cstryker@venturedc.com

Dr. Charles W. Stryker is the Founder and President of a professional advisory firm, Venture Development Center, Inc. (VDC). This business has a focused practice of assisting companies in creating, developing, and commercializing Information Services properties. The practice areas that characterize VDC projects include creating (innovating) new products that exploit market opportunity, developing new distribution channels to substantially increase revenue for existing Information Services products, and to identify and advise Information Services companies on strategic acquisitions. It is typical that a given assignment may call for efforts in all of these practice areas.

VDC in general, and Dr. Stryker in particular, has created an innovation practice and has developed distribution concepts that allow Information Services companies to create products that are meaningful in their ability to meet a significant market need. In addition, the strategies developed by VDC allow these new and existing products to scale rapidly in the marketplace by utilizing best practices of direct and indirect distribution. The extensive experience contained within VDC and its deep executive contact base within the database industry allow VDC-supported programs to reach revenue levels that are greater than, and are realized more quickly, than clients can achieve without VDC support. This fact represents the business logic of engaging VDC in new product and distribution initiatives.

VDC was founded in 1991. The clients of VDC fall into two categories. The first category contains a world-class list of the most successful Information Services companies in the U.S. and Europe. A partial list of VDC current clients include:


A partial list of past VDC assignments that have been completed include: AOL, AT&T, IAC Corporation, R.H. Donnelley, Sprint, Yahoo!, Convergys, VNU, and more than 50 other firms of similar character.

In addition to VDC engagements in these major corporations, the company also takes an active role in the development of small-to- mid-sized firms. Within this segment of work, VDC often invests in the early stage development of these firms and performs engagements in return for equity compensation. Some of the more successful engagements where VDC has played this active advisory role include:


For all of these companies, VDC has played an active role with the CEO and the board-level executive team in building these firms. For many of these engagements Dr. Stryker has served as a board member.

In addition to these firms, VDC has played an active role in over 30 small to mid-sized firms since its inception and still holds active advisory and equity positions in over 15 ventured-backed companies in the information services space. Some of the more promising businesses in this portfolio include: ARGI, Conclusive Marketing, eBureau, Cortera, eForce Media, Glenbrook Networks, Healthcare Data Solutions, Jigsaw, Netfactor, Reunion.com, Samba, Triton Technologies, and V12.

Dr. Stryker serves on the board of a number of both public and private companies. His board appointments include: ARGI, Conclusive Marketing, eForce Media, Greenfield Online, Healthcare Data Solutions, NetFactor, Reunion.com, Samba, Triton Technologies, and V12.

Prior to the formation of the VDC, Dr. Stryker founded his first entrepreneurial venture; Trinet, Inc. Trinet was merged with American Business Information. Following the merger, the combined company was named infoUSA. Dr Stryker was one of the five private shareholders and President of infoUSA when it went public. He left the firm in 1991 to create VDC.

Prior to this entrepreneurial endeavor, Dr. Stryker was an executive at AT&T, where he was instrumental in creating the Marketing Information Services Organization. He began his AT&T career as a research engineer at Bell Laboratories.

Dr. Stryker has received the BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and the Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University. He has been an active speaker and author on the topic of database product development. In addition to these academic credentials, from 1991 to 1999, Dr. Stryker was a part-time faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where he taught a number of courses in its Entrepreneurial Center.