Sham Afzalpurkar, Founder, President & CEO

Sham is the founder, President & CEO of Performix, Inc. In this role, he guides the overall strategic vision and operations of the Company. Sham has over 20 years of experience in developing and delivering manufacturing and supply chain software solutions. Prior to Performix, Sham was a co-founder of Bristlecone, Inc. (Mahindra & Mahindra), a leading supply-chain solutions company where he was Vice President of Supply Chain Practice. Sham helped manage the company to become a leading SAP supply chain service provider. Prior to Bristlecone, Sham worked for SAP architecting and implementing manufacturing and supply chain solutions for Fortune 100 companies. Prior to SAP, he held a number of leadership positions in the area of manufacturing and logistics with companies such as Halliburton.

Sham is a frequent speaker at manufacturing and supply chain software events and has published articles in leading journals.

Sham holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University ( India ) and an MBA and a Masters in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas.

Blair Garrou, Managing Director, DFJ Mercury
Blair is a managing director of DFJ Mercury, a Texas-based seed and early stage venture capital fund.  DFJ Mercury is part of the global intelligence network of Draper Fisher Jurvetson funds. Blair brings to Performix more then 12 years of significant experience in the technology industry in a variety of principal investment, operating and advisory roles, with a specific focus on manufacturing, supply chain and enterprise software.

Blair currently represents DFJ Mercury on the boards of Fluensee, Alert Logic, UnWired Buyer and Podcast Ready. Prior to DFJ Mercury, Blair was the CEO of Intermat, Inc., a leader in the product information management (PIM) sector, and led the sale of the company to IHS, Inc. (NYSE: IHS).  Prior to Intermat, Blair served as a Principal of Genesis Park LP, a Houston-based venture capital and private equity firm, where he focused on the firm's software investment area, which included investments in Intermat, FuelQuest, SAT Corporation and Jybe.  Prior to Genesis Park, Blair assisted in the launch of and was the Director of Operations for the Houston Technology Center (HTC), a non-profit business accelerator and incubator that assists in the rapid commercialization of Houston-based emerging technology companies. During Mr. Garrou's tenure with HTC, he led the formation of the Houston Angel Network, Houston's first angel investment organization.  Mr. Garrou's background also includes investment banking with BMO Nesbitt Burns, and audit and assurance services with Deloitte & Touche. 

Blair currently sits on the advisory and/or development boards for the University of Texas - Health Science Center's Leaders of Tomorrow, Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship , HTC Information Technology Committee, and the Houston Angel Network. Blair is a licensed CPA in the state of Texas. He received a B.S. in Management with Special Attainments in Commerce from Washington & Lee University .

At RPM, Tony is involved on the boards of FLX Micro, Mobius Microsystems, Nextumi and VizionWare. Prior to RPM Ventures, Tony was vice president and Partnersat White Pines Ventures, a $100-million venture capital firm. In this capacity, Tony was responsible for investments in telecommunications, enterprise software and supply-chain sectors. Prior to joining White Pines Ventures, Tony was co-founder of Promotum, an Internet-based promotions, marketing and services company that obtained seed capital from a joint venture between Intel Corporation and Pandesic. He was responsible for developing corporate strategy and day-to-day operations and managing technical development. Tony received finance, engineering and manufacturing experience serving as a business and cost analyst with Intel Corporation and as a manufacturing engineer for Cummins Engine Company.

Tony holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, a master of science in industrial engineering from Purdue University and a master of business administration from the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business.

At SAIC, he is chartered with aggresive growth of the practice. His responsibilities include defining the enterprise solutions consulting practice that strategically grow and differentiate SAIC's enterprise services over the next several years, staffing a cohesive horizontal team that supports the industry vertical pursuits, and insuring that every project is successful expanding customer loyalty.

Prior to SAIC, Fred spent twelve years in consulting and sales with SAP America including leading the process industries solution area for Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Mill Products, Life Sciences, and Mining practices.  Various client facing roles including account manager for Star Enterprise (Texaco JV), Shell, Citgo, PDVSA and Amoco (during merger with BP). Prior to SAP, Fred spent nineteen years with Mobil Chemical (subsidiary of Mobil Oil, now ExxonMobil) which included leadership roles in financial, process engineering, and supply and distribution, as a business analyst and as an internal consultant.

Fred currently sits on the Board of Directors of the KSBJ Educational foundation. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering, an MS in Operations Research & Statistics, and a Masters in Business Administration, all from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).