Team Meet the G-Form Team
Daniel Wyner, Chief Executive Officer
Dan Wyner is an inventor/entrepreneur with a large portfolio of patented technology focused mainly on developmental applications for advanced materials. Since graduating from Dartmouth College in 1981, Dan has founded and managed over a dozen businesses in fields ranging from computers and electronics to advanced composites. In 2005, Dan was inducted into the Space Foundation’s “Space Technology Hall of Fame” (managed cooperatively with NASA) for several of his patents that allowed commercialization of textile temperature-regulating phase change microspheres that had been originally developed for the NASA space program. Dan is an avid cyclist, tennis player and a private pilot – now flying mostly small experimental aircraft. He is a recent past-president of the RI chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Danny Warshay, Executive Chairman
Danny Warshay has devoted his career to building, managing and harvesting high-growth entrepreneurial ventures. As an undergraduate student at Brown University, he co-founded Clearview Software which Apple acquired in 1989. He then co-developed Specialized Systems and Software, a custom software development firm sold to Medline Industries, and led the growth of Anchor Communications, a startup magazine and Internet publishing company sold in two parts to A.H. Belo Corporation and Miller Publishing Group. As co-founder and managing director of Health Business Partners — the nutrition industry’s premier venture capital and financial advisory firm — Danny built and led the firm’s venture capital practice. Danny’s corporate experience came at Procter & Gamble as a member of the Duncan Hines Brand Management team, where he managed the development and marketing of new products. He has served on the boards of numerous startups and on a variety of non-profit boards focused on health and education.
As an adjunct professor at Brown University, Danny teaches Entrepreneurship and New Ventures which The Critical Review ranked as the highest rated course at Brown.
Danny received a B.A. in History, magna cum laude, from Brown University, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. In addition to spending time with his wonderful wife and three terrific children, Danny loves the mental and physical challenges and rewards of vinyasa yoga. He is also an avid (and tortured) Cleveland sports fan. >> Full Version
Andy Greenfield
After brief careers as both a philosophy professor and a ski instructor, Andy took the next logical step and founded Greenfield Consulting Group (now Firefly) in 1983. For 26 years, he built Greenfield into North America’s leading qualitative research firm, before passing the torch onto the next generation of leadership in 2009. (Andy sold the firm to WPP in 2002—WPP is the world’s largest provider of marketing communications services.)
In 1993 Andy also founded Greenfield Online, the world’s pioneer in bringing marketing research onto the web. Greenfield Online was the leading global provider of online panel data for conducting marketing research. Andy sold this business to a private equity group in 1999. The company was subsequently taken public, and then sold to Microsoft. In 2002, he was awarded the Ernst &Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Business Services category.
The ‘Greenfield Everyday Heroes Foundation’ was founded by Andy in 1994, and for the past 18 years has provided college scholarships to students who have overcome adversity (in Norwalk, Stamford and Danbury CT.)
In 2009 Andy founded Colgate University’s ‘Thought into Action Institute’, a program in which successful alumni entrepreneurs provide mentorship to student entrepreneurs.
Joining G-Form in 2011, Andy believes that G-Form’s real mission is to increase the amount of pleasure in the world by eliminating pain from everyday life, via enhanced impact protection.
Andy holds a B.A. from Colgate University (where he majored in skiing) and an M.A. and A.B.D. in Philosophy from Brown University (where his primary area of study was squash and Frisbee).
James Berberian, Executive VP of Sales
From 2011 to present , James D. Berberian is the Vice President of Sales of G – Form.
From 2001 to 2011, Mr. Berberian was the Vice President of Sales of Targus Group International (TGI), the leading global provider of mobile computing solutions with sales of $488 million. (http://www.targus.com/) With offices in 36 geographies and sales in more than 150 countries, Targus designs and markets a broad range of notebook carrying cases and accessories for mobile computing consumers.
During his tenure at Targus, Mr. Berberian grew US Retail sales from $32M to $155M. Growing contribution Margin from $6M to $34M. Developing and growing relationships with walmart, Best Buy, Staples, Target, Office Max, Costco, Sams, Office Depot, Radioshack and many others. Winning vendor awards and recognition at walmart, Best Buy and Staples.
Prior to joining Targus Mr. Berberian served as a manufacturers representative for Targus from 1992 to 2001.
Mr. Berberian earned a bachelor’s degree from Providence College in Providence Rhode Island and continued onto Indiana Business School and earned his CPMR.
Mr. Berberian resides in Andover MA with his wife Mariah and daughters Danee and Meggan.
Ami Newsham,Founder & VP of Sales
A Rhode Island native, Ami Newsham is an avid road cyclist and has a long history of competitive running. As a founder, she is responsible for the direction of sales for G-Form and also contributes to the development of its innovative products. She currently makes her home in Providence, RI.
Thomas Cafaro, VP of Innovations
A self-proclaimed all around athlete, Thomas Cafaro has played both soccer and tennis at the NCAA level and now competes in cycling, road races and sprint triathlons. As a founder, he is responsible for identifying product opportunities that can be enhanced with G-Form performance technology. When he is not fronting his rock-n-roll band at a gig he enjoys spending time on his horse farm in Foster, RI.
Jeff Bowie, Guru
After a career spent molding and prototyping Jeff is now spending his time helping G-Form develop new products to improve cycling. Jeff has been a dedicated cyclist for 30 years. Beside being a part of G-Form, he devotes his time to the struggle to fight cancer as coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society cycle team in RI. “It is the perfect way for me to volunteer; I get to bring new people into cycling as well to the fight against cancer.”
Dan Chapman, VP of Operations
Dan is a RI native and graduate of URI. Having held several senior managerial positions with leading home decor companies he successfully ran his own consulting company for the past ten years with his partner. After several months of consulting with G-Form Dan made the decision based on the invitation of G-Form to join the team as a full time permanent employee. He enjoys all outdoor activities, reading and traveling around the world.
Rick Garrard, VP of Research & Development
A former Marine and long time employee of the Department of Defense, Rick directs the R&D efforts at G-Form. He enjoys the outdoors, a variety of sports (tennis tops the list), history, world travel, ongoing education, and the culinary arts.
Kenneth Ditlev Pedersen, Managing Director, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India (EMEA)
Whilst still young at age (38), an accomplished 17 years veteran of the IT industry, prior to G-Form, Kenneth held several MD and Senior Management Positions. Throughout his career Kenneth attracted many great individuals and developed countless high performance team across EMEA. Through his leadership various companies launched many successful venture IP and supplier partnerships as well as developed, designed and sourced many innovative solutions. Kenneth, a native of Denmark holds a B.Sc. in SCM and earned his eMBA from CBS, where his final dissertation (entrepreneurship) was graded A. He resides north of Copenhagen with his wife Agata and their two children Christian (6) and Victoria (3). Previously he and his family lived 7 years in Dubai, Warsaw and Munich and still hold UAE residential ship. Kenneth is an authorized soccer coach within the Danish FA and trained many youth teams (U21) on a semi-professional level. Other than that Kenneth literately enjoy doing all kinds of sports and also loves going to stadiums and watch top live performers but also an enthusiastic Dad that follows (comments) his children playing soccer, tennis, karate, swimming and dancing.
Heidi Heath, National Sales Director
A New England native with a lifelong career in “all things retail”, Heidi is excited to share over 15 years of National Account Management as a G-Form team member. Besides being passionate about Consumer Electronics, Heidi has affiliations in both Interior and Landscape Design. In her spare time, Heidi enjoy’s making everything “pretty”, nurturing a pair of brilliant border collies, and sharing with the Jimmy Fund.
David Foster, Co-Founder
As a commercial photographer and former elite rower, David Foster has been involved in marketing campaigns for some of the world’s biggest sports-related brands and has been involved in competitive athletics since grade school. David mixes humor and experience to develop the brand identity of G-Form from the ground up, usually being the one to voice what everyone is thinking but afraid to say. He’s currently blamed for involving the G-Form team to compete in the 2010 Mt. Washington Hillclimb and lives in southern Massachusetts with Steven, his son and bodyguard.
Ceileidh Siegel, Director of Product Development
Ceileidh (pronounced Kaylee) is the director of product development, joining G-Form in January 2013. In this role, she is responsible for getting ideas from a sketch to the store, and the steps in between. She has a diverse educational background, starting at Meadowbrook Waldorf School, then attending Pratt Institute for Industrial Design, and most recently earning an ScM. from Brown University in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship Engineering. Prior to joining G-Form, she was a product designer at Hasbro, working on Sesame Street, iDog, Tooth Tunes, and more. In her spare time, Ceileidh loves biking, spending time on the water, welding, sewing, cooking, nail painting, shopping at Savers, volunteering, eating dumplings around the world, and playing with her Husky, Sakari. The spelling of her name is part ridiculous and part awesome, just like the people that gave it to her. She serves on the Board of Directors of Rocky Hill School and Singing Out Against Hunger. For the past 3 years, she has captained team Seagirls for the MS 150 bike ride, and this year is riding 100 miles in a day around Lake Tahoe to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Stephanie Thorn, Director of Product Design
Stephanie is from Chepachet, RI and is a woman of multiple talents. She is an avid camper, fisher and skier in addition to spending time painting and sewing. Stephanie graduated from Rhode Island College with a degree in Graphic Design, Magna Cum Laude. She is also fluent in American Sign Language and often volunteers at community events acting as a translator for the hearing impaired.
Jim Gaudet, Research and Development Specialist
Jim lives in Blackstone, MA with his wife and three children and enjoys anything outdoors. Jim is involved in local youth sports and has been on the board of directors for the Blackstone valley Boys & Girls club since 2007. Jim founded Taurus woodworking, which he owned and operated until 2000. He then joined a local urethane manufacturing company where the same creative energy was used, first in mold and model making then the development of new products and manufacturing equipment. Jim was the research and development manager and then became the plant manager.
He now joins the research and development team of G-Form where his expertise in both product development and the manufacturing process used in the G-Form product line will guide both the R&D team and the designers to create new products and technologies.
Rick Couto, Senior Graphic Designer
The question remains unanswered: is Rick Couto a designing drummer or a drumming designer? Frankly, Rick has little time to think about it. He’s G-Form’s Senior Designer on weekdays, a first call drummer on weekends, and a master of balance at all times. Since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, Rick has enjoyed a textured career as a graphic designer, product developer and creative director. His travels to Asia turned him into a seasoned product developer. No matter what the challenge at hand has been – from Santa Claus catalogs, to photovoltaic furnace ads, from product logos to his beautifully stylish CD packaging – Rick’s skills, clarity and intuition always prevail.
Rick is father to Max, stepfather to Claire and hopelessly at the mercy of his granddaughter, Taya. Settled right in the middle of a three-generation chain of drummers (between father Joe and son Max), Rick’s been a working musician for decades, on stage and in the recording studio. His category-defying musical portfolio is staggering in longevity and diversity, embracing rock, blues, jazz, Latin and African flavors. His exercise routine really kicks in on weekends, with 4 or 5 hours of unrelenting drumming, sandwiched between grueling sessions of loading and unloading his drum kit.
Jeremy Russell, Director of Sales
A native of St. Albert, Alberta, Canada Jeremy Russell found his way to Providence to play for the Brown University Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Playing for Brown, Jeremy developed into a defensive mainstay and Assistant Captain for the Bears. Along with his solid hockey career, Jeremy graduated with a unique combination of both an A.B. in Economics, as well as a Sc.B. in Neuroscience. Jeremy also loves cooking, golf and camping.
Meghan S. Downing, Assistant to the CEO
After a career in the non-profit world managing the RI Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training program and work at Crossroads RI for a health care for the homeless site, Meghan has switched gears and is redefining how she uses her knack for organization, communication and teamwork with G-Form as the assistant to the CEO. Meghan’s interests vary from recreational cycling to wine and travel; her passport is up to date and she’s always on board for the next adventure… even if that includes jumping out of a plane for an atypical workday at G-Form.
Andrew Scarella, Social Media and Internet Manager
Andrew grew up Westport, CT and moved to Los Angeles, CA after college to work in the movie industry. After a career change to internet marketing, he worked in Social Media for Save the Children and now brings his social media and internet expertise to G-Form. Andrew is a big Patriots fan and when not working, he can be found kayaking, at the gym, hiking or doing other outdoor activities.
Mike Girard, Director of Board Sports
A Colgate University ’12 graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Economics and French, Mike has a strong passion for entrepreneurship, sports and the environment. Mike is founder, CEO and sole proprietor of Collegiate Greenscaping, a sustainable landscaping business he started in his hometown of Harvard, MA. Mike is also a professional longboarder riding as an Ambassador and Team Captain for Loaded Boards & Orangatang Wheels, and he captained Colgate’s Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. Mike also enjoys photography, videography, mountain biking and soccer.
Maria Macrina, Design Engineer
Maria grew up in Upstate New York, where she became all-too familiar with the outdoors. She’s a designer here at G-Form by day and an aspiring pastry chef by night, immersing herself in everything Italian. She learned to hold her own playing soccer, softball, volleyball, and tennis, largely thanks to her two insufferable brothers. Maria enjoys the simple life, woodworking, drumming, and goats.
Nick Dupree, Design Engineer
Nick grew up in Seattle, Washington, and has been drawing and designing his whole life. After high school where he pursued interests in art and design, and also competed in high school varsity soccer, tennis, and crew, Nick came to Providence to study industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design. After taking a G-Form sponsored class at RISD, he joined the team as an intern, working on packaging design and product design while completing his senior year at RISD. After graduating in the Spring, Nick has come on board as a full time designer, and is dedicated to using his skills and knowledge of design to contribute to the G-Form team.
Lea Furia, Lead Customer Service
Lea Furia is a part -time hair stylist at Seiren Salon in Providence. Besides her interests in the art and fashion world, Lea has always had a knack for computers and technology. Lea studied business and social work at CCRI. Her strong customer service and organization skills landed her here at G-Form. She enjoys spending her free time with her 2 children and of course, shopping!
William M. Nesse, Accounting Manager
Bill is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Accounting. He has worked for several Fortune 500 companies. His work experience includes a background in manufacturing, direct marketing, and financial services. He has also been active in community service, with various charitable organizations, and local schools. He is a former member of the US Army Reserves. Bill enjoys spending as much time as possible with his family. For recreation, he enjoys hiking and traveling.
Chaz Dupuis, Customer Service
Chaz graduated from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management and a minor in Marketing. There, he played soccer and was a member of the Ski/Snowboard Club. Currently, Chaz and his cousin are living in their own apartment in Fall River. By working with G-Form, this should help him pay for both rent and the bills… When not at work, you can usually find him either working out or somewhere outdoors.
Ervin Hamzo, Buyer/Planner
A first generation Albanian immigrant, Ervin has embarked on setting the bar high. Ervin became the first sibling of seven to receive a college education and is currently looking into MBA programs. He is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island where he studied Political Science and Business Administration. Ervin joins G-Form as a Buyer/Planner where he plays an integral role in growing the company’s current production line. In addition to helping manage G-Form vendor relationships, Ervin also assists in creating production schedules, as well as the purchasing of goods and/or services for manufacturing purposes with the goal of ensuring that all the customers’ demands are met. When he is not working, Ervin enjoys snowboarding, traveling, working out, spending time with his family, and is an avid New England Patriots fan.
Louis Giardini, Production/Quality Coordinator
Louis comes to G-Form after having worked for over 30 years in the printing and advertising industries. Originally from Massachusetts, he graduated from Providence College and has lived in Rhode Island ever since. A cancer survivor since 2001 he has been involved as a fund raiser for the Team in Training program through the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society several times. He is an avid cyclist averaging between 2,000-3,000 miles per year. He also enjoys tennis, fishing and is a voracious reader with an appetite especially for noir novels. He has one son Kai, who works as a bike messenger in Providence. He lives with his wife Tricia in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Parker Brown, Director of Marketing Communications
A native San Franciscan, Parker came to Providence to play lacrosse for the Brown University Bears, where he served as Co-Captain for the 2012 season and received a B.A. in Public Policy and American Institutions. During his senior year, Parker spearheaded his team’s fundraising efforts for the local non-profit organization Amos House and also worked as a research consultant for Save the Bay. Parker enjoys traveling anywhere he can SCUBA dive, and is always on board to test out G-Form products in any type of extreme activity.
Eshi Jerome, Regional Director – IMEA , CIS & Turkey
Eshi Jerome, raised in North East of India & moved into Middle East 10 years back. An accomplished connoisseur in Mobile Computing IT industry for the past 16 years, Jerome held several Senior Managerial positions before joining G-Form. Jerome’s leadership and philosophy was instrumental in the exponential Top line & EBITDA growth of Targus’s operations in MEA for the last 5 years. He has also guided and led many companies across Middle East & Indian Subcontinent which includes fortune 500s & start ups. Jerome is now leading our strategic expansion plans into Asia, Middle East, Africa, Levant, CIS & Turkey.
Jerome is an ardent fan of music, he took to rock’n’roll at a young age & had a band of his own where he was the composer and lead singer. Cooking & Driving are some of his other passions. When not at work you could find him in his kitchen experimenting with new recipes or In his customised 500hp twin-turbo charged 4X4, cruising on the highways. He has also represented his State and University in Athletics, Badminton & Cricket. He still holds the 100 metre record to his name in the Inter School Athletics Championship.
Jerome holds a BS in Electronics and Communication with Honors and an MBA in Sales & Information Technology with A+ Grade. He now resides in Dubai with his beautiful wife Mirium & 3 kids Izabelle, Alaniz & Zach.
Ripunjay Gajjar, Country Head India & SAARC
Ripunjay Gajjar, a visionary with verifiable success of 16 years in IT- Mobility Industry across India and SAARC, achieving revenue, profit and business growth objectives within start-up, turnaround and rapid-change environments. Before joining G-Form, Ripunjay held several senior positions in reputed organisations. He played a pivotal role being part of leadership team by developing and establishing sustainable business model beyond India to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan (SAARC region) for Belkin. He also worked as core team member for reputed Indian distribution organisation for 7 years where he was leading dedicated team and gave multifold growth within PC Component, Networking, Mobility verticals contributing half the turn over and profit for organisation. At G-Form, Ripunjay is heading India sub continent as well South East Asian countries.
Ripunjay is not afraid of exploring unchartered paths in terms of opportunity at professional and personal level. Being passionate driver, last year he drove to the highest drivable point in India called Leh & Ladakh, prior to that he drove almost 2600 km to the southern most tip of India called Cape Comorin.
A Graduate in Physics from Gujarat University, India, Ripunjay sharpens his mind on chess board, likes playing cricket and passionate about traveling. He now resides in Mumbai, India with wife Dimpy & their 7 year old daughter Rutu.
Prasanna AR,Sales Manager – Middle East – Africa
Prasanna a young energetic & dynamic gentleman hails from Bangalore the IT Capital of India. Holding a Bachelor’s Degree from Bangalore University in Pure Science ,he is a well experienced professional in the IT Accessories & Peripherals Industry. He exhibits an impressive six years of experience in the Middle East working with top brands like Cisco, Samsung, Logitech etc. During his play time in the region he has spear-headed product launches of many Top Brands into the Middle East Market. He has also achieved phenomenal success in grabbing market shares & filling up the much needed revenue pool. In his present assignment at G-Form he has been assigned to handle the African and his home turf the Middle East market .
Passionate about Super bikes, smooth cars and open beach swimming, he lives in Dubai with his wife Nava & their 6 month old baby boy – Pranav, some plants and a lot of music around them.
Andreas Wagner, Corporate Sales Director B2B DACH
Andreas Wagner (41) lives with his wife Carmen and the dog “Barnie” in Saarbruecken in the South-West of Germany (Border triangle Germany/France/Luxembourg).
Andreas is crazy with soccer and the “biggest” fan of Bayern Munich. But also enjoy other sports, in particular tennis, squash, pool billiard, Formula 1 and the IndyCar series. Besides sport Andreas loves travelling and explore new places in particular Italy and then walk around with Barnie.
Andreas is known as Mr.B2B, he joined IME Germany (Innovative Mobile Computing) in 1997 as Project Manager and joined later in 2005 Targus as Corporate Director. Andreas has a strong record in the German B2B segment and his reference list contains most major corporations within many industries i.e. the Financial-, Consulting-, Pharmaceutical- and Car industry as well as the Public Sector. At G-Form Andreas oversees our B2B activities in the DACH region and is a vital player in bringing the highly demanded G-Form RPT technology to the corporate market segment.
Patrick Kastelic, Regional Sales Director – DACH & Italy
Patrick (45) was appointed Area Sales Director DACH (Germany, Austria & Switzerland), France & Italy in August 2012, in this role; he is responsible for driving G-Form´s growth and leadership across the region, enhancing partner and channel relationships in the IT and sport industry.
Patrick has more than 18 years experience in the mobile computing IT industry in various sales and marketing management positions.
Patrick currently resides in Saarbrücken with his wife Gordana and their three children Hanna (10), Mia and Emma (7).
In his spare time, Patrick enjoys all kinds of sports especially some bicycle tours with his family.
Tanja Faber, Country Manager, CE/IT segment Benelux region
Tanja Faber (43) has some 20 years of experience in the Dutch Telecom market. She started her career at Ericsson as Salesmanager Mobile Phones. She than switched to the mobile enhancements business, in which field she has worked for big European distributors. She is the co-founder of the yearly Accessory Awards event in The Netherlands. She has a broad and deep network of all relevant decisionmakers in the distribution chain of consumer products in the Benelux. As a true entrepreneur she is always looking for new business opportunities. Being a mother of 3 children, that are active in fieldhockey, soccer and skiiing, she herself loves sports and is a fanatic skier and tennis player.
Carl Erik, Country Manager Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland
Carl Erik is Norwegian and lives in Risør, a small idyllic town on the coast, with his wife and two young daughters. He grew up near the cradle of skiing, in Telemark, Norway. Like all Norwegians, he was born with skis on, and was already in the 80′s started with snowboarding.
He has 17 years commercial experience in the Nordic region and worked mainly with Retail / E-tail for famous brands like PNY, Creative, Mio / Navman. He has entrepreneurial spirit, and good collaboration skills.
For leisure uses Carl Erik lot of time with the family, but he likes boating, biking and skiing.