Jake Louw
CTO (2015-2019) | Co-Founder
Stephen Bain
Web Designer | Project Manager
Francois graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a BS
in General Science. During his time at Penn State, he co-founded a
small finance company which eventually led to a partnership in a
larger venture in New York City. After the business was sold in
2010, Francois’ passion for entrepreneurship and innovation drove
his search for new and exciting endeavors.
Through his
studies in science and an understanding of intellectual property, he
was able to develop his curiosity into a deeper understanding of
Android based operating processes. Together with Jake Louw, his
ideas came to fruition as they pioneered one of the most
ground-breaking and advanced frameworks in the messaging industry.
To date, they have designed multiple patented technologies. Disa is now
on the forefront of an emerging message unification market.
Sandeep is a senior tech executive with a passion for delivering impactful, cutting-edge technology. He started his career in software development at IBM. He then became a partner & principal at The Kernel Group, which Veritas acquired. Following the exit, he joined Exterprise as Chief Architect and led its development through acquisition by Commerce One. He then went on to co-found Gravitant, which IBM acquired.
Since 2008, Sandeep has been focused on mobile-first application strategies, whereas an early adopter of the smartphone ecosystem, he launched award-winning music platforms MixZing and Socialmuse on Android. He has successfully launched numerous applications for various clients, including the official NFL Mobile applications and Verizon Message+ applications, each with more than 15million active users.
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Steve Adler is a serial entrepreneur with more than 30 years of high technology and software development industry experience creating solutions in the AI, cloud-based media, SOA microservices, web3, streaming video, XR, mobile app, connected device and IoT ecosystems.
Steve is presently CTO at Fan Controlled Sports & Entertainment and is responsible for the tech stack and tech strategy for their next-gen sports+tech+media business. At FCSE, Steve is currently focusing on expanding the multi-sport services platform to support golf and basketball, generating new AI-powered fan-facing features, deep integration of web3 tech into the digital product/IRL experiences as well as XR and Big Data initiatives.
Steve also serves as an active advisor for five startups both here in the US and in India.
Steve started his career in tech with an MS in Computer Science at UCSD. Since then, he has designed and built a broad spectrum of diverse systems including an automation system for hydroelectric plants in China, the NFL Mobile app, secure desktops for the NSA, an ASW visualization and prosecution system for the US Navy, the moral equivalent of Instagram (much too early), the first wireless hardware app platform (Chumby - pre-iPhone), F16 simulators for the Navy and many others.
Steve is the co-author over 20 patents relating to connected device, media tech, sports tech, web3 and mobile apps and serves as a tech industry Subject Matter Expert for KeyBanc's Mosaic Equity Research group.
Jim is a whip-smart Startup Finance leader with over a decade of experience in driving successful business outcomes for entrepreneurs and investors. He began his career as a CPA and, at one point, took a career detour of several years as a Human Resources leader and third-party recruiter.
Upon completion of the MBA program at the University of Southern California, Jim joined a NASDAQ-listed company as their Controller where he was tasked with bringing their Finance function up to SEC registrant standards. Jim later went on to turn around a software startup that had been unprofitable for nine years, provided accounting and investor relations services for a multi-billion dollar VC fund, and grew the North American arm of an accounting software vendor from a customer base of 10,000 to 90,000, over three years.
Jim has been a Fractional CFO of venture-backed startups since 2018 where his work has contributed to more than $200M in raised capital. He has held several board positions including several years as an executive and board member at the California Society of CPAs. Jim is an active mentor with NewChip Accelerator and was a member of the inaugural class of the CFO Readiness Academy, conducted by FEI (“Financial Executives International”). When not partnering with founders, Jim enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, or attending rock concerts.
At Kruze Consulting Jim has worked with startups in New York, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, providing his invaluable expertise in startup accounting, finance, HR and tax. When Xero IPO'd in 2015, Jim was the Head of Finance.
Noteable
Marina is an experienced HR leader and Program Manager. With a Master’s in Human Resources Management from University of Illinois (Top 3 HR Programs in the country) she led HR Technology implementations across Fortune 500 companies for 3 years as a consultant, focusing on Talent & Performance, Recruiting, HRIS, and Learning software. She transitioned to working in-house at WeWork on the People Technology team as a Project Manager overseeing 10 new technology implementations and later as a Program Manager overseeing all Merger & Divestment activity for 12 new brands being integrated into the WeWork parent company People software between 2018-2020.
Since 2020 she runs a corporate wellness consulting company and coaching practice focusing on executive wellness & burnout prevention for individuals and teams. Her areas of expertise include agile project implementations, streamlining corporate operations and business processes, getting teams to go live on time and within budget while facilitating cross-functional collaboration and building a great employee experience for the teams she works with.
Brooke is a results-driven attorney with a proven track record of delivering impactful results for her corporate clients. She brings a wealth of experience in providing practical yet comprehensive legal strategy and counsel, including on matters of corporate governance, business litigation, consumer protection, and data privacy.
Her career began in prestigious AmLaw 150 law firms, tackling complex corporate issues for Fortune 500 companies on the cutting edge of technology products and services. She later worked as a litigator for 6 years, appearing before judges in federal courts throughout the country on data breach litigation claims, breach of contract, breach of warranty, deceptive trade practices, and other consumer protection claims.
Currently, as fractional general counsel to early-stage, VC-backed technology companies, Brooke helps her clients manage, assess, and mitigate legal risks across a variety of legal disciplines. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), Brooke brings additional expertise in data privacy and governance. Her ability to seamlessly integrate legal counsel with strategic business objectives makes her an invaluable partner.
After spending many years in the music industry collaborating with some of the most notable artists across various generations, Zac launched his first tech startup in 2015. His venture gained significant attention following a successful feature in Forbes, leading to its acquisition by a private VC Family Office two years later, complete with a full development team and graphic designers, fueling his ongoing passion for creation.
Since that pivotal moment, Zac has held executive roles and founded, or served on the boards of more than a dozen startups. He has also partnered with Family Offices and Venture Capital firms to foster business growth across various sectors, including immigration visa automation and hemp-based energy products. Drawing on human-centered design principles acquired during his time at IDEO, Zac has spearheaded initiatives to enhance marketing funnels, UX/UI configurations, brand development, and user acquisition strategies.
Zac typically serves in key positions such as CTO and CGO, and acts as a liaison to investors. His approach combines creative insight, data-driven analysis, and strategic marketing to effectively stimulate user engagement and revenue growth.
In his leisure time, Zac is an educator, teaching entrepreneurship at bootcamps and academic institutions, including Harvard's MBA program, where he was invited to teach for a third time in April 2024.
Michael heads the business development of Disa Technologies, helping the company to grow and scale. He manages external relationships with partners and investors, oversees the growth plan, team development, and business planning. With ten years of experience from the management consulting industry, he was responsible for client relationships with high-tech sales and marketing executives. Michael has spent 3 years at Gartner as marketing director, regional sales leader, and sales strategist and is a recent graduate of The Wharton Business School MBA program, where his focus was on entrepreneurial management and marketing.
Bill is a seasoned mobile developer/manager with over 20 years’ experience delivering successful mobile apps and server side services. His skill set has allowed him to work effectively in big companies, across teams - to start-ups with their own culture. Bill was one of the first ten developers hired at GroupMe and worked with the team for 4 years. Currently his focus is on UI with an expanding managerial role as the development team grows. Bill has a BSEE from Union College.
David was the CTO for Wine by Wives - a celebrity wine club imagined by Reality TV stars Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Barney along with New York businessman and internet marketing entrepreneur Christopher Gravagna. David handled all development aspects from the marketing, purchasing and application sides of the company. He is a C# coding language specialist.
Disa Works, founded in 2016, offers a unified messaging app that integrates multiple messaging services (Telegram, Facebook, SMS/MMS, etc.) into one hub. The user can organize conversations, shared files, photo galleries, and group conversations in one place as well as personalize the display and appearance of their interface. A unique feature of Disa is the ability to view conversations from different apps through individual streams or as one unified feed by contact, and reply to them.
