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Founder Institute Mentors

Southern California 2024

Founder Institute Mentors join weekly feedback sessions, host office hours, and in general provide you feedback every step of the way. In addition, through our Equity Collective, Mentors are invested in the success of your company both during and after the program.

See the list of current and past mentors for the Southern California program below.

Mentors

Aaron Keith

CEO, Buildify Systems

Adam Montgomery

Fundraising Manager, Wefunder

A.J. Noronha

FI Mentor

Al Bsharah

Interlock Capital, Managing Partner

Albert Chow

Principal, Anabatic LLC

Alex Bard

Founder & CEO, Assistly

Alex Green

Founder, Kanshi LLC

Amar Harrag

CEO, Allied Green Realty

Amir Emadi

CEO, Skylift Global

Andrew Gottlieb

Founder & CEO, No Typical Moments

Andy White

Startup Operations, Keshif Ventures

Angel Gambino

Founder, Angel Club

Annie Brown

Founder, Lips

Anton Monk

Co-Founder/ VP of Technology , Entropic Communications

Arcui Usoara

Founder/CEO, Iaculus

Austin Neudecker

Managing Partner, Weave Growth Partners

Aviv Shalgi

CEO, Solar Simplified

Ben Stacey

CEO, Pitchverk

Ben Cote

Mentor, Founder Institute

Bill Fields

NC Market Leader for Venture Debt, Bridge Bank

Bow Rodgers

FI Mentor

Brian Storms

no title, No company

Brian Olearczyk

CRO, RevCult

Bryant Walker

Founder & CEO, TAVO Media Group

Carl Thomas

Chief Revenue and Business Development Officer, Hookit

Carlo Rivis

CEO & Founder, Innovation Discovery

Caroline Arzoo

Partnerships, TurboSBIR

Cassius Kiani

Founder & Head of Product , Mora.com

Chase Harmer

CEO, Wishes

Chintan Oza

Founder, Anantam Ecosystems

Chris Capdevila

Founder & Former CEO, LogicalApps

Chris Carter

CEO & Co Founder, VideoFort

Chris Foltz

Entrepreneur In Residence, Founder Institute + Responsible Solutions Ltd + IRG 100 CMO's & Change Agents

Christina Adams

FI Mentor

Christine "Chrissy" McDannell

Principle, The Magnolia Firm

Cleve Adams

FI Mentor

Coco Sellman

Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Remarkable Ventures

Courtney Gant

CEO & Co-Founder, Skooltopia

Craig Swiatek

FI Mentor

Dan O'neill

VP Engineering, Certona

Dan Chapman

Founder, Dan Chapman Consulting

Dane Drotts

CoFounder, TangoCode

Daniel O'neil

Executive Director, Smart Chicago Collaborative

Daniel Obodovski

Co-founder, Managing Partner, Diosys Technologies LLC

Daniel Arroyo

President & CTO, AstroPrint

Daniel Shires

Consultant, Independent

Darryl Rettig

Co Founder & CTO, DonationMatch

David Stevens

Founder & CEO, Hydroponic Creations

David Metzler

Managing Director, Serenity Ventures

David Steel

CEO, EveryoneLinked

David Baird

FI Mentor

DC Palter

Angel Investor, Tech Coast Angels

Dennis Volpe

Partner, Leadership Research Institute

Ed Cleary

Principal, Root Strategy Group

Ellen Chang

Partner, Lightspeed Innovations

Eric Grab

Aspiring Explorer, Technologist, Advisor, and Coach, Formerly: Amazon, Booz Allen, DivX, Jaunt, San Diego State

Eric Weiss

Executive Coach, Full Cycle Executive Coaching

Fabian Geyrhalter

Founder and Principal, FINIEN

Farooq Anjum, Ph D

Co Founder & CEO, Gro Guru

Flossie Hall

Director Of Community Relations, Stella Labs

Frank Peters

Founder & Host, Frank Peters Show

Frank Mastronuzzi

Founding Partner, Punch Financial

Fred Morrison

CEO, Simplexity

Gary Raju

FI Mentor

Gaurav Bhattacharya

CEO, Involve.ai

Gaurav Bhattacharya

CEO & Co-Founder , Involve.ai

Genevieve Le Marchal

Managing Partner, Suncoast Ventures

George Stepancich

CEO, Invisionate

George Ploss

FI Mentor

Gina Campbell

Strategy & Demand Gen (Direct to Consumer Group), SONY, Formerly DivX, MP3.com.

Grant Creighton

CEO & Founder, LooperLink - LOOPER Golf

Grant Winns

CEO, Yuna

Greg Call

FI Mentor

Greg Moser

President & CTO, ShipCalm

Hayley Evans

Co Founder, Women Making Waves

Ian Suttle

Engineering Director, Google

Irina Kukuyeva PhD

AI due diligence, Kukuyeva Consulting

Iva Teixeira

CEO, The Good Face Project

Jacob Sapochnick

CEO, Sapochnick Law Firm

James Schmachtenberger

CEO, Neurohacker Collective

James Hereford

Co-Founder, Launch Factory

Jason Pang

COO, Bodymatter, Inc.

Jason Liebrecht

VP of Technology, Activbody Inc

Jason Zinn

Partner, Emerged, Inc.

Jeff Smith

CEO, Growth Catalyst

Jennifer Pilcher

Founder & CEO , Strategic Military Communications, LLC

Jenny Rodriguez

CEO & Founder, IVOREEZ

Jess Ewart

Senior Partner, New World Ventures

Jessica Pratt

Senior Vice President of Sales, Pop & Bottle

Jim Carlson

Founder, DFL Technology

Joe Bezdek

Co-founder, DivX, Inc.

John Zdanowski

Co-Founder, Assembled Brands

John Stilo

CFO, Peerlogic Inc

Jon Carder

CoFounder and CEO , Empyr

Jonah Peake

Founder, the Social Coyote

Jose Doval

CEO & Founder , XBand Sports

Juan Toledano

CoFounder, Sundaze

Judy Tsuei

Founder, Wild Hearted Words

Justin Nahama

Partner, FisherBroyles, LLP

Kelly Conkright

Founder, The Brand Terminal

Ken Wahlster

Founder & CEO, BikeBandit.com

Ken Davenport

CEO, Mission Edge

Kim Walpole

Co-Founder / CEO, Trials.ai

Lance Cottrell

Founder, Feel the Boot

Larry Kesslin

Founder, Libr8

Lauren Rowley

Director of Investor Relations, Stella Impact Capital

Leo Spiegel

Managing Partner, Mission Ventures

Lisa Song Sutton

General Partner, The Veteran Fund

Louie Balasny

Director of Tech and VC, First Republic Bank

Lucas Root

Founder, CEO, SGIC Consulting

Mara Rada

Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)

Marc Spencer

Founder, The Recharge Group

Maria Pope

Community Manager, Republic

Mark How

CEO, NewGrowth & Origins eCommerce

Mark Schmid

CEO, Art Function

Mark Divine

Navy SEAL, Author and CEO, Unbeatable, LLC

Martín Martinez

Founding & Executive Director, Founder Institute Texas

Matthew Hedayat

CEO and COO, Stanford Technical Group

Melissa Li

Managing Partner and Head of Community, Dorm Room Fund

Merrin Muxlow

Executive Director, TiE South Coast

Michael Davidovich

Founder, Direct EDI, Inc.

Michael Floyd

Software Engineering and Product Management Leader, Freelance Software Engineering and Product Management Consultant

Michaela Keady

Michaela Keady, Zendesk

Michel Kripalani

CEO, Oceanhouse Media

Mysty Rusk

Executive Director, USD School of Business

Nate Mason

VC, Starburst Aero

Nate Parsons

Limited Partner, The Veteran Fund

Neil Senturia

CEO, Blackbird Ventures

Nektar Baziotis

Founder, ICARUS

Nelly Yusupova

Founder, TechSpeak.co

Nerissa Zhang

CEO, Bright App

Noah Wallach

Founder, Hope OS

Oliver Muoto

FI Mentor

Pablo A. Fernandez

CEO, Secret Table

Parker Harris

CEO, Junto Global

Pat Walsh

FI Mentor

Paula Sweis

Principal, SILVERWEISS International

Pete Biggam

Director / Mentor / Advisor, Founder Institute

Peter Shaw

Managing Director , Procopio Business Advisors

Rafael Kartaszynski

CEO, TechEdge Developers

Ramesh Dontha

FI Mentor

Rebeca Hwang

GP, Kalei Ventures

Regina Bernal

CEO, Trailblazer

Reid Carr

CEO & Founder, Red Door Interactive

Rhana Pytell Kozak

CEO & Founder , BRIGHTERSTEP

Ricardo Dos Santos

Sr Director of New Business Development , Biological Dynamics

Rick Valencia

Founder, ProfitLine

Robert Pruter

Chief Revenue Officer, SPHER, Inc.

Rocco Cortese

President, Entrepreneurs Organization (E.O.)

Roger Rappoport

Partner, Procopio

Rosie Arango

COO, Bright App

Rupak Doshi

CEO, TurboSBIR

Russell Brand

CEO & Founder, Responsible Solutions Limited

Russell Wardhaugh

PEO Consultant, TriNet

Ryan Tseng

Co Founder, Warehouse Innovations

Ryan Micheletti

Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute

Safa Aliabadi

Managing Director- Innovation & Tech Banking , Citizens Private Bank

Sagar Pande

Co-founder, Blaze Power

Sameer Sortur

Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures

Sara Ledterman

General Partner, 3+ Ventures

Sarah Apsel

Angel Investor, 37 Angels

Scot Chisholm

CEO & Chairman, StayClassy

Scott Davis

Director of Veteran Entrepreneuership, PenFed Foundation

Shahi Ghanem

Managing Director, WI Harper Group

Shahin Enayati

Managing Director, Made Noble Corporation

Shaiwal Priyadarshi

CTO, Co-Founder, MetaMedia

Shaun Alger

CRO, Volohaus

Stacey Cooper

Partner, Stacey Cooper Law

Steven Morley

Business Advisor, Success4Execs

Stuart Volkow

Program Manager, UCSD

Taj Adhav

Founder, Leasecake

Tarun Gulati

Founder & CEO, Adios

Tay Nguyen

Owner, Gate Consulting

Tirrell Payton

Tirrell Payton - Founder & CEO, Kaliki (San Diego FI), Kaliki

Todd Goldstein

EVP, Global Partnerships & Business Development, Talent Inc.

Tom Walpole

CTO, TrialsAi

Trevor Longino

Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers

Troy Hazard

Global President, Entrepreneurs Organization

Ty Vachon

CEO, ORA Informatics

Tyson Mc Dowell

President, Avadyne Health

Yann Deredec

CEO, Yama Group

Yemi Oluseun

Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive

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