Mentor Sessions & Office Hours

A strategic technology executive, I bring over 25 years of experience commercializing technology, driving revenue growth, securing strategic partnerships and closing transactions for global enterprises like IBM and Microsoft.  My expertise spans business development, emerging technology commercialization, intellectual property licensing, market development and mergers and acquisitions, where I’ve consistently delivered results by aligning innovative technologies with business needs.

I excel in identifying transformative opportunities, negotiating complex deals, coaching teams, and fostering collaboration, while also championing diversity and inclusion initiatives.  I have led cross-functional teams that generated $500M+ in income from IP licensing deals, secured $1BN+ in investments for multi-year technology development projects, and launched AI-driven solutions across sectors like fintech, reg-tech, and renewable energy.

In addition to my executive leadership, I have served on advisory boards and committees, providing guidance on education technology, product development, industry collaboration, and DEI initiatives.  My work has advanced student engagement, guided product roadmaps, and fostered inclusive environments.

With deep experience in leadership and strategy, I’m skilled in change management, strategic planning, DEI enablement, and industry development.  I have also been involved in executive sponsorships and public speaking, helping drive digital transformation in hybrid cloud computing, AI, mainframe systems, and semiconductor design.

If this resonates with you, let’s connect. I welcome the opportunity to advance technology commercialization, strategic growth, and innovation together.

Focus Areas:

• Leadership & Strategy: Corporate Development , Cross-Functional Team Leadership, Diversity, Equity &  Inclusion, Merger & Acquisition, Public Speaking, Strategy Formulation

• Sales & Business Development:  Deal Structuring & Negotiations, Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy, IP Licensing, Partnership Development, Sales Leadership

• Technology Innovation: Commercialization Strategies, Digital Transformation, Emerging Technologies including AI, Cloud, Quantum, Semiconductor, Product Innovation, Tech. Outlook & Point of View

LinkedIn Profile

For over 15 years, Michael has been growing tech startups in Digital Media, Insurtech, and Fintech. He specializes in sales leadership, strategy, coaching, training, hiring, onboarding, and enterprise selling. Throughout his career he's built and led sales teams that have contributed triple digit YoY growth and closed enterprise deals as an individual contributor. Michael has worked at The Knot Worldwide (WeddingWire - Successful Exit), Mulberry, and ChargeAfter.

Strengths:

• Proven ability to build GTM functions from the ground up, scaling from 0 to 1

• Hiring, onboarding, and leading top-performing teams

• Training and coaching sales leaders and individual contributors 

michael@wildegrowthpartners.com

LinkedIn

• Mohammed Kamal is the Founding Partner of Granada Venture Funds, a seed-stage fund investing in high-growth B2B startups in regulated industries. He is also a Venture partner with Mendoza ventures, focusing on technology companies where there is an opportunity for modernization, innovation, and disruption.

• He brings over 20 years of experience in FinTech, product engineering, and M&A. A former MasterCard executive, Mohammed co-founded several digital products and helped shape the company’s strategy in bill payments, digital wallets, and real-time payments. He also served as COO of the UK’s Pay by Bank App.

• Mohammed has held senior roles in product and engineering, led strategic acquisitions, and advised startups on scaling and capital strategy. His investment focus includes FinTech and Enterprise technology, where he combines deep technical expertise with operational insight.

• Focus Areas: FinTech,  Software/Product Development,  Operational Leadership, M&A, AI and the future of Work

mohammedk@gmail.com 

LinkedIn

I’m Yamiz Bachkhaz, a business development professional, investor, and entrepreneur with expertise in fintech, finance, and venture growth. I founded and successfully exited a health and wellness company in Shanghai, achieving a 10x return on my investment. Since then, I’ve led global fintech community growth initiatives, facilitated over $5 million in venture investments, and built partnerships with VCs, accelerators, and financial institutions. My experience scaling businesses has inspired me to mentor startups through Plug and Play’s accelerator program, where I will help founders refine their go-to-market strategies, connect with investors, and navigate the complexities of scaling in competitive industries.

Please email yamiz.bachkhaz@vupfund.com to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile

Bio: 

Jon Chu is a technology executive and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience building AI-driven products and scaling SaaS companies. He has successfully led global product teams, managed P&L responsibilities, and guided startups and Fortune 100 enterprises through digital transformations and the launch of market-defining platforms.

Drawing from his executive roles as Chief Product Officer across finance, media, and data industries, Jon offers deep operational expertise paired with a strategic product mindset. Previously, he co-founded Jetson, an early innovator in voice-driven AI commerce. Currently, Jon leads Revolv, a community-driven platform dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and corporate leaders by connecting them with mentorship, resources, and strategic partnerships from industry experts, universities, and leading corporations. Revolv supports startups in scaling effectively while enabling enterprises to access emerging innovations.

As a mentor, Jon specializes in guiding ventures through product strategy, operational excellence, go-to-market execution, strategic business planning, and pricing strategy. He helps founders and executives sharpen their vision, accelerate growth, and build sustainable, scalable businesses.

Please email jon@therevolv.com to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile

Ian Petersen is an Industrial Engineer specializing in technical project management. Based in New York, he serves as Partner and Director at NewCombin.

NewCombin focuses on providing bespoke nearshore software and staff augmentation solutions for organizations across the Americas. With a diverse background spanning multiple countries, Ian has led the development of 100+ products in multiple industries, organizational sizes and cultures. One of the best accomplishments, the team, today a GreatPlacetoWork® spanning 14 countries and over 90 team members. In recent events, NewCombin has focused on establishing an AI Driven Development framework that empowers developers with tools that have led to jumps in code quality, consistency, productivity and team collaboration.

Ian is a certified ontological coach, leveraging personal experience to share with other entrepreneurs.

Focus Areas:

• Software Development

• Product Development

• AI Driven Development

• Building and Managing Nearshore Teams

Please email ian.petersen@newcombin.com to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile

Bio: 

Tara Thurber is the Founder | Director of Partnerships at DefinedTalent. She is a connector, committed to helping people realize their visions and take action to bring them to life. With over 15 years of experience in recruitment, talent acquisition, HR services and career development, she focuses on empowering businesses and individuals to uncover meaning, direction and purpose in both their professional and personal journeys. Her expertise enables her to focus on innovative, people-centric solutions covering multiple industries and a diverse community of talent. As a certified life and career coach, Tara helps people find their True Core, encouraging them to discover their potential while guiding them toward success and happiness.

Experience and Focus -> 4 pillars of expertise and focus:

1. HR Services - Our HR services include strategic workforce planning, employer branding support, and talent analytics to help organizations optimize their workforce. We assist with compliance management, performance management systems, and implementing HR processes tailored to business goals. Additionally, we provide consulting on employee engagement and retention strategies to foster a positive and productive workplace culture.

2. Talent Services - Our Talent Services are focused on connecting companies with qualified candidates through tailored sourcing strategies. We specialize in identifying top talent for roles by leveraging proactive search methods, detailed screening, and an understanding of both client needs and industry trends. Additionally, we assist with full-cycle recruitment, from job postings to candidate placement, ensuring an efficient and customized hiring process.

3. Mentorship/Coaching - Our coaching and mentoring services are aimed at enhancing individual and team performance. We offer personalized leadership development programs, career coaching, and guidance to help employees achieve professional growth. These services focus on building skills, improving workplace dynamics, and fostering long-term success for both employees and organizations.

4. Speaking Engagements/Workshops - Our coaching and mentoring services are aimed at enhancing individual and team performance. We offer personalized leadership development programs, career coaching, and guidance to help employees achieve professional growth. These services focus on building skills, improving workplace dynamics, and fostering long-term success for both employees and organizations.

Please email tara@definedtalet.com to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile

Raghav brings over a decade of experience in fintech and product management. He has worked at the Royal Bank of Canada, North America’s 5th largest financial institution and a Fortune Global 500 company, where he collaborated with leading tech firms and startups to drive innovation. His expertise includes developing streamlined mobile experiences, next-gen payment technologies, blockchain applications, and generative AI tools. He has also contributed to industry working groups focused on modernizing payment rails and holds a patent for tokenizing payments for IoT devices.

Currently, Raghav runs Seed PM, offering fractional product management support to busy fintech founders. His tailored approach provides dedicated product expertise that adapts to the unique needs of each startup, allowing founders to focus on fundraising, sales, and strategic growth. Raghav’s guidance helps teams avoid common missteps, accelerate decision-making, and reduce time to market.

An active mentor in the fintech space, Raghav has worked with several startups at EvoNexus (San Diego, CA) and regularly advises product managers and founders interested in fintech. He holds an MBA from York University (Canada) and a BCom from the University of Mumbai (India). Based in Toronto, he works with clients across the US and Canada.

Focus Areas:

• Fintech: Cards, Payments

• Rewards & Loyalty: Points Management, Platform Operations

• Artificial Intelligence: Hyper-Personalization, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

• Blockchain: Asset Tokenization, Crypto Rewards

• Product Management: Product Strategy, User Research, Market Fit

Please email raghav@seedpm.com to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile

Financial Services technology executive with 25+ years of experience driving innovation, leading digital transformations, and developing strategic IT solutions for top financial institutions, including UBS, Neuberger Berman, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch

Focus Areas:

Digital Transformation

Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure and DevOps

Cybersecurity

Applications, data and AI strategies

Fintech assessments and investments

LinkedIn Profile

Yasmin Abdi is an accomplished cybersecurity leader with a proven track record of spearheading global teams at industry giants like Google, Snapchat, and Meta. She brings deep expertise in cybersecurity strategy, risk management, and cutting-edge technology, helping organizations fortify their systems and prevent emerging threats. Yasmin was also a founding member of Meemo, an AI-powered fintech startup that was successfully acquired by Coinbase for $95M. As the founder of her own cybersecurity consulting firm, noHack, Yasmin has provided critical services to both public and private sectors, delivering value through tailored security solutions. Her passion lies in empowering startups to navigate security challenges while scaling, ensuring they have the resilience and systems in place to thrive in a digital world.

LinkedIn Profile

I am an Assistant Professor of Finance and Financial Engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology. My research focuses on financial risk management, specializing in asset allocation and pricing, while leveraging recent  latest advancements in machine learning, reinforcement learning, and explainable AI. I have published in top-tier journals like Management Science, and my work has also been featured in media outlets such as Bloomberg. Additionally, I have contributed to books on machine learning in finance, including Cambridge University Press. With a strong foundation in statistics, I hold a Ph.D. in Finance and am a certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM).

Focus areas:

1. Portfolio and Financial Risk Management

2. Risk Analytics

3. Machine/Reinforcement Learning

4. Interpretable Machine Learning and XAI

Please email msimaan@stevens.edu to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile

I support the Oracle NetSuite Accelerator & Partnership Practice. Our program supports seed-series C stage startups through our software and resources to help them scale. Through our partnerships with VC firms, Accelerators and Ecosystem builders we are able to source qualified startups and provide introductions for funding. I’ve have been involved in software/tech for the last five years and am currently pursing my MBA at Columbia Business School.

Key focus points - B2B Saas, Sales & Operations

• Please email emily.davila@oracle.com to schedule a day and time to connect.

• LinkedIn profile

George M. Calhoun is a seasoned professional with over 20 years at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he serves as the Professor and Founding Director of the Quantitative Finance Program. He also founded the Hanlon Financial Systems Center and leads the CRAFT initiative, a pioneering NSF-backed research center focusing on financial technologies. With three decades in wireless communications, Calhoun has held executive roles, including CEO of Illinois Superconductor Corporation and board positions across six companies. His extensive expertise includes capital-raising, strategic partnerships, and technical consulting for private equity and venture capital. An accomplished author, he has written four books on finance and technology and regularly contributes to Forbes. Calhoun's areas of impact for startups include financial technology innovation, wireless tech development, strategic capital management, and executive mentorship.

Key focus areas where Calhoun can add value for startups:

• Financial Technology Research and Development

• Capital Raising and Strategic Partnerships

• Market Due Diligence and Analysis

• Technical Consulting for High-tech and Financial Industries

• Board and Executive Leadership Guidance

Please email gcalhoun@stevens.edu to schedule a day and time to connect. 

LinkedIn Profile