Richard Schwartz, Ph.D
Richard Schwartz has repeatedly created and led new organizations to innovate and develop software which has had significant impact on the market. Most recently, Schwartz has been Senior Vice-President of Strategy and Technology for Openwave, responsible for strategic directions and mergers/acquisitions. He joined Openwave as a result of the acquisition of his former company, SoloMio, where he was CEO. Prior to founding SoloMio, he was senior vice president of technology at Vignette Corporation. He joined Vignette in June 1999 via the acquisition of his company, Diffusion, where he was founder and CEO. Prior to Diffusion, he was chief technology officer and senior vice president of technology for Borland International during the period of revenue growth from $30M to $650M. At Borland, Schwartz was responsible for overall product and technology strategy. From 1990-93 at Borland, Richard Schwartz created and developed the pan-European business and the Paris-based European Development Center. Schwartz joined Borland via the acquisition of his company Ansa Software. He co-founded Ansa Software and was the co-creator of Paradox, the first relational database software that was widely used by business professionals and sold over 10 million copies.

Schwartz holds a PhD in Computer Science from UCLA. After completing his PhD, he was a visiting professor in Applied Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and then served as senior computer scientist at Stanford Research Institute (SRI International) prior to founding his first company.

Steve Vandegrift
Most recently, Steve Vandegrift was Managing Director of Techxas Ventures, which provides venture capital to early-stage technology companies. During his tenure, Steve sat on the Board of Directors of six and acted as interim CEO at two of Techxas’ portfolio companies, successfully selling/merging each with other companies. Before Techxas, Mr. Vandegrift founded and acted as President and CEO of Activerse, Inc. which developed the first Internet email and web browser programs allowing mobile devices to connect to the Internet. While at Activerse, Mr. Vandegrift led the acquisition of Intraverse, Inc., later acquired by CMGI. Prior to Activerse, Mr. Vandegrift was co-founder, investor and Chairman of Wireless Verticals, which developed and commercialized wireless application software products for specific vertical markets. Previously, Mr. Vandegrift founded the Grindstone Group, a consultancy specializing in early-stage technology company development. The first 10 years of Steve’s career were with Chase Manhattan Bank, where he founded a new line of business by forming strategic alliances with major financial institutions like Trust Company of the West, Fidelity and State Street Bank.

Mr. Vandegrift currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio branch, member of the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences Advisory Board, Board member of Texchange and founding Chairman and member of the Advisory Board of the Texas Natural Sciences Center. He has previously been Chairman Emeritus of the Austin Software Council, member of the Small Business Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin Theater Alliance and American Electronic Association Executive Committee.

Scott Abel
Scott Abel is a serial entrepreneur, having accumulated over 26 years in information technology. As co-founder of Motive, a high-flying Austin,TX based start-up, Scott achieved numerous company milestones, including generating over $100M per year in revenue, navigating a successful an IPO in 2004, and inking customer deals with 40 of the world's top broadband providers. Prior to Motive, Scott was Vice President of Worldwide Professional Services for NeXT Software where he built NeXT's consulting organization, taking revenue from $0 to $14 million in just over two years. Previously, Scott held various business and software development positions at Apollo Computer, Motorola and PSW Technologies. Scott recently co-founded Spiceworks, which provides the world’s first free, ad-supported IT management application for small and medium businesses. Leveraging various open source technologies, Spiceworks was launched at roughly 1/10th the cost of what it took to start a software company ten years ago.

Scott holds a BS degree in Physics from the University of Texas, Austin.

Jorge Partidas
Jorge Partidas has worked on Mobile Media since 1999 leading several successful startups. Mr. Partidas is currently CEO of LatCel, a Joint Venture between Venevision International (part of the Cisneros Group of Companies) and Wau Movil. Previously Jorge was Co-Founder of WAU Movil, a leading mobile aggregator in Latin America with offices in 18 countries and more than 45 direct connections to mobile carriers.

Mr. Partidas graduated as an Economist from Universidad Catolica in Caracas, Venezuela.