Tech Launch Mentors 2023

Jonathan Ha helps companies develop and refine their pitch, product strategy, messaging, marketing and go-to-market. He has been a Capital Factory mentor since 2016 and has served as a pitch coach for the SXSW Pitch competition since 2013, working with recent winners including Tankee, Icon 3D, SmarterSorting, Prynt and GrubTubs. Jonathan is currently a Principal at Microsoft Azure and has over 20 years of product management, marketing, and strategy experience with global technology companies like Dell, HP and AWS. Jonathan holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from Rice University.

Startup advisory specializing in maximizing valuation and reaching profitability. I elevate your company by entering untapped markets, hone your vision with strategic business and technical planning, and foster a culture of collaboration and innovation across your company.

I'm Daran Herrman, a seasoned entrepreneur who moved from earning $3/hr at 13 to co-founding my first company, successfully orchestrating a merger, and exited the venture even before walking across the stage at graduation. I transformed an eCommerce operation in Austin, Texas, into a seven-figure per month powerhouse, which was eventually acquired by Fortune 500 company Arrow Electronics. Next, I founded Goboto, a global marketing company serving over 100 clients worldwide, from life-saving nonprofits to billion-dollar investment funds. My love for arts and storytelling inspired me to create the Establishing Your Empire podcast to inspire others to embrace their entrepreneurial dreams. Currently my main focus is on the startup, Real Market, to redefine how and why we choose a real estate agent. However, being a new father tops all these accomplishments.

International business development professional with Master's degree in industrial engineering. Built a business from scratch and made a successful exit. Working with startups since. Helping them with sales and go-to market strategies, understanding their clients, implementing business processes, etc.

Idicula is the co-founder and CEO of Hera Health Solutions, a pharmaceutical device company that specializes in the research, development, and commercialization of long-acting therapeutics through their proprietary Bioerodible drug delivery implants. Idicula is an entrepreneur with over eight years of experience in scaling startups, entrepreneurship, accelerator coaching, venture capital, medical device/pharmaceutical and SAAS innovations. He has led startups to raise millions of dollars in venture capital funding. Idicula has received numerous entrepreneurship awards, including being named a 30 Under 30 Global Sustainable Business Leader, named to many 40 Under 40 Business Journal lists, Forbes YEC council, and was invited to the United Nations World summit being recognized as a global leader in startup leadership. Idicula regularly presents his companies and about scaling startups in notable global conferences like South Summit Madrid, UNESCO Seoul, GES (Global Entrepreneurship Summit), Startup of the Year, and MedTech West Ireland. Idicula holds a degree in biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Kevin has a 30 year management career in high-growth technology companies. In 2003, he co-founded Anue Systems, a boot strapped startup that built network emulators and packet brokers to improve IT networks. Anue was twice listed on the Inc 500 list of fastest growing private companies before being acquired in 2012. He’s currently an advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs as well as an angel investor. Kevin and his family have lived in Austin since 2001. He serves on the MIT Corporation Development Committee and the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Kevin has Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard.

Over 20 years of experience in a vast array of executive leadership roles in sales, and business development. A proven track record in taking emerging technologies from inception, to market validation, customer acquisition and growth. Specialties: Building and closing multi million dollar deals from inception. Leading cross functional teams to meet customer needs, and maximizing revenue for the company and the customer. Sold emerging technologies such as Network Security solutions, System Level Design automation products, Hardware Software Co-Design, from Inception to successful market adoption and proliferation.

Matthew Myers practices inbound U.S. and outbound global immigration law, with a focus on employment and investor immigration. He has been regularly recognized as a Top Attorney in Immigration Law by Austin Monthly Magazine, Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Immigration Law, and Super Lawyers and The Scene in S.A. Magazine as a Rising Star for Immigration Law. Matthew served as likely the youngest Chair in the history of the State Bar of Texas Immigration & Nationality Law Section, and he was recently appointed by the President of the State Bar of Texas to serve on the Committee on Laws Relating to Immigration and Nationality. He is an active member of the San Antonio Bar Association as a past Chair of the International Law Section and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on the Global Migration Section. Prior to starting Myers Immigration Law, Matthew handled a high volume of inbound U.S. and outbound global immigration matters, working with individuals, entrepreneurs, investors, startups, Fortune 100 companies, and high net worth individuals as an attorney with one of the largest international immigration law firms for the better part of a decade. Before being admitted to the bar, Matthew interned with Catholic Charities of Dallas in their Immigration & Legal Services Department, Chief United States District Judge Orlando L. Garcia for the Western District of Texas, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Office of Chief Counsel, including at the Texas Service Center in Dallas and Field Office in Irving, Texas. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Spanish graduating magna cum laude from Austin College and his Juris Doctorate degree from Baylor Law School, where he received the distinction of Public Interest Fellow and was the first graduate of its Leadership Development program.

Valerie Ward received her MBA from McCombs School of Business at UT Austin in 2023. She will be joining Strategy&'s Customer Transformation team in early 2024 in New York City. Prior to her MBA, Valerie co-founded and ran Sweet Ritual, Austin's first vegan ice cream shop, for 10 years, where she also ran a school teaching over 80 entrepreneurs from around the world how to start and run their own ice cream shops. She has been a mentor at Capital Factory since 2020 and has traveled internationally with her award-winning improv group Parallelogramophonograph.

I’m a business and operations executive with extensive experience across multiple industries including medical devices, semiconductors, nanotechnology, communications, high volume consumer products, and contract manufacturing. I formed Clark Addison Group, LLC as an advisory and consulting practice after holding senior management roles in Fortune 500 companies, small private companies, and multiple venture-funded technology start-ups. My considerable expertise encompasses global supply-chain, manufacturing operations, I have considerable expertise encompassing program and project management, new product development (software and hardware), global supply-chain, operations, contract negotiations, international sourcing and procurement, inventory, logistics and distribution management, evaluation and implementation of ERP and IT systems, and complex contract negotiations,. Having travelled extensively, I have set up multi-faceted operations across Asia, India, the Americas, and Europe and have established a global network of resources utilized to the benefit of my employers and clients.

Start-up founder with 20 years of information management experience. I've done a lot of different things and have a decent network.

Angela Hein is a 3x founder with over 15 years of experience in sales and marketing for startups. Prior to taking the leap into entrepreneurship, Angela was the Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Innovation at the consumer packaged goods startup Genesis Today where she led the company from $30M to its peak of $70M during her tenure. She left Genesis Today in 2014 to launch her own line of natural supplements, which she bootstrapped to over 1,000 retail doors before selling her interest to her co-founder. Angela then co-founded the hidden veggie brand Camp mac 'n' cheese, and sold it to private equity in 2021. She is currently raising angel investment to support the launch of her third endeavor Partydip.co, a one-stop planning platform for the $38B US market of children's birthday parties.

Tech Sales Exec, Investor, Entrepreneur

Shawn Flynn mid-market investment banker and Podcast Host. Shawn started his career as a business owner, founding, and growing a successful company in Beijing China before returning to the US to work with companies ranging from fast growing Silicon Valley startups to established overseas public companies. He brings his international experience working with all stages and sectors of businesses to his role as Principal at a premier middle market investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, raising growth capital, and secondaries. Shawn holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UCSD and speaks Mandarin and Spanish (lived abroad for almost 8 years) and he is the host of the award-winning Podcast ""The Silicon Valley Podcast"" You can connect with Shawn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpflynn/ Podcast https://link.chtbl.com/TheSiliconValleyPodcast

As a startup and business attorney and former startup founder, I enable business by advising startups and guide them through challenging and often ambiguous and friction-laded legal and regulatory environments, with particular niches in blockchain and digital currency (i.e. Web3), fintech, technology/SaaS companies, and other brick and mortar businesses. Ultimately, my goal is to help each person and startup accomplish their business goals and milestones. To accomplish sustainable business and navigate the various spectrums of risk, I design and build customized processes and structures that foster scalability and synchronization, especially between the leaders and collaborators in the key areas of business, technology, and legal.

With more than 30 years of experience growing and advising both start-ups and established companies, Steve Schaffer is a leader in digital strategy, performance marketing, and new-business creation. As a strategic advisor and active early-stage investor in a number of high-growth Internet and technology companies, he focuses ​o​n ​companies with emerging digital business models that have the potential to reach over $100M in annual revenue. Steve has served on a number of boards and is NACD Directorship Certified. Working with CEOs, founders, and start-ups through Capital Factory, Techstars, and referrals, Steve has made early stage investments in more than 25 companies, including: yourself.online, LoudCrowd, Fetch Package, CountertopSmart, UpKey, Ceresa, Osano, Rocket Dollar, Bold Metrics, Zen Business, Workify, SubjectWell, and b.well, with successful exits from Gyft and Meta Saas. An accomplished entrepreneur, Steve founded Offers.com, a leading coupon and deal website that provides the best offers from more than 16,000 stores and brands, in February 2009. As its CEO/Chairman, he bootstrapped the company, raised Private Equity growth capital (minority interest) from Susquehanna Growth Equity, and remained CEO until he sold the company to Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD) in December 2015. Prior to launching Offers.com, Steve served as the founder and CEO of Vertive, Inc., a leader in the performance marketing industry and publisher of over 20 vertically-focused websites that connect consumers with information and discounts on online services. Previously he consulted and managed several online and consumer software companies, including eRegCard, DayMaker, Power Up Software, and Symantec. Personal Attributes: * Start with the Goal: Focus on solving problems and finding new opportunities * Vision & Details: Connect the vision and strategy to the execution plans needed * Action-Oriented: Find solutions that move things forward quickly * Decide with Data: Track, report, and analyze the right data to make informed decisions * No Nonsense: Communicate in a straightforward and direct manner * Coach & Mentor: Help young people learn and grow

Over twenty-five years as a full cycle (venture, growth, private equity, public equities) insitutional investor and emerging company advisor. Over eight years acting as fractional CFO.

Co-Founder & CTO @ Emporia Research, Ex-Goldman, Ex-Amazon

20+ years of experience doing finance, customer success and fintech. Work as an employee number 4 and help scale a startup into a 7+ billion dollar unicorn.

Incorporated 21 companies. A dozen or so happy exits. A few craters in the earth. Insurance Expertise: Have founded Agencies, MGAs, RIsk Purchase Groups and a Texas Carrier. All sold for a nice little profit. A few insure-tech ventures. All but one successfully sold off. A few not insure-tech, tech ventures. Good at managing hired lawyers. Good at managing outsourced or remote teams. Born Norwalk CT 1962. University of Texas 1985. 香川大学 1987. Love to backpack in very remote wilderness.

Matthew is Managing Partner for Prometheus Growth Partners (PGP) and BhavaMar Development (BhavaMar). Matthew oversees investor relations, cost management, real estate project valuation and private equity investments. Matthew graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) with a B.B.A. degree in Accounting and Finance. Matthew has experience in a variety of roles across business including audit, FP&A, sales and trading, investment banking and private equity. He has professional experience at 3M, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities, and Stone Point Capital. During his studies at UTSA, Matthew was recognized by multiple organizations for his academic, extracurricular and personal achievements. During his summer internship with Goldman Sachs in New York, Matthew was one of five interns to receive the Goldman Sachs Scholarship for Excellence Award. Matthew gained experience founding companies and raising capital early in his career during college. He founded a stadium delivery app in 2017 named Clutche Tech, the company made +$50,000 in revenue and he personally raised +$100,000 from two sophisticated investors. Matthew spent the first 3 years of his Wall Street career working in the financial institutions group at Guggenheim Securities as an investment banking analyst. During his time at Guggenheim, Matthew assisted in client coverage across subsectors including insurance, asset management, financial technology and specialty finance. He was also in charge of developing presentations, marketing materials, confidential information memorandums and conducting due diligence. Matthew worked on transactions valued between $50 million – $8.5 billion. After Guggenheim, Matthew was a private equity associate at Stone Point Capital. Stone Point Capital is a financial services focused private equity firm that has more than $45 billion of assets under management. Matthew was part of the deal team that helped Stone Point acquire Beeline, a multi-billion dollar contingent labor software company.

Jimmy is Managing Partner for Prometheus Growth Partners (PGP) and BhavaMar Development (BhavaMar). Jimmy oversees the legal, land, construction development, investor relations, cost management, real estate project valuation and private equity investments. Jimmy graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) with a B.S. degree in Construction Science and Management and a minor in Business Administration. He began his professional career while attending UTSA with a national commercial general contractor in Houston, TX working at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (NASA) building 21. He quickly moved up within the company and became a lead field engineer within the first 6 months. He was responsible for bidding projects, creating and managing project budgets and project schedules, negotiating contracts with subcontractors, drafting purchase orders & change orders, handling RFI’s and submittals, maintaining close communication with onsite superintendent, site visits, meeting with clients, reviewing and approving daily/weekly reports. Jimmy then pursued his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Houston Law Center and focused on real estate development and mergers and acquisitions. He began his career working in House for Baker Hughes in their M&A and corporate governance department facilitating deals in the United States and Latin America. Soon after, he transitioned to a role with the Securities and Exchange Commission in their Corporation Finance division where he advised on transactional and securities compliance and disclosure matters relating to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including IPO and business combination registration statements, proxy statements, private placement memorandums, periodic and current reports, and confidential treatment requests. After gaining experience in the legal in house and public sector, Jimmy switched over to the private sector as an Associate at a boutique Real Estate Law and M&A Firm where he worked on real estate transactions and general business and commercial transactions. Jimmy helped in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisition, financing, development and disposition of different types of properties. Within the business department he advised in the formation and structuring of entities, purchase and sales of businesses, mergers and reorganizations, borrowing and lending and various other contractual agreements. Jimmy currently works as a Managing Partner for BhavaMar Development, a sister company of Prometheus Growth Partners, managing different projects all over Texas and is gearing to split his time and focus on growing Prometheus Growth Partners.

David, a Navy veteran, is a seasoned technologist with more than 22 years of experience. He has participated in two IPOs and delivered more than 15 applications to market. Over the last decade, Franklin has focused on cloud computing and machine learning for healthcare applications. He has studied at Moody Bible, Penn State, MIT, and Harvard. Currently, he is the Founder and CEO of knowRX Health, a marketplace platform utilizing RWD/E and ML processes to predict the probability of medication side effects and discovery of new drug innovations based on age, race, and gender.

18+ years experienced GTM Customer strategy & operations executive with expertise in leading Cloud, SaaS, software and digital business models and transformation for F500 and Start ups Trusted digital Advisor to CXOs, senior business and IT leaders leveraging Cloud services, adopting SaaS models in their $$$ large-scale, complex and digital transformation programs.

Previously - Chief Revenue Officer at Foodics (KSA). Omar Aloyoun currently is an advisor to over 100 startups across various global accelerators. Omar's current endeavor involves pioneering Future30, a dynamic venture studio in KSA, as a General Partner. He is specialized in unlocking startups value, revenue and growth through a lean approach, with a focus on business modelling, design & Innovation. He is an award winning entrepreneur with 22 years of diverse experiences in MENA companies such as Mubadala, du, Emaar, Qatar Foundation, Qatar Development Bank, Qatar Computing Research Institute and others. Omar is running and building investment profiles for many startups, conducting go-to- market strategies, network effects, and matchmaking with investors for a global pool of startups. He is a member of many entrepreneurial supporting organizations and accelerators globally such as Techstars, Mercy Corps, WOMENA, Silicon Valley Syndicates Club, The Syndicate angel investing club led by Jason Calacanis and Google for Entrepreneurs. In 2012, Omar won Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Young Business Leaders Award at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Weston Waldo is a highly accomplished educator, entrepreneur, and investor with a proven track record of success in both rural and urban area DeepTech startup ecosystems. With an entrepreneurial career that began as an Associate at Benchmark Private Equity Group, Weston performed due diligence on project deal flow ranging from $10M - $50M in valuation and helped raise financial capital from top banks such as Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Weston has taught entrepreneurship at various Korean Universities including Seoul National University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), Korean University, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), and Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST). Weston's entrepreneurial journey continued with his collaboration with Texas Tech University (TTU) as an Entrepreneurial Lead, where he commercialized a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER-funded project through the NSF National I-Corps program (team 373). This led to the creation of a startup company, exclusive licensing agreements of university-owned patents, NSF STTR, private capital funding, and a successful exit. Weston later founded two additional companies in the life sciences and renewable energy verticals. As the Founding Program Director at TTU's Innovation Hub, he led initiatives such as NSF I-Corps in the Southwest Node and a Site, GLEAMM Spark Fund, Hub Fuel Ag-Tech Fund, Presidents' Innovation, and Prototype Funds. He was later hired by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (UAF) as the Founding Venture Development Program Manager, where he led early-stage startup venture development for all intellectual property housed in the university's portfolio and statewide within the State's EPSCoR program. Additionally, he led UAF's Walton Family Foundation's venture fund called the Chancellor's Commercialization and GAP Funds that were combined to disburse and fund teams an additional $150,000 upon successful completion of the NSF National I-Corps program. Since joining UAF, Arkansas has become the #1 EPSCoR designated State for NSF National I-Corps team production. Currently serving as the Director and Program Manager at the University of Texas at Austin's Austin Technology Incubator and newly funded $15M NSF I-Corps Southwest Region Hubs program. Weston also serves as an NSF Regional and National I-Corps instructor for the Southwest and Great Lakes Hubs, and South I-Corps Node. He has led 8 National I-Corps and 61 Regional I-Corps cohorts, trained 1185 I-Corps teams, and endorsed 181 teams to gain acceptance into the NSF National I-Corps program. With his vast experience and expertise, Weston continues to make significant contributions to the startup ecosystem and venture development.

Business leader and technology entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in leading Medical Device, BioTech, FinTech, Staffing & Recruitment, Job Board and, Digital Media companies. He is the CEO & Co-founder of Nano3D Biosciences, a biotechnology spin-off out of Rice University and MD Anderson Cancer Center and Covelo Group, a leader in vendor management services (VMS) and related human resource technologies for the Engineering & Construction sector. His areas of expertise include validating customer problems, building revenue models, delivering impactful pitch decks, commercializing products/services and building teams of early-stage companies.

I’m an entrepreneur with a strong drive to create, think differently, and establish relationships to realize outsized business and social value. For the last decade, I’ve been building a health tech company to connect clinical teams to their hospital patients. I’m now working with other founders as a coach and investor. I’m passionate about supporting other founders in their commercialization and fundraising process, leveraging my learnings to accelerate the journey of others.