TCR Acquisition LLC Leadership & Advisory
Overview
We are comprised of individuals who have made meaningful contributions to U.S. and international telecom and technology segments – from Chief Counsel of the United States Coast Guard Cyber and Communications to operating the largest wholesale telecom distributor in America, to bringing Caller ID to the U.S. mobile operator ecosystem.
Frederick (“Rick”) M. Joyce
C.E.O. & Chief Counsel
Frederick (“Rick”) M. Joyce, Esq. has over 40 years of experience in the telecommunications/Internet sector with an emphasis on wireless, broadband and alternative services. Mr. Joyce was previously Chairman of Venable LLP law firm’s Telecommunications/Cybersecurity Group before being hired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Coast Guard to be Chief Counsel for cybersecurity and communications.
Among his various duties there included serving as Acting Chief Privacy Officer for the U.S. Coast Guard including Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) transactions and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Mr. Joyce held the Nation’s highest security clearance, Top Secret/Secured Compartmented Information. He has a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts double-major With Distinction from The George Washington University.
Retired Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett
Chairman, Advisory Committee
Retired Navy Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett has a track record of bringing high capacity, highly secure and highly reliable communications to the military, government or commercial segments, even in the most austere environments.
He is formerly the Chair of the DC law firm Venable's Telecommunications Group and served as the Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. A surface warfare officer, he served 32 years in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral.
He was named a Top Lawyer in DC for Cybersecurity by Washingtonian Magazine for 2015. Rear Admiral Barnett is a Senior Fellow of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and a Fellow of the American College of National Security Leaders.
Ron Hume
Chief Technology Officer
Ron Hume is an accomplished technology leader with a long history of innovation in telecom products and infrastructure, having led an organization of approximately 100 engineers as CTO of Cequint bringing Caller ID to the US Mobile ecosystem.
At Cequint, Ron led the company’s network integration with mobile carriers including T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and US Cellular as well as firmware-level deployments with handset manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, LG, ZTE, Motorola and others. Cequint was subsequently acquired by TNS for $112M.
Mr. Hume previously led a telecom network consulting organization supporting brands like IBM and the US Government with network architecture strategy and security.
Mr. Hume holds graduate degrees in telecommunications and network security, including an MS in Computer Security from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MS in Cyber Security from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Giovanni “Gianni” Tarone
Chief of Staff
Giovanni “Gianni” Tarone is Chief of Staff of TCR Acquisition LLC and brings 25 years of telecom industry leadership and deal making to this role. Previously, Gianni was CEO of Iris Wireless, one of three inter-carrier (ICV) messaging hubs, including SAP and Syniverse, when it successfully prosecuted one of the rare "refusal to deal" attempts to monopolize cases in "Iris Wireless v. Syniverse." Iris Wireless LLC v. Syniverse Tech., 49 F.Supp.3d 1022 (M.D. Fla. 2014).
Gianni began his career in telecom as a pioneer in the calling card industry, building distribution and products that touched over 20% of U.S. international calling card traffic in the early 2000s. An experienced turnaround specialist, Mr. Tarone restructured TecNet in 2004 and led the 2006 buyout and the subsequent product and switching services of NACT. As an operator, Gianni was CEO of Enhanced Prepaid Distribution, delivering $600 million per year in retail traffic revenue on the Vartec Telecom network.
An All-East Coast college baseball player, Gianni spent several years after school as a developmental baseball coach and scout, garnering a skill for building high-performing teams and a lifetime coaching record of 121-23.
Scott Weller
Chief Marketing Officer
Scott has held executive management and start up leadership roles spanning corporate development, sales, marketing and general operations. Most recently, Scott was co-founder and President of a venture-backed insurtech firm called Insurate and led the firm to MGA status and national launch. Previously, he served as co-founder and President of mobile Caller ID firm Cequint, an embedded technology partner to four of the top five U.S. mobile operators including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile and Sprint which was acquired by Transaction Network Services (NYSE:TNSI).
In his earlier career, Scott spent 6 years at Research in Motion/BlackBerry, managing the company’s launch of BlackBerry mobile phones in the US with AT&T Wireless, growing the relationship from inception to $900M in annual revenues.
Scott has a BA from the University of Washington and an MA from Duke University.
Matthew Stecker
VP, Product Development
Matthew Stecker has a long history of leadership in the Software, Services, and Mobile industries.
After putting himself through law school working for NeXT, Matthew ran advertising technology at Vindigo and was the CTO of SmartServ, Inc., before becoming Vice President and Principal at TMNG/Cartesian and its strategy consultancy CSMG.
More recently, Matthew served as Vice President at Real Networks before joining Livewire Mobile as CEO until its sale to OnMobile. From 2015 to 2017, Matthew was a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce where he helped launch FirstNet, the interoperable Federal network established by Congress for fire service, law enforcement and EMS. Matthew’s most recent role was Chairman and CEO of Symbolic Logic, Inc - formerly known as Evolving Systems, Inc. (EVOL).
Matthew studied Computer Science at Duke University and earned his law degree at UNC - Chapel Hill.