Board Members

Laurie Wallace, Executive Chair

Laurie is a serial entrepreneur who has, to date, launched and led two successful technology companies in the digital media and wireless sectors. Most recently, Laurie co-founded and led online casual game developer FlyOver which was acquired by Vivendi Games in 2006. Previously, he was co-founder and CEO of Datum Telegraphic, a designer of semiconductors for the wireless data base station market. Acquired by PMC-Sierra in 2000 generating one of the highest returns ever in BC for an angel-backed company, Datum became PMC-Sierra's wireless products division. Laurie led PMC-Sierra's wireless marketing initiatives throughout Asia, Europe and North America until his departure in 2003. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Laurie worked in systems engineering, sales and executive management with industry leaders MPR Teltech, IBM and Apple.

Haig Farris, Director

Haig is a Canadian venture capital industry pioneer and an astute, hands-on technology investor. Haig co-founded Vancouver-based Ventures West in 1968 and after retiring from the firm in the early 90's, he established Fractal Capital, an angel fund through which he has invested in many early stage technology businesses. Throughout his career, Haig has financed and mentored the founders of several of BC's most successful technology companies. He has served as co-founder, chair or director of numerous technology associations and established a course on technology entrepreneurship for Masters and PhD candidates from the faculties of science, engineering, and business at the University of British Columbia. Numerous companies and technology industry leaders emerged as a result of this course. Haig has an honorary PhD Laws from UBC.

W. B. (Bill) Lipsin, Director

Bill was Corporate Senior Vice President of Global Channels for CA, responsible for the strategy and P&L of CA's Indirect Channels business. Bill has 30 years of IT industry experience. Previously, he was senior vice president and general manager for CA's Western area, responsible for expanding relationships with CA customers and business partners in the thirteen Western states. Prior to joining CA in 2005, Bill served as president and CEO of SEEC, an enterprise software and services vendor. Before that, he was president and CEO of Ironside Technologies, which he helped grow from start-up to a global, industry-leading enterprise software vendor. Earlier, Bill served as vice president & general manager of Bay Networks and senior vice president of services for Crowntek, the largest Canadian desktop and network reseller/systems integrator. Bill also held several key management positions with IBM, working in the company's sales, channel and marketing organizations.

Geoff Mair, Director

Geoff has more than 13 years experience in managing enterprise solutions development from idea to rollout and return on investment. As CTO, Geoff is responsible for driving the company's product strategy and managing the solution development and product teams at Partnerpedia. He works closely with the company's enterprise clients to help form their partner ecosystem strategies from the ground up and deliver the infrastructure to support their channel initiatives. Prior to co-founding Partnerpedia in 1996, Geoff was a senior account manager for Sitewerks, a Microsoft vendor and solution development partner. Geoff has a Masters degree from Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia.

Mike Satterfield, Director

Mike brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial and senior operating experience in the software industry to the Yaletown team. Mike leads Yaletown's investments in Indicee, Partnerpedia and Zeugma Systems. Mike has built product development and management teams in Canada and the US, devised and executed business plans, established strategic partnerships, raised venture capital from US and Canadian investors, and participated in the sale of two companies he founded. Prior to co-founding Yaletown, Mike was CEO of Simba Technologies (acquired by Pivotal). Prior to that he co-founded Paradigm Development, a Vancouver-based contract software development firm whose client roster included Microsoft, Adobe and Symantec. Mike has a B.Sc. degree from the University of British Columbia.

Mark Sochan, Director

Mark brings over 15 years of executive experience in enterprise and early stage technology companies across North America and Europe, and has an extensive background in channel and partner strategies. As CEO of Partnerpedia Media, Mark is responsible for driving overall corporate strategy and building market momentum for the company. Mark sits on the board of several private and public technology companies, and serves as a mentor for the Technology Venture Formation in the Management Science and Engineering department at Stanford University. Before joining Partnerpedia, Mark was Vice President of Business Development at SAP where he was responsible for the SAP NetWeaver Partner Program and the launch of the SAP Developer Network. Mark holds a BASc of Computer Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo.

Janet Wood, Director

Janet is currently the senior vice president of Customer Assurance for SAP at Business Objects, and regional senior executive for Business Objects in Vancouver. Wood joined Business Objects in February 2001 and has previously served as senior vice president of Global Partners and Sales Enablement, senior vice president of Global Partners and Integration, and group vice president of OEM and Alliances. Prior to joining Business Objects, she was vice president of business development at Crystal Decisions, where she helped drive sales through partnership initiatives. She has also held various management positions at IBM. Wood holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Alberta, Canada.