Stephen joined Northern Telecom and shortly moved from an engineer to product management, focusing on the nascent broadband marketplace. He later joined LICOM and built an award-winning fiber optic multiplexer for the telecommunications carrier marketplace. In 1994, he joined Alliance Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Atlanta, and made more than a dozen investments in a number of industries that include wireless equipment, telecommunications systems, semiconductors, enterprise software and Internet services.
Stephen currently is the Director of Commercialization for Georgia Tech’s Venture Lab and serves as an advisor to the Advanced Technology Development Center. He has served on the board of directors for the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications technology and is deeply involved in the state of Georgia's public policy debates concerning high technology. A graduate of Georgia Tech, he continues his close relationship with the university, endowing a professorship and serving on advisory boards for the College of Computing, the College of Sciences, and the DuPree College of Management.
PAUL SCHLOSBERG:
Paul is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of INCA Group. INCA Group provides turnaround, capital market, and public/private partnership advisory services to clients nationwide. Prior to founding INCA Group, Paul was the President and Chief Operating Officer with First Southwest Company (FSC), a privately held investment banking firm with national coverage, and led its successful growth for a decade. Prior to FSC, Paul served as an executive with Bear, Stearns & Co., a leading global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm, and was responsible for covering both domestic and international clientele comprising high net-worth investors, institutions, and members of Board of Directors of Fortune 500s.
Paul earned a MBA from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Certified Financial Planner, a member of NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Committee, the Association of Corporate Growth, and the Turnaround Management Association. Paul also served on the boards of the Center for Brain Health and American Heart Association Dallas Chapter, among others.
STEPHEN WARNER:
Stephen brings over 30 years of experience as a Wall Street investment banker and venture capitalist to Seraph Group. Currently, Stephen serves as the Chairman of Crossbow Ventures in West Palm Beach, FL. Prior to co-founding Crossbow Ventures, Stephen served as president, chief executive officer, and co-founder of Merrill Lynch Venture Capital, Inc. which, under his leadership, grew to more than $250 million in venture funds under management. In addition, Stephen served on internal investment committees for the selection of venture capital, leveraged buyout, research and development, real estate, oil & gas and equipment leasing investments for Merrill Lynch executives.
Stephen has also served as a U.S. government consultant to evaluate the American Enterprise Funds, established by U.S. Congress to promote the development of free enterprise and entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe. His education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business.
JACKSON WILSON, JR.:
Jack retired from his position as the Chief Executive Officer of Accenture's Business Process Outsourcing Business, a division of $1.2 billion revenues. In his career spanning twenty nine years, Jack held senior management positions including Corporate Development Officer, responsible for all mergers and acquisitions activities; Managing General Partner of Accenture Technology Ventures, responsible for all venture investing and divesting for Accenture; and Global Managing Partner, responsible for substantially all of Accenture's P&L, client service work, industry programs, software and intellectual properties.
Jack recently retired from his role as Chairman of the Board of Avanade, a Microsoft technology consulting company jointly owned by Accenture and Microsoft. Jack was the founding Chairman of this company which today has 5,000+ employees in 16 countries.
He is currently a Director of i2 Technologies, a publicly traded software company. He is also the Chairman of the Audit Committee for i2.
Jack is also a Senior Advisor at Cerberus Capital assisting in the evaluation and execution of private equity transactions in the technology sector.
His past board experience include Navitaire, a leader in start-up airline reservation system; QPass, a content transaction network enables secure payment for proprietary web-based content; Security First Technology Corporation, a financial solution provider; and SeeBeyond Corporation, an enterprise application integration solution provider.
Jack received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from University of Arizona and an MBA - Finance from University of Southern California. He was a captain in the United States Air Force and a Certified Public Accountant.
TUFF YEN:
Tuff Yen founded Seraph Group in 2003 as a premier network of private investment groups. With an extensive venture capital and private equity investing background on both coasts, and as entrepreneur and angel investor, Yen saw an opportunity to deliver a new investment platform for qualified individual investors, investment advisors, and fund managers that is lacking in today's financial market.
Yen spent his career as a scientist and a professional investor. He worked as a venture capitalist with Hambrecht & Quist's venture fund ("HQAP") in San Francisco, which manages $1.5 billion with investments in Silicon Valley and in the Asia Pacific region, as well as Chemical Venture Partners ("CVP"), an independent arm of then Chemical Bank. Chemical Bank later merged with Chase Manhattan Bank and with J.P. Morgan. "CVP" became J.P. Morgan Partners, which today manages a $23 billion portfolio. During this period, he worked on investments in a broad range of businesses including industrial manufacturing, distribution, entertainment, publishing, information technology, Internet, medical and life sciences.
Prior to joining the VC community, Yen was a bioengineer with Genentech and worked at Amgen, two leading biotechnology pioneers. Yen received his Masters in Business Administration from the Yale School of Management and his Bachelor degree in Arts in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of California Berkeley.
Investment Professionals:
RAHUL SAXENA:
Rahul is an Associate with Seraph Group. Rahul started his career as a research engineer conducting research on mechanical heart valves. He then went to Brussels where he completed a European Master’s degree in Fluid Mechanics under a NATO fellowship. After finishing the program, Rahul went to the Bay Area to work for a start-up company where he designed and developed robotic platforms that automated processes used in genetics research. He worked there for 2.5 years and then returned to Atlanta to start a company called MedVentures which helped doctors commercialize ideas for new medical products. While running the company, Rahul decided to attend Goizueta Business School, Emory University, to get his MBA. Rahul has B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a European Masters degree from the von Karman Institute.
DON OATES:
Don is an Analyst with Seraph Group. Prior to joining Seraph in 2005, Don spent 3 years working in global procurement, with particular experience in manufacturing and business development in China. Previously, Don served as the Director of Strategic Sourcing for FireItUp, Inc., a NC-based consumer products company. Don also has experience working with JVs and WOFEs in Mainland China. Don received a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Furman University and has studied at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China.
TYLER DORMAN:
Tyler is an Analyst with Seraph Group. Tyler graduated from the University of Denver with a BS in Business Administration.