George Danko - President and COO of Kardia Health Systems

Mr. Danko is currently the President of Kardia Health Systems. Kardia provides the healthcare industry’s first web based, evidence-based suite of cardiology solutions designed to improve patient care and drive operational efficiencies. Prior to this assignment, he was the Chairman and CEO of SpringWorks, LLC, a venture investment firm that managed a portfolio of early stage, high technology businesses that were aligned with the consumer electronics marketplace. Mr. Danko has over 35 years experience in a variety of industries and held senior leadership positions at a number of highly regarded companies, most notably: Pentair, Inc., Johnson Controls, Square D Company, Tektronix, General Electric and Best Buy Co. where he was the Sr. Vice President of Consumer Electronics and Appliances. Mr. Danko has a proven track record of driving growth, successfully managing multi–billion dollar P&L’s, leading large marketing, sales and product development teams as well as leading the corporate level strategy and business development function.

William Dunbar - Managing Director of Core Capital Partners

Prior to joining Core Capital, Mr. Dunbar was CEO and founder of Pebble Hill Capital, an investment company which provided early-stage financing to information technology and communications companies. Early stage investments included such companies as webMethods. Previously, Mr. Dunbar was a Portfolio Manager at Allied Capital, a publicly-traded firm providing venture capital and private equity, and President of Allied Capital Corporation II, a $100 million publicly-traded private equity fund. During that period, Allied II invested in or acquired forty-six privately-held small or mid-sized growth companies. Mr. Dunbar also served as Executive Vice President of Allied Capital Advisers, the management company for the Allied family of funds, and as Chief Investment Officer for Allied's private equity activities. He began his investment career at Venture America, a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage, high technology investments, and was involved in the early stage funding of Discovery Communications and Digene. Mr. Dunbar also held positions in LBO Lending at Chase Manhattan Bank and in technology operations at NationsBank.

Mr. Dunbar serves on the Board of Solstice Software, SwapDrive, Foresight, and Trinity Convergence. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization and serves on numerous non-profit boards, including Venture Philanthropy Partners and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. He has also served on the Board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association and the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC). From November 1994 to November 1995 he served as Chairman of NASBIC.

Mr. Dunbar has an MBA from Harvard University and a BA from Davidson College.

Robert Sachs

Robert Sachs, 60, is an attorney and business executive who over the past 30 years has served in various executive capacities in the cable TV and telecommunications industries. 

Sachs is principal of Continental Consulting Group, LLC, a Boston-based cable and telecommunications consulting firm that he co-founded in January 1998.  In addition, he serves as a director of several telecommunications and technology companies, and as a trustee of several non-for-profit organizations. From August 1999 through February 2005, Sachs left CCG to serve as President & CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (“NCTA”), the principal trade association of the US cable television industry. NCTA represents cable operators, programming networks and equipment suppliers before the federal government. During Sachs’s tenure at NCTA, the cable industry attained a deregulatory environment for cable broadband services and launched new services including high-speed Internet access, high definition television, video-on-demand, and digital cable phone service.  For the prior two decades, Sachs served in executive positions with Continental Cablevision, Inc. and its successor, MediaOne.  From 1988 until 1998, Sachs was the company’s senior vice president of corporate and legal affairs. From 1979 until 1988, he served as Continental’s director and then its vice president of corporate development.

Sachs began his professional career on the legislative staff of US Senator Charles Goodell (R-NY).  From 1975-77, Sachs served as legislative assistant to US Representative Tim Wirth (D-CO), then a member of the House Communications Subcommittee.  From 1977-78, Sachs served as a full-time consultant to the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy and from 1978-79, he was legislative counsel to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Sachs holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rochester (1970). He earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University (1974) and a law degree from Georgetown University (1978). In addition, Sachs has completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School (1987). 

Sachs is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is a director of BigBand Networks, Inc., Global Crossing, Ltd., StarHub, Ltd., and UpdateLogic, Inc. He also serves as a trustee of The Citi Performing Arts Center, the WGBH Educational Foundation, The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and as chair of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. Sachs is a former director of the Advertising Council, CableLabs, Inc., Cable-in-the Classroom, Inc., and The Walter Kaitz Foundation. He has also served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Committee on Media Reliability and Security.  He is married to Caroline Taggart, co-owner and director of OH+T, a contemporary art gallery in Boston.

Patrick Sansonetti – Co-Founder and Vice President of Business Development

Mr. Sansonetti is VP of Business Development at UpdateLogic. Patrick has 15 years of experience selling software solutions to international electronics companies.

Prior to UpdateLogic, Patrick was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Vibren Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, which provided consulting services to the consumer electronics and personal computer industries. Patrick joined Vibren management team in 2002, when Vibren acquired Rachis Corporation. Initiatives started and managed by Patrick and his team included partnerships with Microsoft, Macromedia, Phoenix, and HP all leading to a substantial increase in sales and net worth for the company. As a co-founder holding the title of COO and Vice President of Business Development Patrick was at Rachis Corporation where he held high-level relationships with television, cable and satellite companies, such as Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta, Panasonic, Thomson, Broadcom, Rogers, Charter, Sony, and Microsoft. Patrick initially gained international sales, marketing, and product development expertise at SystemSoft Corporation (IPO 1994), where he worked from 1993 through 1997. At SystemSoft, Patrick participated in the sales and marketing of patented software technology called SystemWizard which allowed a PC to diagnose and solve configuration issues. Micron, AST, Packard Bell and HP all licensed the product.

Kurt Thielen - Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Thielen is the CEO of UpdateLogic. Kurt is a seasoned veteran in the technology industry with 25 years of product development and executive leadership experience.

Prior to joining UpdateLogic, Kurt Thielen was the Vice President of Engineering at Polaroid Corporation. At Polaroid, he was responsible for Engineering and Product Development of consumer electronic devices. Kurt joined Polaroid after the sale of SoniqCast to Petters Group Worldwide, the holding company which owned Polaroid at the time. In 2001, Kurt founded SoniqCast, a digital audio and video technology company which designed, developed and manufactured portable wireless digital audio and video products. At SoniqCast, Kurt was the President and Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for all day to day operations. In December of 2006, after the sale of Soniqcast to Petters Group Worldwide and the introduction of the SoniqCast products and technology into Polaroid, Kurt and his team joined Polaroid. Prior to running SoniqCast, Kurt was a Director of Product Development at Tellabs. At Tellabs, Kurt managed a multi-million dollar research and development organization and was responsible for product development of Tellabs’ flagship digital cross connect product, the Titan 6500.

Kurt’s previous roles were in management and engineering at companies including StorageTek, Network Systems and AT&T Bell Laboratories.

Jacqueline Weiss - CEO of National Datacast, Inc.

Jacqueline Weiss co-founded National Datacast, Inc. in 1988, serving as its first General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Weiss became Chief Executive Officer in 1991 and is responsible for the strategic direction, planning, and overall management of the company. Joining PBS in 1978, she has held a number of legal and business management posts including Deputy General Counsel from 1982 to 1988. Ms. Weiss headed the public television system satellite replacement project in the late 80's and was responsible for launching in the mid-90's the nationwide Ready To Learn Service on PBS, integrating children's television programming, interstitial material, and outreach services to help early learners develop the skills they need to succeed in school and in life. She also served as the CEO of PBS Enterprises for 15 years. Prior to joining PBS, Ms. Weiss held various media positions with prominent advertising agencies in New York and Miami.

Tom Wheeler - Managing Director of Core Capital Partners

For three decades Tom Wheeler has worked at the forefront of telecommunications policy and business development, experiencing the revolution in telecommunications as both a policy expert and businessman. As an entrepreneur he started or helped start multiple companies offering new cable, wireless, and video communications services, both domestically and internationally. As a policy expert he has been intimately engaged in the development of the government’s telecommunications policy at both the legislative and regulatory level. He is the co-founder of SmartBrief, the first targeted, filtered electronic news service which today serves over 2 million readers daily.

On the 20th anniversary of the cable television industry (1995) Wheeler was selected one of the 20 most influential individuals in the industry’s history. On the 25th anniversary of the cellular telecommunications industry (2008) he was named one of the top 10 innovators in the wireless industry. Following the historic election of 2008 he led the Obama Transition’s efforts on science, technology, space and the arts.

From 1976 to 1984, Mr. Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), where he was president from 1979 to 1984. After several years as CEO of new technology start-ups, including the first company to offer high sped delivery of data to home computers and the first digital video delivery service, Mr. Wheeler was asked to take over the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). He served as CEO of CTIA from 1992-2004 and was selected to the Wireless Industry Hall of Fame

Mr. Wheeler wrote Take Command:  Leadership Lessons of the Civil War (Doubleday, 2000) and Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006). His commentaries on current events have been published in the Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and other leading publications.

Presidents Clinton and Bush each appointed Mr. Wheeler a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where he served for 12 years. He is the former Chairman of the Foundation for the National Archives, and a former member of the board of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Mr. Wheeler sits on the boards of Core portfolio companies Roundbox, UpdateLogic, Jacked, LimeLife and Twisted Pair Solutions. In addition, he is on the board of EarthLink. 

Mr. Wheeler is a graduate of Ohio State University and the recipient of its Alumni Medal for national and international career achievement. He resides in Washington, D.C.