Directors and Executive Officers

Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:

Name Age Position
John F. W. Hunt 45 Chairman, CEO, Secretary and Director
Marc J. Blazer 41 President, Treasurer and Director
Lawton W. Fitt 56 Director
Andrew H. Lufkin 46 Director
Paul S. Pressler 53 Director
  • John F. W. Hunt has been our Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Chairman of the Board since our inception in September 2007. Since 1994, Mr. Hunt founded or co-founded six companies, including Oriel LLC, a wine company he currently oversees, AmanyaraTM, a resort in the Turks & Caicos Islands, The Seattle Coffee Company, a chain of espresso bars in England ultimately acquired by Starbucks, Syzygy AG, an internet professional services firm listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, and Obongo Inc., a payment processing technology firm that was acquired by AOL Time Warner. Mr. Hunt also co-founded and helped develop iGabriel, an investment club, which later merged with PiCapital to form one of the UK's leading private investor networks, and First Tuesday, a financial networking forum that was subsequently acquired by an Israeli investment bank. Mr. Hunt began his career in marketing. From 1987 to 1992, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Procter & Gamble, ultimately becoming the European Brand Manager responsible for integrating the acquisition of the Max Factor brand across Europe. From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Hunt was Head of Marketing at Kraft Jacobs Suchard (a division of Philip Morris) for the Middle East & Africa. Mr. Hunt received an Honors degree in Economics and Public Administration from the London University in 1987.
  • Marc J. Blazer has been our President, Treasurer and a Director since our inception in September 2007. Mr. Blazer is also a co-founder of Ahimsa Partners, a venture that licenses, owns, and operates hospitality businesses, the CEO of Blazer & Co., both investment partnerships, and a managing director of BTIG, an institutional trading firm. From November 2000 to August 2007, Mr. Blazer was a partner, and until May 2007, the global head of investment banking at Cantor Fitzgerald. While at Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Blazer served on the advisory board of Enertech Capital III, a venture capital fund from March 2006 to July 2007. Prior to joining Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Blazer spent six years at ChaseMellon Financial Corp. (now Mellon Investor Services), a joint-venture between Chase Manhattan Corporation and Mellon Financial Group LLC from 1994 to 2000. In this capacity, he advised clients on governance and shareholder related issues including accessing the capital markets, investor relations, and proxy solicitation matters and structural defenses. Prior to his career on Wall Street, Mr. Blazer was an advisor to members of Congress in both the House and Senate on tax matters, banking and securities legislation, international trade policy, and foreign relations. Mr. Blazer earned a graduate degree from the London School of Economics in 1992, and a BA from the University of Maryland in 1990.
  • Lawton W. Fitt has been a Director since October 2007. Ms. Fitt is currently a director on the boards of Ciena Corporation, Frontier Communications Company, Thomson Reuters Corporation (formerly Reuters Group PLC prior to its merger with The Thomson Corporation in April 2008) and The Progressive Corporation. . From October 2002 to March 2005, Ms. Fitt served as Secretary (Chief Executive) of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. From 1979 to October 2002, Ms. Fitt worked at Goldman Sachs, becoming a partner in 1994 and a managing director in 1996. During her career at Goldman Sachs, Ms. Fitt held leadership positions in investment banking, equity capital markets and asset management and was a senior member of that firm's High Technology investment banking team in New York and London. Ms. Fitt earned an A.B. from Brown University in 1974 and received an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business Administration of the University of Virginia in 1979.
  • Andrew H. Lufkin has been a Director and founder since January 2008, is the portfolio manager for the Delafield Hambrecht MicroCap Value Fund, a fund which invests in undervalued growing micro-cap companies and the Chief Financial Officer and a director of Delafield Hambrecht which he joined in September 2003. From August 2002 to August 2003, Mr. Lufkin was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Monadnock Valley Asset Management, a New York-based hedge fund specializing in global healthcare equities. From 2001 to 2002 he served as a Managing Director in investment banking for WR Hambrecht + Co. Prior to this, he spent 10 years in corporate finance at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette before starting his own broker dealer. Mr. Lufkin received a BA from Colby College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
  • Paul S. Pressler has been a Director since October 2007. Mr. Pressler was president and chief executive officer of Gap, Inc. from September 2002 to January 2007. He also served on Gap, Inc.'s Board of Directors from October 2002 until January 2007. Prior to joining Gap, Inc., Mr. Pressler spent fifteen years with The Walt Disney Company where he was Chairman of the company's Global Theme Park and Resorts Division. Mr. Pressler previously served as President of Disneyland, President of The Disney Stores and Senior Vice President of Consumer Products. Prior to his time at Disney, he was Vice President of Marketing and Design for Kenner-Parker Toys. He is a director of Avon Products, Inc. and OpenTable, Inc. Mr. Pressler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business economics from the State University of New York at Oneonta in 1978.