Prof. Dr. Kurt J. Lauk
President Globe Capital Partners, Globe CP GmbH

Dr. Kurt J. Lauk is an investor in technology and internet-related companies. He serves as a business angel and Chairman of the Board of several companies.

Dr. Lauk was a Member of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler from 1996 to 1999. In that role, he was responsible for the commercial vehicle division worldwide. After the merger of the two transportation companies, he was a member of the Chairman Integration Council and served as Head of the commercial vehicle division at Daimler-Benz AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. Prior to DaimlerChrysler, he was a Member of the Board of Management of VEBA AG, Germany's largest conglomerate. VEBA has divisions in the utility management services of electricity, chemicals, mining, energy, gas and water. From 1992 to 1996, Dr. Lauk held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Controller of VEBA.

Dr. Lauk was Deputy Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Audi AG, with additional full responsibility in marketing (1989-1992). Before that, he was President of Zinser Textilmaschinen GmbH, a pioneer developer and leading supplier of machines for textile mills (1984-1989). From 1978 to 1984, Dr. Lauk served as Vice President and Director of The Boston Consulting Group Inc., in Munich and Boston, respectively. The Boston Consulting Group is an international strategy and general management consulting firm whose mission is to help leading corporations create and sustain competitive advantage. Its strong global presence offers clients and employees a wealth of cross-cultural experience.

Dr. Lauk currently serves on several supervisory boards and on selected advisory councils. He is President of the renowned German-French Institute in Ludwigsburg, Germany and is a non-Executive Director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) based in London. The IISS is the only independent international institute for the study and analysis of global political and military trends. Dr. Lauk teaches business strategy and finance at the prestigious European Business School in Reichartshausen/Eltville (ranked number 1 in the region). He was also a lecturer in Global Management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in California, U.S.A., were he served full-time from February-August 2000. Since 1992, he has been serving on the Stanford Business School Dean's Advisory Council. Dr. Lauk has also served on several commissions both on the federal and state level in Germany.

Dr. Lauk is a native of Stuttgart, Germany. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Kiel in Germany. He holds an MA in History and Theology from the University of Munich, Germany and received his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, California in 1977.

Joanne de Asis participates both as investor and investment banker in highly selective international transactions. Her extensive global network of key principals, corporate CEOs and government leaders affords her pre-emptive vantage positions in numerous business opportunities. She is Founder and Chairman of Asia Pacific Capital Partners, a boutique investment firm based in New York City and Manila that specializes in identifying financial opportunities worldwide, drawing on key strategic alliances to raise capital for these opportunities or otherwise participating via direct private equity. Through Asia Pacific Capital Partners, she has successfully completed multiple cross border transactions with her business associates Archibald Cox, Jr., Chairman of Sextant Group and former CEO and President of CS First Boston Corporation, Alice Walton of Llama Corporation, Arkansas, and Max Warburg of MM Warburg & Company, among others.

Prior to establishing Asia Pacific Capital Partners, Ms. de Asis had over 20 years of investment banking experience in New York, London and Asia. She served as Managing Director at CS First Boston Corporation from 1990-1996. While based at the New York headquarters, she was responsible for the firm's Asian business. Significant among her many accomplishments is her pioneering work in the field of telecommunications and emerging markets, which includes the public offering by Philippine Long Distance Telephone and the US$1 billion National Steel financing partnership. She was responsible for several strategic alliances such as Deutsche Telecom and Islacom, and COMSAT buying into PhilCom.

Ms. de Asis was Director International at Dillon Read & Company from 1987-1990. At Dillon, she resurrected the firm's almost non-existent corporate activities in Asia. Tapping a network of new Asian clients, she raised significant amounts of capital for various Dillon-sponsored funds including the United Kingdom Development Fund, the Portugal Property Fund and the Dillon Read Emerging Market Fund.

Ms. de Asis began her financial career in the U.S. at Morgan Stanley & Company where she stayed for ten years, from 1977 to 1987. She was handpicked to be amongst the first sent to open Morgan Stanley International in London in 1980. Within a year she was promoted to Vice President focusing on Southeast Asia. Her capital market activities were broadened to cover corporate finance and private equity placements.

In 1996, Ms. de Asis received the coveted "Tribute to Excellence" award in the field of Finance from the Asian American Federation of New York. She is a member of various boards of directors including the Advisory Board of Harvard Medical School, The United Way and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce. She is the only Asian woman on the prestigious Selection Committee for the U.S. Liberty Medal, the American version of the Nobel Peace Prize. She was chosen by the Philippine Independence Commission in the US to be "Grand Marshall" of the 1999 Philippine Independence Program. She is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Asian Cultural Council and the Association of Foundations in Manila, Philippines.

Ms. de Asis holds an MBA from Columbia University, New York, where she received the Student of the Year award upon graduation in 1977, and a BA in Communications from Maryknoll College, Philippines. Born in the Philippines, she currently resides in New York City and Manila. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Filipino and has working knowledge of French and Portuguese.

Venture Investors Association of New York
 

Board of Directors:

Officers:

• Jonathan R. Lynch, President  JPMorgan Partners
• Bob Greene, Treasurer  Flatiron Partners    
• Linda Bernstein, Executive Director

Board of Directors:

• Graham D.S. Anderson  EuclidSR Partners
• Gregory F. Back Warburg Pincus
• Robert Chefitz  NJTC Venture Fund
• John Choi Venrock Associates
• Stuart Ellman  RRE Ventures
• Jason Friedman JPMorgan Partners
• Richard A. Glaser  Village Ventures Inc.
• Roger J. Hurwitz  Apax Partners, Inc.
• Derek K. Jones  Provender Capital Group, LLC
• Jonathan Kane  Advanta Growth Captial LP 
• Larry S. Kopp   Globe Capital LLC
• Jeffrey M. Krauss Psilos Group Managers, LLC 
• Marc Michel   Strategic Food Capital Partners, LLC
• John J. Murphy, Jr. Murphy & Partners L.P. 
• Kenneth W. Rind  Israel Infinity Venture Capital
• Janice Cook Roberts  New York City Investment Fund
• Keith Rosenbloom  ComVest Venture Partners
• Joel T. Schwartz  Angelo, Gordon & Co.
• Bruce Shewmaker Crossbow Ventures
• Francine Sommer  Oculus Partners
• David Yarnell  BEV Capital