Strategic leadership is the key to success in the field of fixed-mobile convergence. At Tango Networks, we're guided by a team of talented, motivated individuals who are poised for growth in this evolving industry.
Management Team
Alastair Westgarth, Chief Executive Officer and President
Alastair Westgarth is an industry veteran with over 16 years in the wireless and data communications industry. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and CTO at Airspan, Senior VP at Inner Wireless, EVP Engineering at First Broadcasting, CEO and President of Navini Networks, and VP of Product Line Management for Nortel. Mr. Westgarth also held leadership positions at Bell Mobility early in his career. He has been on the advisory boards of Spatial Wireless (acquired by Alcatel) and Genesis Campus, was on the board of directors for Valere Power, and was on the board of directors and advisors for Tango Networks before joining the company as COO in March, 2007. Mr. Westgarth has an Electrical Engineering degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Andrew Silver, Co-Founder and CTO
Tango Networks was co-founded by Andrew Silver, who now serves as the company's Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Silver is an entrepreneur and business technologist with over 15 years in the telecommunications industry. He has held various senior management and director roles within large and small companies in the cellular industry including Ericsson, Nortel Networks, Comverse Technologies and startup Spatial Wireless (acquired by Alcatel). He has received multiple corporate awards such as the Nortel CEO Top Talent and Patent awards, and is an accomplished speaker at leading industry forums on wireless networks and services. Mr. Silver holds an MBA and Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, and numerous patents in wireless telecommunications.
Charles Derrick, VP Engineering
Chuck Derrick has over 20 years of leadership experience and a record of accomplishment in the delivery of voice and data networks, including mobile and fixed wireless technologies. Prior to joining Tango Networks, Mr. Derrick headed the Engineering and Operations for Cyneta Networks, creating and deploying wireless service quality management products into Europe and China. Prior to Cyneta Networks, Mr. Derrick was Vice President of Engineering and Operations at IPmobile and was instrumental in bringing the company's 2.5G/3G wireless router product to market, leading to an acquisition by Cisco in 2000. Prior to IPmobile, Mr. Derrick held several executive positions with Nortel Networks and various design and systems positions at IBM, Hitachi, and NCR. Mr. Derrick holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina.
Al Leo, VP Sales and Business Development
Al Leo brings over 20 years of sales and sales management experience in direct wireless carrier infrastructure and large enterprise/government PBX distributor sales to Tango Networks. Prior to joining Tango, Mr. Leo was with Spatial Wireless (acquired by Alcatel), where he was responsible for sales of the Next Generation Network (NGN) softswitch solution to Tier 1 carriers in the United States. Prior to his tenure at Spatial Wireless, Mr. Leo held positions of increasing responsibility in sales and sales management during a successful 17-year career at Nortel Networks. Mr. Leo holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Texas A&M University with a major in Engineering Technology - Telecommunications.
Aino Alber, Controller
Aino Alber, Tango Networks' Controller, brings over 25 years of financial leadership experience to Tango Networks. Previously, she was Controller for White Rock Networks, and was Chief Financial Officer at Coollogic, Inc. Ms. Alber has also held senior financial positions with Canmax Retail Systems, IRG Technologies and Beazer Australia. Ms. Alber has a degree in Accounting and an MBA in Finance from Cleveland State University. She is a certified public accountant and a member of the Dallas Chapter of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Board of Directors
Ty Beard
Ty Beard is general partner and founder of ETI Investments, Ltd., a private equity investment group. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1996. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is a practicing Texas attorney. He is a founder of Beard and Harris, a law firm specializing in estate planning, corporate tax planning, asset protection planning and closely held business mergers/acquisitions.
Glenn Etherington
Glenn Etherington is chairman of Tango's board audit committee. Mr. Etherington is currently chief financial officer for eCommerce Industries, Inc. Previously he was chief financial officer for MetaSolv Software, Inc., directed its IPO, and was instrumental in the company's eventual sale to Oracle. Prior to joining MetaSolv, Mr. Etherington spent eleven years as chief financial officer and secretary of Brite Voice Systems, Inc., and directed its IPO and subsequent public stock registrations. Before joining Brite, he held various accounting and financial positions, including chief financial officer with American City Business Journals, Inc., where he participated in two public stock offerings and various mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Etherington was a certified public accountant and spent four years in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co. He has a BBA with an emphasis in accounting from Wichita State University.
Bill Fowler
Bill Fowler is the President and Chief Operating Officer of JS Capital Management, Inc., a real estate and private equity investment firm located in Stuart, Florida. JS Capital provides equity capital for real estate, venture capital, and other private equity transactions and also provides management support for these investments. The company has developed two residential golf course communities along the Treasure Coast of Florida. Prior to joining JS Capital in 1997, Mr. Fowler spent 18 years in public accounting with local, regional and international CPA firms specializing in small and emerging growth enterprises. He holds a bachelors degree in accounting from the University of Central Florida and is a Florida certified public accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the AICPA Tax Section, and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and is a licensed Florida Realtor. Mr. Fowler is vice president and a director of the Martin County Community Foundation and serves on the finance committees of the Council on Aging of Martin County and Redeemer Lutheran Church and School.
Nigel W. Jones
Nigel Jones is a partner at TWJ Capital LLC, a private equity investment firm specializing in early and expansion stage new ventures. Prior to joining TWJ Capital in 2006, he was a Principal at the Carlyle Group, which he joined in 1999. Prior to Carlyle, he was an associate in the Technology Investment Banking group at Goldman Sachs & Co, based in San Francisco and Menlo Park from 1997 to 1999. He holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree (magna cum laude) from Harvard University. Prior to business school, Mr. Jones served for four years as a communications officer in the United States Marine Corps. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Acoustic Technologies, Email Data Source, OnDialog, Swoozie's, and Tango Networks.
Gene Levy
Mr. Levy is currently the President of Castleton Consulting Associates, a firm that provides strategic and tactical consulting to Fortune 1000 companies as well as technology and market due diligence for the private equity community. Prior to Castleton he was a partner with Apax Partners Inc., a private equity firm with over $16B under management. While at Apax he directed technology due diligence efforts for Apax's Telecom and Technology sectors. Mr. Levy has held variety of technical and management roles with various technology firms including Bell Telephone Laboratories and GTE Information Systems. He was a founder and principal of two software consulting firms: Programming Methods Inc. and Lambda Technology. Mr. Levy earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson College and a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Andrew Silver
Andrew Silver is CTO and co-founder of Tango Networks. Learn more.
Alastair Westgarth
Alastair Westgarth is president and chief executive officer of Tango Networks. Learn more.
Douglas J. Bartek
Doug Bartek is Chairman Emeritus and Advisor to the Board for Tango Networks. Mr. Bartek is a co-founder of the company, and was its first CEO and President. Mr. Bartek is an industry veteran with over 35 years of high tech company experience. Mr. Bartek was the founder, CEO and chairman of Microtune, a firm that he took public (NASDAQ) during his tenure. Mr. Bartek was a division president at Cirrus Logic, was president and CEO of Acumos, and also held key leadership positions at VLSI Technology, Motorola, and Honeywell. During his career, he has been the principal person responsible for over 20 successful sales, acquisitions, mergers, and financings of high tech business entities. Mr. Bartek is the past chairman of the Texas Council of the American Electronics Association (now TechAmerica). He has been recognized as an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, is an NRCC Businessman of the Year recipient, and recently won the Metroplex Technology Business Council Tech Titans Emerging Company CEO of the Year award. He is involved in his community as a Trustee for his church and is a founding member of Star Children's Charity. Mr. Bartek graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BSEE from the University of Texas, and has both an MS in Engineering and an MBA from Arizona State University.
Board of Advisors
David G. Brenner
David Brenner is a proven technology and business executive/entrepreneur with extensive experience with companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500, and in leadership roles in management, business development, marketing, sales, product management, engineering, operations, contracts, customer service, and finance. Mr. Brenner has held key strategic and operational roles at organizations including IBM, Texas Instruments, Bay Networks, and Standard Microsystems. Mr. Brenner is currently VP of Marketing and Business Development for StoneStreet One, a wireless software company building solutions for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, and other wireless technologies. Mr. Brenner has published numerous business articles and technical papers, serves as a speaker at various industry events, and participates in advisory board roles for technology companies including Tango Networks.
Matthew J. Desch
Matt Desch is chairman and CEO of Iridium Satellite LLC, and CEO of Iridium Holdings, the parent company of Iridium Satellite. Previously, Mr. Desch was CEO of Telcordia Technologies, a private communications software and services supplier. In addition to other management positions, Mr. Desch was executive vice president and president of Nortel Networks' Wireless Networks division, with responsibility for Nortel's $4.5B global wireless infrastructure business. Mr. Desch is currently chairman of Airspan Networks and is on the board of directors for Starent Networks. He has previously been on the boards of a number of other technology companies, including Flarion Technologies (acquired by Qualcomm), SAIC and Glenayre. Mr. Desch has a B.S. in Computer Science from Ohio State University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
General Mike Hagee
General Mike Hagee retired from the United States Marine Corps in January 2007 after almost 39 years of service. In his last active-duty position, he served as the Commandant of the Marine Corps and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Currently, General Hagee is head of MH Dimension Consulting and sits as a director on the boards of several U.S. companies. In addition, he serves on several company advisory boards as well as civic, community and philanthropic boards. General Hagee has received several U.S. and foreign awards. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Arts in National Security Affairs.
Jeffrey M. Heller
Jeffrey M. ("Jeff") Heller retired from EDS in 2008, having joined in 1968. He was most recently Vice Chairman and served on the company's board of directors Executive Committee, previously President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Heller has served on the board of directors of the Dallas Symphony Association, Mutual of Omaha, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and Temple-Inland, and has been a member of the University of Texas Chancellor's Council, the University of Texas Engineering Foundation Advisory Council, the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, the University of Texas Development Board, the Longhorn Foundation and is a trustee of the Southwestern Medical Foundation. Mr. Heller received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a jet pilot from 1960-66.
Dr. Janet Lind
Dr. Janet Lind is vice president of product development at InnerWireless. Prior to joining InnerWireless, Dr. Lind held various C-level and executive roles with Cyneta Networks, Nortel Networks and Siemens, working to create and deliver mobile wireless products for voice and data services, including location application development and other software for wireless systems. Dr. Lind served as the assistant dean for the University of Texas at Dallas Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Dr. Lind holds a doctorate in computer science from Tulane University, a Master of Science degree in computer science from the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Louisiana State University.
Richard C. Lottie
Rick Lottie is a Naval Academy graduate and a former Marine infantry officer, whose business career includes senior management roles at EDS, Perot Systems, MCI Systemhouse and AMS. Originally a systems engineer, he progressed through management, sales, and various executive positions, including a group executive role in which he was responsible for a $1 billion P&L and 4,200 employees. In addition to serving on the Tango Networks board of advisors, Mr. Lottie remains active in additional business ventures and philanthropies.
James McCoy
Jim McCoy is senior vice president, CTO and co-founder of InnerWireless, a company that develops in-building wireless solutions. Previous senior management positions include SpectraPoint Wireless, Bosch Telecom, and Texas Instruments — all focused on broadband millimeter-wave fixed wireless. He began with TI's Defense Systems & Electronics Group, where his responsibility spanned numerous advanced wireless technologies and classified weapons systems. He holds both BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of Alabama.
Hermon Pon
Hermon Pon is a strategic industry consultant with broad communication and networking experience in mobile, wireless, optical, wireline and VoIP networks, Previously, Mr. Pon was VP of corporate development for Tekelec, which he joined a result of the acquisition of Taqua, where he was chief product officer. He was previously an entrepreneur in residence with leading venture firms Battery Ventures and Sevin Rosen Funds. He also served on the advisory board of numerous startups, including Spatial Wireless (acquired by Alcatel), Cyneta Networks (acquired by Tektronix), and more recently Tango Networks and Genband. Mr. Pon served in a variety of senior management positions at Nortel Networks, most notably as general manager, TDMA systems, and chief technology officer, wireless networks. Mr. Pon has a BsC in Electrical Engineering and MBA from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
Dayakar Puskoor
Dayakar Puskoor is a veteran at building high-value mobile, wireless and telecommunications businesses. Most recently, Mr. Puskoor owned the P&L for the Hosting & Mobility Solutions business at Microsoft. Prior to Microsoft, Mr. Puskoor was founder and CEO for JP Mobile, which he sold to Good Technology (then acquired by Motorola.) Mr. Puskoor began his career with Motorola's paging division, receiving an Engineering Excellence Award for his work there. Mr. Puskoor is a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE), is executive chairman at Netxcell, and is an advisory board member for Singlepoint and Tango Networks. He is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin University and earned a master's degree in computer science from Nova University.
Jack J. Young
Jack Young is senior manager at Qualcomm Ventures, responsible for investment in the wireless sector. Mr. Young serves on the board of directors and/or board of advisors of Pixsense, Validity Sensors, Tango Networks, and Itibia Technologies. Mr.Young also served as an advisor to Vivace (acquired by Tellabs), Raza Foundries (Raza Microelectronics), Andes Networks, SiSilk Networks, and Maple Optical Systems. Previously, Mr. Young was executive vice president at ZTE USA, and was the founding AVP of marketing at Amber Network. Early in his career, he held marketing and business development positions with 3Com, GDC, and Nortel Networks. Mr. Young earned BS and MSEE degrees from University of Calgary, and an MBA from McGill University.
Susan Spradley
Sue Spradley is customer and market operations (CMO) region head, North America, for Nokia Siemens Networks. Sue has more than 20 years of experience in services, operations, sales, customer service and global product line management in the telecommunications industry. The former president of Nortel global services and operations, Sue was most recently responsible for technical engineering, manufacturing and supply chain management. Her prior roles at Nortel include president of global product line management and North America sales. Sue joined Nortel in 1997 as vice president, customer service and operations, where she led a team of field-based project managers. Prior to joining Nortel, Sue was vice president of marketing and product development for Siemens Communications, playing a key role in launching the North American business and developing its new organization.