Founding Team
The Guidewire Group was founded in 2003 by three inveterate entrepreneurs: Chris Shipley, Mike Sigal, and Frank Kelcz.
Chris Shipley
Co-founder and Editorial Director
Chris Shipley is a leading technology and product analyst. Best known as the executive producer of the DEMO Conferences for IDG Executive Forums, Shipley has helped technology companies bring nearly 1,000 new products to market since 1996. As a founding partner and editorial director in Guidewire Group, she consults with emerging technology companies in the U.S. and Europe to identify market opportunities and accelerate products to market. Fortune Small Business Magazine placed Shipley on its "Top 10 Minds in Small Business," and the San Jose Business Journal named her a "Woman of Distinction." She has often been cited as a leading influencer by Marketing Computers magazine. Shipley has covered personal technology since 1984 and has worked as a writer and editor for a variety of technology and consumer media. She is currently authoring a book on the social impact of technology-driven change.
Shipley holds BAs in Literature and Communication Arts and pursues knowledge and understanding relentlessly.
Mike Sigal
Co-founder and CEO
Mike Sigal has 15 years of success in building technology-based businesses for existing and emerging global businesses. He recently returned to the U.S. after three years of living and working in Europe, where he provided strategic trans-Atlantic marketing and business development services to technology companies. Prior to his experience in Europe, he spent nearly 10 years in the U.S., providing strategic advisory and interim management services for such companies as Daily Mail General Trust, Fresher Information Corp, IDG, Office Depot, Pacific Bell, Philips Electronics, Synoptics, and the U.S. Postal Service.
As director of DASAR, producer of the annual European Technology Roundtable Exposition (ETRE) conferences, and as Co-producer and managing director of DEMOeurope for IDG Executive Forums, Sigal built communities which fostered relationships among technology industry executives and investors.
An entrepreneur at heart, he has founded a number of technology ventures, including FM Waves and WiFinder. Sigal holds a BA from University of California, Berkeley.
Frank Kelcz
Co-Founder and GM, Europe
Frank Kelcz has spent over 20 years building businesses and communities in multi-cultural and multi-lingual environments. Kelcz is Founder and President of Excelerance Limited, a marketing, sales and business development consultancy for clients entering European market. Prior to founding Excelerance, Kelcz spent nearly ten years at Ziff-Davis Publishing where he launched the group in Europe, created Ziff-Davis's first international corporate sales and marketing group, and successfully launched leading IT publications in Europe. Kelcz has held senior management positions leading companies such as at Bertelsmann's, Gruner & Jahr, and Entertainment Systems International (ESI).
Kelcz earned a Bachelor of Science degree (summa cum laude) from Bowdoin College in Maine, and pursued MBA studies at New York University before leaving to launch a magazine in Italy. He is fluent in English, French and Italian, and is conversant in German and Spanish.