The Brink SBDC Team

Benton is an exited cleantech entrepreneur turned climate investor with dozens of climate tech and software investments via San Diego Angels and NuFund Ventures. He currently serves as CEO of Sea Dragon Capital, as a Technical Advisor for Southern California Energy Innovation Network, an Advisor for the NASDAQ Entrepreneur Exchange, and a Climate Ambassador for the MIT Sustainability Initiative. Benton earned his JD and MBA (New Venture Management) from University of San Diego as well as specialties in International Law from Trinity College in Dublin, Venture Capital from UC-Berkeley Law, and Strategic Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Benton’s proudest accomplishment is coaching his daughter’s undefeated soccer team.

Silvia is deeply integrated into the start-up scene, not just in SanDiego, but internationally. She is a founding partner of Ad Astra Ventures, which aims to “get to even” for high achieving women. Focused on “Impact with Integrity,” Silvia is also the Founder & Chairwoman of Stella Labs, an accelerator for women-owned businesses; founding member of Stella Angels, a female angel investment group; Investment Committee member of Next Wave Impact, a social impact venture fund; and an angel investor to over 40 startups who have diverse founders on the leadership team. Silvia also produces a globally-recognized podcast, She Invests!, highlighting the investment journeys of female angel investors and venture capitalists.

Jerice has spent the past decade as a data analytics practitioner, a sales leader, and an angel investor and advisor. She is both a player and coach as a sales leader, taking two of her previous companies to acquisition as a top sales performer. Her passion lies in coaching and advising leaders with a hyper-growth mindset of how to build and cultivate a sales team, build brand awareness, and take their company to the next level. She has a strong bent in supporting minority business leaders to bring their business ideas to fruition in both advisory and investment.

Maisha is a strategic management executive, who has helped to build high-performance organizations and connected cultures across some of the most renowned Fortune 500 brands in health care, technology, ed tech, financial services and automotive sectors, including Auto Trader, Logitech, LG Electronics, Qualcomm, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Skillsoft, and Aetna. Maisha is part of an angel investing syndicate and brings a range of strengths including business strategy, organizational management, strategic branding and marketing, and analytic capabilities. She is a lecturer at San Diego State, and active in numerous Boards. Maisha has a PhD (Educational Psychology), MA and BA from UCLA and an MBA from the Rady School of Management.

Matt Hutton is a civil engineer with years of experience with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant writing and grant execution. He has degrees in environmental engineering, has studied biomechanics, and has been with the SBDC in California for over 5 years.

Jack currently serves as the Vice President of National Accounts for Waterloo Sparkling Water, and has extensive experience in the Food and Beverage industry. Some of Jack’s main skills include sales, customer insight, marketing, and consumer products. Jack has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Texas A&M University.

Randy is an entrepreneur and biotech finance professional. He co-founded August Therapeutics and is a past President and current Board Member of San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange. He has made contributions to six approved therapeutics and many other programs through finance, business development, and operations roles at Artelo, aTyr, Abilita, Trius, Ardea, Human Genome Sciences and ZymoGenetics. Randy also previously worked in project management, protein biochemistry and genetics at ZymoGenetics. Earlier in his career he worked in the Basic Sciences and Clinical Divisions at The Hutch. He received an MBA from Seattle University and a BS in microbiology from Washington State University, where he was a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow.

Pankaj is a tech intrapreneur turned AI and Deep Tech early-stage investor, advisor, and board member. As a senior executive at Qualcomm and Intel, Pankaj incubated a number of new device categories and businesses including the industry’s first modern laptops, tablets, smartphones, wearables, and audio devices. As the founder and managing partner at 2468 Ventures, Pankaj collaborates with founders and CEOs to help them realize their vision, think through strategic options, put processes in place to deliver operational excellence, and enable their start-ups to scale-n-grow. Pankaj’s focus is at the intersection of AI / Deep Tech and high-growth verticals including healthcare, sports-n-fitness, industrials, marketplaces, energy, and finance.

Martin is an investor and biotech professional, with a focus in taking technologies from concept to commercialization. Martin is skilled in both R&D and business management, with 35+ years experience in the life sciences industry including technical, regulatory, senior management and governance roles. Martin has worked in both large company and start-up environments and appreciates the priorities and pressures of both. He has a successful record securing SBIR grant funding, soliciting corporate collaborations and investor funding. He sits on the Life Science Review Committee for NuFund and is an advisor to Seedfolio, a VC firm. As a Brink advisor he looks forward to helping entrepreneurs along their path to building a successful company.

Dr. Josephine Polich is a leader in healthcare innovation. With a diverse background spanning engineering and chiropractic medicine, Dr. Polich's journey reflects her genuine commitment to driving positive change. Her extensive experience in engineering, including manufacturing, combined with a profound understanding of healthcare intricacies, patents, negotiations, and key opinion leader management, positions her as a thoughtful advocate for innovative solutions. Dr. Polich's varied expertise and unwavering dedication have led to meaningful advancements and earned her a role as a guest lecturer at the esteemed University of Chicago Booth MBA program. Dr. Polich’s main areas of expertise include manufacturing, patents, negotiations, KOL recruitment and management, clinical trials, Facebook marketing, and product design.

Bobby Edelman, a seasoned operator, mentor, and investor with a distinguished career in technology, marketing, and distribution. He played an executive role in scaling a $200 million computer product and internet streaming media business, contributing to the $800 million sale of Fortune 500 Marshall Electronics. His early internet streaming media innovation, 'Netseminar', is featured in 'Opening Digital Markets'. Currently, Bobby is an active angel investor at Nufund and San Diego Angel Conference, with over 100 early-stage investments focused on private market platforms. He enjoys diving, yoga, and time with Ziggy, a Shih Tsu, and family.

With 18 years of AI/SAAS and online media experience under his belt, Ohad is a seasoned business builder and operator in both large corporation and startup environments. Ohad created Google’s Channel Partnerships organization (GCPP) from the ground up and then joined Google's AI partner Ezoic as a VP of Business Organization, leading the Machine Learning startup to a $33M series A. Additionally, Ohad co-founded Kahoona with the aspirations of bridging the gap between user privacy and audience data. Today, Ohad is an LP at NuFund Venture Group and a TechStars mentor. His areas of expertise include B2B SaaS, vertical SaaS, AI, fundraising and captables, pitch deck reviews, building GTM, and hiring and leadership.

Jay Kunin, PhD, has over 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur, consultant and investor, has founded or co-founded seven companies and served as executive officer of multiple other entrepreneurial ventures. He is managing director of Professional Health Technologies (USA) LLC, a strategic consulting firm that assists early-stage healthcare and healthtech companies with U.S. market entry. He currently serves on the boards of PharmaSecure, Inc. and Sironis, Inc., and is the strategic alliance officer for The Diary Corp., managing business development in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the U.S.

Gerry Widmer is a SaaS industry veteran who has run three B2B tech companies over the last 20 years. Widmer was a business advisor to several successful SaaS and mobile technology startups, including serving as a mentor with TechStars Los Angeles and the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center at San Diego State University. As CEO and board member of Zesty.io, and SimplcityDX, he's a leader of innovative content management and social e-commerce tech platforms.

Trish is a Finance Expert in her give-back chapter. She is committed to making a lasting impact in her efforts to lift startups to success. Her passion is to help entrepreneurs secure early-stage funding. With vast experience spanning three decades as a former senior financial executive having successfully raised north of $630M in capital including a successful IPO, she has simplified the complex capital raising landscape. She has developed an early-stage financing framework, helping start-ups achieve long-term success and be well positioned for exit through IPO or M&A. Her areas of expertise are raising capital, business model strategy, budgeting and forecasting, and financial statements.

Kit is currently a Corporate and Securities Associate at Pillsbury law and licensed CPA. With a strong business and tax background, he supports emerging growth to established technology companies on M&A, venture capital financing, private offerings and other general corporate matters. Kit has Represented Shield AI, a fast-growing defense technology company, in its $225 million Series E financing and most recently in its $300 million Series F financing, which increased its valuation to $2.8 billion. Additionally, Kit sits on the board of directors of Casa Cornelia, a public interest law firm that provides pro bono legal services to victims of human and civil rights violations, and was recently honored with the 2023 Pro Bono Publico award.

Stephen Chang is a human geneticist with over 32 years of commercial experience in life sciences, focusing on stem cells, cell and gene therapy, and drug development. He is an entrepreneur, scientific leader, and business strategist specializing in small company startups and non-profits in the life science sector. This expertise allows him to provide strategic guidance on cutting-edge genetic technologies and their potential market applications, as well assessing the commercial potential of novel therapies, helping clients prioritize their R&D efforts and navigate the complex landscape of regulatory requirements specific to genetic innovations.