William Chang
Mr. Chang is the Chairman of Westlake International Group. Westlake is a privately held, diversified investment company with operations in the United States, China, Japan and India. Its investments span private and public equities, including venture capital, professional sports, media and entertainment, emerging technologies, life sciences and real estate. He serves as the Co-Owner and General Partner of D.C. United. He is also the principal owner of the San Francisco Giants Baseball Club, and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of U.S.A. Rugby, the national governing board for the sport of rugby. He is also the Creator of the Million Dollar Arm, a reality television show searching for major league caliber baseball players and was the subject of a Disney feature film. He is also the Chairman of Apex Entertainment. Mr. Chang’s associations and affiliations include: the Asian Business League (Founding Chairman); California International Relations Foundation (Director); Chinese American Association of Commerce (Founder); City Club of San Francisco (Founding Governor); Harvard University (Asia Center and Committee on University Resources); and World President’s Organization. Mr. Chang has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Lindsay Gardner
Mr. Lindsay Gardner is a 25-year veteran of the international television industry with significant experience in distribution, digital media, marketing, production and investing. He is a Senior Advisor at Oaktree Capital Management, the Los Angeles-based buyout firm with $80 billion under management, where Lindsay pursues technology, media and telecom acquisitions. He is Strategic Advisor to the CEO of Miramax, the film and television studio, where Lindsay was the architect and lead negotiator of Miramax's recent $100 million+ deal with Netflix. Lindsay has co-founded three new media companies: Porto Media (technology to transfer a movie to a memory card in 18 seconds), China-based multi-platform Reach Media, and Channel Islands, which is selling targeted advertising systems to cable operators. Until mid-2007, Lindsay was President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing for Fox Cable Networks, where he built Fox's cable network portfolio from a handful of small channels into one of the industry's largest and most diverse, launching more than a dozen channels, including three that surpassed 20 million subscribers in their first year of operation. At Fox, he was the architect of aground-breaking deal with China’s government and media ministries for the launch of Star TV's Xing Kong, the only Western-owned channel legally aired in China's cable homes. Prior to Fox, Lindsay held positions at Cox Communications and Viewer's Choice. At Cox, he led investment initiatives in and launched new cable channels in Europe, Latin America, the United States and Australia. He led the first cable modem trial ever, launching high-speed Internet service to 50 Cox San Diego customers in November 1993. He has been named to the “CableFAX 100” list of most influential industry executives seven times and has been inducted into the Cable Pioneers. Lindsay earned his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Bob Gower
Mr. Bob G. Gower, former president and CEO of Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc., has more than 40 years of experience in the chemical industry, 30 of which were in operational and managerial roles for such companies as Atlantic Richfield, ARCO Chemical, and Lyondell Petrochemical Company. Gower became president of Lyondell when it was formed in 1985 and led its transformation from an unprofitable company to one recognized as one of the 100 best manufacturing companies in the world when heretired in late 1996. Together with Dr. Richard Smalley, Dr. Gower founded Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. (CNI) in 2000 developing fullerene carbon nanotubes for multiple applications. CNI was acquired by Unidymin 2007. Dr. Gower founded Ensysce Biosciences Inc. in early 2008 for the specific focus of using carbon nanotubes in therapeutic areas. Mr. Gower received his PhD from the University of Minnesota.
Michael Kotlarz
Michael Kotlarz is currently a strategic business consultant and advisory board member focusing on disruptive technologies. His 25 years of experience in analyzing the nexus between technology and financial services has informed his strong belief that understanding new disruptive technologies will make or break the winners and losers of coming decades. Michael has spent the last several years focusing on cutting-edge data analytics including Data Science, Machine Learning, and A.I. and the practical application of these emerging technologies for his business partners.
Prior to Inference Ventures LLC, his consulting practice, he served as lead portfolio manager of OppenheimerFund’s $7 Billlion large cap growth strategy and as the senior technology analyst for the OppenheimerFunds Growth Team. Investors Business Daily singled out his fund in its “Best Mutual Funds of 2015 Special Report.” Prior to joining OppenheimerFunds he was a Managing Director at Ark Asset management where he oversaw technology allocations for several multi-billion dollar investment vehicles. Prior to Ark he spent several years as a sell-side analyst including DLJ where he covered Storage Networking and Computer Hardware. He began his investment career at NatWest Securities and holds a B.S. from Cornell University.
Prior to Inference Ventures LLC, his consulting practice, he served as lead portfolio manager of OppenheimerFund’s $7 Billlion large cap growth strategy and as the senior technology analyst for the OppenheimerFunds Growth Team. Investors Business Daily singled out his fund in its “Best Mutual Funds of 2015 Special Report.” Prior to joining OppenheimerFunds he was a Managing Director at Ark Asset management where he oversaw technology allocations for several multi-billion dollar investment vehicles. Prior to Ark he spent several years as a sell-side analyst including DLJ where he covered Storage Networking and Computer Hardware. He began his investment career at NatWest Securities and holds a B.S. from Cornell University.