SEARCH

Corporate History

Management Team

Board of Directors

Investors

Careers

FAQs

 
Board of Directors


Patrick Smith, Chairman & CEO

Patrick Smith retired from Sprint in 2001, where he served as Senior Vice President of Systems Integration and Technology Planning for the company's Information Technology division for seven years.  There, he worked in concert with the Senior Vice President for Network Design and Planning and was responsible for the development of the One Sprint program, which has resulted in a substantial reduction in Sprint's costs for enterprise networking, IT infrastructure and development services.  He provided the technology vision and leadership for Sprint's entry into the Managed Services business, now one of the major profit growth areas in the company.  Prior to joining Sprint, Mr. Smith was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Comdisco, and from 1983 to 1994, he served as the CTO for SHL, Systemhouse Inc.

Pat currently sits on the executive board as Executive Chairman of Wavesat, is a Director for Gridpoint, and sits on the boards of Tranzeo Wireless and Level Platforms . He previously represented Sprint US on the Sprint Canada executive board for 4 years.

 

Return to top

 
Steve Carson,
Vice Chair and Chair of the Audit Committee

Steve has spent over 30 years as a financial and operational officer in the telecommunications and professional services industries, most notably as CFO of AT&T's world-wide consumer long distance business; as well as CFO of AT&T Network Systems (now Lucent Technologies); President, COO and CFO of Claremont Technology Group; and President and COO of Castek Inc. His financial and operational experience have allowed Steve to lead and transform early development stage companies through financing, operational excellence and execution, and scalable business models.

Steve began his career at AT&T in the late 1960s and progressively rose through the ranks of the global telecommunications organization, providing senior financial and operational leadership. He retired after 30 years at AT&T, and subsequently joined Claremont Technology Group serving as its President, COO and CFO. He also established his own executive consultancy, SMC Consulting. In addition to his involvement with Natural Convergence, Steve serves on the Board of Directors of Castek Inc. and as their Chair of the Audit Committee.

Return to top

 
Keith Cooper, Director
Managing Director, VIMAC Ventures LLC

Keith is a Managing Director of VIMAC, joining the Firm in September 2000. Keith has been associated with the VIMAC portfolio since 1996 as the CEO of FaxNet, an Internet telephony company and one of VIMAC's most successful portfolio companies. In three years, FaxNet became the premier supplier of messaging solutions to the largest telecommunications companies in the world and was acquired by Critical Path in December 1999. FaxNet was named #1 private telecom company in Upside Magazine's 1999 annual ranking of the USA's "100 Hot Companies." Prior to starting FaxNet, he was General Manager of Trans National Communications, a start-up company he helped grow to over $50 million in revenues. Trans National Communication was ranked #12 on Inc Magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America in 1995. Keith also spent four years in the Telecommunications Practice at the Boston Consulting Group.

Keith received his MBA and his BA from Harvard Business School and Harvard College respectively.

Return to top

 
Ron Warburton, Director 

Ron Warburton is an experienced senior executive with a proven record in building successful technology companies. Ron Warburton started his career in 1980 and held progressively senior positions in engineering, software sales and marketing with Systemhouse, McLeod Bishop and Simetra. In 1991, Mr. Warburton became President and CEO of Simetra Inc. after leading a management buyout. Over the following nine years, he grew Simetra's software and consulting business across Canada and the U.S. and successfully sold it in February 2000.

Ron joined BDC Venture Capital in September 2000 and has a led a number of investments in Ottawa area software companies. Ron’s operating experience is highly valued at the board level and he regularly takes on the role of Chairman of the Board. He is currently Chairman of Infoterra and Trigence in addition to his board memberships with Natural Convergence and TrialStat. Most notably Ron was Chairman of Tarian Software and helped drive its successful acquisition by IBM in November of 2002.

Ron Warburton is a registered professional engineer. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Queen's University and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Return to top

 

Jose Medeiros

Mr. Medeiros is the President of Wesley Clover, the private venture capital firm of Sir Terence Matthews. Mr. Medeiros has been with several of Mr. Matthews' group of companies since July 1993. Mr. Medeiros holds a number of senior management positions in Wesley Clover's subsidiaries. He is currently the President of the Brookstreet Hotel and Celtic Tech Jet Limited. He was previously Chief Financial Officer of Celtic House International and Director of Taxation at Newbridge Networks.

His current private company directorships include Wesley Clover Corporation, The Celtic Manor Resort, Solace Systems, Inc., Natural Convergence Inc., Wesley Clover Solutions Inc. and BreconRidge Corporation.

Mr. Medeiros is a chartered accountant and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce from the Université du Québec à Hull.

Return to top

 

Leon Lajoie

Léon Lajoie has been an Investment Manager at Desjardins Venture Capital since October 2003.

Before joining the team, Léon was Manager, Industrial and Commercial Commissariat at the Société d’aménagement de l’Outaouais. He worked as General Manager of the Fonds régional de solidarité Outaouais and later as Senior Investment Manager at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Léon’s has acquired in-depth knowledge of the SMB environment in a career spanning 15 years in venture capital investing.

He has sat on the boards of directors of several companies in both the technology sector and the traditional economy.

Léon holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Ottawa.

 

 

 

Return to top