The Founding Team

Jim Boeddeker

Executive Director, VentureBox

Jim is a serial entrepreneur with a 20 year foundation of leadership in developing businesses for technology multinationals. Jim traces his roots back to Silicon Valley where he founded a fiber optic product line for Raychem Corporation and two concept ventures in food marketing and custom cable assembly manufacturing. In 1990, Jim joined Tektronix in Beaverton, Oregon to expand its test instrumentation business into the telecommunications market and was instrumental in the product definition, development and launch of Tektronik’s test solutions addressing digital transmission applications. In 1998 he founded StreamPort Technologies to develop products targeting digital testing needs in the Broadband Cable TV market. In 2000, Jim relocated to Bend Oregon and founded a private Cable TV franchise working with a major land developer in Las Vegas where he pioneered many applications that have come to be associated with the “connected community” concept. In 2005, Jim founded Home Technologies of Bend in 2005 which designed and installed an array of home automation applications.

Chris Capdevila

Mentor / Investor at The Founder Institute

Chris Capdevila is an entrepreneur, investor, and active board member in several technology startups. Chris was the Founder and CEO of LogicalApps, which he led from inception to become the leading provider of automated business controls monitoring and enforcement solutions. Chris bootstrapped the company for the first 5 years of growth doubling revenues every year and in 2005 raised a $14M from Sequoia Capital and Mission Ventures. He grew the company to over $25M in revenues and in November 2007 sold the company to Oracle Corporation. The company’s automated business controls solutions continue to serve as the core backbone of Oracle’s offerings in the governance, risk and compliance market. Following Oracle’s acquisition, Chris served as Vice President of Product Management and Strategy for Oracle, responsible for driving the strategic direction and roadmap for Oracle’s Governance, Risk, and Compliance applications. Prior to founding LogicalApps, Chris was a senior manager with Price Waterhouse for over 7 years and provided strategic consulting services to several Fortune 100 companies. Chris graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and was named Software Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005 by the Southern California Software Council.

Jim Coonan

Venture Catalyst Manager

Jim Coonan brings a wealth of experience to the position and program. He is the current board chair of the Oregon Entrepreneur's Network (OEN), the largest entrepreneurship assistance organization in the state. He also serves on the advisory committee for Mount Hood Equity Partners, is a partner equity investor group Advantage Management Partners and is past chair of the Oregon Angel Network. His small business experience includes the current chairman and shareholder of Peak Audio Group, former chairman and largest shareholder of Kentrox, LLC, and Hotel Software Systems, Ltd. He was the CEO and later chairman of OECO Corporation, a high technology company based in Portland at the time of successful sale of its business units in 1998 and 2000 for a combined $55 million. Just following the sale of OECO's commercial contract manufacturing subsidiary, Jim served a five year stint as Director of Business Alliances for the Oregon University System, where he worked behind the scenes to better link Oregon universities' technology transfer efforts with national research laboratories, private companies and the creation of signature research center ONAMI. Earlier in his career, Coonan acquired large corporate experience during a decade of work at The Pillsbury Company and General Mills, Inc. where he held executive marketing positions. Jim is a Stanford University undergraduate and holds his MBA from Northwestern University.

Jim Harrer

Past President of Mustang Software, Web Associates, Starbase, EventMingle & Alchemy Solutions

Jim Harrer is a successful start-up CEO, turnaround CEO, interim CEO and an experience change management practitioner. In 1986, Jim founded Mustang Software to develop a line of modem communication software. In 1995 he took that company public (NASDAQ:MSTG), only to be crushed by the World Wide Web in late 1996.  Jim reinvented the company in 1997 by creating a new email response management system called Mustang Message Center for companies like Nordstrom, Dow Jones, Carnival Cruise Lines, and others. In 2000 the company was acquired for $290m. Jim later went on to become the turnaround CEO for Web Associates, Starbase (NASDAQ:SBAS) and Alchemy Solutions while squeezing in the EventMingle startup from 2005 to 2010.

Dan Hobin

CEO and Co-Founder at G5 Search Marketing

Dan is CEO and Co-Founder at G5 Search Marketing where he is responsible for overseeing the company's overall strategic direction, planning and execution. He has over 20 years experience in building high growth technology companies. He most recently was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SmashCast, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), a Web-based digital publishing company. Before that, Dan held key sales and marketing roles at both Beyond.com(online software sales), and their spin out, CyberSource Corporation (E-commerce services) (San Jose, CA). He is on the advisory board for OSU Cascades and a co-founder of Bend Venture Conference, the major regional event connecting seed and early stage companies with investment opportunities. Dan received his B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a focus on Japanese Business and is a graduate of the Shibusawa International School in Fukaya, Japan. He lives with his wife Sara and their three boys in Bend, OR.

Chris Kraybill

Chief Technology Officer at G5 Search Marketing

Chris is a husband, father, and technology evangelist (in that order). He has multiple successes in building technology practices for early stage companies, all of whom have experienced triple-digit growth during his tenure. Chris is currently the Chief Technology Officer at G5, the leading provider of digital experience marketing solutions for owners and operators of Multi-Family, Senior, and Storage properties. He began his entrepreneurial career in the heady days of San Francisco's dot-com explosion in the mid-1990s, holding roles as a developer, technical architect, project lead and director. Chris graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME) with degrees in mathematics, economics, and computer science.

Michael Taus

Co-Founder of Code Benders

Michael is principal and co-founder of Code Benders, an agile software development company that specializes in building minimally viable products (MVPs) and rapid iterative development.  A startup geek at heart, Michael thrives on moving interesting ideas from the whiteboard to the world.  Since 1996, Michael has been starting and managing rapid-growth technology businesses with an emphasis on Internet, Telecom, wireless and software ventures. He has participated in the founding, development, financing and management of several early-stage technology companies, including officer and board-level positions. In 1999, he co-founded and was the VP, Business Development and General Counsel of Rent.com (acquired by NASDAQ:EBAY). Former client companies include In-Sync Interactive, GreenlightJobs.com, FlyFone and Pacific Media Ventures. He has participated in early stage investments including Internet Brands (NASDAQ:INET), HiMax, GoMed, CiviData and others.

Dino Vendetti

Managing Director, Formative Ventures

Dino Vendetti is a Managing Director at Formative Ventures where he and his team invest in early stage web, mobile, and software companies. He is an experienced operating executive who spent the majority of his career in Marketing, Business Development, and Engineering roles at start up’s including Qualcomm. Prior to joining Formative, Dino was a General Partner at Bay Partners, and Vulcan Ventures. His current investments include Eightfold Logic, Manzama, SpoiledSelf, Capella, and Veebeam. Dino earned his MSEE and MBA degrees from the University of Washington and a bachelor of science in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University.