• Dave McClure, Manager of FF Angel & the fbFund REV incubator programm
• Alan Barrell FRSA, noted European Archangel
• Dr. Basil Peters, CEO of Fundamental Technologies II
• Frank Peters, Angel investing podcaster at thefrankpetersshow.com
• Mike Volker, of the Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund
• Permjot Valia, noted British Angel, entrepreneur & blogger
• Dan Martell, award-winning Silicon Valley entrepreneur from New Brunswick
• James Geshwiler, Managing Director, CommonAngels (Boston)
• John Kemp-Welch, Director, Venture Capital, Business Development Bank of Canada
• Chris Fralic of First Round Capital, an active early-stage fund
• Antoine Paquin, General Partner, Rho (Montreal)
• Jacques Bernier, Managing Partner & Founder, Teralys Capital
• Susan McLean of Sustainable Development Technology Canada
• Dr. Tony Rahilly, Director-General, NRC-IRAP
• Daniel Mothersill, President & Founder, National Angel Capital Organization
• Bryan Watson, Executive Director, National Angel Capital Organization

Dave McClure, Manager of FF Angel and fbFund REV Incubator Program

Dave McClure has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years as a software developer, entrepreneur, startup advisor, angel investor, blogger, and internet marketing nerd. Dave currently runs FF Angel, a seed-stage investment program for Founders Fund, and also manages the fbFund REV incubator program on behalf of Facebook, Accel Partners, and Founders Fund.

Dave's passion is helping startups with marketing, product strategy, and startup metrics, and he is an advisor or investor for over 30 companies including: Canopy Financial, CreditKarma, KissMetrics, Mashery, Mint, RichRelevance, Simply Hired, SlideShare, TeachStreet, and Twilio.

Dave is the co-founder of both Startup2Startup and Finance4Founders, monthly dinner meetings for Silicon Valley startup entrepreneurs & investors.  Dave has been a conference organizer for many tech and startup events including STARTonomics, Graphing Social Patterns, and Web 2.0 Expo (SF).  He is the author of the presentations Startup Viagra and Startup Metrics for Pirates, available on SlideShare.

Previously Dave launched and ran marketing for job search engine Simply Hired.  From 2001 to 2004, Dave worked at PayPal (acquired by eBay in 2002) as Director of Marketing, where he started the PayPal Developer Network program. Prior to PayPal, Dave was a database consultant & programmer for several companies, including Microsoft and Intel. In 1994 he founded Aslan Computing, an internet & e-commerce consulting group later acquired by Servinet / Panurgy in 1998.

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Alan Barrell, Cambridge Angels

Alan Barrell has spent almost 30 years in senior executive positions in technology based industries and has become one of Cambridge's most articulate promoters of entrepreneurship. He was a founder shareholder in Library House Ltd, and is Entrepreneur in Residence at the University's Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning and Visiting Professor of Enterprise at the University of Bedfordshire School of Graduate Business Studies.

He is also Distinguished Guest Professor at Xiamen University in China and Senior Enterprise Fellow, University of Essex and a Fellow of Anglia Ruskin University. Recently appointed as International Fellow, Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki. He  has been  Chairman of Health Enterprise East Ltd, an organisation seeking to exploit innovative inventions, processes and procedures in the National Health Service within the Eastern Region since it was set up five years ago.  Following a scientific training, he worked in earlier phases of his career, around the world with Baxter Healthcare and was its Chief Executive for six years.

Subsequently, he joined Domino Printing Sciences as Managing Director. Domino became a public company and now has a market capitalization of more than Euros half a billion.  Following this, after six years, he joined Willett International, an industrial electronics company, and was its CEO, building its international business into a major success.  He was instrumental in launching the Cambridge Gateway Fund to support early stage technology businesses in the region and became its Managing Partner, and has been involved with a number of charities including the Papworth Trust, the Royal Society of Arts, the Centre for Tomorrow's Company and The Prince's Trust. He is International Advisor to Youth Business China

He has also chaired the Cambridge Enterprise Conference and works closely with a number of Science Parks and Innovation Centres in Cambridge, elsewhere in the UK and overseas. He received The Queen's Award for Enterprise promotion in 2006.

Most recently, Alan has become Chairman of Eagle Genomics Ltd, and Pneumacare Ltd., and a Director of Probe Scientific Ltd. All are entrepreneurial early stage Life Science Companies. He is a Director of two Chinese Companies – Golden Bough Intellectual Property Company and Oriental Investments Ltd.

Alan is a member of Cambridge Angels and Sophia Business Angels ( France ) and advises numerous early stage companies internationally.

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Dr. Basil Peters, CEO of Fundamental Technologies II Angel Fund

Basil has been a technology entrepreneur, CEO, fund manager and director. Dr. Peters co-founded and is fund manager for the Angel Fund Fundamental Technologies II. From 2002 to 2006 he was involved with the Venture Capital Fund BC Advantage Funds, and from 1996 to 2000 with the hedge fund Fundamental Technologies I.

While still in grad school, Basil co-founded Nexus Engineering. Nexus grew to seven companies with over 300 employees with operations in Hong Kong, Jakarta, London and five Canadian cities. The first company in the group, Nexus Engineering, became the second largest manufacturer of cable television headends in the world with installations in over 100 countries. Nexus Engineering and one other company in the group were successfully sold to Scientific Atlanta (NYSE:SFA) of Atlanta, Georgia in 1993. Basil was Chairman and CEO from the founding through to the sale. In the mid 1990’s, Dr. Peters worked in Silicon Valley as the CEO of ICTV Inc, an interactive television company funded by IBM, Cox Cable and the Lauder Venture Fund.

Basil has recently written a book titled Early Exits: Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs and Angel Investors. In addition, he writes a blog on best practices for angel investors and entrepreneurs at www.AngelBlog.net.

In addition to his business activities, Dr. Peters was an Adjunct Professor of Engineering Sciences at Simon Fraser University from 1985 to 2000. He has also been a member of the Board of Governors of the B.C. Institute of Technology and was elected three times to the Board of Governors of the University of British Columbia. Dr. Peters established the HTEG/Basil Peters Endowment Fund, a scholarship for outstanding students at Simon Fraser University. Basil completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering at UBC in 1982. He graduated with a Diploma of Technology in Electrical and Electronics with Honors from the B.C. Institute of Technology in 1973 and a Bachelor of Applied Science with Honors, in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1977. In both programs, Dr. Peters achieved the highest average in his graduating class.

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Frank Peters, thefrankpetersshow.com

Frank has been an angel investor since 1999 when he joined Charlotte Angel Partners. He eventually joined Tech Coast Angels in 2003. TCA has great relationships with the venture capital firms, the non-profits, the universities, and everyone else who participates in the ecosystem for entrepreneurs.

Frank started Plaid Brothers Software in Orange County, CA in 1983; creating portfolio management and contact management systems. The portfolio software pulled him east to Wall Street and New York City. After running the company for 15 years, he was ready for a change, so he devoted himself to dance photography both in New York and at UC Irvine.

He is now settled in Orange County and is a member of the Dean's Leadership Council in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine and is Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels.

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Mike Volker, Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund

Mike is a high-technology entrepreneur and investor involved in the development of technology-based businesses. He is Director of Simon Fraser University's Industry Liaison Office (since Dec'96) and President and Founder of WUTIF Capital (VCC) Inc - the Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund.

In 1966, as a student entrepreneur, he was awarded the National Junior Achievement President-of-the-Year award. He received the University of Waterloo Alumni Achievement Medal in September, 1995. He served a maximum term as a Governor of the University of Waterloo from 1987-1993. His business career started in 1973 when he founded Volker-Craig Ltd., a computer terminals company that was acquired in 1981. Since then he has been active in various early-stage businesses as a founder, investor, director, and officer. Mike was the first Chairman of Shad International in 1980. He frequently writes and speaks on management and technology issues and is active as a member of various charitable and educational boards.

In 1988, he moved to British Columbia to serve as the first full-time Executive Director (1988-1991), and later as Chairman (2001-2003), of the BC Advanced Systems Institute, an organization dedicated to technology development and technology transfer. From 1991-1996 he was Chairman & CEO of RDM Corporation (TSX:RC), formerly Mindflight Corporation), a publicly-listed company he founded in 1987.

From 1996 to 2001, he was Chairman of the Vancouver Enterprise Forum and continues to manage the Vancouver Technology Angel Network. Mike is very active on the B.C. high tech scene, serving on non-profit boards of Telus New Ventures BC and the Canadian Listed Companies Association and public company boards of Plutonic Power Corporation (TSXV:PCC), Visiphor Corporation (TSXV:VIS) and GraphOn Corporation (OTC:GOJO) as well as various private company boards.

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Permjot Valia, Flight & Partners Ltd. UK

Permjot is a prolific investor having invested in twenty businesses in the last four years. He is based in London, England and currently sits on the board of the Enteprise Investment Scheme Association and is their representative on the board of the British Business Angels Association. He is extremely well connected in the London Entrepreneurial scene and the annual get together he organizes is a who's who in this space.

He has made over 20 angel investments in the last five years and the businesses make an eclectic collection. The companies range from a cafe making the British sandwich of the year to a company engaged in mobile phone contract lead generation online.

Permjot started angel investing after having served as Sales and Marketing Director for Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Services in London. Having organized the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year competition for 2004, Permjot was able to learn first hand what it took to be a successful start up and the problems they encounter along the way.

In 2007, Permjot worked with New East Manchester (a regeneration project) on a very successful initiative to help local businesses develop compelling business propositions to raise the level of investment in their business and to further boost employment in the area. This initiative has now been rolled out to run for a further three years and Permjot has been retained to coach the businesses in the New East Manchester Area. Permjot co-founded a fund management business called Flight & Partners Ltd which now has around $30m under management. The fund, which started in early 2008, currently invests in distressed situations. Two further funds are planned for 2009 to invest in start up situations and land-bank opportunities.

Earlier this year, Permjot also started www.businessangelblog.com where he tries to pass on many of the lessons he has learned from his angel investing. As a result of this blog, he has been asked to speak at many conferences and business events. Permjot Valia gained a degree in Economics with Honours from the University of Leeds in 1993. In 2000 he obtained his MBA from the Open University.

To allow him to be authorized by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom, Permjot passed the Investment Management Certificate in 2007.

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Dan Martell, award-winning Silicon Valley entrepreneur from New Brunswick

Dan Martell skydives and snowboards and believes running is among the secrets to a fruitful life. But the 29-year-old Moncton, N.B., native insists business is his sport.

With a background in computer programming but no formal business training, Dan’s passion for technology and business has meant he has had a hand in launching several companies to date.

Dan has been described as not having a “knowing-doing gap.”  At 25, and just 10 months into his 2004 start-up, Spheric Technologies Inc., the Canadian firm was landing so many deals south of the border that instead of seeking visa sponsorships for his traveling employees, he moved quickly to set up a U.S. office.  Growing by an average of 152% per year, Spheric raked in three business awards before he sold the company in mid-2008.

An award winning Entrepreneur, Dan recently co-founded Flowtown, a company focused on providing web-based tools that allow small businesses to measure their online marketing efforts. Now living in  San Francisco, Martell spends the majority of his time looking at ways to build a bridge between Silicon Valley and New Brunswick. As an informal angel investor, he is active in advising ntrepreneurs using metric-based marketing tactics to gain market adoption.

An avid reader who dreams of remaining a lifelong student, Dan invests in startups whose opportunities and ideas he can get excited about. His philosophy is to build companies that solve the business problems he faces. He takes risks in work and life and focuses on the journey over the reward. Martell is relentless in his work ethic – if a job has to get done, he’ll do it right away.

Martell is a board member of Propel ICT and also volunteers his time working with youth battling addictions at Portage NB. He is passionately involved in facilitating micro-lending to entrepreneurs in developing countries through the non-profit, Kiva.org.

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James Geshwiler, Managing Director, CommonAngels, Boston

James joined CommonAngels in 1999 and currently manages the group's investments in Cambria Pharmaceuticals, Frame Media, HNW, Interactive Supercomputing, Nimbit, PermissionTV, Skyhook Wireless, TimeTrade systems, Tizor, and Vela Systems. He also is on the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. James was the founding chairman of the Angel Capital Association, the professional alliance of angel groups that has grown from 46 groups as charter members to now over 144, representing over 6,500 investors. He also was the founding chairman of ACA’s sister organization, the Angel Capital Education Foundation, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation. AECF works with angel investors, venture capitalists, academic leaders and entrepreneurs around the country to provide research and educational programs on angel investing. He is a contributing author to Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing, published in October 2003 by Darden Business Publishing of the University of Virginia, has written papers and various articles on angel investment processes, and regularly speaks on entrepreneurship and private investing.

Prior to CommonAngels, James worked at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, the premier strategic advisory consultancy for the oil, natural gas, electric power and refined products sectors. Prior to CERA, James worked for the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department State—both in Washington DC—in a variety of roles covering global technology analysis, assessment and policy.

He holds a bachelor's degree with highest honors from the Liberal Arts Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, a master's degree in political science from UCLA, and an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management. James also is an avid rower and a member of Cambridge Boat Club.

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John Kemp-Welch,,Director, Venture Capital, Business Development Bank of Canada

John joined BDC Venture Capital in January 1997. He has over twenty years of investment management experience with early stage technology companies. From 1987 to 1997, John held progressively senior investment management positions at Innovation Ontario Corporation, a venture capital firm involved in early stage technology investments. In that role, he worked closely with the board and management of over thirty early stage technology companies. From 1981 to 1986, John was an investment manager with the Ontario Energy Corporation, which invested in a variety of oil, gas, and energy-related technology companies.

John Kemp-Welch holds Bachelor degrees in both Economics and Geography from McMaster University.

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Chris Fralic, First Round Capital

Chris Fralic joined First Round Capital in 2006, and was most recently VP of Business Development at del.icio.us (which was acquired by Yahoo! in December 2005), where he focused on distribution partnerships to integrate del.icio.us across a broad set of browsers, tools and publishing partners.

Chris previously spent 6 years at eBay, and his last position was a combination ad sales and business development role helping entertainment companies such as Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Music Group, Apple and Netflix reach and connect with eBay users. Chris previously led the eBay Entertainment categories, managing the transaction, platform and supply/demand aspects of the books, movies and music marketplaces in the US with over $1 billion in transaction volume during his time there. Chris had been the VP of Business Development at Half.com, which eBay acquired in June 2000, where he helped develop many parts of the business including fund raising, content licensing, the affiliate program, supply and distribution partnerships, and advertising and sponsorships sales.

He currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management), and has taught graduate-level classes at Temple, Drexel, Rutgers and Eastern University. He has spoken at numerous industry events including Gartner Group’s Retailvision, DigitalHollywood’s Media Summit, Jupiter’s Plug.in, AlwaysOn’s OnHollywood, MediaKitchen’s Venture Day and DreamitVentures. Chris is an advisor at First Growth Venture Network, a member of the Philly.com Digital Advisory Board, and has attended and been involved with the TED Conference since 1994 and helped launch TEDTalks which have been viewed over 100 million times. Chris is a co-author of Media and Communication VC Best Practices, and is a co-inventor of a US Patent for listing goods for sale online by phone. He is an avid skier/snowboarder and tennis player, and has finished 4 marathons with his wife and swears he will never run one again.

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Antoine Paquin, Rho Canada

Prior to joining Rho Canada in 2006, Antoine had a 15 year background in technology as both an entrepreneur and an investor. He has been active as an entrepreneur, CEO, and angel investor at: Skystone Systems (sold to Cisco), Philsar Semiconductor (sold to Conexant/Skyworks), Extreme Packet Devices (sold to PMC Sierra), Semiconductor Insights (sold to United Business Media), Solidum Systems (sold to IDT), BitFlash (sold to OpenText), and Axiom Microdevices. He was the Anderson’s National Capital entrepreneur of the year in 1997, won the National IWAY Innovation award in 2000, and won the National Research Council Innovator’s award in 2000. He received a Masters in Project Management from the Universite de Quebec and a Bachelor of Engineering, Systems and Computers, from Carleton University.

Antoine currently serves on the boards of the wireless operator of the last Canadian AWS auction, Pyrophotonics, Accedian Networks, and Javaground.

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Jacques Bernier, Managing Partner and Founder, Teralys Capital

Since July 1st, 2009, Mr. Bernier has been Managing Partner and Founder of Teralys Capital, a fund of funds whose limited partners are the Quebec Governement, Caisse de Depot et de Placement and Solidarity Fund QFL.  With the Solidarity Fund QFL since 2004, Jacques Bernier has been Senior Vice-President, Information Technologies, Telecommunications and Industrial Innovations until May 31st 2008 and acted as the gatekeeper for the fund of funds activity.

An engineering graduate from École polytechnique in 1979, Mr. Bernier supported the creation of the Industrial Innovation Centre of Montreal. He was also co-founder and CEO of BGH Planning, a software developer, and co-founder and Vice-President of OMVPE Technologies, a manufacturer of semi-conductors.  Mr. Bernier helped found Teleport de Montreal, a beacon in Quebec's telecommunications sector, and served as its President from 1987 to 2002. Before joining the Solidarity Fund QFL, he was President of Megapoint, a holding company in the high-tech sector, and Chairman of the Board of LxSix Photonics, a leader in new production processes in fibre-optic communications and optical sensors.

Over the past 29 years, Mr. Bernier has demonstrated his expertise—both in Canada and the U.S.—in launching businesses, financial engineering, business development, growing investments, scouting for new markets and defining innovative business strategies.

Mr. Bernier is also a member of the Board of Directors and executive committee of the Canadian Venture Capital Association.

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Susan McLean, Regional Director, Partnerships, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC)

As Regional Director, Partnerships in Toronto, Susan McLean acts as the focal point for identifying, developing and nurturing relationships with the financial sector, SMEs and industry as well as provincial governments, academia and non-governmental stakeholders within the region.

Prior to joining SDTC, Susan spent 10 years with the Toronto Stock Exchange, holding several management roles. In her most recent position she was directing TSX Group activities relating to environmental finance with a specific focus on building clean technology listings. With significant expertise in the emerging field of carbon markets, Susan sat on various carbon-related industry committees. Earlier in her career, Susan held positions in both research and trading with a Toronto based brokerage firm.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Designation in 2000 and a Masters Degree in Economics in 2008.

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Dr. Tony Rahilly, Director General, NRC-IRAP

Tony has had extensive management experience in both the private and public sector. Starting his working life as a quality control chemist for Fry-Cadbury's in Dublin Ireland, he made the transition to sales and marketing within the pharmaceutical industry. Upon his arrival in Canada, he spent some time as Director of New Product Development for one of the large pharmaceutical companies.

Switching to the academic world, he has been both teacher and administrator in the community college system and university. Tony has taught marketing, statistics, and organizational behaviour at both the college and university level. He has held senior posts in both academic and support services such as admission and registration.

Tony holds a doctorate in administrative studies, focusing on organization theory and an MBA in Marketing, both from the University of Toronto, as well as a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University College Dublin, Ireland.

Tony joined NRC-IRAP in 1998 and took over his position as the Regional Director for Ontario in 2001. He has now been leading the NRC-IRAP since September 2004.

Tony lives with his wife (Margrit) in Whitby and has two adult children, David and Andrea. His personal interests include the opera, musical theatre, live theatre, travel and reading especially history, science and mystery novels.

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