Executive Growth

Mark Dankberg, Chairman of the Board & CEO, ViaSat joins Executive Growth to discuss how he co-founded Viasat Inc. in 1986 and has led the company’s rapid growth. He has held the position of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since inception. Under his leadership, Viasat has consistently been one of America’s fastest growing technology companies. As a start-up, Viasat was selected to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies three times. After listing on the NASDAQ exchange in 1996 Viasat has been recognized multiple times by leading business and industry publications including BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Red Herring, DefenseNews, Space News, and Washington Technology for its exceptional performance and growth. Mark is an acknowledged industry expert in aerospace, defense, and satellite communications, and is the leading visionary for a new generation of high-capacity satellite systems. He has co-authored several military standards on satellite networking, and holds a number of patents in communications and satellite networking technologies. He has participated on Department of Defense advisory panels and was invited to testify before a Congressional committee on high technology growth companies and IPOs. Mark has received a number of awards for his industry and business leadership: 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego in 20002003 Satellite Industry Executive of the Year in 20032008 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Aerospace International Communications Award2012 Visionary Executive of the Year, Satellite Markets and Research2013 Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Industry Innovator2013 San Diego Business Journal Most Admired CEO Founders Award2015 Society of Satellite Professionals Hall of Fame He has also been an invited speaker on communication technology, entrepreneurship, and executive management at several universities including Rice University, NYU, and University of California at San Diego. He was a founding member of the board of directors of the San Diego Telecom Council (now CommNexus), and served on the San Diego County Regional Economic Advisory Board. In addition, he has been invited to serve as a judge several times at the local and national levels for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program. Mark began his career with the Collins Radio Division of Rockwell International, and at Linkabit Corp in San Diego, where he held positions in engineering, technical management and business segment management. He earned B.S. EE and M.S. EE degrees from Rice University and is a member of the Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering Hall of Fame. www.viasat.com BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Darin Andersen, Co-Founder & CEO, NXT Robotics joins BISTalk to discuss how he is a distinguished Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity professional with over 15 years of experience in the security industry. NXT Robotics is a San Diego, CA-based company that provides service robots to support increased security monitoring and alerting requirements. Our autonomous platforms are able to deliver security-related services to our customers while meeting their performance and cost expectations for indoor and outdoor applications. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) are becoming an increasingly popular choice for organizations that need to scale their operations while lowering costs and ensuring consistent and high-quality results. NXT Robotics delivers autonomous solutions that perform work for extended periods of time (8+ hours). This means that at least a half-day of unsupervised work can be accomplished for a fixed cost. This represents a new and significant change in budgetary planning for security operations. www.Nxtrobotics.com BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Jay Elliot, Author & Founder & CEO, iMedGo joins Executive Growth to discuss how his company is focused on building software products to display medical conditions on mobile devices. 911 Plus+ is their current product for worldwide emergencies and security notifications. He was the founder and chairman of Migo Software, Inc., a mobility software company, and inventor of its flagship product, Migo. Jay has more than thirty years of operations experience with such corporate giants as IBM, Intel, and Apple Computer. He served as the Senior Vice President of Apple Computer responsible for all corporate operations plus overall corporate business planning reporting directly to Steve Jobs, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and co-founder of Apple. During his tenure at Apple, sales grew from $150 million to more than $3 billion. After graduating from college, Mr. Elliot joined IBM as a programmer working on the airline reservation system and moved into management in several key projects in the Disk drive development business, and eventually managed the 16,000-employee software division. Mr. Elliot left IBM to join Intel and at Intel was the director of the California operations. In the healthcare industry, Elliot was the chief executive officer of New Health Systems, a network technology group connecting physicians and payers to patients and affiliated hospitals. As part of the New Health plan, Mr. Elliot spent one year with the UCLA Medical Center and UCLA Computer Science Department helping to develop a software system for the operation of Tele-medical centers. It was while working with UCLA that Mr. Elliot came up with the idea for Migo. http://imedgo.com/ BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Robert Swisher, CEO & Co-Founder, Frendli joins Executive Growth to discuss how he is a seasoned technology executive with 15+ years experience leading development of applications and systems running some of the most high traffic sites on the web. As a startup veteran, Robert has unique experience in taking a company from early stages into rapid growth. Robert is the Founder and CEO of Frendli, a startup making the process of meeting new friends easy. Previously Robert served as CTO & Co-Founder at FestPop, a music festival and travel startup and CTO at Business.com. Robert was instrumental in both the capital raise and acquisition of Business.com from Dex One Inc. as well as the sale to strategic buyer, Purch, and the only member of the executive team to do both. Robert Swisher studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University and has a hands on background in both engineering and operations. Robert began his career as a software engineer and quickly expanded his skills into system ops and architecture. Having risen through the ranks as an engineer he has a unique perspective to tech leadership. Robert has lead teams of Alexa Top 800 properties and was among the first to develop a method for live streaming to the iPhone. He is a strong proponent of Agile and Lean Methodologies and the DevOps movement. Robert has experience managing people, products, process and tech to work together in the most effective way possible as well as deep experience in all aspects of web application stacks. In 2015 Robert Swisher was selected by San Diego Magazine as a recipient of the annual Top Tech Exec Award, honoring outstanding leadership in the technology community. Greg Flores, Co-Founder & CRO, Frendli joins Bob to discuss as the Senior VP and Head of Business Development of MP3.com, Greg was responsible for managing the advertising sales team. During his tenure, the net revenues of MP3.com saw rapid growth going from $1.1 million in 1998 (only a partial year) to $21 million in fiscal 1999. The company saw a 266 percent increase over net revenues in fiscal 2000, with $80 million in net revenues. In 2001, MP3.com was sold to Universal music for almost $400 Million. After leaving MP3.com in 2001, Greg the Co-founder of Autospies (www.autospies.com), a premier automotive inside information site where he currently remains a partner in the company. Autospies is now one of the most recognized online automotive brands among automotive enthusiasts and insiders on the Internet. Prospected and closed major automotive advertisers and agencies including IPG, BMW, Toyota, GM, Mercedes Benz, and Lexus. EVP, Business Development, Animusic, LLC Greg also has worked with Animusic (www.animusic.com) since 2003. Animusic is a content creation company focused exclusively on computer animation of music. Greg is a partner and helps with business development. Since working with Animusic, Greg has been instrumental in taking sales from just over 100,000 DVDs to over 800,000. Negotiated co-marketing license agreements with Intel, Best Buy, The National Guitar Museum, Screenvision, Tektronix, Arenaplex, PlayNetwork, and others. Frendli helps real people make real connections in the real world around their shared interests. After we’ve launched a new friendship, we match them with experiences and fun activities from local merchants. >>> Do you want new customers? > Let’s connect!

David Meltzer, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sports 1 Marketing joins Aaron to discuss how he utilizes his relationship capital and situational knowledge to secure diverse business opportunities for all our clients and partners. David has spent the last 25 years as an entrepreneur and executive in the legal, technology, and sports and entertainment fields with expertise across many industry verticals. David launched his career in sports at the world’s most notable sports agency, Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, serving as CEO, where along with Leigh and Warren, negotiated over $2 billion in sports and entertainment contracts. David sits on numerous boards including JUST capital, OCTANE business incubator, Celebvidy, Rose Bowl Foundation, Transformational Leadership Council, Unstoppable Foundation, among several others. Scott Carter, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, Sports 1 Marketing joins Aaron to discuss how he is responsible for many business development projects, including Processing for a Cause. After graduating law school, Scott began his career at Leigh Steinberg as a baseball agent and Director of Compliance. He graduated 15th in his class from Western State University College of Law, winning the American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Honor while he was in Law school. Scott has also taught Sports Law at Concordia University, Irvine. https://sports1marketing.com/ BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Peter Jackson, CEO, Bluescape joins Executive Growth to discuss how he is a seasoned SaaS company leader with more than two decades of experience growing emerging software companies. Prior to joining Bluescape, Jackson was CEO and co-founder of Ziploop, a leading smart wallet for mobile receipts and rewards. Early on in his career, Jackson founded Granite Systems Inc., a system integrator where he also served as president and CEO. At Granite Systems, Jackson grew the company from inception to $500M in revenues and led the company to a successful acquisition. Jackson went on to found Intraware, an early pioneer in SaaS software that he led through a successful IPO and later acquisition by Flexara. In addition to serving as CEO of other emerging software companies, Jackson has been an advisor and board member for many successful technology companies, including Eventbrite, DocuSign, and Kanjoya. Bluescape helps companies create better. Its visual collaboration software gives teams a virtual workspace to meet, share, and develop ideas. Accessible wherever you are, Bluescape lets you see the whole picture as you ideate, design, and refine concepts. Founded in 2012, Bluescape is a wholly owned subsidiary of Haworth and headquartered in San Carlos, California. www.bluescape.com BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Tim Tadder, Founder & CEO, Tim Tadder Photography joins Executive Growth to discuss while he fell in love with image-making as a teen in his father’s darkroom, it was something he learned playing college football that really propelled his career. Hard work yields amazing results – as in the harder he worked towards his goals the more amazing the accomplishments. It’s a simple mantra, the harder he works, the luckier he got. As a father, it’s something that he is diligently passing on to his two daughters. Watching them learn that accomplishing anything worthwhile takes commitment, sacrifice and focus; inspires him to keep pushing towards his goals. Twenty years ago he left behind a career as a high school teacher and football coach, to follow a dream of being a photographer. He truly started at the bottom, freelancing for community newspapers, then as a photojournalist, and ultimately collaborating on campaigns for the worlds most iconic consumer brands. Each step up is a reward for the countless hours sacrifice put towards his goals. It is said that “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” and nothing could be more true. Now with each triple bid, he knows he is competing with amazing talents. Though he believes that to be distinctive, inspiring and innovative, requires that he put every ounce of energy into the projects awarded to their team. He draws upon his experiences as a teacher and a team player to plan better, problem solve smarter and push himself, the talent and crew to deliver the very best performances possible. Success is the cumulative effort of all the little things along the way that make the work great. He is still climbing, scratching and clawing his way towards being his very best. He still approaches every opportunity to make images both moving and still with the same passion as his very first assignment. The craft of creating is never lost on him. Today he is the best version of himself – he’s evolved into a producer, director, writer and photographer, a true visual communicator. He is leveraging all the lessons he learned to make shrewder choices, be more efficient, and amplify his effectiveness to communicate. www.timtadder.com BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Chris and Heidi Powell, Founders, Transform App join BISTalk to discuss their 20 years of combined coaching, nutrition, exercise, and mindset training, they’ve found that one of the most important determining factors of success, is belief in the system you’re following. When you feel confident in what you’re doing, driven by why you’re doing it, you’ll finally be empowered to build the discipline it takes to see and feel real results. http://thetransformapp.com/ BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.

Barbara Bry, San Diego City Council Member, District 1 joins Executive Growth to discuss how she represents San Diego’s First City Council District and serves as chair of the Committee on Budget and Government Efficiency. Bry also serves as vice chair of the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee, and is a member of both the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations. She was sworn into office on December 12, 2016. The Council President Pro Tem has prioritized neighborhood improvements throughout her district. In Carmel Valley, Torrey Hills, Del Mar Mesa, and Del Mar Heights, Bry’s office worked to reset dangerous traffic signals, reopen the Carmel Valley Rec Center pool after repairs, paint out graffiti, repair potholes, remove traffic view-blocking vegetation, and secure signage to improve pedestrian safety. In University City and La Jolla, Bry’s office convened a commuter roundtable to address the transportation needs of the largest employment hub in region (UTC/Torrey Pines Mesa), installed pylons to prevent illegal turns, and completed dozens of right-of-way repairs. Bry has also led and supported several citywide initiatives. As vice chair of Public Safety, she advocated for securing an independent search firm for the selection of a new police chief and pushed for a significant pay increase for the SDPD to help recruit and retain officers. She also helped to defeat an unnecessary special election, which saved taxpayers $5 million. To improve transparency, Bry led an effort to revise Charter Section 225 and move forward with an ordinance that will require the City to collect and disclose the identities of any individual or entity involved in a business transaction with the City. Under Bry’s leadership as chair of the Budget Committee, the City adopted a fiscally responsible FY 2018 Budget that sustains essential neighborhood services, enhances public safety, restores funding for the arts, designates funding for the implementation of the Climate Action Plan, and supports other important City services. Council President Pro Tem Bry’s top priorities for 2018 include police recruitment and retention, regulating short-term rentals, advancing a community choice energy program, addressing workplace sexual harassment and pay equity, moving forward with the fire station at UCSD, and creating a thriving and inclusive innovation economy. Barbara Bry is a high-tech entrepreneur and community leader who worked her way through college and graduate school, earning a Master’s Degree in Business from Harvard. Barbara was on the founding team of several local high-tech companies, including ProFlowers.com, which has created hundreds of local jobs. She is co-founder of Atcom/Info, one of the first companies to develop technology for Internet kiosks and high-speed Internet access in hotel rooms. Additionally, she served as the first associate director of CONNECT, and is the founder of Athena San Diego, the leading organization for women in the San Diego tech and life sciences community. Barbara has deep roots in the community and has lived in San Diego for more than 35 years. She is married to Neil Senturia, raised her two daughters here, and is a proud grandmother. Kim Walpole, Co-Founder & CEO, Trials.ai joins Bob to discuss how she feels companies that run trials stand to lose billions of dollars per year because of failures related to recruitment, retention, protocol deviations and corrupted data. Trials.ai is fixing the two root causes of these failures: Study Design & Execution, that result in 50% of effective treatments failing FDA approval. Our platform applies artificial intelligence to make the process of conducting clinical trials safer, faster and easier. Now the FDA is forcing change industry wide by mandating standardized study data be submitted electronically. With 50% of research still being done on paper, this creates a major shift in how these companies collect and handle data that must be synthesized and submitted electronically for FDA approval. Trials.ai is building an intelligent technology platform that makes it simple to run and manage trials:  We leverage AI to optimize study design, create intelligent workflow automation, provide predictive analytics and recommendations based on study health and end points. Our goal is to provide Sponsors, Sites & CRO’s with the smart tools they need to make the clinical trials management process faster, cheaper and easier. BISTalk ran for over 2 years as a drive-time show on ESPN radio in San Diego as part of their experiment in ‘alternative’ non-sports business programming. ESPN returned to all sports programming and BISTalk took it as an opportunity to join the 21’st century with a rebrand and a relaunch as the Executive Growth Podcast.