Staffan Ericsson
Dr. Staffan Ericsson has more than 30 years’ experience as a technologist and entrepreneur. He has worked in the venture capital industry since 2000 and is a Technology Partner with Rally Ventures. He was previously a Venture Partner with Vesbridge Partners and St. Paul Venture Capital. In 2004-2005, he served as interim CEO of GeoVantage, an aerial imaging company.Staffan founded Vivo Software in 1992 and served as its first CEO and later as chairman until the company was acquired by RealNetworks in 1998. Vivo developed the first software implementation of the international videoconferencing standard (H.320), the world’s first implementation of the international videophone standard (H.324), and VivoActive, which became the most popular format for Internet video streaming within six months of its introduction. After Vivo’s acquisition, Staffan joined RealNetworks as a special consultant to the CEO and spearheaded RealNetworks’ entry into the mobile market.Before founding Vivo, he spent seven years at PictureTel, where his roles included Director of Research and Director of International Sales. While at PictureTel, he invented HVQ (Hierarchical Vector Quantization), which enabled the company to become the leader in group videoconferencing.Staffan holds a Ph.D. and a combined BS/MS degree in Electrical Engineering from The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. His Ph.D. Thesis formed the basis for the European research efforts that led to the international standards for video compression (MPEG, H.261, H.263).He holds 14 US patents related to video compression. He was named “Professional of the Year” in 1994 by the Editors of TeleSpan for the “vision and conviction” he has brought to the teleconferencing industry. In 1995, the Editors of Network Computing named him one of the most influential people in data networking.