Venture Partners

SI Ventures' venture partners are retired or former executives from some of the largest companies in the information-technology industry. These industry experts are available to SI Ventures portfolio companies as board members or consultants and bring value-added resources to portfolio companies.

Darrell Balmer

Balmer has more than 30 years of experience in information technology development, application and management fields. Most recently, he was executive vice president at AGENCY.com, a leading Internet consulting firm, where he was involved in strategy development and retention programs for clients and employees. Prior to AGENCY.com, Balmer spent 11 years in executive positions with Gartner, including senior vice president and managing director of Datapro. His career began at IBM where he held management positions in systems engineering, sales, marketing and finance.

Michael Callahan

Callahan is the retired executive vice president and chief financial officer of FMC Corporation. He has held senior management positions with Exxon Corporation, the Quaker Oats Company, International Grocery Products and Whirlpool Corporation. He is a member of the boards of Brunswick Corporation, Material Sciences Corporation and Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago and is a former president of the Leukemia Society of Illinois.

Callahan holds both a master's degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.

Follett Carter

Carter's career spans 30 years in technology businesses and includes positions with IBM Corporation, Xerox Corporation and Gartner. Carter is currently a private consultant to the technology industry, specializing in sales and marketing. He serves as a board member of Digitalthink, techies.com and Warrantycheck.com.

Carter holds a master's degree in business administration from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from Case Western Reserve University.

William T. Clifford

Clifford is a past president and CEO of Gartner and previously served as COO and executive vice president of worldwide operations. Before joining Gartner, Clifford was an executive with Automatic Data Processing (ADP), where he served as president of the central and national account divisions and corporate vice president of information systems development. Before this, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Applied Data Research. Clifford began his career at IBM Corp. as a marketing representative.

He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Connecticut.

David Familiant

Familiant has held a wide range of executive positions in the information-technology industry covering sales and marketing, business development and international offices. He has held management positions with IBM, Control Data, Crystal Technologies and Gartner. Familiant has served as a board member with Elbit, Crystal Technologies and Display IT.

Myron Kerstetter

Kerstetter has more than 30 years of experience in the computer and the information-technology industry. His experience includes senior management and contributor positions in market research and advisory services, strategic systems planning and systems software development and support with Gartner, Xerox and IBM.

Kerstetter holds a master's degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Charles Vaughan

Vaughan has been a partner of VLCO Investments, a private investment firm that he founded, since 1985. Before this, he served in various positions at Homestead Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries, including executive vice president and chief operating officer of the diversified financial services company. Prior to this, he was an executive with Warner Communications Inc. and served as chief financial officer of Atari Inc., where he developed and implemented an exit strategy for the troubled subsidiary. Vaughan spent more than 24 years with General Electric in a variety of financial and operating management roles, including CFO of GE's Consumer Sector, CFO of the International Sector, vice president of auditing and CFO and acting general manager of GE do Brasil.

Vaughan holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Fordham University and completed graduate work at New York University School of Graduate Business Administration.