Dr. Melissa Lim
Dr. Lim the is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Somnology, Inc. She is a board-certified sleep specialist with her own busy private practice in Redwood City, CA. She is the Medical Director of Redwood Pulmonary Medical Associates and Redwood Sleep Center, Inc. She is the clinical architect of the internet-based sleep center management software now hosted in many sleep labs across the globe, called Sleep Workflow. She attended Ohio State University College of Medicine, completed her internship and residency at Boston City Hospital/Boston University, and conducted her fellowship training at Johns Hopkins Hospitals and the University of California, San Francisco. Realizing the magnitude of sleep problems worldwide, she created the first version of MobileSleepDoc Pro mobile app in 2012 as a tool to help not only her own patients, but anyone with a smartphone who has trouble sleeping. A brand new version of the app was released in 2014, with continuous upgrades in store. After completing the design of the Plex® Sleep Scanner wearable device in 2015, she joined forces with business leader Patrick Yam to create Somnology, Inc.
Patrick J. Yam
Patrick Yam is the CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of Somnology, Inc. He joined founder Dr. Melissa Lim in early 2015 to build a premier sleep monitoring device enterprise assisting a global population afflicted with sleep disorders. Prior to teaming with Dr. Lim he was the CEO of Sensei Partners LLC, a Menlo Park, CA based private investment firm. His 25+ year career includes responsibilities as a macro economist, financial and technology executive, investment banker and advisor, and Institutional Investor with significant experience in company-building—his main passion. He has been a senior advisor to two sovereign nations on innovation and, entrepreneurship. A professional speaker and published author, he teaches and lectures on entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, where he is a Regent. Previously, he served as the first Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship and was a former faculty member of the Venture Capital Institute. He is associated with the University of California, Santa Barbara, where, as a UC Trustee, he was a member of the investment committee as well as a senior director of the Economic Forecast Project and a senior adviser to Beacon Economics, a national economic consulting firm. He has been responsible as the Chief Executive Officer building and operating enterprises in the investment, financial, technology and medical sectors. He received his MBA with distinction from Santa Clara University.
Key Partners
Council of Advisors
Lenny Mendonca
Lenny Mendonca is a director emeritus (retired senior partner) from the Washington D.C. and San Francisco offices of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. He is a senior fellow at the Presidio Institute. He is also an advisor to several entrepreneurs. Lenny founded McKinsey’s U.S. state and local public sector practice. For many years Lenny led their knowledge development efforts overseeing the McKinsey Global Institute and the Firm’s communications, including the McKinsey Quarterly. He served for a decade on the McKinsey Shareholder Council (its board of directors). Over the course of his career he helped dozens of government, corporate, and nonprofit clients solve their most difficult management challenges.
Lenny founded McKinsey’s U.S. state and local public sector practice. For many years Lenny led their knowledge development efforts overseeing the McKinsey Global Institute and the Firm’s communications, including the McKinsey Quarterly. He served for a decade on the McKinsey Shareholder Council (its board of directors). Over the course of his career he helped dozens of government, corporate, and nonprofit clients solve their most difficult management challenges.
Lenny is the Chair of Children Now, co-Chair of California Forward, and co-founder and Chair of Fusecorps. He is the Chair Emeritus of the Bay Area Council and their Economic Institute, and was vice-chair of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. He serves on the boards of Fidelity Charitable,New America,Western Governors University,The Committee for Economic Development, Common Cause, the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium, The Campaign for Business & Educational Excellence,The Educational Results Partnership,The College Futures Foundation,California Competes,The Opportunity Institute, Commonwealth Club and the Super Bowl 50 Fund. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Board of Trustees for Junior Statesmen of America and the Advisory Boards of QB3 and The Public Policy Institute of California. He received his MBA and certificate in public management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds an AB, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard College.
He received his MBA and certificate in public management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds an AB, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard College.
Jack Watts
Jack is a financial executive, industry leader and serial entrepreneur. He is a partner of The Portola Company and previously acquired or founded several platform companies. His companies include …
- Flextronics: A global supplier of Electronic Manufacturing Services.
- Portola Packaging: A leading international supplier of food and beverage closures.
- Blue Mountain Minerals: The largest supplier of industrial limestone and dolomite in Northern California.
He graduated with a BS in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State University, an MBA from Stanford University and, Doctorate in Archaeology from Oxford University.
Chris Compton ESQ
Charles T. (Chris) Compton is a technology lawyer, based in Palo Alto, California. An early partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. he is globally recognized for his knowledge and experience on antitrust and alternative dispute resolution. While at Silicon Valley’s Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., Chris was a litigator and senior antitrust partner representing hundreds of technology companies, their employees and investors in state and federal courts, as well as arbitral tribunals, for over 30 years. He is a founding board member of the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center. Chris is listed in Northern California Super Lawyers and has been named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Best Lawyers in America. He has published in the Antitrust Law Journal, Corporate Counsel Outlook, and the International Business Lawyer, and taught at both the UC Hastings College of the Law and the Santa Clara University School of Law. Earning a J.D. from New York University School of Law, Chris was managing editor of the Law Review and a Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar. He graduated with a B.S. degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and served as a Military Judge in the JAG Corps.
Max Sirenko
Max Sirenko manages strategy and growth at Mapbox, a geospatial startup backed by DFJ, Foundry Group, and Thrive Capital. Prior to this, Max was an associate with DFJ Growth, where he led investment analysis and due diligence across technology sectors, including DFJ’s investments in Mapbox, Cylance, SpaceX, Anaplan and others. Prior to joining DFJ, Max worked in Citigroup’s New York Investment Banking division where he focused on mergers, acquisitions, and initial public offerings for companies in the technology industry. While there, he worked to execute $29 billion in M&A and financing transactions.Max earned his BS in economics and computer science, with honors, from Duke University.
Donald Ross
Managing Partner Digital Health, Life Science Angels
Don Ross has worked in healthcare for over 35 years and has significant operating experience in software development, healthcare publishing, and diagnostics. In digital health, Don pioneered software for psychological testing and anxiety interventions, health risk appraisal, health behavior change, and blood pressure monitoring. Don subsequently co-founded a healthcare publishing company, funded it internally, and managed it for 15 years until acquisition. Specialty areas included allergy and asthma, skin care, psychopharmacology, and kidney health.
Don is co-author of two widely adopted textbooks (Nutrition and Discovering Nutrition), now in their 6th editions, and Coping with Tests, a software-based test anxiety intervention program. He also developed Travels with Cholesterol, which was recommended by NIH for patient education. Don has written and edited numerous articles that address an array of health topics, including nutrition, metabolism, psychopharmacology, and circadian rhythms.
Don is Board Director and Managing Partner Digital Health at Life Sciences Angels. He also is member and co-founder HealthTech Capital, member and former board director Sand Hill Angels, and member Sierra Angels. Don serves on several company boards, and his personal investments include digital health, social networks, diagnostics, medical devices, and software companies. He is an honors graduate from UC Berkeley (architecture).