Co-Presidents:

 

Yasemin Besik Kliman, MBA '99   yaseminbesik@gmail.com

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​Yasemin is an investor, board member, and Startup advisor who has been an active member of HBS Angels since 2009. An electrical engineer by background, Yasemin held executive positions in Siebel Systems, Yahoo and a number of startups in Silicon Valley. Her areas of expertise include digital advertising, machine learning, enterprise software, social gaming, augmented reality and ecommerce.

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Tony Lazar, AB '85   tonylazarHBSAA@gmail.com
 

Tony has been an active member of the HBSAA Selection Committee since 2009, where he focuses on healthcare and technology commercialization. He has co-founded and invested in several medical startups, and runs a company automating data exchange between healthcare payors and providers. Tony worked at NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and remains an avid astrophotographer. He holds an AB from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford.

 

Yi Han, AB '12   yi@pascalcap.com

Yi serves as both co-President and chair of the HBSAA-NC's Selection Committee. He is a managing partner at Pascal Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. Previously he was a founding product manager at Alphabet's Debug project and an early product manager at Niantic. 

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Co-Presidents Emeritus:

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Jean Kovacs, MBA '85   jean@jeankovacs.com

 

Jean has over 25 years of experience directing technology companies and growing businesses. Most recently, she was CEO and co-founder of Comergent Technologies, a fast-growing leader in e-business that was bought by Sterling Commerce (a division of AT&T). She has also served as interim CEO at two private companies during the past 12 months and has been working closely with a venture capital fund.

 

Etienne Deffarges, MBA '85   edeffarges@sbcglobal.net

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Etienne is the Co-Chairman of the HBSAA-NC. An aeronautical engineer by training, he has enjoyed a rewarding professional career as a management consultant, business executive, and entrepreneur. He has led or participated directly in two IPOs and several exits. He graduated from HBS as a Baker Scholar in 1985.

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