Lauder Partners
Gary Lauder is the Managing Partner of Lauder Partners LLC, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing in information technologies. A venture capitalist for 21 years, he has invested in more than 50 private companies, most of which have developed technologies for cable television, IPTV and the Internet. Gary serves as Chairman of ActiveVideo Networks, a Lauder Partners portfolio company, and is a Director of three other portfolio companies: AgileTV/Promptu, Integra5 and ShotSpotter. Prior to Lauder Partners, Gary worked at the venture firms Aetna, Jacobs & Ramo Technology Ventures and Wolfensohn Associates.
Named by Upside Magazine as one of the Top 100 “Builders of the Information Highway” in 1994, Gary is co-inventor of nine patents and regularly has shared his views on television and communications technologies on industry panels and in published articles. He holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Gary is active in the Aspen Institute, where he was in the inaugural class of Henry Crown Fellows and co-created with his wife, Laura, the Socrates Society.
Jeff joined ActiveVideo Networks in 2000 as Sr. Vice President of Engineering, and was appointed President and CEO in 2005. Prior to ActiveVideo Networks, Jeff co-founded and served as president of embedded computer manufacturer RISQ Modular Systems, taking the company from the pre-revenue stage through five years of profitable growth. After becoming a key supplier to customers including Lucent, Cisco, WatchGuard, and Terayon, RISQ was acquired in 1996 by SMART Modular Technologies (NASDAQ:SMOD), after which Jeff served as Vice President of Consulting Engineering and Applications.
He began his career in 1983 at Delco Research Labs as a processor design engineer. Jeff holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MS in systems management from the University of Southern California.
Peter Hirshberg is a Co-Founder of The Re:imagine Group, a fast growing agency helping brands with strategy and marketing in a world of empowered and connected audiences and customers. He's worked with executive teams at Best Buy, Sony, IBM, Verizon, Estee Lauder, Syfy and many others on digital and growth strategies. Previously he served as Chairman of Technorati, the largest social media ad network with an audience of over 108 million unique visitors a month on over 400 professionally run sites with over a billion monthly page views. Hirshberg served as president and CEO of Gloss.com, the online prestige beauty etailer co-owned by Estee Lauder Companies, Chanel and Clarins. He was also founder and CEO of Elemental Software (sold to Macromedia in 1999).
During a nine-year tenure at Apple Computer, Hirshberg headed Enterprise Marketing, where he grew Apple's large business and government revenue to $1 billion annually and helped lead the company's entry into the online service arena. Hirshberg is a board member of ActiveVideo Networks and serves on the advisory boards of Ideeli and GlamMedia.
He is a Trustee of The Computer History Museum and a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. Since 2009 he's been an advisor the the MIT Sensable Cities Lab and a Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. He earned his bachelor's degree at Dartmouth College and his MBA at Wharton.
Lewis is Founder and Chairman of SCC Company, a consulting firm specializing in technology. Mr. Solomon also co-founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Broadband Services, Inc., an outsource provider of supply chain management, network planning, and fulfillment services from 1999 to 2004. From 1983 to 1988, he served as the Executive Vice President of Alan Patricof Associates, a global venture capital firm. Mr. Solomon also spent 14 years at General Instrument Corporation ultimately as Senior Vice President and Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Solomon is a director of Anadigics, Inc., Harmonic, Inc., Terayon Communication Systems, Inc. and several private companies.
Guy is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aurora Networks and co-inventor on nine of the company's patent applications. Before founding Aurora, Sucharczuk was general manager of C-Cor.Net's optical products development and manufacturing facility. He also previously served as vice president of research and development (he is listed as co-inventor on a number of patents pending approval), product marketing and operations at Silicon Valley Communications prior to that company's acquisition by C-Cor.Net. Sucharczuk's early career comprises R&D positions at Avantek and Motorola as well as R&D and marketing responsibilities at Harmonic Lightwaves, where he was responsible for key product lines that played a significant role in the company's successful 1995 IPO. Sucharczuk is a member of the IEEE and SCTE and has been published in numerous trade publications and journals.
Mike Nevens serves as a Senior Advisor to Permira, an international private equity fund with 21 billion euros of funds under management.
He also serves on the on the boards of directors of Altera, NetApp, and ModelN Software. Mike is also a member of the board of trustees of the San Jose Museum of Art and is President of that board. He is a member of the board and executive committee of ZER01: The Art and Technology Network. Mike is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame where he has been an Adjunct Professor of Corporate Governance and Strategy.
He retired as a Director (senior partner) of McKinsey & Co. in 2002 having led McKinsey's global technology practice for ten years. He also served on the board of the McKinsey Global Institute which conducts research on economic and policy issues. He joined McKinsey in 1980. Prior to that he held various staff and campaign positions in Washington, DC and was an associate in the Administrative Services Division of Arthur Andersen.
Mike received a B.S. in Physics from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science in Industrial Administration from the Krannert School at Purdue University where he was designated a Krannert Scholar.
He resides in Los Altos Hills, California with his wife Yvonne.
