steady as she goes

CfMC is the most stable company in the research industry. These leaders, like others before them, have kept the CfMC team focused on our goal - providing the best software for the survey research industry - since 1967.

See the CfMC directory for contact information.

read more about CfMC's founding

sales, software, and support leadership

James Prasad, CEO

James has extensive experience in the high-technology industry, including start-ups and multi-billion-dollar companies. His leadership experience includes over 25 years with companies based in the Silicon Valley and beyond, including Red Hat, Adaptec, Quantum, ESS and Integrated Device Technology.

At Red Hat, Prasad was Vice President and General Manager of operations for Europe, Middle-East, Africa, India and Australia. In addition, he managed Red Hat’s Embedded Business and was part of Cygnus Solutions which was acquired by Red Hat. Most recently, he was co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Specifix Inc., a software start-up company in the Silicon Valley.

During the last 25 years, James has taken on a variety of different leadership roles in high technology marketing, sales management, engineering management and business operations. He has an undergraduate electrical engineering degree and an MBA from San Francisco State University.

Charlie Yarbrough, co-founder

Charlie Yarbrough (along with Joe Weisman) was originally recruited by Leif Gjestland as a co-founder of the Computers for Marketing Corporation (CfMC).

He and Joe wrote the first version of CfMC Mentor (then called CheckLoadGenerateTabulate) between 1966 and 1969. This first version was created on an IBM 360 model 30 emulating and IBM 1410. He also co-wrote the first version of CfMC Survent between 1976 and 1979 on an HP 3000 and joined CfMC as a full-time developer in 1977.

Charlie began his first programming job in June 1962 on an IBM 1401 at the University of California Medical Computing Center. He met Leif in 1965 while working at the UC Berkeley Survey Research Center as a developer. He also worked for the World Health Organization in Guatemala at the Institute for Nutrition in Central America and Panama from 1970-1977 as a statistician.

 

Charlie holds a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley and currently serves CfMC as Trustee of the company's ESOP and Chairman of the Board. He is also an active participant in the further development of Mentor, Survent foundations, certification and testing, and other special projects.

His hobbies are cooking, carpentry (built his own house between 1980 and 1990), travel, and music and books. He performs community service work as a Hospice caregiver, Court Appointed Special Advocate, and Law Enforcement Chaplain.

Joe Weisman, co-founder

Joe got involved with computers by his cousin Ted Lewis, who was one of the developers of one of the very early computers (MIDSAC). Ted was one of the founders of Fair, Isaac & Co. and he hired Joe as a programmer for the summer of 1963.

Joe returned to college just in time to become the first (or maybe the second) student to be licensed to operate the college's first computer, an IBM 1620. He was majoring in chemistry and mathematics, and made heavy use of the computer for his thesis.

After graduating, Joe went looking for a computer programming job and ended up at the Advanced Systems Development Division of IBM in Los Gatos California. He was soon living in Berkeley but working in Los Gatos and unable to stand the commute, he quit working entirely and just lived in Berkeley.

After a while he got a job at the University of California Survey Research Center where he connected with Charlie and Leif and the nascent CfMC.

In 1969 Joe was forced to leave the country so he travelled abroad for three years. Finally able to return in 1972, Joe went back to Fair, Isaac to work.

Multi-user mini-computers were just becoming available and Joe wanted one to play with. He proposed that FICO buy one and he would move all their computing to it but they didn't accept the proposal so Joe went to Leif to see if he would buy one.

Leif did, and Joe joined CfMC as a full-time programmer.

Joe has four children, aged 10, 15, 28 and 32 (in 2006. With family, homeowner responsibilities and work he has no time for any hobbies except writing computer programs.)