Don has over 25 years of experience in finance and building successful software and mobile ventures as an engaging leader. As a respected mobile industry entrepreneur and executive, Don has immersed himself in roles as a founder, financier and dealmaker for businesses that arbitrage between North American software "smarts" and the Asian market's opportunity.
Prior to his role as President & CEO of Contec, Don was a principal at China MobileSoft, a seed-funded, embedded software supplier that delivered solutions to Chinese handset makers. China MobileSoft was ultimately sold to ACCESS of Japan for approximately US$28 million. Before entering the venture capital world in 1994 Don invested thirteen years in enterprise software sales & support and applications development.
Don holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia.
Roland Schmidt
CTO & VP Research & Development
Roland guides the Company's technology strategy. An expert in Internet security and telecommunications gateway solutions, he has held a diverse set of software development executive management roles and consulting engagements over a successful 22-year career.
Prior to co-founding Contec, Roland was with Danet GmbH, a German telecommunications systems engineering company, where he held the position of Division Manager of Mobile Telecommunications. While at Danet, he led the Glenayre Group's core platform product as Project Manager and Chief Architect.
Roland has a Masters of Science Degree in Mathematics from Technische Universitaet in Darmstadt, Germany.
Oren Friedman
VP Marketing & Business Development
Oren is responsible for marketing, business development and product management of Contec's BUZmob Mobile Media Network. Oren has over a decade of software and telecommunications industry experience. As Director of Sales at PureSight Inc. (acquired by Boston Communications Group Inc., NASDAQ: BCGI) Oren was responsible for establishing and extending the company's reach into the European service provider market, and for launching a mobile content-filtering product. Oren was a Senior Product Manager at Commtouch Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCH), where he was responsible for its messaging product line in North America, and for establishing strategic partnerships. Oren also held sales positions at OSS vendor TTI Telecom Inc. (NASDAQ: TTIL) and messaging service provider j2 Global Communications (NASDAQ: JCOM).
Oren holds an MBA from the Stern Business School at New York University and an LL.B. degree in Law from Tel-Aviv University.
Sun Hua
General Manager, China
Sun is responsible for leading all sales & marketing thrusts of Contec's Chinese operations, based in Beijing . Sun is a 13-year veteran of Ericsson China , a unit of Ericsson AB, the world's leading mobile infrastructure provider.
In his most recent role, he led a marketing team concentrating on major products, value-added services and 3G trials for China Unicom. Previously, Sun was responsible for managing direct sales of Ericsson products and services to China Unicom headquarters and provincial operators, achieving hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and receiving numerous sales awards.
Sun Hua has an MBA from the Australia National University Business School and a Bachelor's degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
Board of Directors
Laurie Wallace
Chairman
Mr. Wallace, a proven entrepreneur, has successfully co-founded, managed and sold two technology companies. In 1995, he co-founded Datum Telegraphic and served as President and CEO until its sale in 2000 to PMC-Sierra for over C$200 million. Until early 2003, Mr. Wallace was PMC-Sierra's global Director of Marketing for wireless products, securing business contacts throughout Asia, Europe and North America. In 2005, he co-founded and managed FlyOver Entertainment which was subsequently sold in 2006 to Vivendi.
He presently serves as a board member and advisor to a number of technology companies in and around Vancouver. Mr. Wallace also worked as an entrepreneur in residence for Ventures West, one of Canada's leading Venture Capital investment firms.
Mr. Wallace earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of Calgary.
Will Walls
Director
Mr. Walls, in his twenty-one years of corporate finance and public markets experience, has assisted more than fifty companies in their strategic development, ongoing reporting requirements, Initial Public Offerings and takeovers or mergers. Will Walls is currently the Vice President of The Ledcor Group of companies.
Mr. Walls is currently a board member or advisor to a number of technology companies in the telecom and software sectors. From 1998 - 2001 Mr. Walls was the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer for 360networks inc., participating in that company's general corporate development from its inception. During this time, Mr. Walls was involved in the successful closing of bridge loans, project loans, private equity, high-yield issues, strategic investments, the Initial Public Offering and senior bank facilities totaling more than US $6 Billion. From 2002 - 2004 Mr. Walls served on the Board of 360's Canadian operating companies, including Group Telecom, as an independent director until the sale of those entities to Bell Canada for $275 Million.
Prior to 360networks, Mr. Walls was a principal with a Vancouver-based venture capital firm that specialized in assisting developing companies with entry into United States capital markets.
Perry Quan
Director
Mr. Quan is a veteran of the telecommunications industry with over 20 years of experience in strategic planning, business development, and mobile systems & software engineering. Prior to founding Contec and serving as its President from 200 to 2007, Mr. Quan was the Director of International Systems Engineering at Glenayre Technologies Inc, a wireless product development company.
Mr. Quan is the founding Past-President of The Wireless Innovation Network society of BC (WINBC), a local industry association representing over 150 member companies in the wireless technology field.
Mr. Quan holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.
Don Lay
CEO & President
Roland Schmidt
CTO & VP, Research & Development
Advisory Committee
Madeline Duva
Madeline Duva, a technology entrepreneur with 18+ years experience in Silicon Valley, has been instrumental in developing and executing strategic initiatives for software firms that include Communication Intelligence Corp, PenOp, Dejima, and Revere Data. Notably, Ms. Duva was CEO of China MobileSoft, a China-based mobile software firm that was successfully acquired by PalmSource. Now running her own technology consultancy, Duva sits on the advisory boards of several technology start-ups including 3jam, Eye-Fi, MSX and Nexage.
Jim Southcott
Jim Southcott is Chief Strategic Officer of TBWA\Vancouver, part of TBWA worldwide ad agency network. Southcott, with over 20 years in marketing, advertising and strategic planning at both agency and client-side roles has delivered leading campaigns for major clients including: Telus, A&W Restaurants, Labatt's, Shaw Communications, and HSBC. Jim advises a number of Internet start-ups including eqo.com, Wireless Image and MovieSet.com.
Greg Paull
Greg Paull has for more than twenty years been a marketer and advertising executive in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, New York and now China. In his agency life, he worked at Bates, Ogilvy and in several roles at the Interpublic Group in Asia Pacific. Five years ago, Mr. Paull co-founded R3, the only independent Asian consultancy focused on improving marketing efficiency and effectiveness. R3's clients in the region include Coca Cola, McDonalds, Singapore Airlines, adidas, Visa and Johnson & Johnson. R3 is currently conducting China's largest ongoing Olympic benchmarking analysis -- interviewing 16,500 people in ten cities as well as reviewing hundreds of marketing campaigns and the ROI on Olympic media investment.
Richard Zhang
Based in Beijing, Mr. Zhang has played a significant role in the Chinese telecom sector and has key relationships with device manufacturers, mobile network operators and other service providers in China. Mr. Zhang was most recently the President of CEC Mobile ("CECM"), a unit of CEC Group, which designs, assembles and markets mobile handsets for customers that include China's second largest mobile operator, China Unicom.
Mr. Zhang's graduate degrees include a M.Sc. from the Research Institute of Automation, China Academy of Science and an Executive MBA Degree from Beijing University.
