Dan is a portfolio entrepreneur, startup mentor, and angel investor with expertise in product management, pain discovery, and talent development. As a Venture Builder, he champions holistic thinking and attention to detail while helping New Venture Teams take their ideas from zero to one.

Prior to joining Mach49, Dan validated, founded, and spun-out dozens of startups through Vaporware — a B2B SaaS startup studio. As Founder and Managing Director, he led an international team in validating innovative venture concepts and taking them to market, using lean startup and design thinking practices. The startups that came out of Vaporware secured over $20M in pre-seed funding. 

Dan also founded Might We Labs — a startup studio and seed-stage venture capital fund and Awaiting App — a virtual waitlist for brick and mortar retailers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before dedicating his time to working with entrepreneurs, he served as Chief Technology Officer at ESFI World — which at the time was the largest independent eSports news website — and developed internal products for Windstream Hosted Solutions, among other pursuits.

A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dan is an active mentor with several organizations, including High Alpha Innovation, Carolina Angel Network, Hustle Fund, Council for Entrepreneurial Development, Entrepreneur’s Organization, ProductTank, and Innovate Charlotte. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and children.