Directors

John Goldsmith

Chairman, Lux Research

John is an investor in early-stage and growth companies. He is a director of Gerson Lehrman Group, Intego, Lux Research and Salesconx and is an investor in a number of other private companies. Through the end of 1999 John was a partner of AEA Investors Inc., a private equity firm, which he joined in 1989. John is a CPA, received an MBA in finance from NYU's Stern School of Business and received a BA from Princeton University.

Dennis Philbin

CEO, Lux Research

Dennis Philbin is the CEO of Lux Research. He has been leading Lux Research for over 3 years, after almost 13 years at IDC, a global leader in information services. At IDC he was a Senior Vice President, leading IDC's Vertical Market Business Units and New Ventures. Dennis was responsible for new ventures expanding IDC's business portfolio in specific industry and role-based research. In this capacity, he led the design and launch of the series of "Insights" business units dedicated to industry-specific technology issues facing leaders in the financial services, energy, health, manufacturing, retail, and government sectors. In addition, he was responsible for the portfolio of products and services aimed at investors and industrial customers. Dennis also served as Managing Director of IDC Asia/Pacific, with general management responsibility for the company's 14 Asian country operations. During this time, IDC developed and delivered a strong regional strategy for the efficient, high-quality production of market research and advice in Asia. He has also served as an operating board member for IDG companies Computerworld and BioIT World.

Dennis received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and his Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin for his thesis on the funding of technological innovation.

Peter Hébert

Peter is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lux Capital, focusing on investments in advanced materials, energy technology and semiconductors. Peter began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he worked in the firm's top-ranked Equity Research group. In 2000, he co-founded Lux Capital. In 2003, Peter led the spin-off of Lux Research. As founding CEO, he helped build Lux Research into the leading emerging technology research firm. Peter launched the publicly-listed Lux Nanotech Index [AMEX: LUXNI] and the $150 million PowerShares Lux Nanotech Portfolio [AMEX: PXN].

Peter manages Lux Capital's investments in Accelergy, Angstrom Publishing, Everspin Technologies, Lux Research, Luxtera and several stealth energy ventures. He was a Chancellor's Scholar and graduated cum laude from Syracuse University's Newhouse School. Peter was the Founding President of Syracuse's first venture organization, Future Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs. He has been an invited speaker, guest lecturer and panelist at CNBC, Bloomberg, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, MIT, and the National Science Foundation. Peter also co-founded Young Wall Street, a charitable organization supporting youth-related causes in New York City.

Tamin Pechet

Tamin Pechet is CEO of Banyan, which provides an intelligence service to improve water and wastewater distribution, saving money and the environment. He is also Chairman of Imagine H2O, a global organization spurring entrepreneurship in the water industry through innovation prizes and a water business incubator. He is a frequent speaker on water business opportunities.

Previously, Tamin was a Principal and Entrepreneur in Residence at Catamount Ventures, a $215 million venture capital firm, where he invested in and supported the growth of portfolio companies in water, energy, and the environment. Before joining Catamount, Tamin was a principal investor at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he co-founded and managed Goldman Sachs E&P Capital to invest in private energy companies, overseeing growth to over $200 million in capital invested. Tamin also served on the founding team of Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, a $1 billion middle-market lending business. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Tamin held a business development position with Launch Media through its acquisition by Yahoo! Tamin holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB with honors from Harvard University.

Jim Sharpe

Jim Sharpe is currently Managing Director and Head of West Coast at Gerson Lehrman Group. He most recently served in an Operating Partner capacity at Standard General LP, a NY-based special situations investment firm. In this role he served as Founding CEO of Standard Purification, an activated carbon manufacturing business with products for purifying water and air. Additionally, he was Managing Director of WordWorld, an Emmy-Award winning children’s media property, broadcast daily on PBSKids. Prior, he served as Director of Research Management at Gerson Lehrman Group, co-founding and managing the firm's Energy & Industrials practice. Sharpe is also a co-founder of Lux Capital, a $200m New York-based venture capital firm focused on investments in advanced technologies. Sharpe graduated from the University of Virginia 's McIntire School of Commerce with a BS in Finance and Japanese, and is a trustee for the McIntire School of Commerce and serves on the Board of Lux Research. He resides in San Francisco, California.

Josh Wolfe

Josh Wolfe is a co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lux Capital, focusing on investments in nanotechnology, semiconductors and life sciences. Josh manages Lux Capital's investments in Nanosys and Cambrios, and serves on the Board of Directors of Crystal IS and Lux Research. Before forming Lux Capital, he worked in Salomon Smith Barney's Investment Banking group, where his experience included a $4 billion hotel merger and a defense against an unsolicited LBO. Josh has also worked in capital markets while at Merrill Lynch on its Financial Futures & Options/Government Strategy desk and at Prudential Securities in its Municipal Finance department. Prior to venturing into the financial world, Josh conducted and published cutting-edge AIDS/immunopathology research in Cell Vision and The Journal of Leukocyte Biology, leading medical/immunology journals. Josh is a co-founder of The NanoBusiness Alliance, a columnist with Forbes Magazine and Editor of the monthly Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report.