Hire the Best Startup Consultants in California

I have a history of high success in both the corporate and startup worlds: - Founded Hiperwall, grew it into a global multi-million-dollar business without investors - Managed Zetera global sales, marketing and manufacturing, helped raise over $20M - Part of the 4 person team that launched the Westinghouse line of LCD televisions - Oversaw a corporate turn-around at Premier mounts, restoring profitability and growth - Grew Canon computer sales by over 20% while increasing gross margin by 13% - Increased Compaq notebook sales by 50% to $500M annually in less than 1 year - Received a Silver Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America, their highest award I began my career as a software engineer, working for large enterprises like McDonnell Douglass and Xerox, as well as startup Dayflo, named software company of the year by PC Magazine. Over time, I transitioned to a technical marketing role, then through product management, brand management, strategic planning and eventually into general management. In 2000 I shifted my focus to the world of hi-tech startups. Since that time, I have worked exclusively for emerging companies as a consultant, employee, advisor, board member or founder. I am an adjunct college professor, teaching start-up skills to would-be entrepreneurs. I hold multiple granted patents, with additional patents pending, and am a published author whose work has appeared in preeminent publications such as PC Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, PC Computing and Digital Signage Magazine.

🚀 Fractional CTO & Tech Innovator - Entrepreneur and problem solver in different industries and tech stacks. - I provide technical leadership when it's needed, especially for non-technical folks. - Track record of helping founders raise > $3M. - Managed teams in all sizes, from 3 to 50. - Shipped hundreds of digital products (mobile, web apps and AI chatbots). - Built over 20 AI agents to automate business processes. . - I built my own Bitcoin farm at my home lab. - I design & build electronic boards for fun. - I love good design and frontend development. 🛳 What I Deliver - I'm an "expert generalist" with experience in different aspects of technology and business. - I represent non-technical founders, align business + tech, and ensure deadlines are met. - Team Building: Built and led teams of 5–40 engineers, delivering hundreds of web/mobile apps. - Cost-Effective Architecture: Designed systems that scale to tens of thousands of users while reducing infra spend. - Full-Stack Development: React, Vue, Next.js, React Native, Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, AWS/GCP. - IoT & Embedded Systems – BLE, Raspberry Pi, Nordic nRF, Jetson Nano; custom PCB design and real-time data platforms. - Data & Analytics – ETL/ELT pipelines, Snowflake, Redshift, Tableau, advanced visualizations. 🤖 AI Tech Stacks I Play With - LLMs & Frameworks – OpenAI GPT-4/5, Anthropic Claude, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel - Vector Databases – Pinecone, Weaviate, Milvus, Redis, pgvector - Infra for AI – Kubernetes, Ray, Modal, Vercel AI SDK, Hugging Face Spaces - Gen AI Media – Stable Diffusion / Flux, Midjourney, RunwayML, ElevenLabs (voice), Pika Labs (video) - MLOps – MLflow, Weights & Biases, TensorBoard, Prefect, Dagster - RAG Pipelines – embeddings, hybrid search, chunking, retrieval orchestration - Python AI Stack – PyTorch, TensorFlow, Transformers, scikit-learn - Specialized AI – computer vision (OpenCV, YOLOv8), speech-to-text (Whisper), recommendation engines - Chatbots & Agents – LangChain Agents, AutoGPT, CrewAI.

I help founders, startups, and growth-stage teams turn complex opportunities into clear strategy, sharper positioning, stronger brands, and executable plans. I’m a global startup advisor, serial entrepreneur, and Yale MBA with 20+ years of experience advising entrepreneurs and building businesses across AI, consumer, marketplaces, membership, loyalty, Web3, travel, financial services, real estate, retail, and emerging markets. I’ve advised 1,000+ founders and operators, traveled to 100+ countries, and worked across industries where the right strategy depends on understanding markets, customers, competition, incentives, timing, taste, and how people actually behave. Clients usually come to me when they need clarity on one or more of these: • Startup strategy, positioning, and business model design • Brand strategy, messaging, narrative, and market feel • AI-era opportunities, workflows, and market strategy • Go-to-market, growth, loyalty, membership, and rewards models • Pitch decks, investor narratives, financial models, and strategic plans • Competitive strategy, pricing, customer psychology, and execution priorities Earlier in my career, I managed Membership Rewards partnerships and card strategy at American Express, including work across the Black, Platinum, and Gold Card portfolios. I have an MBA from Yale and a BA from Cornell. My strength is taking messy, high-stakes business questions and turning them into structured clarity: what matters, what does not, where the leverage is, and what to do next. A lot of my work sits where strategy, brand, UX, incentives, and execution meet: finding the angle, the story, the feel, and the business logic that make something click. I’m a game theory thinker and former professional poker player, so I pay close attention to incentives, competition, risk, uncertainty, and whether a business is being looked at honestly, not just optimistically. I also genuinely enjoy this work. I like big ideas, weird markets, ambitious founders, sharp strategy, strong brands, good design, and figuring out what is really going on beneath the surface of a business. Personally, I’m a lifelong athlete, avid traveler, and deeply curious about food, language, culture, cities, markets, and how people think in different parts of the world. Hablo español. Je parle français.

Howdy! I am a seasoned commercial real estate advisor specializing in contract creation/negotiation and investment analysis that also loves helping businesses grow and develop new strategies from a high-level technical standpoint, whether it's product development or financial strategy. I'm looking forward to hearing what your goals are and assisting you in your project. —$1B+ in real estate asset underwriting and due diligence —Real estate tech co founder x2 (data science and valuation) —10 years in real estate development, management, legal & financial advisory —7 years web product development and deployment —4 years blockchain governance and innovation

🏆 Featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal, Bisnow and Costar. Financial & Business Consultant with expertise in: ✅Financial Modeling: Advanced models for budgeting, forecasting, and investment analysis. ✅Business Planning: Comprehensive plans for startups and established businesses, including market analysis and strategic road maps. Why Choose Me? ✅Successfully supported over 1000 clients globally. ✅Precision in financial data, ensuring accuracy and reliability. ✅Tailored strategies to meet specific business needs. ✅Commitment to meeting deadlines with top-quality work.

I work with startups and growth stage companies to help them succeed with their capital raise. My experience comes from vetting thousands startups for an investor network that hosted pitch competitions all over North America. Less than 1% survived my screening, but those that did went on to raise a collective $100M from angel and professional investors. I've coached hundreds of entrepreneurs including Y Combinator graduates, Fortune500 executives, serial entrepreneurs, and first-time founders. I also hold a law degree from a US accredited law school. Rates negotiable based on scope of work. Offered services: - Capital raise advising - Pitch deck storytelling, mock investor Q&A - Fundraising strategy - Financial and valuation analysis - Business plans - Due diligence preparation - Contract review