Matt Gialich MATT GIALICH CO-FOUNDER / CEO ASTROFORGE WHY: Leads a company that plans to track speeding asteroids, extracts precious metals such as platinum from them and then bring the treasures back to Earth. IN THE NEWS: The platinum group metals being sought are used in products ranging from jewelry Read More
Shannon Eusey SHANNON EUSEY CO-FOUNDER / CEO BEACON POINTE ADVISORS WHY: Co-founder firm in 2022 with her father when it had no assets. Has grown firm to $44B+ in assets under advisement, 600+ employees and 60 offices NOTABLE: KKR made 50% investment in 2021 IN HER OWN WORDS: “When I Read More
DUSTIN ARMER & EASON ABBOTT CO-FOUNDERS RENATA MEDICAL Dustin Armer Eason Abbott WHY: Former R&D engineers from Edwards Lifesciences in 2019 co-founded Newport Beach startup Renata, which makes a stent for congenital heart disease that expands in size as patients age and grow. Received support from executive leadership at Edwards Read More
JOHN DRACHMAN & SEAN RAWSON CO-FOUNDERS WATERFORD PROPERTY COMPANY John Drachman Sean Rawson WHY: Co-founders of six-year-old Newport Beach firm that provides housing to a demographic of workers that can ill-afford paying market-rate rents in the cities that they work in. Tenants at Waterford properties in Orange and Anaheim save anywhere from Read More
Justin Chen Li JUSTIN CHEN LI FOUNDER / CEO HELIO GENOMICS WHY: Leads cancer diagnostics firm that’s one of the better-funded medtech companies in OC. Raised more than $180M as of last June, which includes Asia operations from Helio’s sister company Laboratory for Advanced Medicine & Health Group (LAMH). Company Read More
Michael Cannavo MICHAEL CANNAVO CO-FOUNDER / CO-CEO SUPER73 INC. WHY: Co-founder and co-CEO of electric bike maker Super73, with a 70K-square-foot manufacturing facility and headquarters in Irvine. Handmade 25 e-bikes for Kickstarter campaign in 2016 and now sells thousands, ranging from $1,995 to $4,395 each, across 300 dealers in North America. Read More
Kurt Busch KURT BUSCH CO-FOUNDER / CEO SYNTIANT CORP. WHY: Co-founded, runs Irvine-based AI computing company Syntiant Corp.; a winner of Business Journal’s 2020 Innovator of the Year Award. IN THE NEWS: The company was founded in 2017. Since then, more than 100M of its chip sets and machine learning Read More
TIM BRITT FOUNDER / EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN SYNOPTEK WHY: Grew up in Wyoming, where he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Earned industrial engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA degree from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. In 2001, began building Synoptek. Made 10 Read More
Alex Bhathal Lisa Bhathal Merage ALEX BHATHAL LISA BHATHAL MERAGE CO-FOUNDER CO-FOUNDER / MANAGING PARTNER RAJ CAPITAL RAJ CAPITAL WHY: Siblings founded Newport Beach-based RAJ Sports, a subsidiary of RAJ Capital. Parents Raj and Marta are entrepreneurs who built swimwear empire. Awarded a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) expansion franchise Read More
Bobby Azamian BOBAK “BOBBY” AZAMIAN CEO/CHAIRMAN / CO-FOUNDER TARSUS PHARMACEUTICALS WHY: Spearheaded the development and commercialization of Xdemvy, the first FDA-approved treatment for Demodex blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelids caused by mites. Raised $101M in IPO in 2020; company so successful that it was able to raise another $125M in Read More
