SVII Principals
Paul Masson
Chief Aliance Officer
Paul Masson is a specialist in the formation of research and technology commercialization public-private alliances. Mr. Masson is the managing partner of the Strategic Alliances Resources Network, LLC (STARNET) consulting practice providing services to firms seeking to form research & development projects involving public and private sector partners. His clients include NASA, the Dept. of Defense, Boeing, Hewlett Packard/Compaq, and the AGATE Alliance Assn. Inc., a consortium of general aviation companies.
Prior to STARNET, Mr. Masson was VP/Director of Technology Commercialization for American Technology Initiative (AmTech), a nonprofit corporation dedicated for forming R&D joint research projects. During his tenure, he formed over two dozen large and small partnerships involving approximately $200 million in R&D range of companies in software, medical devices, aircraft development, materials, and consumer goods. Government participants included NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce.
Mr. Masson was senior project manager in three startup companies with responsibility for new product development or raising seed & mezzanine capital. Mr. Masson lead a software development design team at MAD Intelligent systems that successfully developed and sold an expert systems based, financial services software product line to the Phillips N.V.
As Vice President for Risk Management at Ginex Funding Corporation, Mr. Masson co-designed the first securitized export financing, long term bond instrument to be approved by the United States Export-Import Bank.
As Project Manager at Mushroom King, Inc. Mr. Masson lead a team which successfully negotiated and restructured a troubled leveraged buyout of one of the divisions of Castle & Cooke. Mr. Masson received and sold stock and/or stock options from each of these companies.
Mr. Masson spent seven years as a senior management consultant at two firms: SRI International and CAP-Gemini Consulting. While at SRI and CAP-Gemini, Mr. Masson lead over a dozen project teams undertaking projects focusing on strategy development and new product development for banks, real estate firms, securities firms, and technology development firms. He worked with CEO, COO or EVP from Fuji Bank, Chase Manhattan, DHL Corporation, Unisys, and Industrial Indemnity.
At SRI, Mr. Masson was Program Manager for Corporate Finance Consulting managing a group of 8 professionals with profit center responsibility for $1.5 million in net revenue.
Mr. Masson began his professional career at Wells Fargo Bank in its International Corporate lending group and headed a team focusing on high risk, private sector lending in underdeveloped countries, with a net revenue of $2.5-$3 million. He held assignments in the Bank's International, strategic planning group, and tax planning divisions.
Mr. Masson received a joint BS/MBA degree from the University of Pennsylvania - Wharton School in History, Economic (honors) and Finance.