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Team
CEO - Ashok Narasimhan Ashok is a cofounder of Runa and has been instrumental in founding and building many companies including several that became billion dollar global corporations. His roles have included being:
Ashok currently sits on the Boards of several companies in areas as diverse as Internet portals, investment banking, software development and mobile platforms. He is also a Limited Partner and Advisor for a number of venture capital funds.
COO - Celeste Cooper Celeste has 20 years of experience in leading organizations that deliver innovative and advanced software solutions to market. She is skilled in executive management, software engineering leadership, and also in more technical roles gained by working in both established Fortune 500 companies and startup organizations. She has delivered numerous software products to market. Prior to joining Runa, she was Vice President of Engineering at Tropos Networks, and has held various technical and executive positions at WMS Gaming, Cambia Networks, Motorola, and Sprint. Celeste holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from Valparaiso Technical Institute and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from DePaul University. Celeste is dedicated to propagating entrepreneurship. She is an active volunteer for the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab (VLAB) - MIT Enterprise Forum and the UC Berkeley Venture Lab.
Customers - Heather Dawson Heather has been leading sales and marketing organizations for the past 20 years that sell ecommerce and other foundational software technology. Prior to Runa, she was the VP of Marketing and Channels at CrossView, where she launched the first multi-channel solution that brought the same dynamic interaction of the web onto POS and mobile devices. CrossView doubled in size while Heather was there with sales to key multi-channel accounts like SonyStyle, Sam Ash Music, MooseJaw, Scholastic and MOMA. Key channel activities included negotiating alliances with IBM, Google and CyberSource and building a reseller network of 12 partners in 3 countries. Prior to working with startups like CrossView, Heather spent over 15 years at IBM. She started focusing on emerging markets in IBM when she worked on the products team for the product now known as Websphere Commerce. She has been responsible for national and worldwide sales goals, working with cross-country and international sales groups. Her overall sales responsibility was in the $800M+ range which was primarily delivered through sales channels such as OEM, VAR, VAD and system integrators. She also built large partner networks up around the world while she was working at IBM. Heather is a passionate supporter of technological entrepreneurship and is the Sponsorship Chair at the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab executive team.
Technology - Robert J. Berger and Amit Rathore Rob has been involved in building Internet Infrastructure, Software and Services for the last 15 years. He has provided services to technology start-ups, Internet hardware and software vendors, as well as venture capital firms, including Panorama Capital, Athena Tech Ventures, NEA, Covad, Alteon Websystems, AboveNet, VISA, Cosine Communications, Cisco, Ascend, iPass, and Oki Networks. Prior to Runa, Rob had been involved with software and web services development based on Ruby and Rails as a consultant or advisor at SkyPilot, TelTel, ZipDX and CloudScale while keeping up with his interest in Internet Infrastructure as an advisor at WeFi, BooRah, GridNetworks, Support Intelligence and NetEnrich. Rob has been a principal or founder in several start-up network services and equipment companies including MetroFi, UltraDevices and InterNex. He has been a speaker at many conferences including Next Generation Networks, CTIA and was the program chair of APRICOT (Asia Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies). In 2002 Rob was a visiting research fellow at the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM www.glocom.ac.jp) in Tokyo. Amit has been working on large-scale enterprise systems for nearly 10 years. He has pioneered the use of Agile Software Development techniques since 2001, and more recently has been a thought leader in the Lean Software Development community. Before Runa, he spent nearly 7 years at ThoughtWorks where he developed mission-critical systems in various domains and technologies. He’s also been championing the idea of post-modern software development by utilizing principles of bottom up design, domain specific languages, polyglot programming, and functional and concurrent languages. Amit has been a speaker at several Agile and Lean Software Development conferences.
Product - Akshay Narasimhan Akshay is a co-founder of Runa, and has several years of experience in web applications and Internet security. Most recently, he was the sole proprietor of a profitable Internet marketing firm which set up custom, highly targeted, high conversion campaigns on the web that drove revenue on a CPA (cost-per-acquisition) basis, thereby giving his customers high returns with zero-risk. This experience gave him a good understanding of Internet advertising market dynamics, products limitations, opportunities and the key factors in driving Internet sales.
Analytics - Roger W. Applewhite Roger has spent his 20-year career adapting technology to strategic business problems and opportunities in financial services, manufacturing and the sciences. As a consultant, Roger has served over 50 major firms in roles from consulting analyst to managing director. He led the formation of a new electronic bill payment and presentment company, was director of a joint venture developing online debit for the Internet, and brought to market the financial industry’s first outsourced service management product. Roger has worked with clients including Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, MasterCard, AMEX, BMW, and Kroger. Roger has been a co-founder of three companies: Altadena Instruments, a spin-out from the California Institute of Technology; US Marketlink, an early web developer acquired by Perot Systems; and Static Prevention, Inc., a world-wide manufacturer of ESD control equipment acquired by DESCO Industries. Roger speaks regularly at major financial services forums and has written articles for and been quoted by such publications as American Banker, Bank Director Magazine, DOCUMENT, and Retail Delivery Systems News. Roger has received NCUA’s award for Best New Application of Technology. Roger holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Strategic Business - Arun Tolani Arun is a pioneer in the IT industry in India with over 30 years of management experience in publicly held and venture capital backed global IT and BPO industries. His experience includes the creation of IT system and software and services solutions in the banking, insurance, telecommunications travel and healthcare Industries. Over the last 16 years in the USA he has established and grown two start-up businesses. Arun's executive experience includes pivotal roles in two corporate turnarounds, three acquisitions and two mergers. He is also a charter member of TIE, a global entrepreneur network in Silicon Valley, as well as a strategic advisor and mentor for several young companies in the areas of sustainable technologies, personal health management and SAAS based business solutions. Arun graduated with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1974) and was sponsored for executive education at the Harvard Business School, London Business School and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad..
Alliances - Aiko Fushida Aiko brings 20 years of experience in business development. She most recently worked for Japan Venture Partners, helping US companies identify/ manage partners and customers in Japan. She relationships with over 1,000 technology companies in the U.S., including major Silicon Valley VC and law firms, distributors, resellers, system integrators, and technology manufactures in Japan. Prior to JVP, she was the Director of Sales for an internet portal site where she increased her client base from 0 to 2000, forged media partners in various geographical locations. Aiko also has opened and managed west coast operation for IVEX international, developing US business for Japanese clients. Aiko worked for Recruit Co., Ltd. (one of Japan's largest information conglomerates) and for International Investment Consultants Ltd. Aiko is a graduate of Duke University with a BS in Chemistry. She is President and Chair of the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab. |
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© 2009 Runa Inc. 