Our Backgrounds

Jon Bischke

Jon Bischke is an innovative and experienced entrepreneur at the intersection of education and technology. He has founded or co-founded four companies, three of which have been acquired (two by publicly-traded companies) and a fourth that is currently profitable. Jon’s most recent company, eduFire.com, raised money from top-tier institutional investors and was acquired in June of 2010. A Minneapolis native, Jon has a BSB in Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. In addition, he has taught business courses at the Carlson School of Management, GMAT and SAT preparation courses for Kaplan Education and Microsoft training sessions for hundreds of technology professionals. Jon is also a co-founder of The Legacy Foundation and Unleashed, two organizations that strive to empower the world’s most promising entrepreneurs.

Eric Glass

Eric is a vice president at Hill & Knowlton, a global communications consultancy. Based in San Francisco, Eric works with Fortune 500 brands as well as innovative technology companies that are shaping the future of how we work and live. Over the last ten years, he has helped brands in a variety of sectors and services create powerful communications that deepen brand awareness, build executive profiles, and reinforce corporate reputation that ultimately drive business results. Eric is passionate about helping organizations create a story that inspires its people and motivates its most important audiences to engage with them. Eric is a regular speaker on public relations and strategic communications for the School of Mass Communications, at the University of San Francisco.

Saar Gur

Saar Gur is a partner at Charles River Ventures. Saar is passionate about discovering and growing early-stage companies and focuses on CRV’s consumer and internet investments. Saar currently sits on the boards of Progress Financial, Magnetic, Wonderhill, and Blippy (incubated at CRV), and was involved in CRV’s seed investment in social games company LilGreenPatch (acquired by Playdom) and Viikii. Saar was also involved with CRV’s investments in Twitter and Scribd.

Prior to joining CRV, Saar was a co-founder of Brightroll, the world’s leading Internet video advertising network Saar was also the co-founder of Carebadges.com (acquired by Facebook Causes) and remains an active advisor to Causes. Previously, Saar was VP of Customer Acquisition, and responsible for the P&L of Adteractive, a leading performance-based marketing company with over $120m in revenues achieved with no outside capital. Most recently, Saar launched FounderDating, an endeavor aimed at helping talented entrepreneurs find co-founders and compelling business ideas.

He has an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dave Kashen

Dave Kashen is an executive coach and founder of Quantum Leading, an innovative leadership and organizational development company. He works primarily with CEOs and
 management teams of fast-growing companies to help them effectively manage growth, unleash the potential of their people and build a foundation for long-term success. He provides one-on-one executive coaching to help CEOs (i) become more effective, authentic, inspiring leaders, (ii) overcome their biggest challenges (typically ‘people’ and ‘sales’ issues), (iii) better manage their time/energy, and (iv) create breakthrough results in their businesses. He also leads a Culture Development Program to enable CEOs and their teams to intentionally create the culture they want and maintain it as the company grows. 
Prior to founding Quantum Leading, Dave co-founded Wellsphere, an innovative, fast-growing online health company (acquired by The HealthCentral Network), worked as an 
investment banker for Goldman Sachs, and as an investment associate for SPO Partners. Dave holds an MBA from Stanford University, a BS in Economics from The Wharton School
 at the University of Pennsylvania and received his coaching certification at the Coaches Training Institute. Dave also serves as an advisor for the Career Management Center and the Center
 for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Eric D. Kroll

Eric is an entrepreneur and independent consultant. He is a co-founder of Unleashed, a partner at BensFriends.org (a mission-driven patient community network for people with rare diseases), co-founder of Children’s Presents LLC (a personalized videos company), and an advisor to several other companies. Additionally, he consults for entertainment and sports companies on projects that enable people, ideas, and organizations to reach their potential. Previous stints include marketing & product development at American Express, business development at StubHub, and several startups. He graduated cum laude from Brown University and has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Hobbies include sports, games, travel, and exploring unique experiences. Eric is happiest when juggling a lot of tasks, collaborating with bright and determined people, and working on a variety of exciting projects.