People
- Paul F. Glenn
- Chairman & Director
- K. Leonard Judson
- President & Managing Director
- Robert J. Balch
- Vice President
- Mark R. Collins
- Executive In Residence
In addition to being experienced venture capital investors, the backgrounds of Cycad Group’s investment team include substantial experience in entrepreneurial management, finance, law, marketing, and business development.
Paul F. Glenn is the Chairman and a Director of Cycad Group and was the driving force behind its creation. After spending several years on Wall Street, Paul left the investment banking firms and pursued a career of trading commodities and securities for his own account. His success in these areas led him to the world of private equity and venture capital where he became an early stage investor in a number of companies that have gone public or were acquired by public companies. He is a graduate of Princeton where he received a BA with high honors and also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
In 1965 Paul also founded the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation devoted to supporting basic research in the molecular biology of aging and age related diseases. The Foundation has been a leader in funding basic research in the science of aging for more than 40 years. Paul continues to serve as the Chairman and visionary for the Glenn Foundation.
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K. Leonard Judson is the President and Managing Director of Cycad Group. Prior to joining Cycad Group in 2000 as a co-founding manager, he practiced law for 14 years and was a partner in two law firms. Throughout his legal career a substantial portion of his practice was devoted to corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions; representing both investors and companies. Leonard’s entrepreneurial and management skills were further honed when he co-founded the law firm of May, Potenza, Judson and Baran, P.C. and served as its President and CEO until his departure to the Cycad Group. From 1989 to 2002, he also served as a member of the NASD Board of Arbitrators.
Leonard currently serves on the board of directors of several of Cycad Group’s portfolio companies including Agile RF, Catalytic Solutions, GRT, Inc., Nanosteel Corporation, SteriFx and ZT3 Technologies.
Leonard holds a B.S. degree (Cum Laude) from Northern Arizona University, and a J.D. (with Honors) from the National Law Center, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
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Robert J. Balch is a Vice President of Cycad Group. Immediately prior to joining Cycad Group in 2004, Bob was a founding partner of Taraval Associates Seed Capital Fund; a venture fund specializing very early stage life sciences companies. As part of his activities with TASCF, Bob spent significant time working in Australia and New Zealand with entrepreneurs, government agencies and the venture capital communities (funding three companies and serving on the board of directors of one). Bob serves on the board of directors of SpectraFluidics, SteriFx, Agile RF and Iosil Energy and is a board observer at Iconix Video.
Bob brings extensive small business development and growth management experience to his venture capital activities. Early in his career Bob worked in sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. He was also among the earliest employees in two healthcare startups: EndoTherapeutics (minimally invasive surgery) and Tokos Medical (perinatal monitoring). Bob then spent 11 years with Mark Products, Inc., a telecommunications company. He was the General Manager of Mark Products, with responsibility for all aspects the business when he left to form Taraval Associates Seed Capital Fund in 1997.
Bob holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from California State University, Sacramento and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix.
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Mark R. Collins is an Executive In Residence with Cycad Group, and together with Paul and Leonard was one of the co-founders of Cycad Group. Mark currently serves as the President of the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research. Prior to joining Cycad Group Mark has had a career in consulting and in marketing management in the medical device and diagnostic industry. He has held managerial positions in several private life science companies that were acquired by public companies, and has served as a member of the board of directors of a some of Cycad Group’s portfolio companies. Mark also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Federation For Aging Research.