Lauren is with Sutherland Labs, and she also mentors Founders Space startups.

She brings the world of ideas and reality together.

Over the past 10 years, she launched growth and design-driven products for startups and enterprise clients.

She specializes in product discovery and development, leveraging design thinking jobs-to-be-done, and agile and lean startup methodologies. Prior to Joining Sutherland Labs, she worked in management consulting and banking.

Shauna is with Sutherland Labs, and she also mentors Founders Space startups.

She is a curious designer, thinker, and doer.

She has a PhD in Sustainable Design and a background in design and engineering. She has worked as a researcher, designer, and strategy consultant for startups and non-profits in Western Europe, the U.S., and SE Asia.

Lisa Ma joined Founders Space as a mentor. She is Senior Director of Global Programs at LivePerson, and drives customer acquisition, product usage and revenue growth through implementation of programs and messaging products to enable brands to engage with consumers via live chat, SMS or mobile messaging.

With years of experience at Deloitte Consulting, Citigroup, Yahoo! and LivePerson, Lisa is focused on helping companies to deliver global software products, plan product go-to-market, and build customer experience programs to drive usage and adoption. She can help startups on strategy & execution, product/pitch messaging, business & roadmap planning, product go-to-market, and voice of the customer insights.

Lisa studied Information Systems & Management at New York University. She enjoys problem-solving, optimization and connecting-the-dots to find creative solutions. She wants to make a positive impact in all that she does.

Alessandro Zago has been helping startups at Founders Space as a mentor since 2014. With 16+ years of extensive international and executive experience with strong emphasis on Silicon Valley-Asia cross-border business of new technology and innovation, he has a lot to offer.

Over the years he has gained deep and broad experience in managing innovation and commercializing next-gen technology covering roles such as managing director in Corporate VC and VC, business leader in tech-based startups, innovation and business development executive in large corporations, advisor and mentor in technology accelerators. Having served at Japanese, Korean, US and German technology companies closing partnerships and complex deals worldwide, he has gained strong global and cross-cultural management experience.

Currently at Enplas, Alessandro is VP New Ventures and Innovation, responsible for Corporate VC and New Business Development, Strategy and Innovation in Emerging Markets and sectors, e.g. medtech, life science, robotics, 3D printing, automotive, VR/AR.

Between 2010 and 2015 Alessandro has led Global Business Development at Pinnacle Engines, a VC-backed technology provider in efficient and clean transportation. In his role, he has overseen market entry and expansion, fundraising, government relations and marketing in the automotive sector in China, Japan, ASEAN and Emerging Markets closing deals and partnerships with Chinese, Japanese and global automakers/OEMs and suppliers.

At Siemens Technology-to-Business & Siemens VDO (2005-2009) he has served as Director of Venture Technology, where he has led CVC activities, invested in startups and acquired technology in the energy, automotive, industrial, medical and software sectors fueling new growth engines for Siemens Business Units.

At the BMW Group (1998- 2005) he has served in various positions, including Innovation Management, Strategy & Partnerships at the BMW International Purchasing Office in Munich and Technology Sourcing & Acquisition at the BMW Tech Office in Silicon Valley.

Alessandro holds the Global EMBA from INSEAD and the Ph.D. and MSc. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from Stanford University.

You can find Alessandro’s LinkedIn Profile is here.

Jake Kuczeruk joined Founders Space as a mentor. He is the VP of Business Development for West Agile Labs, a digital product agency whose clients include Samsung, Ritz-Carlton, and FundersClub.

Previously, Jake founded the popular subscription menswear service Tie Society, which graduated from 500 Startups and expanded into Japanese markets in late 2014, CoFounded ECommerce startup FutureGift in 2015, and was part of the core team at Console.fm, another 500 Startups batch company which helped drive the emergence of digital streaming music applications in mid-2011.

Along with advising for several fashion/tech startups, Jake also enjoys spending time with his wife and two cats.

Pramod Dabir joined Founders Space as a mentor. After graduating with an EE degree from the University of Illinois, Pramod joined the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Group in San Francisco. Chasing his interests in investing, Pramod later transitioned to venture capital at TA Associates where he focused on internet and software investing.

After Pramod caught the startup bug, he launched the fashion/tech application Boutine- which went on to raise a successful seed round and exited by selling off their technologies. Using the team he initially assembled to build Boutine, Pramod started West Agile Labs in 2012, which has now grown to over 120+ employees across 4 countries.

Jean-Philippe Emelie Marcos joined Founders Space as a mentor. JP is the Co-Founder and CEO of SignifAI (https://signifai.io/), a VC-backed company that leverages machine intelligence to increase system availability and performance.

Prior to founding SignifAI, he was one of the initial angel investors in and served for 5+ years as the Chief Operating Officer at Tango, a leading global mobile consumer application that went from 0 to 400M registered users during his tenure. JP was also a Silicon Valley early stage investor for 7 years. JP’s career spans 20+ years leading teams in technology start-ups and large companies as founder / entrepreneur / CEO / VC and general manager.

His blog is https://blog.signifai.io/. He lives in Palo Alto, CA with his wife and two children.

Jean Lombard joined Founders Space as a mentor. Jean is an award-winning technology PR professional with more than 25 years of high tech PR experience earned in global PR agencies operating in New York, London and San Francisco.

After working within global PR agencies for 10 years, Jean established The Jean Effect, a PR, social media and marketing communications consultancy which she has operated for more than 10 years.

Through The Jean Effect Jean works as a nimble independent PR practitioner, and often partners with larger PR and digital marketing firms to move clients’ business objectives forward in the critical areas of brand perception, brand awareness and competitor displacement, by creating and delivering targeted, timely, and impactful media messages, media coverage and influencer mindshare.

Clients range from first-round, VC-funded Bay Area emerging technology companies to publicly-traded entities.

Because Jean holds PMP certification via PMI, she is accustomed to taking a practical, prioritized, projectized approach when recommending programs, strategies and tactics, in order to maximize PR impact while adhering to budget, scope and deadline constraints for startups and large entities alike.

Liz Skalla joined Founders Space as a mentor. Liz enjoys building and growing brands – brands with a purpose that help people and/or the world. Liz has fortune 50 experience, is a past AMA board member and has a masters degree in Marketing Strategy and Management. She has started companies from the ground up, raised venture capital, mentored, advised, held board seats, build boards, and sold her first startup to a competitor. She is currently consulting growing companies and is part of the GIVN Goods team that makes it easy for consumers to make an impact on the world while buying everyday products.

Liz’s Linkedin profile here.

Jeff Faust joined Founders Space as a mentor. Jeff is a Certified Valuation Analyst and the Director of Valuation Services at ASL and is a part of the Emerging Business Group and Technology Group.

He has 20 years of experience in the valuation of privately held companies for various purposes: stock options grants (IRC § 409A), Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), estate/gift, fundraising, mergers/acquisitions, and more.

He has provided valuation expertise to owners/shareholders, trustees, management teams, investors and start-ups of all sizes and stages of development and in a wide variety of industries including high-tech (Software, Hardware, SaaS, Mobile, Telecom, Social Media, Cloud, Data, etc.), bio-tech, agricultural bio-tech, pharmaceuticals, manu-facturing and many more. Clients range from long-established companies to highly entrepreneurial ventures to families and individuals.

He has also has lectured around the world on business valuation theory and is one of the instructors for the Venture Capital Academy. He has qualified as an Expert Witness in Valuation in most of the counties in the Bay Area.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, Economics, from the University of California Los Angeles.

David Barron is a mentor at Founders Space and has been working on technology commercialization efforts within large companies and startups for more than three decades. He advises startups, investment groups and corporate innovation groups on a variety of matters including alternative use case and Go To Market strategies, due diligence assessments and strategic partnerships.

David has held numerous leadership positions in marketing, business development, strategic planning and operations management roles for a diverse set of companies and organizations including; Cable Television Laboratories (a Cable Industry technology consortium), the TV Platforms Division of Microsoft, Digital Entertainment business at Maxtor Corp., Americast (a joint venture of Disney and five telcos), the Technology Licensing Group at Apple, an internal business incubator group, Wireless Enterprises, at Motorola and at Brisbane Digital Consulting Group.

David has extensive experience in the management of corporate alliances, joint ventures and co-development efforts as well as in contributing to due diligence assessments for strategic investments, and M&A. He received a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law, an MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a BS in Marketing and Computer Science from Ithaca College.

Todd Murtha is a mentor at Founders Space. Todd is an attorney at DJL Corporate Law and founder of Careerwave, a technology and AI-driven leadership development and coaching company.

Todd advises technology companies as outside general counsel and business advisor on a full range of legal and business issues, including formation, financing, M&A, commercial arrangements, strategy and operations. Careerwave provides scalable, broad-based management, leadership, and diversity and inclusion coaching programs to mid-size and large companies.

Todd believes that legal and business issues are inseparable and with his background as a CEO, startup founder and technology attorney focuses on practical advice that considers all of a company’s goals.

Todd previously was CEO, CAO and general counsel of a Silicon Valley ecommerce company as well as a corporate attorney at two internationally recognized Silicon Valley law firms. He has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota.

Frank Neumann joined Founders Space as a mentor. He is a German automotive engineer and former founder of MoviTrack in South America. With a passion for the human factor, pioneering technologies and futuristic ideas, he is focused on brilliant new projects and coaching intercultural fast growing companies and ambitious minds.

Born in 1962 in the American sector of divided Berlin, he studied and lived half of his life in Germany, when moving in 1990 to Brazil and finally Argentine, where he founded together with his wife in 1994 the MoviTrack company – a life dream became true!

Based on his experience working before in Mercedes Benz, he designed and let custom built the trucks for his own company, unique in their way and making the big difference. The same time he built up a great team of 50 people and dedicated service concept, leading his company to be influencer in local tourism industry and an outstanding international brand with high market value.

As life is meant to be “more than this”, he sold his company successfully in 2008, dedicating his time to family (wife & 2 kids) and to build his own future as an visionary coach / sparring partner for one of a kind companies like AMPELMANN.

In between dealing with commercial drones, real estate developments and managing exclusive touristic projects his expertise is seen as an “lateral thinker” and “generalist”, who knows how to apply great creativity for matching private issues with professional ones to optimising the “work life balance” in its whole. His point of view is, that time has come to be more human / more creative than ever to face “human race vs. robotics”.

Since 2016 he’s investing in his own start up project, “Uber style” Virtual Travelling App. After two startup experiences, he is now ready to build a team for the 3rd prototype – business partners and participants welcome!

As a mentor of Founders Space he is honored to help members of startups through the awesome time of building up not only a “business model” but to match it the best way possible to private aspirations and never losing the vision about “what matters”.

David Hughson joined Founders Space as a mentor. As National Director of Business Development at Globalization Partners, he is responsible for developing a network of strategic partners around the world. For more than 10 years, David has demonstrated a passion for helping businesses to grow globally, and his focus has been on enabling international expansion for US companies. His enthusiasm for connecting people and businesses to drive successful outcomes is integral to his success.

Prior to joining Globalization Partners, David was Director of Channels and Business Development at Radius where he built strategic partnerships with some of the most respected brands in banking, insurance, human resources, technology and more. Under Hughson’s leadership, the Radius Global Partner Program generated millions of dollars in revenue and grew to include technology integrations, reseller partnerships, a program of events in key markets across the U.S. and educational webinars. Prior to joining Radius, Hughson served as manager of global channels at High Street Partners, an internal business software and service provider, which was acquired by Radius in 2014. David also helped lead the UK Government’s foreign direct investment activities for high growth technology businesses in the U.S. with UK Trade & Investment, and he worked with hundreds of US technology companies to advise on international expansion strategy.

David graduated from the University of Connecticut and lives in the Boston area with his wife and two kids. A competitive runner, he has completed four marathons, finishing the NYC marathon in under 3 hours!

Bharat Desai joined Founders Space as a mentor. He is a hi-tech operations executive turned business coach and advisor. He is CEO and Founder of Shalshiv Associates, a management coaching and consulting firm. Bharat is passionate about helping organizations solve their performance problems by showing them how to focus their organizational efforts and create a culture of accountability, discipline, and systems. His expertise is in helping organizations achieve exceptional organizational performance.

Bharat serves on the board of ACT for Mental Health, a nonprofit organization, and is a former board member of the Engineering Alumni Board at Santa Clara University. He holds MBA and MSEE degrees from Santa Clara University. He lives with his wife in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Kyle Stirling joined Founders Space as a mentor. He has extensive experience in delivering innovation, creating self-sustaining companies, and establishing business partnerships. He also has a deep understanding of data-driven and healthcare business strategy, and has led start-ups and established companies focusing on go to market strategies and innovations. He is currently Associate Director for Industry and Strategic Initiatives, Data Science Program, School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University.

Hayal Koc joined Founders Space as a mentor. She is a passionate entrepreneur with over a decade of international experience in strategy consulting, investment banking and corporate sales & marketing. She currently leads Sales, Marketing and Busıness Development at Expertera, a successful startup transforming the way we work by connecting companies all around the world with top business talent and expertise in a rapid, flexible and streamlined way. Clients range from top global investment firms and consultancies to small and medium enterprises.

Hayal is a sought-after thought leader and speaker on the evolution of the gig economy, “uberization” of the workforce and the Future of Work. She has first-hand experience developing go-to-market strategies and growth hacking in emerging markets and enjoys sharing best practices and lessons learned with fellow entrepreneurs.

Hayal has an MBA degree from the Stern Business School of New York and a BA from Emory University. She is bilingual in Turkish and English and proficient in Spanish.

Yingying Li joined Founders Space as a mentor. Over the past 10 years, she has designed and facilitated programs for global executives and managers to help them build essential skills in areas such as cross-cultural communication, leadership, personal influence building, diversity and inclusion, and international relationship management. She has conducted business in over three continents, including the creation of a cross-cultural and next-gen consultancy in the U.S., training through a global leadership conglomerate in India and Turkey, and leading various successful business development initiatives in Latin America and China, among other international endeavors.

Yingying’s collective experiences have left her with a unique understanding of the challenges that professionals often face while working within multicultural communities and building relationships across international borders. Whether facilitating large groups or conducting private coaching sessions, working as a global reporter at a renowned Chinese media group, Yingying utilizes the same insightful, lively, and thorough approach that underscores her mission and passion for improving cultural awareness and understanding, bringing empathy and opportunities to people in need around the world. Fluent in Mandarin and English, proficient in Brazilian Portuguese and a bit of Turkish, Yingying’s language skills enable her to establish strong and sustained connections with many of her clients. She also shares her expertise with others through lectures and speaking engagements at universities, startup communities, investor groups and other institutions around the globe.

Oscar joined the Founders Space as a mentor. He is working with startups across three main areas: Experimentation, Implementation and Fundraising. As a founder of several startups, Oscar developed expertise in increasing the speed and quality of experimentation in search for traction. Oscar works with founders in designing experiments, outlining processes and key measurements. Based on experimentation results, Oscar assists startups by actively participating in implementation and custom sourcing relevant talent with a focus on lowering the cash burn rate to extend the runway for additional experimentations. Finally, for select startups that have proven the ability to gain traction, meet milestones, and grow a team, Oscar and his team lead the fundraising process so that founders can dedicate more time to advancing the business.

Currently, Oscar is focused on working with startups that use technology to take advantage of the underutilization of physical assets and solve underemployment challenges. He is dedicated to supporting startups that actively participate in the revival of communities, repurposing of under appreciated assets, and elimination of waste. In recent years, he has been working with startups in real estate, lodging, and retail that have both local and global impact.

Throughout his career, Oscar has lived and worked in Romania, Germany, India, the UK, and the US advising clients on business process engineering and fundraising for almost two decades. He has worked with clients in real estate, lodging and retail with main operations in the US, Israel, China, and India. In his spare time, Oscar has volunteered with iMentor in New York, provided volunteer consulting for GNOME in Boston, and promoted the European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research in Eastern Europe. Oscar earned an MBA at Harvard Business School and a B.A., with a concentration in International Business, from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.

Ayse Zamboglu joined Founders Space as a mentor. She is an angel investor, a member and one of the past Co-Chairs of the Device&Digital Screening Committee at Life Science Angels (#1 angel investment group in the US by CB Insights in 2014). Ayse has extensive medical device and pharmaceutical industry experience at start-ups, technology transfer offices and with multiple clients. She comes with a diverse product portfolio history and expat experience.

Ayse advises and mentors start-ups in life sciences, healthcare and digital health. She is also interested in IoT and EdTech companies. Her focus areas are product development and management, fundraising strategies, and helping start-up companies refine their value proposition for the best product-market fit.

She is passionate about empowering underprivileged young entrepreneurs and fostering the start-up ecosystem in Silicon Valley and believes that the know-how generated in this community should be shared with entrepreneurs worldwide. Having been based in San Francisco Bay Area for over 15 years, Ayse actively participates at demo days as a judge and serves as a speaker/panelist/moderator at industry events both in the US and abroad.