Jeffrey P. Blanchard has over 25 years experience in venture capital and private equity investing. In 1984, Mr. Blanchard founded First Capital Group upon the formation of First Capital Group of Texas, Ltd., a private equity investment partnership, and served as its general partner. In addition to his First Capital Group activities, he was also responsible for managing the investment activities of Victoria Capital Corporation, the SBIC subsidiary of Victoria Bankshares, Inc., from 1989 until it was sold to Norwest Bank in 1994. Mr. Blanchard co-founded First Capital Group of Texas II, L.P. in 1994, and served as its managing director. Prior to the establishment of First Capital Group, Mr. Blanchard held senior management positions with First Dallas Capital Corporation from 1979 to 1981, and Rust Capital, Ltd., an Austin, Texas-based SBIC, from 1981 to 1983. During his tenure at Rust Capital, Ltd., he also served in an operating position with a distressed portfolio company, Tescorp, Inc., and served as its Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer from 1982 to 1983. Mr. Blanchard earned B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. In 1989, Ernst & Young and INC. Magazine chose Mr. Blanchard as Entrepreneur of the Year TM in South Texas. Mr. Blanchard is a member of the Institute of American Entrepreneurs and currently serves on the boards of The Capital Network and several portfolio companies. Mr. Blanchard has invested in a wide variety of companies and industries that have included telecommunications, data communications, information technologies, broadcasting, manufacturing, and catalog, business-to-business, and Internet distribution. |