Steve Getsy is the founder and CEO of On-Line VenturesÒ, a private equity investment
and development firm focused primarily on information technology growth companies
with a special emphasis on opportunities that utilize on-line technologies to solve
business problems, increase productivity/reduce costs, or create new business opportunities.
Mr. Getsy has over thirty-five years hands-on technical and senior management experience
in the information technology industry with such leading companies as IBM (NYSE:IBM),
ADP (NYSE:ADP), and Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV). He’s been a senior executive in a number
of successful growth companies and management buyouts, completing a number of successful
IPO's and strategic company sales.
After founding On-Line Ventures in 1993, Mr. Getsy was an early investor in NETCOM
On-Line Communication Services and instrumental as an on site executive in developing
NETCOM into the first internet services company to go public in December 1994 (NASDAQ:NETC).
Since its’ founding, On-Line Ventures has provided capital to, and helped develop,
dozens of early stage on-line information technology companies, including completing
IPO’s for: FreeMarkets, (NASDAQ:FMKT), Exodus Communication Services, (NASDAQ:EXDS)
and Daleen Technologies, (NASDAQ:DALN). Portfolio companies that have successfully
been sold to other entities include: WiseWire, sold to Terra Networks SA/Lycos, MatchLogic,
acquired by AT&T/@Home/Excite (NASDAQ:T), CyberBills, now an operating unit of MetaVente,
General American Corporation (GAC), acquired by Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) and NameProtect,
recently acquired by Computer Services Corporation. Other promising On-Line Ventures’
portfolio companies in development include 401kExchange, Dedicated Computing and
E4X.
Mr. Getsy began his career in 1967 at the IBM Mohansic and T.J. Watson Research Laboratories
in Yorktown Heights, New York. In 1969, Mr. Getsy and four other systems engineers
left IBM to form a start up company, Automatic Remote Computer Services (ARCS) with
the mission of building a profitable recurring revenue business through the development
of the first on-line system to automate the back office of brokerage firms on Wall
Street (the "CAGE"). In 1971, ARCS was successfully sold to Automatic Data Processing
(ADP). Mr. Getsy enjoyed a 15+ year career with ADP including being the top executive
for a number of ADP's strategic business units (Banking and Thrift Services, International
Treasury Services, Electronic Financial Services, and Automated Payments Services).
In 1985, Mr. Getsy joined Fiserv, a privately funded management buyout, as Executive
Vice President. In a five year period, Mr. Getsy helped take the company public
and through a combination of organic growth and key strategic acquisitions, developed
Fiserv into a recognized worldwide leader in providing on-line services to financial
institutions. Fiserv has a market cap of $8+ Billion serving 15,000+ clients in
over 70 countries.
Mr. Getsy has experience as a member of the board of directors of a number of public
and private companies, often serving as chairperson of key committees such as compensation,
search and audit. He also is an investor and advisor to a number of leading private
equity firms.
Mr. Getsy graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. degree in
Mathematics/Education. He also earned an M.S. degree in Computer Science from New
York University and an Executive MBA from the Columbia University Business School.
