The NetMotion Wireless Management Team
The NetMotion Wireless management team is comprised of experienced professionals with rich technology, sales and marketing backgrounds. This management team is supported by a strong group of investors and board members.
Gordon H. Smith, Chairman of the Board
Gordon Smith's career with the U.S. Navy spans three decades, after which he retired with the rank of Rear Admiral in 1979. He had extensive experience as a fighter and attack pilot, and gained a reputation for initiating innovative technological solutions for aircraft protection and fleet defense. In the mid-1970's he headed the Navy's REWSON program which was responsible for all reconnaissance, electronic warfare, special operations, and naval intelligence. In his final years with the Navy, he served as Vice Commander of the Naval Electronics System Command. Upon retirement, Rear Admiral Smith was one of the most highly decorated U.S. naval officers in history. After leaving the Navy, Smith served as Vice President of Engineering at Gould NAVCOM Systems Division. He moved on to Lockheed Aircraft Service Company where he became Vice President of Engineering, then Executive Vice President, and President. He served as Chief Executive Officer for Sargent Fletcher Company, Power Spectra Inc, and Padcom, Inc. He is currently Chairman of the Board of NetMotion Wireless, and CEO of High Tower Software. Both NetMotion Wireless and High Tower Software are Liberty Partners funded companies. Smith earned his B.S. in pure mathematics at Brown University. His graduate work at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School was in Aeronautical Engineering and at George Washington University was in Business Administration.
Bob Hunsberger, President & Chief Executive Officer
Bob Hunsberger joined NetMotion Wireless after more than 20 years of executive leadership in the wireless industry. Most recently, Bob was President and Chief Executive Officer of Widcomm, a leading provider of Bluetooth wireless connectivity software that was acquired by Broadcom in 2004. Prior to that, Bob served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Metawave Communications, the first company to establish smart antenna technology as an important tool for the wireless industry. Bob served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for Siemens Wireless Terminals and spent 14 years in various executive positions at Nortel, holding increasing levels of responsibility throughout his tenure. When Bob left Nortel to join Siemens, he was Vice President of Sales and Marketing, having played a key role in establishing Nortel as a major force in the wireless industry. Bob holds a Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia.
Joe Savarese, Chief Technology Officer
Joe, a founding executive of NetMotion Wireless, brings 21 years of experience in the wireless communications industry and is one of the original architects for NetMotion Mobility. Prior to joining WRQ in 1996, Joe was the Senior Network Architect at Intermec responsible for setting the networking strategy for Intermec products, and a principal design engineer in the development of one of the early wireless LAN systems. Joe holds a BSEE from Rutgers University and an MBA from the University of Washington. He has three patents issued and four others pending.
Brian Rice, Chief Financial Officer
From 2001 to 2006, Brian was the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Fovioptics, a start-up medical device company in the San Francisco Bay area investigating non-invasive blood diagnostics. He was responsible for all finance, accounting and human resource activities, including multiple venture financing rounds totaling $25 million. Brian was also Co-owner and Chief Financial Officer for Blue Ridge Medical, a national distributor of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to the pre-hospital market. Before Blue Ridge, Brian was initially Finance Manager and then Treasurer for Trillium Corporation, a regional real estate, natural resource and investment company based in Bellingham, Washington. He began his career in public accounting with Ernst & Young, including a two-year expatriate transfer to the firm’s Paris, France office. Brian is a CPA and holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin.
Tom Johnston, Senior Vice President of Product & Marketing
From 1999 to 2005 Tom was a Managing Director at Alexander Hutton Venture Partners, one of the investors in NetMotion Wireless, and sat on the NetMotion Wireless Board of Directors, as well as on the boards of other investments including Max-Viz. Before joining Alexander Hutton, he held several senior marketing positions with Microsoft Corporation between 1990 and 1998. As a Group Product Manager for Microsoft, Tom led the team responsible for marketing the Windows desktop platform and Internet Explorer—including DHTML and XML—to developers and Web professionals. Previously, he was Lead Program Manager for Microsoft's Internet security product unit. Tom also conducted business development for Microsoft's advanced consumer technology division, forging partnerships with wireless communication firms to enable two-way communication for handheld computing devices. He has also held Product Management roles for Windows NT and Microsoft's network business unit. Tom has an AB in Mathematics and History from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business.
Andrew Willett, Senior Vice President of Sales & Business Development
Andy Willett joined NetMotion Wireless in June 2002. As Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Andy is responsible for North American sales and strategic partnerships. Prior to this role, Andy served as the Senior Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at NetMotion and directed product strategy, development vision and the execution of product plans. Before joining NetMotion, Andy held a variety of senior positions at AT&T Wireless including responsibility for defining and marketing AT&T Wireless’ consumer data offerings, business and content development on AT&T Wireless internet-capable wireless devices, and product development and implementation of AT&T Wireless initial web-enabled phones, mobile data applications and advanced wireless technologies. Previously, Andy was the Director of Wireless Data Sales for Sprint Cellular Communications in Chicago. Andy has a Masters degree in Marketing and Finance from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Chicago. He received his undergraduate degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he earned a BA in Mathematical Economics.
Stef Coetzee, Senior Vice President of International Sales
Stef Coetzee is the founder of Wheatstone Consulting, a consulting firm that helped the expansion of the mobile data industry across the UK and Europe. While leading Wheatstone, Stef helped establish the Mobile Management Forum, a consortium of 62 government and global blue chip organizations focused on driving the definition of a Secure Mobile Architecture. From 1992 to 1998, Stef was a Senior Vice President at XcelleNet, initiating international expansion for the US company, whose RemoteWare and Afaria products focus on systems management for remote and mobile workers. Prior to this, Stef was with Dun & Bradstreet for 14 years as the Group Director for the European Business Information Centre where he planned, designed and established their technology infrastructure, reaching out to 35,000 online users across Europe. In this role he also led the Systems Development organization, reengineering processes to align the IT organization closely with business operations and strategy. Stef's career began in the early 1970s with Anglo American/de Beers as a Systems Programmer working on operating systems, telecommunications and online databases.
Scott Bufkin, Vice President of Engineering
Scott Bufkin joined NetMotion Wireless with over 25 years of experience in high tech engineering, project and program management, and building and managing high-performance software engineering teams. As Vice President of Engineering at NetMotion, Scott is responsible for driving the strategy and execution of its flagship Mobile VPN solution, Mobility XE. Prior to joining NetMotion, Scott served as Vice President of Engineering at Envision Telephony, Inc. Previously, Scott was an Officer and Vice President of Professional Engineering Services at BSQUARE Corporation, a world leader in embedded Windows systems integration and software development. He also served as Senior Program Manager at Areva T&D, as Software Engineering Manager and Program Manager at Intermec Corporation and Director of Design Engineering at Interphase Corporation. Scott holds a BS in Computer Science from Texas A&M University.
Richard Reed, General Counsel
Richard R. Reed serves as General Counsel for NetMotion Wireless, providing leadership and consultation on all legal issues affecting the corporation. Areas of emphasis include, but are not limited to, intellectual property, contracts, employment, compliance, and litigation. Reed came to NetMotion Wireless from a predecessor company, Padcom Inc., which merged with NetMotion Wireless. Reed has focused his efforts on the software industry for over nine years. Prior to this, he served for eight years as a leader in the Legal Department of Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. Reed earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and German and a Masters Degree in International Management from Baylor University. He earned his Juris Doctor from Widener University. Reed is a member in good standing of the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, and the New Jersey Bar Association.
Company Backgrounder (PDF)
Fact Sheet (PDF)
