VirtualInstruments

Board of Directors

Jim Davidson

Mr. Davidson is Co-CEO of Silver Lake, which he co-founded in 1999. He has been an active advisor to and investor in the technology industries for more than 25 years. Prior to Silver Lake, Mr. Davidson was a Managing Director at Hambrecht & Quist, a technology-focused investment bank and venture capital firm (now part of JP Morgan Chase & Co., “H&Q”). Mr. Davidson managed several businesses at H&Q, including the Technology Investment Banking business and the Mergers and Acquisitions business. Prior to H&Q, Mr. Davidson was a corporate-securities attorney for Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. Mr. Davidson serves on the boards of Skype Limited, Flextronics International Ltd. and Avago Technologies Limited. Previously, he was a director of Seagate. Mr. Davidson also serves on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations. He holds a B.S. from the University of Nebraska and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.

Craig Hanson

Craig, partner, Next World Capital has 15 years of private equity, venture capital, operating and investment banking experience with a focus on technology. Most recently, Craig was a Vice President with FTV Capital, a growth-stage venture capital firm with $1 billion under management investing in enterprise software and business services companies worldwide. He was also a Principal at Vista Ventures, a technology venture capital firm, and a Vice President at Berenson Minella & Company, where he worked on large growth capital and buyout investments, as well as completed several acquisitions and financings, through the firm's private equity and investment banking operations. He has also been the CFO of a venture-backed technology company, and began his career as an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston.

Craig has served on the Boards of or been involved with a number of investments, including: LeftHand Networks (acquired by HP), MX Logic (acquired by McAfee), Dante Software (acquired by webMethods), Host Analytics, DynamicOps, SenSage, PSS Systems, Cloudmark, Nimsoft/Indicative Software (acquired by CA), StrionAir (acquired by Carrier), Rally Software, Thought Equity, DAFCA (acquired by Ceallaigh), SiGe, Fitness Holdings Worldwide (acquired by Forstmann Little), FM Precision and Stratavia (acquired by HP).

Craig received a BA magna cum laude from Carleton College and an MS from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Sloan Fellow.

Steve Mankoff

Steven Mankoff  has over 20 years of experience in the software industry and currently serves on the Boards of Virtual Instruments, ConvergeOne, Nomis Solutions and SignalDemand and is an advisor to Cloud9 Analytics, CodeObjects, Neuvora, and NorthStar. Previously, Steve worked as Senior Vice President Global and Technical Services at Siebel Systems, Inc. which was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2006. Steve was a member of the Founder’s Circle of first employees and the Siebel executive management team. As Senior Vice President Global and Technical Services, Steve was responsible for Siebel’s global Expert Services, Education, Professional Services, Quality Engineering, Technical Account Management, Technical Support, Customer Satisfaction and Offshore Development programs. The combined organization had over 2,100 employees, over 700 dedicated contractors and annual revenue approaching $1 billion. Prior to Siebel, he held various product, marketing, and sales management positions at several software companies including Oracle. He earned a Master of Science in Management from the MIT Sloan School and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Brown University.

Michael Marks

Marks, former CEO and board chairman of Flextronics, was appointed to Virtual Instruments’ board of directors in September of 2009. Marks, an expert in electronics manufacturing and vertical business integration, offers guidance to the company as it expands and continues to build momentum. 

As the former CEO of Flextronics, Marks brings extensive experience with supply chain management and integration to Virtual Instruments. He spent 13 years as CEO of Flextronics International Ltd. and built the company from $93 million to $25 billion. During his tenure, which culminated in his appointment as chairman, Marks established operations in over 35 countries and integrated over 100 acquisitions. He is also credited with leading Flextronics through the 2000 “bust,” steadily holding revenues and surpassing its primary competitor, Solectron Corporation.

“As we evolve and expand globally, an innovative and strategic thinker like Michael can help us scale operations and supply chain management,” said Mark Urdahl, CEO of Virtual Instruments. “Michael’s proven track record in manufacturing strategy, coupled with his many deep industry relationships, makes him an ideal board member for Virtual Instruments.”

“Virtual Instruments’ pioneering approach to SAN and virtual infrastructure optimization technology solutions dramatically improves a company’s IT efficiency and uptime while enabling intelligent IT cost-cutting and consolidation – a critical requirement for enterprise data centers,” said Marks. “I am looking forward to working with my fellow board members to help the company capitalize on its amazing success in this turbulent economy.”

Marks is currently a founding partner of Riverwood Capital and was a partner and senior advisor at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in 2006 and 2007. Electronic Business Magazine named Marks one of the Top Ten Most Influential Executives in Silicon Valley History and its 2003 CEO of the Year. Additionally, Marks was honored by Fortune, who named him one of the “Heroes in U.S. Manufacturing”.  He is on the board of directors for SanDisk Corporation, Schlumberger Limited, Zappos.com, Inc., in addition to two non-profit organizations – the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the National Parks Conservation Association. Marks earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BA and MA from Oberlin College.

Chris Schaepe

Chris is managing director at and a founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners, covering infrastructure technologies and services. He has eighteen years of venture capital experience and four years of operating experience. Prior to Lightspeed, Chris served in corporate finance and capital markets roles at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Previously, he was a software engineer at IBM.

Chris has frequently been named to the Forbes Midas List of top venture capital investors. He serves on a number of private company boards and one public board, Riverbed Technology, Inc. Selected investments include:  Brocade, Avamar, Ciena, Fusion-IO, Aprius, Aerohive, eHealth, LightLogic, Transmeta, and Terayon.

Chris holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Stanford University.

John W. Thompson

Thompson, former chief executive officer and current chairman of the board of directors for Symantec was appointed to Virtual Instruments’ board of directors in October of 2009.

During his 10-year tenure as CEO of Symantec, Thompson transformed the company into a leader in security, storage and systems management solutions, delivering world class products to a global customer base, including both individuals and large-scale enterprises. Beyond his role at Symantec, Thompson served on the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee (NIAC), making recommendations regarding the security of critical U.S. infrastructure, a role to which President George W. Bush appointed him.  In addition, he was recently appointed to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the cause of the recent financial collapse and make recommendations to Congress on step to avoid or mitigate the impact of a reoccurrence.

“As Virtual Instruments continues to expand globally, the wisdom and experience of an industry veteran like John Thompson becomes an invaluable asset,” said Mark Urdahl, CEO of Virtual Instruments. “John’s extensive understanding of systems and storage, combined with his perspective on how technology policy affects the national and global stage, will be critical input to help propel Virtual Instruments into the next phase of growth.”

“Virtual Instruments is doing an incredible job helping Global 2000 companies lower the capital and operating expenses associated with their SANs and virtual infrastructure,” said Thompson. “It’s clear they play a critical part in improving the efficiency of every large IT organization by increasing overall asset utilization, improving IT productivity, and reducing unnecessary infrastructure expenditures. I look forward to serving on the board of directors, providing guidance and support as the company evolves.”

Before Symantec, Thompson held various senior executive positions in sales, marketing and software development at IBM Corporation, a career that spanned 28 years. In his last assignment at IBM, Thompson served as general manager of IBM Americas and as a member of the company's Worldwide Management Council. 

In addition to Virtual Instruments and Symantec’s board of directors, Thompson also serves on the board of directors for JovianDATA, Liquid Robotics, UPS and Seagate Technology.  His leadership expands beyond Silicon Valley, with Thompson serving on the national board of Teach for America, in addition to being inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame and recently awarded the David Packard Medal of Achievement by TechAmerica. Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University and a master’s degree in management science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Mark Urdahl

Mark was the founding CEO of Virtual Instruments responsible for strategy and operations from June 2008 until May 2010.  He has over 20 years of experience in the tech sector, serves as Managing Partner of White Dove Partners, an investment and advisory firm, and led the acquisition of the NetWisdom business from Finisar. Mr. Urdahl previously served as Chairman and CEO of Applied Science Fiction (ASF), a spinout from the IBM Corporation, which was acquired by the Eastman Kodak Company. Mr. Urdahl’s successful spinout of ASF was preceded by a distinguished career at IBM, where he held management positions in marketing and sales, technology development, corporate development, leading the first institutional investment in Ancor Communications, a developer of Fibre Channel switches that was acquired by Qlogic in May 2000 for approximately $1.7 billion. Mr. Urdahl sponsored IBM’s Fibre Channel program, and partnered with executives at Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems to found the Fibre Channel Systems Initiative and the Fibre Channel Industry Association, both highly successful industry initiatives to commercialize Fibre Channel technologies resulting in today’s $22 billion Fibre Channel storage area network industry. Mr. Urdahl received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara and advanced executive training at the Wharton School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Stanford University.

Investors

Virtual Instruments is funded by a select group of highly-regarded, experienced investors, including both private individuals who are IT industry veterans and leading venture investors. Venture investors include: