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David is a General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners whose investment interests and experience include the semiconductor, enterprise systems, and security sectors. David currently represents the firm on the boards of Blackwave, CHil Semiconductor, MOBIVOX, and VidSys.
David's blog, the diary of a Geek VC, can be found at www.geekvc.com.
Prior to joining the firm in June 2005, David spent nearly a decade focusing on early-stage investing at Greylock Partners where he led several of the firm's successful investments in the communications and systems markets. During his time at Greylock, he built a strong investment track record including investments in Akara (acquired by CIENA), Cimaron (acquired by AMCC), e-Dial (acquired by Alcatel), Ikanos (IPO), Sandburst (acquired by Broadcom), SiTera (acquired by Vitesse), Xedia (acquired by Lucent) and Xros (acquired by Nortel).
Prior to Greylock, David held management roles at Chipcom, an enterprise network equipment vendor where he led development efforts in Ethernet bridges, switches and routers. While working full-time on his MBA, David co-founded the Attitude Network (acquired by TheGlobe.com), an Internet content startup with the top two game sites of the day, HappyPuppy.com and GamesDomain.com. Earlier in his career he held technical positions at Bell Labs where he developed secure network systems.
David holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Vermont, cum laude and with college honors, an MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Sophie Forest has been part of the high-tech venture capital industry for over 15 years. Prior to joining Brightspark, she was Partner at CDP Capital - Technology Ventures, a position she held since 1996. At CDP, she played a key role in investments in companies such as Servicesoft Technologies Inc. (acquired by Kana Software Inc., NASDAQ: KANA) and Locus (bought by Infospace, NASDAQ: INSP). Before her time with CDP, she held the position of Director of Alliances and Acquisitions for Bell Canada, where she developed strategies and orchestrated operations for acquisitions in Eastern Canada. She was previously involved in the start-up and growth of GTI Capital, one of Quebec's pioneer private venture capital firms, as Director of Information Technology Investments. She was also Analyst for special projects at the Société Générale de financement du Québec, a prominent venture capital firm in Quebec.
Peter Diedrich has over 20 years of operations experience in technology and telecommunications, management consulting and venture capital. Peter has played key leadership roles at a number of notable firms, including Bell-Northern Research, Nortel Networks, McKinsey & Company, Bell Canada Enterprises, RBC Royal Bank Financial Group, and Skypoint Capital. From 2006 to 2008, Peter was President and CEO of TBayTel, the largest independently owned full service telecommunications carrier in Canada, where he developed a new strategic growth blueprint and led financial and operational performance turnarounds. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering from Carleton University and a Master of Science in Management from the MIT Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. He is a graduate of the Directors Education Program (DEP) at the Institute of Corporate Directors (www.ICD.ca). Peter is a member of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO).
As a co-founder of Skypoint Capital, Andrew Katz has been President since the company's launch and a principal of Fund I and Fund II. Prior to Skypoint, Andrew was Chief Operating Officer and CFO of a public technology company, where he was responsible for research and development, manufacturing, finance, and IT. From 1989 until 1996, he was a Partner with Deloitte & Touche, where he worked primarily with technology companies and focused his energies on emerging start-ups. Andrew was one of the first professionals in Canada to focus on the technology sector as an area of practice and as a result he has broad experience in all aspects of growing and nurturing technology companies. Since founding Skypoint, Andrew has been involved in funding more than 25 companies.
Andrew is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Carleton University.