Leadership and vision behind UpMo’s science

The Team

Promise Phelon

Founder & CEO

As the CEO of UpMo, Promise oversees both board and investor relations for the company. She has authored several patents that underpin UpMo's personalized career management service.

Prior to founding and leading UpMo, Promise founded and managed The Phelon Group, a consultancy providing customer relationship management solutions to leading companies. For more than five years, Promise led a team of industry veterans, business academics and strategic thinkers help market leaders—companies like Adobe, Hewlett Packard, Network Appliance and many others—break through revenue barriers by listening to customers and truly understanding their needs.

Having authored more than four dozen papers, articles, and industry research studies, Promise is a recognized thought leader known for breakaway ideas that drive success. She is also a sought-after speaker, having lectured at Harvard Business School and at numerous industry events and roundtables of industry leaders.

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Alan Butler

Alan Butler, Vice President, Business & Market Development

Alan leads UpMo's field efforts for the company across our University's, Go-To-Market Partnerships, and Corporate engagements. Alan brings 25 years of high-tech experience to UpMo, including Sales, Marketing, Services, and Operations roles at Sun Microsystems Inc. and Adobe Systems. Alan is expert in building great teams and partnerships that generate outstanding business outcomes; Alan brings deep insight across Fortune 500 companies and start ups alike including the Telecommunications, Financial Services, and the Government industries

Prior to UpMo, Alan led Business Development efforts for Astute Networks, a VC-backed firm in the Storage Market. Alan has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay area since moving to the U.S. from Ireland in 1984.

Alan on Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ab530

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Jamie Hull

Director of Product Management

Jamie Hull has responsibility for the product vision and roadmap of UpMo -defining the next generation tools and services that will enable our customers' career management success. Jamie analyzes user needs, market trends and business research and uses the information to create innovative solutions to the problems facing today's business professionals.

Jamie brings deep experience in product management, product marketing and web engineering to the UpMo team. Before joining UpMo, Jamie worked at Blurb, Inc.,where she was responsible for the development and execution of the product roadmap for their primary desktop publishing tool. She also has a track record of launching successful consumer facing products at several companies, including Ellie Mae and Advertising.com. Jamie holds a Bachelor's in Computer Information systems from Towson University and an MBA from University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Jamie on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiehull

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Suraj Dasika

Director of Engineering and Architecture

As Director of Engineering and Architecture, Suraj evolves the UpMo architecture by providing ongoing technology leadership and innovation. In addition, Suraj manages UpMo's talented offshore team.

Suraj brings to UpMo a proven record of architecting and managing the development of high-performance and high-volume intranet and Internet systems, with special expertise in designing business intelligence dashboards. Suraj has spent most of his professional career at Cisco Systems, where he held roles ranging from Consultant to Senior IT Engineer to Technical Lead. Suraj earned his master's in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, and has received numerous awards and peer recognition for various engineering accomplishments.

Suraj on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/surajdasika

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Board of Advisors

John Hagedorn

Consultant and Advisor to Startups and Venture Firms

John is a trusted advisor and provides ongoing strategic counsel on a variety of matters central to helping UpMo realize its potential for creating stakeholder value. Since retiring from full-time CFO assignments in 2000, John has helped over 40 young technology companies analyze markets, develop financial plans, create go-to-market strategies, build teams, and raise funding. He brings to the table 35+ years of finance experience starting with large companies like Philco-Ford, IU International and Intel, and later as CFO of several newly public and private venture-funded technology companies.

John on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/a15/293

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Lisa Ann Strand

Senior Advisor and Chair of UpMo's Science and Advisory Board

Lisa Strand is the driving force behind UpMo's winning emulation technology and networking science. Prior to chairing UpMo's Science and Advisory Board, Lisa was in charge of building algorithms, computations and econometric models—the intellectual property that helps UpMo deliver unique value—at UpMo. Lisa brings a strong background in data analysis and market research, including a leadership role at Brookside Consulting, where she directed and oversaw research. She has also held the positions of Director and Chief Analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings, Senior Analyst at GartnerGroup Dataquest and Market Research Analyst at VLSI Research, a leading market research firm in the semiconductor industry.

Lisa has presented at conferences such as COMDEX and Internet World, and has made several national guest appearances on CNBC, CNNfn and TechTV, as well as local appearances on KGO Channel 7 News and Silicon Valley Business This Week.

Lisa on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaann

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Board of Directors

Barbara Britton

Entrepreneur

Barbara has over 25 years of senior management experience in various high-tech and professional services companies including BEA Systems, AT&T and NCR. Currently, Barbara oversees a portfolio of private investments, serves on the UpMo Board of Directors, and is active in the non-profit sector. Prior to her current position, Barbara was President of BEA Systems' E-Commerce Division where her team developed and released an innovative and proprietary web infrastructure application. In addition, Barbara led the acquisition and integration of five companies into her division, grew the professional services revenue by five times, and expanded her division's software development team to Europe, Canada and Japan. While at AT&T/NCR, Barbara held numerous management positions, including Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

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Marcel Legrand

Partner, Blackfin Capital LLC
Co-founder, Vertical Knowledge

Marcel Legrand has spent the better part of 20 years in the recruiting and career management space, which has allowed him to form deep industry relationships. During this time, Marcel spent 14 years as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Product Management at Monster.com. Marcel's passion for UpMo stems first from our science and second from our overall customer promise—both key parts of what Marcel has coined the "Career Operating System."

Today, Marcel serves as co-founder of Vertical Knowledge and partner at Blackfin Capital, where he consults with venture firms and private equity groups on how to maximize returns in rapidly-consolidating markets. As a critical member of UpMo's Board of Directors, Marcel works closely with CEO Promise Phelon and UpMo's management team and investors to implement the company's aggressive strategic plan.

Marcel on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcellegrand

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Al Smith

Former President & Co-founder, Saratoga Systems

As a lead investor and advisor to UpMo, Al Smith brings successful entrepreneurial experience to UpMo's Board of Directors. Al is a founder and former President of Saratoga Systems, a leader in the CRM software industry. Al has over 20 years of experience in the software industry including management for European Operations for Cambridge Systems Group, a leading supplier of security and management software. In addition to active participation in shaping UpMo's strategic direction, Al is involved with other entrepreneurial technology ventures. Al holds a BA from Stanford University, a J.D. from the University of California at Hastings, and is a member of the California Bar.

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Investors

UpMo is backed by private investors from the online job search, financial services and legal industries.

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