Managing Partners
The DreamIt Managing Partners are all entrepreneurs. We have each founded, built and successfully sold one or more businesses. We have backgrounds in technology, finance, sales and marketing, and law. Many of us are angel investors and have invested in software/SaaS, chip, pharmaceutical, medical device, and other startup companies.
David Bookspan David is a Founder of DreamIt and an entrepreneur, executive,
and angel investor. David currently is Founder and Chairman of Monetate, Inc.,
the post-click marketing platform for online retailers (www.monetate.com). In
1996, David co-founded and was President and CEO of MarketSpan, Inc., whose
CaseStream® service aggregated and enhanced court docket information. David sold
MarketSpan, and the service under the brand "CourtLink" is a successful business
unit of LexisNexis. David is an active angel investor and has been Vice-Chairman
of the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Fund I, L.P., a past-President of Robin Hood
Ventures, and a member of L.O.R.E. (Loosely Organized Retired Executives). David
also has served on the Board of Directors or Board of Advisors of several
start-ups and early stage companies. David practiced law and was a litigation
partner at Wolf, Block Schorr and Solis-Cohen, in Philadelphia, PA. David earned
an A.B. degree from Vassar College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law
Center where he was an Editor of the Law Review.
Michael Levinson Mike is a Founder of DreamIt and an entrepreneur, executive
and active angel investor. Mike co-founded PTS Learning Systems, a company
focused on corporate computer training and electronic performance support tools
and software. Mike grew the company into a highly profitable international
organization with over 200 employees and revenues of $30 million and sold it in
1999. Since selling PTS, Mike co-founded founded TechWise Group, Inc., an
information technology outsourcing firm for small and medium businesses. Mike
also was a founder or co-founder of LegalEdge Software, the 3E Institute, and
The Academy of Manayunk, where he currently serves on the Board. Mike most
recently co-founded WizeHive, an online organization and collaboration tool.
Mike has also invested in over a dozen technology companies as an angel
investor. Mike was graduated from the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania with an Economics/Accounting degree, obtained his CPA certificate
in Pennsylvania, and was graduated from Villanova Law School with a JD.
Steven D. Welch Steve is a Founder of DreamIt, an entrepreneur and active
angel investor. In July 2007 (at the age of 29), Steven sold the Mitos group of
companies that he had started building 6 years earlier to Parker Hannifin (NYSE:
PH)—an S&P 500 company. Steven founded Mitos Technologies, Inc. with hardly a
cent to his name. Under Steven's guidance Mitos developed six marketable patents
all directed at improving biotech companies efficiency in manufacturing. In
2008, Steve was selected as a member of the Philadelphia Business Journal's
Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2009 Steven was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower
Fellowship to build bridges internationally in early stage startup communities
and published a book about entrepreneurship, "We
are all Born Entrepreneurs". Recently Steve launched a technology education
company called KinderTown which is the
Education App Store for parents with children 3-6. Steve Welch is currently running for
United States Senate.
Kerry Rupp Kerry is the Managing Partner of DreamIt Ventures. She is the
Founder of Holiday Golightly, an online travel service specializing in
girlfriend getaway trips. She also provides marketing and strategy consulting to
senior executives at companies such as AllRecipes.com, ReadersDigest, LexisNexis,
Payscale, and Taleo. She has 17 years of executive strategy and operations
experience, much of it at startup companies including Jobster, MarketSpan and
CourtLink (before their acquisition by LexisNexis) and at Automated Catalogue
Services (before its acquisition by Sterling Commerce). She has also served as
Vice President of Business Development at Classmates.com, Managing Director & Vice
President of Market Planning at LexisNexis, and Consultant at both McKinsey &
Company and Andersen Consulting. Kerry was the editor of the book "CRAVE Austin:
The Urban Girls' Manifesto" (2009), and the co-publisher/editor of "The Parisian
Cowboy's Guide to the Round Top Experience" (2010). Kerry holds a BA in Biology
from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mark Wachen Mark Wachen is the Managing Director of DreamIt NYC and will
oversee the Summer 2011 program in New York City. Wachen is also the Managing
Director and Founder of Upstage Ventures, a firm that advises and invests in
consumer internet and interactive marketing companies. Wachen is a Board member
of Optify and OrderGroove, and has worked with a variety of other companies
including ChaiLabs (acquired by Facebook), SeatGeek, Opinionaided, GameChanger,
STELLAService, CatchAFire, and Cyan Pictures. Prior to Upstage, Wachen was the
Managing Director of Autonomy Optimost. Wachen founded Optimost, the company
that pioneered multivariable testing and optimization on the internet, in 2001
and served as its CEO up until its acquisition by Interwoven in November 2007
(Interwoven was then acquired by Autonomy in March 2009). Prior to Optimost,
Wachen worked for seven years at Sony, overseeing a wide variety of Internet
initiatives. Wachen was CEO of Indimi (Internet Direct Marketing Intelligence,
Inc.), a company majority-owned by Sony. In this role, he spearheaded the
acquisitions of InfoBeat, AdTools, and DailyRating. Prior to Indimi, Wachen was
Vice President of Online Ventures for Sony Music, where he directed many online
initiatives, including Sony Music's investments in Spinner (acquired by AOL for
$300 million), and the launch of the Sony Music Online Website in 1994. Wachen
graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Harvard
Business School.
William Crowder William is a Managing Director with DreamIt Ventures. He works closely with DreamIt’s NYC and Philadelphia programs. He is also responsible for the oversight and operation of DreamIt Access, our newly announced effort to increase the number of minority-led startups. William is the Founder and Managing Director of Growth Strategy Advisors, a boutique strategic advisory and business development company launched in 2008. Since its inception, William has overseen the firm’s growth and nationwide expansion. As GS Advisors’ Managing Director, he has been directly involved in the formation and implementation of new growth strategies, assessments of new business opportunities, and the launching of new ventures for a variety of digital and traditional media companies.
Throughout his career he has served as a trusted advisor to senior executives at companies such as AOL, Thomson Legal (now Thomson Reuters), Radio One, and Interactive One. He has over 15 years of strategy and operations consulting experience; many of them with technology and digital media businesses. He has also been involved in the acquisition and integration of several technology-focused companies including TACODA and Third Screen Media (both acquired by AOL), Community Connect (acquired by Interactive One), and Transaction Network Services (acquired by GTCR).
Prior to founding GS Advisors, William led strategic efforts at AOL, was a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), and early in his life developed first generation Internet software. William holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from North Carolina State University.
Throughout his career he has served as a trusted advisor to senior executives at companies such as AOL, Thomson Legal (now Thomson Reuters), Radio One, and Interactive One. He has over 15 years of strategy and operations consulting experience; many of them with technology and digital media businesses. He has also been involved in the acquisition and integration of several technology-focused companies including TACODA and Third Screen Media (both acquired by AOL), Community Connect (acquired by Interactive One), and Transaction Network Services (acquired by GTCR).
Prior to founding GS Advisors, William led strategic efforts at AOL, was a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), and early in his life developed first generation Internet software. William holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from North Carolina State University.
Mitchell Golner Mitchell Golner is the Managing Partner of DreamIt Israel. He
is a hi-tech business manager, startup advisor and angel investor. Mitchell has
over 18 years of experience in the hi-tech industry and has held various
business and technical roles in Software, Hardware and Systems.
In 2009, he started Tangramix, Ltd., a Strategic Advisory firm focused on providing business advisory services to companies in Israel. Mitchell served as the Business Manager for Zoran’s Consumer DVD business, with over $130M in annual sales, which was based in China.
He has experience in managing worldwide business, developing cross-cultural teams, fostering innovation and executing new product development from inception through development to sales to customers. Mitchell has done business throughout Asia as well as in the US, Europe and Israel. Originally from the US, he has lived and worked in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, ShenZhen, China, and is now based in Israel.
Mitchell is a graduate of the GE/Lockheed Martin Edison Engineering Program (EEP), the recipient of a NASA Virginia Space Grant, holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia.
In 2009, he started Tangramix, Ltd., a Strategic Advisory firm focused on providing business advisory services to companies in Israel. Mitchell served as the Business Manager for Zoran’s Consumer DVD business, with over $130M in annual sales, which was based in China.
He has experience in managing worldwide business, developing cross-cultural teams, fostering innovation and executing new product development from inception through development to sales to customers. Mitchell has done business throughout Asia as well as in the US, Europe and Israel. Originally from the US, he has lived and worked in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, ShenZhen, China, and is now based in Israel.
Mitchell is a graduate of the GE/Lockheed Martin Edison Engineering Program (EEP), the recipient of a NASA Virginia Space Grant, holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia.
Venture Partners
Arie Abecassis Arie Abecassis is an operator, advisor and venture capital investor of software companies. He currently serves on the boards of SeatGeek and Adaptly, both DreamIt companies, and has advised emerging companies in e-commerce, marketing and advertising technologies including iContact, OrderMotion and Transactis.
Previously, Abecassis was President/COO of MindFireInc, a leading provider of SaaS-based cross-media marketing solutions that was recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the country's fastest growing software companies. He has also been active in venture capital and corporate venturing. At Updata Partners, a $500 million growth equity firm focused on software and technology-driven business services companies, he was responsible for identifying new investment opportunities and building a team to support deal sourcing, analysis and execution. As a member of Thomson Financial Ventures, now part of Thomson-Reuters, Abecassis actively participated in executing inorganic and organic growth initiatives, including equity investments in CCBN, Creditex Inc., Trepp LLC and Financeware. Earlier in his career, he lead business development activities at Marvel Entertainment, Inc., where he helped incubate and manage several business units related to Marvel's licensing and interactive efforts, and the New York Daily News, where he worked in strategy and business development.
Abecassis is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and earned his MBA as a Beta Gamma Sigma Scholar of New York University's Stern School of Business.
Previously, Abecassis was President/COO of MindFireInc, a leading provider of SaaS-based cross-media marketing solutions that was recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the country's fastest growing software companies. He has also been active in venture capital and corporate venturing. At Updata Partners, a $500 million growth equity firm focused on software and technology-driven business services companies, he was responsible for identifying new investment opportunities and building a team to support deal sourcing, analysis and execution. As a member of Thomson Financial Ventures, now part of Thomson-Reuters, Abecassis actively participated in executing inorganic and organic growth initiatives, including equity investments in CCBN, Creditex Inc., Trepp LLC and Financeware. Earlier in his career, he lead business development activities at Marvel Entertainment, Inc., where he helped incubate and manage several business units related to Marvel's licensing and interactive efforts, and the New York Daily News, where he worked in strategy and business development.
Abecassis is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and earned his MBA as a Beta Gamma Sigma Scholar of New York University's Stern School of Business.
