Board of Directors & Advisors
Sima Vasa Sima Vasa, Partner & Chief Executive Officer, brings 20 years of experience in building and growing market research businesses specifically in the technology space. Positions she has held: Senior Partner at Momentum Market Intelligence, President of NPD Techworld at the NPD Group, Vice President of the Technology Division at NPD, and a member of the IBM Market Intelligence Group. During her tenure at NPD, Sima spearheaded a $19 million business unit revenue increase in three years to $40 million by refocusing priorities and aggressively expanding the business portfolio. Additionally, Sima identified, executed and/or integrated three strategic acquisitions ranging from $1.5M to $15M. Sima is a former member of the Young Presidents' Organization. Sima holds an MBA in finance from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BS in marketing from Drexel University.
Robert Gray Robert Gray, Partner & Chief Operations Officer, is a seasoned executive with 25 years experience in building and managing call centers and database operations teams across the globe. As Vice President of Operations at Automatic Data Processing (ADP) he was responsible for four call centers and managed a team of 500 people across the globe, Robert increased the service and delivery capability for clients while reducing expenses. He increased client retention by providing "best in class" service and operations. Prior to ADP, Robert held Executive positions at Insignia Solutions and Ashton Tate where he influenced and managed technical and operational teams to ensure best in class service for clients. Robert is a successful entrepreneur launching Contemporary Lending group that quickly rose to one of the leading mortgage providers in Coachella Valley. Robert graduated from Bryant College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. In addition, Robert was the recipient of the Aspect Technologies Award, which is awarded to individuals who create new and innovative technologies in the computer support / service industry.
Cyrus Deyhimi Cyrus Deyhimi, Partner & Chief Strategy Officer, has 20 years of experience in the high-technology and consulting industries. His accomplishments include nearly $1B in new outsourcing business from global 500 companies in the travel, transportation, and communication sectors. Positions he has held: HP Account Executive Continental Airlines, Director Market Intelligence and Contact Centers Cendant Corporation, President DVI International (clients: Goldman Sachs, Fastwired), Supervising Consultant BSG Consulting and Research and Development Engineer IBM Microprocessor Design Group. He recently resigned as Account Manager (sales, delivery, and financials) of Hewlett Packard’s Continental Airlines Outsourcing Relationship for both the Application Practice along with their Software as a Service Practice. He was awarded HP's Organic Growth Contract of the year in 2007. He received his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA in Finance from NYU Stern School of Business, both with honors.
Jim Dullum Jim Dullum, partner in Fieldstone Equity. From 1993 – 2009 he led the $1.4 Billion Global Transportation Industry Business for EDS, an HP company. Jim was responsible for overseeing global strategy, marketplace development, client relationships, sales and sales support programs, go-to-market plans for EDS and business partners solutions, and intellectual capital development for the Transportation Business. He led the delivery of EDS’ outsourcing and other endto- end capabilities to a diverse client base including air carriers, airports, logistics and transport enterprises, hotel companies, cruise lines, and major reservations networks. During this period, EDS was the number one provider of information technology (IT) services to the airline industry globally, established significant positions in Logistics in EMEA and Asia, and opened Transportation best-shore operations in Latin America, India and China.
Jim holds an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and a BA Cum Laude in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ralph Manaker Ralph Manaker, Fieldstone Equity’s senior Partner, has over 30 years experience in mergers and acquisitions and was instrumental in the creation of BCD Travel, a $15 billion global travel management company headquartered in the Netherlands. From 1998 through 2007, Ralph was co-President of BCD Travel with responsibilities for strategic planning, legal, acquisitions and integration. He was responsible for setting up the European operations of BCD Travel’s sister company, TRX, a leading travel technology company. Ralph also led BCD’s efforts to expand globally through acquisitions, in Asia, Latin America, and Europe including the purchase of TQ3, a large European travel management company.From 1987 to 1998, Ralph was President of USTravel, Inc, a billion dollar travel management company located in Rockville, Md. Ralph was one of the cofounders of USTravel which grew to approximately $2 billion in airline sales, before merging with BCD Travel (formerly BTI WorldTravel).
Ralph has a BA in Mechanical Engineering and a Doctorate of Law from Syracuse University. Prior to starting a career in business, he practiced law in New York and was an adjunct professor at Syracuse College of Law.
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