Mig33 Team

by **carelyn** Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:17 pm

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Steven Goh, Co-Founder and CEO

Steven is CEO and co-Founder of mig33, the global mobile Internet community that opens instant communications up to everyone in the world with a mobile phone in an integrated interface.

Steven has extensive experience in developing and delivering compelling internet services for consumers, having founded both mig33 and Sanford Securities Pty Ltd, Australia’s first online stockbroking company. From 1996 until 2003, Steven led Sanford’s growth as an innovative financial services firm, becoming the first online broker in Australia, and the only one with its own end-to-end platform (from web and wireless, to custody and settlement), and establishing Australia’s first online investment bank. Sanford delivered a “virtual broker” service which enabled over 150 financial planning groups in Australia to deliver a branded, sharetrading service and an outsourced stockbrocking service to National Australia Bank, Australia’s largest retail bank. Steven led Sanford to an IPO in 2000, delivering over $80 million in shareholder value. Sanford was ultimately acquired by another financial services company in 2003.

Subsequently, Steven went on to co-found Project Goth Pty Ltd, the holding company to mig33. The goal was to build a mobile Internet community by connecting consumers via mobile phones using popular Internet applications, such as instant messaging, chat rooms, VoIP, photo sharing, e-mail and more. The first product, X-TXT had limited success and was discontinued in 2005. A lot of learnings from X-TXT were applied to the development of mig33. Since its release at the end of 1995, mig33 has attracted more than 6 million users in over 200 countries, based on its compelling value proposition, ease of use and entertainment value. In 2007, Steven moved the company from Australia to Silicon Valley, and secured additional funding for its growth from top tier venture capital firms including Accel and Redpoint.

Steven began his career at the Age of 7 by programming Fortran in the University of Western Australia’s Math Department courtesy of his father who lectured there. After finishing University in 1990, he worked in the Business Advisory division of Arthur Anderson and then Audit Division of Coopers and Lybrand, before returning to studies in 1994. Afterwards, he worked as a stockbroker for Saw James Capel then at McIntosh West between 1994 and 1996 before founding Sanford in 1996. He still maintains an avid interest in a range of computing languages ranging from HTML and PHP, to Java and C++.

Steven was awarded an inaugural Western Australia Business News “40 under 40” Award in 2002, and he was a finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Australia’s Western Region. Steven has extensive private and public board experience, has served as a keynote speaker and panelist at several dozen Internet and financial services industry conferences in Australia and Asia, and has appeared on CNBC and Bloomberg TV.

Steven received both a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from the University of Western Australia.

Mei Lin Ng, Co-Founder and VP Special Projects

Mei Lin oversees the marketing, communications and customer service for mig33; a mobile community that is loved by millions of consumers all around the world.

As co-founder of mig33 in 2003, Mei Lin was heavily involved in the product development process. mig33 delivers a mobile service (popular internet services incl. messaging, chat, pictures, profiles, VOIP) that addresses everyday consumer needs (communications choice on the mobile). As the popularity of the services grew into a mobile community with millions of users across Asia, Africa and Europe, the founding team secured venture capital and relocated the company to the US in 2007, to further accelerate the business.

Before co-founding mig33, Mei Lin was the marketing manager with Australian-based financial services firm, Sanford Securities Limited (prior to the company's acquisition by IWL Limited). There, Mei Lin substantially influenced the growth and sustainability of the retail and wholesale divisions during a period of depressed markets. Revenues from these divisions accounted for over 50 percent of Sanford's total revenues (over $20m per annum). In addition, Mei Lin was involved with corporate dealings and public affairs issues during Sanford's engagement with both the OM Group (now OMX) and IWL Limited.

Mei Lin has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with Honors in Marketing from the University of Western Australia.

Francis H. Yu, VP, Engineering and Operations

Francis Yu oversees the IT Engineering and Operations of the mig33 team, spanning across the US, Australia and China.

Before joining mig33, Francis served as Senior Vice President of Engineering at à la Mobile, a developer of mobile Linux software, and Executive Vice President of Global Services and Operations at Sonim Technologies, a provider of VoIP and push-to-talk solutions.

Francis spent over 6 years as the Vice President of the Device Product Group at Openwave Systems. There, he led the development and deployment of the company's mobile browser product, built and managed a worldwide organization, and oversaw millions of handsets across hundreds of different CDMA, GSM, and UMTS models shipped with the company's software.

Prior to Openwave, Francis was Chief Operating Officer of Intellimatch, a pioneer in web-based recruiting. In addition, he spent over 6 years at Oracle in various capacities, including senior director roles in engineering, marketing, and professional services. Francis spearheaded the development of Oracle's natural language processing and document retrieval products.

Francis holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Florida Atlantic University. He also attended Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

by **carelyn** Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:21 pm

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Steven Goh, Co-Founder and CEO

Steven is CEO and co-Founder of mig33, the global mobile Internet community that opens instant communications up to everyone in the world with a mobile phone in an integrated interface.

Steven has extensive experience in developing and delivering compelling internet services for consumers, having founded both mig33 and Sanford Securities Pty Ltd, Australia’s first online stockbroking company. From 1996 until 2003, Steven led Sanford’s growth as an innovative financial services firm, becoming the first online broker in Australia, and the only one with its own end-to-end platform (from web and wireless, to custody and settlement), and establishing Australia’s first online investment bank. Sanford delivered a “virtual broker” service which enabled over 150 financial planning groups in Australia to deliver a branded, sharetrading service and an outsourced stockbrocking service to National Australia Bank, Australia’s largest retail bank. Steven lead Sanford to an IPO in 2000, delivering over $80 million in shareholder value. Sanford was ultimately acquired by another financial services company in 2003.

Subsequently, Steven went on to co-found Project Goth Pty Ltd, the holding company to mig33. The goal was to build a mobile Internet community by connecting consumers via mobile phones using popular Internet applications, such as instant messaging, chat rooms, VoIP, photo sharing, e-mail and more. The first product, X-TXT had limited success and was discontinued in 2005. A lot of learnings from X-TXT were applied to the development of mig33. Since its release at the end of 1995, mig33 has attracted more than 6 million users in over 200 countries, based on its compelling value proposition, ease of use and entertainment value. In 2007, Steven moved the company from Australia to Silicon Valley, and secured additional funding for its growth from top tier venture venture capital firms including Accel and Redpoint.

Steven began his career at the Age of 7 by programming Fortran in the University of Western Australia’s Math Department courtesy of his father who lectured there. After finishing University in 1990, he worked in the Business Advisory division of Arthur Anderson and then Audit Division of Coopers and Lybrand, before returning to studies in 1994. Afterwards, he worked as a stockbroker for Saw James Capel then at McIntosh West between 1994 and 1996 before founding Sanford in 1996. He still maintains an avid interest in a range of computing languages ranging from HTML and PHP, to Java and C++.

Steven was awarded an inaugural Western Australia Business News “40 under 40” Award in 2002, and he was a finalist in Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Australia’s Western Region. Steven has extensive private and public board experience, has served as a keynote speaker and panelist at several dozen Internet and financial services industry conferences in Australia and Asia, and has appeared on CNBC and Bloomberg TV.

Steven received both a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from the University of Western Australia.

Kevin Efrusy, General Partner, Accel Partners

Kevin came to Accel in 2003 and currently serves as a General Partner. His background is primarily as an entrepreneur and operating executive. He served two stints as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers where he started Corio, an ASP pioneer that went public on Nasdaq and was acquired by IBM in 2005. Later he served as the first CEO of IronPlanet, an online marketplace for heavy equipment which currently sells in excess of $170M/year of equipment. Prior to KPCB, Kevin served as a product manager at Zip2 and a consultant at Bain & Company.

Kevin invests broadly in software and Internet businesses, but he focuses on consumer Internet companies, open source software, and wireless application providers. He co-led Accel's investment in The Facebook and Tumri, currently serves on the boards of BBN Technologies, Hyperic, Medio Systems, Metacafe, mig33, Xensource, and Terracotta. He is also actively involved in Riverbed Technology and Transera.

Kevin has an MSEE, BSEE, and BA in Economics all from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was an Arjay Miller scholar.

Scott Raney, General Partner, Redpoint Ventures

Scott Raney is a Partner with Redpoint Ventures focusing on infrastructure and software investments in the enterprise, wireless, and consumer segments. Scott serves on the board of directors of mig33 and LetsTalk, and is involved with Redpoint's investments in Cortina Systems, JumpTap, Mobilygen, MobiTV, and Kodiak Networks.

Prior to joining Redpoint, Scott served as Senior Manager of New Products with NorthPoint Communications, a data CLEC providing nationwide DSL services. Scott managed NorthPoint's first consumer product and led product development of other new products. Prior to NorthPoint, Scott worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company, where he helped clients in the private equity and telecommunications industries. Previously, Scott was the Director of Engineering for VideoPort Technologies, a developer of videoconferencing hardware. Scott began his career at Andersen Consulting as a member of the Advanced Technology Group where he assisted clients in the telecommunications industry.

Scott holds a B.S.E.E. with high distinction from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

Ramin Marzbani

Ramin Marzbani is regarded as a leading technology, Internet and financial services analyst and researcher in Australia and Asia. Ramin was the CEO of www.consult from 1995-2003 and oversaw the transition of the company to ACNielsen following the sale of the business in 2000. The company has gained recognition for pioneering work and excellence in 13 countries. Previously, Ramin spent three years as a consultant for Booz-Allen & Hamilton and seven years in various positions at IBM.

Ramin has a BE from UNSW and an MBA from AGSM.

Richard Yanowitch

Richard Yanowitch is a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a proven track-record transforming early-stage companies into high-growth market leaders, creating millions of customers, billions of dollars in revenue, and multi-billions of dollars in sustained shareholder value. Since September 2006, he has served as venture partner for Accel Partners, with a particular focus on digital media. He currently serves as an independent director on the boards of video ad network, Yume, and global mobile social network, mig33.

Prior to Accel, Richard served as Vice Chairman of the NDS Group, a $600 million market leader in digital media technologies, and as Senior Consultant to the News Corporation. For nearly five years, he served as Executive Vice President for internet services provider VeriSign, where his team built numerous high-growth businesses and led its international expansion, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues. He participated in VeriSign’s strategic financings, IPO, and acquisitions. VeriSign grew from 30 to 2,500 employees and from $500,000 to $700 million in revenue during this period, creating a multi-billion dollar market valuation. Richard reported to Stratton Sclavos, Chairman and CEO.

Prior to VeriSign, Richard served as Vice President of Corporate Marketing for database provider Sybase, where his team drove core marketing operations, including marketing communications, direct marketing, product marketing, customer acquisition, and international. He participated in Sybase’s late-stage financings, IPO and acquisitions. Sybase grew from 300 to 5,000 employees and from $10 million to nearly $900 million in annual revenue during this period, generating a multi-billion dollar market valuation. Richard reported to Dr. Stuart Schuster, Executive Vice President.

Prior to Sybase, Richard was Director of Strategic Marketing at UNIX operating system provider The SCO Group, where he was lead negotiator for a breakthrough Microsoft licensing agreement and investment. SCO grew from $5 million to $24 million in revenue during this period, subsequently going public and achieving a half-billion dollar market valuation. Prior to SCO, Richard held various sales, marketing, and management positions with Digital Equipment Corporation and Lanier Harris. He also served as entrepreneur in residence at the venture capital firm IVP.

Richard received a B.A. in the Honors Program for Classical Studies at Swarthmore College and a MBA from the Harvard Business School. He serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Discovery Museum. He is married to Wendy Shuman Kesser, a former Executive Producer for ABC News in San Francisco, and they have two children. He also serves as a senior advisor to national congressional leaders on economic leadership, entrepreneurialism, and the Internet.

by **carelyn** Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:23 pm

ADVISORY BOARD

Niren Hiro, Vice President of Business Development, AdMob

Niren is responsible for Admob's strategic partnerships worldwide. He has 17 years of international experience at top Internet, Mobile and Media companies including Yahoo!, CBS Sportsline, MTV Networks, Plus Channel, & BPL Mobile a France Telecom JV). Prior to AdMob, Niren led the investment and operating strategy for the Yahoo! Mobile Asia business unit and the integration of Yahoo! Japan & Vodafone KK (Softbank Mobile). At the age of 21, Niren founded a highly successful processed foods company in Japan, where he was born and raised.

Niren is an angel investor in several promising mobile startups on different continents and enjoys being around innovators in the turbulent media and entertainment industries. Niren has a BS in Finance and a MBA, both from Boston University.

Andrew Kent

Andrew Kent joined the Project Goth advisory board in March 2007. Andrew brings a strong background in Internet IT systems having held a number of senior executive technology roles in high growth Internet businesses since 1992.

Andrew was the CTO of OzEmail Ltd, one of Australia's leading Internet services providers from its beginning in 1992, through a NASDAQ listing, until it's sale to UUNET / MCI in 2000. Andrew then served as the Managing Director of UUNET's Asia Pacific Operations group. He was the founder of a spam filtering company – MessageCare Pty Ltd, and as CEO developed that business until its sale to WebCentral Pty Ltd in 2004. Andrew was then appointed as WebCentral CTO where he was a key driver of a number of technology initiatives such as virtualisation and Web services to further the efficiency of the business. Andrew is currently a founder and director of Spry Business Technology Solutions Pty Ltd.

Andrew graduated as Bachelor of Applied Science (Electrical Engineering) in 1984 from the University of Waterloo in Canada and prior to 1992 worked in the aerospace defence industry developing military grade display processing systems for customers in the USA.

Chun Yean Chin

C Y Chin is an engineer and graduated in Canada in 1966. He was sent by the Malaysian Government under the Colombo Plan scholarship to further his studies in Canada.

He holds an Honours and a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and was a proud recipient of the Imperial Oil Fellowship for Advanced studies; the Ford and McAlister Foundation Scholarship as well as the Canadian Space Institute award in 1966.

He spent the best part of his first career with Shell Companies, his last posting was in London at the Shell Center. His 26 years in Shell was spent mainly in Sales, Distribution, Marketing and Technical Services. For the final three years of his career, he was shareholder representative and also functional representative looking after 26 Shell Operating Companies along the Asia Pacific Coast, Indo China, South East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and also French Africa.

After retiring from Shell he joined one of the early mobile services companies in Malaysia and helped build the Maxis Brand to being Number one in the country today. He was Executive Director for Sales, Distribution and Marketing at the time when the company was a late entry to the market, one of seven players. After this he was seconded to a sister Company, ASTRO satellite broadcast services. He was instrumental as Executive Director of Sales Distribution Marketing to build up the Brand and service offering. Today ASTRO is the biggest satellite operator in the Region with services in Indonesia, Brunei and going into Indonesia and India.

Mr Chin has retired from active services but recently was asked by Maxis to be their shareholder representative for their new mobile telephone services acquisition in India. Today Aircel in India is one of the fastest growing Mobile Business in India. Mr C Y Chin was Executive Director until he retired from this position recently.

He has four children, two boys and two girls.