The Executive

Meet Richard Tame, a seasoned finance executive who is now serving as the CFO of Coeus Institute, an AI data driven analysis company. His journey across various industries and renowned corporations, from British Airways to tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Lyft, has been marked by a wealth of diverse experiences. With a standout tenure as CFO at Aurora, the groundbreaking autonomous vehicle startup, Richard navigated the complexit...

Jackson Moses is a successful serial entrepreneur and early defense tech investor. He currently serves as the Founder and Managing Partner of Silent Ventures, an early stage venture firm investing in aerospace, defense, and national security startups including Anduril, Castelion, Chaos, Hadrian, and Saronic. Prior to launching Silent Ventures, Jackson founded MainStreet and Spectrum Labs, later acquired by ActiveFence. Between bo...

Dr. Seth Lederman, CEO and Chairman of Tonix Pharmaceuticals, shares insights into his journey from medical practice to pharmaceutical entrepreneurship. From his early days combating the AIDS epidemic to specializing in rheumatology and fibromyalgia research, Dr. Lederman discusses the lessons learned from founding and leading Tonix Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Lederman offers valuable insights into the dynamics of drug development an...

Jeff Hart is a partner at AE Industrial Partners, a Private Equity firm with over $6 Billion in AUM that has invested in some of the most exciting aerospace, security, and industrial companies across the country including Firefly Aerospace, Sierra Space, and York Space Systems. Jeff has spearheaded the Aerospace & Defense sector within the firm with his partner Bryan McElwee and has taken multiple companies public including R...

Justus Kilian, Managing Partner at Space Capital, discusses how to create a culture of excellence, why Elon Musk interviewed the first 1,000 hires at Tesla, and how to find your dream mentor. Space Capital is a venture firm at the forefront of the Tech-Space intersection, boasting a robust portfolio with over $100 million in assets under management. With a steadfast commitment to innovation, Space Capital has joined forces with v...

Meagan Murphy Crawford, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SpaceFund, which has invested in over 20 Aerospace companies including SpaceX, Axiom Space, and Voyager Space. Meagan also co-founded the world’s longest running space business plan competition, and has taught, coached, and advised hundreds of space startups through their earliest stages – including some of the most successful aerospace companies around today.

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Andrea Hippeau is a Partner at Lerer Hippeau, an early-stage venture capital fund that has invested in some of the most forward thinking brands - Warby Parker, Allbirds, Cotopaxi, Casper, and Thrive. Andrea shares what traits all the best founders have, what her investor matrix is, how she uses her network, how founders should leverage their investors, and what her number one focus would be if she was starting all over again in v...

Matthew Price, COO of Promontory Therapeutics is an experienced biotech entrepreneur / C-level executive, and the only company co-founder named a 2022 Emerging Pharma Leader by Pharmaceutical Executive. He is responsible for industry collaborations with Pfizer and Merck KGaA, and for Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute. He previously held research and managerial roles in the NG...

Erik Mitisek, Co-Founder & President of Highwing, the first open data platform for commercial insurance. Highwing spun out of IMA Financial Group with a $4M seed round led by BRP Group and BrokerTech Ventures. Erik has over 2+ decades of operating as a c-suite executive, and founder of numerous companies. Erik was the Co-Founder of The Commons on Champa & Denver Startup Week, Chief Innovation Officer for the Governor John...

Joanna Arras joined Baird Capital in 2014, a venture capital investor focused on early- and expansion-stage companies that leverage technology to solve business problems or just make life easier. She is also currently a board member of ChurnZero, Circonus, FullContact, and SourceDay and was previously a board member of Appcast, Startwire, and Autobooks. She has also previously served as a board observer of HouseCall Pro, Hireolog...

Jennifer Henderson is the Founder and CEO of Tilt, a venture-backed SaaS platform that redefines the employee leave experience. Based on her own experience of leave being a career killer, Jennifer decided to change that narrative and create a platform that allows employees to take the necessary time when life happens. Prior to founding Tilt, Jennifer was the Director of Operations at Noodles & Company and is a Board Member for...

Dr. Marcelo Bigal, President and CEO of Ventus Therapeutics, a company that expects to become the leader in the field of using precision medicine to identify subsets of patients with severe chronic neurological conditions. Prior to Ventus, Dr. Marcelo held multiple positions in the industry, including CSO at Teva, leading a group of over 1,300 people, as well as CMO of Purdue. Prior to Teva, he was also the CMO at Labrys Biologic...

Monica Palko, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer of York Space Systems. She discusses how leadership is not a one-size-fits-all approach, how to advance in an organization, and what trait surprised her the most in a great founder. York Space Systems, who design and manufacture space systems, is one of the fastest growing aerospace companies in the country. They were awarded a $382 Million dollar contract with the Department...

Kelly Hennig, Chief Operating Officer of Stoke Space, one of the fastest growing aerospace companies developing reusable rockets to provide the satellite industry with low-cost, on-demand access to and from any orbit. Stoke’s investors include NFX, MaC Ventures, YC, Seven Seven Six Ventures, and several others. Prior to Stoke Space, she was an Engineering Executive at Raytheon Technologies for two years and the Chief Engineer at...