Manager, Cove Fund II
Howard Mirowitz has over 30 years of experience in formulating and executing growth strategies and leading new product development. During his career, Howard co-managed Mitsubishi Electric’s U.S. high-tech business incubator, which created the first Web-capable smart phone, PocketNet, which AT&T Wireless launched at the Super Bowl. The incubator also seed-funded OpenWave, which had a successful IPO, and made profitable investments in other key smart phone-related technologies. Prior to this, Howard led advanced product planning and product marketing in Mitsubishi’s U.S. Computer Division, where he launched several new products that achieved leading U.S. market shares and started a U.S. personal computer factory. At Western Digital, Howard engineered the acquisition of Paradise Systems, which subsequently achieved the #1 share of the worldwide personal computer display controller market. Earlier, Howard headed market research and planning at Microdata Corporation and led Deloitte & Touche’s Philadelphia IT consulting practice.
Howard is very active in community and charitable causes in Orange County, he was named as Jewish Federation and Family Services’ Mensch of the Year and honored with OneOC’s Volunteer of the Year award. He has served as Co-Chair of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Measure M Taxpayers’ Oversight Committee and as Co-Chair of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s Measure A Community Oversight Committee; he is past Board Chair of the Mental Health Association of Orange County and he has been a Board Advisor to the Illumination Foundation since its inception.
Howard received his BA from Dartmouth College and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught New Product Development at UCI’s Merage Business School and currently teaches occasional courses at UCI Extension’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He is a member of the Advisory Board of UCI’s Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and currently serves as an Expert-in-Residence at UCI Applied Innovation. He is also a partner in the Cove Fund and serves on the Fund’s Investment Committee.