Mentors

Mark brings over 25 years in the semiconductor, computer systems and enterprise software within Silicon Valley’s marquis companies and start-ups in building sales and marketing teams worldwide. An avid angel investor in Life Science...

Armin holds over 20 years of leadership experience from a variety of start-up and Fortune 500 companies as well as consulting engagements. 

Eric brings over 25 years of leadership, planning and business development experience from a variety of public and private sector positions, consulting engagements and entrepreneurial pursuits.

My passion is to build high performing engineering teams to execute and deliver on great product visions. My formative years in gaming at Electronic Arts (EA) taught me great products focus on the user experience.

Tali Washburn has over 20 years of experience in conservation and agriculture related fields. She serves on a Washington, D.C.-based national agriculture committee of policy-makers, and more.

Has worked more than 10 years at the cross-section of public administration, research universities and industry on administration, policy, funding, monitoring and operations of projects in technology innovation.

Gabriel S Joseph III is a serial entrepreneur.  Since 2000, Mr. Joseph has been investing in and building new media, Social Media and Digital Media communications and advertising businesses.

Kaustav Chaudhuri (KC Wisdom) is an author, speaker, advisor, and thought leader. He is the founder of Pitch Global network of networks with chapters in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London.

Dr. Steve Schneider brings unique expertise in the content areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, cognitive and learning sciences, and technology products in the formal and informal education environment and corporate training.

Mr. Burnett has spent the last few years helping to develop the next generation of online identity and authentication solutions.

Ms. Ravenscroft brings to her role more than 20 years of event management and production expertise. She has produced numerous galas, dinners, groundbreakings, and more.

With over 15 years of eCom and lifestyle industry experience in digital marketing, Nikki Lindgren has transitioned from managing in-house marketing teams to running the boutique digital marketing firm, Pennock.

Catherine brings over 25 years of investment, business and real estate experience as an entrepreneur, investor, strategy consultant, and real estate broker.

With over 20 years of travel industry experience and a digital media veteran, Sylvia Weiler serves as Vice President, Audience Strategy & Business Development at Sojern.

Ms. Ravenscroft brings to her role more than 20 years of event management and production expertise. She has produced numerous galas, dinners, groundbreakings, memorial dedications, and more.

Rose is an Award-Winning Business Development Director with an extensive network of over 5k global connections. With over 20 years of experience in Fortune 50 and Startups, Rose has successfully built teams and collaborated in Blockchain, Energy, Sustainability and Software as a Service.

Meera Kaul has a distinguished track record with over 20 years of proven leadership in technology, and telecom, products and services. Meera is a quintessential serial entrepreneur who started her first startup straight out of school at age 17.

Melissa Blau has been in the Media, Technology & Finance sectors for 25 years and has been specifically in the online gaming sector for the past twelve years as both an operator and advisor.

OLGA is an executive coach – a serial entrepreneur, social innovator, visionary who inspires. She consults many start-ups on operational improvements and fundraising.

Kelly C. Huang brings over 25 years of executive, teaching and management consulting experience to her current role as a facilitator at Harvard Business Publishing. Kelly has developed marketing and product launch strategies for IBM, Monsanto as well as technology and biotech start-ups.

Amra Tareen Co-founded LittleCast and was the CEO until March 2015. Launched LittleCast Beta September 2013, consisting of iOS and Android apps, Facebook canvas app, embedded players and LittleCast Content Management System (website).

Liz Wald has spent 20 years building online global marketplaces with a career that spans the early days of AOL, to the explosion of crowdfunding, to the current world of ethical commerce.

Kimberly Benson is the President and CEO of Zenaida Global, an international trade advisory firm and export management company based in Rancho Santa Fe, California. 

Julie is a Founding Partner of La Honda Advisors, an investment banking boutique based in Palo Alto, CA, focused on advising growth businesses.

Mr. Vernon Lee, Jr is a trusted business and investment advisor to several middle market companies, institutional investors, entrepreneurs, and entertainment partners.

Sudhir Kadam is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor, and start-up advisor with five successful exits in Telecom CRM, Location-based Apps, Video Streaming, Fraud Analytics, and IIoT for Transportation.

Michael is an accomplished executive and entrepreneur with Fortune 100 experience and the founder of several small businesses. 

Mr. Kenney has extensive experience with Department of Defense and Federal Government Program Management, Test & Evaluation and Business Development projects. He served in the U.S.

Michael Newman is an internationally recognized senior sales executive with Optical Cable Corporation (OCC, NASDAQ: OCC) with more than 25 years experience in sales management, distribution, strategic planning and marketing.

Azmat Malik has been a senior executive in technology, marketing, and operations, at major US, European and Japanese semiconductor companies.

Bevis is a Melbourne-native living in San Francisco where he discovered the world of angel investing and actively connects the Australian startup community to Silicon Valley.

For over thirty years, Art Murray and his teams have helped organizations around the world transform into knowledge enterprises.

Areas of Expertise: Product & Brand Management Up/Down Stream Marketing Advisory Panel, KOL & PR Management Business Development & Sales PROVEN SPECIALTIES: Global Product Mgmt, Launch and Branding. Advisory Panel Management

Mr. Ferrin is a highly qualified international business professional by virtue of his exceptional experience working with Small and Medium Enterprises,US and foreign Governments and trade associations in international management, marketing and sales in Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania.

RICHARD ALLAN HORNING has been representing technology companies in Silicon Valley, and globally, as an active participant in the Silicon Valley eco-system. He currently practices law as a member of the Emerging Growth / Venture Capital Group in the Silicon Valley office of Reed Smith LLP, a global law firm.

A multi-disciplined technology entrepreneur and business development executive experienced and driven in tough markets, complex sales, new product concepts, turnaround situations and startups. I demand an environment that has high standards, offers challenges, growth and innovation.

Sven Oehme is a member of the Executive Board of the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) which is the official dialogue between American and European business leaders and U.S. Cabinet Secretaries and EU Commissioners.

I'm considered a subject matter expert by the media in small business, global entrepreneurship, service as an export and have been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com, INC, Entrepreneur, PC Magazine, PC World and others.

Dr. Stankosky obtained his doctorate from George Washington University (GW) by researching organizational effectiveness. His subsequent research focuses on how to engineer and manage a global enterprise in a knowledge-based economy.

Jan Hutchins is a former Mayor of Los Gatos, CA, USA and a long time San Francisco Bay Area television journalist and celebrity.

Armando Castro is a partner in the law firm’s Corporate & Securities – Technology practice and is located in the Silicon Valley office.

Everyone talks about change but only ROSSI changes the talk – ROSSI, Globally Recognized ‘Edutainer’, does his Key Note Presentations with Future Paced, Speed Learning.

John Novitsky has been an integral part of multiple Si Valley companies, serving precisely at the intersection of 1) understanding new technology, 2) identifying new target market segments and new customers, 3) sifting through high level concepts and more.

Media & IoT Technologies - Business Development Europe & Far East – Global Operations 27 years of experience in different industries, from aeronautics to cybersecurity, including 16 years in digital TV domain.

David Drake is the Chairman of LDJ Capital, a multi-family office based in New York with investments and assets being managed in the areas of real estate, energy, clean tech, healthcare, medical and pharma, tech, and more.

Matthias Duys was the Director, Europe, for the State of Virginia, where he was responsible for promoting Virginia as the appropriate location for investment by European companies seeking expansion of their business activities in the USA.

Patrick Muir is a patent attorney focused on assisting small and medium size businesses in their IP related issues. The latter half of his career has focused on patent prosecution, licensing and client counseling.

Andy Szekeres is known across Colorado as a leading non profit and political fundraising expert. Prior to his work in the Associations of Zoos and Aquarium sector at Butterfly Pavilion in Colorado, Andy founded 3PG Consulting, a fundraising firm that focused on ballot-measure and political fundraising.

Reza is an investment banker, entrepreneur and advisor with extensive experience in Corporate Finance (M&A and Private Placements). Reza has completed 25+ tech M&A and private placements in the last few years and has sold companies to Microsoft, Google, Intel; and etc.

Hand-on, get-it-done, experienced start-up sales professional for new and emerging companies. With over 20 years of senior management experience, I have helped build a number of successful businesses that have had successful exits.

John is an Executive Director at US Angel Investors , a Partner at Crimson Growth Partners and an investor in or advisor to a number of technology companies including LinqTo, NexDefense, Vizkinekt, POC Medical Systems, and more.

Jonathan is a proven serial entrepreneur and has been an innovator in Silicon Valley for nearly twenty years. With several successes under his belt, Jonathan understands how to use technology to make our day-to-day lives better.

Andrew Yu is currently with Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) managing all the marketing efforts in Asia. Prior to joining the FCEDA, he was a product marketing manager at Freescale Semiconductor (a Motorola company) where he was with a team developing the 3G and 4G (LTE) mobile handsets.

Nathan Schor began his IT career as a database programmer, but evolved into sales where he accumulated over three decades of experience deploying CRM solutions in a wide variety of businesses.

Randall Foster is an accomplished
entrepreneur, global business
leader and private investor,
delivering 21stcentury critical
thinking and problem solving
skills to the organizations he
touches.

Mark T. Koo works as a legal advisor with high technology companies. Mark helps companies file incorporation documents, patents, trademarks as well as other startup legal assistance.

Participated in launching 50+ businesses at AOL’s Greenhouse (later AOL Studios). Serves on boards of startups in the US and overseas, particularly in Europe. An active member of angel networks in Silicon Valley.