Jon Bayless
Dr. Bayless served as chairman of both Landmark Graphics Corporation and CIENA Corporation, two public companies funded by SRF. He is currently serving on the boards of
AirWalk, AppTrigger, Extenet, GENBAND, NetSocket, Vidyo, WaveBender, and Xtera Communications.
"When it comes to building new businesses, we like to start with two or three people and a dream. Many venture firms prefer more complete projects with management teams in place and everything ready to go. We like to get involved early on in a venture's development. That's when we really add the most value."
Jon has taken a lead role in nurturing several SR Funds portfolio companies, including CIENA Corporation, a pioneer in the optical transmission market. The company went public in a 1995 IPO. "We understood the potential of the technology, and, once the product was launched, the market developed quite nicely. That's the kind of investment we like to make," he explains.
From Jon's perspective, hands-on experience is essential to being a good venture capitalist. "We want to get deeply involved," he contends. "We focus on operating issues - not just financial reports - and what we can do to transform the dream into the reality."