At AI Braintrust, we leverage artificial intelligence to transform and elevate businesses. As a Founding Member, I play a key role in shaping our innovative approach to delivering sophisticated AI-driven solutions tailored to meet diverse client needs. Our mission is to empower businesses with advanced AI technology, driving measurable results and revolutionizing the future of various industries.

As the founder of Urban Mixer, I'm at the helm of creating a transformative platform set to revolutionize the global event discovery landscape.• Innovation Leadership: Leading the design and development of our groundbreaking technology that promises to accept event information in any format, positioning Urban Mixer as a potential market leader in the event discovery space.• Data Enhancement Vision: Envisioning a sophisticated backend system that will not just aggregate but proactively refine event information, ensuring the utmost accuracy and relevance for future users.• Strategic Positioning: Successfully navigated Urban Mixer into its pre-seed funding phase, achieving an optimistic valuation of 7MM, laying the foundation for its future launch and market penetration.• Community Building: With a dream to bridge global communities, I'm driving our mission to provide a platform where event organizers can seamlessly share, and seekers can effortlessly discover, creating connections one event at a time.• Stakeholder Engagement: Actively engaging with potential investors, tech partners, and industry thought leaders, ensuring that as Urban Mixer's product develops, it remains aligned with market needs and cutting-edge trends.While Urban Mixer is currently in its development phase, my vision, dedication, and a keen grasp of both the tech and event sectors fuel our journey toward becoming the go-to destination for event discovery and listings.

Buildspace is the largest platform for launching any idea, big or small. From hip-hop albums and short films to indie software and YouTube channels, they provide the space and resources to make it happen. Their six-week "Nights & Weekends" program helps individuals turn their ideas into reality, gaining fans, revenue, or downloads by the end.In 2023, Buildspace's content reached over 12 million people on Instagram and Twitter. More than 30,000 individuals joined to work on their projects, and 1,000 people attended their three-day events. They also built a physical campus for those wanting to pursue their ideas full-time.In 2024, Buildspace is focused on developing a world-class product to help millions pursue their passions. They are seeking talented engineers and designers to join this mission.

Excited to be part of EVIT Organization, where we simplify your journey into Vietnam’s software development landscape. Our goal is clear: connect you with skilled developers, whether you’re growing your team, initiating projects, or optimizing costs.With a network of 300 partners and 10,000 skilled staff in Vietnam, we offer a unique advantage. Our deep insights help match you with the right partners, providing a competitive edge and ensuring successful outcomes. By exclusively working with skilled developers, we guarantee better prices compared to direct approaches.Navigating the Vietnamese market independently can be challenging. At EVIT, we’re here to lower the risk and ensure your success. Whether it’s team expansion, launching projects, or cost-saving, our services are designed to help you overcome obstacles and achieve your goals. Join us in simplifying your path to success in Vietnam.

Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow.

As an experienced professional with an extensive personal and business network, I am often called upon to act as a trusted advisor for companies seeking to expand into Southeast Asia. I am open to such engagements when there is a fit in philosophy and a mutual understanding of the value that can be created.Southeast Asia is a rapidly growing market with significant opportunities for service providers and investors. I can provide valuable assistance in several areas, including:🅐 Investment and market entry strategy development and execution in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia🅑 Conducting due diligence on local entities, business practices, and key persons, with a particular focus on Vietnam🅒 Setting up and managing offshore business structures that are appropriate and defensible🅓 Providing business consulting services, managing efforts as required🅔 Advising on private equity, M&A, public listings, and exit strategies.My extensive network and on-the-ground experience in Southeast Asia allow me to provide valuable insights and recommendations to companies seeking to expand into this dynamic and rapidly growing region. If you are considering entering the Southeast Asian market, please feel free to reach out to me to discuss how I can assist you in achieving your business objectives.

As a key member of Pudgimelon Learning Centers, I played a critical role in the company's mission to become the leading provider of English-language education for K-12 students in Bangkok, Thailand.My responsibilities included troubleshooting, providing perspective, and setting the course for the President and Founder, George Carroll. In addition, I provided valuable guidance and support during the perpetual post-Thaksin Shinawatra protests in Bangkok, Thailand. During this time, I assisted the Founder in exiting from non-performing centers and advised on the business turn-around.My experience at Pudgimelon Learning Centers has honed my skills in crisis management, strategic planning, and business turnarounds.

As a strategic advisor and mentor, I played a critical role in the success of Beach Travelers, a unique travel company specializing in adventure travel to the world's most exotic locations, including Thailand, Bali, Brazil, and Costa Rica. Beach Travelers provides exclusive adventure trips for aspiring young travelers, and it was my pleasure to work with the Co-Founder and CEO, TJ Hermiston, until his exit from the company in 2014.During my time with Beach Travelers, I provided valuable advice, perspective, and mentorship to help guide the company's growth and success. My experience in the travel industry has provided me with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that travel companies face, and I am passionate about helping young entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

Urban Mixer was a social network for young, urban professionals who lived in the Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle areas.Tagline: Urban Mixer was the cure for the common social life.From a tech perspective, Urban Mixer's claim to fame was in the aggregation and presentation of diverse and complete event information. If you ever looked at event information on Facebook or other social networks, you may have noticed that in a lot of cases, the information was inconsistent, incomplete, not compelling, lame, etc.Using scraping, machine learning and nascent in-house developed AI technologies as well as a lot of elbow grease™, Urban Mixer became the best source for information to the end-user.The key ingredient for making Urban Mixer a reality was not only the ability to capture information and make it better than even the original source, but we also made the site useful from every potential user/stakeholder group (event planners, promoters, ticketing platforms and the end-user seeking event information), taking perspective from industry contacts and know-how in the event planning and promotion industry.As of now (2023), the Urban Mixer project is currently on hold as I have been focused on other projects, the business model and technologies used are still defensible and relevant today, and I may revisit it in the future.

Clear Choice Networks Inc. was founded in 1997 with the aim of delivering data center, hosting, and infrastructure services to its clients. One year later, the company pivoted to a subscription-based model for application hosting, expanding its service offerings. In 1999, the company was sold, and I continued to serve on the board until my semi-retirement in 2011.

Sirius Genomics was a private biotechnology company located in Vancouver, Canada, which was focused on developing rapid, DNA-based companion diagnostic and pharmacogenetic tests for acute medical conditions. The Company's approach involved correlating patient genetics with clinical information to create personalized medicine tailored to a patient's unique DNA.Simply put, they were working on developing medicines based on an individual's DNA.

Metasoft, a Top 100 Canadian Independent Software Company recognized by the Branham Group/Financial Post, began as an Information Technology consulting and software development firm. The company has two successful business units that operate independently: Imager, a software development division that specializes in providing imaging software components (initially based on the TIFF format) to leading technology corporations (Microsoft, Lotus, IBM, Oracle), IT departments, and software developers worldwide. BIG OnLine, a fundraising division that provides an online searchable database of corporate, foundation, and government grant-making information to nonprofit and charitable fundraisers across North America. FoundationSearch, the only product of its kind on the market today, is a fully searchable, online database containing the tax returns (Form 990PF) of every registered private Foundation in the US.As Metasoft's CTO, I helped found BIG OnLine and worked with the President, Trevor Skillen, on a series of investments and acquisitions during my 9-year term with the company.

The Emerging Entrepreneurs' Organization (EEO), owned by the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), aimed to become the leading global learning community for emerging entrepreneurs. EEO provided emerging entrepreneurs with access to the global entrepreneurial community, assisting them in developing their companies and obtaining crucial leadership skills for lifelong business and personal success. As a part of EO, EEO members could take advantage of the world's foremost global learning community, comprising 6,000 entrepreneurs in over 40 countries worldwide.During my tenure as the President and Learning Chair, I organized and managed various captivating and informative events that catered to the chapter's membership. These events included learning sessions, social gatherings, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

I held the position of Director at a Venture Technology firm based in Bern, with additional offices in Tokyo, Japan and Vancouver, Canada. The firm's portfolio consisted of companies based in Canada, the United States, Columbia, Ukraine, Korea, and Japan. Our primary focus was to identify and work with early-stage companies and exceptional entrepreneurs to fill technology gaps in their businesses by providing early-stage venture or angel financing.During my tenure, we achieved three successful pre-Series A exits, including a security monitoring and automated penetration testing business in 2003, an IP telephony venture in 2004 (the largest acquisition in the voice communications industry), and a rubber technology venture in 2005.

TELUS New Ventures BC is a large-scale technology business idea competition in North America. Over 90 participants take part in a four-round contest that includes business education seminars and networking events, as they strive to complete a final venture plan. The jury, comprised of venture capitalists, financiers, and angel investors, must be convinced that the business idea is commercially viable and that the participants could execute it in the marketplace in order to win.The non-profit BC Venture Society operates TELUS New Ventures BC, which was established in 2000 by Simon Fraser University (SFU) Business. The competition is made possible through the generous support of private and public sponsors, as well as over 150 volunteer mentors, judges, and workshop leaders.

Clear Choice Technologies Inc. was established in 1993 and has since expanded to encompass seven operating divisions, with a global presence in multiple offices.The company's area of specialization is in providing exceptional technical support services to its clients, with a focus on Networks, Systems Integration and Administration, Databases and Project Management. Their unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction is at the core of their expertise.

The Vancouver Board of Trade's mentorship program, The Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT), was established in 1999 to link promising post-secondary students with influential industry leaders, and has earned a reputation as the most distinguished mentorship initiative in British Columbia. LOT's core components encompass guidance, leadership, networking, and community service.During my tenure as a mentor, I collaborated with a number of mentees who were pursuing their studies. It is gratifying to know that all of my mentees, now running prosperous enterprises, are dispersed throughout the globe.

CobraTech was a company focused on providing IT security consultancy services and security software products for cryptography. It was spun out from NASDAQ-listed JAWZ Inc., which was based in Calgary. CobraTech's primary objective was to expand in the Asia Pacific region, and it had offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan. The company experienced rapid growth and was sold in 2001. Today, most of CobraTech's former Japanese personnel work at NTT in Tokyo Opera City, while its other employees have gone on to become leaders and notable figures in the field of digital security.

Terry Butchart and Michael Horsey led a publicly traded technology acquisition firm (M&A), where I spent most of my time conducting due diligence on acquisition and investment targets. As a board member of every invested company, I served as a rational counterbalance to both the founders' and investors' interests.The firm's notable acquisitions and investments include A1 Internet Broadcast Services, a platform for online video marketing, DVBS (Digital Video Broadcast Systems), an online video technology company, SiCom Solutions Inc., an online shopping company with machine learning and AI features, and JAWZ Inc., a cryptography company.Although these technologies may seem mundane today, in 1997 they were considered cutting-edge and nothing like them had existed before.

In the early 1990s, a resource sector company led by Norman J. Mackenzie, Neil Kennedy and Milton Erickson began investing in the tech sector. As they lacked knowledge in this field, I was hired to keep them informed on the latest developments.My responsibilities included reviewing business plans, conducting due diligence, and verifying the total addressable market (TAM) size claims made by founders seeking funding.