Rick Ballard

Biography:

For 20-years, across 5-continents, Rick Ballard has helped to launch $billion operations while securing $hundred-millions in solution sales revenue. Rick is a successful serial entrepreneur and his personal investment fund focuses on startups that offer software as a service (SAAS).

Two of the companies he has co-founded were capitalized at over $1billion, becoming multinational voice/video/data/wireless service providers. He has raised almost $500million from Venture Capital markets, to launch startups with active operations in over 30-countries.

Rick typically invests between $50k and $150k in cash, in at least one startup per year, while earning sweat equity as a VP Business Development. In this role, he creates new country-markets with new partner ecosystems. Rick's investments tend to be high risk as they require their own innovative software to compliment emerging communications convergence technology, such as WiMAX, IMS, ITV, VOIP, Content Aggregation, Hosted OSS/BSS, etc.

Career Highlights:

Rick began as a GSM radio engineer for Motorola UK. He obtained citizenships for Europe and North America in the 1990’s, leading some of the first fixed-mobile convergence businesses, e.g. for Time Warner and Cablevision. As V.P. Operations for Videotron’s cable-TV consortium he helped to found Microcell, later acquired by Rogers/AT&T for $1billion.

Head-hunted by Deloitte, he helped to create a global practice area which provided carrier business strategies. Then as Convergence Director at Liberty Global, he developed quad-play operations in the Americas and Europe while launching their first broadband ISP’s in Asia-Pacific.

With Liberty Global executives and the former CEO’s of Nokia and Telewest/NTL, he co-founded a $billion pre-WiMAX operator in the Netherlands, leading market-entry into 16-countries as V.P. Business Development, then as Regional General Manager living in Australia.

Rick is currently co-CEO of InSeed, a consulting association with members in 5-countries that develops business and technology strategies for emerging service providers.

Education:

Richard obtained his first two degrees in the UK, a Bachelor Engineering from Coventry University and an MBA from Southampton University. More recently, he completed an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a postgraduate degree in Web Software Development, both affiliated with Toronto University. He also holds a Radio Engineer’s certificate from Washington University.

Miscellaneous:

Richard has a home in Canada and in the UK, but spends much of his time in clients' countries. He serves on the boards of early-stage companies and advises venture capital companies. He writes technology strategy whitepapers for companies like Intel, Alvarion, TrendsMedia and Maravedis. A volunteer at Sheridan, he teaches post-graduate web-application developers. He built a smart-home featured in a network television show, plays golf very badly, runs part-marathons very slowly, raises funds for the sight impaired and web-publishes his own science fiction novels.