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BOARD MEMBERS

About Us
Philip M. Pfeffer

Chairman of the Board

Mr. Pfeffer draws on his extensive business expertise to advise the company in the execution of its strategic plan, with emphasis on partnership development and industry relations. Career highlights include:

  • He currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Treemont Capital, Inc., a private equity investment company.
  • He served as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Borders Group, Inc., the second largest book retailer in the United States.
  • He served as President, Chief Operating Officer and member on the Board of Directors of Random House, Inc., the world’s largest English-language book publisher.
  • He spent two decades with Ingram Distribution Group as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, where the company’s revenue profitably grew from $36 million to $11.5 billion.

Joel Lanik

Managing Partner - Frontier Capital

Mr. Lanik is a Principal at Frontier Capital and has more than 9 years of growth equity, operational and advisory experience. He is a current board member of Inclinix, Business Intelligence Advisors and Azaleos. Prior to rejoining Frontier in 2007, Mr. Lanik was Vice President of Finance and Strategy at LURHQ, a leading provider of managed IT security services, where he was instrumental in LURHQ's profitable growth and successful sale to SecureWorks. Before this operating role, Mr. Lanik was the initial associate with Frontier Capital and played a significant role in the successful deployment of Fund I. In addition, he held an investment banking position with Lloyd & Company. Mr. Lanik graduated from Duke University and received his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.


Donald M. Johnston

President, CEO and Partner - Massey Burch Capital Corp.

Don Johnston has over 25 years of venture capital experience. Currently, he serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and Partner of Massey Burch Capital Corp. Since joining Massey Burch’s predecessor in 1982, Don has worked primarily with early-stage information technology, wireless communications and health care service companies. Don is responsible for leading Massey Burch’s investments in Inforum, PhyCor, @plan, and InnerWireless, among others. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Corphealth, InnerWireless, Inoveon, and Intrusion, Inc. Prior to Massey Burch, Don was President of InterFirst Venture Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary of InterFirst Bancshares, Inc. Overseas experience includes his position as an Executive Director of First Dallas, Ltd., a corporate finance group in London, England.


John Richardson

Managing Partner - Navigation Capital

John Richardson is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Navigation Capital Partners.

Between 1995 and 2006, John was a Managing Director of Mellon Ventures, a $1.4 billion private equity firm affiliated with Mellon Financial Corporation. While at Mellon Ventures, he headed the firm’s Growth and Buyout Practice Group and its Atlanta office. He has led investments in manufacturing, distribution, business services and medical services companies and has diverse experience in many industries. He has served on the boards of numerous companies including A.H. Harris, Berkley Industries, Continental Structural Plastics, Leeann Chin, L.E. Technologies, Pecora Corporation, Physicians Endoscopy, Security Services of America, USI Energy Services, and W/S Packaging.

Prior to joining Mellon Ventures, John ran a private investment company targeting small and middle market companies. Prior to this, John was part of the senior management team for two portfolio companies of a major private equity investor. One was an early stage technology company of which he was CFO and the other was a soft drink bottling company which grew through acquisition and consolidation. He began as CFO of the bottling company, becoming COO as it grew rapidly, and ultimately sold it at a substantial gain for its investors. Prior to that, John was Vice-President and Manager of Corporate Finance for PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, which he joined in 1977.


Charles W. Stryker, Ph.D.

President, CEO, and Founder - Venture Development Center, Inc.

Dr. Stryker has received the BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and the Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University. He has been an active speaker and author on the topic of database product development. In addition to these academic credentials, from 1991 to 1999, Dr. Stryker was a part-time faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he taught a number of courses in its Entrepreneurial Center.

Dr. Stryker serves on the board of a number of both public and private companies. His board appointments include: ARGI, Conclusive Marketing, eForce Media, Greenfi eld Online, Healthcare Data Solutions, NetFactor, Reunion.com, Samba, Triton Technologies, and V12.

Prior to the formation of the VDC, Dr. Stryker founded his first entrepreneurial venture; Trinet, Inc. Trinet was merged with American Business Information. Following the merger, the combined company was named infoUSA. Dr Stryker was one of the five private shareholders and President of infoUSA when it went public. He left the firm in 1991 to create VDC.

Prior to this entrepreneurial endeavor, Dr. Stryker was an executive at AT&T, where he was instrumental in creating the Marketing Information Services Organization. He began his AT&T career as a research engineer at Bell Laboratories.

Dr. Charles W. Stryker is the Founder and President of a professional advisory firm, Venture Development Center, Inc. (VDC). This business has a focused practice of assisting companies in creating, developing, and commercializing Information Services properties. The practice areas that characterize VDC projects include creating (innovating) new products that exploit market opportunity, developing new distribution channels to substantially increase revenue for existing Information Services products, and to identify and advise Information Services companies on strategic acquisitions. It is typical that a given assignment may call for efforts in all of these practice areas.


Donal Leyrer

Co-founder - Conclusive Marketing

Because of his strong background in sales and marketing, Mr. Leyrer was recruited to help conceptually develop and create Mailnet Services, Inc., dba Conclusive Marketing. He has over 15 years of widespread experience in sales, marketing and management in the payment systems industry, including electronic funds transfer, consumer based transactions and information management. Career highlights include:

  • As Senior Vice President/General Manager of Comdata Corporation, Gaming Services Division, he grew the company from $25 million to $160 million in revenue.
  • His expertise was critical to the success of Cashchek, a financial services start-up company launched by Ryder System specializing in electronic funds transfer services to the gaming industry.
  • As Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Ryder System, he grew revenue to $18 million in one year positioning the company to be purchased by American Express.
  • He managed a $12 million customer base for the transportation industry as Area Sales Manager for Ryder System/Fleet Control Services.

William Brennan

Co-founder - Conclusive Marketing

Mr. Brennan is a co-founder of Mailnet Services, Inc. and founded DataMarketing Network, Inc. (DNI) in 1984, which he successfully sold in 2008. Career highlights at DNI include:

  • He expanded operations with a growth rate exceeding 30% annually creating one of the largest direct mail and fulfillment companies in the Southeast.
  • He created the first company in the United States to provide high-speed list processing services via the Internet.
  • Under his leadership, DNI has developed a Fortune 500 customer base that includes services for companies such as MCI, GM, Microsoft, Current Labels, Checks Unlimited, Kroger, American General, Rollins, and Globe Insurance.