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.

Mark Levine - Managing Director of Core Capital Partners

Mark Levine joined Core Capital in 2000 from GCI Venture Partners, an early stage technology venture capital fund that he founded and that was an early investor in webMethods, one of the most successful software IPOs in NASDAQ history.

Previously, Mark served as an officer of GEO-CENTERS, a technology firm with more than $200 million in revenue when it was acquired by SAIC. There, he was responsible for corporate development, government and industry relations, and management of the firm’s intellectual property portfolio, licenses and joint ventures. Prior to that, Mark was Subcommittee Staff Director for the Small Business Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and was involved in several successful legislative and regulatory initiatives including the Small Business Innovation Development Act and the Small Business and University Patent Act.

His civic and business activities include serving on the Board of Trustees of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA), the Board of Advisors of both The George Washington University School of Business and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, and the Advisory Board of Marshfield Associates.

Mark received his M.B.A. from The George Washington University and lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.

Pascal Luck - Managing Director of Core Capital Partners

Pascal Luck joined Core Capital in 2000 and focuses primarily on the firm's new media, networking infrastructure and information technology sectors. Pascal has been an advisor to and an investor in emerging technology companies as an investment banker and venture capitalist for more than seventeen years.

Prior to joining Core, Pascal was Managing Director and Founder of Cross Hill Financial Group, a DC-based private investment banking/M&A advisory firm. Earlier, he was a Senior Manager with Deloitte Consulting where he specialized in finance and strategy initiatives for product and service companies in the telecommunications and information technology industries. He began his career as a systems engineer with AT&T-IS/Bell Laboratories.

Pascal is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds an M.B.A. in Finance with Distinction from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, and a B.S. in Physics/Engineering from Loyola University in Maryland.

Pascal represents Core on the Boards of Directors of BridgeWave Communications, JackBe, Triumfant,  Purewave Networks, and V.i.  Laboratories.  

Previous board affiliations include GENBAND, Inlet Technologies (acquired by Cisco), NextPoint Networks (acquired by GENBAND), Sourcefire (NASDAQ: FIRE), Trust Digital (acquired by McAfee), Covega (acquired by Gemfire Corporation), and VPI Systems.

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.