Steve Lesem, President and Chief Executive Officer

As a tech industry veteran, Steve Lesem brings vision and an extensive set of capabilities to this leadership position, including significant experience in the IT service provider and telecommunications industry. Steve has managed operations throughout the world, and has led complex sales, marketing, business development and product management activities across software and hardware solutions. Prior to Mezeo, Steve was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of VeriCenter, a successful managed IT hosting provider, acquired by SunGard in 2007. Steve has served in multiple senior executive roles, including Senior Vice President of worldwide sales for SafeNet, a Maryland based security technology firm. At BMC Software, a Houston based systems management software solution provider, Steve served in a variety of capacities, including VP of business development and channel programs, Asia Pacific. Prior to BMC, Steve held multiple sales and marketing positions at IBM including General Manager, PC Server Sales and Marketing for North America.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

John Eastman, Chief Technology Officer

 As CTO, John Eastman is responsible for the overall solution architecture and integration points as well providing insight on all aspects of technology-driven market changes. John has over 15 years of experience in software architecture and design.  He possesses a broad range of engineering and software development experience in the areas of distributed object systems, massively-scalable architectures, relational databases, and data security.  Prior to Mezeo, John was Chief Architect focused on storage and distributed file systems for Houston based Simdesk Technologies, a pioneer in online and mobile Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.  Previous to that he served as solutions architect for Wellspring Solutions, focused on their successful Distributed Object Server for real-time controls monitoring.  John also brings previous executive experience as co-founder and principal of Radix Technologies, LLC,  where he helped the company in the development of 3-D visualization and simulation product portfolio.

John holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Centre College.

Bill Pitts, Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales

As Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Bill Pitts leads Mezeo’s global sales, field operations and partner programs.  Bill is a veteran of the technology industry with executive positions at market leaders BMC Software and IBM Corporation. Immediately prior to joining Mezeo he was focused on executive management consulting and venture capital business development. Bill held several executive roles at BMC, where he worked from 1986 until 2005.  Before joining BMC, Bill worked for IBM for twelve years in sales and sales management roles.  With BMC, Bill held various executive positions including Vice President, Sales and Services Americas, Vice President, Sales and Services Asia Pacific, and Director, Open Systems Sales. Bill led BMC’s sales transition from mainframe software sales to enterprise software sales. Bill also led the company’s sales integration strategy and efforts surrounding multiple acquisitions, helping to build an industry leading system management offering.

Bill holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Texas.

Walt Giroir, Senior Vice President of Engineering

As Senior Vice-President of engineering, Walt Giroir is responsible for all of Mezeo’s product development, QA and support activities.  Walt brings over 20 years of experience in software development and has an impressive track record of successfully launching startups to maturity, including Tivoli and IT Masters. Prior to joining Mezeo, Walt was Director of R&D at BMC Software, responsible for the development of its highly successful Service Impact Manager Product line.  Walt’s senior leadership and direction in managing development activities at IT Masters lead to a successful acquisition by BMC Software. Prior to that, Walt led the successful development of the Tivoli Enterprise Console, acquired by IBM.

Walt holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Chris Honeycutt, Senior Vice President of Finance

As Senior VP of Finance, Chris Honeycutt is responsible for all financial aspects of Mezeo Software. Prior to Mezeo, Chris spent eight years with VeriCenter, Inc., a full-service managed IT services provider, serving as Controller and then Treasurer as the company grew from a technology start-up to over $80 million in annual revenue. During his tenure at VeriCenter, Chris participated in raising over $45 million of debt and equity financing and acquiring and integrating multiple businesses. In 2007, VeriCenter completed a successful sale to SunGard Availability Services. Prior to VeriCenter, Chris served in multiple financial roles with Carriage Services, Inc.

Chris holds a BBA in Accounting from Stephen F. Austin State University and a MBA in Finance from Houston Baptist University. Chris is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Deepak Kanwar, Vice President of Cloud Readiness Services

As VP of Cloud Readiness Services, Deepak Kanwar is responsible for setting the direction for the Mezeo solution and establishing and managing key relationships with technology partners. Prior to joining Mezeo, Deepak was a Co-founder of The Pilot Group, a consulting group focused on assisting organizations in addressing issues related to Identity Management and ITIL planning and deployments. Prior to The Pilot Group, Deepak was Director of Product Management at SafeNet Inc., a Maryland based security solutions provider, with P&L responsibilities for strong authentication and data encryption product lines. Kanwar joined SafeNet Inc. from BMC Software, a leading provider of enterprise management, where he held various management positions in product marketing and business development.

Deepak holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and ITIL certified.

Marty Fluke, Vice President of Business Development 

As VP of Business Development, Marty develops, drives and manages Mezeo business partner relationships.  Marty brings over 30 years experience with a blend of sales, marketing, business development, operations and equity financing expertise. Most recently, Marty was EVP of Sales and Business Development at Arsenal Digital Solutions which was acquired by IBM in 2008.  His prior experience includes eight years in high technology venture capital with Austin Ventures and Murphree Venture Partners.  During this tenure, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of Answersoft (acquired by Davox NASDQ:DAVX), The Outdoors.Com, Thinq Technologies, and Advent Networks.  In addition, Marty has served as interim CEO of Vincera Software, Topaz Technologies; VP Sales and Marketing of Altra Energy Technologies and VP & GM, The Americas of Landmark Graphics Corporation (acquired by Halliburton NYSE:HAL). 

Marty holds a BS in Mathematics and MS in Mathematics from Southern Methodist University.

Teri Ghiselin, Director of Marketing

As Director of Marketing, Teri Ghiselin is responsible for managing all marketing related activities for Mezeo. Teri brings more than 15 years of experience in Marketing and Advertising, with 12 years in IT Marketing.  Prior to joining Mezeo, Teri worked as a Marketing Consultant for Hewlett Packard and as Marketing Director for McLaren Software.  In addition, she spent seven years at BMC Software in multiple marketing roles on both Corporate and Business Unit marketing teams.  

Teri holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Sam Houston State University.

Steve Lesem, President and Chief Executive Officer

As a tech industry veteran, Steve Lesem brings vision and an extensive set of capabilities to this leadership position, including significant experience in the IT service provider and telecommunications industry. Steve has managed operations throughout the world, and has led complex sales, marketing, business development and product management activities across software and hardware solutions. Prior to Mezeo, Steve was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of VeriCenter, a successful managed IT hosting provider, acquired by SunGard in 2007. Steve has served in multiple senior executive roles, including Senior Vice President of worldwide sales for SafeNet, a Maryland based security technology firm. At BMC Software, a Houston based systems management software solution provider, Steve served in a variety of capacities, including VP of business development and channel programs, Asia Pacific. Prior to BMC, Steve held multiple sales and marketing positions at IBM including General Manager, PC Server Sales and Marketing for North America. 

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Gray Hall, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Gray Hall, a 20 year veteran of the IT industry, joined Mezeo in 2008 . Hall is also Chairman, President & CEO of Alert Logic, Inc., a leading cloud-based provider of IT security and compliance solutions for enterprise and service provider customers.  In 1999, Hall co-founded VeriCenter, a pioneer in managed IT services, and served as President and CEO until its successful sale to SunGard Data Systems in 2007. VeriCenter was a leading provider of Enterprise Hosting solutions, and under Hall’s leadership delivered seven years of consecutive revenue growth and achieved $80 million in annual sales. After VeriCenter, Gray served as Executive-in-Residence at Fidelity Equity Partners, a $500 million middle-market buyout fund backed by Fidelity Investments. Earlier in his career, Hall spent seven years at IBM, where he led the formation and launch of IBM’s Center for Scalable Computing Solutions in 1994, and several years in the venture capital industry.

Hall holds an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Nolan Lehmann, Director

Nolan Lehmann is the managing director of Altazano Management, LLC, a private wealth management advisory firm. From 1983 until his retirement in June 2005, Nolan was President of Equus Capital Management Corporation, a registered investment advisor, and from 1991 to June 30, 2005, was President and director of Equus II Incorporated, a registered public investment company. Nolan is a certified public accountant,  and also serves as a director of several private corporations. He is a director of Child Advocates of Harris County.

Louis Waters Jr., Director

Lou Waters Jr. is president of Waters Group. His expertise in identifying emerging technologies and trends in the marketplace has created a strong track record in software, services, and technology products. He has built five successful technology companies and serves on the board of four further companies. These include Waters and Associates, a contract product development firm specializing in biotechnology and instrumentation; K*Tec Electronic’s Advanced Manufacturing Group (Milpitas), where he doubled revenues and restored profitability in a fast-track turnaround; ESI Partners, a seed-stage investment partnership with a 60% success rate across its portfolio; and MarketModels, an online market data company purchased in 2005 by Primis Marketing Group.

Lou’s background includes a BS in Engineering from Rice University and an MBA from INSEAD, Europe’s leading business school. Lou holds eleven patents with several more currently in development.

Mezeo and its management team are funded and backed by an experienced team of investment professionals who provide guidance and board leadership. Our principal funding source is Altazano Management LLC, a seasoned private equity firm based in Houston, Texas. Our investors include members or affiliated entities of the Goodman family, who successfully owned and managed Goodman Manufacturing, the second-largest manufacturer of air conditioning units in the US. Goodman Manufacturing was sold to Apollo Investments in 2004 for over $1.5 billion. The Altazano portfolio includes direct investments in over fifteen private companies, including Voice Runner, Inc. (www.VoiceRunner.com), which provides telecom and broadband internet services to business users in Houston and surrounding areas.