Board of Directors
Brendon Mills, CEO, President
RipCode, Inc
Brendon Mills is a serial entrepreneur in the communications technology market. Prior to founding RipCode in 2005, Mills served as founder, CEO and president of GENBAND (General Bandwidth, Inc.). From its inception in 1999, Mills led the company's pioneering efforts in the packet voice equipment industry. During his five years at General Bandwidth, Mills guided the company through one of the telecommunication industry's most tumultuous times, successfully raising $180 million in private capital, developing an award winning VoIP gateway, and securing eight patents and several marquis customers in the burgeoning broadband voice industry.
Mills has also held positions at Cisco Systems and was the director of product marketing for NetSpeed, Inc, a developer of DSL broadband technology acquired by Cisco Systems in 1998. Prior to NetSpeed, Mills also held positions at Dell Computers and Dallas-based NetWorth, Inc., an Ethernet equipment manufacturer acquired by Compaq Computers.
Mills holds a BA degree from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.
Peter Bourne
Peter Bourne is a senior executive with leadership achievements spanning all company operations including P&L, sales and marketing, and R&D. He has spent 10 years in CEO, COO, EVP and GM roles, taking companies from early stage through revenue to profitability and exits, including IPO and acquisition.
Peter served as VP & GM at Efficient Networks, through a successful IPO and subsequent acquisition by Siemens.
After a year as EVP Global Business Strategy for Siemens, Peter joined Entrisphere, Inc. As President and COO and later CEO, Peter guided Entrisphere to a win at AT&T and led the acquisition of the company by Ericsson. Peter served as President and CEO of Entrisphere, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ericsson, for two years until 2009.
Zenas Hutcheson, Senior Managing Director
Vesbridge
Zenas Hutcheson has been involved with high-tech venture companies since 1981 as an investor, board member, CEO and consultant. Before forming Vesbridge, Zenas was SPVC’s Co-Managing General Partner and the Managing General Partner of the NITI group within SPVC. Zenas joined SPVC in 1997.
Some of Zenas’ representative investments include: Vivo Software (acquired by Real Networks, 41x return), GeoTrust (acquired by VeriSign), Granite Systems (acquired by Telcordia), Acopia Networks and Chosen Security (spun-out of GeoTrust upon acquisition)
Prior to joining SPVC, Zenas was an independent consultant and turnaround specialist in the high-tech arena for nearly 20 years, serving as a senior advisor, board member, chairman or CEO to over 35 companies and taking the role of CEO at CAECO, Vivo Software, and Control Automation and board member at Natural Microsystems, PictureTel, and Concord Data Systems, all of which had extremely successful exits. He started his career at Bain & Co (1979-81) and BoNY (1975-78).
Hutcheson holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Scott Irwin, General Partner
El Dorado Ventures
Scott Irwin joined El Dorado Ventures in 2000. He focuses on software and infrastructure investments. At El Dorado, he has worked closely with prior EDV investments including MediaQ (acquired by nVidia) and Torrex (acquired by Applied Materials).
Prior to El Dorado, Irwin held software engineering and product management positions with Accenture. He received his BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he was a Venture Fellow and Welsh Scholar. He currently serves on the boards of BridgeLux, ClickShift, GetActive, Skytide, Tower Cloud and TriActive.
Jeff Williams, Managing Director
Covera Ventures
Jeff Williams is a Managing Director of Hunt Ventures and has over ten years experience investing in early and late stage companies. Prior to Hunt Ventures, Jeff was a General Partner with Chisholm Private Capital where he was responsible for making early stage technology investments in software and semiconductors companies.
Jeff's most notable investments include Sychip (sold to Murata), Softricity (sold to Microsoft), Ontela, RipCode and MetaCarta. Jeff focuses on making investments in software, internet content, and wireless communications.
Jeff received his B.S. in Finance and Economics from the University of Texas at Dallas. Jeff is also a board member of the Texas Venture Capital Association, the North Texas Enterprise Center, and Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business Investment Board.
Eric Zimits, Managing Director
Granite Ventures
After spending a long career in finance and investments with a focus on the communications sector, Eric Zimits joined Granite Ventures in 2000 to focus on investing in early-stage communications and components companies.
Prior to Granite, Eric was Managing Director and head of the Communications Research Group at Hambrecht & Quist (later Chase H&Q), where he sponsored several venture capital investments, including: Amber Networks, acquired by Nokia; InterNAP (NASDAQ: INAP); Paragon Software, acquired by Openwave; WavTrace, acquired by Harris Corporation; and VocalData, acquired by Tekelec.
Prior to H&Q, Eric launched a research effort in the telecommunications and wireless industries as a General Partner at Volpe, Welty & Company. He also held analyst positions at Rauscher Pierce Refsnes and Morgan Keegan & Company.
Eric's years of experience tracking the communications industry teamed with his financial savvy enables him to guide portfolio companies in making sound business decisions based on a deep understanding of the marketplace. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors for AirTight Networks, Percello and Quantance.
Eric received a B.S.E. from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business.
