CalStar’s board of directors includes experienced entrepreneurs and venture capital investors, including Foundation Capital and EnerTech Capital.
Marc Porat, Ph.D.
Founder & Chairman of the Board
Marc has founded and led technology companies since 1983. Since 2002, he has created three companies focused on the built environment, concentrating on sustainable construction materials and methods to help reduce climate change. In addition to CalStar Products, Inc., where he served as CEO since its founding in early 2007 until April 2009, Marc founded Serious Materials and Zeta Communities. Prior to focusing his energies on the built environment, Marc initiated and led several notable ventures in information technology including Perfect Commerce (1998), General Magic (1991), and Private Satellite Network (1983). Previously, Marc was a Senior Economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce and Director of the Program on Communication and Society for the Aspen Institute. Marc graduated from Columbia College and earned a double Masters and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Paul Holland
Board Member
As one of the early advocates of green building materials in Silicon Valley, Paul Holland invested in the CalStar Products, Inc. Series A round in late 2006 and has served on the board since that time. In addition to coordinating the clean-tech practice at Foundation Capital, Paul and his wife are building what will be perhaps the highest-rated LEED Platinum residence in the U.S. At Foundation, Paul’s primary focus is on helping early-stage start-ups go from zero to $100 million in revenue. He helped take public two venture-funded software start-ups, Kana Communications (KANA) and Pure Software (RATL). Paul currently serves on the board of directors for Bella Pictures, CalStar Products, Inc., Coverity, Edge Dynamics (acquired by iMany), Ketera, Serious Materials and TuVox; and previously for Talking Blocks (acquired by Hewlett-Packard) and RouteScience (acquired by Avaya).
Prior to joining Foundation Capital, Paul was senior vice president of worldwide sales at Kana Communications, a leading supplier of Enterprise Relationship Management solutions to strategic e-businesses. Paul went on to build a team of over 350 people that secured more than 900 customers worldwide, helping Kana become one of the top 10 IPOs of 1999. Before Kana, Paul was a vice president and general manager for another highly successful start-up, Pure Software, helping raise their market value from $2 million to over $1 billion in his five-year tenure there. He began his professional career at SRI International (formerly the Stanford Research Institute).
Paul enjoys spending time with his wife, Linda Yates, and their three daughters, Kylie, Devon and Piper. In his spare time he enjoys golf, volleyball, poker and traveling (he has visited over 50 countries to date). Paul has been guest lecturer on entrepreneurship at Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business, Harvard Business School, James Madison University and the Stanford Graduate School of Engineering. He is an active advisor and supporter of Project BUILD in East Palo Alto, the Bing School at Stanford and Sustainable Silicon Valley.
Paul received an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley; an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia; and a BS from James Madison University.
Bill Kingsley
Board Member
EnerTech Capital led CalStar’s Series B round in fall 2008 and Bill joined the board at that time. In addition to promoting green building materials at EnerTech, Bill is a key architect of EnerTech’s smart grid, demand response, energy storage, water and solar investment strategies.
Prior to joining EnerTech and focusing on clean technology venture investing, Bill worked in the high-growth segments of the communications industry. While with Comcast Corporation, Bill was a key member of the team responsible for the IPO and eventual sale of Teleport; he was part of the founding team of Sprint PCS and led the company’s efforts to provide services to the electric utility industry. Earlier in his career, Bill was with GTE Mobile Communications as a director of new business development. He started his career at Contel Corporation serving in a variety of engineering, marketing, financial and management positions.
Bill currently sits on the boards of INVIDI Technologies, IOSIL Energy, PCN Technology and Schema, and is an observer to the boards of Atraverda and CURRENT Group. Previously he was a director of Arbinet (ARBX) and Advent Solar. He is a member of the IBF Clean Technology Investor Summit Advisory Board.
Bill received a BS in Business Administration from Lynchburg College and an MA in Telecommunications from George Washington University.