Charles Smith’s 20 years of experience in the high-tech industry span the areas of storage, software, and SAN sales; sales management; and executive management. Currently an advisor and consultant to several venture capital firms and emerging companies, Charles was previously vice president of worldwide sales at Brocade Communications from 1997-2002. Prior to Brocade, he held executive positions in the IBM storage systems division and at Conner Peripherals, Parallel Technology, and NEC. Since 1990, Charles has been responsible for more than $2 billion in total sales. He serves on the board of directors of PERSIST Technologies, a provider of application-centric storage software and also on the board of Financial Matters, a financial services provider. He is a member of the advisory boards of Candera Networks, a SAN virtualization software and platform provider, and NeoScale Systems, a SAN security systems provider. A resident of Pleasanton, Charles is also active in a number of local charities.