Walter Pritchard, Director and Research Analyst, Citi Bank

Walter Pritchard is a Director and Research Analyst covering software. Prior to joining Citi in 2009, Walter spent ten years covering software at Cowen and Company and SoundView Technology Group. Prior to equity research, Walter worked in investment banking, focused on capital raising and financial advisory for technology companies. Walter holds a B.A. in chemistry from Pomona College and is a CFA charterholder.

Amir Ben-Efraim, CEO and co-founder, Altor Networks

Amir has over 18 years of experience in high-tech management, including marketing, business development and software engineering. Most recently, Amir was head of business development at Check Point Software where he led the company’s global BD efforts, including partnerships, OEMs, corporate strategy and M&A considerations. Previously, Amir was co-founder and senior vice president of marketing at Blue Wireless, a vendor of personalization software for telecommunication carriers. Prior to Blue Wireless, Amir led marketing initiatives at Netro Corporation, and simulation projects as lead software engineer at Amdahl Computers. Amir holds an M.B.A. from UCLA, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Asheem Chandna, Partner, Greylock Partners

Asheem joined Greylock in 2003. His areas of interest span enterprise IT infrastructure, software and services. He has invested in companies in cloud computing, data center, electronic payments, networking, management, security and virtualization.  Asheem's current company boards and investments include AppDynamics, Delphix, Imperva, Palo Alto Networks, TechProcess and Xsigo Systems. He was previously on the boards at CipherTrust (MCAF), NetBoost (INTC), PortAuthority Technologies (WBSN), Securent (CSCO), Sourcefire (FIRE) and also invested in Aruba Networks (ARUN). Asheem has helped create and grow multiple technology businesses and product lines to market-leading positions – both as a former operating executive and as a venture capitalist at Greylock. As a company board director, he works closely and supportively with founders and management teams to help create and grow “category-leading” companies that provide customers with highly-differentiated product capabilities and superior business value. Asheem joined Greylock from Check Point Software, where he was vice-president of business development and product management. During his 6+ year tenure, Check Point grew from $10M to $500M+ in annual revenues. Asheem founded the business development and product management organizations, led corporate marketing during high growth years and directed Check Point's product/business strategy, product management and industry partnerships. Asheem is also credited with creating, growing and leading Check Point's OPSEC Alliance into the largest and most successful security partner program in the IT industry. Prior to Check Point, Asheem was vice-president of marketing with CoroNet Systems (a venture-backed startup acquired by Compuware), where he helped create and define a new product category for application-aware network monitoring. Previously, Asheem held strategic marketing and product line positions with SynOptics/Bay Networks and AT&T Bell Laboratories. During his 3+ year tenure at SynOptics/Bay, the company grew from $175M to $900M+ in annual revenues. At AT&T Bell Labs, Asheem represented AT&T at IETF standards committees for TCP/IP management protocols. Born and raised in India, Asheem holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

Steve Krausz, Partner, USVP

If change is the only constant, then it's the unique qualities of each entrepreneur that keeps Steve Krausz passionate about working with startups. "I get excited about creation in technology," says Steve, who joined USVP in 1985. "It's exciting to see new generations of entrepreneurs who bring leadership to their organizations. These are people who can paint a picture of success that makes others want to join them, who can liberate others to be their best." Steve has been involved with USVP's investments in Check Point Software, Harmonic Lightwaves and Stratacom. He serves on the boards of Asempra, Force10 Networks, Imperva, Megapath, MontaVista, National Banana, Occam Networks, Sierra Monolithics, Synfora, and Xirrus. Steve has led the firm's investments in Accelerated Networks, Applied Digital Access, Elantec, MicroLinear, Occam Networks, and Xylan. Change means innovation—it also means disruption of status quo. Steve is drawn to areas of disequilibrium, where the possibility exists of technology solving an old problem in a new way, or redefining the way people work and live. Steve enjoys the role of coach and mentor to CEOs and finds it rewarding when he can help them consider new solutions or gain a broadened perspective on the market environment. The father of two, Steve serves on the board of Woodside Priory School and is a former executive board member of the National Venture Capital Association. An avid skier, Steve enjoys travel with his family. When time permits, his reading interests include world history, especially the Middle East and Asia. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Oliver Tavakoli, CTO, SLT Business Group, Juniper Networks

Oliver Tavakoli is CTO for Juniper's SLT Business Group. In this role he sets overall technical direction for Juniper's Firewall, IDP, SSL VPN and WAN acceleration product lines. Prior to joining Juniper Networks via acquisition, Oliver was CTO at Funk Software, a pioneer in the AAA and 802.1X spaces which fielded market-leading products such as Steel-Belted Radius and Odyssey Client. Oliver joined Funk Software through its acquisition of Trilogy, Inc., a company which Oliver co-founded in 1994. Earlier in his career, Oliver developed system and networking software at IBM and Novell.

Nir Zuk, Founder & CTO, Palo Alto Networks

Nir Zuk brings a wealth of network security expertise and industry experience to Palo Alto Networks. Prior to co-founding Palo Alto Networks, Nir was CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. Prior to NetScreen, Nir was co-founder and CTO at OneSecure, a pioneer in intrusion prevention and detection appliances. Nir was also a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies and was one of the developers of stateful inspection technology.