Joah Sapphire - Managing Partner
Mr. Sapphire serves as Managing Partner of GDG Capital. As an investor in the digital transformation of highly regulated industries, Mr. Sapphire has a proven track record of creating value by applying his best-in-class multidisciplinary core competencies.
Mr. Sapphire is a successful investment professional having served for the past five years as a senior investment banker for a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm as a buy-side advisor for over $1 billion in deal value; three years as founding partner of a $100-million investment fund with offices in London and New York City; and two years as the China representative for a $9 billion multi-strategy investment fund. In addition to executing complex transactions, Mr. Sapphire has extensive expertise building institutional-quality investment managers from the ground up.
Prior to his career in finance, Mr. Sapphire was a senior executive in government. He shares his expertise gained in government as an Adjunct Associate Professor for Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, teaching a graduate level class in financial management. Mr. Sapphire began his career as a research scientist at Cornell University and leverages his knowledge of applied research to understand and identify new technology trends.
Mr. Sapphire is a well-known industry speaker with numerous featured engagements across North America and Asia. He serves as an industry affiliate for Cornell University’s Program in Infrastructure Policy and as a member of the Advisory Board of University at Buffalo’s Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Logistics. Mr. Sapphire graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University.
Scott Farrell - Vice President
Mr. Farrell serves as Vice President for GDG Capital and supports the sourcing and diligence of investment opportunities. He is an expert in evaluating the value drivers of new technology. Mr. Farrell possesses over ten years of investment banking and technology consulting experience.
For the past five years, Mr. Farrell served as an analyst for a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm and worked on numerous complex transactions with deal value of over $1 billion. Prior to investment banking, Mr. Farrell managed large-scale information communication technology (ICT) projects for several major organizations. He has designed and maintained ICT infrastructure, including hardware, software and web applications with the goal to provide seamless, hosted, secure and redundant services utilizing state-of-the-art cutting-edge solutions.
Mr. Farrell began his career in government as a researcher for the largest state financial regulator in the U.S. for which he led several projects including assessments of state-wide regulatory filing systems. Mr. Farrell graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Information Systems from Fordham University.
Michael Brown - Operating Advisor
Mr. Brown serves as Senior Engineer for Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in the Intelligent Systems Division. He has been a leader in the development of Internet of Things intelligent systems for over twenty years. Founded in 1947, SwRI is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations in the United States. Today, SwRI generates almost $600 million in annual revenue and has 2,700 staff that specialize in the creation and transfer of advanced technology.
Mr. Brown has led projects for various federal, state, and commercial clients in projects spanning the areas of Advanced Traffic and Traveler Information Systems, Connected Vehicle Systems, and Vehicle Automation. In 2006, Mr. Brown was one of the founding members of SwRI’s Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative which has spent over $60 million to automate 15 types of vehicles, ranging from golf carts and SUVs to Class 8 tractor trailers. Several automotive manufacturers and tier one suppliers use SwRI algorithms and technology in their automation research and development programs.
Mr. Brown serves as a subject matter expert for numerous standards committees including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1609, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) DSRC Technical Committee, and SAE Truck and Bus Active Safety Systems Committee. In 2015, he was part of SwRI team recognized with top R&D100 award for automated vehicle localization technology. Mr. Brown graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Iowa State University and a Master of Science in Software Engineering from Southern Methodist University.
Dr. Alain Kornhauser - Operating Advisor
Dr. Kornhauser is Founder and former Board Chairman of ALK Technologies which was purchased by Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) in 2013. Launched in 1979, ALK is a transportation technology company dedicated to route optimization through innovative routing, mileage, mapping, and navigation solutions. Approximately 64% of North American for-hire motor carriers use ALK solutions, including 98 of the top 100 largest for-hire carriers, 47 of the top 50 logistics companies and 77 of the top 100 private fleets. Dr. Kornhauser developed ALK’s PCMILER product line which is the industry standard for routing and ALK’s CoPilot suite of portable in-vehicle navigation systems for consumer and business professionals which offers real-time, GPS based, turn-by-turn directions.
Dr. Kornhauser began teaching at Princeton University in 1972 and his current responsibilities include serving as Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, Director of the Transportation Research Program, Faculty Chair of Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (PAVE) and member of the Topical Program in Robotics and Intelligent Systems. His active research areas are smart driving cars, image processing for scene recognition and collision avoidance and real time optimal route choice. His work has produced numerous analytical tools and software systems that are widely used throughout the transportation and logistics industry.
Dr. Kornhauser was the faculty lead for Princeton University’s entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and 2007 Urban Challenge. He received his Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University, and Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
John Wolff - Operating Advisor
Mr. Wolff serves as Managing Director of GDG IoT a consulting firm that delivers Intelligent Systems Services for industry leaders and which develops concrete roadmaps to use emerging technologies to improve operations. He possesses over twenty years of experience helping clients understand how to apply new technology and identify practical pathways to capture the value unleashed by the next Industrial Revolution.
Mr. Wolff has deep expertise in digital strategy and technology. Previously, he was Senior Vice President at Dentsu Aegis Network where he advised senior management at leading global brands such as Microsoft, P&G North America, P&G Southern Europe and Dannon North America on how to use digital tools to achieve strategic objectives. As an executive at American Express, Wolff built an eCommerce site and managed digital marketing initiatives. He helped launch a start-up, Jungle Interactive Media, and later built and led marketing operations for Logicworks, a cloud technology services firm.
Mr. Wolff graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University, was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow while earning his Master of Public Administration from Cornell University and was a Park Leadership Fellow while securing his Master of Business Administration from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.