Vetted Chief Executive Officers in California

“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.”

Harold Lehon

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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.”

“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).”

Richard Adams

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Executive Technology Leader (CEO/CTO) specializing in IoT, wireless audio, and connected devices

Los Angeles, California24y exp

“Repeat entrepreneur with multiple exits who emphasizes rigorous pre-build market research and customer discovery to validate product-market fit. Previously built Hygiene IQ for restaurant/hospitality markets and describes an end-to-end process from prototyping and MVP testing through supply chain. Currently has a pitch deck for an AI-enabled holistic companion for healthy aging (physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing).”

“30-year Silicon Valley startup veteran who built Pratexo, an intelligent edge analytics company focused on the energy transition, raised $15M in seed funding, and landed a major partnership with ABB. He has spent the last decade continuously advising startups and brings deep familiarity with VC and accelerator ecosystems including YC and ABB's SynerLeap.”

Richard Bemis

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Executive CIO/CTO/CDO specializing in data, AI/ML, and digital transformation

Long Beach, CA21y exp

“Founder building a healthcare provider data management startup who has progressed from problem identification to product architecture, patent filing, prototype development, beta customer outreach, and angel fundraising. They also have experience performing technical assessments for VCs and approach company-building with a structured focus on customer demand, risk mitigation, IP protection, and candid core-team formation.”

“Pre-seed founder (pre-product) building a new enterprise control layer for AI-enabled organizations focused on governed autonomy and decision-cycle compression; thesis formalized in their book "The Decision Velocity Era." Former CEO of Evaluation Solutions who built an internal proprietary operating system, proved it in live operations, commercialized it as SaaS, and enabled growth to $120M+ in contracted revenue.”

“AI product leader working at TAU Ventures Innovation Lab and previously at Verint and NYSHEX, with a track record of turning legacy and ambiguous AI opportunities into shippable, human-centered products. Notably led Verint’s evolution into a low-code AI orchestration platform with 20+ capabilities and measurable gains in CSAT, handle time, and recurring revenue, while consistently emphasizing trust, workflow fit, and human-in-the-loop design.”