Board of Directors

Raju is the founder and CEO of Sierra Atlantic. With over 2000 employees, Sierra Atlantic is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California and has Global Development Centers in Hyderabad, India and Guangzhou, China. Under his leadership, Sierra Atlantic has become a Best-in-Class Global IT Services company, and consistently ranked amongst best managed companies including the top 75 most Admired companies in Silicon Valley, Top 25 great places to work in India and Top 10 best employers in South China. Before founding Sierra Atlantic in 1993, he spent 10 years at Intel in software development, marketing and general management.

Raju holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from BITS Pilani and a Master of Science degree in computer science from Virginia Tech.

Raju is a member of the BITS Pilani Board of Directors and a Charter member of TiE Silicon Valley. He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Puente, a Wharton School non-profit program which helps under-privileged communities worldwide gain access to technology. Raju also co-founded SIPA (Silicon Valley Indian Professional Association) along with other young Indian engineers from Silicon Valley in 1987.

Mary has been a Managing Director at Walden International since 2002. She focuses on investments in software, Internet and IT services. She has led investments in the following companies: SugarCRM (open source CRM), Savvion (Business Process Management), Genius.com (web analytics for sales reps), Funambol (open source wireless email), Apptera (voice-based mobile as platform), Agiliance (IT Governance, Compliance and Security), and Levanta (Linux data center management appliance).

She also serves on the boards of Sierra Atlantic (systems integrator) and AirTight Networks (WIFI security appliance). Previously she served on the boards of Infravio (acquired by WebMethods) and Techspan (acquired by Headstrong).

Prior to joining WI, she worked as a Managing Director at Internet Capital Group and served as the CEO of Rightworks (sold to 12 Technologies), Baan (BAAN) and Aurum Software (ARUM).

Mary studied electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Ron joined NEA in 1991 and became a general partner in 1995. His investment activities are focused on software, principally infrastructure and business applications targeting the enterprise, as well as IT-based business service opportunities. He currently serves on the boards of DETERMINE Software, EchoPass, Perfect Commerce, PolyServe, Scheduling.com, Sierra Atlantic and Teros.

Before joining NEA, Ron was with Berkeley International, focusing on information technology venture financings. Previously, he was with Advanced Micro Devices, and with Eastman Kodak. Ron received a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.

As founder and chairman of TiE, Kanwal Rekhi brings with him more than 20 years of executive experience with successful Silicon Valley technology companies. Kanwal was an original founder of Excelan, a computer networking company, where he was named president and CEO in 1985. Excelan eventually merged with Novell in 1989, where Kanwal served as an executive vice president, chief technology officer, and a member of the board of directors. After retiring from Novell in 1995, Kanwal served as CEO at CyberMedia until its merger with Network Associates.

Through the years, Kanwal has been active in the Silicon Valley community of entrepreneurs, receiving numerous awards for his commitment to technology and entrepreneurship. He earned his B.S. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India. Kanwal also received an M.S. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in business and engineering from the Michigan Technological University.

Hatim Tyabji has been the Executive Chairman at Bytemobile since August 2001. Prior to this he was the Founding Chairman and CEO of Saraide, Chairman and CEO of Verifone and IS President at Sperry Corporation. In 2001, he received the Point Of Sale (POS) Industry's Lifetime Achievement award. He has also received the Silicon India Lifetime Achievement award for excellence in business and technology. In 2007, he published Husband, Wife & Company: An Honest Perspective on Success in Life and Work, a book on the complex interrelationships between family and career.

Tyabji holds a B.S. and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a M.B.A. in International Business. He is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the State University of New York.

Rahul is currently a Partner at Exigen Capital where he focuses on companies in the financial and telecom industries. During his 20+ years as an operating executive (CIO and COO), Rahul has worked with several global banking organizations such as Merrill Lynch, Dresdner Bank and Sanwa Bank. He has served as the principal with Cooper Neff & Associates, a global hedge fund and EVP at Fannie Mae. Rahul’s record of creating and marketing technology products to solve complex business problems has established him as a principal who knows how to revamp businesses and deliver financial results.

Rahul also serves on the boards of Fair Isaac (FICO:NYSE) and Level 3 Communications (LVLT:NASDAQ). He served on the board of Sun Microsystems (JAVA:NASDAQ).

Rahul received a M.B.A. in Finance from the Temple University, M.S. in Computer Science from Memphis State University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Bombay University