Michael Cristinziano
Corporate Vice President, Strategic Development, Citrix Systems, Inc.
Michael Cristinziano is Vice President, Strategic Development at Fort Lauderdale-based Citrix Systems, Inc. where he is responsible for M&A strategy and execution, technology licensing, venture capital investments and investor relations. Prior to joining Citrix in 2003, Cristinziano was Managing Director at New York-based investment bank Harris Nesbitt (BMO Financial Group), where he covered the networking and software industries. During his tenure as an equity research analyst, Michael was recognized by The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and StarMine. Before joining Harris Nesbitt in 1997, Cristinziano began his Wall Street career as an analyst at Needham & Co. Prior to that, he served as a Member of Technical Staff at Telcordia Technologies. Cristinziano earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Temple University, a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jim Watson
Managing Director, CMEA Ventures
Jim Watson joined CMEA Ventures as Managing Director in 2001, and is on the Board of Directors of Apriso, a provider of plant and warehouse automation solutions for the industrial sector; HassoPlattnerVentures, a fund that hosts young, IT-driven companies and guides them into the marketplace; iSuppli Inc., a market intelligence service for the electronics supply chain; LiveOps, a provider of innovative, state-of-the-art call center solutions and a leader in the $20 billion outsourced teleservices industry; MailExpress, a provider of outsourced mail service for large commercial mailers throughout the world; Untangle, an emerging leader in simplifying the way small businesses get the information technology they need; Mitrix, an on-demand supply chain management software company; Odyssey Logistics, a provider of outsourced logistics management services to the chemical industry; and SpikeSource, business-ready, open source solutions. Jim was also on the board of CMEA portfolio companies PathScale, acquired by QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC), and Teros, acquired by Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS).
Prior to joining CMEA, Jim was consultant to several professional services firms and venture capital partnerships in the areas of strategic planning and partnering, board development, and supply chain management. Mr. Watson was also one of the Founders of Monterey Bay Partners, a venture management firm specializing in high technology start-ups. Prior to that, Jim founded Skyway Systems, a high technology logistics company. Jim’s tenure with Skyway included company President and leader behind the supply chain strategy that twice landed Skyway on the Inc. Magazine list of fastest growing U.S. companies in the 1980′s. In 1993, Inc. Magazine named Jim as one of the Entrepreneurs of the Year. That same year, Skyway, with over 1,300 employees, hit revenues above $100 million. Skyway was subsequently acquired by Union Pacific Corporation in 1994. Prior to Skyway, Mr. Watson was with IBM’s large computer systems division where he worked with several large companies, such as United Airlines, in designing and marketing computer systems for all phases of business.
Jim graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and served five years as a Navy pilot from 1969 to 1974.
Nate Redmond
Partner, Rustic Canyon Partners
Nate Redmond brings deep investing, entrepreneurial, and strategic advisory experience to Rustic Canyon. He focuses on investment opportunities in digital media, information services, and open source software. Before joining Rustic Canyon, Nate evaluated venture investments and worked with early-stage technology companies for Clayton Christensen at the Harvard Business School. Previously, he co-founded an infrastructure software company delivering integration and management of Web-based applications. Nate began his career with the Boston Consulting Group, as a consultant to technology firms on new product development and business strategy.
Nate received his MBA from the Harvard Business School and holds two degrees (MSE and BSE) from The University of Michigan College of Engineering, where he was an Entrepreneurial Fellow in the Engineering Global Leadership (EGL) Honors Program.
Rustic Canyon company representation: Untangle*, Mobileplay*, and Playfirst*. Previous investments include Gluecode Software (IBM).
* Denotes Board Seat
Bob Walters
President & CEO, Untangle
Bob Walters began his accomplished career landing F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft on aircraft carriers. Today, Bob leads Untangle, an emerging leader in delivering on-demand software to small business. Most recently, he landed his segment-leading application security startup, Teros, at Citrix Systems via acquisition. Along the way, Bob contributed in executive/general management positions at a number of top startup and public companies, including Securant Technologies (now part of RSA Security), Linuxcare, Informix Software, and Red Brick Systems.
Bob is a published expert and invited speaker in internet security, data warehousing/data mining, entrepreneurship, and leadership. He is an honors graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and was a Guggenheim Fellow at Princeton University.
Dirk Morris
Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Untangle
Dirk Morris has over seven years of technical experience and proven leadership managing development teams to successful, on-time launches in the network security field.
As Chief Architect at Akheron Technologies, Dirk invented the patent-pending High Bandwidth Transparent Vectoring used in the company’s proxy firewall engine. He has also held positions as lead engineer at VerticalNet and H.L.L.C. Consulting, developing Java-based distributed monitor and intrusion detection systems.
Prior to that, Dirk worked on survivability simulations at CERT/CC (Computer Emergency Response Team), the renowned, federally-funded Center for Internet security operated by Carnegie Mellon University.
Dirk earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.
