Managing Director, CMEA Ventures

Jim Watson joined CMEA Ventures as Managing Director in 2001, and is on the Board of Directors of Apriso, a provider of plant and warehouse automation solutions for the industrial sector; HassoPlattnerVentures, a fund that hosts young, IT-driven companies and guides them into the marketplace; iSuppli Inc., a market intelligence service for the electronics supply chain; LiveOps, a provider of innovative, state-of-the-art call center solutions and a leader in the $20 billion outsourced teleservices industry; MailExpress, a provider of outsourced mail service for large commercial mailers throughout the world; Metavize, an emerging leader in network virtualization for small- to medium-sized enterprises seeking powerful yet simple network solutions; Mitrix, an on-demand supply chain management software company; Odyssey Logistics, a provider of outsourced logistics management services to the chemical industry; and SpikeSource, business-ready, open source solutions. Jim was also on the board of CMEA portfolio companies PathScale, acquired by QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC), and Teros, acquired by Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS).

Prior to joining CMEA, Jim was consultant to several professional services firms and venture capital partnerships in the areas of strategic planning and partnering, board development, and supply chain management. Mr. Watson was also one of the Founders of Monterey Bay Partners, a venture management firm specializing in high technology start-ups. Prior to that, Jim founded Skyway Systems, a high technology logistics company. Jim’s tenure with Skyway included company President and leader behind the supply chain strategy that twice landed Skyway on the Inc. Magazine list of fastest growing U.S. companies in the 1980’s. In 1993, Inc. Magazine named Jim as one of the Entrepreneurs of the Year. That same year, Skyway, with over 1,300 employees, hit revenues above $100 million. Skyway was subsequently acquired by Union Pacific Corporation in 1994. Prior to Skyway, Mr. Watson was with IBM’s large computer systems division where he worked with several large companies, such as United Airlines, in designing and marketing computer systems for all phases of business. Jim graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and served five years as a Navy pilot from 1969 to 1974.