Sue Decker
Founder and CEO, Raftr
Susan L. Decker is the CEO and founder of Raftr, a trusted event and communications platform for college campuses. She also serves on the boards of Directors of Berkshire Hathaway, Costco Wholesale, SurveyMonkey, Vail Resorts, and Vox Media. From 2000- 2009, Decker held various executive management positions at Yahoo!, ending as President. Before Yahoo!, Sue spent fourteen years at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (1986-2000), most recently as Managing Director, global equity research; previously as an equity research analyst. In this capacity, she received recognition by Institutional Investor magazine as a top rated analyst for ten consecutive years.
Decker holds a B.S. from Tufts University with a double major in computer science and economics; and an M.B.A. from HBS. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Previous board positions include:
Intel Corporation: November, 2006- May, 2016;
Save the Children: February, 2010- February, 2016;
LegalZoom: October, 2010- February, 2014;
The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR): March, 2005- May, 2007;
Pixar Animation Studios: June, 2004- May, 2006
Decker holds a B.S. from Tufts University with a double major in computer science and economics; and an M.B.A. from HBS. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Previous board positions include:
Intel Corporation: November, 2006- May, 2016;
Save the Children: February, 2010- February, 2016;
LegalZoom: October, 2010- February, 2014;
The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR): March, 2005- May, 2007;
Pixar Animation Studios: June, 2004- May, 2006
Steve Svajian, A99
Serial Entrepreneur;
Co-Founder and CEO, Anova Culinary
Steve Svajian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Anova, the world’s leading provider of smart kitchen appliances, helping people cook restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their own homes.
A talented technology entrepreneur and marketing executive, Steve has spent nearly 20 years launching and establishing companies from creation through acquisition. Steve’s ability to define values that build mission-driven organizations, assess product-market fit, and scale end-user demand have allowed him to consistently help his teams and products evolve.
Steve holds a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate from the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe Law School.
A talented technology entrepreneur and marketing executive, Steve has spent nearly 20 years launching and establishing companies from creation through acquisition. Steve’s ability to define values that build mission-driven organizations, assess product-market fit, and scale end-user demand have allowed him to consistently help his teams and products evolve.
Steve holds a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate from the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe Law School.
Ron Croen
Partner, You & Mr. Jones
Ron Croen is a Partner at You & Mr. Jones, heading up You & Mr. Jones Brandtech Ventures, which specializes in seed and early stage venture investments.
Prior to joining You & Mr. Jones, Ron co-founded and served for ten years as the Chief Executive Officer of Nuance Communications, the global leader in speech recognition, natural language understanding, and related voice automation technology and applications. Ron led Nuance from the spinout of the core team from the SRI International research institute in Menlo Park, California to a top 10 IPO of the banner year 2000 and beyond. Ron also founded Volio, which pioneered the use of advanced speech recognition and natural language understanding technology in conversational video for highly engaging brand marketing.
Ever the entrepreneur, Ron has been active in Silicon Valley and Boston as an investor, business leader, mentor and teacher. His dedication to encouraging the talent of tomorrow led him to serve as Entrepreneur-in-Residence and to teach Entrepreneurial Leadership at his alma mater Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. He continued to support and engage with top-level talent as a CEO buddy to several first-time CEOs, helping them scale their companies after the product development and first venture funding stage.
Ron’s experience spans the life-cycle of tech start-ups from founding to IPO and beyond. He served as Chairman of the Board of Nuance and as a Board member of other public and private companies. Over time, he’s been deeply immersed in most aspects of the entrepreneurial world. He’s fascinated by innovation and is an early adopter of most new consumer technologies. His personal enthusiasm for tech and how it improves our lives informs his progressive business thinking and personal style
Prior to joining You & Mr. Jones, Ron co-founded and served for ten years as the Chief Executive Officer of Nuance Communications, the global leader in speech recognition, natural language understanding, and related voice automation technology and applications. Ron led Nuance from the spinout of the core team from the SRI International research institute in Menlo Park, California to a top 10 IPO of the banner year 2000 and beyond. Ron also founded Volio, which pioneered the use of advanced speech recognition and natural language understanding technology in conversational video for highly engaging brand marketing.
Ever the entrepreneur, Ron has been active in Silicon Valley and Boston as an investor, business leader, mentor and teacher. His dedication to encouraging the talent of tomorrow led him to serve as Entrepreneur-in-Residence and to teach Entrepreneurial Leadership at his alma mater Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. He continued to support and engage with top-level talent as a CEO buddy to several first-time CEOs, helping them scale their companies after the product development and first venture funding stage.
Ron’s experience spans the life-cycle of tech start-ups from founding to IPO and beyond. He served as Chairman of the Board of Nuance and as a Board member of other public and private companies. Over time, he’s been deeply immersed in most aspects of the entrepreneurial world. He’s fascinated by innovation and is an early adopter of most new consumer technologies. His personal enthusiasm for tech and how it improves our lives informs his progressive business thinking and personal style
David Jen
Head of Finance and Investments, X
David Jen leads the Finance and Investments group at X (formerly Google X). He’s spent the last six years evaluating and growing innovative companies while building Alphabet’s moonshot factory. In this role he’s developed new business models for nascent technologies, built a data driven approach to funding innovative early stage projects, and evolved business operations within Alphabet’s incubator.
Prior to X, David worked at Google where he was a part of deal teams that signed some of the company’s largest commercial partnerships and led finance teams in emerging product areas.
Before joining Google/Alphabet, David worked in finance and management consulting. He earned an MBA from UCLA Anderson, and a BA from Tufts University in Economics and International Relations. When David isn’t working, he’s adjusting to life with two kids (a 2 year old and a newborn), so if he seems tired… it’s because he is…
Prior to X, David worked at Google where he was a part of deal teams that signed some of the company’s largest commercial partnerships and led finance teams in emerging product areas.
Before joining Google/Alphabet, David worked in finance and management consulting. He earned an MBA from UCLA Anderson, and a BA from Tufts University in Economics and International Relations. When David isn’t working, he’s adjusting to life with two kids (a 2 year old and a newborn), so if he seems tired… it’s because he is…
Taryn Segal
CEO, Double Rainbow Ice Cream
Taryn Segal is the CEO of San Francisco’s iconic ice cream brand, Double Rainbow Ice Cream. Her focus is simple and heartfelt: Create ultra premium products that taste great, attract and keep lifelong customers, and grow a team of talented people who believe in the products and feel a part of the Double Rainbow family.
Taryn started her career working in Finance at BlackRock in New York City. She returned to San Francisco to join BRE Properties, where she led their Sarbanes Oxley Compliance implementation before transitioning to Director of Budgeting and Strategic Planning.
Having never known a life without a freezer full of ice cream, she joined Double Rainbow to work with her Father in the family business.
She continues to lead the innovation efforts for brands, manufacturers, and retailers, bringing some of the most enjoyed products to market. With a passion for the frozen dessert arena, she remains focused on helping new products find new consumers. Afterall, the only reason for ice cream is to put smiles on people’s faces.
Taryn graduated with a BA in Spanish and German from Tufts University. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two children and their dog Daisy.
Taryn started her career working in Finance at BlackRock in New York City. She returned to San Francisco to join BRE Properties, where she led their Sarbanes Oxley Compliance implementation before transitioning to Director of Budgeting and Strategic Planning.
Having never known a life without a freezer full of ice cream, she joined Double Rainbow to work with her Father in the family business.
She continues to lead the innovation efforts for brands, manufacturers, and retailers, bringing some of the most enjoyed products to market. With a passion for the frozen dessert arena, she remains focused on helping new products find new consumers. Afterall, the only reason for ice cream is to put smiles on people’s faces.
Taryn graduated with a BA in Spanish and German from Tufts University. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two children and their dog Daisy.
Steve McDermid, A01, F06
Managing Director, Emerson Collective
Mr. McDermid is a Managing Director with Emerson Collective where he has lead Emerson Collective’s venture capital investing efforts since August 2017.
He was previously a Partner with Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, CA. Prior to Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. McDermid was a Director with Stifel Nicolaus, formerly Thomas Weisel Partners, a technology focused investment bank in San Francisco. He began his career at Citigroup as a financial analyst.
Mr. McDermid graduated from Tufts University with degrees in Quantitative Economics and Computer Science. He also earned a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
He was previously a Partner with Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, CA. Prior to Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. McDermid was a Director with Stifel Nicolaus, formerly Thomas Weisel Partners, a technology focused investment bank in San Francisco. He began his career at Citigroup as a financial analyst.
Mr. McDermid graduated from Tufts University with degrees in Quantitative Economics and Computer Science. He also earned a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Matt Murphy, E89
Partner, Menlo Ventures
Matt is a partner at Menlo Ventures, focusing on multi-stage investments in AI-first SaaS (apps, devops, API platforms) and robotics. Since joining Menlo in 2015, Matt has led investments in Alloy.AI, 6 River Systems, Clarifai, Carta, Envoy, Harness, Heap Analytics, Scout RFP, Usermind, and Veriflow. He also serves as a board director at Drawbridge, Egnyte, and SessionM; and as a board observer at Datastax, InstartLogic, and Puppet.
Previously, Matt was a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for over 15 years. In addition to investing in the above-mentioned companies, he was also an observer at Google (from initial investment to IPO), launched the iFund in ’08 (a collaborative initiative with Apple to build the defining applications on the iOS platform), sourced the firm’s investment in DocuSign, and led investments in Shazam (acquired by Apple in 2018), AppDynamics (acquired by Cisco for $3.7B in 2017), Simplivity (acquired by HPE for $650M in 2017), PernixData (acquired by Nutanix in 2016), Shopkick (acquired by SK Planet 2014), Aerohive Networks (Nasdaq: HIVE, 2014), Ocarina Networks (acquired by Dell in 2010), and AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP, 2010).
Before joining KPCB, Matt worked at semiconductor startup Netboost (acquired by Intel) where he led product management, and prior to that at Sun Microsystems, where he led business development for the Network Systems Group and was a product line manager for networking platforms. Matt holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He serves as the vice chairman of the Stanford University Engineering Venture Fund and is on the Board of Advisors at Duke University.
Previously, Matt was a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for over 15 years. In addition to investing in the above-mentioned companies, he was also an observer at Google (from initial investment to IPO), launched the iFund in ’08 (a collaborative initiative with Apple to build the defining applications on the iOS platform), sourced the firm’s investment in DocuSign, and led investments in Shazam (acquired by Apple in 2018), AppDynamics (acquired by Cisco for $3.7B in 2017), Simplivity (acquired by HPE for $650M in 2017), PernixData (acquired by Nutanix in 2016), Shopkick (acquired by SK Planet 2014), Aerohive Networks (Nasdaq: HIVE, 2014), Ocarina Networks (acquired by Dell in 2010), and AutoNavi (Nasdaq: AMAP, 2010).
Before joining KPCB, Matt worked at semiconductor startup Netboost (acquired by Intel) where he led product management, and prior to that at Sun Microsystems, where he led business development for the Network Systems Group and was a product line manager for networking platforms. Matt holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He serves as the vice chairman of the Stanford University Engineering Venture Fund and is on the Board of Advisors at Duke University.
Josh Goldman, A88
Entrepreneur; Venture Capitalist & Angel Investor
Josh Goldman (Tufts A’88 B.Sc.; Harvard MBA 1993) is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, board member and venture capitalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been serving on the Tufts Entrepreneurship Center’s Advisory Board for the past three years.
Now focusing on his own extensive angel investing portfolio while building an as-yet-unannounced new VC fund, Josh spent nearly 12 years as a General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners in Palo Alto, CA where he led investments primarily in e-commerce, retail, education, advertising, and digital media. Josh has served on the boards of RetailMeNot (NASDAQ: “SALE”), IFTTT, Lumosity, ModCloth (acquired by WalMart), StellaService, Sojern, and NinthDecimal. He is a seed/angel investor in Casper Sleep, Hint Water, Second Measure, LovePop, Rappi, Managed-by-Q, and over 30 other private companies. To date, Josh has generated over $5 billion in realized exits for shareholders.
Before his career as an investor, Josh spent nearly 20 years as an entrepreneur and CEO, overseeing the growth of one of his companies, comparison shopping service mySimon.com, to its acquisition by CNet in 2000 for $730 million in its third year of operations. Previously, Josh had management roles at Apple, Phoenix Technologies, and USWeb.
Josh resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife Judy (Tufts J88) and has two college-age children.
Now focusing on his own extensive angel investing portfolio while building an as-yet-unannounced new VC fund, Josh spent nearly 12 years as a General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners in Palo Alto, CA where he led investments primarily in e-commerce, retail, education, advertising, and digital media. Josh has served on the boards of RetailMeNot (NASDAQ: “SALE”), IFTTT, Lumosity, ModCloth (acquired by WalMart), StellaService, Sojern, and NinthDecimal. He is a seed/angel investor in Casper Sleep, Hint Water, Second Measure, LovePop, Rappi, Managed-by-Q, and over 30 other private companies. To date, Josh has generated over $5 billion in realized exits for shareholders.
Before his career as an investor, Josh spent nearly 20 years as an entrepreneur and CEO, overseeing the growth of one of his companies, comparison shopping service mySimon.com, to its acquisition by CNet in 2000 for $730 million in its third year of operations. Previously, Josh had management roles at Apple, Phoenix Technologies, and USWeb.
Josh resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife Judy (Tufts J88) and has two college-age children.
Julie Schoenfeld, E79
Entrepreneur in Residence, CalTech
Julie is a serial entrepreneur who has led four venture-backed startups. Her most recent company, Strobe Inc., (founded in 2014) was acquired by General Motors Cruise Automation in 2017, and is building groundbreaking coherent LiDAR sensor technology for the self- driving car. Until June 2019 she has been Vice President at GM Autonomous Vehicle Subsidiary, Cruise Automation.
Julie was CEO of Perfect Market, Inc., a digital publishing software company backed by Trinity Ventures, Idealab and Comcast. Perfect Market was acquired by Taboola in July 2104. Julie co-founded OEwaves Inc. a company whose original technology began at JPL and licensed from Caltech. OEwaves is a pioneer in optoelectronic oscillators and advanced photonic devices. OEwaves, located in Pasadena, continues to provide breakthrough communication solutions to aerospace and defense customers. Julie was recently elected Chairman of the Board at OEwaves. In 1999 she led the sale of Net Effect, Inc., a software as a service solution for e-commerce providers, to Ask (now IAC) for over $300M. Julie has held positions at Hewlett-Packard, Procter and Gamble, Schulmberger, She is a board member of Startek (SRT:NYSE) and Prodege, Llc.
Julie is a recognized industry thought leader and has presented at conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt, Business Insider Ignition and The Milken Global Conference. She has been a judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Los Angeles for over five years and National Association of Women Business Owners in Los Angeles acknowledged Julie with the prestigious “Innovator of the Year” award.
Julie holds a B.S. in engineering from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Julie was CEO of Perfect Market, Inc., a digital publishing software company backed by Trinity Ventures, Idealab and Comcast. Perfect Market was acquired by Taboola in July 2104. Julie co-founded OEwaves Inc. a company whose original technology began at JPL and licensed from Caltech. OEwaves is a pioneer in optoelectronic oscillators and advanced photonic devices. OEwaves, located in Pasadena, continues to provide breakthrough communication solutions to aerospace and defense customers. Julie was recently elected Chairman of the Board at OEwaves. In 1999 she led the sale of Net Effect, Inc., a software as a service solution for e-commerce providers, to Ask (now IAC) for over $300M. Julie has held positions at Hewlett-Packard, Procter and Gamble, Schulmberger, She is a board member of Startek (SRT:NYSE) and Prodege, Llc.
Julie is a recognized industry thought leader and has presented at conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt, Business Insider Ignition and The Milken Global Conference. She has been a judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Los Angeles for over five years and National Association of Women Business Owners in Los Angeles acknowledged Julie with the prestigious “Innovator of the Year” award.
Julie holds a B.S. in engineering from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.