Amplifier is managed by a team led by Jonathan Aberman, the Managing Director of Amplifier. Jonathan is assisted by a multidisciplinary team of advisors and consultants, coupled with support from the Board of Advisors and our strategic allies.
Jonathan Aberman | Michael Dering
Peter Horan | Rich Moore | Loren Burnett
Jonathan is the founder and Managing Director of the Fund. He possesses substantial venture capital, financial and managerial expertise, gained over a career spanning venture capital, law and investment banking. Since 2005, when he formed Amplifier, Jonathan has been integrally involved in evaluation and execution of its investment opportunities. He is primarily responsible for evaluating and selecting the remainder of the Amplifier Team, and directs and manages Amplifier’s investment process. As a member of the board of directors of portfolio companies, Jonathan plays an active role in recruiting executives, soliciting and closing funding rounds, licensing technology, identifying alpha and beta customers, and charting strategy.
Jonathan was a practicing lawyer from 1990 to 2004. During that time he represented many venture capital backed technology businesses, as well as family- and closely-held businesses. His clients looked to him for counsel and advice in all of the important challenges that a family business or closely-held company could face – for example, family disputes, transitional issues, corporate governance, transactional planning, business sales, human resources, distribution and sales, and financing. Jonathan’s clients valued his commitment to their business objectives and his ability to manage complex situations with a positive attitude. He was also well respected by his colleagues and was asked to manage large practice groups and offices several times. Jonathan was a partner in the nationally-recognized law firms of Fenwick & West, Fish and Richardson, and Pillsbury Winthrop.
As Amplifier’s Managing Director, Jonathan is applying the managerial experience he gained by managing the growth and business activities of branch offices for two international law firms, including a $45 million business unit with more than 200 employees. Prior to entering legal practice, Jonathan worked in the investment banking industry in London, England (Daiwa Securities, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Goldman Sachs International), where he applied his financial analytical skills in mergers & acquisitions and international interest rate and currency trading.
Jonathan is also an educator, and he teaches subjects relating to family- and closely-held businesses, including corporate finance, business planning, organizational development and new venture creation. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. He is also a regular speaker on topics related to business formation and expansion for groups such as the National Academies of Science, the National Science Foundation, the Northern Virginia Technology Council and others. He is frequently interviewed and quoted on business topics by national and local news organizations, including the Deal, Potomac TechWire, the Washington Post, the Washington Business Journal, ThinkTalk Television and Left Jab Radio on Sirius/XM.
Jonathan holds a BA (with honors) in Political Science and Economics from George Washington University, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa. He received an MSc in International Economics with Distinction from the London School of Economics. He also holds two law degrees, an MA from Downing College, Cambridge University and an LLM from the New York University School of Law.
Venture Advisors
Amplifier benefits from the assistance of serial entrepreneurs and seasoned executives who have agreed to provide their operational and business expertise to assist in the development and advancement of portfolio companies. Our Venture Advisors may also provide limited consulting services to our portfolio companies. Over time one or more of our Venture Advisors may become management in new companies that we will look to back.
The Venture Advisors for Amplifier currently are:
Michael has over 30 years of experience in the technology industry in the Mid-Atlantic and Silicon Valley markets. He regularly mentors founders of emerging companies and has served on various boards of directors of emerging companies in this capacity. His experience will be available to assist Amplifier’s portfolio company CEOs as well as assist our management in business and operational analysis pre and post investment.
Most recently Michael was President and CEO of ServiceBench, Inc., a privately held SAAS business focused on optimizing the delivery of post-sale service by integrating the service supply chain to increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs. Service Bench was sold in early 2008 to NEW, Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Service Bench was a venture capital financed company, and each venture investor generated significant venture capital returns from the sale. In addition to his Service Bench experience, Michael has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, much of it in the Mid-Atlantic and Silicon Valley markets. He regularly mentors founders of emerging companies and has served on various boards of directors of emerging companies in this capacity.
Prior to acting as President and CEO of ServiceBench, Michael served as President and CEO of CrossAccess Corporation, a multi-national venture-funded software infrastructure company that focuses on integrating corporate business functions with new e-business applications. Prior to joining CrossAccess, he served as President and CEO of two Bell & Howell companies. Under his leadership, Bell & Howell Mail and Messaging Technologies doubled its profits and grew revenues to $500 million while cultivating a broad customer base that included telecommunications carriers. At Bell & Howell Publishing Services Division, he launched its European operation and implemented a focused sales program that resulted in increased market share. Previously, he had a 20-year career at TAB Products Company, a $170 million revenue publicly-traded manufacturer of information storage and retrieval solutions for office environments. He initially served in a variety of sales and marketing positions, and, in his last five years at TAB, held the position of President and CEO. Michael holds a BS from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Peter Horan has more than 30 years of experience in building media and internet businesses, as a Chairman, CEO and executive officer in Silicon Valley and New York. Peter has extensive expertise in social web, media and advertising. His experience will be available to assist Amplifier and its portfolio companies in a wide range of strategic directions, and also provide Amplifier with direct insight into investment and technology company creation trends in New York and Silicon Valley.
Currently Peter is the Executive Chairman of Halogen Network, an new media marketing business, and Goodmail Systems, a venture backed provider of certified email and marketing services. Over the last seven years Mr. Horan has been CEO of four business sales generating more than $700 million in value for investors and other stockholders. During this period he was CEO of IAC Media And Advertising, AllBusiness.com, About.com and DevX.com. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President at International Data Group, where he oversaw a large sales team and was also the publisher of Computerworld magazine.
Mr. Horan is currently on the board of directors of the Interactive Advertising Business and has been on the board of directors of the Online Publishers Association. He holds a BA from Santa Clara University, and an MBA from San Francisco State University.
Rich has had a career of experience in marketing and international expansion, particularly with emerging technology companies. In addition to his work with the Amplifier Business Accelerator Program, Rich is currently on the Board of Directors of Vocus, a public company offering on demand software for public relations management, Noxilizer, a biotech company and NaturalInsight, a provider of workforce management solutions.
Rich has held executive and company officer positions that include Chief Marketing Officer; Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications; President; and Vice President, International. He has worked in these capacities for companies such as VM Software, Systems Center, Roadshow International, Descartes Systems and Cyveillance. Rich has had an emphasis on conversions of multiple companies from traditional one-time sales business models to annual recurring subscription services, commonly referred to as SaaS. He regularly consults in issues surrounding increased valuation through improved positioning, global expansion, public relations and best practice marketing.
Loren is an entrepreneur and senior executive with over 30 years of management experience. In addition to his work with the Amplifier Business Accelerator Program, Loren is currently the founder of Madison Assessment and RLB Technologies. Previously, he was the founder of StackSafe, Inc., a software company focused on virtualization based testing for IT Operations teams. He served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of StackSafe from 2005 to 2009. During his tenure at StackSafe, the company was awarded the 2008 ITIL Pink Elephant Conference Innovation of the Year Award; was ranked by Forrester Research in their top (“On fire!”) category; and was named by Gartner as one of six “Cool Vendors in IT Operations, 2008”.
Loren was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Astral Brands, a consumer brand management company. During his tenure, he oversaw the growth of Astral’s revenue base in excess of 100% over a 15 month period. Prior to Astral, Loren served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Celcorp, a provider of enterprise integration software and services. During his tenure at Celcorp, he led the migration of the company from being a Canadian based software development company to a U.S. based, internationally recognized enterprise software provider serving Fortune 1000 companies. Loren served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Riptech, Inc., a leading provider of managed security services. He was instrumental in the sale of the firm to Symantec, Inc. for $145 million cash in August 2002. Shareholder profits from this transaction exceeded $100 million. Loren founded FutureNext Consulting in 1998, where he served as its Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. FutureNext was a provider of e-supply-chain consulting and implementation services. During his tenure at FutureNext, the company raised over $110 million of equity and debt financing. FutureNext’s annualized revenues grew to over $72 million by early 2000. Loren was responsible for services delivery from eleven practices and managed 450 of the company’s 500 employees. Under Loren’s leadership, FutureNext acquired and integrated six companies over a nine-month period.
Loren served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of The Hunter Group. Hunter was an $80 million provider of system implementation, management consulting and educational services associated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Loren led Hunter’s $56 million Initial Public Offering initiative in 1997. Renaissance Worldwide, Inc. acquired Hunter resulting in profits to Hunter’s shareholders in excess of $150 million. Loren served as Chief Financial Officer of Maxm Systems Corp., a provider of enterprise computer software to Fortune 1000 clients. Loren led the acquisition of a multi-national competitor. He established and managed subsidiaries in the U.K., Canada, Germany and Italy. Loren served as the “acting” Vice President of International Sales and Distribution, where he negotiated distribution agreements covering 43 countries from Asia-Pacific to Europe. He led the successful sale of the company in 1996 to Boole and Babbage, Inc. Loren also held senior management positions with MCI, Coopers and Lybrand and National Telephone Services, Inc.
Loren currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC). NVTC is the largest technology council in the United States. Previously, he served on the Board of Directors and was the Treasurer of The Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic. He was a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Delaware. Loren is an instrument rated airplane pilot, scuba diver, golfer, snow skier and was a finisher in the 2002 New York City Marathon and the 2007 Stockholm Marathon. He also served as the Head United States Senate Page for Senator Howard Baker.
VMS Fund Administration
VMS Fund Administration LLC (“VMS”) of Princeton, New Jersey, provides financial and administrative support for the Fund. VMS has provided administrative services to investment funds both nationally and internationally. Members of the VMS management team possess extensive fund accounting and financial experience, and have provided fund administration services to over 20 investment funds.