The TechLift Team

TechLift’s team includes a group of professionals who have broad experience in managing technology ventures and running both small and large organizations. The fact that we have “been there done that” in your technology area enables us to dig in and really help you to be more successful in your technology entrepreneurial venture.

Chris Mather
Director, TechLift
Vice President, NorTech

Chris led NorTech’s successful proposal to the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Program that formed TechLift. He joined NorTech in 2004 and as been responsible for initiatives to drive Northeast Ohio’s success in the Electronics, Nanotechnology and engineering education areas. He serves on the boards of the Cleveland Engineering Society and Case’s Institute for Management and Engineering (TiME). Chris has also served as a part-time Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at JumpStart, coaching multiple technology companies through the JumpStart process. Before joining NorTech, Chris was President/CEO of Ion Optics, Inc., a Waltham, MA based maker of MEMS based infrared devices. While at Ion Optics, he raised $6.4 million in venture capital to fund the company’s growth toward a successful sale. Chris was President/CEO of APSCO Inc., Ohio’s largest electronic contract manufacturer, based in Perry, OH. He came to Northeast Ohio in 1996, as President of Gould Instrument Systems. Prior to coming to Ohio, Chris was General Manager of the SmartWare Division of American Power Conversion in West Kingston, RI. Earlier in his career, Chris spent 14 years in sales and marketing and management in the computer and test and measurement industries with Hewlett Packard Company (Agilent Technologies), Denmark based Bruel and Kjaer Instruments, and Analogic. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA.

Charles Birchall, Jr.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Information and Communication Technologies

Chuck becomes a member of the TechLift Team with nearly 20 years of executive, marketing and sales experience. Very recently, he was the CFO of eBlueprint and played a vital role in its acquisition by the largest blueprinter in the world. Prior to eBlueprint, Chuck ran his own business consulting firm for five years, assisting clients in healthcare and information technology formulate business plans and presentations, raise venture capital, optimize infrastructure and compensation, make appropriate staffing decisions and connect with outside resources. He founded and was the president of AxioMed Spine Corporation where he raised more than $3 million in Series A round venture capital. Chuck designed and managed a number of licensing and royalty agreements that AxioMed made with industry leaders, including Medtronic. In the 1990s, Chuck held a variety of marketing, product management and executive positions at AcroMed Corporation, which developed and sold spinal implants. During his tenure at AcroMed, the company sold to DePuy, Inc. for $325 million in cash. Chuck grew up in North Ridgeville and graduated from Kent State University in 1988 with a Bachelor's in Business Administration and Masters in Business Administration. He also is named as the co-inventor on four patents.

Kent Kristensen
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Electronics

Kent Kristensen joins TechLift after 20 years as a business development executive and serial entrepreneur. Born and educated in Denmark, Kent has lived and worked across the globe, settling in Northeast Ohio in 1994. Kent began his career as an electronic engineer and progressed to Operations Manager for RE Communications in Copenhagen, Denmark, a provider of broadband communications products. Kent later joined ABL of Montreal, Canada, a manufacturer and systems integrator of communications systems. At ABL, Kent was responsible for worldwide marketing, product standardization and business development, and later as VP of International Sales and Marketing he grew the business to nearly $24 million annually. He was instrumental in the company’s success leading it thru start-up, M&A, venture capital and Initial Public Offering (IPO). Kent was a founder and President/CEO of Mnet Corp. based in Solon, Ohio. The company was a highly successful, videoconferencing, telecommunications and information technology systems integration firm, reaching 30 employees and $7.5 million in annual sales. While leading Mnet, Kent contracted with investment bankers for the development of a Private Placement Memorandum raising venture capital, and eventually oversaw the sale of the company. Most recently, Kent has been a management consultant involved in a variety of business or economic development projects in the biotech, medical devices, alternative energy, commercial real estate, transportations, logistics, shipping, and marine industries. He is currently chairman of a $525 million private-public-partnership project chartered with the development of a new ferry border crossing between the U.S. and Canada across Lake Erie. Kent holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Syddansk University in Denmark and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School.

Dave Nestic
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Advanced Energy

Dave Nestic joins TechLift from a very successful technology-based business consulting practice focused on start-up and small business planning and execution. Dave fulfilled executive roles for clients, as well as advised in areas of technology commercialization, R&D proposal coordination, business analysis, strategic planning, marketing and sales planning, business development, investor presentations, and general management. He has over 20 years of experience with technology company formation, incubation and development, and technology economic development. Dave’s wide range of technology experience is well-suited to the diverse field of advanced and alternative energies. His experience base includes genetically altered organisms and fermentation, embedded communications in electrical distribution and gas lease field operation, underground and surface coal mining software and automation technology, emission abatement technology, and MEMS and nanotechnology development and applications. In addition to his consulting practice, Dave was also co-founder and VP of Business Development and Marketing for NetEnabled, Inc., an embedded communications and networking company and partner/owner and CEO of ChoiceArt, a framed art manufacturer and online retailer. He also gained valuable insight into government research funding as Director of an SBIR assistance center for the State of Ohio. In his most recent long-term client engagement spanning the past six years, Dave was instrumental in SBIR and government R&D proposal efforts for a defense and industrial R&D and manufacturing firm in Dublin, OH, which gained the company awards from NIH, USDA, DARPA and the Air Force and spawned the development of new technology initiatives in biosciences and sensor technologies. Dave currently serves on the executive committees of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the Youngstown Business Incubator and co-founded and chairs the Salem Area Enterprise Development Forum. Dave holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Ohio University and an MBA from Capital University.

Donna Richardson
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
BioSciences

Donna comes to TechLift with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry including more than six years clinical experience, work within large medical companies, and extensive entrepreneurial ventures in the medical device space. Donna worked as an OR nurse for six years before getting the entrepreneurial “bug.” This real-world experience has proven to be invaluable grounding and background in her diverse medical device ventures throughout the rest of her career. Donna served in marketing roles and as CEO/founder of medical device start-up companies in the neurology and cardiovascular areas. In these roles, Donna has raised over $25 million in venture capital and other funding for start-up companies, and has brought multiple organizations through medical device approval processes. Donna has also consulted and assisted a number of medical device start-ups, while working for consulting companies and venture capital firms, including Primus Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures and independently. Donna has worked within large medical device companies, holding executive marketing positions at Johnson & Johnson and Steris Corporation. Most recently, Donna was CEO of Cleveland NanoCrystals, a nanotechnology company spun out of Case Western Reserve University and supported by Case Technology Ventures. Donna is a Graduate RN from Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital School of Nursing and holds an MS in Business Policy from Columbia University.

Ron Zieske
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Advanced Materials

Ron joins TechLift with 25 years of general management, sales and marketing, business development, and financial management experience with chemical and plastics manufacturing businesses. Ron started his career with KPMG and has served as CFO of a number of privately owned manufacturing businesses. Ron spent fourteen years at Avery Dennison Corporation, holding a number of marketing and general management positions. He led Avery’s successful development and commercialization of co-extruded films for use in demanding pressure sensitive applications. He held general management, sales and marketing positions with several Avery divisions, including the Fasson Films, Specialty Materials and Product Identification Divisions. As President of Robinson Packaging, a U.K. owned start-up, Ron led the transformation of the Toronto, Ontario based company into a profitable niche manufacturer of high-end packaging, serving market leaders within the cosmetics, confectionary, and wine and spirits industries. Most recently, Ron served as President of Formtech Enterprises, a manufacturer of plastic custom products for the construction, retail, and office products markets. Ron brought FormTech, to profitability while dealing with significant operational issues and re-focusing the company’s market approach toward plastic composite products for new emerging markets. Ron received his A.B. from John Carroll University with a minor in accounting. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and holds an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

We are focused on Northeast Ohio's signature technologies:

Advanced Materials, BioSciences, Electronics, Information Technology, Advanced Energy