Tech Titans
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Ted Leonsis, Don Graham, Bobbie Kilberg, and Aneesh Chopra all shape the world of Washington technology. Our tech scene is thriving with investment from government in IT, growing start-ups like LivingSocial, and people making the region a hub for tech growth.
![are not talking about a bunch of eggheads in ty’s top cheerleaders and boosters, helping to
tweed jackets and pipes. We are talking about Tech Titans forge connections, deals, and friendships.
real people in your district who not only share continued from page 71 Mark Bisnow, founder, Bisnow on Busi-
our broad views but who are financially sup- ness. His networking schmooze-fests and
porting us.” Maryland’s Eastern Shore, will grow only speaker series, a spinoff of his e-newsletters,
Feulner is all but a cheerleader when it more critical as NASA wraps up the space- have been a big success.
comes to talking about Heritage’s new pro- shuttle program. Phillip J. Bond, CEO, TechAmerica. For
file—with the added presence and savvy, he Steve Trundle, CEO, Alarm.com. The one- nearly 20 years, Bond has moved back and
is quick to note, of Addington. Its footprint time MicroStrategy CTO now runs a hot secu- forth between government and the private
on Capitol Hill is growing. The think tank rity company that allows users to connect to sector. He now leads one of the most pow-
not only is housed in two spacious buildings their home security systems remotely. erful industry voices.
on Massachusetts Avenue, a few blocks from John B. Wood, CEO, Telos. The head of Allyson Kapin, founding partner and exec-
Senate office buildings and the Capitol, but it the cybersecurity firm is proving a key booster utive creative director, Rad Campaign. Kap-
also purchased a building in 2008 on Penn- of Loudoun County growth with his forma- in’s Women Who Tech conference and her
sylvania Avenue, Southeast, spitting distance tion of the local CEO Cabinet to advise poli- boundless energy helped lead Forbes to name
from the House office buildings. cymakers on economic-development issues. her one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs
“We are not halfway downtown like Cato,” to follow on Twitter.
Feulner says. “We are not all the way down- Alan Merten, president, George Mason
town like AEI or out Embassy Row like Brook- THINKERS University, and Bob Templin, president,
ings. I am not saying necessarily that particular Robert D. Atkinson, president, Information Northern Virginia Community College. The
factor makes us better, but I am saying it makes Technology & Innovation Foundation. With IT world continues to hunger for employees,
us different because we know precisely what “innovation” becoming a major policy area, and these two higher-education leaders are
our primary target audience is, and it is right Atkinson has been at the forefront of pushing it
over there,” meaning Capitol Hill. “That is as a cornerstone of economic development.
another reason Addington is such a neat, inte- Rod Beckstrom, CEO, ICANN. The body
gral player and [fits into] what we are about— that governs Internet addresses and names
because he has been on both the House and (such as .com and .us) is headed by Beck-
Senate staff and he knows how that works as strom, an author and entrepreneur.
well as knowing how downtown works.” Edward Black, CEO, Computer & Com-
Addington’s second act dovetails with Heri- munications Industry Association. Head of
tage’s effort to be more muscular on Capitol one of the industry’s top trade groups since
Hill. “We want independent thinkers who are 1995, Black was involved with the State
also team players, and this guy is the perfect Department and is active in other govern-
combination,” Feulner says. “In the confines ment projects on tech policy.
of his office, he tells it to me straight out, but Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet
when our board comes to a decision, he is a evangelist, Google; Steve Crocker, board-of-
great colonel in the Army. He salutes and says, directors vice chair, ICANN; and Robert E. Community Leader
‘Forward march,’ and on we go.” Kahn, president, CEO, and chairman, Corpo-
Addington makes clear that success in his ration for National Research Initiatives. Not Bobbie Kilberg, CEO,
first year can be measured in a tangible way. too many people can claim to have invented Northern Virginia Technology
Three of the think tank’s priorities fall in his the Internet (and Al Gore’s not one of them),
area of responsibility: to win substantial cuts but these three can. Decades later, all are still
Council. Kilberg has led the
in federal spending, to succeed in repealing leaders in the industry. region’s most influential tech
“Obamacare,” and to make the temporary tax Leslie Harris, CEO, Center for Democracy trade group for more than a
cuts passed during the Bush administration & Technology. The Georgetown Law grad decade—and her Hot Ticket
permanent. “Success is defined as all three,” turned policy wonk has helped establish CDT
he says. “Progress is defined as two.” as a key resource for privacy rights online. Awards event, hosted at her
As for Addington’s take on where he is now Walt Mossberg, personal-tech colum- McLean house, is the com-
after the fights he’s taken on over the years, nist, Wall Street Journal. Mossberg’s reviews munity’s event of the year.
just for a moment he allows an outsider in and are considered definitive by many, and his
becomes a little introspective: “The meaning- expanding empire of projects, such as All-
ful life. Somehow, you’re 80 and rocking on ThingsD, keep him influential. providing thousands of educated students.
the front porch and thinking about what did Lynn St. Amour, CEO, Internet Society. Shireen Mitchell, CEO, Digital Sisters/
you do with your life. The best you can hope Her organization, based in the United States Sistas. University of the District of Columbia
in the end is that you lived it properly and and Switzerland, works on increasing Inter- graduate Mitchell—who goes by the name
accomplished something useful. That so much net access to developing countries and setting Digitalsista online—works to deliver technol-
outweighs the ups and downs and in-between standards to ease communication. ogy to underserved women and children.
struggles.” Jill Stelfox, founder and president,
Accession Point. The serial entrepreneur
Kirk Victor has covered the White House and
COMMUNITY LEADERS now runs a consulting firm to encourage
Congress for National Journal, collaborated with Shashi Bellamkonda, director of social media, others’ ideas and is respected for her energy
Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings on Hollings’s book, Network Solutions; Peter Corbett, founder, and connections.
“Making Government Work,” and currently is a Twin Tech; and Justin Thorp, community
contributing writer at the Fiscal Times and a con-
tributing editor at National Journal. He can be manager, Clearspring. Online and offline, Editor Garrett M. Graff can be reached at
reached at kirkvic@gmail.com. these three are among the tech communi- ggraff@washingtonian.com.
122 | WASHINGTONIAN MAY 2011](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/techtitans-110527131441-phpapp01/85/Tech-Titans-4-320.jpg)
Tech Titans
- 1. Opposite page, from bottom left: Ted Leonsis, Don Graham, Bobbie Kilberg, and Aneesh Chopra all shape the world of Washington technology. Our tech scene is the hottest it’s been since the dot-com glory days of the 1990s, with big investment by govern- ment in IT, surging green-energy programs, growing biotech research, and start-ups such as LivingSocial. Here are the people who are making this region grow. GOV 2.0 AND POLITICOS Gov 2.0 Curtis “Bob” Burns, social-media analyst, Keith Alexander, director, National Transportation Security Administration. Writing under the handle Blogger Bob, Burns Security Agency. The head of the helps pen TSA.gov’s official blog, which is Defense Department’s cybersecurity regarded as the best in the government and efforts, Alexander leads a workforce that one of the few with both a devoted reader- includes some of the best mathemati- ship and a thoughtful policy discussion. Sheila Campbell, manager, General Ser- cians and technologists on the planet. vices Administration’s USA.gov. Working with her colleague Bev Godwin, Campbell is a key player helping to move the federal is taking a larger role in regulating and polic- Department of State. The driving force government online. ing the Internet. behind much of State’s digital-communi- Aneesh Chopra, US chief technology offi- Julius Genachowski, chairman, Federal cation initiative and Hillary Clinton’s “Net cer, and Vivek Kundra, US chief information Communications Commission. The appoint- freedom” agenda, Ross cofounded the non- officer, the White House. The two men, both ment of Genachowski, a veteran of the DC profit One Economy. with local ties, are helping the nation spend venture-capital world, was a signal to techies Patrick Ruffini and Mindy Finn, cofound- its $80 billion–plus annual IT budget more that the Obama administration was going to ers, Engage. The two GOP operatives scored wisely and inventively. elevate and engage with technology policy. big in the fall elections, helping several tea- Linda Y. Cureton, chief information officer, Bob Goodlatte, US congressman from Vir- party candidates to victory. They’ll likely be NASA. The Howard graduate is a leader in ginia. The ten-term Roanoke Republican is at the center of the Republican 2012 presi- the government’s push for cloud comput- cochair of the Congressional Internet Caucus dential race. ing services. and a leader on high-tech issues. Nick Schaper, digital strategist, US Cham- Regina Dugan, director, Defense Advanced Todd Park, chief technology officer, ber of Commerce. House speaker John Research Projects Agency. Trained as a Department of Health and Human Services. Boehner’s former top digital strategist is mechanical engineer and an expert in explo- The cofounder of Athenahealth, Park is at starting a new job boosting business’s use sives detection, Dugan in 2009 became the the forefront of the nation’s discussion about of new media. first woman to lead the Pentagon’s elite Clar- moving health-care information online. Phil Weiser, senior adviser to the direc- endon-based technology, Skunkworks. Macon Phillips, White House director of tor for technology and innovation, National Ed Felten, chief technologist, Federal new media. Since day one of the Obama Economic Council, the White House. The Trade Commission. The Princeton com- administration, Phillips has been building an President’s point person on “winning the puter-science professor and data-privacy impressive team to bypass the White House future,” Weiser is a key liaison to the tech expert started earlier this year as the first tech- press corps and speak directly to citizens. community. nologist within Jon Leibowitz’s FTC, which Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation, DEALMAKERS Politico Errol Arkilic, industrial-innovation program director, National Science Foundation. The Mark Warner, US senator from Virginia. grantmaker, who focuses on small businesses, The former governor and venture capital- has been a consistent presence on the local ist has made technology a centerpiece of scene, including participating in DC Lean Startup Circle. his agenda since the beginning of his career, Peter Barris, managing general partner, when he made buckets of money helping to New Enterprise Associates. Through a score launch the cell-phone industry. of companies, including Vonage, Barris has an eye for worthwhile investments, but his 66 | WASHINGTONIAN MAY 2011 MAY 2011 WASHINGTONIAN | 67
- 2. firm’s investment in the Chicago-based com- ing LivingSocial), Case and his right hand, pany that spawned Groupon might make his Tige Savage, are key drivers and funders of backers the richest. many projects. John Burton, managing general partner, John Crupi, CTO, JackBe. The rest of Updata Partners. The cofounder of the Reston the company’s motto, “nimble and quick,” 2 5 7 9 11 growth-stage venture-capital firm is head of underscores what it sees as the key to Presto— the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association. real-time business intelligence on the compa- Brooke B. Coburn, managing director, the ny’s custom dashboards—which has helped Carlyle Group. David Rubenstein’s Carlyle the government’s own stimulus Web site, Group, a private-equity firm, remains one of Recovery.gov. the region’s biggest pocketbooks. Tom Davidson, CEO, EverFi. Fresh off Carol Thompson Cole, CEO, Venture Phi- $11 million in Series A funding from New 1 4 8 lanthropy Partners. The onetime DC mayoral Dealmaker Enterprise Associates and others, Davidson aide now heads the prestigious philanthropy group founded by Mario Morino. Don Rainey, general part- is set for a big expansion of his financial-lit- eracy programs. 12 Chris Darby, CEO, In-Q-Tel. Not many ner, Grotech Ventures. A long- Mark D. Ein, founder and CEO, Venture- government agencies have their own ven- time Washington investor, house Group. The tech entrepreneur has a 3 6 10 ture-capital firm, but the CIA does—and if Rainey has his fingers in many variety of projects, from the Kastle Systems Darby spots promising technology, he has security company to the pro tennis team he has deep pockets to play with. pots, from military projects to named after it—the Washington Kastles. Miles Gilburne, managing member, ZG LivingSocial, a move that will Raul Fernandez, CEO, ObjectVideo. Ventures. A key ally of Steve Case, Gilburne— make his partners at Grotech After taking his company Proxicom public a former AOL vice president—has a particu- and selling it for nearly $450 million, Fer- lar interest in biotech and life sciences. a lot of money. nandez is busy with his video-analytics Mike Lincoln, partner, Cooley Godward company and his co-ownership of the Wiz- Kronish. Working with his colleague Adam who provide key early-stage funding to start- Ruttenberg, Lincoln is the key mergers-and- ups, May is a must-meet for any budding acquisitions and venture-capital lawyer for entrepreneur. Northern Virginia. Nigel Morris, former president and COO, Art Marks, general partner, Valhalla Part- Capital One. The cofounder of the credit- ners. Marks, who now works at Valhalla with card powerhouse has moved on to being one cofounder Gene Riechers, has spent more of the region’s most prolific dealmakers and than 25 years in local venture-capital circles negotiators. Photographs by Chris Leaman; Steger by Jim Stroup/Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Knapp by William Atkins/George Washington University and is still active in many deals. Kim Shanahan, Korn/Ferry. The leading John May, managing partner, New Van- headhunter for the Northern Virginia tech tage Group. One of the only local “angels” industry, Shanahan has many top executives on speed dial. Here are those who might very well make the next Tech Titans list Ralph Terkowitz, general partner, ABS Capital. The former CTO/CIO of the Wash- Entrepreneur ington Post Company hosts regular dinners 1. Michael Edson, director of Web hoping to disrupt “what’s core to starting a company focused on Zaleski—who spends her free time that bring together a who’s who of the local Tim O’Shaughnessy, and new-media strategy, Smith- Washington”—politics, govern- captioned video tours. crisscrossing the country rock- tech scene. CEO, LivingSocial. The sonian Institution. The 20-year ment, and media. climbing—is helping to speed the veteran of “the nation’s attic” has 9. Robert Musslewhite, CEO, Post into the digital age. Georgetown grad is on top helped launch its first blog and 5. Charles W. Steger, presi- Advisory Board Company. While ENTREPRENEURS of the hottest thing to hit the adapt some of its collection for an dent, Virginia Tech, and 6. Steven the David Bradley–founded com- 12. Christine A. Varney, assistant alternative-reality game. Knapp, president, George Wash- pany is known for its health-care attorney general for antitrust, Jus- Sid Banerjee, cofounder and CEO, Clar- local tech world since AOL, ington University. Both universi- consulting and “best practices” tice Department. The respected abridge. The customer-feedback-mining start-up led by Banerjee—one of the first with an ever-growing valu- 2. Sean Glass, venture partner, ties are making big tech plays, research, it’s pushing to become former head of Hogan & Hartson’s employees of MicroStrategy—is a big hit, as ation—helped recently by a Novak Biddle. A former game-com- with GW increasing the size of its more of a software company. Internet-law division, Varney is at pany founder backed by Richard Loudoun research center and Vir- the center of the discussion about was his previous venture, Claraview. $400-million venture-fund- Branson, Glass is seen as a leader ginia Tech expanding into a large 10. Chitra Ragavan, senior coun- whether Google is too large. Dealmaker James Bankoff, CEO, SB Nation. Bankoff ing round—and a staff that’s of the next generation of local ven- Ballston facility focused on health selor, Palantir. A former legal- Philip Bronner, Novak is a former AOL executive and senior adviser at the private-equity powerhouse Providence been expanding by six a day. ture capitalists. technology and cybersecurity. affairs reporter for U.S. News and an NPR correspondent, Ragavan 13. Frank Baitman, chief informa- tion officer, Social Security Admin- Biddle Venture Partners. Equity Partners. SB Nation has a network 3. Ginny Hunt, head of public-sec- 7. Jim Long, cameraman, NBC is helping sell one of Silicon Val- istration. The former IBM business Since Jack Biddle and Roger of more than 300 blogs that dominates the ards, Capitals, and Mystics. tor projects, Google. People inside News. By day he’s a mild-man- ley’s most intriguing companies— strategist is rethinking how one online sports conversation—and he hopes it’ll Peter LaMotte, president, GeniusRocket. and outside of government are nered cameraman, but on Twitter backed by PayPal founder and of the government’s biggest pro- Novak founded it in 1997, coming to know Hunt as Google’s and at tech conferences he trans- Facebook funder Peter Thiel—as grams and data sets can be more be global as he moves into European soccer. Under CEO Mark Walsh, LaMotte, a vet- NBVP has established itself Aaron Batalion, cofounder and CTO, eran of the Corporate Executive Board, is “DC fixer.” forms into @NewMediaJim, one of it expands into providing analy- efficient, responsive, and useful. as the area’s top venture- LivingSocial. The head technologist for this the power behind the “curated crowdsourc- 4. Clay Johnson, creator, Big the area’s favorite tech thinkers. sis and software to the intelligence community. 14. Adam Sharp, Twitter. The capital firm, and Bronner is rapidly growing company is a big local pres- ing” site, which helps connect creatives and Window Labs. A veteran of the 8. Catharine McNally, founder, microblogging site’s first Washing- ence and is helping to push the start-up scene businesses. the go-to for local start-ups, Howard Dean presidential cam- Keen Guides. Deaf since she was 11. Katharine Zaleski, Digi- ton hire, formerly an executive pro- forward. Robert S. Marshall, CEO, Earth Networks. paign and the Sunlight Foun- eight months old, McNally worked tal News Products head, Wash- ducer at C-SPAN, is just months including Approva, Clear- Steve Case, CEO, Revolution. With his Best known for his Germantown-based com- dation, Johnson has launched at the Kennedy Center and the ington Post. One of the original into his new role guiding politicians spring, and Webs. fingers in lots of deals and boards (includ- pany’s WeatherBug, the University of Mary- an incubator for companies Freer and Sackler Galleries before staff at the online Huffington Post, and policymakers through the site. 68 | WASHINGTONIAN MAY 2011 MAY 2011 WASHINGTONIAN | 69
- 3. Entrepreneur Deborah H. Alderson, president, SAIC’s tions since 2006 and has grown the company Thinker Defense Solutions Group. While she oversees into more than a billion dollars in revenue. Ted Leonsis, entrepreneur/investor. a workforce of 12,500, Alderson has made Michael L. Chasen, CEO, Blackboard. Andy Carvin, social-media strate- Now owner of the Verizon Center and mentoring women a focus of her energies and The education-services provider continues gist, NPR. Beloved in the local tech com- its teams, Leonsis is a fan favorite for his developed SAIC’s Women’s Network. to grow, allowing Chasen increasing flexibil- Anne Altman, general manager, Global ity to involve himself in other local start-ups munity, the prolific tweeter has become stewardship of the Capitals and perhaps Public Sector, IBM. The experienced IBM and deals. a worldwide resource as the hub of first- the biggest player in the local tech com- leader continues to rise, most recently taking Pablo Chavez, managing policy counsel, person accounts about the unrest and munity—from his SnagFilms start-up to over all of the giant’s public-sector work. and Mike Bradshaw, director of Google Fed- revolution across the Arab world. John Becker, CEO, Approva. The com- eral, Google. Google’s presence is expand- fast-rising Groupon, in which he invests. pany has embraced a lighthearted market- ing yearly in Washington—its $5.2 million in ing campaign targeting “control freaks” lobbying expenses last year was up by nearly with its access-control software, which has a third from 2009. Chavez, a former John land grad operates the world’s largest weather Pete Snyder, founder and CEO, New become the industry standard for most of McCain aide, is one of the leading Silicon executive turned undersecretary of the Army tech sector regionally. and lightning observation system. Media Strategies. The Rosslyn-based com- the large audit firms. Valley voices on Capitol Hill, and Bradshaw now heads the nonprofit management con- Donna Morea, president, CGI US, Europe, Hooman Radfar, cofounder and CEO, munications firm has been singled out for its is the face of Google in the federal sector. sultancy born of Defense Secretary Robert and Asia. Just about the entire world except Clearspring. After some growing pains, the success by Virginia governor Bob McDonnell Lynda Clarizio, CEO, Invision. The former McNamara’s frustration with the Pentagon’s Canada now falls under the purview of this McLean-based firm has seen its social-sharing and continues its recent hiring spree. head of Advertising.com for AOL and a business practices 50 years ago. 25-year veteran of the IT industry. widget, AddThis, make it one of the largest Daniel Yates, founder and CEO, Opower. onetime Arnold & Porter lawyer, Clarizio Linda Gooden, executive vice president, Matthew O’Connell, CEO, GeoEye. High- Web sites in the world—and one that pos- His Arlington-based energy-efficiency start- is among the foremost experts on digital Lockheed Martin Information Systems & quality satellite images once were the exclusive sesses an enormous amount of valuable data up, perhaps more than any other outside of advertising. Global Solutions. With more than $10 bil- domain of a handful of governments, but now on user behavior and preferences. LivingSocial, seems poised for a big IPO James F. Coakley, CEO, Power Loft. The lion in annual sales, Gooden oversees a busi- Michael J. Saylor, founder and CEO, down the road. Prince William County data center is one of ness roughly the size of Cambodia’s GDP. MicroStrategy. The long ride of MicroStrat- the area’s largest storage facilities and a green Walter P. Havenstein, CEO, SAIC. The egy hasn’t been steady for Saylor—who lost model for similar projects. newish leader of the region’s biggest gov- billions when the tech bubble burst—but it’s ENTREPRENEURIAL COUPLES Matthew J. Desch, CEO, Iridium. As head ernment-technology contractor, with 17,500 going gangbusters now and looking the best Phillip and Caren Merrick. The cofounders of of one of the world’s largest mobile-satellite local employees, is seen as a breath of fresh air, it has in years, thanks in part to the hard work webMethods, which was the most successful companies—relied upon by mariners, explor- raising employee morale. He’s also a leader of COO Sanju K. Bansal. software IPO of its time, have their own proj- ers, and even the Defense Department— in education, chairing the nonprofit FIRST Chris Schroeder, CEO, HealthCentral. The ects now—with Phillip overseeing the online Industry Leader Desch helped take the company public in (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science Washington Post Company has helped launch résumé site VisualCV and Caren running for 2009. and Technology). many a career locally, and the former Washing- the Virginia state Senate. Donald E. Graham, Amr ElSawy, CEO, Noblis. The nonprofit Fred Humphries, vice president, US gov- tonpost.Newsweek Interactive CEO’s is one. Bradley and Sheryl Schwartz. The hus- CEO, Washington Post Com- consulting firm—which traces its history to ernment affairs, Microsoft. The top represen- His health-care information provider has an band-and-wife team that runs Blue Can- pany. As a regular Face- MIT’s World War II efforts to help the gov- tative of the Redmond, Washington, software A-list team of backers, from Barry Diller to opy—a government-tech contractor founded ernment solve complex problems—remains a giant is, along with Ed Ingle, a powerful voice Sequoia Capital to the Carlyle Group. in 2001 that has twice made Inc. magazine’s book user, a board member force in federal circles. in DC. Community Leaders list of the 500 fastest-growing private US of the social-media power- Nelson M. Ford, CEO, LMI. The health-care Sudhakar Kesavan, CEO, ICF Interna- Zvi Band, founder of companies—both came to the start-up with house, and overseer of the tional. The green-tech consulting firm— skeevisArts, and Michael extensive corporate backgrounds. print newspaper business’s perhaps best known for helping launch the Amy Senger and Steven Mandzik. Found- Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Mayernick, cofounder of ers of the consulting firm 1X57, they’ve transition to a multi-platform Star program—has developed into a global Giv.to. Hoping to spur more become influential in Gov 2.0 circles—and media experience, Graham is leader under Kesavan, who has worked at collegiality among the local have helped usher the CIA into the age of at the forefront of technologi- the firm since 1983 and is now vice chair of community, the two ener- social media. cal change. Products such as NVTC. Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova, Jeong Kim, president, Bell Labs. More getic techies launched a Web founders, Imangi Studios. Their small-game Trove, built by his team and than a decade after he made many millions on site, Proudly Made in DC, that development company has churned out a led by CDO Vijay Ravindran, the sale of his tech start-up to Lucent Tech- showcases start-ups. number of popular iPad and iPhone apps, are causing excitement in nologies, Kim has settled into his role as head including the game Harbor Master. of the storied Bell Labs. Jesse Thomas and Leslie Bradshaw, media circles. Bruce Klein, senior vice president, US GeoEye’s work is provided through Google, Entrepreneurial Couple cofounders, Jess3. The creative geniuses public-sector theater, Cisco. One of the larg- Yahoo!, and Bing to any computer user in the Jen Consalvo and behind one of the region’s hottest agencies, they helped an astronaut check into Four- Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman. The decision by the new head of Northrop Industry Leader est providers of networking products to the government, Klein manages an extensive world. Gary Shapiro, CEO, Consumer Electron- Frank Gruber, founders, square from space and helped C-SPAN estab- to move the company’s headquarters to the Teresa Carlson, vice portfolio. ics Association. The longtime head of the Tech Cocktail. Their start- lish itself as a digital innovator. Washington area—creating a bidding war president, global public Marne Levine, vice president, global public powerful trade association is taking a bigger up, which began as a local among Virginia, Maryland, and the District, sector, Amazon Web Ser- policy, Facebook. The arrival of Larry Sum- role in policy, arguing in his new book, The eventually won by Falls Church—was a coup. mers’s chief of staff from the National Eco- Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the networking group, has be- INDUSTRY LEADERS It was also a recognition of the importance of vices. The move of the influ- nomic Council as the social-networking site’s American Dream, that the United States come a national gathering Reggie Aggarwal, founder and CEO, the government IT sector, where Linda Mills ential vice president of lead policy person shows how seriously the needs to rethink its strategy for economic point for budding entrepre- Cvent. A leader in the Indian high-tech heads Northrop’s $8.4-billion-a-year informa- Microsoft Federal Services company is now taking Washington. competitiveness. world, he heads an 800-plus-person event- tion-systems business. Mark D. McLaughlin, president and chief David W. Thompson, cofounder and CEO, neurs, attracting thousands to Amazon in December management software company that has Edward J. Casey Jr., CEO, Serco (North executive officer, VeriSign. The Web-secu- Orbital. The commercial space-launch com- at the South by Southwest helped put together more than 275,000 America). A former energy executive, Casey showed how seriously the rity firm’s relocation last summer to North- pany, which has its own space facility off of Interactive conference. events worldwide. has led Serco through two successful acquisi- retailer took cloud computing. ern Virginia was a sign of the energy in the ( C O N T I N U E D O N PAG E 12 2 ) 70 | WASHINGTONIAN MAY 2011 MAY 2011 WASHINGTONIAN | 71
- 4. are not talking about a bunch of eggheads in ty’s top cheerleaders and boosters, helping to tweed jackets and pipes. We are talking about Tech Titans forge connections, deals, and friendships. real people in your district who not only share continued from page 71 Mark Bisnow, founder, Bisnow on Busi- our broad views but who are financially sup- ness. His networking schmooze-fests and porting us.” Maryland’s Eastern Shore, will grow only speaker series, a spinoff of his e-newsletters, Feulner is all but a cheerleader when it more critical as NASA wraps up the space- have been a big success. comes to talking about Heritage’s new pro- shuttle program. Phillip J. Bond, CEO, TechAmerica. For file—with the added presence and savvy, he Steve Trundle, CEO, Alarm.com. The one- nearly 20 years, Bond has moved back and is quick to note, of Addington. Its footprint time MicroStrategy CTO now runs a hot secu- forth between government and the private on Capitol Hill is growing. The think tank rity company that allows users to connect to sector. He now leads one of the most pow- not only is housed in two spacious buildings their home security systems remotely. erful industry voices. on Massachusetts Avenue, a few blocks from John B. Wood, CEO, Telos. The head of Allyson Kapin, founding partner and exec- Senate office buildings and the Capitol, but it the cybersecurity firm is proving a key booster utive creative director, Rad Campaign. Kap- also purchased a building in 2008 on Penn- of Loudoun County growth with his forma- in’s Women Who Tech conference and her sylvania Avenue, Southeast, spitting distance tion of the local CEO Cabinet to advise poli- boundless energy helped lead Forbes to name from the House office buildings. cymakers on economic-development issues. her one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs “We are not halfway downtown like Cato,” to follow on Twitter. Feulner says. “We are not all the way down- Alan Merten, president, George Mason town like AEI or out Embassy Row like Brook- THINKERS University, and Bob Templin, president, ings. I am not saying necessarily that particular Robert D. Atkinson, president, Information Northern Virginia Community College. The factor makes us better, but I am saying it makes Technology & Innovation Foundation. With IT world continues to hunger for employees, us different because we know precisely what “innovation” becoming a major policy area, and these two higher-education leaders are our primary target audience is, and it is right Atkinson has been at the forefront of pushing it over there,” meaning Capitol Hill. “That is as a cornerstone of economic development. another reason Addington is such a neat, inte- Rod Beckstrom, CEO, ICANN. The body gral player and [fits into] what we are about— that governs Internet addresses and names because he has been on both the House and (such as .com and .us) is headed by Beck- Senate staff and he knows how that works as strom, an author and entrepreneur. well as knowing how downtown works.” Edward Black, CEO, Computer & Com- Addington’s second act dovetails with Heri- munications Industry Association. Head of tage’s effort to be more muscular on Capitol one of the industry’s top trade groups since Hill. “We want independent thinkers who are 1995, Black was involved with the State also team players, and this guy is the perfect Department and is active in other govern- combination,” Feulner says. “In the confines ment projects on tech policy. of his office, he tells it to me straight out, but Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet when our board comes to a decision, he is a evangelist, Google; Steve Crocker, board-of- great colonel in the Army. He salutes and says, directors vice chair, ICANN; and Robert E. Community Leader ‘Forward march,’ and on we go.” Kahn, president, CEO, and chairman, Corpo- Addington makes clear that success in his ration for National Research Initiatives. Not Bobbie Kilberg, CEO, first year can be measured in a tangible way. too many people can claim to have invented Northern Virginia Technology Three of the think tank’s priorities fall in his the Internet (and Al Gore’s not one of them), area of responsibility: to win substantial cuts but these three can. Decades later, all are still Council. Kilberg has led the in federal spending, to succeed in repealing leaders in the industry. region’s most influential tech “Obamacare,” and to make the temporary tax Leslie Harris, CEO, Center for Democracy trade group for more than a cuts passed during the Bush administration & Technology. The Georgetown Law grad decade—and her Hot Ticket permanent. “Success is defined as all three,” turned policy wonk has helped establish CDT he says. “Progress is defined as two.” as a key resource for privacy rights online. Awards event, hosted at her As for Addington’s take on where he is now Walt Mossberg, personal-tech colum- McLean house, is the com- after the fights he’s taken on over the years, nist, Wall Street Journal. Mossberg’s reviews munity’s event of the year. just for a moment he allows an outsider in and are considered definitive by many, and his becomes a little introspective: “The meaning- expanding empire of projects, such as All- ful life. Somehow, you’re 80 and rocking on ThingsD, keep him influential. providing thousands of educated students. the front porch and thinking about what did Lynn St. Amour, CEO, Internet Society. Shireen Mitchell, CEO, Digital Sisters/ you do with your life. The best you can hope Her organization, based in the United States Sistas. University of the District of Columbia in the end is that you lived it properly and and Switzerland, works on increasing Inter- graduate Mitchell—who goes by the name accomplished something useful. That so much net access to developing countries and setting Digitalsista online—works to deliver technol- outweighs the ups and downs and in-between standards to ease communication. ogy to underserved women and children. struggles.” Jill Stelfox, founder and president, Accession Point. The serial entrepreneur Kirk Victor has covered the White House and COMMUNITY LEADERS now runs a consulting firm to encourage Congress for National Journal, collaborated with Shashi Bellamkonda, director of social media, others’ ideas and is respected for her energy Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings on Hollings’s book, Network Solutions; Peter Corbett, founder, and connections. “Making Government Work,” and currently is a Twin Tech; and Justin Thorp, community contributing writer at the Fiscal Times and a con- tributing editor at National Journal. He can be manager, Clearspring. Online and offline, Editor Garrett M. Graff can be reached at reached at kirkvic@gmail.com. these three are among the tech communi- ggraff@washingtonian.com. 122 | WASHINGTONIAN MAY 2011