Patent and intellectual property attorney experienced in patent and trademark prosecution in the novel semiconductor design, graph database methods, and devices of software-enabled processes.

Prior to attending Law School, served sixteen years as a sales engineer, global account manager and high technology marketer. Sales and marketing achievements in OEM contract negotiations, electronic/Internet system deployment and online entertainment.

Founder and CEO of the Intellectual Property Society (www.ipsociety.net).

Stuart is the Founder and CEO of Out of the Fog Research LLC (OFR) based in Mountain View, CA. He has successfully won, managed, and transitioned multiple Navy SBIR projects.

For the past 14 years, Stuart has led programs at OFR to develop and transition RF Front-end technology for SIGINT systems. Stuart has taken technology from TRL 3 to TRL 9 multiple times. For example, he managed the production of over 60 production cryogenic RF distribution units for the Cryptological Carry-On program. For these efforts in the commercialization of SBIR technology, OFR received a 2015 Tibbetts Award from the SBA.

He has been principal investigator on contracts from the Navy, Air Force, DARPA, and NIST. He has transitioned technology through Phase II.5, SAT/CPP, and RIF. He is the co-author of over 35 technical publications and has been awarded two patents. For his efforts in commercializing superconductivity, he received the IEEE Council on Superconductivity Rosner Award in 2012.

Stuart earned his BS degree in Physics from NC State University and his Ph.D. in Physics from Boston University.

Paul has more than 25 years of professional experience working with start-ups on debt and equity funding, business planning, financial analysis and start-up strategy.

As an advisor, Paul’s specialty is working with entrepreneurial ventures to refine their business model, create an investment-driven business plan, develop credible financial projections and prepare an effective investor pitch. He also advises founding teams on common start-up issues such as legal entity selection, intellectual property, financial accounting and go-to-market strategy.

Paul has a Bachelors of Science in Information Systems and MBA with a concentration in Finance.

Kaustav ”KC” Chaudhuri –President & EIR Pitch Global. He is a seasoned Startup Advisor who is also organizing leading investor events in Silicon Valley for over a decade. KC was part of a team of Silicon Valley experts who co-wrote The First Mile(John Wiley), a book on entrepreneurship commissioned by TIE, largest member of entrepreneurs in the world.

He has strong expertise Advising and Training entrepreneurs how to attract Corporates/CVC’s for both funding & partnerships, as well as preparing entrepreneurs to attract investors and pitch them more effectively. He excels at fostering a collaborative attitude among senior entrepreneurs, which has led to them sharing investor leads and even investing/partnering with one another.

KC comes from a corporate background but was co-founder of several startups, one of which was acquired by the outsourcing arm of TCG, a VC & PE fund affiliated to George Soros, where he stayed back and worked closely with the VC & PE arm.

As a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Director, Business Incubator Manager, and Business Broker, Charles has provided training and counseling to thousands of entrepreneurs.

He currently serves as the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) specialist for the Northern California SBDC Tech Futures Group. Charles has twenty years of experience assisting businesses with securing SBIR/STTR funding. This includes direct experience through his company OPTEMA Development Corporation which developed a rapid prototyping technology with funding through a National Science Foundation STTR Phase I, Phase II, and Phase IICC grant. Charles was previously the Statewide Director of Business and Entrepreneurship for the California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development Program. Prior to this position, he was the Director of the Solano College SBDC, where he managed a team of 23 business advisors and served as the Associate Director of the California Community College’s Statewide Economic Development Network. Before moving to Northern California, Charles worked for the Inland Empire Small Business Development Center as Manager of the Inland Empire Business Incubator. Charles also worked in the defense industry as a systems engineer for TRW’s Ballistic Missile Program.

Charles earned a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA from California State University, San Bernardino.

Mark Klopp is an independent consultant, board member, advisor and investor. Mark is a consultant focused on corporate venturing best practices and a Managing Director with Coronis Medical Ventures, an accelerator for medical devices. He is an instructor for Global Corporate Venturing Institute and also a principal advisor for Larta and Tech Futures Group. Mark also is an angel investor serving as a board member and advisor for several startups and Christian ministries.

Mark is a former Board Member of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and served as Chairman and founding member of the Corporate Venture Group. Formerly Managing Director of Eastman Ventures, Eastman Chemical Company’s corporate venture capital arm, Mark started up and led the company’s efforts to invest in and partner with private companies. He and his team forged relationships and co-investments with premier venture capitalists and corporations. Eastman invested with a top-quartile IRR track record in 25 ventures and 5 venture funds spanning Information Technology, Life Sciences, Advanced Materials and Clean Technology.

Mark developed extensive operating experience in international business management, sales and marketing while with Eastman. Previous assignments included: Assistant to the CEO and Chairman; Regional Business Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa and several Marketing and Sales executive positions.

Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA in Management from Roosevelt University.

Specialties: Venture capital, private equity, business development, corporate development, licensing, entrepreneurship, acquisitions, operations, financing, board of directors, investing, sales, marketing, strategy, investor relations, medical devices, chemicals, advanced materials, cleantech, energy, life sciences

Kristina McMillan is a serial entrepreneur and thought leader with more than 20 years of experience working with startups. She is currently the CEO and Co-founder of Argyle Earth, a climate tech startup.

She’s worked with both early stage companies and tech giants such as Google, LinkedIn, and Mircrosoft. Kristina has spoken at numerous industry events on topics such as B2B GTM trends, sales development, innovative pipeline strategies, and sales and marketing technology. She has published over 100 industry-leading research papers on the strategies, benchmarks, and best practices of high-growth sales and marketing organizations. She is also an experienced facilitator specialized in bringing executive teams together to develop new GTM strategies and operational plans, leveraging the cutting-edge practices of the fastest growing SaaS companies.

Kristina holds a Masters in Business Administration from Santa Clara University, and a B.S. in Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis, where she graduated with honors.

Steve Plume has both operational and investor experience, and has sat on both sides of the Boardroom table many times. Since 2019 he has been the Managing Director of The Entrepreneurs’ Funds, a seed-stage Enterprise SaaS venture fund, with portfolio companies in fintech, healthcare, and AI, among others.

As an entrepreneur, Steve has been CEO, CFO, Chief Marketing Officer/VP Marketing, and has led Professional Services for start-ups including Accept Software (sold to Artemis) and KACE Networks (sold to Dell). Steve is also a long-time Executive Fellow of the Digital Strategies Roundtable, a global forum for Fortune-class CIOs, which provides insight into the priorities and problems faced by large-scale enterprises.

As a consultant, he has long focused on go-to-market and growth strategies for B2B SaaS/enterprise software companies, with particular expertise in pricing (more than 75 projects completed). Steve also pulls from his experiences as an investor, Board member, entrepreneur, and consultant to provide CEO and CFO advisory services, including top-level financial models (revenue growth & opex ratios) for investment pitches and operating plans.

Steve has been a guest lecturer on strategy and pricing at Santa Clara University, the Presidio Graduate School, and the Hult International Graduate School, and judges at venture pitch competitions.

Gurdeep is a Finance executive with extensive International and US experience ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. Highly experienced in Financial and Operational management spanning complex global industries, he led the finance integration of a $3.2 Billion acquisition. He has held several Director Finance positions with experience of one of the largest IPO’s in US history. Previous positions include Controller roles for a Research and Development Lab managing the Strategic planning, budgeting and reporting of R&D expenditures ($200m +)

Gurdeep brings an in depth understanding of functions outside of Accounting and Finance having spent several years as a Senior manager of the Pricing Division (BT) responsible for authoritative commercial advice on the development and implementation of Pricing policies bringing products to market. Early in his career he was responsible for developing financial models and evaluating businesses including revenue forecasts and earnings projections, ROI, NPV & Payback

Gurdeep has a BA (Hons) Economics and is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (UK)

Gregory Theyel, Ph.D. is the director of the Biomedical Manufacturing Network (http://www.biomedmfg.org/), which assists biomedical companies in California with firm strategy, product and process design, pilot testing and clinical trials, manufacturing and production planning, and supply chain management. Gregory is a manufacturing engineer with over 20 years of experience helping companies with strategy, product and process design, production planning, and supply chain management. He has assisted over 500 companies as well as started and run his own companies. He has a doctorate from Clark University, has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, and has taught industrial and biomedical engineering and management courses. Gregory was formerly a Senior Research Fellow, at the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom where he was Program Director for the High Value Production Program.

Axel Tillmann is a serial entrepreneur having run a few companies and exited several in Europe as well as in the USA. For the last 10 years he has been coaching, and mentoring startups and companies (all sizes), including the spin-out of a $20B Japanese corporation. Axel is comfortable in many different verticals and has embraced entrepreneurship as a way of life.

His current roles include Co-founding EIR at Pitch Global (recent event pitchglobal.com/cvc and ongoing partner of UC Berkeley Global) and Managing Director of Alpha Consul, where he has launched initiatives that are dedicated to foster entrepreneurship and bring the Silicon Valley Mindset around the world. His initiatives target African Countries, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, South America, and select Eastern and Western European countries.

In the US he is also the founder of the World Summit Global Venture Fund, a fund with a unique investment thesis, the California Inclusivity Fund (CIF) addressing the funding needs of disadvantaged members of society (Black, Latino, Indigenous, Women). Beyond this he serves in various capacities organizations such as Create Impact, National Black Entrepreneurship Project and many startup companies.

Prior roles included CEO of a US arm of a $1B Fund-of-Funds and managing about $150M in portfolio investments. Positive exits included SMI to Intel and BrightSource Energy. His operational experience includes Arcsight (acquired by HP), Azure Technologies (acquired by GN), ENIRA Technology (acquired by ArcSight) to name a few.

An accomplished speaker and author well known for his technical expertise, Mr. Tillmann advises numerous industry organizations and served on several Boards – and steering the companies to success.

In over 30 years as an entrepreneur and consultant, David has founded and managed privately and publicly funded technology companies and has assisted hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses.

He has decades of direct experience in nearly every facet of business, with in-depth knowledge in many areas, including equity capital, leadership, intellectual property (IP), and technology licensing. His companies have won (and lost) multiple Phase I and II SBIR/STTR awards, and for over ten years, he has served as a peer reviewer for SBIR/STTR proposals for a government agency.

He has served on several corporate Boards of Directors and various committees (e.g., IP, advisory, finance, etc.) of businesses, universities, and community organizations. He is semi-retired and most recently served as Director of a Northern California SBDC center.

As a founder, executive, angel investor, and active board member of technology start-ups, Hon has led multiple start-ups through their entire life-cycle from conception and growth to exits through IPOs and M&As. Hon has extensive hands-on experience with all aspects of the start-up process. He has worked with and guided many management teams through the challenges faced by all technology start-ups. These include fund raising, team building, competitive positioning, market and partnership development, pivoting, and go to market strategy formation and execution. Hon has worked with enterprise software, SaaS, cloud infrastructure and manufacturing service companies.