Coach Profiles

COACH PROFILES home

				The following profiles provide a glimpse of some of our coaches' capabilities. YNC works with each client to assign a coach who is appropriate for their needs. YNC personnel continue to be involved with the process of assisting our clients to achieve self-employment success.
	Coach "Donn" > Specialties: Strategic marketing and Government Sales			Donn has started and managed five companies focused on the use of digital earth imagery from aircraft and satellites to create up-to-date thematic maps for a wide range of applications including oil and mineral exploration, forestry and agriculture, and most recently within Terra-Vista, real estate, wireless telecommunications and post-disaster resource management. His business experience has involved working with U.S. and foreign governments as well as major multinational corporations, providing products and consulting services related to the use of earth imagery in their business operations. He spent twenty-five years as an active and reserve Naval Aviator in the U.S. Navy flying P-3 Orions performing various missions including ocean surveillance and antisubmarine warfare. Most recently, Donn was affiliated with the Office of Naval Research and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command advising in areas of ocean sensing and earth observation technology. Donn is an expert at identifying opportunities and creating business strategies. He has a B.S. degree in geology from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
	COACH "Drew" > Specialties: Business Plans, raising money and life transitions.			Drew is passionate about helping people actively design their careers and their lives. He has coached individuals in a wide variety of positions ranging from CEOs to managers to self-employed individuals. He is a former entrepreneur and executive of a dot-com. Drew has firsthand knowledge of the unique challenges of founding and leading a new company. He has authored business plans, raised money through the seed round, and pitched to venture capitalists. Drew has worked in many industries including information technology, wireless, transportation, health-care and online services. In addition, he has held positions in numerous functional areas including consulting, business development, information technology, and corporate finance. He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern California, and is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute. Drew has been practicing Zen meditation for many years and trained for two years with the Kwan Um School of Zen to become a teacher. He grew up in Philadelphia and has lived in California since graduating college. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his fiancé Amy.
	COACH "Mel" > Specialties: General small business and retail			Mel has more than 42 years experience in high tech, small business management with his own entrepreneurial venture. He is also experienced as an educator and is a published author and lecturer in small business. After 23 years with GTE/Sylvania, he retired in 1971 as National Director of Marketing, Sales and Advertising. That same year he founded a chain of retail stores. After 14 successful years in operation, the chain was sold and Mel wrote his first published book on the "Basics You Should Know Before Starting Your Own Small Business". He also had his own national television series for two years entitled "The Small Business Counselor". In 1995, Mel was selected by an international agency to spend two months in the African country of Zambia, where he worked with their Small Scale Industry Association. Mel continues to consult in Africa specializing in small business.
	COACH "Karen" Specialties: Business development with team ventures			Karen has extensive experience in founding and running companies. She has secured over $50 million in equity funding and has been instrumental in over 40 mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and licensing agreements. She was CEO and co-founder of Livemind, a wireless data company. Karen also developed the product strategy at the EVP E-Venture Division of Pearson Publishing. While there, she forged partnerships with industry leaders such as Microsoft, Amazon and Ziff Davis. Karen was also VP of Publishing at Compaq Computer, VP of Marketing at Electronic Arts and Director of Business Development at Delrina Corporation.
	COACH "Steve" Specialties: High-tech marketing and management			Steve has over 20 years of experience in the commercial software industry, including positions in software development, customer support, engineering management, marketing, and sales. During 3 years in sales at Mentor Graphics, Steve was top salesman for the last two of those years. As VP of Marketing for embedded software firm Microtec, Steve lead its early entry into the embedded Java market. And as founder and CEO of eJobShop, he managed that company to a record $1.7M in annual sales per employee. Steve has lived on both US coasts as well as in Asia and Europe, and holds mechanical engineering and business degrees from Stanford University.
	COACH "Craig" Specialties: Small business general management, marketing and sales management			Specialities: . Craig has 40 years of sales, systems engineering and general management expertise. His diverse background includes sales and management stints at Motorola, Xerox, Lexus and the investment banking industry. Additionally, he has successfully managed the activities of dozens of sales and systems personnel as a Vice President for two national computer companies. Most recently, Craig sold the commercial printing company he acquired and profitably ran for over ten years. His marketing and general management skills will assist any entrepreneur contemplating acquiring or starting a new company.

	COACH "Susan" > Specialties: Personal development and franchises			Susan is a professional coach, trainer and mentor. She was a co-founder of Results Life Coaching, and opened the first USA franchise in March 2000. She was responsible for the training and support of more than 100 coaches. Susan also has eighteen years experience in the telecommunications field including software design, systems analysis, development, testing and project coordination.
	COACH "Ry" Specialties: Team and high-tech companies			Ry has been an entrepreneur all of his business life. He started his first company while still in graduate school. This company, KRS Electronics, was built on his designs and patents for tape devices. Other companies followed including manufacturing plated computer disks, instrumentation tape recorders, security devices and photographic accessories. Ry licensed his designs to companies including Ricoh (Japan), Astic/BSR (Hong Kong), Texas Instruments, Fisher-Price (Toys), Automatic Canteen and Ampex. In addition, Ry founded an Internet-based education company which hosted the first online seminar on Raising Capital. He has also lectured on entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ry has extensive experience in starting companies along with in-depth knowledge of process of what it takes to succeed in new ventures. He has a BSE from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford Business School.
	COACH "Stuart" Specialty: Market driven companies			Stuart founded and served as Chairman of Senior Surfers, Inc., a consulting firm focused on defining, designing and implementing technology-related solutions for older adults. He was the founder and CEO of Taylor, Nelson, Sofres, one of the largest market research companies in the world. Stuart also founded and was CEO of Small Business Capital Corp, one of the first independent venture capital companies in the U.K. He has broad experience in starting businesses including an antiquarian bookshop, a concert company and a computerized theater ticket agency. He has lectured in Entrepreneurship and Business Development at the Hass School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. Stuart has a BA from Colgate in Psychology, an MBA from Stanford Business School, and an MA from the London School of Economics in International Finance.
	COACH "Janie" Specialities: Sole proprietors, service industries, and non-profits.			As an experienced entrepreneur, Janie is Professional Coach, Consultant and Certified Facilitator. Her passion is to unlock the dreams and aspirations of people, inspiring them to confidently take charge of their lives. She combines 20 years of experience in management, human resources, career counseling, personal growth and leadership development training. As an author and public speaker, she shares her communication skills to assist you in creating a clear business and marketing plan. She provides support and suggestions on juggling the many roles you play as an entrepreneur. Prior to owning her own business, she worked with government, the insurance and restaurant industries. A Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and an experienced workshop facilitator, her personal insight, and positive personality helps you get from where you are today to where you want to go!