John Selep
Founder of The Vine Institute
John Selep
Founder of The Vine Institute
Greater Sacramento
Overview
Work Experience
Co-Founder and Board Chair
2016 - Current
AgTech Innovation Alliance is the 501(c)(3) non-profit sponsor of the AgStart program, an incubation and mentorship program connecting early-stage innovators ad entrepreneurs in ag-&-food technologies to the resources they need to be successful. Since 2012, the AgStart initiative has sought to make the world better by strengthening the innovation ecosystem and supporting entrepreneurs promoting innovation in Ag | Food | Health technologies in California and our Western region. The Lab@AgStart is currently the largest wet-lab facility for startup companies in California's Central Valley region, and together with the Raley's Food Lab, is a cornerstone of the Greater Sacramento region's role as an innovation hub for Ag | Food | Health.
Co-Founder, Board Director, and CFO
2018
The VINE Institute supports innovators, entrepreneurs and regional leaders working to grow a thriving agricultural technology sector in our California region.
Board Director
2010
Led Selections Committee for four years, Board Secretary for two years, and LLC Administrator for the past three years. Increased entrepreneurial deal-flow and deal filtering, while establishing closer collaboration among Northern California and Western Nevada angel groups, incubators, and educational institutions.
Managing Director
2012
Business Advisor to emerging technology businesses navigating key transitions and bringing new technologies to market.
Founder, Managing Partner
2013
Early-stage investment management and advisory, supporting early-stage startups capitalizing on technology innovations in the Agriculture-and-Food ecosystem.
Principal Advisor and Expert Resource
2015 - 2022
Principal Advisor and Expert Resource for the LARTA Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help entrepreneurs transform technology ideas into solutions that elevate economic opportunities and make lives better for people around the world. As a Principal Advisor, John provides strategic and business advice to recipients of federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other LARTA-sponsored programs.
Operations Manager
2010 - 2012
- Established operational objectives, performance processes and metrics for newly-formed organization managing $3B global network infrastructure product line. Improved operational performance for $1B+ network products group by establishing organizational objectives, people and investment plans, organizational communications, and tracking performance using Balanced Scorecard.
Engineering Department Manager
2003 - 2010
- Built 145-person global engineering team and optimized $15M annual R&D investment spanning U.S., Latin America & Asia, bringing numerous new Wireless, Security, and Network Management products to market. Tripled Wireless LAN revenue to $44M over a three-year period. Doubled Security & Network Management revenues to $10M over four-year period. Established Latin America R&D Center, initiated R&D evolution to Agile development methodologies. Founding chairperson of Trusted Computing Group's Trusted Network Connect Working Group, a security-oriented industry standards organization.
Product Marketing Section Manager
2000 - 2003
- Led international product line management team growing $70M OpenView storage software business at double-digit annual rate.
Product Marketing Manager; Retail Systems
1998 - 2000
- Built and led a product line management team guiding a growing worldwide electronic payment business for multi-lane retail and financial institutions. Personally drove retail customer strategy, planning, strategic alliances and software licensing sales with global OEM partners.
Product Marketing Section Manager; Market Development & Channel Strategist; Strategic Alliances
1985 - 1998
- Led 35-person marketing team growing $300M PC- & peripheral-connectivity product line. Entered network storage business, launched small-business network program and industry's first infrared networking product. - Established strategic relationships with key networking industry ecosystem suppliers. Responsible for goals, contract negotiations and mutual success for HP's partners. - Established outbound planning and decisions for $100M+ product line. Championed division channel strategy, executing HP's entry into U.S. commercial distributors, and product placement in U.S. computer superstores. - Led team of professionals directing product definition, pricing, promotion, channel strategy through eleven separate product launches. Grew revenue 45% per year, exceeding quotas for three consecutive years.
Project Manager
1981 - 1983
Project Manager, Software Development. Coordinated product development for document-translation software startup. Managed relationship with Apple and Intel corporate clients, performing proposal budgeting, technical writing services.