| Gilles Bouchard | Sasha Pesic | Rick Neely | Holly De Leon | Jim Marggraff |
Livescribe's management team has significant consumer hardware and software experience and includes key executives from HP, LeapFrog, Palm, Apple and IBM. Livescribe is a privately held company with initial funding from VantagePoint Venture Partners.
Gilles Bouchard
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
For 25 plus years, Gilles Bouchard has thrived in the consumer and technology industries as an engineer, manager and senior executive. As a leader, he has a proven track-record for setting strategic direction, growing businesses, building consumer brands and has repeatedly solved complex operational challenges. He joined Livescribe as CEO in December 2011.
Previously, Gilles was CEO and COO of Opnext, a spinoff of Hitachi and maker of fiber optic components for the telecom and data networking industries. As CEO, he orchestrated the company’s revitalization, driving record sales by renewing the product line by 70 percent, cutting expenses by $25 million and reducing currency exposure threefold following the rapid appreciation of the Yen.
Prior to Opnext, Gilles spent much of his career at Hewlett-Packard, concluding his 17 years at the Silicon Valley stalwart as executive vice president of Global Operations. Reporting directly to CEOs Carly Fiorina and Mark Hurd, Gilles was instrumental in the company's dramatic turn-around in the mid-2000s. He oversaw HP’s $50 billion supply chain and sales operations, reducing overall costs by $1 billion per year and streamlining IT costs and complexity by 50 percent. While serving in a dual role as CIO, Gilles was named to CIO Magazine’s Top 100. He also served as executive sponsor to global clients such as Samsung, AMEX, British Telecom, Vodafone, UPS and Nokia. Earlier in his time at HP, Gilles led the Pavilion consumer PC division in North America and made the brand the dominant market leader capturing 40 percent retail share in just two years.
Prior to HP, Gilles served as a research engineer at IBM Watson Laboratories and at the University of California, Berkeley.
A native of Paris, France, Gilles is an avid cyclist, diver, climber and skier with a certification as a backcountry ski guide. Gilles and his wife Elizabeth have been active supporters of the CMTA, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for the neuro-muscular condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth.
He holds an MS in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley and a BS in engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France.
Jim Marggraff
Founder and Vice-Chairman
For more than 20 years, Jim Marggraff has dedicated his energy, vision and inventiveness to developing products, content, technologies and IP to improve communication, learning, productivity and advance human thought. Jim founded Livescribe in 2007 and served as CEO through December 2011. During this time, he invented and brought to market the award-winning Echo and Pulse smartpens, designed to enhance the capture, access, and sharing of written and spoken information. Prior to Livescribe, Jim held numerous executive positions at LeapFrog Enterprises. Under his leadership and vision, Jim helped propel the company from $31 million to $680 million annual sales in five years. As the inventor of the globally renowned LeapPad Learning System and the Fly Pentop Computer, Jim’s commitment to innovation and dedication to learning drove sales of over $1 billion of LeapPads and educational content worldwide, and impacted the lives and education of over 50 million children. Jim served as the company’s executive vice president of Worldwide Content and was the founding president of its Internet Division. For many years, Jim focused his career on building companies from the ground up. He co-founded Explore Technologies (acquired by LeapFrog; IPO in 2002), was on the founding team of StrataCom (IPO in 1992; acquired by Cisco), and since founded Livescribe. Jim holds both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jim has received many honors throughout his career; most recently the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2011 Northern California Award in the technology category. This award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Jim was also named in the MIT 150 list of Ideas, Inventions and Innovators who helped shape our world in 2011. Jim continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible and is named on more than two dozen patents and patent applications.
Helen Thomas
Vice President, General Manager International
A native of China, Helen Thomas has more than twenty years of experience in bridging eastern and western businesses with partnership building, sales leadership and marketing. As the former vice president of China operations for Pivotal, Helen drove the vision of providing a locally-focused, but globally-capable set of solutions to help companies solve critical business problems and utilize change as a competitive advantage. Previously, Helen served as the founder and chief executive officer of LeapFrog China Edu-Tech Co., Ltd, where she was responsible for leading strategy and establishing LeapFrog China in 2006. While there, Helen successfully managed partnership deals with multi-billion dollar educational and gaming companies in Japan, created English learning centers with a market leader in Korea, managed licensing agreements with Disney and EFL publishers, and negotiated relationship building between western and eastern cultures. In addition, Helen has held positions at international companies including Star Fine Foods and Premiere Roasters, where she oversaw global business development and Tri Valley Growers, where she managed sales for the area for a multi-billion dollar co-op food processor and marketer in the U.S. Helen holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and earned her bachelor’s degree in international finance at Renmin University of China in Beijing.
Tim Bender
Executive Vice President of Sales
As an entrepreneurial leader and strategic executive, Tim Bender has more than 23 years of experience cultivating some of today’s most recognized consumer products. His expertise in retail channel management, consumer marketing and global market development has transformed start-ups into powerful forces in the industry. Before his current tenure at Livescribe, Tim spent nearly a decade at LeapFrog Corporation, where his leadership directed the growth of LeapFrog into a highly valued U.S. consumer brand and enabled the company to gain prominence within six major international markets. As the President of LeapFrog’s consumer division, Tim advanced a $16 million educational company into a $643 million consumer brand. Prior to LeapFrog, Tim served as the vice president of sales for Yes! Entertainment Corporation, a developer and manufacturer of children’s toys. While at Yes! Entertainment, he grew sales in three years to $85 million through strong trade marketing and guerilla tactics with competitors. During his 10 years at Lego Systems Incorporated, Tim’s led business national businesses such as Target and Kmart. Tim received a bachelor's degree in marketing from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
Andy Van Schaack, Ph.D.
Senior Science Advisor
Andy Van Schaack’s professional experience bridges the worlds of high technology and academia. Early in his professional career, Andy served as technical support engineer and higher education sales manager for Apple Computer in Cupertino, California and Tokyo, Japan. While in graduate school Andy worked as a licensing associate in the Office of Technology Commercialization where he was responsible for the protection, development, and commercialization of faculty inventions and creative works. Andy has founded several education-related companies including Smart.fm (formerly Cerego) of Tokyo, Japan and Livescribe of Oakland, California. As Chief Scientist and Senior Science Advisor, he has earned a number of patents on technologies focused on increasing the effectiveness, efficiency, and accessibility of teaching and learning. He is presently an Assistant Professor of the Practice at Vanderbilt University where he teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in research methods, instructional design, and technology forecasting. Andy holds a bachelor’s degree in instructional psychology and doctorate in instructional technology from Utah State University.
Byron Connell
Chief Marketing Officer
Byron Connell has spent the last 20 years helping consumer technology companies define, develop and launch new products and services. His experience as an executive with both high-tech startups and many of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies is a testament to his strategic thinking and dedication. Prior to his current role as Livescribe’s Chief Marketing Officer, Byron served as principal and chief marketing officer of 1st Gear Consulting. Prior to 1st Gear, he co-founded and served as the senior vice president of marketing of Tapwave. For four years, Byron was responsible for the worldwide definition, introduction and management of all branded handheld computers, communicators, accessories, peripherals and OEM products for Palm, Inc. While at Palm, Byron wore a number of hats including vice president of the consumer markets group and vice president of marketing. He scaled the product management organization from 7 employees to over 70, and introduced many highly acclaimed products that grew company revenue from $114 million to $1.5 billion. Byron has also previously held management positions with Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.
Sasha Pesic
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development,
Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
Sasha Pesic has over 15 years of experience working with high-tech companies, concentrating on corporate strategy, corporate governance, financings, business development, technology licensing and intellectual property, and distribution, sales and commercial transactions. Prior to co-founding Livescribe, Sasha served as senior legal counsel of three public companies: as Assistant General Counsel at CNET Networks, Senior Counsel at LeapFrog Enterprises, and Assistant General Counsel at Lexar Media. His responsibilities have ranged the full spectrum of legal activities, including corporate governance, securities, structuring and negotiating major corporate transactions, intellectual property and securities litigation, patents, trademarks, licensing, anti-piracy, product safety and quality, online privacy, advertising, government affairs, and employment. He has also managed corporate development activities including merger integration, global sales expansion to 50+ countries, and the creation of international subsidiaries. Prior to moving in house, Sasha worked at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, specializing in intellectual property licensing, counseling, and litigation, and at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco, specializing in intellectual property and complex business litigation. Sasha holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of California, Davis and received a law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Brett Halle
Senior Vice President, Engineering
Brett has dedicated more than 30 years pursuing his passion in the software development and hardware industries. With 21 years at Apple™ under his belt, Brett brings a diverse range of technical and managerial skills to Livescribe’s engineering department. Most recently, Brett served as Apple’s senior director of networking and kernel technologies. In this role, he was responsible for the direction, creation and implementation of the common operating system technologies shared across all Apple products and platforms, including the Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod®. Previously, Brett was the senior director for Final Cut Studio, where he oversaw the creation of a suite of applications for video and audio editing, special effects used by everyone from major movie and TV studios to independent film producers to aspiring consumers. He managed key technology and partner relationships with Sony™, Panasonic™, the BBC and CNN. Earlier in his Apple tenure, Brett served in a variety of roles focused on software development, management and technological innovation. Brett attended California State University at Long Beach and majored in electrical engineering and computer science.
Holly De Leon
Vice President, Education Business
Holly De Leon has spent more than 30 years working for educational causes that advocate for underserved children and populations. Prior to joining the Livescribe team, Holly co–founded Senior Work Solutions in Austin, Texas, to address changing demographic trends in the U.S. labor market linked to an unprecedented number of baby-boomers retiring within a short time frame. Previously, Holly held several president and vice president positions, developing sales and marketing strategies that supported the rapid growth of large, multi–million dollar companies including Retention Education, Inc., American Reading Company and Capitol City Consulting. These positions followed a five–year tenure with LeapFrog SchoolHouse, where she served as the vice president of sales and a founding member of the company’s educational division, driving sales from $300,000 in 1999 to a projected $80,000,000 in 2005. Holly began her career as a speech and language pathologist for the Fort Worth Independent School District and Mid Cities Learning Center in Texas, which led her to become the owner and manager of Mid Cities Speech and Hearing Clinic – the first private speech and hearing clinic in Fort Worth, Texas. Holly holds both a bachelor's degree and a master’s degree in speech/language pathology from the University of North Texas.
Rick Neely
Chief Financial Officer
Rick Neely has extensive financial and operations management experience in the semiconductor and software markets. He has successfully worked with Fortune 500, small cap and start-up companies to manage periods of rapid growth and development around the world. Rick's international experience includes finance, treasury, IT and logistics services in Asia and Europe. Before joining the Livescribe team, he served as senior vice president and CFO of Monolithic Power Systems, a global manufacturer of high performance analog semiconductors. Prior to his tenure at Monolithic Power Systems, Rick was the chief financial officer of NuCore Technology. Rick holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Whitman College.
