Executive Team

John Belizaire/Founder and CEO

John Belizaire is an accomplished enterprise software entrepreneur with a track record of new venture development and management success. Prior to co-founding FirstBest, he was senior director of business development and strategic planning for BEA’s Ecommerce Applications Division, where he grew annual revenue to over $150 million. Before BEA, John co-founded The Theory Center, a leader in Java-based component software for enterprise applications. As CEO, he grew the company from inception to $10 million in revenue. BEA Systems acquired the company in 1999 for over $160 million. He was previously lead architect for Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, where he was responsible for the industry’s first implementation of network quality-of-service technology for personal computers.

Joseph Pilkerton/Founder and COO

Joseph Pilkerton has over 15 years of experience directing enterprise software development and has held positions in executive management, professional services, and sales. Prior to co-founding FirstBest, he was senior director of professional services and training for BEA Systems, responsible for building the consulting practice and training capacity for BEA’s Ecommerce Applications Division. He came to BEA with the acquisition of The Theory Center, where he was co-founder and executive vice president, professional services. Prior to founding The Theory Center, Joe directed large-scale enterprise application projects for clients such as Hertz, Citibank, Lockheed Martin, and McDonnell Douglas.

Julian Pelenur/Founder and CTO

Julian Pelenur is a software architect with broad industry experience in component-based and service-oriented applications and has been at the forefront of enterprise application design and architecture. Previously at BEA Systems, Julian was the chief architect for BEA’s Weblogic Commerce Server. He was also a technical director at BEA’s Office of Technology. Julian came to BEA with the acquisition of The Theory Center, where he was co-founder and chief architect. His team developed the industry’s most successful EJB-based component architecture for ecommerce applications. Previously he designed and developed high-performance enterprise applications, including a stock trading system for State Street Bank and Hertz Corporation’s Worldwide Reservations System.

Paul Cummings/Vice President of Engineering

Before joining FirstBest as vice president of engineering, Paul Cummings was vice president of software development for the S1 Corporation, where he led the creation of S1’s Enterprise Insurance product line. He led improvements in S1’s development process, achieving CMM Level 3, and managed development of other web-based financial services products. S1 insurance products currently provide Internet transactional capability for the largest P&C insurance company in the U.S. In his 10 years at S1, Paul helped grow the company from a startup to $250 million in revenue. Prior to S1, Paul worked with Digital Equipment Corp., where he directed UNIX Operating System security initiatives, and at MITRE Corp., where he specialized in integrating large-scale intelligence data handling systems for intelligence community customers.

Meira Primes/Vice President of Marketing

As vice president of marketing for FirstBest, Meira Primes drives strategy and execution for brand, messaging, and acquisition marketing. She has led award-winning marketing strategies for emerging businesses and market leaders. Previously she was vice president of marketing for ZoomInfo, where she was responsible for overall marketing strategy and implementation. Prior to ZoomInfo, she led the global marketing group at Demantra (acquired by Oracle), a leading enterprise planning solutions provider. Before Demantra, Meira was vice president of emerging business at Weber Shandwick Worldwide, where she provided marketing and public relations counsel to emerging companies like The Theory Center (acquired by BEA), in addition to market leaders such as JD Edwards, Computer Associates, and Fleet. She has also held strategic marketing positions with CenterLine Software (now Compuware), Information Builders, Cheyenne Software (now CA), as well as Orbotech Systems, Israel.

Tony Rosati/Vice President of Business Development

Tony Rosati joined FirstBest with over 20 years of management experience in sales, business development and channel strategy and development. Previously, Tony was with Gensym Corporation as director of worldwide channel development and Asia sales, where he successfully developed and implemented best-in-class channel partner programs that attracted new partners and supported the existing partner channel worldwide, consistently exceeding quota. Prior to Gensym, he was the director of business development for ZipLink, where he was responsible for building the strategic partner channel with companies in the information appliance, wireless, and ASP/value-add sectors. Prior to ZipLink, he was director of product management for PictureTel’s Group Systems Division, where he had direct responsibility for all Group System products, with annual revenues in excess of $250 million. He has also held management positions with AGFA Corp.

John O’Brien/Senior Director, Finance

John O’Brien is a senior financial executive with over a decade of financial and operational experience in technology and investment organizations. He has successfully implemented practices that increased efficiency and profitability in both established companies and start-ups. His experience spans corporate accounting, budgeting and forecasting, operations and financial analysis, debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations. Prior to joining FirstBest, John served as controller at Cohesive Technologies, which he guided from start-up to an established firm with annual sales of $15 million, which was then acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific (TSF). Previously at State Street Bank and Trust Company, he led an accounting team responsible for domestic and international mutual funds.