Stephen Meade
CEO
Stephen Meade is an American entrepreneur, executive and strategic adviser who is passionate about growing companies that make a difference in the world. He has the ability to catapult an idea from pure concept to the creation of a functioning business. In the past 20 years, he has created, incubated and architected 9 successful technology-based companies. Most ideas are impactful and timely, like VirtualSellers, started in 1996, others revolutionary, like Cenoplex, or more serious, such as My WetRock or RONAstar. Companies range from software, ecommerce, entertainment and fashion.Prior to venturing into entrepreneurial world, Mr. Meade was a regional vice president with Travelers Group, a fortune 500 financial services company.
Mr. Meade is a seasoned business leader and sits on advisory boards for M.I.T. Enterprise Forum, International House of Blues, and Aventric. He is a frequent speaker at executive leadership conferences such as M.I.T.Enterprise Forum, Anderson School of Management, U.C.L.A., Founder Institute, Opportunity Green, and more. He welcomes the opportunity to speak and areas of expertise include networking, team/management/advisory board building, start-ups and leadership.
Ken Feldman
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Feldman is a seasoned technology executive with a focus on building companies to bring complex projects to market. He has built teams, developed products and technologies, marketing strategies, and raised funds across the fields of internet, telecommunications, media, and aerospace. His first major endeavor came in 1995 as President and founder of Stardex, where he was responsible for recruiting a veteran team of engineers and reviving a dream that had been thought impossible: an ultra-low cost rocket launch vehicle. The two-stage system used ablative cooled, pintle injector LOX / Keorsene engines mated to a low-cost tank structure that would be able to lift 5,000 pounds into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The basic design was the precursor to successful Falcon 1 rocket now being produced by Space X. A pioneer in the telecommunications field, Mr. Feldman created Airpower Communications in 1998, where he built the first commercially operational Resilient Packet Ring (IEEE 802.17) network in North America. A hybrid fiber-optic / wireless network it provided high speed telecommunication services to customers across Southern California. In 2005 he founded FashionSmasher, Inc. where he developed a system that integrated geo-location consumer search with the apparel industry supply chain. He led the company’s pivot to Stylit.TV, an online entertainment shopping network focused on fashion and beauty. Part of this shift included developing an innovative virtual currency system that combined brand recognition with user rewards, an integrated user social media broadcast system, as well as producing over 1,000 video content segments.
Tim Trela
VP Client Services, East
Tim Trela has a diverse and experienced background in IT solutions, change management and supply chain systems. He is the former CIO and VP Supply Chain for Arcelor Mittal USA, the world’s largest steel company, where he was responsible for the total information technology, process automation functions, and the entire supply chain. Under his leadership, Arcelor Mittal completely upgraded the entire automated and human systems supporting the order fulfillment process and became the industry leader in efficiency and customer satisfaction. As VP of EDS he was responsible for deploying large scale ITO and BPO solutions for $1B+ revenue companies.
Jerry Thode
VP Client Services, West
Jerry Thode is a recognized leader in Information Technology consulting services providing IT strategy for mid-sized enterprises, bringing over 25 years of business and consulting experience to RONAStar. As the Tatum Regional Practice Leader he launched a series of very successful IT practices to establish Tatum LLC as the leader in IT strategy and consulting for small to medium sized enterprises. Prior to joining Tatum, Jerry Thode was the Pacific Southwest Area Vice President for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young consulting. He has consulting experience in a variety of information systems areas including information systems strategic planning, large scale custom systems design, development and integration, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) package selection and implementation, knowledge management, and other emerging technologies. He has performed consulting projects for a variety of clients including Fluor Corporation, Jacobs Engineering Group, GM Hughes Electronics, Nissan Motor Corporation, ARCO Division of British Petroleum, AT&T Wireless, Walt Disney Company, Paramount Pictures, Bergen Brunswig Corporation, and Port of Los Angeles.
Patrick Murphy
Director of Technology
An IT Management expert, Pat Murphy was the program manager at DaVinci Software were he lead the creation of RONAstar. He has an extensive background in project management, IT management, IT Solution Architect. At GE he created and is leading the IT and Hosting infrastructure for the A.I. business group within GE Intelligent Platforms. While at SmartSignal Corporation he managed and grew their Network Operations and Customer Support.