NETSEA Leadership

Sham Sao – Chairman Emeritus
Sham provides overall leadership to NETSEA in the capacity of Chairman Emeritus. He currently serves as CMO of OneSource. Previously, Sham was Global Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Deploy Solutions, an enterprise software company in the HR solutions market. Prior to joining Deploy, he served as VP of Marketing & Business Development for InfoLenz. Before joining InfoLenz, he was: VP of Marketing at Partnerware; Director of Marketing and Business Development at Trilogy Software; and an Engagement Manager serving high-tech clients at the leading global management consultancy, McKinsey & Company. Sham holds a BS degree in Computer Science & Mathematics and BA in Economics from Yale University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He completed his graduate work at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, earning a JD in high-tech law.

Scott Devens – Board Chair and President

Scott brings over 23 years of experience in the technology industry to his role as Board Chair and President of NETSEA. Currently, he is General Manager of Talend, the recognized market leader in open source data management software. Most recently, he was responsible for leading product and service sales efforts for North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific at Progress Software. In this position Scott developed and executed the company's global sales strategy and managed the field sales and technical sales resources, representing just under $500M in annual revenues. Scott joined Progress Software in September 2008 as part of the acquisition of IONA Technologies, where he was VP and Executive Officer responsible for worldwide sales and field operations. He joined IONA as director of field operations in December 2000 and held a variety of senior management positions, including VP of products, business operations, and engineering. Prior to joining IONA, he held various senior management roles in sales and finance with EMC and Data General. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bryant University and a Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College.

Tsipora Cohen – Marketing Chair

Tsipora brings 20 years of high-tech B2B marketing experience to her role as marketing Chair of NETSEA.  She is founder and principal of Accelerate, a strategic high-tech marketing consultancy focused on revenue acceleration.

Tsipora has directed international marketing for companies in a variety of industries.  As VP of marketing at Connance, a healthcare financial management solutions provider, she launched the company’s first SaaS enterprise application and built its market presence.  As VP of worldwide marketing at BluePhoenix (NASDAQ: BPHX), a provider of IT solutions and services, Tsipora was instrumental to its enhanced brand strength and 100 percent revenue growth.

Before Connance and BluePhoenix, Tsipora served as VP of Worldwide Marketing at Keyware (NYSE Euronext: KEYW) and VP of Corporate Business Development at L&H Speech Products (now Nuance, NASDAQ: NUAN) and worked in market research and market development for a variety of marketing communications and software companies. 

Tsipora holds a B.A. in Statistics and Psychology from Tel Aviv University and has participated in an executive education program; AEA/Stanford Executive Institute at Stanford University.

Brian Geery – Business Development Chair
As Business Development Chair for NETSEA, Brian Geery (www.linkedin.com/in/briangeery) is responsible for building corporate sponsorship. Brian is Managing Partner of Technology Sales Consultants, a sales consultancy with a distinguished track record of success partnering with CEOs and VPs of Sales at over 100 technology companies to build scalable, profitable sales organizations.  He is former cofounder and president of the Sales and Marketing Toastmasters Association and former vice president of the Sales and Marketing Executives Association.

Todd McCarthy – Finance Chair & Treasurer
Todd is one of the founders of NETSEA and currently serves as the Finance Chair and Treasurer. He is a Managing Partner at Matlin Partners. Previously, he was a Partner in the High Technology Practice of Heidrick & Struggles and received the Heidrick & Struggles World Wide International Technology Practice "Rookie of the Year" Award for 2000. His practice is focused on CEO, CFO, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing as well as Vice President of Business Development positions. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Todd worked for the Venture Capital firm of TechInspirations, where he focused on 'go-2-market' strategies for portfolio companies. Previously he served as VP of Worldwide Sales for Restrac, Inc., now Webhire.

Michael K. Barron – Legal Chair and Secretary
Michael serves as NETSEA's Legal Chair and Secretary. Outside of NETSEA, Michael focuses his legal practice on representing early and later stage biotechnology, medical device, healthcare, software, internet and technology companies and investors in such companies. He counsels clients on corporate formation, corporate transactional and intellectual property matters and has particular experience working with clients on early stage financings (angel, venture and strategic), mergers and acquisitions, licensing (software, technology, and biotech), and trademark matters. In 1995, Mr. Barron founded the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX), a trade association which serves more than 6,000 New England professionals involved in internet and digital technologies. Michael's full bio can be found on the DLA Piper site.
 

Larry Cervon – VP, Membership
Larry brings his extensive local network to his role as VP Membership for NETSEA to help drive growth of the NETSEA brand.

Larry has an MBA from Babson College and is currently Business Development Manager for Green Beacon Solutions in Newton MA, responsible for managing and growing the Microsoft Dynamics AX (ERP) and Dynamics CRM footprint in New England.  Larry has a finance background coupled with over 15 year’s sales experience with Digital Equipment, CA, IBM and several smaller Infor and Oracle Channel Partners.  Just prior to joining Green Beacon Solutions, Larry was VP, North American sales and marketing at LASSA Partners, a start-up that helped organizations drive increased customer loyalty and competitive advantage through the use of communities and other social marketing technologies to foster innovation. 

Peter Harunk – VP, Volunteers
Peter leads the volunteer team that keeps NETSEA events and programs running smoothly. He has spent his career in high-tech sales and account management, supporting the growth and success of companies of all sizes. Peter has always been enamored with emerging technologies and shifting paradigms within the computing field. Cloud computing, on demand solutions, and social networking are some of his areas of specialty. Currently, he is an Account Manager at Checkpoint Learning (a Thomson Reuters company). His work experience also includes sales and account positions at Active Endpoints, Trillium Software, Mirror Image Internet, IBM and Egghead Software.

Paul Ackerman – VP, Networking Events

Paul brings over 20 years experience in leading technology focused sales teams to his role at NETSEA. As Vice President of Networking Events, Paul is responsible for NETSEA’s mixer programs in support of the NETSEA mission. Paul is currently a Sales Executive at Talend, the recognized market leader in open source data management software. Formerly, he was responsible for sales, marketing and business development at Integrity (acquired by SAI Global) a web-based business ethics and regulatory compliance consultancy, whose clients include Chief Compliance Officers and General Counsels at hundreds of Global 2000 and Fortune 1000 companies. Prior to Integrity, Paul has grown revenues for companies such as Exact Software, SAP, PSINet and New Horizons Computer Learning Centers. Paul has a MBA in Management Information Systems from Western New England University and an undergraduate degree in Music from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Dan Cote – VP, Marketing Communications
Dan brings close to 20 years of marketing and marcom experience to his role as VP of Marketing Communications at NETSEA. Dan is the Global Director of eMarketing at Virtual Computer, the leader in intelligent desktop virtualization (IDV) solutions for PC security and manageability. An experienced marketer, Dan's past positions include: VP of marketing and strategy at nSight; founder and president of StreamAhead (an internet video marketing company); VP of marketing for SellMasters; director of marketing communications for 100x; and Internet marketing manager for Servicesoft (now Kana).

Steve Silva – VP Sales Executive Networking
Steve is the VP in charge of NETSEA's sales executive networking events. Through these events, Steve helps our members share best practices and build relationships with peers. Steve is VP of Sales for Signal Integrity Software, Inc., an electronic design automation (EDA) company providing software products and services for high-speed system design. Previously, Steve was the founder of Sellerity, a management consulting firm that helps companies increase growth by streamlining how they sell. With over 25 years of experience managing and training sales forces, Steve has lead domestic and international teams at Fortune 500 companies (Tektronix) and start-ups (database company from Finland bought by IBM). At a software tools company acquired by Motorola, he created their strategic accounts program, and grew sales 600% in two years. Mr. Silva earned a BSEE from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA from Syracuse University. He is also Six Sigma trained through Raytheon. Outside of work, Steve is chairman of a local Boy Scout troop and an officer for toastmasters.