Our Leadership Team
The Corente executive team combines world-class technology and networking industry expertise, gained at companies like AT&T, MCI, Lucent Technologies, IBM and Intel, with a wide range of experience gained at new and innovative companies.
James L. Zucco, Jr.
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Jim has over 25 years of executive experience in the software and telecommunications industries. His broad-based industry experience includes senior executive roles in two of the most prominent global telecommunications providers, a successful turnaround of a public company, active board and investment roles with leading emerging growth companies, and CEO of a start-up.
Prior to joining Corente, Jim was a General Partner with Blue Rock Capital and an active investor and board member. He has served as Executive-in-Residence at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers. Jim was the independent board member of two leaders in the emerging market for VoIP technologies and services—dynamicsoft and NetSolve—that became key components in the evolution of Cisco Systems' voice portfolio when Cisco acquired them both in the fall of 2004. He is currently on the board of uReach Technologies, a leader in the converged messaging marketplace.
Jim's executive experience includes Senior Vice President and CIO of the MCI Corporation, where he led product development and systems engineering. At AT&T, he served as VP and General Manager of the Business Communications Group and led the launch of their Internet business activities, including AT&T's first IP network and WorldNet, their ISP. At Lucent Technologies, he served as Vice President and General Manager of the North American carrier business unit. As CEO of Shiva Corporation, Jim executed a turnaround strategy that returned profitability within 18 months and, under his leadership, concluded a successful sale of Shiva to Intel Corporation.
Jim received his BA from Western Maryland College and his M.B.A. from Loyola College.
Don Yount
President
Don is responsible for business operations and corporate development at Corente. Don brings over 25 years of executive operations and finance experience as well as a diverse set of experiences in corporate development and venture portfolio management.
Don joins Corente after serving as Executive Vice President and COO of TVI Corp., a publicly-traded company supplying decontamination and respiratory protection technology. A turnaround situation, he took responsibility for a company suffering from a string of quarterly losses and engineered a strategy that returned the company to operating profitability and brought it out of bankruptcy.
Prior to TVI, Don was an Operating Partner at Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds (MAVF), a family of four investment partnerships focused on early stage and seed stage investments. At MAVF Don marketed the firm to early strategy technology prospects, worked closely with portfolio companies and managed internal operations for the firm's partnerships.
Previous to MAVF, Don served as VP of Corporate Development for Advanced Telecom Group, Inc. ("ATG"), a competitive local exchange carrier with a national footprint. Don has also held positions in corporate strategy and finance at several high-tech firms including Cambridge Technology Group, Versatility, Inc. and Primedia, Inc. He also held positions at The Chase Manhattan Bank, Deloitte Haskins and Sells and Peat Marwick Mitchell and Co.
Don received his BS in Business Administration and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, where he won the Richard H. Jenrette Fellowship and graduated a Dean's Scholar. Don is a CPA and has been recognized by the Northern Virginia Technology Council and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of PA for his contributions to venture-backed technology companies in those regions.
Sam Bendinelli
SVP, Engineering & Operations
Sam is responsible for engineering and operations at Corente. He is a founding member of Corente's management team. Sam has more than 20 years of experience in developing networking products and services.
Sam came to Corente from Lucent Technologies, where he served as a technical manager in Lucent's Bell Labs Research, heading the Network Access Research Department. In that role, Sam was responsible for turning leading-edge technology into products in the broadband access and telecommunication systems spaces. At Lucent Technologies, he also led development efforts for IP-PBX and cable modem systems as well as the integration of TCP/IP protocols across a wide variety of product platforms.
Sam received his BS in Electrical Engineering from The College of New Jersey and his MS in Computer Science from Monmouth University.
Joanne P. Wacker
Senior Vice President
Joanne (Jody) is responsible for leading Corente's partner and customer operations. Jody brings over 20 years of diverse executive experience in the software, communications, and professional services industries.
Prior to joining Corente, Jody was a founder and managing partner of RVA, a business and technology consulting company that was acquired by TMNG Global (NASDAQ: TMNG) . Immediately prior, she was a founding member of the executive team at Apropos Technologies, a leading provider of CRM software and services. As senior vice president of marketing, Jody helped transform Apropos ( NASDAQ: APRS) from an early stage start-up to a successful IPO.
Jody spent the earlier stages of her career as an executive in the Business Communications Services organization with AT&T, holding executive positions in marketing, product management, operations, and software development.
Jody holds a BS in Mathematics from Montclair State University and an MBA in Marketing from Farleigh Dickinson.
Steve Lubchansky
SVP, Sales & Business Development
Steve is responsible for sales at Corente, including leadership for direct sales as well as developing relationships with business partners. He has over 20 years of experience in the networking industry.
Prior to joining Corente, Steve held sales leadership positions with companies such as Nortel, Burroughs (Unisys), Bay Networks, NetSolve, and Prominence Networks. Throughout his career, he has successfully helped customers exploit the business value of internetworking technologies and innovative service delivery models.
Steve received his BA in Business Administration from Queens College in New York City.
Robert Schwartz
VP, Strategic Accounts
Bob is responsible for leading the adoption of the Corente SaaS Platform by select strategic partners and global enterprises. Bob has consistently built upon his track record of delivering new and innovative products and enterprise solutions to the Americas, EMEA and APAC markets. Prior to joining Corente, Bob was a Vice President at Cordys, and held a number of senior sales and management positions at Cisco Systems. As director of Strategic Enterprise Accounts at Cisco, Bob was responsible for the development of Cisco's Virtual Servers/On Demand Computing market presence and negotiating multi-million dollar contracts for the company.
Bob received his Bachelor of Business degree from the University of Florida.
