Phil Samper

As a co-founder of Gabriel Venture Partners, and with experience in both operating companies and venture capital, Phil Samper identified operating experience as a critical success factor for future portfolio investments. During his more than 35 years of senior operating management and venture capital experience, Phil has developed an unparalleled ability to inspire, mentor and connect with today's entrepreneurs. His strengths are in successfully capitalizing on the emerging trends in the Communications and Networking, Information Technology, and the Internet sectors, and in business and strategic development in general. Phil has been involved in over 20 venture capital and angel investor deals, including AccessLine Communications, CrossMedia Services, Liquid Markets, PlaceWare, Sylvan Learning Systems, and Virtual Technologies. During his years of operating experience, Phil held numerous CEO positions and made his mark at startup and Fortune 500 companies. His career highlights include serving as Vice-Chairman and Executive Officer at Eastman Kodak Company, where he was directly responsible for 70 percent of Kodak’s worldwide operations, and led a restructuring of the company from a functional organization to that of individual business units. During his tenure at Kodak, Forbes magazine described him as "decisive," "aggressive," "iconoclastic," and "a tough marketing executive." The Wall Street Journal credited his management skills as President of Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation in the turnaround of the computer and systems giant Sun Microsystems, Inc.’s stock. As CEO and Chairman of Cray Research, he facilitated a merger with Silicon Graphics, an action that doubled the value of the Cray stock at the time of the merger.