Founder Institute Mentors

Veteran and Military Family Fall 2025

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 Veteran and Military Family program below.

Mentors

Neil Senturia

CEO, Blackbird Ventures

Anton Monk

Co-Founder/ VP of Technology , Entropic Communications

Alex Bard

Founder & CEO, Assistly

Jon Carder

CoFounder and CEO , Empyr

Rick Valencia

Founder, ProfitLine

Chris Capdevila

Founder & Former CEO, LogicalApps

Leo Spiegel

Managing Partner, Mission Ventures

Joe Bezdek

Co-founder, DivX, Inc.

Kelly Perdew

Cofounder, Moonshots Capital

Peter Shaw

Managing Director , Procopio Business Advisors

Troy Hazard

Global President, Entrepreneurs Organization

Ken Wahlster

Founder & CEO, BikeBandit.com

Tyson Mc Dowell

President, Avadyne Health

Frank Peters

Founder & Host, Frank Peters Show

Cleve Adams

FI Mentor

Reid Carr

CEO & Founder, Red Door Interactive

Jason Pang

COO, Bodymatter, Inc.

Albert Chow

Principal, Anabatic LLC

Daniel O'neil

Executive Director, Smart Chicago Collaborative

Kim Walpole

Co-Founder / CEO, Trials.ai

Ricardo Dos Santos

Sr Director of New Business Development , Biological Dynamics

Derrick Oien

FI Mentor

Marcos Polanco

CEO, Deedit

Dan O'neill

VP Engineering, Certona

Brian Storms

no title, No company

Scot Chisholm

CEO & Chairman, StayClassy

Pat Walsh

FI Mentor

Tirrell Payton

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

Michael Davidovich

Founder, Direct EDI, Inc.

Fabian Geyrhalter

Founder and Principal, FINIEN

Jose Doval

CEO & Founder , XBand Sports

Daniel Obodovski

Co-founder, Managing Partner, Diosys Technologies LLC

Roger Rappoport

Partner, Procopio

Courtney Gant

CEO & Co-Founder, Skooltopia

Al Bsharah

Interlock Capital, Managing Partner

Ryan Tseng

Co Founder, Warehouse Innovations

Grant Creighton

CEO & Founder, LooperLink - LOOPER Golf

Rhana Pytell Kozak

CEO & Founder , BRIGHTERSTEP

Andy White

Startup Operations, Keshif Ventures

Matthew Hedayat

CEO and COO, Stanford Technical Group

Frank Mastronuzzi

Founding Partner, Punch Financial

Ben Stacey

CEO, Pitchverk

Daniel Arroyo

President & CTO, AstroPrint

Tom Walpole

CTO, TrialsAi

Ken Davenport

CEO, Mission Edge

Ryan Micheletti

Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute

Gaurav Bhattacharya

CEO, Jeeva. AI

Carl Thomas

Chief Revenue and Business Development Officer, Hookit

Gaurav Bhattacharya

CEO & Co-Founder , Involve.ai

Darryl Rettig

Co Founder & CTO, DonationMatch

Carlos Romero

Florida Director, Founder Institute

Bow Rodgers

FI Mentor

Mark Haney

CEO , HaneyBiz

Martín Martinez

Founding & Executive Director, Founder Institute Texas

Annie Brown

Founder, Lips

Ellen Chang

Partner, Lightspeed Innovations

Amir Emadi

CEO, Airwai

Trevor Longino

Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers

Jenny Rodriguez

CEO & Founder, IVOREEZ

Farooq Anjum, Ph D

Co Founder & CEO, Gro Guru

Taj Adhav

Founder, Leasecake

Iva Teixeira

CEO, The Good Face Project

Lauren Postler

Founder & Managing Partner, Solution Focused

Steven Morley

Business Advisor, Success4Execs

David Stevens

Founder & CEO, Hydroponic Creations

Sarah Apsel

Angel Investor, 37 Angels

Mysty Rusk

Executive Director, USD School of Business

Chris Carter

CEO & Co Founder, VideoFort

Jerome Soucy

People & Operations, Hykso FightCamp

Christine "Chrissy" McDannell

Principle, The Magnolia Firm

Brad Feld

Managing Director, Foundry Group

Court Lorenzini

Co-founder, CEO, DocuSign

Russell Brand

CEO & Founder, Responsible Solutions Limited

Tucker Hamilton

Commander, F-35 Integrated Test Force, US Air Force

Adam Spector

CEO & Founder, levy

Pete Biggam

Director / Mentor / Advisor, Founder Institute

Chase Harmer

CEO, Wishes

Rupak Doshi

CEO, TurboSBIR

Irina Kukuyeva PhD

AI due diligence, Kukuyeva Consulting

Mara Rada

Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)

Derren Burrell

Venture Capitalist, Veteran Ventures

Lance Cottrell

Founder, Feel the Boot

Sameer Sortur

Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures

Saba Karim

Entrepreneur & Investor, Techstars

Abdellah Aouf

Chief Executive Officer, GO PLATFORM

Jennifer Pilcher

Founder & CEO , Strategic Military Communications, LLC

Carlo Rivis

CEO & Founder, Innovation Discovery

Taylor Mc Lemore

Managing Director, Techstars

Genevieve Le Marchal

Managing Partner, Suncoast Ventures

Emily McMahan

Partner, Academy Investor Network

Chris Foltz

Global Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Founder Institute

Noah Wallach

Founder, Hope OS

Stanley McChrystal

CEO and CoFounder, McChrystal Group

Aviv Shalgi

CEO, Solar Simplified

Vern Chan

Certified Startup Coach, Your Pivot

Florent Groberg

Azure Global Government Expansion, Microsoft

Greg Call

FI Mentor

Mike Sherbakov

General Partner, The Veteran Fund

Michael Floyd

Founder, CTO, CPO, Freelance

James Schmachtenberger

CEO, Neurohacker Collective

Jason Liebrecht

CTO, Radicle Science

Chintan Oza

Founder, Anantam Ecosystems

Dr. Raashid Saiyed

Founder , Centre for Research in Human Nature

Ben Cote

Mentor, Founder Institute

Justin Renfro

Director of Partnerships, WeFunder

David Metzler

Managing Director, Serenity Ventures

Justin Nahama

Founding Partner, Pierson Ferdinand

Pablo A. Fernandez

CEO, Secret Table

Austin Neudecker

Managing Partner, Weave Growth Partners

Eric Grab

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

Yann Deredec

CEO, Yama Group

Shaun Alger

CRO, Volohaus

David Steel

CEO, EveryoneLinked

Jason Zinn

Partner, Emerged, Inc.

Michel Kripalani

CEO, Oceanhouse Media

Moaz Hamid

founding partner, mvmt ventures

Amar Harrag

CEO, Allied Green Realty

Mark How

CEO, NewGrowth & Origins eCommerce

Jacob Sapochnick

CEO, Sapochnick Law Firm

Larry Kesslin

Founder, Libr8

Judy Tsuei

Founder, Wild Hearted Words

Aaron Keith

CEO, Buildify Systems

Andrew Gottlieb

Founder & CEO, No Typical Moments

Jonah Peake

Founder, the Social Coyote

James Africano

General Partner, Regolith Ventures

Jessica Pratt

Senior Vice President of Sales, Pop & Bottle

Ty Vachon

CEO, ORA Informatics

Parker Harris

CEO, Junto Global

Ed Cleary

Principal, Root Strategy Group

Mark Schmid

CEO, Art Function

Ian Suttle

Engineering Director, Google

Gina Campbell

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

Shaiwal Priyadarshi

CTO, Co-Founder, MetaMedia

Shahin Enayati

Managing Director, Made Noble Corporation

Lauren Rowley

Director of Investor Relations, Stella Impact Capital

Shahi Ghanem

Managing Director, WI Harper Group

Neal Bloom

Managing Partner, Interlock Capital

Regina Bernal

CEO, Trailblazer

Rocco Cortese

President, Entrepreneurs Organization (E.O.)

Jon Carder

CEO, Vessel Health

Rosie Arango

COO, Bright App

Brian Ford

Partnership Director, Founder Institute San Diego

Merrin Muxlow

Executive Director, TiE South Coast

Fred Morrison

CEO, Simplexity

Craig Swiatek

FI Mentor

James Hereford

Co-Founder, Launch Factory

Jeff Smith

CEO, Growth Catalyst

John Zdanowski

Co-Founder, Assembled Brands

Mario Mitchell

Ecosystem Developer / Scout Fund Developer, Dear Mama Fund

Greg Moser

President & CTO, ShipCalm

Mark Divine

Navy SEAL, Author and CEO, Unbeatable, LLC

Tim Hsia

Managing Partner, Context VC

Stacey Cooper

Partner, Stacey Cooper Law

Samuel Riehn

Chief Executive Officer, SBIR Advisors Inc.

John Stilo

CFO, Peerlogic Inc

Craig Cummings

General Partner, Moonshots Captial

Brian Olearczyk

CRO, RevCult

Lee Mills

CEO, Pixly

Lucas Root

Founder, CEO, SGIC Consulting

Sanjaykumar Patel

Founder & Principal IP Attorney, EXCELON IP - Patent & Trademark Attorneys

Caroline Arzoo

Partnerships, TurboSBIR

Bryant Walker

Founder & CEO, TAVO Media Group

George Stepancich

CEO, Invisionate

Maria Pope

Community Manager, Republic

Lisa Song Sutton

General Partner, The Veteran Fund

Paula Sweis

Principal, SILVERWEISS International

Michaela Keady

Michaela Keady, Zendesk

Alex Green

Founder, Kanshi LLC

Tay Nguyen

Owner, Gate Consulting

Tarun Gulati

Founder & CEO, Contemplate

Melissa Li

Managing Partner and Head of Community, Dorm Room Fund

Dane Drotts

CoFounder, TangoCode

Nelly Yusupova

Founder, TechSpeak.co

Sara Ledterman

General Partner, 3+ Ventures

Flossie Hall

Director Of Community Relations, Stella Labs

Dave Tompkins

Founder, 550 Capital Partners

DC Palter

Angel Investor, Tech Coast Angels

Jim Carlson

Founder, DFL Technology

Cassius Kiani

Founder & Head of Product , Mora.com

Stuart Volkow

COO, Pulse Space

Adam Montgomery

Fundraising Manager, Wefunder

Mike Steadman

CEO, IRONBOUND Media

Todd Goldstein

EVP, Global Partnerships & Business Development, Talent Inc.

Coco Sellman

Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Remarkable Ventures

Louie Balasny

Director of Tech and VC, First Republic Bank

Bardia Moayedi

Partner, Snell & Wilmer

Eric Weiss

Executive Coach, Full Cycle Executive Coaching

Juan Toledano

CoFounder, Sundaze

Jess Ewart

Senior Partner, New World Ventures

Kelly Conkright

Founder, The Brand Terminal

Rishi Sharma

West Coast Lead , Newlin VC

Yemi Oluseun

Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive

Scott Davis

Director of Veteran Entrepreneuership, PenFed Foundation

Bill Fields

NC Market Leader for Venture Debt, Bridge Bank

Brandon Noel

Entrpreneur, Data Droplets Inc.

Hayley Evans

Co Founder, Women Making Waves

Vladimir Pletyukhin

Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck

Nektar Baziotis

Founder, ICARUS

Robert Pruter

Chief Revenue Officer/Co-Founder, SPHER, Inc.

Christina Adams

FI Mentor

Alexa Ramos

Marketing, Individual

Rafael Kartaszynski

CEO, TechEdge Dynamics

Ernestine Fu

General Partner, Brave Capital

Marc Spencer

Founder, The Recharge Group

Nate Mason

VC, Starburst Aero

Nate Parsons

Limited Partner, The Veteran Fund

Daniel Shires

Consultant, Independent

Joshua Awad

FI Mentor

Dennis Volpe

Partner, Leadership Research Institute

A.J. Noronha

FI Mentor

Angel Gambino

Founder, Angel Club

Sagar Pande

Co-founder, Blaze Power

Jeffrey Martinez

FI Mentor

Joris Delanoue

FI Mentor

Russell Wardhaugh

PEO Consultant, TriNet

Gary Raju

FI Mentor

Jesse S

Principal, Terra Legacy

Chris Stott

Founder and CEO, Lonestar Data

Oliver Muoto

FI Mentor

George Ploss

FI Mentor

David Baird

FI Mentor

Ramesh Dontha

FI Mentor

Dan Chapman

Founder, Dan Chapman Consulting

Rebeca Hwang

GP, Kalei Ventures

Safa Aliabadi

Managing Director- Innovation & Tech Banking , Citizens Private Bank

Tim Poydenis

Co-Head of Emerging Companies and Venture Capital, Holland & Knight

Grant Winns

CEO, Yuna

Anshul Shah

Head of Accounting and CFO Partnerships, Brex

Chad Cazel

Managing Partner, Blackwing VC

Pete DiSalvo

Founding Partner, Blackwing Ventures

Marcus Haney

CEO, Allegiant Vets

Tanaka Mawindi

FI Mentor

Erik Smolinski

FI Mentor

Rhett Jeppson

Military and Veterans Affairs - Director of External Programs, JP Morgan Chase

Jeff Balka

Business Growth & Entrepreneurship Lead - Military & Veterans Affairs, JP Morgan Chase

Joshua Pacheco

Associate, Military & Veteran Affairs, JP Morgan Chase

Brandon Noel

CEO, Droplets

Rod Loges

CEO, One Degree Financial

Nathan Gray

FI Mentor

Jenni Wu

FI Mentor

Jon Turdiev

Senior Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services

Brendan Aronson

CEO, The Military Veteran

Michael Segal

Managing Attorney, Eagle Law Group, P.C.

Gary Peterson

CEO, AllSeater

Tony Murphy

Founder & Principal, Ask Tony

Dave Saxton

FI Mentor

Bill Nelson

President & Technical Advisor, Targeted Performance

Sean O'brien

FI Mentor

David Reid

CEO, Terra Arma

Tai Hutchinson

FI Mentor

Jessica Chew

FI Mentor

Sharia Huda

FI Mentor

Wellington Pak

FI Mentor

Chelsea Glaser

Brand & Creative Strategist, www.chelseaglaser.com

Jay Velasco

Venture Outreach Manager, The Alliance for SoCal Innovation

Jaye Pharrell

FI Mentor

Leonor Cogneau

UX Consultant & Founder, Clario Consulting

Jacques Chirazi

Director of Student Entrepreneurship , UC San Diego

Rachel Rodriguez

Speaker Coach, Executive Communication & Leadership Coach, Rachel Rodriguez Consulting

James Wilson

FI Mentor

Aaron Stetson

Former Director of Solution Innovation, Army Applications Laboratory (AAL)

Mohammed Kashif

Senior Quality Assurance Automation Engineer, Department of Motor Vehicles

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