People
Mark Stahlman is President of the Center for the Study of Digital Life (CSDL). A retired Wall Street technology strategist, investment banker and serial entrepreneur, he launched his first software company – Computron Technologies, Inc. – in the early 1970s after leaving his study of Theology (University of Chicago) and Molecular Genetics (University of Wisconsin, Madison) to join the still nascent digital revolution. Stahlman started his digital career as a computer architect and programmer, designing computer and networking systems for Wang Labs, Citibank and the Diplomat Arabic word processor for Computron. He began his Wall Street career as a principal at Sanford Bernstein, and is credited with being the first to cover Sun Microsystems (SUNW) in 1986. He continued at Alex Brown and Sons, where he was a partner and he formed the New Media banking practice which managed the initial public offering for America Online (AOL) in 1992. Stahlman’s work in computer architecture led him to coin the term “network computing,” which Sun Microsystems adopted for their corporate motto “The Network is the Computer.”
In the 1990s, Stahlman co-founded the world’s largest Internet group, the New York New Media Association (NYNMA), and is credited with the term “Silicon Alley.” His Why IBM Failed article for Harvard Business Review led to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and a consulting assignment at IBM that pushed the company towards its leadership in the services business. More recently, Stahlman helped organize an East-West “Dialogue of Civilizations” conference at the United Nations, and guest-edited a Special Centennial issue of the literary journal Renascence, devoted to Marshall McLuhan. He is a prolific writer whose reports have generated over $50M for his firms and 10-20x investment returns for his clients. He was on the first Institutional Investor magazine All American Team for Microcomputers, has appeared often on CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg TV, was profiled by Forbes as “The Futurist,” has written for Wired and Information Week, and was a contributing editor at Strategy + Business. His godfather was Norbert Wiener, and he considers CSDL to be a continuation of his father’s participation in Wiener’s “Genius Project.”
Phil Midland is the co-founder of the Center for the Study of Digital Life and its Vice-President of Strategy. He is also President, Strategic Renaissance 21 (SR 21) and IHS International (IHSI). Mr. Midland served 23 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as Captain. During his naval career, he held significant positions as Executive Assistant to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic/Commander-in-Chief U.S. Atlantic Command, Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, and as U.S. Naval Attaché to the People's Republic of China. Since 1998, Mr. Midland has worked directly with the legendary Andrew Marshall, Director Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense. His advisory to the Office of Net Assessment continues regarding the evolving and re-establishment of the dignity and global reach of the East, particularly China and Japan.Mr. Midland received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin (Madison); a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS); and held a Federal Executive Fellowship in International Affairs at Harvard University, during which he conducted direct research on U.S.-China-Japan defense under Professor Samuel Huntington.
Bill Frezza is the Vice President for Development at the Center for the Study of Digital Life and a 40 year veteran of the technology industry. He is retired from his role as General Partner at Adams Capital, where he and his partners raised more than $800M across for four venture funds, and he raised over $200M in follow-on financing for his portfolio companies. Bill earned three degrees in science and engineering at MIT, starting his career at Bell Labs where he developed telecommunications protocols aimed at home-based computing networks. He holds seven patents and has extensive experience with early-stage startups. Over the course of 20 years Bill was a contributing columnist for Network Computing, Communications Week, Forbes.com, RealClear Markets, and the Huffington Post, as well as the host of RealClear Radio Hour on Bloomberg Radio, sponsored by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he was a Fellow.
Shrikant Rangnekar is an autodidact based in New York. He is the founder of 52 Living Ideas conducting deep discussions on psychology, philosophy and personal growth in New York since 2017, and a partner at an immigration law publisher. He started his career at Microsoft working on user interfaces after getting a Masters in Computer science from NCSU and a Bachelors from IIT, Bombay.
Af Malhotra, M.Business, is a leading tech entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and advisor on digital disruption, as well as the co-founder of GrowthEnabler, an AI tech company. He is also the founding partner of Zone Capital Advisors, and Chair of Tech India Advocates (not for profit). Af co-founded and co-hosts the weekly podcast StraightTalk.Live. Af began his career at Amstrad, continuing with Fujitsu, where he led the Sales & Marketing efforts in Public Sector and also consulted to Gartner, Inc. He studied organizational behavior and anthropology and acquired his post-grad in business a Kingston Business School. He is a percussionist, specialising in the Indian Drums (Tabla’s) and has been interviewed on BBC News and CNBC, has been quoted widedly and authored articles for Business Insider and HuffPost.