Reach hit another milestone in August when we announced the addition of three industry
veterans to our team – Matt Glenn and Jeff White to the executive team and Alan
Cohen to our board of directors. Jeff becomes chief commercial officer, leading our go-
to-market efforts, and Matt will drive commercialization as chief product officer. Both
have founded and grown technology companies and created billions of dollars of value.
Alan, currently a partner in deep-tech venture capital (VC) firm DCVC, has his own
highly successful track record in incubating, scaling, and investing in early-stage
companies.
Reach is elated to add these industry leaders to our team. Business leaders know that
milestones are important trackers. Initial funding, working prototype, first customer
shipment – all mark progress. Key hires are like that, too.
Reach has been built on our highly regarded tech team. But success requires executing
the next step: taking product to market. With our industry-first, high-wattage, point-to-
multipoint wireless power solution, that journey is well underway. But it will accelerate.
Alan, Matt, and Jeff all have experience in transforming industries, shaking up
incumbents and building huge markets.
That knowledge and experience counts when it comes to their endorsing the Reach
mission, which is to change how we all think about power and unleash everyone from
the last cord. Stay tuned for longer conversations with Alan, Matt and Jeff, but in the
meantime check out the following brief Q&As with each, about why they joined Reach and their experience so far.
Questions for Jeff
Jeff is chief commercial officer of Reach and is responsible for strategy, marketing, business development and sales.
Q: You, Matt, and Alan have crossed paths a bit during your careers, haven’t you?
A: We have! Throughout the years, we either worked together, partnered or competed. We always had each other in sight at companies like Airespace, Aruba Networks, Cognio, FORE Systems, Gainspeed, Illumio, Nicira, Packet Engines and Xylan.
Q: What responsibilities have you had at startups over the years?
A: Over the years I have led strategy, product management, marketing, business
development and sales across enterprise, telecom, and cable markets, always with a
goal of market disruption and value creation.
Q: What is the most inspiring aspect of working with Alan and Matt again?
A: Alan and Matt have played key roles in driving industry transitions. They have
enormous success under their belts. They know how to work closely with great
technology-oriented entrepreneurs to build their innovations into market leaders. You
didn’t ask, but I am also incredibly excited, as I know Matt and Alan are as well, to work
with the existing Reach team. They are the strongest technology team I have worked
with yet. Geniuses.
Q: What excites you most about Reach?
A: The Reach team has built a technology that is so innovative it feels like magic. I
have spent my career taking new products to market, and I have never been this
excited about a technology – it feels fundamental not incremental. Reach wireless
power has the potential to completely change how power is delivered. It does for power
what Wi-Fi did for data. It changes everything.
Questions for Matt
Matt is chief product officer of Reach and is responsible for product management
and product strategy.
Q: You, Matt, and Alan have crossed paths a bit during your careers, haven’t you?
A: Alan has been tremendously influential in my career. He pushes me and that has led to some amazing results. He also just sees things earlier than almost anyone I know, which is a great asset in any disruptive venture. Jeff plucked me out when I was in my twenties when he was running product and marketing at Packet Engines. He and I work well together. He has a proven history of carefully studying opportunities, placing big bets, and winning. He doesn’t lose.
Q: What responsibilities have you had at startups over the years?
A: I have held many go-to-market roles, but I consider myself a product manager at heart. To me, it is all about getting the product right. My expertise is hardware and software product management, with extensive experience in the enterprise, security, telecom, and consumer markets.
Q: What excites you most about Reach?
A: After I left my previous company, Illumio, Alan told me about Reach and Chris [Reach Founder Chris Davlantes]. I had my doubts. Alan had me go visit him and the team. I told my wife I would be home in a couple of hours. Seven hours later she was about to send out a search party! I knew that I had to join.
Questions for Alan
Alan represents Reach investor DCVC as a board director.
Q: You were an entrepreneur for years, how do you like being on the venture side?
A: I love the transition. DCVC allows me to meet and work with unbelievable companies like Reach. For the past three-and-a-half years, I have been immersed in finding, backing, and funding brilliant entrepreneurs, like Chris and team.
Q: What is the most inspiring aspect of working with Matt and Jeff?
A: I have worked closely with Matt, and I am excited to be working with him again. He is incredibly insightful, relentless, decisive, and creative. Jeff and I have known each other for years and competed, but this is the first time we have worked together. He is a killer go-to-market guy, and I knew he and Matt would be a great complement to the brilliant Reach technology team.
Q: What excites you most about Reach?
A: Wireless power is the second coming of the internet, a network of electrons and protons instead of packets. Reach will be the essential platform company in the electrification of our entire economy, just as Cisco, Intel, and Netscape were to Web 1.0, and Salesforce, VMware and Amazon Web Services were to Web 2.0.
