Vetted Chief Executive Officers in California

“Seasoned operator with 20+ years across corporate and startup environments, currently serving as CEO of an AI-powered augmented reality company building a 3D heads-up display for cars. Has raised about $3M pre-Series A and is also advising another AR company on automotive commercialization and Series B fundraising, with a strong VC network in deep tech, mobility, and transportation.”

Daniel Benyamin

Screened

Executive AI and product leader specializing in media, advertising, and data platforms

Los Angeles, CA28y exp

“Serial entrepreneur in marketing and advertising who has founded four companies, most of them venture-backed. Has raised pre-seed and other venture funding multiple times, mentored at Techstars, and brings a strong investor network plus firsthand experience across the VC, accelerator, and launchpad ecosystem.”

“Operations/finance leader who built the internal infrastructure for a personal care company to sell into 35,000 retail stores, spanning contract manufacturing, warehousing/3PL, banking credit facilities, HR policies, marketing ops, and accounting systems (Great Plains, QuickBooks Online). Currently supports a music/entertainment organization, mentoring non-business creatives on business and finance while driving profitability and growth.”

Ofir Baharav

Screened

Executive Chairman/CEO specializing in hardware, SaaS, and industrial technology turnarounds

Los Altos Hills, CA26y exp

“Two-decade CEO/EVP Product operator with multiple founder-level and public-company turnarounds, known for implementing an AOP-driven execution cadence and rigorous decision documentation. Delivered outsized outcomes including 5x trade show performance gains, major reliability improvements (DOA down to ~1–2%), and an 18-month transformation of a shrinking product into the company’s highest-growth/highest-margin line that remained an industry leader for a decade.”

Luke Ryan

Screened

Executive media CEO specializing in franchise strategy, entertainment, gaming, and AI

Los Angeles, CA23y exp

“Entrepreneurial entertainment executive who built a unique company combining best-in-class content strategy and data analytics, scaling it to $4.5M average annual revenue ($5.5M peak) without outside capital at launch. Has hands-on experience leading M&A and capital raises, including interactions with Sequoia, and stands out for building new business models and premium service offerings in traditionally risk-averse environments.”

Inman Breaux

Screened

Executive SaaS & AdTech CEO specializing in AI attribution and mobile growth

San Francisco, CA17y exp

“Mobile-tech entrepreneur building AppQ (mobile.appq.ai), an agentic mobile SDK that optimizes mobile UX in real time to improve Day 1/Day 7 retention by adjusting levers like ad frequency, difficulty, messaging, and artwork. Previously co-founded an SDK-led mobile ad network (invented push notification ads), scaled to 300K+ SDK integrations, and grew revenue from $7M in 10 months to $50M the following year before exiting in 2020.”

“Enterprise SaaS GTM leader who has built and run global SDR teams and outbound playbooks, opened new verticals (manufacturing/shippers), and driven complex multi-stakeholder deals through RFP/POC. Notable wins include breaking into Clorox from cold outreach to RFP/POC, closing $3M (~3x quota) at TiE Silicon Valley, and helping position WiseTech/Blume into Gartner Magic Quadrants while scaling pipeline via channels and a Google co-sell motion.”

“Former high school/college hockey player who spent ~8 years coaching and running strength & conditioning support for NCAA Division I hockey programs (including Yale, Boston College, Harvard). Also coached Team USA Women’s hockey athletes, helping prepare them for pro league tryouts, and is comfortable creating training-tip content on Instagram and YouTube.”

“Full-stack engineer who built and owned a production real-estate search platform (advanced search + saved-search alerts) using Next.js App Router/TypeScript with a NestJS + Postgres + Elasticsearch/Kafka backend. Demonstrated strong performance engineering (map search FPS ~20→60, ~80% latency reduction) and backend scalability (optimized alert-matching queries and orchestrated notification workflows with Airflow/Redis), with measurable post-launch engagement gains (+27% returning users).”

Harold Lehon

Screened

Executive Business Strategy & Operations Leader in Medical Devices, Manufacturing, and Technology

North Hollywood, CA25y exp

“CEO/operator with strong private-equity-facing transformation experience who led post-acquisition integration and cross-functional execution to deliver $4M in annual savings. Built a KPI-driven strategic planning and operating cadence that helped scale CCW from $14M to $50M over 5 years, with external recognition including Inc 5000 (2023) and a 2023 Stevie Award for innovation.”