guestbio

Shane Caniglia

The Rich Dad Company, a financial education company, sought out Shane Caniglia  to spearhead technology initiatives that they had never tackled before.  Rich Dad, Poor Dad series author, Robert Kiyosaki, and his wife, Kim, realized that serving financial literacy to the masses took an application of technology that did not exist in their company at that time. Creative content development was stymied by traditional forms of distribution.

The Rich Dad Company’s unique operating dynamic required a director of technology who was an entrepreneur who understood and used the potential of technology and experienced first-hand the principles of mission-driven team building and management.  Shane Caniglia’s track record of business building exceeded the company’s expectations.

Prior to joining The Rich Dad Company, Caniglia served as a founding shareholder of a number of technology companies, most notably, as founder of Paqfast, Inc.  Paqfast was one of the first small parcel shippers to develop and utilize technology to partner with the United States Postal Service.  Success was achieved by negotiating aggressive pricing discounts based on the ability to substantially improve the logistical process associated with the handling of direct-to-consumer parcels. While with Paqfast, Caniglia crafted systems integration that allowed the company to physically handle and deliver over 15 million small packages a year. In less than three and a half years after its formation, Caniglia also helped Paqfast, through effective leadership and management of 320 employees in six facilities, to earn annual revenues of more than $47 million. Paqfast was acquired by Parcel Direct, which was later acquired by Federal Express, in 2004

Under Caniglia’s direction, the Rich Dad Company has invested over $1.5 million in new technology to push the Rich Dad brand further than it has ever gone before. Caniglia has helped the company to dramatically increase the performance of websites, social media applications and back-end data capture.

Soren Petersen

Søren Petersen, CEO of Ingomar&Ingomar – Consulting, has assisted top tier international organizations to develop products, systems and methodologies for the past two decades.

He received a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and a Bachelor of Science in Transportation Design from Art Center College of Design. He graduated from Stanford University’s Center for Design Research with a PhD in design quantification; he focused on developing metrics and decision methods for the design concept selection in the conceptual phase of product development.

While at Stanford, he also developed the metrics and decision methods for integrating design with business ideas, plans, portfolio management and design briefing while exploring areas as diverse as psychology, art and organizational behavior. He is the author of Profit from Design: Leveraging Design in Business.

Ashok Jaga

Ashok Jaga is the founder and CEO of Azuyo Research Inc., a startup company that specializes in mobile and social apps. Before Azuyo, Ashok worked in the telecom industry for more than 10 years in VoIP startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ashok was also part of the core team that set up the India Development Center for Sylantro Systems, which grew to 50 engineers in 18 months.

Brian Hamilton

Brian Hamilton is the co-founder and CEO of Sageworks, a financial information company, and Inc. 500 honoree.  Hamilton is an original co-developer of “FIND” (Financial Information into Narrative Data), Sageworks’ core artificial intelligence technology, which converts financial numbers into plain language.  FIND is the basis of the ProfitCents and Sageworks Analyst applications that are used by financial institutions and accounting firms throughout North America and the United Kingdom.  Brian Hamilton holds an MBA degree from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart University, where he graduated summa cum laude. Brian is a noted expert in finance who has been published and quoted in most major national media outlets.

James Adams

James Adams is a senior analyst at Sageworks, a financial information company, and Inc. 500 honoree.  Adams is also the author of “Waffle Street: The Confession and Rehabilitation of a Financier,” a humorous examination of money, banking, and economics by a hedge fund (and foodservice) professional. Adams began his career with Protective Life Insurance Co. and Jefferson-Pilot Financial. He served as a corporate bond analyst at both companies. Subsequently, he was a vice president at a $30 billion money management firm. Adams received his MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a BS in analytical finance and accounting from Wake Forest University.

Bob Shinn

Bob Shinn, founder of Cloud Silver Lining, is a management executive and entrepreneur with more than 18 years of experience. He has a record of achievement – planning, developing, and implementing effective business-centric solutions that drive operational efficiency and lower costs while increasing profit margins and providing a competitive edge. Mr. Shinn has a superior record delivering large-scale mission-critical projects on time and on or under budget while simultaneously managing ongoing business support. He holds an MBA from Babson College and is ITIL Certified, a Certified Project Manager, and a Six Sigma Champion.

Simon de Montfort Walker

As vice president of operations at Blue Cod Technologies, Inc. Simon oversees the business process outsourcing department and all services provided. Simon started his career as an entrepreneur and has over six years of management consulting experience. As a consultant he advised global clients in the insurance and financial services sectors. Prior to joining Blue Cod, Simon was with Octavian Solutions as general manager. Octavian is a SaaS solutions firm with products focused on wealth and asset managers. Simon joined Octavian from Unicorn Solutions, where he served as a CEO. As CEO of Unicorn, Simon focused on company strategy, sales effectiveness, operational excellence, and improving connectivity between the marketplace and Unicorn’s delivery. In 2006, Simon negotiated the sale of Unicorn to IBM. Prior to joining Unicorn, Simon served as a director of business consulting at Sapient. Simon holds a BA (Hons) in economics from the University of Kings College and an MBA (with honors) from the University of Texas, Austin.

Gary Cohen

As president and co-founder of ACI Telecentrics, Inc., Gary Cohen grew the company from two people to 2,200 employees Currently, he is managing partner of CO2 Partners, LCC, operating as an executive coach and consultant. His book is Just Ask Leadership – Why Great Managers Always Ask The Right Questions (McGraw Hill 2009).