Advisory Board

Fred Thiel

Fred Thiel brings over 20 years experience managing software and technology companies for rapid growth in both revenue and shareholder value. Prior to joining private equity firm Triton Pacific as a Managing Partner, Mr. Thiel was CEO of several companies, including GameSpy Industries and Lantronix.

At GameSpy, a leader in on-line media, Mr. Thiel dramatically grew revenues and then sold the company to a strategic acquirer at industry-leading multiples in under twelve months. At Lantronix, a leader in device networking and systems management technology, he repositioned the company, tripled revenues in four years, acquired and integrated four companies and successfully raised over $120 million through an IPO and a follow-on secondary offering.

Mr. Thiel attended the Stockholm School of Economics. As a result of his international education and business experience, he is fluent in English, Spanish, Swedish and French. Mr. Thiel sits on a number of private and not-for-profit boards of directors. He is a current member of YPO (Young Presidents Organisation), Orange County Venture Group (OCVG), San Diego Venture Group (SDVG), Forum for Corporate Directors (FCD) and OCTANe.

Michael Chiappetta

Michael Chiappetta is a veteran software industry executive specializing in predictive analytics and decision management. As a corporate officer of Fair Isaac Corporation from 2002-2007, Mr. Chiappetta held a variety of roles. From 2006-2007, he was general manager of the EDM Technology and Custom Solutions business unit. From 2003-2006, Mr. Chiappetta led Fair Isaac's worldwide product development function as Vice President, Product Development. He joined Fair Isaac in 2002 as Vice President Strategy Machines - Fraud Analytics, and Analytic Software Tools, following the merger of Fair Isaac and HNC Software Inc.

From 1993-2002, Mr. Chiappetta held a variety of executive positions at HNC, including with HNC's New Business Development division, where he pioneered the concept of applying transaction scoring to consumer credit risk, customer retention and profitability assessment. At the time of the merger with Fair Isaac, Mr. Chiappetta was executive vice president of Analytic Products, driving the product vision for HNC's analytics solutions serving the risk management and marketing needs of customers in HNC's key markets.

Prior to joining HNC, Mr. Chiappetta gained much of his expertise in the consumer financial services industry, where he managed risk and credit operations management at American Express, developed new technologies for Citibank's home banking division, and provided P&C insurance consulting at Insurance Services Office (ISO). Mr. Chiappetta holds BS degrees in physics and economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA in finance from New York University.

Edwin A. Locke, Ph.D.

Edwin Locke is Dean's Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership and Motivation at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his BA from Harvard in 1960 and his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology from Cornell University in 1964. Dr. Locke has published over 260 chapters, notes and articles in professional journals, on such subjects as work motivation, job satisfaction, incentives, and the philosophy of science. He is also the author or editor of 10 books, including Study Methods and Study Motivation (Second Renaissance Books, 1998), Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works (Prentice Hall, 1984, with G. Latham), and A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance (Prentice Hall, 1990, with G. Latham), Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior (Blackwell, 2000), The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators (AMACOM, 2000) and Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alternative (JAI: Elsevier, 2003).

Dr. Locke is internationally known for his research on goal setting. A recent survey found that his goal setting theory (developed with G. Latham) was ranked #1 in importance among 73 management theories.

Dr. Locke has been elected a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Academy of Management, and has been a consulting editor for leading journals. He was a winner of the Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award at the University of Maryland, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Career Contribution Award from the Academy of Management (Human Resource Division), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Management (Organizational Behavior Division), and the James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society. He is a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute and is interested in the application of the philosophy of Objectivism to behavioral sciences.

Shailendra Kumar

Shailendra Kumar is the Director of Offshore Services & Development (OSD) group at Hewlett Packard Company here in San Diego. In this role, he manages Hewlett Packard 's offshore product development centers that provide research and development resources to all HP’s printing and imaging group divisions. These centers are located in India, China, Singapore, Mexico, Ukraine and Brazil. In addition, Mr. Kumar also manages printing group’s offshore vendors that provide similar R&D services to HP.

Mr. Kumar joined HP in July 1993 and has been involved in new business development, engineering management and offshore resource management areas. Before joining HP, he was responsible for new business development at Pitney Bowes. Prior to Pitney Bowes, Mr. Kumar was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte and Touché Management Consultant. He also worked at TRW Inc. as a Section Head. Mr. Kumar has a Bachelors degree in engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, a Masters degree in engineering from University of Missouri and an MBA from Columbia Business School, New York.