Alan Thomas Email & Phone Number

Denver, Colorado, Us

Life Sciences and DeepTech Executive Search and Recruitment, and talent solutions consulting. Specialty in seed stage. Through extensive experience, partners at Sheer Velocity have a particular acuity for the start-up, growth stage, venture capital, and private equity milieu, including:- Working with scientific, technical, and business founders- Working with research funders and investors- Working with TTO's, incubators, accelerators, venture studios- Founding team dynamics- Pitch assimilation and evolution- Crystallizing clinical development and go-to-market strategy- Scientific, technical, regulatory, and market entry value inflection points- Sensitivity to cash flow, runway, and financing strategy- Creative talent solutions in non-technology-cluster geographies- Talent sourcing, mapping, engagement, interviewing- Cultural fit tools- Flexible engagement terms for start-upsWe are able to conduct our talent searches in such a way as to also gain business development and financing insights and leads as part of the same process. Our process also tends to recruit a cohort of friends-of-the-project, i.e. a talent community of potential future employees, advisors, and board members.Sheer Velocity has a robust methodology, and a promise of the highest quality retained search conducted with speed and transparency. athomas@sheervelocity.comwww.sheervelocity.com/practice-areas/early-life-science-and-deeptech-practice/www.sheervelocity.com

Consultancy. Customized tools and insights from executive search, business development, and my two decades+ of running science innovation groups. Executive search capabilities bring a large network and the ability to rapidly source focused additional talent and expertise. My blend of skillsets allows a strategic approach that rapidly uncovers the strengths and weaknesses of new ventures, and business development and fund-raising opportunities. I work with spin-outs, early-stage investors, science funding groups, incubators and accelerators, and corporate innovation groups. alan@rstsllc.com

Tysons, Virginia, Us

The EMERGE group moved from within InQTel to become part of the NobleReach Foundation at the beginning of 2023. I continued to help find entrepreneurs to embed in new ventures emanating from DARPA, NSF, & research organizations and other customers that EMERGE serves.

Berwyn, Pa, Us

Heritage is an industry-leading, senior-level retained executive search and advisory firm serving the life sciences sector. heritagepartners.com. Assignments included Jackson Labs (Head of Customer Support), SiDx (Director), EvoEndo Inc. (CEO), for BioGenerator: Gateway BioTechnology (CEO), VaxNewMo (BD and clinical leadership), Echelon MedTech (CEO), Triple Targeting Therapeutics (CEO), Precision Virologics (BD leadership), Center for Defense Medicine (Director), RhoDx (CEO); Xentria (CMO), National Hemophilia Foundation (Managing Director - Venture Investments, Senior Development Director – Venture Investments), Akava Therapeutics (CEO).

I supported DARPA's Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative, with a focus on therapeutics and diagnostics from DARPA's Biological Technologies Office, and entrepreneur search. A particular focus on infectious disease, biodefense, bio-manufacturing.See https://eei.darpa.mil/ and iqt.org

Leader of an innovative matchmaking program that paired that paired accomplished entrepreneurs with science-based start-ups at 10 top research universities (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Washington University, and the University of Chicago). Pooled talent referrals and emerging ventures across university technology transfer teams to facilitate matching. Recruited 100+ start-ups, 200+ entrepreneurs and connectors, and 30+ venture capital groups, creating a pipeline that inspired 6 CEO-to-venture matches and counting. avx.io

Chicago, Il, Us

Leader of a technology transfer business that launched multiple first-of-their-kind programs to drive the commercialization of scientific discovery. Transitioned the function from a pre-cursor organization: ARCH Development Corporation. Built a new team, re-engineered office work flow and systems, and maximized efficiency to support more than 1,000 new inventions and execute hundreds of licenses and start-up transactions. Ecosystem builder. Launched EIR program. Facilitated a multimillion-dollar drug discovery alliance with a major pharma firm and worked with the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship to launch the Chicago Innovation Exchange (CIE), now home to dozens of start-ups. Prime mover behind a regional mentoring program for founders (Chicago Innovation Mentors) with other Chicagoland universities, and the University of Chicago (George Shultz) Innovation Fund.

Chicago, Il, Us

Managed the operations and licensing staff of the University’s initial technology transfer office, a wholly owned 501c(3) affiliate (later folded into UChicagoTech). Managed a portfolio of more than 1,000 patents from the University and the Argonne National Laboratory. Close support of start-ups including R2 Technology (acq. by Hologic), SmartSignal (acq. by GE), Arryx (acq. by Haemonetics).

Provided business development, technology licensing, marketing, due diligence and strategic planning services to ARCH Development Corporation, ARCH Venture Partners (an independent venture fund), and the Institute for Applied Colloid Technology (IFAC), a German technical consultancy to cosmetics industry specializing in dispersion and emulsion formulation.

Romeoville, Il, Us

Second employee at start-up based on materials science technology from Argonne National Laboratory. Helped secure five rounds of venture capital, co-authored a successful Advanced Technology Program award from Department of Commerce, involving Caterpillar as a corporate partner. Worked closely with technical function, and evolved value proposition as experience with early customers accumulated. Nanophase (Nasdaq: NANX) went public in 1997.

Worked on the design, construction, and commissioning of pilot plants to prove out new catalyst and process technology concepts for multinational chemical company.

Mba, Strategy

Bsc(Eng), Chemical Engineering