Keyur is one of the most dynamic visionaries in the digital realm. Over the past 15 years he has developed the strategy for and operated half a dozen digital media companies. He led the turnarounds for such brands as Inktomi and Maxtor, and incubated, hatched and ran a number of successful companies including Brience, Metrius, Webvibe and Phoenix Software.
He is a founding partner of Fuse Capital Group and served as a General Partner of ComVentures prior to the merger, where he led the firm's foray into digital media and opened new horizons for investing in his homeland of India. He is regarded as one of the foremost digital media experts within India, which gives Fuse Capital Group a unique position in this emerging market.
Among his successes a serial entrepreneur, Keyur was Executive Vice President, Business Development and Corporate Strategy for Maxtor Corporation (NASD:MXO). While at Maxtor, he led the creation of the company's "OneTouch" product that has become a major staple in storage appliances for the consumer market. Before Maxtor, he served as Senior Vice President of Strategy, Marketing and Technology at Inktomi Corporation. There, he was instrumental in redirecting the company's strategy, which ultimately led to its acquisition by Yahoo! in 2003. Keyur has also served as Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of KPMG Consulting Worldwide, and Managing Director of the PriceWaterhouse Technology Consulting Practice.
Keyur holds an MS in Computer Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a BS in Computers and Communication from the Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, India. He is also a co-author of the book "Digital Transformation."
Current Board Positions and Representative Prior Investments:
Fabrik, Hip Digital, Mixercast (fka Nanocast Labs), Fuse+Media, NDTV Networks, and India TV
Evangelos Simoudis joined Trident Capital in 2005 as a Venture Partner and has been a Managing Director since 2007. Evangelos focuses on investments in Internet and Enterprise Software businesses.
Prior to Trident, Evangelos spent 5 years as a partner at Apax Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm where he invested and served on the boards of early and mid-stage IT companies. At Apax he also chaired the firm's IT advisory board.
Prior to entering venture capital, Evangelos had more than 20 years experience in high-technology industries, in executive roles spanning operations, marketing, sales and engineering. His experience as a technology executive includes serving as President and CEO of Customer Analytics, a Trident-backed, eCRM company acquired by Xchange, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXAP), and as Vice President of Business Intelligence Solutions at IBM.
Evangelos' current directorships include DesiHits, Hip Digital, Host Analytics and PivotLink Software. Prior directorships include Bristol Technology (acquired by Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ)), Composite Software, Confluent Software (acquired by Oracle Corporation (Nasdaq: ORCL)), Doppelganger (acquired by Hip Digital), Princeton Softech (acquired by IBM) and Vidavee (acquired by Vignette (NASDAQ: VIGN).
Evangelos earned a PhD in computer science from Brandeis University and a BS in electrical engineering from Caltech.
Baris has been a partner at Fuse Capital since 2006. He focuses on identifying investment opportunities in digital media with a principal emphasis on the Internet. Concurrently, Baris is CEO of HIP Digital Media, a Digital Music company in the firm's portfolio.
Prior to joining the firm, Baris worked for six years at U.S. Venture Partners, a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm.
Baris' recent board seats/investments include: Radar Networks, HIP Digital Media, Like.com, SpectraLinear, Minerva Networks, Redline Communications (LSE: REDL) and Aspendos Communications.
Before becoming a venture capitalist, Baris worked in both engineering and marketing at 3Com/U.S. Robotics, where he worked to develop the company's networking and cable industry products. His efforts at U.S. Robotics resulted in a number of U.S. patents.
Baris holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Lafayette College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
He is a frequent speaker in Digital Media conferences, including Digital Hollywood, Dow Jones Conferences & Macworld.
The best way to get to know Baris is to read his blog, "From Istanbul to Sand Hill Road" which focuses on high technology, venture capital, innovation and creativity.