Walks on West Cliff

During lunch with Orla Lacey, she shared insights on what it really takes to guide high tech hardware companies through the challenges of rapid growth and execution from a VP of Operations perspective.

On a recent walk on West Cliff with Robert Shinno, a Sr. Enterprise Account Executive at Aras Corporation, he shared insights on how supplier collaboration is becoming a defining factor in product success. The need to “shift-left" , ie. engaging suppliers earlier in design and manufacturing is no longer optional.

On a recent walk with Bob Machlin, Founder and Principal Consultant of GenAI Ignite, we discussed how AI is reshaping both operations and business growth for product development and manufacturing companies.

During a warm walk on West Cliff with Natan Saad-Lipshitz, Mike and Natan talked about his deep Technical Program Management experience, ranging from next-generation servers at Google to years leading Consumer Electronics programs at Amazon, Dell Technologies, and Microsoft.

During a clear walk on West Cliff with Mark Sloan, VP of Manufacturing at Mantle, we explored how metal 3D printing is evolving from a prototyping tool into a production enabler for hardware-based products.

During a sunny walk on West Cliff with Vish Iyer, we talked about how the battle for system security now starts the moment you press the power button.

During a recent walk on West Cliff with David Graham, the founder and CEO of PowerBeam Inc., a high-technology development company with offices in Mexico since 2014, we discussed Mexico's evolving role in high-tech hardware supply chains in light of current tariff dynamics.

I recently enjoyed a windy walk on West Cliff with Danny Andreev, Founder & CEO, and Claire Ricketts, COO, of Sunburn Schematics, a local Santa Cruz engineering firm developing advanced electronics for harsh environments including space.

Last week, I had the pleasure of a rejuvenating walk on West Cliff with Dan Freeman, Director of Hardware Engineering at Universal Audio, and Daniel Bacon, Strategic Account Executive at Arena by PTC. We shared stories, insights, and perspectives on community, product development, and the evolving role of AI.

I recently enjoyed a walk on West Cliff with Charles Koontz, Co-founder of Monarch Energy, and his son Spencer Koontz, who is preparing to enter a workforce being rapidly transformed by AI.

While walking the cliffs of Santa Cruz with Michael Keer and our spouses, Scott Weinstein, PRG Quality & Reliability Specialist, took a moment to reflect on a meaningful milestone: one year consulting with Product Realization Group.

I recently enjoyed a walk along West Cliff with William Mintun, former Co-founder of b8ta and former Principal Customer Experience Engineer at Humane. William shared his insights on the importance of Customer Experience (CX) in hardware product development