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Capistrano Ventures was founded and is led by a team of seasoned executives with an unparalleled mix of corporate, small business and entrepreneurial successes.
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Tom Dean, Founder & Managing Director
Tom Dean's 25 years of business experience have spanned management responsibilities within the Fortune 50, his own ventures and extensive involvement with Southern California's entrepreneurial community as an active member of the Tech Coast Angels. Throughout, he brings an incredibly disciplined and analytic real-world perspective to all of his deals and projects.
Over time, Tom has evaluated thousands of businesses and their business models, their financing structures and their strategic positioning. In addition to this very broad experience, he brings his very specific, very practical finance meets general management perspective to most service businesses, especially senior living, aesthetics and all types of real estate. In his career, he has been a part of the Unocal and Disney organizations, as well as Capital Vision Equities, VillageCare Assisted Living and numerous personal investments.
Tom earned his B.S.M.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Cal Laird, Founder & Managing Director
Cal Laird has 25 years of management and executive experience, ranging from the Fortune 50 to pure start-ups and spanning publicly traded companies to friends and family funded deals.
Cal is an operating executive with extensive experience in generating operational excellence and superior financial performance in family-owned and closely-held private buinesses. He has played this role as the chief exeutive, business advisor/consultant and as interim chief executive in diverse situations and industries. As an entrepreneur, he has also led a $30 Million organization and personally been involved as founding CEO or 2nd wave CEO in numerous ventures. Cal is an expert at simply solving complex logistical and organizational problems and at applying practical approaches to turning strategy into reality. His diverse leadership experiences include start-ups, acquisitions, divestitures, strategic repositioning, major change management initiatives and large IT systems implementations.
In his career, Cal has been a part of the Procter & Gamble, Price Waterhouse Management Consulting, Allergan and Veriad/United Ad Label organizations. He earned his A.B. degree in Finance and Political Science from the University of Illinois and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
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| Mark Nielsen, Founder & Managing Director
Mark Nielsen is a 20-year veteran of the wireless industry and has run software companies for the past 18 years. His industry expertise includes network management and Internet-based opportunities. He sits on the boards of three private companies and is Chairman of two of them.
In his career, Mark has been part of the executive teams of Cellular Business Systems, Cincinnati Bell Information Systems (now Convergys), and Wireless 21, as well as several software companies, including one named by Deloitte as a “Fast 50” in Orange County. He has been involved in numerous mergers and acquisitions, both as acquirer and as acquiree.
Mark received his Bachelor's degree in Communications Studies and Philosophy from Northwestern University. He has served on the Executive Advisory Council of the International Engineering Consortium, as well as on the National Board of Directors of the AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) and is the past Chairman of AeA's Orange County Council. Mark is also active in the investment community as a Tech Coast Angel, a member of Ventana Capital’s Executive Advisory Board, a founding partner of Venture Farm, and member of Orange Coast Venture Group and the Forum for Corporate Directors. He was a member of TEC (The Executive Committee) for over 12 years.
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