Board of Directors

Ron WienerRon Wiener, Chairman of the Board — Founder and Former CEO

Ron is a serial entrepreneur and investor in high technology companies, Earth Class Mail being the fifth venture that he has founded and run as CEO since 1988. He served as the CEO and Postmaster General of Earth Class Mail from the company’s inception in 2003 until June, 2009.

Ron’s prior ventures included SnapNames.com, a breakthrough innovator in the domain-name industry (named Internet Company of the Year in 2001); PrintBid.com (sold to Kinko's/FedEx), a pioneering artificial-intelligence based B2B exchange for commercial printing jobs and paper stocks; Distribution Sciences Corp./JetStream Aviation, an aviation software and JetStream mail-order catalog publisher; and Azure Technology, a San Jose-based manufacturer of navigation avionics and flight simulators, and aviation software and catalog publisher. Ron had previously held various marketing and product-management positions with Central Point Software (now Symantec), Eagle Computer, ICOT (AA/SABRE), Orchid Technology and Computer Factory. During much of his career he was heavily involved in the direct-mail business, mailing hundreds of direct marketing campaigns and catalog issues.

Ron studied EE/Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University, and was founding President of the Oregon Young Entrepreneurs Assn. (now Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum). He has previously served on the Board of Directors of PriMotive, Max-Viz, Measurecast, Market Mechanix, SnapNames, PrintBid.com, Distribution Sciences and Azure Technology.

Jonathan RobertsJonathan Roberts — Partner, Ignition Partners

Jonathan Roberts is a Founder and a Partner of Ignition. He invests in business application and services companies and represents Ignition as director on the boards of Docusign and Spoken Communications as well as Earth Class Mail.

Prior to Ignition Roberts spent 13 years at Microsoft, most recently as General Manager of the Windows CE Intelligent Appliance Division, where he was responsible for developing new WinCE products, product marketing, business development and long-term planning for the Windows CE platform as well as the retargeting of the Microsoft's PocketPC effort.

Roberts led the marketing and business efforts for Windows 3.1, 3.11, Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0, BackOffice 1.0, Windows 98 and NT 4.0 on the Desktop, and finally all of Windows CE including embedded, Pocket PC, Auto, Phones, Set-top, Games, etc.

Roberts received his B.A. in history from the University of Washington where he was also Student Body President. In addition to his Ignition boards, Jonathan serves on the board of Epiphany School and the University of Washington Foundation Board.

Robert HeadleyRobert Headley — Partner, Ignition Partners

Robert invests in enterprise software and wireless companies, and also acts as Ignition's Administrative Partner overseeing the firm's day to day operations. Prior to joining Ignition, Robert spent seven years at Starbucks Coffee Company, most recently as Vice President, Finance & Treasurer. In that role, he managed Starbucks Investor Relations, Corporate Development, Treasury, Business Planning & Analysis, and Profit Improvement functions. Prior to Starbucks, Robert spent three years in the Principal Investment Area and Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in New York and Sydney, Australia. Robert holds an M.S. and B.S. degree with distinction in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.

Kenn Dahl Kenn Dahl — President, Prime Recognition Corporation

Prime Recognition is a leading developer of machine-print OCR software in high accuracy/high volume applications. Its award-winning products are sold to a wide variety of customers including the U.S. government, high-volume service bureaus, universities, law firms, and many other types of customers internationally. Mr. Dahl founded Prime in 1993 and was the inventor of the key OCR algorithms and product architecture. Prior to Prime Recognition, he held a variety of positions, including VP of Sales & Marketing and VP of Corporate Development, at ICOT Corporation, a public high-tech company located in Silicon Valley, He has also worked as a scientist with GE Research and as a management consultant with McKinsey and Bain & Co. Mr. Dahl graduated as the top engineer from Purdue University in 1980 and received a MBA from Stanford University in 1983.

Board Advisors

Elmar ToimeElmar Toime — Former CEO of New Zealand Post and Former Deputy Executive Chairman of Royal Mail

Currently an independent advisor to the postal sector, Elmar has decades of experience as a national-post executive and a track record of innovation in mail-services diversification and entrepreneurship.

Elmar served as chief executive of New Zealand Post from 1993-2003, during which time he successfully diversified its business base and led the establishment of a new, full-service retail bank, Kiwibank Ltd., as a fully-owned subsidiary. He also pioneered a formal franchising operation for posts, including the creation of a joint venture with a major book and stationery retailer. In March, 2003, he was appointed Executive Deputy Chairman of Royal Mail Group PLC in Great Britain and became chairman of its management board. He left Royal Mail in late 2004 to form his consultancy; in that same year, he received the Industry Leadership Award at the World Mail Awards in Berlin. Elmar also serves on the supervisory board of Deutsche Post World Net, the world's leading logistics group; as a non-executive director of SKYCITY Entertainment Group; as chairman of Postea Inc, a technology innovator, as chairman of the supervisory board of the postal consultancy Message AG; and as a non-executive director of Blackbay Ltd., a market-leading mobile-solutions services company.

Michael MilesMichael Miles, P.E. — Former Chief Technology Officer, Earth Class Mail

Mike brings more than three decades of mechanical engineering expertise to his advisory role. For the prior 16 years before co-founding Earth Class Mail, Mike was a principal of ME-Tech, LLC, a mechanical design engineering consulting firm providing expertise in all areas of product design (involving system architecture, prototype and production planning, detailed part design, system and device thermal management and analysis, EMI issues, design for manufacture and assembly (DFM/A), and tooling approval). Among his extensive roster of clients are Apple Computer, nCube, E.Com, Eclipse Technologies, Fiber Sensys, InFocus Systems, Instromedix, Integrated Measurement Systems (IMS), Intel, Lightware, Sentrol, Planar Systems, Sarif, Warn Industries, Tektronix, and ZIBA. For client Siemens, Mike worked extensively on state-of-the-art postal sorting equipment that processed 40,000 mail pieces per hour.

Prior to founding the firm in 1988, Mike spent eight years as a Mechanical/Electromechanical Project Engineer designing components and systems for Tektronix and, later, AT&E Systems (Seiko Receptor Watch). His combination of strengths in plastic part design, mechanism design, stress analysis of materials, and thermal system design are complimented by an acute awareness of the latest technologies and components in the electronics industry. His mechanical design of a broad spectrum of products ranging from small handheld to rack based systems and consumer products to specialized advanced technology equipment illustrate a few facets of his design abilities. Mike holds eight issued patents, and is a registered Professional Engineer, and a member of ASME, SAE and National Assn of Professional Engineers.

Mike studied Liberal Arts, Computer Science, and Physics at Willamette University, and received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University.