“The entrepreneurs at Tech Ranch® are incredibly passionate and I am privileged to be a part of their success. I consistently am told by all the graduates of the Tech Ranch® programs that it was a valuable experience and essential in the entrepreneur’s journey.” – R.C. Rondero de Mosier, MWR Legal
Eric Hemati
Eric has been in sales and business development since 1994, spanning the technology, entertainment and insurance fields. His primary specialty is creating sales initiatives that can generate revenue in undeveloped markets within 90-days. Eric’s career experience with start-up companies gave him a passion for entrepreneurial culture and led him to tackle the common challenges that run through any new venture. His Sales4Startups project works with entrepreneurs to clearly define their core marketing message; create their brand; design and build their websites, blogs and social media outposts; and manage interactive marketing programs.
Brian Bernknopf
Brian Bernknopf is a career quality management and professional services executive with experience in multiple industries including insurance, telecom, healthcare, energy, financial services, and government solutions. Based in Dallas, he is the Managing Director for QA Consultants US, a fast growing services company with operations in the US and Canada. Brian has served in various roles with the Austin Technology Incubator, Austin Software Council, and maintains a close connection to the Austin Tech community.
Jay Jacobson
Jay is an innovator, serial-entrepreneur, and seasoned technology business executive with extensive experience in the information security, Internet, software, networking, and telecommunications industries. During Jay’s career, he has founded and led more than six technology companies and has held key positions at several Fortune 500 enterprises, including American Express, AT&T, Cox Communications, and Sprint. Most recently, Jay was the founder and CEO of Edgeos, Inc. (sold), the company that created and led the private-labeled network security and vulnerability assessment industry.
David Johnston
David has been a 10X serial entrepreneur developing companies in various different fields from software to biotech. He co-founded the BitAngels in 2013 (the world’s largest angel group) and now serves as the Managing Director for the Decentralized Application Venture Fund. As the Managing Director, David evaluates projects in the Decentralized Applications & Protocols space that are based on open source software, and use a distributed blockchain for token ownership and access to the application.
Jae Lee
Jae Lee is a global startup nomad, serving as an advisor for Tech Ranch. He has founded a series of tech startups ranging from e-commerce platforms, location-based services to consumer engagement analytics. As a software engineer and advocate, Jae is very active in the tech community, hosting developer meetups globally on mobile app development. Prior, served as a volunteer lecturer teaching web programming at University of Jendouba in Béja Tunisia for two years as part of South Korea’s ODA(Official Development Assistance) to developing countries. Jae is also a public speaker and has participated in tech conferences such as SXSW, Connect.JS, tiCONF. A sports junkie by day, who loves music, traveling, learning new languages and a former USTU/USA Taekwondo Gold Medalist. Twitter @leejaew
Brian Massey
Brian Massey calls himself a Conversion Scientist and he has the lab coat to prove it. He is the founder of website optimization company Conversion Sciences and author of the book Your Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Website Formulas of The Conversion Scientist. His rare combination of interests, experience and neuroses was developed over 20 years as a, computer programmer, corporate marketer and entrepreneur. Website optimization is the science of finding more online revenue without paying to get it.
Steve Maysonave
Trusted Advisor to CEOs and Boards. Acknowledged expert in sales, strategic planning, marketing and global partner development. Thirty years international experience with an established track record of team building, acceleration of revenues, and extraordinary international growth. Operational experience includes six years as CEO, building operations in the US, Europe, India and Japan, and running five worldwide sales operations, three of which were built from scratch.
Chelsea McCullough
Chelsea supports initiatives that leverage technology to make a positive social and civic impact. In her role as Executive Director of Texans for Economic Progress, she facilitates dialog between the statewide technology community and elected officials, advocating for greater access to tech education, entrepreneurship and infrastructure. She is also a Founding Partner of Impact Hub Austin, a local effort within a global network to provide co-working and incubation for social ventures.
Graham McFarland
Graham is a practicing entrepreneur, knee deep in his fifth start-up. He has successfully built, funded and exited multiple companies ranging from $10K in sales to over $10M in sales. He has also experienced a few failures as part of his journey. Graham joined the Cinegif team in early 2012. He was the Founder and CEO of ExpressDigital and PhotoReflect software, a web service company focused on enhancing photography workflows.
Pete Monfre
Pete Monfre has founded and grown several companies including a multi-million dollar marketing firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has helped bootstrapping start-ups and industrial giants in the technology, software, manufacturing, education, healthcare and medical device industries create the right opportunities. Monfre is a sought after speaker and a recognized expert in marketing strategy. He has been recognized by the President of the United States with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Presidential Service for his work in science education.
Suzanne Pierce
Suzanne Pierce is a computational Earth Scientist. She is uses a scholar-practitioner approach to integrate scientific information with technology systems. Leading applications include decision support systems for conflict resolution applied to groundwater and energy case studies. She has developed innovative teaching techniques that incorporate interactive games with 3D printed tangibles and content that aligns with next generation science standards.
Ben Ramirez
Ben Ramirez, founder of Cogitare Global, LLC. Ben has 20 years of experience assisting the transformation of local companies into global competitors. Ben works with organizations to identify specific business goals and implementation strategies which match their objectives. His expertise is connecting chief executives and their teams to the resources and the tools they need to achieve sustainable growth in a continually changing global marketplace.
Glori Ramirez
Ms. Ramirez is a seasoned management consultant with over 14 years’ experience in business strategy, revenue growth, and new business design and launch. She’s worked with Fortune 100 and 500 clients to implement and execute the operational, financial, and management structures necessary to achieve revenue growth objectives. She currently advises and assists startup companies on strategy, business model design and operations.
Kevin Ready
Kevin has built several successful startups, and now leads a corporate R&D group. He serves internationally as a business advisor and board member, and writes about business strategy for Forbes. In addition to his startup work, he has applied the startup skillset leading corporate innovation projects for Gannett, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba Corp. He is a frequent public speaker on innovation, marketing, and startups. `His book on how to build, grow, and sell startup companies is called “Startup: An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Running a Business.” Twitter:@keready
R.C. Rondero De Mosier
Roberto “R.C.” Rondero de Mosier is the Director of Business Development at MWR Legal where he manages a robust Intellectual Property, Small Business and Entertainment Law practice. R.C. regularly advises his clients on their contractual rights and intellectual property rights. He represents clients in TX, CA, IL and NY in trademark, copyright, licensing, business formation and transactional law related matters.
Rudy (Rudolph) Rosen
Rudolph Rosen is a Research Professor at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Texas State University. He is a former Director of Fisheries, Wildlife and Coastal Resources for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and was Executive Director of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Dr. Rosen has been executive director and regional director of three of the nation’s largest nonprofit science-driven conservation organizations.
Raj Shah
Raj Shah has over 25 years of strategy, marketing, and sales experience spanning start-ups, growth-stage companies, and Fortune 500 corporations. As CMO of Alchemy Systems, Raj leads the marketing team and works closely with the executive team and Board on expansion strategies for the company. Prior to Alchemy, Raj was the CEO of Key Crossing, a consultancy that helps companies build and execute sales/channel/marketing strategies to enter new markets (geographic, customer or product).
Michele Skelding
Michele Skelding is the Senior Vice President of Global Technology and Innovation for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce where she leads the development and execution of the organization’s vision for Central Texas as a top global region for technology innovation, company formation and expansion, in addition to increasing top access to private equity and venture capital.
Kevin Strawbridge
Kevin has built a career on three pillars/stages since graduating with a BBA & MS in Accounting from Texas A&M. Accounting & data, management consulting and eCommerce & digital marketing (Since 1999). Today, Kevin is the Vice President of Global eCommerce at Rackspace – the #1 Managed Cloud Company. He spends a good deal of time working with start-ups and has facilitated multiple Startup Weekends around the US and was the lead organizer and facilitator of Startup Next in Dallas.