Asoka Executive Leadership Team Strengthened with New Appointments
Veteran Team to Lead HomePlug Powerline Networking Company Expansion
Foster City, CA (December 4, 2007) — Asoka USA, a leading HomePlug® Powerline Network solutions provider, today announced its newly appointed executive management team members, bringing together some of the most experienced professionals in the industry. Asoka’s new management team will play a critical part in the company’s technology and product development, customer programs and global expansion. Currently, Asoka is the leading provider of HomePlug solutions to North America carriers and operators, with a goal to expand this leadership position worldwide.
Appointments announced today include Jeff Chase to CFO, Greg Imahara to vice president of sales, Americas, Stewart Hulett to vice president of technical services, Darren Ybarra to senior director of product management and Elsa Chan to director of business development and corporate marketing. The new executive team members join recently appointed CEO Dano Ybarra, and CTO and founder TK Chan.
“Asoka has made great strides in HomePlug networking and in delivering products that address market needs for home and business networks,” said Dano Ybarra. “The new executive team understands and has extensive experience in working with carriers and operators, which will provide tremendous value as we continue to grow our customer base with reliable, cost-effective solutions. I am excited to have such a stellar group of people on-board to help achieve Asoka’s growth goals.”
Asoka is dedicated to helping carriers and systems integrators worldwide solve the next generation of problems within commercial and home networking. Each executive’s extensive and relevant market experience strengthens Asoka’s position and opportunity, and they are:
- Jeff Chase, CFO: Mr. Chase is a seasoned veteran with over 28 years of financial and management experience, holding various CFO and VP of Finance positions including Aurora Systems, Intransa, and Cutera. During his tenure in these positions, he was responsible for evaluating financing options, leading and growing the finance teams, improving key financial processes, cash position and profitability. Mr. Chase has also held management positions in Finance at JDS Uniphase where he helped lead the successful IPO of ETEK Dynamics prior to its acquisition by JDS Uniphase, 3Com, Rolm, and was a CPA with Deloitte and Touche and KPMG. Mr. Chase holds Bachelors degree in Accounting and an MBA degree from the University of Southern California.
Greg Imahara, Vice President of Sales, Americas: Mr. Imahara has over 13 years Network Equipment, Telecom, Software and Semiconductor experience. He was one of the original sales Directors at FlowPoint, the makers of DSL equipment and provisioning software (later acquired by Efficient Networks). Mr. Imahara’s sales leadership was responsible for all partnerships into Carriers and Service Provider customers. Mr. Imahara has held Sr. Director and VP of Sales positions at Cerprobe, Marketing To Go, Kago Networks and Everyone.net where his focus was to further build upon his relationships with the ILEC, RLEC, CLEC, ISP and Cable MSO providers. Then as founder of 2 Silicon Valley companies, Mr. Imahara was the primary strategist for initial company launch and key strategic partnerships, with emphasis on growing revenue through sales leadership. Mr. Imahara holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business from San Jose University.
Stewart Hulett, Vice President Technical Services: With over 10 years in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Hulett most recently provided consulting services to telecommunications companies, focusing on technical specifications and CPE market analysis. Prior to that, Mr. Hulett served as Director of Strategic Partnerships at Siemens ICN where he was responsible for building relationships with technology partners (Domestic and International) and ILEC/CLEC product development groups. Mr. Hulett was in the first round of hiring at FlowPoint, a DSL equipment company, and was responsible for the smooth transition of products through three acquisitions (Cabletron; Efficient Networks; and Siemens ICN). While in the Technical Director role at Efficient Networks, Mr. Hulett contributed numerous technology and market-related articles to trade journals and magazines. Stewart holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration.
Darren Ybarra, Senior Director of Product Management: Mr. Ybarra has held engineering director roles at Micron and Hewlett Packard. He has over eight years in the telecommunications industry as senior product Line manager. He served in senior product management roles at Efficient Networks and Siemens. Mr. Ybarra most recently served as senior product line manager at Netopia where he was responsible for DSL routers and modems, WiFi solutions, and Powerline products. Mr. Ybarra is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Professional plus Internet (MCP +1) and experienced with APICS Inventory Management, Systems and Technologies.
- Elsa Chan, Director of Business Development and Corporate Marketing, Co-Founder: As a co-founder of Asoka, Ms. Chan has been a critical part of the company’s success to-date. Prior to Asoka, Chan worked in various positions at Charles Schwab, most notably as part of a global expansion team at Charles Schwab, focusing on building strategies and managing company investments in China, and as operations manager for four business units with over 200 employees. She has also held positions with MetLife Institutional Business and Excite@Home. Ms. Chan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communications from San Francisco State University.
About Asoka USA
Asoka is a leading developer of simple, secure, and reliable HomePlug powerline networking products that use existing electrical wiring to deliver high-speed networking throughout a home , business, or building. Asoka's innovative products are sold globally through Carriers, Operators, and Systems Integrators for both residential and commercial environments. The company offers the broadest and most complete portfolio of powerline networking products available today, and boasts powerline networking technology leadership and knowledge unparalleled in the industry. To learn more, visit www.asokausa.com.
HomePlug is a trademark of the HomePlug Power Alliance.
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