NetMotion Wireless Investors
Liberty Partners
Liberty Partners is a New York-based private equity investment firm with more than $1 billion under management. Founded in 1992 by former executives of Merrill Lynch Interfunding, Liberty specializes in middle-market private equity investments in manufacturing, business services, and education-related companies. Liberty's senior investment professionals have worked together for nearly ten years and hold an average of three decades of finance and private equity experience. They possess deep experience in successfully sourcing, managing, and exiting equity, subordinated debt, and senior debt investments through a range of economic cycles and market conditions. To date, Liberty Partners has completed more than 45 management buyouts, recapitalizations, and growth investments and currently manage a portfolio of 26 active investments.
Northwest Venture Associates
Formed in 1986, NWVA is a leading private equity firm exclusively invested in a diversity of Northwest based companies, predominantly in the information and business services, communications and consumer industries. NWVA differentiates itself by seeking emerging businesses with exceptional growth potential, adhering to an investment strategy based on fundamentals and working closely with its management teams. Since inception, NWVA has invested in over 40 companies in its targeted sectors, including several of the region’s most promising and successful businesses.
Other venture investors include Alexander Hutton Venture Partners, Digital Partners, Dolphin Equity Partners, Fluke Venture Partners, Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, and SeaPoint Ventures.
Board members
Gordon H. Smith, Chairman of the Board
Gordon Smith's career with the U.S. Navy spans three decades, after which he retired with the rank of Rear Admiral in 1979. He had extensive experience as a fighter and attack pilot, and gained a reputation for initiating innovative technological solutions for aircraft protection and fleet defense. In the mid-1970's he headed the Navy's REWSON program which was responsible for all reconnaissance, electronic warfare, special operations, and naval intelligence. In his final years with the Navy, he was Vice Commander of the Naval Electronics System Command. Upon retirement, Rear Admiral Smith was one of the most highly decorated U.S. naval officers in history. After leaving the Navy, Smith served as VP of Engineering at Gould NAVCOM Systems Division. He moved on to Lockheed Aircraft Service Company where he became VP of Engineering, then Executive VP, and President. He served as CEO for Sargent Fletcher Company, Power Spectra Inc, and Padcom, Inc. He is currently Chairman of the Board of NetMotion Wireless, and CEO of High Tower Software. Both NetMotion Wireless and High Tower Software are Liberty Partners funded companies. Smith earned his B.S. in pure mathematics at Brown University. His graduate work at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School was in aeronautical engineering and at George Washington University was in Business Administration.
Thomas G. Greig
Tom joined Liberty Partners in 1998 after twenty-five years in investment banking. He spent thirteen years with Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette as head of its technology investment banking practice, and has worked with technology companies in communications equipment, computer systems, electronic components, semiconductor, software, and manufacturing services. Tom received a BS in Engineering (Electrical) with Honors from Princeton University, an MSE in Electrical Engineering from New York University, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
G. Michael Stakias
Mike joined Liberty Partners in 1998 after 21 years in the practice of law. He was a Senior Partner and Chairman of the Corporate and Business Department at the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome, where he practiced law in the corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and emerging growth company arenas. Mike joined Blank Rome in 1980 from the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. He received a BA from the College of William & Mary, a JD, Cum Laude, from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and an LLM in Corporate Finance from New York University School of Law, which he attended as a Securities Regulation Fellow.
Joel Trammell
Since co-founding the company in 1999, Joel Trammell – a 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award winner and the Austin Business Journal’s 2005 Private Company Executive of the Year – has led NetQoS to become one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S., with a rapidly growing list of more than 500 blue-chip customers, an annual revenue growth rate of nearly 100 percent since 2002, and sustained profitability. Joel’s achievements in information technology span two decades and include numerous positions of leadership and management, most recently with Advanced Micro Devices, UST Computers (where he was the President and CEO of the Austin-based provider of computer hardware and network services) and HomeSmart, a company that he co-founded in order to provide sales and marketing products for the residential construction industry. Joel began his career as an Officer and Instructor/Division Director at the U.S. Navy’s prestigious Naval Nuclear Power School, instructing more than 400 naval officers in thermal sciences and nuclear reactor plant systems. He was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal and the designation of Master Training Specialist before moving on to build products and solutions that would empower clients to solve their long-standing information technology problems. Joel graduated Magna Cum Laude from Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He also remains a recognized expert in network solutions and large-scale IT systems deployment. Joel also serves as the Chairman of the Board for NetQoS, Inc.
Kent Johnson
Kent Johnson is a managing director and co-founder of AHVP. He was a founding board member of F5 Networks and is currently a director of Timeline, SelfCharge Battery, Netupdate, ShipLogix, NetMotion Wireless and Vanson HaloSource Corporation. During the mid-1980s, Kent grew software company Microrim Inc. to become the 15th largest privately held software company in the U.S. at that time. He also established initial funding and was CEO of software company OverDrive Systems Inc. in the late 1980s. During the early 1990s, Kent was senior vice president and COO of Brazier Forest Industries. Prior to his tenure as an operating executive, Kent was a management consultant and CPA with Arthur Andersen LP. Kent has a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. from Seattle University, where he is active on the advisory board of the Business School's Entrepreneurship Center. Kent was cited as an outstanding alumnus at Seattle University's Centennial in 1991. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the university on corporate and entrepreneurial business topics, including business ethics. In January 2000, he endowed the University with a donation to create the Lawrence K. Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship in his father's name. In 2002, Kent was elected to the Board of Trustees of Seattle University.
Robert Wolfe
Bob Wolfe has nearly 30 years of finance, operations and technology management experience. Prior to joining NWVA, Bob was president and chief operating officer of Toronto-based GT Group Telecom, then Canada's largest independent telecommunications provider. Before GT Group Telecom, Bob was chief financial officer of Trillium Corporation, a private international investment company. While at Trillium Bob served as Chairman of Gargoyles, a manufacturer of specialty sunglasses. Earlier in his career, he spent eight years at Goldman Sachs. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Washington State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Pacific Lutheran University. Bob is also a director of Dategrity, IP Fabrics, Sababa Group and Vigilos.
