Charles Stryker

Dr. Charles W. Stryker is the Founder and President of a professional advisory firm, Venture Development Center, Inc.(VDC). He is generally recognized as the world leader in the technology of big data sourcing. Recently recognized as the Data Innovator of the Year 2013. His business has a focused practice of assisting “Big Data” firms in creating, developing and commercializing Information Services properties. In addition, he advises the largest, most sophisticated consumers of information services in the world to insure that they identify and secure the new data sources they need to transform their data sourcing initiatives. These clients are the firms that view information and the use of it as a competitive advantage.

For “Big Data” clients, the practice areas that characterize Dr. Stryker’s projects include creating (innovating) new products and uses of data that exploit market opportunity; developing new distribution channels to substantially increase revenue for existing Information Services products; and to identify new information assets that can be applied to the most complex problems facing global corporations.

Dr. Stryker has served on the board of a number of both public and private companies.  His current board appointments include: Avention, Data Mentors, Datamyx, Geoscape, Innography, Jobvite, NetFactor, Netwise, RDC, The Retail Equation, Triton Technologies, and V12.

Prior to the formation of the Venture Development Center, Dr Stryker founded his first entrepreneurial venture; Trinet, Inc. Trinet was merged with American Business Information. Following the merger, the combined company was called InfoUSA. Dr Stryker was one of the private shareholders and a President of InfoUSA when it went public. (editor’s note: this is unrelated to the HR company today called “Trinet”.)

Prior to this entrepreneurial endeavor, Dr. Stryker was an executive at ATT where he was instrumental in creating the Marketing Information Services Organization. He began his ATT career as a research scientist 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, Wharton School where he taught a number of courses in its Entrepreneurial Center.