Today’s startups have serious problems dealing with their real-world impacts. This is how to stay focused on them. By Yanev Suissa founder and general partner, SineWave Ventures @yanevsuissa You might be tempted to roll your eyes when you hear the words “Silicon Valley” these days. Lots of people are increasingly disillusioned with what was once characterized as the most...
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Dave has joined SineWave Ventures as a Venture Partner after completing a 32-year career at the National Security Agency (NSA). He began his work at NSA as a Cryptologic Mathematician, and was a trailblazer in applying data mining and machine learning techniques to speech and language processing. In 2004, he reached the Senior Executive Service level, as a Defense Intelligence Senior Leader, and from there, he oversaw various projects and organizations within the Research, Capabilities, Operations, and Workforce Support Directorates. Notably, he served as the first Director of the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, where he led a collaborative effort involving government, academic, and industry partners to develop and implement technology and methods to meet intelligence analysis needs. His distinguished career at NSA earned him numerous awards and commendations, with a notable highlight being the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award. This prestigious award recognized his sustained professional, technical, and scientific accomplishments on behalf of the U.S. Government. Dave recently served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Human Language Technology Center of Excellence (HLTCOE) at Johns Hopkins University.
Donna F Dodson is a Venture Partner at SineWave Ventures. She has an extensive background in cybersecurity, privacy, standards, risk management and applied cryptography. Donna led the cybersecurity program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and focused the program on the development of standards, best practices and tools to protect and enhance the resiliency of systems and networks. As the Department of Commerce’s cybersecurity advisor, she counseled the Secretary and represented the department at strategic decision-making forums. After retiring from the government, Donna has worked in the private sector collaborating on advanced technologies and driving new innovations in security.
Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, is an advisor to Venture firms and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center. She recently retired from government service after 20 years contributing to both NASA missions and policy. Dr. Uzo-Okoro drove innovation in space and aeronautics at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She is also a startup founder. She earned an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and masters degrees in Aerospace Systems, Space Robotics, and Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University, MIT’s Media Lab, and Harvard University respectively. She also earned a doctorate degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. She has received several NASA awards and the 2023 Commercial Space Federation Commercial Space Policy award. Her story is profiled in President George W. Bush’s book, Out of Many, One.
As an independent director and board member, government and commercial technical powerhouse leader, Dawn brings more than 40 years’ experience pioneering new products and services and leading transformation for iconic brands around the world, including CIA, AOL, and DoD. She is a recognized expert in delivering entrepreneurial technical capabilities and processes to international markets, leveraging unparalleled stakeholder acumen into strategy, development, integration, and operations.
Nikesh Kalra is a 25-year operator, strategy advisor, and investor in Silicon Valley. He works closely with management teams and investors at all stages to accelerate growth, navigate change, and create value. His current portfolio includes a dozen investments in AI, security, and infrastructure. He previously served in senior operating roles at Equinix (EQIX) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW). Nikesh is a grass-roots philanthropist, athlete, and parent. He earned an executive management certificate (MIT), M.B.A (Oxford), and B.S. (USC).
Howard Levenson has over 30 years of experience solving challenging information technology problems for the intelligence community and other federal customers. He started the Databricks Federal business when the company was doing $1M in revenue and ultimately led the business as the General Manager and Regional Vice President of Databricks Federal, LLC. He helped establish Databricks Federal into one of the leading providers of big data and machine learning analytical solutions with over 50 Federal agencies leveraging the platform to find insights in their data. Howard has spent his career solving challenging, big data, and high-performance computing problems for the Federal Government. He’s performed in leadership roles for companies including IBM and Silicon Graphics/Cray, and has extensive experience leveraging open source technology, cloud, and big data to solve the world’s most challenging problems. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University.
Fostering digital transformation and enabling enterprises to harness the power of their data through machine learning, artificial intelligence, stream processing and other advanced analytics.
We believe data is the driving force of business, and the ability to harness one’s data and to use it in effective decision-making will become the make-or-break success criteria for companies. This means that it must be easy for non-specialists to consume heterogeneous data and to use it in complex decision processes, both human and automatic.
At SineWave, we look for data ingest technologies, developer tooling for AI and ML, understandable AI systems, analytic workflow tools, analytics to control automated processes, and decision analytics. We also believe that data need be useful in a variety of environments in a way that addresses a wide range of latency concerns. We seek technologies that adapt analytic workflows to accommodate processing constraints, and that support the development of just-in-time, just good enough analytic strategies
Improving network adaptivity and assurance and addressing new paradigms like edge computing and 5G.
We believe that a data-driven world requires dynamic network. Data sources and data points of use are proliferating. Operations are becoming distributed, and the network should be able to accommodate changing distribution schemes.
At SineWave, we look for technologies that heighten network adaptivity and that enable the distribution of computation across the network. This includes software-defined networking, edge networks, and 5G technologies. We also believe that adaptive networks need secure network controls, and so we look for technologies that support policy-driven networking and secure network configuration.
Protecting data and systems and enabling new types of secure transactions through improved software, zero-trust solutions, and data-centric technology.
We believe the language used in the cybersecurity conversation has hindered the development of systemic, threat-agnostic solutions. It is easy to be distracted with looking for tools to combat specific system intruders through deployment of multiple point solutions or after-the-fact orchestration efforts. As a result, the market holds a multitude of point solutions and after-the-fact efforts to orchestrate them. At SineWave, we believe cybersecurity is just one dimension of smart system management. We seek solutions that enable you to know and understand your assets (human or machine, endpoint or network) and their behavior, to recognize deviations from the norm regardless of the cause of the anomaly, to provide fine-grained controls that permit only legitimate behaviors, and to assure the correct behavior of software and systems. This includes endpoint security systems, zero-trust systems, novel access control and isolation mechanisms, application security, code analysis, and software-defined perimeters. We also believe that data protection deserves special attention to address both security and privacy concerns, so we look for novel ways to protect data in motion and at rest.
Democratizing big compute and easing access to heterogenous compute platforms.
We believe in the democratization of big compute. Computers are no longer just for data centers and high performance workflows are no longer just for scientists. Data computation has become the engine that drives business, so powerful and accessible computing needs to be available where and when it is needed.
At SineWave, we look for technologies that enable high performance computing from commodity resources, that enable distributed and edge computing, that support stream processing, and that enable the use of specialized processors. We also believe that compute requirements ebb and flow, and so look for technologies that enable the rapid provisioning and configuration of compute resources.
Maggie is the Director of Administration at SineWave Ventures, having previously served as its Director of Operations. Before SineWave, Maggie served as the Chair of the Religion Department at Elizabeth Seton High School, an all-girls school in Bladensburg, Maryland, where she also taught Ethics and coached lacrosse. As a former high school teacher, Maggie’s roles have always demanded attention to detail and the ability to solve problems in complex situations. Maggie holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Fordham University and a Master’s Degree from Yale University.
Greg is a Senior Associate at SineWave Ventures. Prior to joining SineWave, Greg worked on the VC & Growth Equity team at StepStone Group, a $30bn AUM investment platform that invests in venture funds, directs, and secondaries. In his role, Greg worked closely alongside StepStone’s portfolio company CEOs, assisting with strategic GTM planning, key fundraising tasks, and connections to technologists from the Fortune 500. Previously, Greg also worked on the revenue operations team at Clutch.co, a venture-backed marketplace that connects technology service providers with enterprise buyers.
Greg is a graduate of the University of Maryland-College Park.
Charlie is a Senior Associate at SineWave Ventures. Previously, Charlie was an analyst at Syno Capital, supporting investment research, deal execution, and fund operations across early-stage healthcare and life sciences. He began his career at KPMG in their Economic and Valuation Services group conducting valuation analyses for venture-backed companies and investment funds.
Charlie received his B.S. in Finance and Economics from Boston College, with a minor in environmental studies.
Yanev is the Founder and Managing General Partner of SineWave Ventures. Prior to SineWave, Yanev was an investor at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), where he sourced, managed, and helped advise dozens of early stage investments. Yanev was also a Senior Investment Officer under the Bush and Obama Administrations, and was the first person hired to build the Federal Loan Program, which grew to a ~$150 billion investment vehicle.
Yanev holds degrees from Yale University (B.A., Magna Cum Laude), Harvard Law School (J.D.), Oxford Said School of Business (M.B.A., Christ Church), and Sydney Law School (Masters, Distinction).
Brian currently serves as the director of the Naval Postgraduate School’s Remote Sensing Center NCR. He previously served as Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Special Capabilities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). There he managed over $2 Billion in resources and also served as the first Director of the OSD – Special Capabilities Office. Brian has also served as the Chief Scientist and Chief Systems Engineer of Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT) at the Intelligence Communities National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He also served over 23 years as an active duty and reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force, and has been awarded the Air Force Invention Award, an NRO Silver Medal, and a US Patent.
United States Air Force Academy, B.S. in Physics with Honors (1991) and Air Force Institute of Technology, M.S. in Physics Engineering (1992).
Oliver B. Libby is Managing Director and Co-founder of Hatzimemos / Libby, an impact-focused strategy and venture based in New York City. H/L is dedicated to enhancing and accelerating companies in key growth industries that add value to society. Oliver is also Chair & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project, Inc., a non-profit that helps hundreds of undergraduate students launch new social ventures that help millions of people in nearly 70 countries and across America. Oliver serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Clinton Global Initiative, a Trustee of the Harvard Club of New York City Foundation, a Presidential Leadership Scholar, a Milken Young Leader, a Concordia Summit Advisor, a GLG Social Impact Fellow, and a NationSwell Councilmember. Mr. Libby graduated from Harvard College.
