Founder Institute

Mike Sherbakov is General Partner at The Veteran Fund, a venture capital firm investing in high-growth startups founded by military veterans in aerospace, AI, autonomy, and national security. A Marine Corps veteran and former startup founder, he established the Veteran and Military Family Accelerator at Founder Institute and guest lectures on entrepreneurship and leadership at Stanford University. He is active in philanthropic work supporting veterans and service-driven leadership.

Leadership team member for the Founder Institute Australia & New Zealand chapter; partner at Right Click Capital.

Venture Advisor focused on digital health companies. He is founder of Sirica Therapeutics and has served as a medical advisor at Kaiser Permanente and Anthem. He was a practicing physician for 18 years and is founder and president of Innovate MD.

Kevin Brockland is the founder and managing partner of Indelible Ventures, a seed-stage investment firm focused on B2B startups across Southeast Asia. He evaluates investments based on founder characteristics, operational discipline, and product defensibility, with a portfolio of 17 companies across the region and active involvement in portfolio advisory. Brockland hosts SEA of Startups, a podcast covering the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem.

Leandro Srur is Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Core BI. He holds an MBA and has over 15 years of experience in digital analytics and data strategy, working with major Latin American companies across financial services, telecommunications, retail, consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, utilities, and healthcare sectors. His expertise spans data collection architecture, governance, visualization, machine learning, and data science solutions for sales, accounting, customer care, marketing, and operations functions.

Mohammad Hossein Tavangar serves as Director of Founder Institute Germany and works as an angel investor. An economist by background, he focuses on deal sourcing and capital allocation while advising founders on fundraising, growth, and exit strategies.

Adeo Ressi is CEO of Decile Group, which provides training, tools, support, and funding to emerging venture capital firms globally through its VC Lab accelerator. He also serves as Chairman of the Founder Institute, a pre-seed accelerator operating in over 250 cities with more than 8,000 portfolio companies. Ressi has launched 14 venture capital funds, founded 11 startups, and created the SAFE note, and previously served on the board of the X Prize Foundation.

Venture operator and growth strategist focused on go-to-market, revenue growth and capital formation. Began her career at ABC Studios before moving into tech and gaming, and co-founded a startup accelerator supporting underrepresented founders.

Lance Cottrell founded Anonymizer Inc. in 1995 and led the company through a successful exit in 2008. He currently serves as President and Board Chair of North Bay Angels and advises high-growth startups on fundraising, messaging, product strategy, and go-to-market approaches. Cottrell also created FeelTheBoot.com, a platform offering startup guidance to founders.

Navin Danapal is Managing Partner at Venturerock Asia, where he engages with corporate and government stakeholders across the region to develop frameworks in technology, media, telecommunications, and business development. His work includes organizing technology conferences and hackathons in Southeast Asia, establishing venture capital infrastructure through SOSV's regional office, and facilitating connections between investors and startups that have generated over $2 million in investments resulting in 10x returns. Danapal advises government agencies and corporations on innovation initiatives, speaks at international conferences on topics including fintech and space economy, and mentors entrepreneurs and venture capital professionals across the region.

Paul O'Brien is Managing Director, Publisher, and Economist at STARTUP ECONOMIST, where he advises governments, advocacy groups, and private sector leaders on policy and legislative strategy related to entrepreneurship and innovation. He previously founded MediaTech Ventures, an early-stage incubator, and held roles as Venture Partner at Meaningful Ventures and Director of Founder Institute Texas. His experience encompasses economic development, venture capital, public policy, founder support, and cross-sector coalition building, with a focus on removing systemic barriers to startup formation and capital formation.

Walied Albasheer is the Founder and Managing Partner of Intuitio Ventures, a pre-seed venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley focused on mobility, logistics, industry 4.0, and web3. With over 28 years in the technology and startup ecosystem, he brings experience in product development, digital transformation, enterprise architecture, and operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He serves as a board member, advisor, and mentor for various organizations including Founder Institute, ITU, and MIT, and has participated as jury and expert on startup competition panels globally.