Mike Lyons has over 20 years of experience in founding, operating, and funding high technology companies. He currently serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Vanguard Ventures, a premier Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and as a Sr. Advisory Director of Investcorp, a large NY-based late stage venture capital firm. He is concurrently Managing General Partner of Zilkha Venture Partners, a fully invested early stage venture capital partnership focused on seed and first round investments in technology companies, principally located in Silicon Valley, and Consulting Associate Professor in the Stanford School of Engineering. He was a co-founder of Integrated Systems, Informed Diagnostics, and SafeView, Inc. and currently serves as a Director of both Selectica (SLTC), and Real-Time Innovations, and as Chairman of SafeView.

"Without artistic expression, the process of creating self-actualizing individuals who can enhance our society is much harder. With the collapse of funding for the arts, private initiatives must be developed to restore the richness of our educational system. JMW is a particularly effective component in helping to build appreciation for artistic pursuits; such pursuits have clearly demonstrated the ability to enhance self-esteem and intellectual capability. Delivery of high-quality programs under the tutelage of world-class musicians, without stifling bureacracy, was a principal reason for my helping to start this organization."