Meet with Plug and Play's Executives in Residence--a team of highly qualified veterans from multiple technology industries, working with plug and play to identify and support promising technology companies. Please find their bio's below*, and confirm by registering here to attend and present, or simply to attend.

Presenting companies will be given 5-7 minutes to convey their value proposition to our EIR's.  After which, we will retire to a complimentary lunch in Plug and Play's Cafe.

Gary Gerttula gary@plugandplaytechcenter.com

"Gary Gerttula specializes in managing growth for early stage companies and turning around those who have lost their way.  He has been CEO of five companies in the last ten years including software, internet e-health, post-production/visual effects, online/traditional magazine publishing, and movie production.  Two of those have been turnaround situations.  Over the past year he has been the advisor/consultant/coach to the President of an internet media content company helping him increase profit by 10x in one year.  During a thirty year career he has been responsible for all functional areas of a company so has hands on knowledge of all departments.  In addition he has been member of some top consulting firms: Arthur Andersen and McKinsey & Co., earned a CPA, is a graduate of Harvard Business School and has six years international experience residing in London and Brussels.  He came ot the valley in 1982 as an employee at one the the pioneers in microcomputer software, Digital Research, and remains passionate about the challenges and opportunities of the ever changing technology landscape."

Amar Singh amar@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Amar is seasoned executive with over twenty years of experience in enterprise software with significant focus on multi-enterprise applications such as Supply Chain Management, Product Lifecycle Management, Integration, Collaboration, etc.  Formerly Amar was SVP of Products at SAP with global responsibility for all SAP’s multi-enterprise applications including SCM, PLM, Manufacturing and RFID.  Amar has also had significant start-up experience having co-founded Simplexis along with Lamar Alexander (former US Secretary of Education and current Senator) and few of his business school classmates.  Simplexis started in 1998, raised over $35MM from VCs and was sold in 2002 after having grown to over $12MM in sales within 18 months.  Amar was hired from SAP to Amitive as CEO and under his leadership the company released industry’s first data-schema independent application development platform, allowing companies to build unique complex (enterprise class) applications within days.  Besides these roles, Amar also spent several years in operating roles in companies like Procter & Gamble, Warner Lambert (Pfizer), i2 technologies and Bain and Co.  He complements his professional experience with a Master’s in Systems Design Engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada and an Harvard MBA.       

Ketan ShahKetan@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Ketan Shah is a successful serial entrepreneur. He was CEO of Weblistic. He founded Weblistic in November 2005 and merged with Spot Runner in 2008. Weblistic created a system to sell and fulfill online advertising campaigns for SMEs on a wide range of online channels. Mr. Shah was CTO of YellowPages.com for 5 years where he joined the company at founder level ( as a result of a merger of his previous company ) and played important roles in guiding technical teams, establishing YellowPages.com as a leading IYP, assembling mutli-national teams, automating sales and operations and finally in sale of the company to at&t. Prior to that Mr. Shah was founder and CEO of Sales-Watch.com which he merged with YellowPages.com in 2000. Before that he worked for 3 start-ups utilizing combination of his technical skills and business oriented thinking. Mr. Shah has consulted for clients like Austin-Hayne, HP, BroadVision and Amgen.In the early 90s, Mr. Shah worked for Canmax ( a joint venture with EDS ) in Dallas, TX where he helped build a franchise system that managed more than 6000 Seven-Eleven stores.Mr. Shah has founded successful local businesses.

Mr. Shah has more than 18 years of experience and he holds B.S. from Birla College of Engineering, Gujarat, India and M.S in Computer Engineering from Uni. of Texas at El Paso and Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

Michael HochMicha@plugandplaytechcenter.comMichael Hoch is a visionary leader who has built and managed engineering and design teams to deliver innovative products and production quality code for companies like Sony and Yahoo. He pioneered Prototyping as part of the design practice at Yahoo! and he also managed a very effective engineering team to create an open source offering around Flash. Michael currently runs his own consultancy, Sodascope, focusing on the production of iPhone games as well as Flash and Flex technologies. 

Howard Greenfield  howard@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Howard Greenfield is president of Go Associates, a global consulting firm that helps companies bring technology to the marketplace. He is a digital media and business development strategist, as well as an accomplished columnist published around the world. Howard has held senior management and consulting positions with Sun Microsystems, Informix Software, British Telecom, and Apple, Inc. and was responsible for creating and leading Sun’s first Media Lab.

 For the last twenty-five years, Howard has been a successful technology developer, manager, educator, and writer. In addition to front-line collaborative development engagements with large organizations like Xerox PARC, Ericsson, and the American Film Institute, he has held leadership roles in numerous early stage companies. These include positions with start-ups in online video editing, streaming, content management, and ad insertion. Three of these were subsequently acquired by Ariba, IBM, and Microsoft.

 Howard is co-author of IPTV & Internet Video (Focal Press, 2009) and has presented and moderated at conferences throughout Silicon Valley, Europe, and Asia. He has served on government and cultural advisory boards that include the State of California, UK Trade & Invest, CNET, and others. His writing covers the convergence of the Internet, Broadcast, and Telecommunications industries. Howard holds a graduate degree in Interactive Technology from Stanford University.

Abe Ghanbariabe@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Abe Ghanbari has over 24 year leadership experience in managing and growing both startups and large size companies.  His business and technical experience span over several industries: semiconductor, electronics, optics/photonics, flat panel display, and energy (solar). Abe’s prior experience includes senior corporate engineering/R&D management, product development and general management roles in Varian, Veeco, Sony, Applied Materials, and Xyratex corporations. He founded two start-ups – PARS and AS&E. Abe received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Master of Science degree in Plasma Engineering from University of Illinois, and a doctoral degree in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University. He holds an MBA from Saint Mary’s college.

Charles Jepson charles@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Seasoned Software executive with extensive leadership expertise in private and publicly traded, high growth companies.  An accomplished strategic leader who builds businesses for sustainable growth and profitability. Strong operational leadership skills with broad experience across the IT industry bringing strategy and execution together by building cohesive executive teams and cultures focused on execution and accountability. Expertise: Strong turn around experience M & A (domestic and international). Mobile Applications: email, location-based applications, device management Procurement: SaaS cloud-architected procurement and contract management Enterprise Networking Applications: Storage management, enterprise-wide printing and file transfer

Web-Based: Real-time sales systems, customer support and customer service solutions

Interested in: Permanent, interim or part-time leadership positions Board of Directors positions Advisory Assignments

Brian Mellea brian@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Brian has served as an acting CEO and as VP managing product marketing, business development and telesales groups within Silicon Valley companies over the past 20 years. The companies that he has worked with included: ROLM, Apple, IBM, Beyond.com, PTC, iControl Networks, Palm, NetApp and Ustream.TV. He has helped bring several startups from angel funding to Series A. He has run channels and marketing to the B2C, B2B, and B2G markets. Brian’s most helpful to companies in the mobile, Internet services, and consumer electronics spaces.

Corey J. Leibow,Corey@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Corey Leibow has been in executive capacities at leading edge technology companies for more than 22 years. Corey (as President & CEO of Mercado Software) was recently responsible for 4 years of 100%+ annual y/y sales growth to $28M resulting in an acquisition by miniature. Prior to Mercado, Mr. Leibow was Executive Vice President of worldwide sales and service at SEEC, Inc./Asera, a Kleiner Perkins backed provider of software solutions for the enterprise. Mr. Leibow also held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of lickSoftware, a public enterprise software company specializing in field service solutions as well as Executive Vice President of sales andprofessional services at Ajuba, a B2B integration company that was acquired by Interwoven. Before Ajuba, Leibow was Vice President  of global sales at Cadence Design Systems, the world's largest supplier of EDA technologies growing revenue from $350M to over $1.2B  in 5 years. Earlier in his career he was a co-founder of the North American CRM practice at KPMG Peat Marwick (now BearingPoint) and Director of North American sales at Computer Associates. Corey Leibow earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in  Communications from the State University of New York.

Corey J. Geiger,Corey@plugandplaytechcenter.com

Corey Geiger has enjoyed nearly 25 years of leadership and executive-level success with high-tech companies in business start-up, turnaround, and development modes spanning from small private companies to large multi-national corporations.  Having lived and worked across four continents, Corey has deep experience in formulating strategies and translating them into tactical plans, leading cross-functional teams to execute key corporate initiatives such as M&A integration, business re-engineering, portfolio management, and new product introduction.

CHARLES A. STEINBERG    charles.steinberg@sbcglobal.net   

Since 1988, Charles A. Steinberg was President of the Broadcast and Professional Company of Sony Electronics Inc. with responsibility for marketing and development of products and systems for the broadcast and business/industrial markets in the United States.

Effective July 1st, 1999, Mr. Steinberg retired from Sony and then served as consultant to Sony Electronics. He is an advisor to both the SunUp and MeSoft Corporations Board of Directors. Mr. Steinberg is also consultant to other electronic companies.

Mr. Steinberg was an Executive in Residence for the Graduate School of Management at the University of California at Davis, California.

Since 1988, Mr. Steinberg was responsible for all aspects of the Broadcast and Professional Company including sales and marketing, operations and technical services, systems integration, software development and technology.  Mr. Steinberg has been instrumental in the evolution of Sony’s digital storage, camera, display, and editing products and high-definition systems. He played a key role in spearheading the transition of the Broadcast and Professional business unit from a product oriented group to one that focuses on total systems solutions for the broadcast and professional market. As a result, Sony has become a leading provider of systems solutions to the broadcast and production, business and industrial, government, medical and education markets. He served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sony Cinema Products Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary engaged in providing products to the motion picture industry. He also served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sony Trans Com Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary serving the airline industry with products and systems for in-flight entertainment.

Prior to joining Sony in 1988, Mr. Steinberg was with the Ampex Corporation for 25 years serving in various positions including president, and chief executive officer and chairman of the board.

Mr. Steinberg has received three Emmy Awards.  The first was the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award Emmy which was presented to him “in recognition of his many contributions to electronic technology during his career at Ampex, and as the president of the Broadcast and Professional Division of Sony Electronics. The Emmy commemorates his vision, leadership and contributions to the world of digital television.  A second Emmy Award was for production and broadcast of the first four National Football League (NFL) games in High Definition Television. The third Emmy Award was for his technical efforts at the Games of the XXVII Olympics in Australia.

Charles Steinberg was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Broadcasters Association (NAB) Convention in 1999 from Broadcasting and Cable in recognition of his many contributions to electronic technology during a professional lifetime.  He was also presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Imaging Technology and Sound (ITS). In December 2008, Charles Steinberg was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Mr. Steinberg is a Lifetime Fellow of The Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers and a recipient of the Presidential Proclamation Award from that organization.

Mr. Steinberg served on the Board of Trustees for the American Film Institute for ten years.  He was also on the Board of Trustees for the Vision Fund, a charitable organization dedicated to improving the life of visually impaired individuals. Mr. Steinberg received an award from this organization for his “superior achievements” and “professional excellence and social involvement”.

Mr. Steinberg holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He resides in Woodside, California with his wife, Helen.  His three grown children and seven grandchildren also reside in California.