SID MOHASSEB
LIFE IN BRIEF
Sid is a published author, serial entrepreneur, venture investor,
university professor, board member, business thought leader and public speaker.
From a very young age, Sid learned not to leave change to chance.
At 7 he learned to be self-sufficient in treating the genetic blood disorder (Hemophilia) he suffered from. At 14, he learned to balance intellect and humility and published his first book of poetry. At 16 he convinced his parents that his future must be shaped in America and migrated to US without his family. Working through engineering school he learned that self-sufficiency begins with selflessness; to succeed one must be able to continually deliver value to friends, family and society.
Embracing his entrepreneurial talents, at 21, Sid started and exited his first company while at college. Pursuing his curiosity around the purpose of life, he explored various spiritual and philosophical schools of thoughts. At 25, he taught comparative Eastern and Western philosophy. Sid’s professional career was built on being a trusted advisor. At 27, he became the youngest partner of a national management consulting firm serving fortune 500 clients.
Early in his career, Sid realized that trust, flexibility, agility and authenticity are the cornerstones of progress. During the next three decades, he supported large scale acquisitions, acted as the principal investor and operator in company turnarounds. As serial entrepreneur, Sid founded and led several early-stage and hyper-growth companies from inception to acquisition. Many times over, he shouldered the responsibility for meeting payroll and wrote checks to acquire or invest in companies; learning to think both like an investor and a founder; facing, accepting, and overcoming his share of failures and successes in ideas and ventures. Along the way, Sid learned that the wounds of failures are the pathways to our next best version.
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As an educator, he has influenced the minds of many across the globe. To see students comprehend concepts through the sparkle of their eyes, is Sid’s true passion. He has taught Strategy, Finance, Venture Capital, Negotiation and Data Analytics to MBAs and Graduate level Engineers at University of Southern California (USC), Chapman University, and University of California in Irvine (UCI). He has also created and delivered leadership and management programs attended by thousands of corporate executives. Sid considers the privilege to impact others on their life path and to provoke and motive them to discover their authentic self and excel as his greatest accomplishment.
As a professional fund manager and angel investor, Sid has mentored dozens of entrepreneurs, met with hundreds of start-up companies, and reviewed countless business plans. In his support of the entrepreneurial community he served as a mentor for Kaufman Foundation and a commercial evaluator for National Science Foundation. Sid contributed to the California Legislature in empowering the small business community. He founded The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) organization in South Coast and served as the president of the largest seed funding organization in US.
As an advisor and board member, he has counseled corporate leaders across a wide spectrum of industries and scale – from fortune 500 to a man and a laptop ventures. In his journey, Sid appreciates the perspectives of conglomerates, middle market players and start-ups. Working with some of the most exciting leaders and organizations, Sid has learned the value of people and cultures, experimentation and innovation, and clarity of thought and communication.
As a thought leader, he has been featured at TEDx as well as on various Television, Radio programs and Podcasts. Amongst others, his articles have been published in Inc. and Forbes. His case studies are available on Harvard Business Review and used by educators globally. His book the Caterpillar’s Edge made the top 100 best business and strategy books on Amazon and is recommended to MBA students by various universities. His new book “The Entrepreneurial Philosophy” is scheduled for a late-2020 release.
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Sid has earned a reputation as the “Entrepreneur philosopher.”
He believes in our individual ability to shape our destiny. There are always infinite opportunities ahead of us, regardless of our origins and limitations. Our transformational mindset and ability to embrace uncertainty and leave our addictions to sameness behind are key to realizing our next best version - to evolve. To be impactful, Sid believes that we have to realize that we are the sculptor, the artist who is always working on and perfecting our masterpiece – the sculpture of self. He considers entrepreneurship a talent that we all possess. A talent that is stimulated as we acknowledge our capabilities and pursue our love of wisdom – our Personal Entrepreneurial Philosophy (PEP)
Sid continues to believe that progress is rooted in staying relevant and not leaving change to chance.
CLIENTS SERVED ALONG THE WAY
Advance MP Technology
Allegheny County, PA
American Honda Motor Co.
Beverly Enterprises
California AOC
CALTRANS
Carl Karcher Enterprises
CCH - Computax
Central Judicial District, - OC
Church of Latter-Day Saints
Chrysler Corporation
Citrus Judicial District
City of Las Vegas, NV
City of Long Beach, CA
City of Louisville, KY
City of New York, NY
City of Pasadena, CA
CNN
County and City of Sacramento
County of Broward, FL
County of Clark, NV
County of Cook, IL
County of Jefferson, ky
County of Los Angeles, CA
County of Maricopa, AZ
County of Pima, AZ
County of Riverside, CA
County of Yolo, CA
Employ America
Federal Reserve Bank
First Interstate Bank
Flextronics (Flex)
Ford Motor Company
General Telephone Company
Grumman Space Systems
Home Savings of America
Hughes Helicopter
Hughes Micro Electronics
International Business Machines - IBM
ISD Corporation
Johnny Rockets
Kia Motors
Krause’s Sofa Factory
Langenthal Corporation
Long Beach Judicial District
Malibu Judicial District
Marie Callender's
Micrologics Inc.
Morrison & Forester LLP
Motorola Inc.
National Center for State Courts
National Medical Enterprises
Mattel Toys Inc.
McDonnell Douglas
National Starch & Chemical Corp.
Nevada Depr. of Transportation
NDT Systems, Inc.
NRCCUA
Orange County Superior Court
Pac*Tel - Pacific Bell
Paramount Pictures Corporation
Permira (Private Equity)
Riverside Judicial District
San Diego Housing Commission
Santa Barbara County
Southern California Gas Company
State of California
State of Texas
State of Washington
Sterling Partners
TelAutograph (Omnifax)
Toyota Motor Company
Tuftex Industries
Union Bank
Wells Fargo Bank
WellPoint
Zeus Components (Arrow)
… & MORE
ACADEMIC
CONTRIBUTIONS
Your transformational mindset is the forever engine of your innovation factory.
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Currently Adjunct professor at University of Southern California (USC) Marshall Business School – Focus: Dynamic Business Strategy and Execution
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Currently Adjunct Professor at USC - Viterbi School of Engineering
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Facilitation of executive workshops conducted for over 8500 middle managers and hundreds of senior executives across many organizations nationwide
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Former Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University – Focus: Strategic Management & Venture Capital investment
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Former faculty at University of California at Irvine (UCI) – Focus: Business Globalization
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Former faculty at Saddleback College – Focus: Small Business Management & Venture Capital Investments
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Former faculty and member of the power of angel investing sponsored by the Kaufman foundation
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Former Advisory Board member, Chapman University Business School
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Former Advisory Board member, University of California at Irvine Business School
“Business wars are won on the battle ground, in the market place, a common problem is that board rooms are disconnected from the foxholes and strategies are often not responsive to the constantly changing competitive realities”
BOARD
CONTRIBUTIONS
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Anabasis, Inc. (Chairman) – Management Consulting Services / Turn around services
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Clupidia, Inc. – Business to Consumer Internet Content play
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Kiana Analytics - RTLM solutions
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CreateNu - FICO Score for Early-stage companies
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Asceletech - Medial Devices and Material Company
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Venture Farm (Chairman and GP) – Early Stage Seed Funding
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Vital Source, Inc. – Global Distribution of Electronics Components
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Cerius Executives - Interim Executive Solutions
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NDT Systems, Inc. – Ultrasonic Testing Equipment Manufacturing
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Competitive Knowledge (Chairman) – Internet Content Aggregation B2B
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Trend Point Systems, Inc. Power & Energy Optimization Product Manufacturing
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AccuScore – Sports Analytics and Predictive Modeling
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Wise Window (Chairman) – Unstructured Data Analytics
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XS Capacity (Chairman) – Trucking and Transpiration Technology Platform
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Vator.TV (Advisory) – Platform for Entrepreneurial Interaction
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Non-profit advisory board: Chapman University
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Non-profit advisory board: University of California Irvine (UCI),
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Non-profit advisory board: Southern California Technology Council
SPEAKING & PRINT CONTRIBUTIONS
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Featured speaker at TEDx, “Exploring the Collective Conscious”
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Harvard Business Review Publications > HBR Cases
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Frequent keynote speaker and panel participant e.g. American Association of Accountants, Oracle Symposium (open world), Microsoft Exchange 365, National Credit Union CEO Roundtable, Various Private Equity CFO and CEO special events, Various Corporate Retreats, Harvard Alumni Group, IEEE organization, TiE organization, Venture Association, Technology Council, IDEA, National Retail Association, etc.
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Frequent Speaker at various universities on entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialization, data Analytics and Strategy e.g. UCI, UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Concordia, North Carolina University, Wharton Business School, etc.
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Served as the host and moderator for a national radio program on good Business practices with a 7.5 million audience in four states.
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Publication: The Caterpillar’s Edge – evolve, evolve again and thrive in business - distributed by Simon & Schuster.
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Forbes.com contributor & business council member
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Publication: Management Handbook of Strategy, “Knowledge: The True Return on Information”
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Publication: Energy Magazine, “The Role of Operations Research in Asset Allocation Planning”
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Publication: Houston Business Journal, “Restorative Management”
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Publication: CEO Express, “Transcending Transaction: Achieving Competitiveness Through the Internet”
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Publication: USA Technology, “Components as Commodities”
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& MORE ...
INTELECTUAL PROPERTY & INNOVATION
In addition to contributions to formulation of six technology driven business process patents, Sid was recognized as the architect for innovative business approaches and software solutions such as: the Resource Allocation model (RAM – winner of the Innovation in Government Kleps award) , Executive Dashboard model, Operations Planner Resource Optimization model, the HOPES Utility Forecasting system, the Sentence Screening system and Vibes (Edison Innovation award Silver medalist, 2nd to Google, as well as Tech America’s innovation award).
ENTREPRENURE
COMMUNITY
CONTRIBUTION
Your uniqueness is your true advantage; apply your talent and your wisdom to shape your Personal Entrepreneurial Philosophy and realize that advantage.
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Founding President of the Orange County Chapter of TiE (largest entrepreneur organization – 50+ countries
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Past President & Board member of Tech Coast Angels, Orange County (largest seed investment entity in US)
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Former Board Member Southern California Technology Council
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Member of California Assembly Committee for Economic Growth
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National Science Foundation Commercial Evaluator
DEEP DIVE INTO HISTORY
IN SUMMARY…
Following the release of his bestselling books “The Caterpillar’s Edge”, and “You Are Not Them” Sid has been involved with speaking engagements and media expert activities, high-level advisory, corporate board interests, and EARLY-STAGE INVESTMENTS. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California(USC) Marshall Business School as well as Viterbi School of Engineering where he focuses on the use of AI and data analytics in dynamic business strategy formulation and execution. Professor Mohasseb is actively sharing his experience through multiple tedx talks (Are You The Art, The Artist Or The Entrepreneur? … & Exploring The Collective Conscious) as well as numerous articles in Harvard Business Review, London School of Economics, Fox News, TIME, Forbes, Newsweek, USAToday, Foreign Policy, The HILL, Independent, and more.
As a serial entrepreneur, Sid has founded and sold a number of early-stage companies. Most recently, through an acquisition of one of his companies, he joined KPMG as the National Strategic Innovation Leader for the strategy group, helped formulate KPMG Capital, and served on the global leadership committee focused on data analytics. As the former president of TCA Venture Group (Tech-Coast Angles), managing partner of Venture Farm, current venture partner for K2X Capital, President of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneur), and commercial evaluator for National Science Foundation, Professor Mohasseb has guided a number of start-up investments and mentored numerous entrepreneurs.
As an advisor to fortune 500 executives, he has helped shape merger and acquisition relationships as well as growth, data monetization, analytics and AI, go to market and exit strategies. Today, Prof. Mohasseb is the board chair or member for cutting-edge companies offering AI Responsibility and Trustworthiness platforms, Data Analytics SaaS and consulting solutions, Digital Twin and RTLS technologies, AI driven Human Capital management as well as Telecom distribution, material science, and communications.
THE EARLY TO MID-2000s …
Sid served as the CEO and the Chairman of the board for Wise Window, venture backed company, where he guided the development of innovative and ground breaking technologies in the data analytics space with a focus on unstructured data transformation. Sid formulated the strategic direction and the go to market efforts as well venture funding activities and the eventual negotiation of the final acquisition to KPMG, LLP in 2012. Wise Window won the prestigious Edison award, second place to Google, and the innovation awards from various university contests and professional technology organizations. At KPMG, he served as a Managing Director for Data Analytics and the national lead for Data Analytics Driven Dynamic Strategy & Execution practice as well as a member of the KPMG Global Data Analytics leadership team. Additionally, he was an Adjunct professor at University of Southern California (USC) Marshall Business School as well as Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University and Paul Mirage Business School at University of California in Irvine (UCI).
In parallel, Mohasseb was the Managing Director of Venture Farm LLC, a seed funding firm and the president of Tech Coast Angels, the largest Angel investment organization in North America. In early 2000 Sid architected the strategic acquisition and founded and served as the CEO of Vital Source, Inc., a global distributor of electronic components with offices in the US, Europe and Asia, where he led the company on a 30-fold revenue growth journey over a three-year period.
THE 80’s & 90’s …
Sid founded and served as the Chairman / CEO of Competitive Knowledge, Inc. (CKI) – a, data focused, VC backed Internet Company. Mohasseb’s vision for CKI grew out of close to two decades of leadership and expertise in management consulting and the recognition of the need for within and cross industry analytics driven benchmarking. Prior to forming CKI Mohasseb, in 1989, founded the national management consulting firm of Anabasis and facilitated its merger with Dan Straub & Associates to create Anabasis-Straub. He served as the CEO of the merged organization serving fortune 500 companies in US. The firm also became a leading consulting organization serving the Judicial branch. The Resource Allocation Model (RAM) was one of the technological innovations of the firm that allowed the courts re-engineer their processes on continuous bases and control their funding needs – the software solution was sold to ISD Corporation. Additionally, Anabasis-Straub developed the continuous improvement and measurement system for the National Center for the State Courts which became the template of court management across the nation. On the private sector front, to name a few, Sid led the team that was responsible for the largest re-engineering project for Southern California Gas Company; assisted Toyota Motors Company design and launch their National Logistics and Parts Distribution Network in North America; and supported the acquisition of the Krause’s Sofa Factory to guide the company to profitability post an LBO; and the Acquisition of NDT systems from DuPont Corporation and the successful turnaround of the company and eventual exit at (50x plus multiple). Prior to founding Anabasis and after launching and exiting his first start-up during college, he joined and later became the youngest partner in charge of corporate development at a national consulting firm (SGS) contributing to its 10x growth and serving clients like IBM, Federal Reserve Bank, NME, Motorola and many more.
ACROSS THE YEARS …
Sid has served on a number of corporate and advisory boards including: Wise Window, Inc. (Chairman), Kiana Analytics, PeachScore, XYZies, Kagen, Aviana Global, Two Story, Lumenova, Anabasis (Chairman), Clupedia.com, AccuScore (Orion Data Corp.), Vital Source Inc., Trend Point Systems, Vator.TV, Cerius Consulting, NDT Systems and XS Capacity (Chairman). He has also served on the advisory board of a number of non-for profit and educational organizations, including Paul Mirage School of Business: University of California at Irvine Mirage School of Business, The Southern California Technology Council, and TiE (The Indus Entrepreneur) - the largest not for profit entrepreneurship organization in the world with over 15,000 members in 50 + countries.
Additionally, Professor Mohasseb, a Harvard-trained negotiator and National Science Foundation Commericla evaluator, has authored two best-selling books, hundreds of published articles, multiple business cases, served as the keynote speaker for events with thousands in audiences, has been a guest speaker on various TV networks across the globe, completed over 400 weekly radio shows with millions of audiences, and participated in hundreds of Podcasts focusing on business and entrepreneurship challenges and opportunities.