Board of Directors
Jim Fowler
CEO and Co-founder, Jigsaw
As Chief Executive Officer, Jim provides direction and leadership toward achieving goals and objectives at Jigsaw. A veteran sales executive, Jim has more than 12 years experience selling software for marketing and collaboration applications.
Before starting Jigsaw, Jim served as VP of Sales at Digital Impact (DIGI), Paramark and TightLink. In these roles, he built sales departments from the ground up focusing on sales strategies and processes. He was able to leverage his experience as an outstanding sales manager at Personify and NetGravity.
Prior to his career in software sales, Jim owned and operated Lookout Pass, a ski resort in Idaho. He also served in the US Navy as a Diving and Salvage Officer. Jim graduated from the University of Colorado.
Tom Peterson
General Partner, El Dorado Ventures
Tom is a veteran early-stage technology investor with El Dorado Ventures since 1986. He focuses on the software, service and communications sectors. His investments include Entrisphere, EarthLink, Efficient Networks, Cyras Systems (acquired by Ciena), Access Health (acquired by McKesson), Rogue Wave (RWAV) and MediaQ (acquired by nVidia (NVDA).
Tom has held positions in Union Venture Corp., the venture capital arm of Union Bank of California, Hewlett-Packard and General Electric. Tom earned his MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University.
Jeff M. Crowe
Venture Partner, Norwest Venture Partners
Jeff joined Norwest Venture Partners in 2004. He focuses on seed and mid-stage investments in the software, Internet and consumer arenas. Jeff currently serves on the Boards of 5square Systems, Telcontar, Tuvox, Turn and Nano-Tex. He is also actively involved with Cast Iron Systems, a supplier of application integration appliances.
Before Norwest, Jeff served as President, COO and Board member of DoveBid, Inc. From 1990 to 1999, Jeff was co-founder, President, CEO and Board member of Edify Corporation, which held its IPO in 1996. It was sold to S1 Corporation in 1999.
Jeff has worked at ROLM Corp., IBM and Siemens in marketing and general management. He currently serves on the boards of the non-profit organizations TheatreWorks and Parents Leadership Institute. Jeff earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He holds a Bachelor's degree in History, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College.
Tom Ball
Austin Ventures
Thomas Ball joined Austin Ventures in 2005. His investments focus on software companies.
Most recently, Tom was CEO and Co-founder of Openfield Technologies. Prior to the merger of Openfield with Razorgator, Tom was instrumental in transforming the technology infrastructure of an entire industry. He played a key role in securing partnership deals with Yahoo!, MSN, eBay, and Knight Ridder.
Earlier, Tom was the Chairman, CEO and Founder of eCoupons (acquired by Lifeminders, NASDAQ: LFMN). Tom also has experience in private equity investing and strategy consulting from his time as a Principal at Discovery Capital and as an Engagement Manager at Mitchell Madison Group.
Tom earned his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance with honors from the University of Florida.
Jim Casella
Austin Ventures
Jim works with Austin Ventures to identify "buy and build" opportunities in the high growth B2B media and publishing industries. In February 2007, with Austin Ventures, Jim launched Case Interactive Media where he serves as CEO.
Previously, Jim was COO of IDG and CEO of Reed Business Information-US, a division of Reed Elsevier (NYSE: ENL), one of the "big five" in global information services.
Earlier executive positions for Jim include President and CEO of PennNet (now PennEnergy), President of ABC Consumer Magazines (a division of Capital Cities/ABC), and VP of Sales and Marketing for HBJ Media Systems at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Jim has served on the Boards IDG Books and Ask Jeeves. Currently, he sits on the Board of Infomedia India LTD, which is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Honored in 2005 at the Spring meeting of American Business Media, Jim received the prestigious McAllister Fellowship in recognition of his unique contributions to the industry. In 2003, he was cited as one of the 21 Most Intriguing People in Publishing by min magazine.
Jim earned his BA cum laude from Boston College in 1970.