Our experience applies to the main innovation areas. Here is a selection of the testimonials we have received (see a more complete list here).
Intellectual Property - Information Technology Patents
"When Bernard learned that our Patent Sales group was trying to divest a significant patent portfolio, he immediately introduced our group to several contacts. Some of the discussions initiated by Bernard's efforts could result in successful businesses and may provide excellent ROI (...). Bernard is proactive, knowledgeable, follows up promptly, and adds tremendous value to internal and external partnerships.”
Tao Zhang, Director of Intellectual Property Licensing, Hewlett Packard
HP is the owner of over 30,000 patents
Open Innovation
David Bartley, Strategic Consultant, Humana
"Bernard has been a great business partner. He has identified and connected our organization with several opportunities for strategic partnership in the SMB community, including key Venture Capital, Affiliate, and startup support organizations."
John Hood, Vice President and General Manager, Hewlett Packard
Telecom/Mobile
"Bernard Slede at Breakthrough has been a terrific asset for us. Because of his extensive network of telecom investors, he surpassed our expectations of how many meetings he set up, their quality and how fast they happened. Thanks to Bernard, we are now in advanced discussions with a large VC for our Series A. Bernard has gone beyond our goals by putting us in touch with a truly strategic partner and giving us relevant advice on presentation, tactics and our business model. We enjoy working with Bernard very much and gladly recommend him as an advisor to any startup in telecom or wireless."
Victor Francess, former CEO of Orbitel, sold to Deutsche Telekom
Clean Tech/Green IT
"Breakthrough Venture Partners has provided critical insight on how best to position our company with investors. I am most impressed with Bernard's extremely rapid learning curve about our business and his innovative solutions to our marketing, competitive positioning and fundraising needs. I recommend Bernard to anybody who needs a diligent executive or advisor".
Zach Gentry, founder, Adura Technologies
Winner of the 2006 Clean Tech Open Competition
“Bernard helped Power Assure with a lot of insight on funding, business planning and VC interaction. As a result of his help and mentoring we won two awards at the Clean Tech Open. I very much like working with him, he is great resource to have.”
Clemens Pfeiffer, Founder, Power Assure
Winner of the 2008 Clean Tech Open Competition
Software/Enterprise
“Bernard's experience and market knowledge were immediately clear during our first meeting. He knows the secret sauce to transform the business relationships in successes: connect people who can get great benefits working together.”
“Cool Vendor in Social Software and Collaboration” by Gartner
"As a founder, I asked Bernard to come in as CEO of Nucleonet. He took impactful action, landing sales meetings with prospects like Fedex, structuring the sales team, marketing material, business plan and an advisory board. He also set up 3 packed investor roadshows in Silicon Valley and Europe. We found a strategic exit just as we were entering due diligence phase with a top international VC."
Alex Chauvin, founder, Nucleonet
Online Advertising
"Breakthrough Venture Partners has been outstanding at helping Verican raise funding, providing key advice to position our startup and introductions to top-tier VCs and pertinent industry contacts. Bernard knows how to navigate negotiations strategically and tactically. He is very bright and understands technology and new media quickly. I highly recommend Bernard as a startup executive, VC partner or strategy consultant"
Eric Buskirk, CEO, Verican
New Materials / Biomedical
“Among all the advisors I have had for my start up, Bernard is by far the most effective. He can identify potential issues and formulate various recommendations very quickly. He really understands the business potential, he is very creative in defining goals and formulating strategies. I value Bernard's expertise, his judgment, his integrity and I am happy to highly recommend him.”
Bertrand Teplitxky, CEO, Secure Packaging Systems