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Management |
Michael Lyons - Chairman, President and Founder
Exercising his instincts to challenge fundamental rules, and anticipate and forecast upcoming trends in technology, Michael Lyons set out in 1997 to revolutionize “search” with the creation of ditto.com, the pioneer in visual search and visual paid placement. Having launched five entrepreneurial ventures in the software industry, and been recognized by Software Magazine as a “Top 100 Software Leader,” Michael is no stranger to technology, its evolving climate and the need to constantly initiate change.
Early in his career, Michael founded Catalyst Corporation, the industry's first software re-engineering firm, which was eventually sold to Peat Marwick in 1983, where he became a partner. Shortly thereafter, in 1988, he became president of Asyst Technologies, Inc., gaining notoriety for developing the first commercially viable repository technology. In the years to come, Michael was involved in a number of other forward-thinking ventures. In 1991, he founded Dynasty Technologies, Inc., the industry's first enterprise client/server development tool; and in 1997 he created ditto.com, the first visual search index on the Web. In creating this new generation of search, Michael sought to achieve highly relevant results sets.
Michael's activities are hardly limited to his corporate responsibilities. As an active member of the Young President's Organization, a forum of corporate presidents who share the pressures associated with being a CEO, Michael has solid network of professional peers who advise and equip each other to strategically ascend in highly competitive environments. Michael is also a board member of a number of software companies, as well as the Chicago Software Association. He also served as an Information Technology Association of America board member from 1990-1994, and taught on the topic of software maintenance in the Engineering Department at UCLA from 1980-1984. Any additional time away from the office is spent with his children, cooking, traveling or searching for the perfect Cabernet.Stephen Schmitt - CTO
A ValidShield co-founder, Stephen has led the development of ditto.com's visual search technology and its web site. Stephen designed ditto's internal applications for imparting relevancy to ditto's search results. Prior to joining ditto.com, Stephen was responsible for customer application development at Dynasty Technologies. Prior to Dynasty, Stephen led the engineering group at Asyst Technologies when they were acquired by Sterling Software. Stephen's passion for coding is exceeded only by his enjoyment of camping with his family.
John Treacy - VP Product Management
ValidShield co-founder and product management veteran, John earned his stripes in senior marketing and product management positions at Dynasty Technologies, Pansophic Systems, Intersolv and Online Software. John was the key strategist and implementer in making a number of software products household names in the industry. John spends his moments of relaxation tracking the peaks and cellars of the NASDAQ and Napa Valley wineries.
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