Digital Reef Board of Directors

Chris Risley
Chief Executive Officer

Chris has over 25 years of software business experience during which he has led seven venture-backed start-ups resulting in one IPO and three sales to public companies. For the past 10 years, Risley has focused on Data Management software companies, shaping and growing 3 of the industry’s rising stars. Most recently Chris was CEO of SharePoint Archiving and Migration innovator Metalogix, previously he was CEO of StreamBase Systems, the leader in complex event processing and before that CEO of Nominum, Inc., the provider of carrier-scale software to operate the Internet’s massive database of names and IP addresses. Chris continues as Chairman of StreamBase Systems, Inc and as Chairman of the Executive Committee of Nominum, Inc.

Risley’s investors have included Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, Deutsche Telekom, Highland Capital, In-Q-Tel, Juniper Networks, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, Sumitomo, Verisign and others. Risley has also served as an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.

Risley holds a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from Cornell University and completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Steve Akers
Digital Reef Founder & CTO

Steve Akers is the founder of Digital Reef. A highly successful entrepreneur, Steve has spent his career designing cutting-edge technology solutions that solve complicated and very large scale business problems.

As chief technology officer in the Lucent Technologies Inc. "Wireline" business unit, Steve worked closely with Bell Laboratories to deliver large-scale technologies for integrating data, optical, and wireless networking across a common set of IP technologies. Steve came to Lucent from Spring Tide Networks, a company he co-founded in 1998. During Steve's tenure, Spring Tide became the premier provider of "IP Service Intelligent" switches for enhanced data services over IP networks. Steve and his team architected and designed the wireless, wire line, and broadband platform that inspired the purchase of Spring Tide by Lucent in 2000. As chief technology officer and key architect at Shiva Corporation, a maker of remote access and virtual private networking equipment, Steve partnered with Nortel networks to deliver remote access server and carrier-based VPN technologies. Steve's networking, storage, distributed file systems, and security experience also includes key positions at Stratus Computer, Hewlett-Packard, and Apollo Computer.

Steve holds a Master of Science in Computer Science degree from Boston University, a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University.

Antonio Rodriguez
Matrix Partners General Partner

Antonio Rodriguez is a General Partner in the Waltham office. Antonio loves disruptive products almost as much as the entrepreneurs behind them, and happened to get lucky enough to enter the technology industry as the commercial Internet began to redefine entire industries.

With 15 years of operating experience as an engineer, manager, CEO, and founder, he is eager to partner with entrepreneurs looking to make a dent in the universe. Most recently, Antonio was CTO of HP’s consumer Imaging and Printing division where he led a wide array of projects in the areas of mass customization, e-reading, mobile platforms, and next generation web platforms for content consumption.

He came to HP through the acquisition of Tabblo, where he was founder and CEO. Tabblo, a Matrix-backed company, was a high-end photo site focused on bringing together the viral nature of online content publishing with the high margins of digital printing.

Prior to that, Antonio held a variety of engineering, product, and business development roles at MyPublisher (currently the leading photo book manufacturer in the US), abuzz Technologies (acquired by the New York Times), and the Boston Consulting Group.

Antonio has graduated from Harvard University, with an AB in Social Studies and from Stanford University MBA and graduate studies in Computer Science.

Stephen Van Beaver
Pilot House Ventures, General Partner

Stephen Van Beaver has broad management experience in the technology industry as an entrepreneur, manager, active investor and advisor for emerging information technology and telecommunications companies for more than two decades. He has led hardware and software products and services companies and divisions, working across many functional areas including technology and engineering management; operations; and sales and marketing strategy.

Prior to joining Pilot House, Stephen was co-founder and Senior Vice President of Operations for Road Runner, the high-speed data joint venture between MediaOne (now Comcast), Time Warner (now AOL Time Warner), Compaq (now HP) and Microsoft. In this role, he grew numerous operational functions, as well as other areas of the business including deployment, program management, quality assurance, customer care, and regional operations. He also served as Vice President of Operations and Technology for MediaOne Internet Services, as well as for Continental Cablevision.

Before joining Continental Cablevision, Stephen was General Manager of the AT&T Interchange Online Network division. Stephen also held senior positions at Shiva and Index Technology, within the marketing, operations, and technology functions.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Camiant, Copanion, Mazu Networks, PeerApp, and Stoke.

Stephen holds a Masters of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Hartford.

Jim Baum
Netezza President & CEO

As President and CEO, Baum is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company, as well as overseeing its day-to-day operations, global product development, sales and marketing. As an integral part of the leadership team in his previous role as COO, Baum worked to take Netezza public in 2007, then as CEO he sold Netezza to IBM for $1.7 Billion in 2010. Baum brings to Netezza over 20 years of leadership experience with fast-growing companies.

Prior to Netezza, Jim Baum was president and CEO of Endeca. During his five year tenure, he led Endeca's rise from an innovative start-up to the leading provider of innovative information access and delivery software solutions to the Global 2000, building the customer base to more than 270.

Previously, as executive vice president and general manager at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), Baum helped drive the Company's growth to more than $1 billion in revenues during his 11-year tenure. Overseeing PTC's Windchill Business Unit, he was responsible for all aspects of the business, including product strategy, product development, marketing, operations and services. Jim holds an M.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is a member of WPI’s Department of Computer Science Advisory Board. Baum is an avid flyer and a member of Angel Flight.