The SolutionSet Team
SolutionSet is ready to serve your business and its needs. Here’s the who’s who of the people working for you and making things happen.
SolutionSet Partners
Kurt Garbe, CEO
Kurt Garbe is an experienced executive who has deep experience in building companies that leverage brand and technology. As the COO of USWeb/CKS, he played a key role in expanding the company from 400 to 3,000 employees, creating the largest pure play Internet services firm in less than two years. Prior to SolutionSet, Garbe served as an EIR at Adobe where he built the online PDF advertising service in partnership with Yahoo!. He also served as COO of Asera, CEO of Movaris and as a Partner at Gemini Consulting. Kurt holds an MBA with distinction from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University.
Alex Kaplinsky, Managing Partner
Alex Kaplinsky has been a leading figure in the web world since 1993, when he founded and managed Networkers, an early internet consulting firm, and for the following decade has held key roles in innovative development companies, including USWeb, Intend Change, Liquid Thinking, Phoenix Pop, and Form Studios, LLC. Alex has been the lead on a number of projects for clients such as John Kerry for President, McAfee, EFI, Yahoo, Hillary Clinton, and SFMOMA. He holds a Masters degree in International Economics and Finance and currently serves as founding president and managing partner of SolutionSet, a web development firm.
Frank Anan, Partner
Frank Anan has led technology and strategic business initiatives for organizations and corporations in all stages of development, from startup to later-stage innovation. Frank was Managing Director at Form Studios and recently served as Technology Director for the United Nations' World Environment Day. He led global technology development teams during his tenure at startups Eturn and Xpherix, application providers to the telecommunications industry, while building and managing both business and technology relationships with Verizon, SBC, Cingular and BellSouth. Frank currently serves as a founding partner of SolutionSet and manages San Francisco operations.
Robert Balmaseda, Partner
Robert Balmaseda has more than 14 years of internet site strategy, design, implementation and management experience. Prior to joining SolutionSet, he served as Vice President of Internet Development at Carat Interactive where he managed and led projects for adidas, EA, Kodak, Macromedia, Mills Corporation, RadioShack, Vodafone and Wachovia. Previously, he served as Vice President of Internet Technology for iGeneration and Vice President of Interactive Services at HardCloud, Inc.. Robert has also held several positions at USWeb Corporation, an Internet Professional Services firm. Robert received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of California, Los Angeles and participated in UC Berkeley's doctorate program for European Cultural and Intellectual History.
Libby DeMeo, Partner
As a project manager/principal for SolutionSet, Libby DeMeo brings 10 years of experience in project management, internet professional services, and high tech marketing to our projects. Libby has successfully managed large and small engagements alike. Prior to joining SolutionSet, Libby was at 3Com as the Director of Web Operations and oversaw a global redesign of 3com.com, from front end design through the technical architecture, including content management. Prior to 3Com Libby was a Director at USWeb/CKS and a strategic marketing consultant with Regis McKenna, Inc.
Alex Kim, Partner
Alex Kim has been leading multi-disciplinary teams since 1997 providing interactive strategy, design, and development services to a diverse set of clients ranging from incubator stage start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining SolutionSet, he founded and managed KrushMedia, an interactive services company whose client list included companies such as VeriSign, Magellan GPS, Sony Computer Entertainment America, CPP, Stanford University, Airespace/Cisco, and Aruba Networks. Previously, he served as Vice President of Client Services at MentalShock/IceBurst Interactive and as Senior Interactive Designer at USWeb/CKS. Alex received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Design from San Jose State University.
Tim Ross, Partner
Tim Ross has more than 10 years experience providing marketing strategy, product acceleration and business development consulting for Fortune 500 companies and Internet startups. He was most recently the founder and EVP of Marketing at 3VR, a leading provider of advanced video search appliances. Previously, Tim served as CEO of V2 Group, a high-end product strategy and development firm serving leading companies including Intuit, Disney, Morgan Stanley, and TiVo. Tim was also the co-founder of Networkers, which was acquired by USWeb, where he then served as a partner. Tim previously held product development positions at SGI, Hewlett-Packard, and GO Corporation.
Michael Lee, Associate Partner
As associate partner, Michael brings more than 12 years of experience in development, project management, finance, strategic business consulting, strategic internet consulting, strategic online marketing and media. Prior to joining SolutionSet, he served as an account director at Clear Ink where he managed and led strategic marketing initiatives for clients such as Autodesk and Bell Sports. Previously, he served as Account Supervisor at Carat Fusion where he managed and led web and marketing projects for Radioshack, Peets Coffee, Phillips and Motorola. Michael received a Bachelors of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University.
SolutionSet Board of Directors
Adit Abhyankar, Board Member
Adit Abhyankar is a Partner at Fog City Capital and brings more than 13 years experience in operational, marketing and sales roles in the software, finance and logistics industries. Prior to Fog City, Adit was co-founder of Gadgetworks (acquired by Navis), a logistics software and mobile technology company, where he was responsible for sales, marketing, and product management. Clients included Wal-Mart, Kroger and Albertsons. Prior to Gadgetworks, Mr. Abhyankar was an executive at Xigo, a web-native platform and application service provider, where he led the development and sales of Xigo’s flagship offering to institutional investors. Xigo raised more than $24mm in venture funding, backed by top-tier firms such as New Enterprise Associates. Adit graduated summa cum laude and at the top of his class with an M.S. in Engineering and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Economics from Tulane University. He speaks six languages and is on the Board of Advisors of the US-India Business Council.
Ravi Bhaskaran, Board Member
Ravi Bhaskaran has more than 24 years experience in general management, business development, and corporate development in technology services. As a partner in Fog City Capital, he leads investments in marketing services, technology enabled services, and software. He is currently a board member of Pyramid Interactive (OM Records), and SolutionSet. During the late 90’s Ravi was the co-founder and CEO of Pyramid Consulting, an e-business consulting and web development firm that served a variety of clients including News Corp, GTE, Bell Canada, Morgan Stanley, and Citibank. The company was acquired by Knowledge Universe in 1998, and by the time of its IPO in 1999 the combined entity had achieved revenues of $155 million and grown to over 1,000 employees. Ravi has a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Chicago and London Business School.