The Executive

Aerospace is on the brink of an electronic revolution, and at the forefront is Nate Millecam, Co-Founder & CEO of EP Systems. With a bold vision to electrify aviation and beyond, EP Systems has secured over $100M in funding and partnered with top names to make fully electric aircraft a reality. We sit down with Nate to discuss his journey from a traditional aerospace giant to leading one of th...

Rob Huberty, former Navy SEAL and Co-Founder & COO of ZeroEyes. Rob shares how his proximity to previous shooting tragedies and military experience led him and his co-founders to create an AI-powered solution that's revolutionizing gun detection and prevention.

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 start...

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 a...

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 d...

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 mult...

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...

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 co...

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...

Hadi Chaudhry is the CEO & President at CareCloud, a publicly traded healthcare technology company. Hadi was an early employee at CareCloud where he rose the ranks helping take the company public and eventually becoming CEO. He has over 20 years of experience in the industry, and has been at the forefront of driving innovation and efficiency in healthcare management.

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 resea...

Shannon Erley, F ounder & CEO of Pomp a groundbreaking platform connecting estheticians with their clients through technology in the beauty industry. She shares her journey from frustration with the crowded beauty market to building a resilient company that attracted major investors, including the Zuckerberg family when it seemed like they were at the end of their rope.

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 Innovat...

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 o...

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 &...

Robert Jacks has 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has founded or co-founded multiple companies and raised more than $170 million with several successful exits. He is now the President & CEO of Sparrow Pharmaceuticals which is developing targeted therapies for serious disorders of steroid excess and raised a $50M Series A in 2021.

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 wa...

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 do...

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...

Molly Harper, Chief Business Officer of Synlogic, a biotechnology company that went public in 2021 through a reverse merger with Mirna Therapeutics raising an additional $40M after $100M in venture capital funding. Molly is also a member of the Board of Directors for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals and PreciseDX. Molly attended Wharton for her MBA, Healthcare Management, and Bachelor of Arts from Cornell...

Vlad Vitoc is the Founder & CEO of MAIA, an immune-oncology company, focused on the development of first-in-class drugs with novel mechanisms of action that are intended to meaningfully improve and extend the lives of people with cancer. Vlad and his team took MAIA public successfully in 2022 in one of the most difficult IPO markets in recent years.

Hans Keirstead is a serial entrepreneur and currently the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Aivita Biomedical, a biotechnology company developing personalized vaccines for the prevention of infectious disease and treatment of cancer. He has now founded four biotechnology companies with successful exits in his previous three companies.  Dr. Keirstead also holds Board positions in several prominent biot...

Mani Mohindru, CEO of Novasenta has a non-traditional career path, starting as a scientist studying immune cells in the context of autoimmune diseases. She later worked in investment banking, which exposed her to different therapeutic areas, treatment modalities, and a full view of what a company can grow into. She then transitioned to the operations side of public biotechs as Chief Strategy Offic...

Brian Finrow is the CEO of Lumen Bioscience, where they are reinventing how biologic drugs are made. Dissimilar to a lot of Bioscience CEO’s, Brian comes from the legal industry having graduated from Harvard and spent over 8 years at Cooley. Lumen's patented technology allows them to use the well-known food algae spirulina to deliver therapeutic proteins.

Ed Messman is the CEO of Rook Capital, a company that's on a mission to make home ownership and affordability more attainable for the next generation of home owners and real estate investors. He brings his experience in finance and building startups to lead his team with authenticity, getting them on board to make a big impact in what many have found to be a right of passage they've been barred fr...