ANZA Mentors

ANZA Technology Network has a unique portfolio of senior experienced US-based mentors who work with you in your participation in the Gateway, Fast Track and Bridge to the US programs.

ANZA mentors all have the following outstanding characteristics:

at least 10 years senior executive experience in the US
thorough understanding of the commercialization issues facing early-, mid- and advanced-stage Australian and New Zealand companies as they enter the US market
an extensive personal network of senior contacts in specific verticals in the US
a passion to assist Australian and New Zealand innovative companies as they enter the US market

Simon Anderson, Vice President, Strategy & Development, Authenticlick, Inc.

Simon Anderson is an experienced technology executive with a background in venture capital and corporate law. He is the Vice President of Strategy & Development of Authenticlick, Inc., a leader in the emerging market for web traffic quality scoring solutions for major online advertisers and ad networks. Most recently, he was Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at Affinity Internet, a leading US-based B2B Internet services company, which was successfully sold to Hostway Corporation in 2007. Prior to joining Affinity in 2003, Simon was the US-based general partner of Allen & Buckeridge, a leading Australian venture capital firm investing in early stage technology ventures with over US$200 million under management. Simon started his professional career as a lawyer in Sydney, Australia, specializing in media and technology transactions and corporate advice. Simon earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Law degree from the Australian National University, has guest lectured at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and graduated from executive programs on strategy and negotiation at Harvard Business School.

Stephen N. Anderson, Managing Director, IG Partners
Stephen N. Anderson has led two management firms in California since 1993, the first, Six Sigma Group, Inc. was focused on developing convincing strategies for private and public companies and their investment constituents. The firm's clients included many of the leading companies in Silicon Valley including Silicon Valley Bank and Yahoo. He is now a Managing Director in the management firm IG Partners based in Redwood Shores, CA, which brings a multi-management discipline approach to companies at all stages of development.

Tom Anderson, Founding CEO, Pediatric Bioscience, LLC
Tom Anderson has more than 20 years experience in the bioscience and biotech field. Presently, he is the CEO of a bioscience start-up Pediatric Bioscience in Sacramento, CA. Prior, he was CEO and Vice President of Business Development for Lipomics Technologies in Sacramento, a role in which he grew the company’s revenue over 20-fold. Tom has advised companies in the biotech and bioscience industries, including Epoch Biosciences (NASDAQ: EBIO), a provider of proprietary technology to accelerate genomic analysis, Byotix, a start-up agricultural biotechnology company, and Crestcom International, a management training company, in which he helped sell its program to biotech companies. Tom also served as Chairman of the Board of Berkeley Antibody Company (BAbCO) for 10 years. Tom co-founded BAbCO and oversaw its sale to Covance Research Products in 1998, a move that saw a 500% return on investment for BAbCO's common stock investors. Tom has a PhD in physiology-anatomy from the University of California, Berkeley and was a post-doctoral fellow in molecular biology and endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Sheryle Bolton, Serial Entrepreneur

Sheryle Bolton is a serial entrepreneur with corporate executive experience in investment banking, private equity, health care and media. She has raised almost $100 million in investment funding, led development of 20 software and Internet products and devised patent strategies resulting in more than 120 granted patents. As Chairman and CEO of Scientific Learning, she led a highly successful IPO; two other companies she led were acquired. Sheryle has also served on Boards of Directors of public and private companies and mutual funds with assets of $60 billion. Sheryle has an MA in Linguistics and a Harvard MBA.

Tom Cervantez, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Tom Cervantez is a partner with the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in San Francisco. Tom specializes in corporate finance and intellectual property law, including securities, capital structure planning, private placements, mergers & acquisitions, venture financing and licensing transactions for emerging growth companies, venture funds and software and hardware computer companies. Tom has spoken on these practice specialties and how they apply to Australian and New Zealand businesses entering the US market at many ANZA events. Tom has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from Harvard Law.

Paul Fox, Managing Director, Foley Fox & Associates

Paul Fox is an entrepreneur, executive and consultant with interests in clean technology, enterprise software and electronics. He has led two start-ups, established subsidiaries for several multinationals, and consulted in numerous end markets. Paul’s experience includes electronics, energy technology, enterprise software, supply chain management, outsourcing, telecoms, financial services, defense, utilities, construction, and mining. He now consults to private equity groups, VCs and growth companies at the Board/CEO level. Paul is a professional engineer and holds an MBA.

Kerry Haley, Corporate Vice President & General Manager, Frontier Mobile

Kerry Haley is Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Frontier Mobile, the wireless division of Citizens Communications (NYSE: CZN), a full-service communications provider in markets across the United States under the brand name Frontier. As a senior leader at Frontier, Kerry is responsible for full P&L activities, leading the strategic, technical and operational planning, execution and growth of Frontier’s wireless business. She leads the network design and deployment teams for the Frontier Mobile data product offerings, designing and deploying wireless access networks, creating customized applications and overseeing the development and integration of next generation technologies including: WiFi, WiMAX, VoWiFi, cellular-based voice and data among other emerging standards. Prior to joining Citizens, Kerry served as Vice President of Business Development for SkyPilot Networks, a carrier-class multi-service wireless access systems provider. Kerry has served as CEO for Affinity Solutions, a financial services company. Previously she spent 10 years working with Fortune 500 customers managing multiple domestic and international commercial construction projects. In addition, Kerry serves on the Board of Directors for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives and holds a BS in International Finance from the University of Santa Clara.

David Hutton, PhD, Founder & Principal, Hutton Associates

David Hutton, Founder and Principal of Hutton Associates, provides business development consulting services (corporate partnering, strategic planning) to those in the Life Science/Biotechnology sectors. An avid entrepreneur, he actively participates in the search for novel technology around which to foster the creation of new ventures; he is responsible for founding four biotechnology start-ups. Special relationships have been developed with offshore organizations seeking to foster business relationships in North America. An honors biochemistry graduate of Oxford University, England, David received his PhD in biochemistry from the University of California at Davis.

Olivier Jerphagnon, Serial Entrepreneur

Olivier Jerphagnon has 10 years of experience in the telecom industry in the US and Europe. His areas of expertise are fiberoptics and broadband communication. As part of the start-up team at Calient he brought to market a world-class product under intense competition at the height of the dot.com bubble. When the bubble burst, Olivier successfully re-directed the company's marketing strategy and shifted the company's focus to maintain sales revenue. Olivier is a serial entrepreneur who believes the ability to communicate and sell a new solution is the key to success behind the development of great new technology.

C. Anthony Jones, MD, Founder & President, Next Lifesciences

Anthony Jones brings extensive knowledge and more than 10 years of hands-on experience in healthcare innovation development and marketing. First with Deloitte Consulting, then as Vice President of the Health and Wellness unit at Scient, he has led major marketing strategy projects for some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, biotech, medical devices and services companies. Anthony received his degree in medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine followed by a fellowship in medical informatics at Columbia University. Anthony is a graduate of the University of Kentucky where he received his bachelor's degree in chemistry.

Michael Loftus, COO and CO-Founder of 800-Hi (in Stealth)

Michael Loftus is a proven start-up leader with over 20 years of experience in launching interactive media companies. He is the former CEO and Founder of inFreeDA, a company that provides advertiser-sponsored directory assistance that was sold to AT&T in 2006. Michael has also served in various start-up roles with technology companies like Bullant, Inc., NetFish Technologies, Dialogic, prior to its acquisition by Intel, E-machines and Agency.com. Michael has assisted in growing these companies from various stages, including obtaining investment capital through to achieving full product launch. Michael's extensive knowledge and success in managing these technology-based companies has led to several positive liquidity events.

Jarmal Richard, CEO, jdrlegal

Jarmal Richard is a legal international intellectual property attorney, licensed to practice in both Australia and the US. As the Founder and CEO of jdrlegal, a global intellectual property firm with offices in Melbourne and Los Angeles, he has worked with numerous technology companies to commercialize their intellectual property between Australia and the US. Jarmal holds a BA in English Literature from Dartmouth College and a JD from the University of Southern California Law School. He is also a PhD candidate at RMIT University, with his research focused on open source business modeling for entrepreneurs.

Chris Shipley, Co-founder and Editorial Director, Guidewire Group
Chris Shipley is a leading technology and product analyst. Best known as the Executive Producer of the DEMO Conferences for IDG Executive Forums, Chris has helped technology companies bring more than 1,000 new products to market since 1996. As a Founding Partner and Editorial Director in Guidewire Group, she consults with emerging technology companies in the US and Europe to identify market opportunities and accelerate products to market. Chris holds BAs in Literature and Communication Arts from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Beatrice Tarka, CEO and Founder, Mobissimo

Beatrice Tarka is the CEO and Founder of Mobissimo, a travel search engine. A serial entrepreneur, Beatrice brings a blend of Internet, leisure travel industry and consumer product experience to her role with Mobissimo. Prior to Mobissimo, Beatrice was Co-founder and CEO of Axall Media, a games and edutainment software company. She engineered the acquisition of two companies, negotiated licensing deals with Hearst and MGM/UA and completed distribution deals in 20 countries. Previously she co-founded France Portage, a press distribution database provider acquired by France Telecom. Beatrice holds a BA from the American University in Paris and an MBA from Boston University.

Jennifer Zanich, CEO, Xumii
Jennifer Zanich is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of marketing and executive management experience. She is the CEO of Xumii, a mobile phone solution provider. Previously, as CEO of Wedgetail Communications she delivered more than 7x return for investors. As Founder of SeeSaw Networks, a media services company, Jennifer successfully raised $10m in venture capital. Jennifer has also held executive positions in SkyPilot Networks (wireless broadband) and Microsoft APAC. Jennifer holds advisory and board roles in the US and Australia with Capital Markets CRC, Aggregate Knowledge and Express Mobile.