Vetted Mentors in California

Jim Woodroffe

Screened

Executive Engineering Leader (CTO/VP) specializing in scaling platforms, AI, and cloud infrastructure

San Francisco, CA24y exp

“Entrepreneurial operator who previously built an AI context layer for personal communication/relationships and has worked with a New York-based venture group to evaluate early-stage ideas from both technical and business angles. Currently exploring broad startup opportunities and collaborating with 2–3 early-stage companies, with a structured approach to assessing market outcomes, competition, and team fit.”

“CTO-minded builder seeking to join a startup; previously created an AI-driven platform that abstracted away DevOps and infrastructure for drug discovery researchers. Emphasizes high-leverage, zero-to-one execution with managed cloud/open-source tooling, and a strong reliability/reproducibility mindset validated against existing scientific pipelines.”

Aidan Anderson

Screened

Director-level engineering leader specializing in AI, security, and FinTech SaaS

California, USA12y exp

“Engineer and bootstrap founder who has worked across roughly five venture-backed startups from pre-seed through Series E. He combines hands-on startup execution with strong judgment around product-market fit, founder fit, and customer validation, while independently building profitable, self-owned micro SaaS ventures on the side.”

“Venture investing/sourcing professional who runs a high-volume, systematized founder outreach motion across warm intros, accelerators, social outbound, and databases (PitchBook/Crunchbase), targeting ~50 personalized founder touchpoints weekly. Uses AI workflows to build targeted lists and monitor company updates, and has converted highly contextual outbound into qualified diligence opportunities (e.g., industrial automation/frontline productivity). Values long-term founder relationships pre-raise through consistent value-add and is motivated by growth toward a partner track.”

Stephan Thomas

Screened

Executive growth strategist specializing in technology, M&A, and digital manufacturing

San Francisco, CA25y exp

“Repeat founder who has co-founded two companies and sold the most recent one three years ago. Currently exploring a fintech-style debt management tool for SMBs focused on covenant monitoring, reporting, and forecasting, and is still in customer discovery with a mock demo and landing page. Brings a thoughtful, customer-first approach to evaluating startup ideas and a solid understanding of how venture studios support companies from 0 to 1.”

Iasha King

Screened

Director-level talent relations and booking professional in sports, entertainment, and fitness

Los Angeles, CA9y exp

“Operator focused on founder sourcing, screening, and partnership development across accelerator and enterprise innovation programs. They helped drive nearly 300 applications and 75 founder calls for the Real California Milk accelerator, and managed a P&G founder engagement in the AI/marketing space that ultimately led to an investment.”