Managing Partners

The DreamIt Managing Partners are all entrepreneurs. We have each founded, built and successfully sold one or more businesses. We have backgrounds in technology, finance, sales and marketing, and law. Many of us are angel investors and have invested in software/SaaS, chip, pharmaceutical, medical device, and other startup companies.
David Bookspan David is a Founder of DreamIt and an entrepreneur, executive, and angel investor. David currently is Founder and Chairman of Monetate, Inc., the post-click marketing platform for online retailers (www.monetate.com). In 1996, David co-founded and was President and CEO of MarketSpan, Inc., whose CaseStream® service aggregated and enhanced court docket information. David sold MarketSpan, and the service under the brand "CourtLink" is a successful business unit of LexisNexis. David is an active angel investor and has been Vice-Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Fund I, L.P., a past-President of Robin Hood Ventures, and a member of L.O.R.E. (Loosely Organized Retired Executives). David also has served on the Board of Directors or Board of Advisors of several start-ups and early stage companies. David practiced law and was a litigation partner at Wolf, Block Schorr and Solis-Cohen, in Philadelphia, PA. David earned an A.B. degree from Vassar College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where he was an Editor of the Law Review.
Michael Levinson Mike is a Founder of DreamIt and an entrepreneur, executive and active angel investor. Mike co-founded PTS Learning Systems, a company focused on corporate computer training and electronic performance support tools and software. Mike grew the company into a highly profitable international organization with over 200 employees and revenues of $30 million and sold it in 1999. Since selling PTS, Mike co-founded founded TechWise Group, Inc., an information technology outsourcing firm for small and medium businesses. Mike also was a founder or co-founder of LegalEdge Software, the 3E Institute, and The Academy of Manayunk, where he currently serves on the Board. Mike most recently co-founded WizeHive, an online organization and collaboration tool. Mike has also invested in over a dozen technology companies as an angel investor. Mike was graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with an Economics/Accounting degree, obtained his CPA certificate in Pennsylvania, and was graduated from Villanova Law School with a JD.
Steven D. Welch Steve is a Founder of DreamIt, an entrepreneur and active angel investor. In July 2007 (at the age of 29), Steven sold the Mitos group of companies that he had started building 6 years earlier to Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH)—an S&P 500 company. Steven founded Mitos Technologies, Inc. with hardly a cent to his name. Under Steven's guidance Mitos developed six marketable patents all directed at improving biotech companies efficiency in manufacturing. In 2008, Steve was selected as a member of the Philadelphia Business Journal's Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2009 Steven was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship to build bridges internationally in early stage startup communities and published a book about entrepreneurship, "We are all Born Entrepreneurs". Recently Steve launched a technology education company called KinderTown which is the Education App Store for parents with children 3-6. Steve Welch is currently running for United States Senate.
Steve Barsh Steve Barsh is an accomplished CEO, entrepreneur, and senior executive whose expertise is leading world-class teams and companies to deliver superior results. With over 20 years of experience, Steve has the ability to both determine a winning strategic direction and drive its execution. His life-long passion is working with technology companies where he is able to understand quickly the technical underpinnings and the market strategy necessary to maximize revenue. As he was graduating from the University of Michigan, Steve founded and led a software and consulting company. He built it into an industry leader and after maintaining a 60% CAGR for 7 years, he sold it to MCI for 8x revenue. Following that, Steve led an Internet company focusing on the baby boomer space -- iGrandparents.com. In less than a year, iGrandparents became the largest and fastest growing website focused exclusively on baby boomers. Recognized as a dynamic, focused, motivating speaker, Steve has delivered presentations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Steve is a founder and active member of The Stop ALD Foundation -- a medical research foundation driving research and development of cutting edge therapeutic technologies targeting a neurodegenerative disorder. Steve leads marketing, IT, and helps shape the Foundation's overall strategy. Steve graduated from the University of Michigan with a BS in computer science.
Kerry Rupp Kerry is the Managing Partner of DreamIt Ventures. She is the Founder of Holiday Golightly, an online travel service specializing in girlfriend getaway trips. She also provides marketing and strategy consulting to senior executives at companies such as AllRecipes.com, ReadersDigest, LexisNexis, Payscale, and Taleo. She has 17 years of executive strategy and operations experience, much of it at startup companies including Jobster, MarketSpan and CourtLink (before their acquisition by LexisNexis) and at Automated Catalogue Services (before its acquisition by Sterling Commerce). She has also served as Vice President of Business Development at Classmates.com, Managing Director & Vice President of Market Planning at LexisNexis, and Consultant at both McKinsey & Company and Andersen Consulting. Kerry was the editor of the book "CRAVE Austin: The Urban Girls' Manifesto" (2009), and the co-publisher/editor of "The Parisian Cowboy's Guide to the Round Top Experience" (2010). Kerry holds a BA in Biology from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mark Wachen Mark Wachen is the Managing Director of DreamIt NYC and will oversee the Summer 2011 program in New York City. Wachen is also the Managing Director and Founder of Upstage Ventures, a firm that advises and invests in consumer internet and interactive marketing companies. Wachen is a Board member of Optify and OrderGroove, and has worked with a variety of other companies including ChaiLabs (acquired by Facebook), SeatGeek, Opinionaided, GameChanger, STELLAService, CatchAFire, and Cyan Pictures. Prior to Upstage, Wachen was the Managing Director of Autonomy Optimost. Wachen founded Optimost, the company that pioneered multivariable testing and optimization on the internet, in 2001 and served as its CEO up until its acquisition by Interwoven in November 2007 (Interwoven was then acquired by Autonomy in March 2009). Prior to Optimost, Wachen worked for seven years at Sony, overseeing a wide variety of Internet initiatives. Wachen was CEO of Indimi (Internet Direct Marketing Intelligence, Inc.), a company majority-owned by Sony. In this role, he spearheaded the acquisitions of InfoBeat, AdTools, and DailyRating. Prior to Indimi, Wachen was Vice President of Online Ventures for Sony Music, where he directed many online initiatives, including Sony Music's investments in Spinner (acquired by AOL for $300 million), and the launch of the Sony Music Online Website in 1994. Wachen graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

William Crowder William is a Managing Director with DreamIt Ventures. He is responsible for the oversight and operation of our newly announced Comcast Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program. William is the Founder and Managing Director of Growth Strategy Advisors, a boutique strategic advisory and business development company launched in 2008. Since its inception, William has overseen the firm’s growth and nationwide expansion. As Managing Director, he has been directly involved in the formation and implementation of new growth strategies, assessments of new business opportunities, and the launching of new ventures for a wide variety of digital and traditional media companies. Throughout his career he has served as a trusted advisor to senior executives at companies such as Radio One, Interactive One, AOL, and Thomson Legal (now Thomson Reuters). He has over 14 years of strategy and operations consulting experience; many of them with technology and digital media businesses. He has also been involved in the acquisition and integration of several technology-focused companies including Third Screen Media (acquired by AOL), Community Connect (acquired by Interactive One), and Transaction Network Services (acquired by GTCR). Prior to founding GS Advisors, William served as a Director of Strategy and Business Development with AOL and as a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). Early in his career he was a software developer and was a core member of the Prodigy Internet development team. William received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He also holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from North Carolina State University where his research efforts focused on the performance evaluation of high-speed data networks.
Mitchell Golner Mitchell Golner is the Managing Partner of DreamIt Israel. He is a hi-tech business manager, startup advisor and angel investor. Mitchell has over 18 years of experience in the hi-tech industry and has held various business and technical roles in Software, Hardware and Systems.

In 2009, he started Tangramix, Ltd., a Strategic Advisory firm focused on providing business advisory services to companies in Israel. Mitchell served as the Business Manager for Zoran’s Consumer DVD business, with over $130M in annual sales, which was based in China.

He has experience in managing worldwide business, developing cross-cultural teams, fostering innovation and executing new product development from inception through development to sales to customers. Mitchell has done business throughout Asia as well as in the US, Europe and Israel. Originally from the US, he has lived and worked in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, ShenZhen, China, and is now based in Israel.

Mitchell is a graduate of the GE/Lockheed Martin Edison Engineering Program (EEP), the recipient of a NASA Virginia Space Grant, holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia.