Board of Directors
Lev Volftsun – Chairman of the Board
Lev is a communications software expert with twenty years of experience in the telecommunications market and is the co-founder of Washington Capital Ventures. In his career, Lev has served as the CEO of Dynamicsoft, an SIP based software provider which was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2004. In 1996, Lev co-founded Lightspeed International, an innovator in voice signaling translation technology, where he remained as Chief Executive Officer until the company’s acquisition by Cisco Systems in 1998 where he became General Manager and Vice President of the Telephony Internet Services Unit. In addition, Lev has also held senior leadership roles at MCI, Stratus, British Telecom and Concert, where he designed and developed a range of telephony products and platforms. He has vast experience in overcoming the integration issues encountered in delivering worldwide telecommunications solutions and has a proven record of implementing designs which optimize available technologies that meet business objectives.
Chris Todd – President and Chief Executive Officer
Chris joined AppTrigger in March of 2006 and has been instrumental in directing the company’s focus to become the preferred Network Layer Service Delivery Platform. He has a 21-year track record of providing critical executive leadership to innovative technology companies that grow to become powerhouses in the service provider and enterprise equipment market. Before joining AppTrigger, Chris served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations at Kodiak Networks, a successful wireless applications start-up. Prior to Kodiak, Chris held the position of Senior Vice President at Extreme Networks with responsibility for Worldwide Sales, Field Operations, and Customer Advocacy. Chris also served as Group Vice President of Carrier Operations at Cisco Systems. Todd was responsible for the business relationships with Cisco’s 20 largest service provider customers in the United States and was instrumental in growing the $2 billion dollar business. As head of AppTrigger, Chris is dedicated to meeting the needs of application developers and telecommunications service providers with innovative network layer platforms to enable competitive advantage. Chris has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where he also has served for the last 5 years on the Executive Board of Directors of the Cox School of Business.
Dr. Jon Bayless – General Partner, Sevin Rosen Funds
Dr. Bayless served as chairman of both Landmark Graphics Corporation and CIENA Corporation, two public companies funded by SRF. In addition to AppTrigger, he is currently serving on the boards of Xtera Communications, and General Bandwidth. Jon has taken a lead role in nurturing several SR Funds portfolio companies, including CIENA Corporation, a pioneer in the optical transmission market which went public in a 1995 IPO.
Jeff Williams – Managing Director, Covera Ventures
Jeff Williams is a managing director of Covera Ventures and has more than 10 years experience investing in early and late stage companies. He also brings operational experience to Covera Ventures as a result of managing and ultimately divesting several companies in the commercial finance, property and casualty insurance and technology industries. As a managing director for Covera Ventures, Jeff employs his unique experiences to investment opportunities in software, internet content and media and wireless communications. Prior to working in venture capital, he was a successful investor, providing growth capital to middle market companies in the southwest U.S. His most notable investments include Sychip (sold to Murata), Softricity (sold to Microsoft), FastScale (sold to EMC), and Collocation Solutions (sold to ViaWest). He currently serves on the boards of directors for AppTrigger, MetaCarta and RipCode. He received a BS in finance and economics from the University of Texas at Dallas. He is also a board member of the Texas Venture Capital Association, the North Texas Enterprise Center and Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business Venture Fund.
Dr. Patrick Nettles – Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, CIENA Corporation
Dr. Nettles has served as CIENA’s executive chairman of the board of directors since May 2001; previously he served as CIENA’s chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president. Prior to joining CIENA, Dr. Nettles was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Blyth Holdings Inc., a publicly-held supplier of client/server software. Dr. Nettles has served as president and chief executive officer of Protocol Engines Inc.; and as chief financial officer of Optilink, a venture start-up that was acquired by DSC Communications. Dr. Nettles currently serves on the board of directors at Axcelis Technologies, Inc., [NASDAQ: ACLS]; is a Trustee for the California Institute of Technology; and he has served as a member and chairman of the Georgia Tech Advisory Board. Dr. Nettles received his BS in Physics from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1964 and his Ph.D. in Physics from California Institute of Technology in 1970.
Terry Rock – General Partner, Centerpoint Ventures
Mr. Rock is the former President of Convex and has held several operating management positions at Convex and Texas Instruments. Terry also co-founded the STARTech Technology Incubator in the Telecom Corridor near Dallas, and is the managing general partner of the STARTech Seed Fund. He holds board positions with several leading information technology corporations and is a prominent high tech industry spokesman. Terry holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
