Healthcare
James M. Gower
Chairman and CEO, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.From 1992 to March 1996 James was President and Chief Executive Officer of Tularik, Inc., a biotechnology company developing small-molecule drugs regulating gene expression. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President at Genentech, where he had a lead responsibility for business development and sales and marketing functions, and established and managed Genentech’s foreign operations in Canada and Japan. He also served as president of Genentech Development Corporation and currently serves as director of the board of Cell Genesys, Inc. He holds an MBA from the University of Tennessee.
CleanTech
Andy Seidel
Senior AdvisorAndy is CEO of Underground Solutions, Inc., a water infrastructure and pipeline rehabilitation company. He was the former CEO of United States Filter Corporation, the nation’s leading provider of water and wastewater products, systems, and services. Andy is a former director of USFilter, Aqua America and National Waterworks (purchased by The Home Depot). He also served on the Management Board of Veolia, S.A., the French-based environmental services company. Andy graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (BSE) and The Wharton School (MBA).
“VantagePoint understands both the allure and promise inherent in the water industry and coupled with our wisdom and pragmatism, we'll be able to make great things happen.”
—Andy Seidel
Senior Advisor
CleanTech
John Woolard
Senior AdvisorJohn is CEO of BrightSource Energy, a utility-scale provider of solar power plants. Most recently, he was an Executive-in-Residence in the VantagePoint CleanTech Practice Group. He was previously at Itron, Inc., and Silicon Energy, a clean energy startup he founded. Prior to that, John held positions at PG&E Energy Services, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Alpine Software, and has served on the boards of numerous clean energy companies. He attended University of Virginia (BA) and the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley (MBA).
“VantagePoint's deep understanding of the fundamental drivers in the energy sector - the need for large capital requirements and the ability to navigate complex regulatory environments - make it an ideal partner in building a successful company in the new energy economy.”
—John Woolard
Senior Advisor
CleanTech
Joel Makower
Senior AdvisorJoel has been a well-respected writer and strategist on corporate sustainability practices and clean technology for nearly 20 years, and he has helped a wide range of companies align environmental goals with business objectives. He is a co-founder and principal of Clean Edge, a research and publishing firm focusing on clean-tech markets, and founder and Executive Editor of GreenBiz.com and ClimateBiz.com. He also serves as a Batten Fellow at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Author of Strategies for the Green Economy, Joel holds a degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.
“The green economy represents an unprecedented opportunity for companies to reinvent not just their products and services, but themselves and the societies in which they operate.”
—Joel Makower
Senior Advisor
CleanTech
Chelsea Sexton
Senior AdvisorChelsea is the Executive Director of Plug In America, a coalition of individuals and organizations that advocates for the preservation and manufacture of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid. She has 14 years of experience in the automotive industry, with a particular focus on alternative fuels and clean energy—most notably on the General Motors EV1 electric vehicle program. Chelsea is one of the key individuals featured in the 2006 film, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” by Sony Pictures Classics and appears in the Sundance Channel Series, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet.”
“VantagePoint leverages world-class talent and experience to turn bold ideas into successful companies that move the world”
—Chelsea Sexton
Senior Advisor
Healthcare
Martin Rosenberg, Ph.D.
Former SVP Drug Discovery and Development, GlaxoSmithKlineDr. Rosenberg is currently the Chief Scientific Officer of Promega Corporation. He joined Promega after retiring in 2001 as Senior Vice President of Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery and Development at GlaxoSmithKline. Before joining SmithKline Pharmaceutical R&D, he spent 10 years at the National Institutes of Health and was a Section Chief in the National Cancer Institute. He currently participates on a variety of academic and industry Scientific Advisory Boards and is the recipient of numerous industry awards. Dr. Rosenberg received his Ph.D. from Purdue and his postdoctoral training at Yale Medical School.
Healthcare
Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D.
CEO, CV Therapeutics, Inc.Dr. Lange was a founder of CV Therapeutics and has served as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since August 1992. Prior to that, he served on the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Lange is internationally recognized as an expert in the field of molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular disease. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and is the Chair of the Emerging Companies Governing Section. He holds a M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University.
Healthcare
Frank Baldino, Jr.,PH.D.
Chairman and CEO, CephalonDr. Baldino founded Cephalon in 1987 and built it from a privately held company to the sixth-largest publicly traded biotechnology company in the U.S. Dr. Baldino has nearly two decades of scientific experience in neurobiology, molecular biology, and electrophysiology, and has authored more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals. From 1981–1987, Dr. Baldino served as senior research biologist in the medical products department at E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company, where he was responsible for developing strategies for identifying novel neuropharmaceutical agents. Dr. Baldino received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Temple University.
Healthcare
Richard A. Miller, M.D.
Former CEO, PharmacyclicsDr. Miller trained in internal medicine and medical oncology at Stanford University, where he later continued his career as a research scientist in cancer biology and immunology, pioneering the use of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of lymphomas. In 1985, he co-founded IDEC Pharmaceuticals, and in 1991 founded Pharmacyclics, Inc., where he pioneered the research and development of a novel class of pharmaceuticals that selectively target and destroy cancer cells by a unique mechanism of action. Dr. Miller received his M.D. degree, summa cum laude, from the State University of New York in 1975.
CleanTech
Bernie Bulkin
Venture Partner and Senior AdvisorBernie joined VantagePoint upon his retirement as Chief Scientist at BP (British Petroleum) in 2003. He spent 18 years at BP and its predecessor The Standard Oil Company, holding various positions in technology and business, including Chief Technology Officer. As BP’s Vice President for Environmental Affairs, he developed BP’s clean fuels strategy and led BP’s strategy and action plan on climate change. He helped to develop BP’s thinking about sustainability, what it means in an extractive company, and the organizational demands of sustainability in a large company. Bernie is a Professorial Fellow at Cambridge University, serves as a Commissioner for Energy and Transport at the UK Sustainable Development Commission and has been the host of the Environment on the Edge talk radio series. Bernie was recently appointed as Chair of the Office of Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED) in the United Kingdom.
“What I love about the Vantage Point approach is that it is thoughtful and strategic. Pick important areas, go after the big stuff, pick good partners, see it through.”
—Bernie Bulkin
Venture Partner and Senior Advisor