PRINCIPAL
Kellee Marlow is the managing director of Lion Ventures Group, and oversees all acquisitions and operational activities. As an entrepreneur, Kellee has both successfully acquired and profitably managed a company. Earlier, Kellee worked with private investors and focused on identifying emerging technology companies for the O2 Venture Partners’ portfolio. Kellee also acted as interim operations director for O2VP’s portfolio companies, where she gained valuable day-to-day management experience. Prior to joining O2 Venture Partners, Kellee drove technology partnerships and market development activities for Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle). Kellee also has a strong background in marketing and public relations. Prior to working at Sun, Kellee worked in public relations at Burson-Marsteller (a subsidiary of Young & Rubicam) and Citigate Cunningham. Kellee also participated in the development of one of the first US-based HMO offerings in the healthcare industry, during the advent of these service products. In addition, Kellee has facilitated the fundraising of endowment chairs for the UCSF Medical School, Pediatric Division. Her financial analysis experience includes acting as the executive analyst at Royal Cruise Line. Kellee graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
ADVISORS
Lion Ventures Group’s vision is shared by a wide range of seasoned professionals who serve on LVG’s advisory board:
Erich Sager:
Mr. Erich Sager is the Board Chairman of Coupolino AG. He serves on biotech start-up boards, including Mercaptor Discoveries and Zecotek Photonics. Mr. Sager is an investor, board adviser and business executive in international private banking. He previously served on the board of Raptor Pharmaceutical Inc and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. Mr. Sager held various senior positions with UBS Zurich, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank and Belmont Invest, in Zurich. His banking experience also include UBS AG in various functions, including Head of Trading in London, Senior Vice President and Head of Private Banking for Dresdner Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and Vice President of Private Banking-Head German Desk for Deutsche Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.
Jim Grossman:
Mr. Jim Grossman’s wide-scope of experience includes international business transactions, corporate and securities law, acquisitions, venture capital financing and international arbitration/mediation. He has served on the boards of directors of public companies based both in the United Kingdom and the United States which have been listed on the London Stock Exchange, AIM, NASDAQ, and the TSX Venture Exchange. Previously, Mr. Grossman served as Chairman of the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (appointed by President George H.W. Bush) and as chief negotiator for the United States in the tariff reduction acceleration round of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (this pact was a precursor to the creation of NAFTA). Mr. Grossman is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (Phi Beta Kappa) and the Harvard Law School.
Vlad Shmunis:
Mr Vlad Shmunis is the Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board for RingCentral. He founded RingCentral in 1999 and launched RingCentral’s mobility-centric cloud communications platform in 2003. With the delivery of RingCentral’s mobility-centric cloud communications solutions, RingCentral unifies voice, video, team messaging and collaboration, conferencing, online meetings, and integrated contact center. Today, RingCentral is the #1 cloud communications provider, used by more than 350,000 businesses worldwide. Mr Shmunis has more than 25 years of industry and management experience. He was named a Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year™, Northern California Region. Mr Shmunis is a recipient of the 2010 Technology Pioneer Award, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for the development of a life-changing technology innovation and is a named inventor on a number of U.S. patents.
Jim Herrmann:
President, Pacific Coast Capital, an investment banking firm specializing in acquisition services and business valuations. In the past 27 years, PCC has closed 65 transactions of middle-market companies. Jim has a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from Michigan State University and a MBA from Harvard.