Erik Straser joined MDV in 1998 and specializes in investing in and building energy, materials and software companies. Prior to MDV Erik worked at Interval Research Corp., a technology incubator funded by Paul Allen, and at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a technical staff member. He also consulted to several seed and early stage venture capital firms. While pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering at Stanford, Erik led an interdisciplinary project between the electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering departments to develop a next-generation monitoring system for critical facilities. He holds a U.S. patent from his research work. From 1996 to 1998, he served as president of the Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students (BASES), Stanford's largest student group focused on entrepreneurship and technology management.

Ajit joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 2003. His areas of investment include enterprise software and services, material science pertinent to energy, environment and life sciences.Before joining KPCB, Ajit was with SAP for 5 years. At SAP, he worked for Dr. Hasso Plattner, CEO, Chairman and cofounder, SAP. Ajit played a key role in formulating and executing SAP's internet strategy (mySAP.com). He co-founded SAPMarkets, a fully owned company of SAP, focused on Marketplace applications and technology. As the Managing Director of SAPMarkets Americas, Ajit grew the business to $100 million in six quarters. In 2002, he laid the foundation for SAP Inspire - SAP's New Venture Unit.
School. Ajit holds seven U.S. and four European patents and has published/presented over 15 articles in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.

Tom Baruch founded CMEA Ventures in 1989 as an affiliated fund of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and was one of the original investors in Aclara BioSciences (which merged with Virologic – NASDAQ: VLGC), Flextronics (FLEX), Netro (NTRO), Silicon Spice (acquired by BRCM), and Symyx Technologies (SMMX). He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alien Technology and Codexis, Inc., and also serves on the boards of ChemConnect, E-Markets, Entropic Communications, Foveon, Intermolecular, NewPath Ventures, Physiometrix, Raven, RF Magic, Symwave, Symyx, and Virologic. Tom's investment interests include the semiconductor, wireless and life sciences industries. Before starting CMEA, Tom was a founder and CEO of Microwave Technology, Inc. Just prior to that, he managed a dedicated venture fund at Exxon, and was President of the Exxon Materials Division. Earlier in his career, Tom worked as a patent attorney. Mr. Baruch holds an engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Juris Doctor degree from Capital University. Tom is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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