Before joining Carlyle in February 2001, Allan served as the Executive Vice President, Sales and Business Development of Wink Communications, a provider of an end-to-end software platform for interactive television services. Allan joined Wink in July 1996, and developed and led Wink's relationships with Wink's largest cable and satellite operator customers, broadcast and cable networks, advertisers and advertising agencies, and consumer electronics manufacturers. At Wink, Allan also served as Interim Chief Financial Officer in preparation for the company's initial public offering (NASDAQ: WINK) in August 1999.

Earlier, Allan served in a variety of executive, sales, marketing, customer service and finance management roles at Gold Disk, Inc., a venture-backed publisher of personal and corporate productivity software, at Media Vision Technologies, Inc., a multimedia hardware manufacturer and publisher of CD-ROM entertainment software, at Pellucid, a venture-backed start-up developing 3D graphics hardware acquired by Media Vision in May of 1993, at Everex Systems, a manufacturer of personal computers and peripheral products, and at Radiometer A/S, a manufacturer of medical measuring equipment.

Allan received an MSc degree in Economics from the University of Copenhagen and a M.B.A. degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated as an Arjay Miller scholar. He currently serves on the boards of Canesta, Novarra and Rhythm NewMedia as an independent director.