The Gabriel Difference: Testimonials
At Gabriel, we measure our success by the value that we can provide to our portfolio companies. We prefer to let our results speak for themselves, via the entrepreneurs and partners from past and present investments:
Jack Blaeser, Chairmen, President and CEO -
Concord Communications
"Rick Bolander took the time to truly learn the unique aspects of Concord's business so he could contribute to the strategy and direction of the business, and not just attend the board meetings. Rather than just providing names and number to call for industry contacts, Rick made the call on our behalf, increasing the effectiveness of such calls. The Gabriel partners' industry knowledge and contacts should be of substantial value to budding entrepreneurs."
K.B. Chandrasekhar, President and CEO, Jamcracker, Founder, - Exodus Communications
ERNST & YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD, 1999
"The Gabriel partners, with strong operational backgrounds, are not just financial representatives on the board. They are willing to spend time together, participate in strategic sessions, proactive with ideas, assist in selection of senior personnel, yet not cross the border.
With the emergence of the Internet, and venture capital becoming readily accessible, startups formed by people with innovative ideas need help in the operational aspects to build an exceptional company. If you want a VC who will roll up his sleeves, help with design of the plan, refine it, enhance it, talk to Gabriel."
Matt Taylor, Chairman, CTO and Founder - Tut Systems
"Rick Bolander is an intellectual and understands business fundamentals, and with a genuine understanding of the company, participated actively on the board in shaping its strategy.
For a new company, Gabriel delivers lots of value in the business planning to ensure that it is sharp, crisp, and executable; help in tracking the program, adding value in measuring against the plan, and assisting in its adjustment as necessary."
Sal D'Auria, President and CEO - Tut Systems
"Few people are as enthusiastic with high energy as Rick Bolander of Gabriel, bringing technical acumen with all aspects of business knowledge, to a venture.
At Gabriel, the combination of enthusiasm, high energy, on a solid foundation of business expertise, is undoubtedly an invaluable resource for the young entrepreneur."
Douglas L. Becker, President and Co-CEO - Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc.
"Phil Samper of Gabriel has the unusual ability to bridge entrepreneurial ventures with the boardrooms of America's largest corporations. In the case of Sylvan, Phil played a pivotal role as an advisor, investor and director in conceiving the idea, making the original acquisition, and growing the business from a $16mm valuation to our present market cap of over $1.5 billion. As our revenues increased from $10mm to over $600mm, Phil helped us revisit our organizational structure, strategies, and management systems to ensure success at each new phase of our growth."
Barry James Folsom, CEO - PlaceWare
"Gabriel Venture Partners is a multi-faceted VC house, bringing two strong energies: first, experience and ideas for appropriately building/sustaining brand(s), and second, help in defining a company's singular focus in the marketplace. They have a deep understanding that companies go through several growth stages, and help in ensuring in strategic/tactical resources are in place for the next stage.
They ask insightful questions from a different perspective, which makes you stop, consider, and think; helping generate new ideas, new thoughts, new approaches, that may not have thought of until then.
In summary, keywords that describe the Gabriel partners, are nurturing, caring, wisdom, depth of experience, and winning, and above all, having fun in the process."
Brian Hand, CEO - Crossmedia Services
"I have worked with a few Venture Capital firms and what differentiates Gabriel from the rest is simple... Good values, long term views, and prudent business sense. These characteristics define Gabriel and its principles. They have been very helpful with guiding our board, providing strategic planning, market reconnaissance, and more. Gabriel is an integral part of our development and is a primary contributor to our success."
Ian Widger, President and CEO - AccessLine Communications
"With highly successful operational backgrounds, Gabriel partners have a pragmatic understanding of the challenges faced by a business, sort of a 'been there, done that', which allows them to feel for the business aspects of a venture, and not just bring an academic point of view. The last thing you need is an investor that sits across the table; what really impressed me was the way they sit on the same side of the fence and are part of the team, take the falls with you and help you stand up and run again."
Ken Israel, Chairman of the Board - Virtual Technologies
"Phil Samper of Gabriel was an early member of our Board and his tremendous business insights, strategic sense, and the ability to provide invaluable mentoring to management was instrumental in the beginning and continued success of Virtual Technology Corp. He has an almost uncanny knack for being able pierce through the mire and point to a clear and concise direction.
He is a tremendous asset and any technology startup company seeking guidance, mentoring and wisdom, would be lucky to have him."
Chandra Venkatraman, CEO - Arula Systems, Inc.
"Gabriel is brilliant at drilling down the value proposition and identifying new opportunities. They are always available to us as a mentor and a vital team member... This is demonstrated by the commitment of the Gabriel team to stand side-by-side to achieve our business objectives."
Peter Howley, - IPWireless
"Gabriel's keen insights on strategic direction and tactics helped us structure and complete a key financing round that is usually difficult to do in our market place. Gabriel is working very closely with us and really knows how to motivate our team. They are smart, extremely hard working, and really completely honest. We could not have accomplished what we have without them."
Catherine Hapka, Chairman, CEO and Founder - Rhythms NetConnections, Inc.
"As CEO of Cray Research, Phil guided the company to a successful outcome at a very difficult time in the Company's history. As a Board member, I saw him come in from the outside and quickly size up the situation, take immediate action on both a strategic and tactical front, and provide strong, steady leadership. Any entrepreneur would greatly benefit from his mentoring and business judgment. With the partners at the helm, Gabriel Venture Fund sounds like a winning formula."