About Us
Board of Directors
Hans Schreck, General Partner, TVM-Capital
Wayne Boulais, Managing Partner, Apex Venture Capital
Jim Broder, General Partner, ECentury Capital
Osmo Hautanen, CEO, Magnolia Broadband
Michael Farese, PhD.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Michael Farese, PhD. is a recognized leader in the handset and semiconductor business. Over the last 35 years, he has led and contributed to many aspects of wireless business for companies including Palm, Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia Mobile Phones, Tropian and WJ Communications. He also held management positions at ITT, AT&T, and Bell Laboratories. Mike has extensive experience in all facets of the business including responsibility for business strategy, product planning, product development, partnership strategies and equity financing. He has introduced some of the first GSM/TDMA Smartphones, developed ASICs for WCDMA/UMTS and been at the forefront of development of the latest multi-mode devices in the wireless industry.
Prior to BitWave, Mike was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Palm, Inc.; He had management responsibility for all engineering programs associated with new product development and product sustaining engineering. Earlier in his career, Mike was president and chief executive officer of WJ Communications and helped to build WJ into leading provider of semiconductors for the wireless industry. He has also served as president and chief executive officer for Tropian, a provider of cellular ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) for second-generation GSM cellular networks and third-generation UMTS/W-CDMA cellular networks. His other positions have included vice president and general manager at leading companies such as Motorola, Ericsson, and Nokia Mobile Phones. Mike's activity at these companies included the introduction of some of the first GSM and TDMA digital smartphones in the industry. He also held management positions at ITT, AT&T, and Bell Laboratories. Michael Farese received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a master's degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michael Farese is also a member of the board of directors of PMC-Sierra, Inc., and Newfound Communications, Inc.
Hans Schreck
General Partner, TVM-Capital
Hans G. Schreck joined TVM Capital in 1999, and is a General Partner in the firm's technology investment practice. He specializes in investments in semiconductors, networking, communications and software.
Mr. Schreck currently represents TVM Capital on the boards of Axxom Software AG, Bitwave Semiconductor Inc., Cambridge Broadband Ltd., Enigma Semiconductor Inc., Hymite A/S, Revolt Technology A/S, Streaming21 Inc. and Ubidyne Inc. Earlier investments include TravelTainment AG (acquired by Amadeus), Comstock Systems Inc. (acquired by Hitachi) and Neolinear Inc. (acquired by Cadence).
Prior to joining TVM Capital, Mr. Schreck was a founding member and Vice President of Mustang Ventures, the corporate venture resource of Siemens' Information and Communication Networks group. During his 10-year career with Siemens, he was also a Director of Product Planning and Technical Sales for Transmission Networks, as well as a project leader in R&D and advanced development in the fields of optical interconnect technology and ATM packet network technology, areas in which he holds several patents.
He holds a M.Sc. degree from the Cranfield Institute of Technology (UK) and a Dipl.Ing. degree from Fachhochschule, Darmstadt (Germany).
Wayne Boulais
Managing Partner, Apex Venture Capital
Wayne Boulais is a general partner with investment focus in communications and information technology industries. Prior to joining Apex, Wayne was a founding member of the Marsh & McLennan Capital Communications & Information Fund, a joint venture between Marsh & McLennan Capital and Mercer Management Consulting. He was a partner in Mercer's Communications and Information industries practice. Prior to Mercer, Wayne led large communications systems development projects for Raytheon Corporation. Wayne received his MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management, and an MS and a BS in Engineering from University of Massachusetts.
Wayne currently serves on the board of Bitwave Semiconductor, Broadbeam, eCredit Corporation, Enkata Technologies, Metatomix, and he is a board observer working with the management teams of CombineNet, Metallect Corporation, Imaging Portals and IQS.
Jim Broder
General Partner, ECentury Capital
Jim has been a partner at ECentury Capital since inception, and focuses on wireless investments. Prior to joining ECentury Capital, Jim spent five years at Rothschild, the UK-based investment bank, where he was a Vice President engaged in corporate finance advice, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings for both private and public companies. He has also been an active investor and advisor to wireless technology companies and has appeared on numerous panels focusing on that sector. Earlier in his career Jim worked in commercial and private banking at Banco Real S.A., a leading Brazilian bank.
Jim received a BS from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Maryland. He is on the Board of Magnolia Broadband, Inc, Etenna Corporation, and BitWave Semiconductor.
Osmo Hautanen
CEO, Magnolia Broadband
Mr. Hautanen is a recognized leader in the technology, telecommunications and private equity community with strong experience in managing and organizing operations for major international companies, as well as start-ups. Prior to being named as the CEO of Magnolia Broadband, Osmo was nominated as a board member in Magnolia where he provided strategic guidance to the company.
Prior to joining Magnolia, Osmo served as the CEO of Fenix LLC, the holding company for Union Pacific Corporations extensive portfolio of technology assets, as well as CEO of Denver-based Formus Communications, an international wireless communications company. He also was President of Americas for Philips Consumer Communications group, a joint venture between Philips Electronics and Lucent.
As an 18 year veteran of Nokia, Osmo built a new division for Personal Communications Services in 1994, which lead Nokia’s dominance in the North American handset market. He also served in multi-discipline roles within Nokia and was a member of their Management Board.
Mr. Hautanen holds a BSEE from the Technical College of Varkaus in Finland, as well as a MBA in international business from Georgia State University. He is fluent in Finnish, German and English.
