San Diego’s Premier CEO Gathering
San Diego’s newest venture capital firm, Interlock Capital, is bringing the business leaders of today and tomorrow together for a highly-curated day of interactions.
Connect with CEO-peers on how to tackle 2023 and beyond. Hundreds of late-stage CEOs will gather to share knowledge, experiences, and make meaningful relationships. Aside from amazing speakers, we will hand-curate matches with fellow CEOs and leaders.
This is an invite-only event and we look forward to seeing you on April 20, 2023!
Wednesday, April 19 | Limited Partners Only
6:00 pm Cocktail Reception on Ocean Terrace
7:00 pm Dinner, GP presentation, Q&A
8:00 pm Entertainment and post-dinner reception
Thursday, April 20 | Limited Partners and Invited CEOs Only
The Interlock Summit is a one-day event with speakers, collaborative panels, and highly curated networking including personalized matching throughout
7:00 am Optional run, yoga, or surf session
8:00 am Breakfast and networking
9:00 am Summit kickoff
9:20 am Building the Future of Infrastructure and Mobility panel with Jack Kennedy, Heather Hochrein, & Troy Helming
10:00 am The State of the Office overview with Darren Morgan
10:05 am Relationship Capital fireside chat with Jeff Fenster
10:35 am Real World AI Applications panel with Afif Khoury, Vinny Lingham, and Arjun Bansal
11:10 am Convergences of Technology fireside chat with David Friedberg
12:00 pm Lunch with curated matches
1:15 pm Elevating San Diego's Startup Community with Hala Madanat
1:20 pm Invest In Your People panel with Adam Harris, Sarah Davis, and Josh Komenda
1:55 pm Winning On and Off The Field panel with Andrew Vassiliadis and Ricardo Campos
2:35 pm The State of the Family Office panel with Caitlin Wege and Aaron Hatton
3:10 pm Where Is The Liquidity? fireside chat with Brent Granado
3:40 pm Summit Closing
4:00 p.m. Interlock Community Social begins
Thursday, April 20 | Interlock Summit Social - LPs, Invited CEOs, and Venture Partners Only
4:00 - 9:00 p.m. Join us as we gather for a community social on Alia Marea’s oceanside bluff. Hosted beverages, tap truck with fresh brews on tap, gourmet food stations, ceviche, and taco stations. Take a gamble on one of several casino tables on site and capture the memories at our custom photo booth!
4:30-6:00pm Music provided by Rob Machado’s Band
Speakers
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Arjun Bansal is an AI entrepreneur, builder and angel investor. He co-founded 2 AI startups Nervana (acq. Intel) and XOKind, and worked in AI groups at Qualcomm and Intel. He is currently advising startups on how best to leverage ChatGPT in their products.
Ryan Berman is the founder of Courageous; a think-feel-do change consultancy based here in San Diego. With more than 20 years working in courageous ideas, courageous reinvention and courageous leadership, Ryan believes your “future is safe with change”. Ryan has spoken on the topic all over the country including at Google, Snapchat, Kellogg’s, Kraft Heinz, Logitech, PNC Bank and charity: water. Ryan also hosts The Courageous Podcast where he talks with thought leaders from around the globe in business, sports and entertainment to uncover what it means to be courageous in today's world. His book, Return On Courage, shares why companies need to unlock courage now while providing practical tips on how organizations can install courage in their people today. His clients include Kraft Heinz, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and, locally, SD Loyal. Learn more at couragebrands.com
Ryan Bordelon joined Bernstein in 2016 and serves as an advisor to global families, entrepreneurs, charitable foundations, and corporate entities. Ryan partners closely with his clients on their strategic growth initiatives, business and estate structures, and investment planning. He serves his community through several affiliations. He serves as a Partner with Social Venture partners, specializing in revenue stream development and strategic planning. He leads a team for Pedal the Cause, which awards millions of dollars annually to help further cancer research. He also is an avid supporter of the San Diego Humane Society where he sits on their advocacy committee. Ryan also sits on the advisory board for a San Diego based FinTech company.
Sara Brooks is a leading consumer brand expert known for her expertise in founder-led, mission-driven CPG brands. She was the founder and CEO of Covet PR, which she scaled to be one of the fastest-growing PR firms in the country. Her agency represented some of the biggest names in food, beverage, and wellness including companies like Beyond Meat, Carbone, Magic Spoon, Feastables, Smart Sweets, Siggi’s, Siete, and many more. She sold her company in 2020 and went through a second exit in 2022.
Over the course of her career, she has led strategy and communications for 200+ CPG brands, ranging from pre-revenue to post-IPO. Post-agency life, she now uses her skillsets and experience to invest in and advise early-stage companies. Later this month she will be launching a first-of-its-kind consultancy Goldilocks, with the mission of helping founders discover why people love and purchase their products and how to keep them coming back for more. 
Elisette Carlson is a high-energy hyper-connector, and Partner at Executive Search firm Boyden where she puts ultimate value on personal relationships. An accomplished entrepreneur and consultant, Elisette’s long career in the consumer sector is defined by an exceptional ability to develop genuine client relationships and build high-performing teams. In Elisette’s 30+ years of experience, she has built a track record of delivering bottom-line growth for her clients. Having founded a Marketing & Public Relation(ship)s® Agency, SMACK! Media, Elisette has positioned herself as a trusted talent partner and advisor to start-up CEOs, venture capital, and private equity funds in the health, wellness, and consumer sectors.
Sarah Davis is a fashion technology pioneer who founded the ultra-luxury resale platform Fashionphile in 1999. Fashionphile was bootstrapped until 2019, when Neiman Marcus made a strategic investment. Entrepreneur Magazine called Fashionphile one of the 100 “Smartest, Most Innovative, Hands down Brilliant Companies on our Radar” and Forbes Magazine called Sarah one of the Ten Female Entrepreneurs to Watch. She graduated from Brigham Young University and the University of Maryland School of Law.
Jeff Fenster is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and expert in relationship capital and vertical integration. His entrepreneurial success is vast - ranging from a quick-serve restaurant chain, payroll and HR company, digital marketing agency, and a construction company. But no matter what venture Jeff pursues, he lives by the principle of putting people first. He was named a top 100 Entrepreneur in America under the age of 35, Top 40 Executive under 40 by the Business Journal, CEO of the year by Ernst & Young, and a Top Entrepreneur to Follow for 2022. Today, he is the host of the Jeff Fenster Show podcast and speaks around the country on entrepreneurial mindset, authentic networking, and vertical integration. 
David Friedberg is Partner and CEO of The Production Board (TPB), a venture foundry and investment holding company established to solve the most fundamental problems that affect our planet by reimagining global systems of production across food, agriculture, biomanufacturing, human health, and the broader life sciences. TPB builds businesses based on emerging scientific discoveries, partners with exceptional talent, and provides them with the capital, infrastructure, and market insights needed to deliver meaningful improvement in the cost, energy, time, or carbon footprint of conventional systems.
Dave serves on numerous boards as director and adviser. Dave is one of four co-hosts of All-In, a top business and investing podcast. Prior to TPB, David was the founder and CEO of The Climate Corporation, which he sold to Monsanto for $1.1 billion in 2013. Before that, he had senior roles in Corporate Development and Product at Google. Dave graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Astrophysics.
Cheryl K. Goodman, a former journalist, is an expert in her field of technology communications having represented polarizing technologies that intersect sensor-driven data, consumer privacy, and product market perception. Goodman has led for 20 years at Sony Global, Athena, and Qualcomm leading sensor-driven robotics, EV platforms, consumer hardware/software platforms, ingredient brand strategies, and DEI. She's an expert at gaining and attaining positive recognition for technologies, and their innovators while exceeding ESG reporting requirements. She sits on Forbes Technology and Communication councils and currently serves as Vice Chair to StartUpSD.org while operating her narrative development and media-engagement consultancy, FindGood.tech, @ckgoodman. 
Brent Granado joined Sweetwater in 2018. He is a Managing Partner at Sweetwater Private Equity and member of the firm’s investment committee. Prior to Sweetwater, Brent was a General Partner at Sway Ventures, an early-stage and growth equity focused venture capital firm. As General Partner with Sway, he served on the investment committee, and managed numerous primary and secondary transactions. Prior to Sway, Brent held the position of Director of Corporate Development at DDi Corp. (NASDAQ) of which he was instrumental in the sale of the business to ViaSystems Group, Inc. (later acquired by TTM Technologies, Inc.). Brent has held positions in investments and M&A, including Managing Director at RFC Capital Partners (a merchant bank and private equity fund), as well as legal counsel to venture backed startups, for over 20 years. He holds an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at USC, a JD from Whittier Law School, and graduated with a BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside.
Aaron Hatton has worked in technology and finance for over a decade and deeply understands how to partner with stakeholders to solve complex problems in the finance sector. Aaron has played a vital role in scaling high-performing sales organizations. He serves as a Principal at Copia Wealth Studios and leads Sales, Business Development, and Investor Relations. Aaron is also a Director at Sky and Ray, the Family Office of Copia's founder, Michael J. Sikorsky. Previously, Aaron was a Sales Executive at Financial Recovery Technologies. This technology-based services firm helps institutional investors identify eligibility, file claims, and collect funds made available in shareholder class action, global and antitrust settlements. Financial Recovery Technologies grew globally to service over 800 financial institutions with $30 trillion in assets during his tenure. Aaron was also a Vice President at Duff & Phelps and started his career at Gap Inc. as a Business Systems Analyst. He holds a bachelor's degree from West Virginia University.
Adam Harris is the co-founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, the hospitality management platform powering more reservations and happier guests for lodging businesses worldwide. His people-centered leadership, alongside a fully remote, distributed workforce of 700+ people in more than 40+ countries, has grown Cloudbeds into a company that generates billions of dollars in revenue for tens of thousands of properties globally. Together with his co-founder, Richard Castle, they have amassed awards for culture, product, and innovation, including Forbes’ America’s Best Startup Employers, Inc’s Best Workplaces, and EY Entrepreneur of the Year.
Troy Helming is a Unicorn Founder (with 6 company exits) and a modern-day industrialist. He’s an inventor (70+ patent claims), an elite athlete, an author (1 book + 100s of articles), and a clean energy executive. He’s founded companies that have generated more than $30 Billion of economic impact, and he serves on numerous boards. He's a longtime wellness practitioner & yogi.
Heather Hochrein is the founder and CEO of EVmatch, an app-based network for sharing and renting private electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Heather is deeply committed to creating an inclusive clean energy economy. She brings technical and business development expertise from years in management roles in the energy efficiency and electric utility sector. Prior to founding EVmatch, Heather spent five years in senior management roles at Rising Sun Energy Center, a leading green training, employment, and residential energy efficiency retrofit organization based in Berkeley, California. She is well-versed in climate policy and brings extensive utility and energy management experience from years of working and contracting with Pacific Gas and Electric Company. She holds a Master of Environmental Science & Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Environmental Biology from the University of California, Berkeley..png)
Jack Kennedy is the founder and CEO of Platform Science. Previously, Jack was the President of Qualcomm Enterprise Services. Prior to Qualcomm, Jack served at News Corp where he held roles as the Executive Vice President of News Corp Digital Media, Executive Vice President of Fox Interactive Media, and Senior Vice President of Fox Network Group. During this period, Jack oversaw activities leading the digital transition of News Corp from a traditional media company into a “digital-first” organization.
During his tenure, he was responsible for a $2B+ portfolio of over two dozen digital assets, and was part of the joint Fox/NBC Universal team that created the joint venture now known as “Hulu.”
Afif Khoury, founder and CEO of SOCi, Inc., has been at the forefront of technology for 20 years. From his early contribution to the Human Genome Project, a career as a high-tech M&A attorney, a manager of two successful Venture Capital funds and Founder & CEO of two successful startups, Afif has made a career out of following the data.
Josh Komenda was founder, CEO and president of Veyo, a full-service benefits and non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) company and led the company through a successful acquisition by competitor, Medical Transportation Management (MTM) in August 2022. Veyo was developed as a technology-enabled player to revolutionize the way Medicaid and Medicare programs delivered NEMT services to members. Six years after its founding, Komenda grew Veyo into the third-largest NEMT company in the country generating $300M in revenues. Veyo has been recognized as one of INC 5000’s fastest-growing companies, listed as one of America’s Best Startup Employers by Forbes Magazine. Komenda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He has been recognized as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist and by San Diego Business Journal as a CEO of the Year finalist several years in a row.
Tyler Lay joined J.P. Morgan in 2015 and is currently a Vice President in the firm’s Technology & Disruptive Commerce group. Mr. Lay specializes in banking solutions, structured financings and advisory assignments for technology, consumer & digital media companies and the innovation in economy in San Diego and Southern California.
In his time at J.P. Morgan prior to joining the Technology & Disruptive Commerce group, Mr. Lay has been engaged in the structuring, negotiating and arranging of capital for many of the largest players in the content production and distribution space. Key services provided to clients include loan syndications, public and private debt placements, derivatives, foreign exchange and other risk management products. Mr. Lay has been involved in many of the industry’s recent transformative events including the creation of Amblin Partners and institutional financings for music, film and television companies such as Concord Music, MGM, Entertainment One, Lionsgate, Legendary and Village Roadshow.
Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Lay spent time at Union Bank and First Republic Bank where he specialized in film project financings for entertainment clients that included films such as Fury, Divergent, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 & 2. Mr. Lay also spent time at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment group focused on Digital Distribution. Mr. Lay received his BA in Economics & Accounting from Claremont McKenna College.
Vinny Lingham, internet entrepreneur, co-founded Waitr
Dr. Hala Madanat is the Vice President for Research and Innovation at San Diego State University and Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Public Health. Under Dr. Madanat’s leadership, SDSU’s research reached $164.5 million in fiscal 2022 – surpassing California State University system records. Dr. Madanat launched Techstars San Diego Powered by SDSU, a world-class accelerator open to startups from around the world. She led the effort for the first national Academic Health and Human Services Department. Dr. Madanat has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Jordan, and received a M.S. in Community Health Sciences and a Ph.D. in Sociology, with a minor in Public Health, from Brigham Young University.
Darren Morgan is an Executive Vice President with CBRE, and he is a lead member of the firm's Occupier Advisory & Transaction Practice in Southern California. Darren has over 18 years of commercial real estate experience and he specializes exclusively in the representation of corporate occupiers in the acquisition and disposition of office, R&D and industrial properties, and he has extensive experience in representing clients with national and
international real estate portfolios.
Darren is an active member of CBRE’s Tech & Media Practice Group, and he has successfully completed over 15 million SF of leasing and sales transactions, globally, for a broad range of clients, ranging from local emerging growth and technology companies to publicly traded, international organizations. Darren is one of the top-producing occupier services professionals in Southern California and he provides his clients with a diverse knowledge of real estate, financial analysis, and construction-related disciplines.
Prior to CBRE, Darren was a Vice Chairman at Cushman & Wakefield, where he was a lead member of the firm’s Tenant Representation Group. Before joining Cushman & Wakefield, Darren spent seven years as an environmental consultant, specializing in due diligence property evaluations, facility planning and closure services, Phase I and Phase II site investigations, and the design and development of corporate environmental programs.
Kelly Sarber, CEO of Strategic Project Management, Inc. is a veteran executive with a successful track record developing projects and operating businesses in renewable energy, solid waste and recycling, wastewater, and battery storage. Kelly created a boutique, development entity, geared to private equity and renewable energy companies that benefit from her extensive industry relationships, investments, and proven operating experience delivering complicated environmental projects with a focus on New York, California, Arizona and Montana. A partial client list includes Starwood Energy, Hanwha 174 Power Global (174PG), Southern California Edison, and Sempra/SDG&E. Sarber’s projects are worth a cumulative value of over six (6) billion dollars. Currently, Kelly has the largest renewable energy project in the US currently under construction on 18,000 acres in Western Arizona plus has the largest battery storage project under contract in New York City. Sarber was on the board of Tech Coast Angels/Nufund for eight years and is an early investor and advisor to EVMatch, also appearing on the panel today.
Caitlin Wege is the Executive Chair at Contract Pharmaceuticals Limited, and its sister company, Glasshouse Pharmaceuticals. She serves on the board of Neuralace Medical and Pumpspotting Inc. In addition to her corporate leadership roles, she is a partner at MooDoos Investments, a private family-owned investment fund that invests in early-stage companies throughout the US and Canada. MooDoos is industry agnostic and invests in several industries including life sciences, manufacturing, and education technology.
Caitlin is also President of NuFund Venture Group. NuFund is one of the largest Angel networks in the US. She is also a Trustee, finance committee member and Chair of the Governance Committee for the Wege Foundation, an environmentally-focused family foundation based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a board member of The Ecology Center, in Orange County and serves as a mentor and advisory board member for the ZIP Launchpad, the business accelerator at San Diego State University. Caitlin is passionate about fostering entrepreneurial and investor education and learning.
