Jeff joined ActiveVideo Networks in 2000 as Sr. Vice President of Engineering,
and was appointed President and CEO in 2005. Prior to ActiveVideo Networks,
Jeff co-founded and served as president of embedded computer
manufacturer RISQ Modular Systems, taking the company from the
pre-revenue stage through five years of profitable growth. After
becoming a key supplier to customers including Lucent, Cisco,
WatchGuard, and Terayon, RISQ was acquired in 1996 by SMART
Modular Technologies (NASDAQ:SMOD), after which Jeff served
as Vice President of Consulting Engineering and Applications.
He began his career in 1983 at Delco Research Labs as a processor
design engineer. Jeff holds a BS in electrical engineering from
the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MS in systems
management from the University of Southern California.
Ed Forman
CSO and EVP Strategy & Corporate Development
Ed returned to ActiveVideo Networks in 2006 after co-founding and serving as
CEO of Switched Media, a developer of solutions for mass customization
of live video streams that merged with ActiveVideo Networks. In his previous
stint with ActiveVideo Networks, from 2001 to 2004, Ed served as senior vice
president of marketing and in an executive consulting capacity
and was instrumental in launching the HeadendWare product. Previously,
Ed had been president and CEO of RealContax, Inc. and vice president
of marketing and new ventures for enCommerce, Inc., an Entrust
acquisition.
From 1996 to 1999, Ed was senior vice president of product development
and marketing for Elemental Software, Inc., where he managed
the development and launch of “Drumbeat,” the first drag-and-drop
tool for active server pages, and helped to engineer the company’s
sale to Macromedia. Other key career accomplishments include
the launch of the first mobile wireless email solution with
RadioMail and the launch of the first system for accessing relational
databases from off-the-shelf PC applications with Network Innovations
and the sale of the company to Apple Computer, where Ed served
as IT marketing solutions manager. Ed is a graduate of Harvard
College, and earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of
Business.
One of the foremost innovators in the development of television-based interactivity, John joined ActiveVideo Networks as CTO in 2008. During his 15 years with Time Warner Cable, John rose to the position of senior vice president of software engineering for the Time Warner Cable Advanced Technology Group, and was a leader and member of the team that created many of digital cable’s most innovative on-demand and interactive applications. John was a significant contributor to the creation of the Time Warner Cable Pegasus digital television system architecture, as well as to such interactive digital television technologies as the Interactive Services Architecture (ISA), Video On Demand (VOD), the Open Cable Application Platform (tru2way), and CableLabs’ emerging EBIF ETV standard.
A principal developer of Time Warner’s MystroTV project, he also led teams in the development of several Time Warner Cable market-leading services, including StartOver™, Caller ID on TV, and cable’s first OCAP (tru2way) set-top navigator. John joined Time Warner Cable in 1993 as a member of the engineering team that created and deployed the Full Service Network, a precursor to the current Time Warner Cable platform. Previously, John had spent more than eight years in systems software engineering and development with AT&T Bell Labs and US West. John has received Technical Emmy Awards for his work with Time Warner’s Start Over and VOD services, and is the lead or co-inventor on 13 U.S. Patent Office filings. A Phi Beta Kappa, he holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Ohio Wesleyan University and a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Don Gordon
COO and SVP of Engineering & Operations
Don joined ActiveVideo Networks in 2006 after eleven years with Microsoft Corporation
and DIVA Systems. Named on 70 pending or issued patents (many
of which are in the video-on-demand and interactive program
guide spaces), Don served as director of development for Microsoft
TV’s former TVD venture, then was named director of solutions
architecture for Microsoft TV. Previously, Don was the first
employee of DIVA Systems, where he served in various technical
and marketing capacities before being named general manager
and vice president of the broadcast products division.
Don began his career in 1980 as a senior software engineer and
systems administrator with Lockheed Corporation’s Missiles &
Space Division. From 1984 to 1988, he was principal of the Gordon
Group, which developed software for the entertainment and defense
industries. He served as director of program management for
Ericsson before joining DIVA in 1995. Don holds a BA in Mathematics
and Computer Science and an MS in Cybernetic Systems from San
Jose State University.
Christine joined ActiveVideo Networks in 2007 after having spent much of the
past two decades as CFO or vice president, finance of venture-backed
firms in the San Francisco Bay area and in Silicon Valley.
Prior to joining ActiveVideo Networks, Christine was vice president, finance
for MarketTools, Inc., a San Francisco market research company.
Previously she had been CFO of several companies, including:
Weldon Owen Publishing, Inc., a San Francisco-based international
book publisher for which she executed the sale of the company;
Kasenna, a Mountain View, CA video-over-IP software and hardware
company, where she closed $14 million in equity financing; Portera
Systems, a Campbell, CA software firm; and Liquid Thinking,
Inc., a San Francisco consultancy.
During her career, Christine has successfully taken three companies
public: Gadzoox Network, Inc., a San Jose, CA manufacturer
of gigabit fiber channel networking products for storage area
networks where she was CFO and vice president of finance and
administration from 1997-2000; the California Culinary Academy,
Inc., a San Francisco professional school for which she served
as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, vice president
of finance and assistant corporate secretary from 1993-1996;
and Document Technologies, Inc., a Sunnyvale image processing
software and hardware firm for which she served as CFO, vice
president of finance and corporate secretary from 1989-93. Christine
also positioned Netcarta, a Scotts Valley software company for
which she served as CFO and assistant corporate secretary, for
sale to Microsoft for triple the Netcarta backers’ investment.
Christine began her career as manager, emerging business practice
with Pricewaterhouse from 1983-89. A Certified Public Accountant,
Christine earned her B.S. in Accounting from San Jose State
University.
Mike joined ActiveVideo Networks in 2006 in conjunction with the company’s merger
with Switched Media, a developer of solutions for mass customization
of live video streams. Mike co-founded and served as vice president
of business development for Switched Media after having spent
five years as head of both the nCUBE and later the BigBand Networks
business development units. With BigBand, he developed the initial
business plans for the company’s switched digital broadcast
and digital simulcast solutions. From 1997 to 1999, Mike was
a product and business development consultant to companies in
the cable, entertainment and telecommunications sectors.
During the previous four years, he helped to start, and served
as vice president of new market development for, IPC Interactive
PTE Ltd., a worldwide network-based provider of interactive
services that developed and deployed the first VOD system in
Canada. Prior to that, Mike was founder and consultant for GeoTel,
Inc., an independent consulting venture, and held various marketing
and management positions at Telic Corporation (now CSC Partners).
He also was instrumental in starting Venue Media, which developed
and deployed the in-stadium interactive television system for
the 1998 Super Bowl. Mike received his BA in English and Economics
from Georgia State University.
