Clarence Wooten: Biography

Clarence Wooten, Jr. - General Partner

Bio Highlights

• Earned a B.S. in Business Management from the Johns Hopkins Univ. and an A.A. in Computer Aided Design for Architectural Engineering
• Founded Metamorphosis Studios, Inc. in 1994; sold the company in 1998 to MediSolv, Inc.
• Founded ImageCafe.com in 1998; raised less than $1 million in capital; sold company seven months after launch to Network Solutions/VeriSign for more than $20 million.
• Continued on as VP and general manager of the ImageCafe.com business unit for Network Solutions/VeriSign through 2001
• Founded Wirespan Communications; achieved 763% growth from 2002 to 2003; named the fastest growing private company in the Baltimore metropolitian area.
• Chairman of the Board for Wirespan Communications, Inc.
• Co-Founder and General Partner, Venturepreneur Partners

Prior to establishing Venturepreneur Partners, Clarence Wooten was managing partner of Wooten Ventures, an angel investment firm providing seed funding and guidance for entrepreneurs building innovative businesses.

Coined a “ serial entrepreneur ” by Entrepreneur Magazine in its February 2000 issue, Mr. Wooten has co-founded and operated numerous businesses that leverage technology-based platforms and tools for multimedia, computer-aided design, the Internet, and broadband services. Articles about Clarence have appeared in Forbes ASAP, Entrepreneur, CNNfn, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company magazine. Clarence’s entrepreneurial experiences are also the subject of a recent Babson College case study.

Clarence founded his first company, Envision Designs, an architectural visualization company, while an undergraduate in college in 1991. The company created computer-generated, 3-D animated models of architectural plans. In 1992, Clarence was awarded Catalyst Magazine’s Caddie award for is work in PC-based animation. His next company was Soft Ideas Corp., which he co-founded to develop, PricePerfect for Kitchens, a price-quoting database software application for kitchen designers. From 1994 to early 1998, Clarence ran Metamorphosis Studios, Inc., a multimedia and Web design firm with co-founder Andre Forde. Metamorphosis Studios was acquired in 1998 by MediSolv, Inc.

From early 1998 through 1999, Mr. Wooten served as CEO of ImageCafé.com, a leading e-commerce website solutions company he co-founded with long-time business partner Andre Forde and Lori Whitted. Under Clarence’s leadership, ImageCafé raised a total of $750,000 in private equity and bridge financings. By using this modest sum of capital to rapidly develop an exceptional product, secure key channel partners, and position the company within the sights of large companies that provided complementary services, he was able to guide ImageCafé to swift liquidity. Just seven (7) months after market launch, ImageCafé was acquired by Network Solutions/Verisign for more than $20 million providing in excess of an 11x return for the company’s investors. The lessons learned from this quick jaunt to an early acquisition became the foundation for the Reverse-Liquidity Planning™ process.

Through 2001, Mr. Wooten continued to drive ImageCafé’s growth and direction as vice president and general manager of Network Solutions/VeriSign’s ImageCafé business unit. Today, ImageCafé’s technology assets are completely integrated into the overall Network Solutions Internet domain registration and website offering.

After completing his earn-out with Verisign, Clarence enlisted the expertise of two former Verizon executives to a new company that he funded and co-founded in 2002 called Wirespan Communications, Inc. . Since that time, Wirespan has grown to more than 50 employees and become a premier broadband installation and technology integrator in the Mid-Atlantic region. In 2004, Wirespan was recognized by the Baltimore Business Journal as the fastest-growing private company in the Baltimore metropolitan area after achieving 736% revenue growth from 2002 to 2003. Today, Clarence serves Wirespan as Chairman of the Board.

As a General Partner of Venturepreneur Partners, Clarence leads the Mid-Atlantic office. He is a native of Baltimore and is well-connected within the Baltimore/Washington venture community. Mr. Wooten is also a charter member of the NAIC’s Marathon Club.

Clarence is currently a board member of the University of Maryland’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, the NeoTech Technology Incubator, Banneker Capital Management, and the Babe Ruth/Maryland Sports Legends Museum. He is an honors graduate of the Johns Hopkins University with a degree in Business Management.