Board of Directors
Joel M. Koppelman
Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Primavera Systems, Inc.
Joel Koppelman is Primavera's Chief Executive Officer. Prior to starting Primavera, Koppelman was a vice president at Day & Zimmermann where he was responsible for financial consulting. During his tenure he designed the initial management control system for the design and construction of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Project. Koppelman started his business career at Booz, Allen & Hamilton as a senior consultant responsible for project management. He has successfully operated his own consulting firm and has written and published several articles on project management. Additionally, Koppelman is co-author of Earned Value Project Management, printed by the Project Management Institute.
Koppelman is an active member of several professional and educational organizations and has delivered technical papers at PMI, AACE, PMA, CMAA, CFMA, APTA and ASCE. He has served as a board member of the University City Science Center's Applications Development Center in Philadelphia.
In May '97, Koppelman received the 1997 Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to Your Profession from Drexel University. He is also a recipient of PMI's Distinguished Contribution Award.
Koppelman is a registered professional engineer and holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Richard K. Faris
Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Primavera Systems, Inc.
As one of the founders of Primavera, Richard Faris led new product development (design, programming, quality assurance, and documentation) and technical support services at Primavera for more than 23 years. As a result of Faris' technical product vision, Primavera has successfully kept pace with the innovations in computer hardware and software by developing more than 60 releases of twelve distinct project management products. Current products take advantage of both Windows and Web-based user interfaces, client/server architecture, and relational databases.
Before cofounding Primavera, Mr. Faris spent more than 13 years planning, designing, managing, and controlling capital projects in the transportation industry and developing transportation network simulation systems. Mr. Faris was Vice President at Transportation & Distribution Associates, an engineering consulting firm headquartered in Philadelphia, and was also employed at Booz, Allen & Hamilton as Senior Consultant. Professional assignments included working as project manager for the City of Philadelphia, managing numerous transportation simulation studies and responsible for power-demand analysis, operations planning, and project scheduling, planning, management, and control.
Mr. Faris is a registered professional engineer and is an active member of several professional societies. He has delivered technical papers at PMI, AACE, ASCE, CIFE (Stanford University), and A/E/C Systems, and is a guest lecturer at several universities.
Mr. Faris earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from Villanova University.
Ben S. Levitan
Ben Levitan is a Partner in the Boston office of In-Q-Tel Inc., a strategic investor in promising technology companies which support the mission of the CIA and the Intelligence Community.
Ben most recently served as CEO of EnvoyWorldWide, a venture-backed notifications company until its sale to PAR3 Communications (now Varolii). Prior to joining EnvoyWorldWide, Mr. Levitan was COO at Viant Corporation (NASDAQ: VIAN), where he led the Internet services firm to rapid growth and profitability. Previously, Mr. Levitan was CEO at James Martin & Co. (now Headstrong), a global systems integration and outsourcer.
Mr. Levitan also served as SVP, Operations at Cambridge Technology Partners, where he helped build the organization's first Internet-focused practice and headed the company's Customer Management and Financial Services Industry practices. He was also instrumental in facilitating merger and acquisition activities.
Mr. Levitan serves as Chairman of the Audit committee of the Board of Directors of StockerYale (NASDAQ: STKR), a Salem, NH-based supplier of fiber optics and lasers. He joined the board in 2006. Ben also serves on the Board of Advisors of businesses in the IT, Healthcare, Sports and Retail industries. He is an active member of Young President's Organization.
Ben received his bachelor degree from Union College, in Schenectady, NY and studied at the London School of Economics.
He has been a member of the board since 1998.
Larry Handen
Larry Handen joined Insight in 2005. Mr. Handen brings to Insight more than 15 years of experience as a principal investor and advisor within the technology, communications, media and services industries. Prior to joining Insight, Mr. Handen was a Managing Director at VantagePoint Venture Partners and a General Partner at UBS Capital where he led the firm’s Technology & Services Group. Prior to joining UBS Capital, he was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting (PwC), now IBM Global Services. While at PwC, Mr. Handen led a practice specializing in corporate-wide growth and recovery solutions for companies in the technology, information, communications and entertainment industries.
Mr. Handen is a graduate of Bucknell University (BA in Economics and Political Science) and from NYU’s Stern School of Business (MBA).
Peter Sobiloff
Peter Sobiloff joined Insight in 1998 following the sale of Think Systems to i2 Technologies. Immediately prior to joining Insight, he was Vice President of Business Development at i2 Technologies (1997-1998). Mr. Sobiloff was previously President of Think Systems, a supply chain management software company backed by Insight. Prior to this, he was President of Datalogix, a vendor of enterprise application software for process manufacturers, and previously held senior executive roles at Ross Systems, a vendor of financial application software. Mr. Sobiloff guided Datalogix and Ross through their initial public offerings and the sale of Datalogix to Oracle Corporation.
Mr. Sobiloff graduated from Baruch University with a degree in Business Administration.
Richard Wells
Richard Wells joined Insight in 2005. Most recently, Richard worked in product management for enterprise data protection products at Veritas Software (SYMC) and in field sales for Paciolan Systems, a privately-held ecommerce software provider. He spent several years as an Associate at Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) in Palo Alto. At TCV, Richard focused on late-stage software, e-commerce and communications companies and worked closely with InPhonic (INPC), 2Wire and Continuous Computing. Prior to TCV, he was a consultant in Mercer Management Consulting’s technology practice, where he advised companies including IBM Global Services and Philips Electronics on marketing and corporate strategy issues.
Mr. Wells received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
David Golob
Mr. Golob has been a Partner with Francisco Partners since joining the firm in September 2001. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Golob was a Managing Director with Tiger Management, a $20 billion hedge fund based in New York, where he was co-head of the global technology group and focused in the software industry. Prior to Tiger Management, Mr. Golob spent seven years as a private equity investor focused on the software industry at General Atlantic Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. Earlier in his career, Mr. Golob was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and a Product Manager with Newport Systems Solutions, Inc. (acquired by Cisco). Mr. Golob serves on the board of directors of AttachmateWRQ, Barracuda Networks, GXS, OfficeTiger and RedPrairie Corporation.
Mr Golob received an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and A.B. from Harvard College, summa cum laude.
Brian Ruder
Mr. Ruder is a Principal with Francisco Partners. Prior to joining Francisco Partners, Mr. Ruder was an Associate with Hellman & Friedman LLC, where he was responsible for the identification, evaluation and execution of private equity transactions in a variety of industries, including information technology, professional services and infrastructure development. Prior to working at Hellman & Friedman, he was an Analyst in the Corporate Finance Department of Morgan Stanley & Co. Mr. Ruder serves on the board of directors of GXS.
Mr. Ruder received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School with Distinction and A.B. in Mathematics and Philosophy from Harvard College, summa cum laude.
Ashu Agrawal
Mr. Agrawal returned to Francisco Partners as a Vice President in August 2005 after completing his M.B.A. at the Harvard Business School. Mr. Agrawal was previously an Associate at Francisco Partners. Prior to joining Francisco Partners, Mr. Agrawal worked in the Leveraged Finance group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he was involved in the structuring and execution of leveraged loan, high-yield bond, bridge loan, and mezzanine financing transactions for companies in a variety of industries including telecommunications and information technology.
Mr. Agrawal received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School with High Distinction (Baker Scholar), M.Eng. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University, summa cum laude.
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