Denver, Colorado, United States
Rick Bernheim is a technology and business senior executive and Independent Director/Advisor with an accomplished track record of creating and building successful technology companies. His experience includes 12 start-up and early-stage companies, 5 liquidity events, and 3 turn-arounds/restructure. Rick draws upon his earlier management experience with small and mid-cap high-growth companies, with responsibility for both domestic and international operations. He is knowledgeable in the capital raise, working with venture and strategic capital, scaling operations to profitable cash-flow, building the P&L and becoming an attractive M&A target and exit. Bernheim holds 18 patents & two in-process applications. He is available for suitable Board appointments. CEO | COO | GENERAL MANAGER | CTO • Serial entrepreneur who has led and started successful technology companies. • Technology underpinning includes COO, CTO, EVP Engineering & Operations, and other senior roles in small and mid-cap, high-growth global companies. • Adept at identifying a market opportunity that can be profitably filled with a technology solution. INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR • Board contributions include / have included Technology Advisory Board - Blaze Energy Technologies, Board Member - Starfire Energy. Board Member and Technology Advisor - Bridges Between, Board Member - ComStream de Mexico, Board Member - ComStream Israel, Board Member - Junior Achievement of Central Indiana. • Available for suitable Board / Advisor engagements. CONVERGENT ELEMENTS, LLC Technology professionals that help accelerate P&L ambitions with an integrated set of services and a track record of helping high-tech businesses move aggressively to operational excellence. Capability ranges from ‘blanketing’ the bandwidth of business drivers or road mapping individual elements. [email protected] 303.406.1210 www.linkedin.com/in/rickbernheim
Convergent Elements provides an integrated set of services designed to help high-tech businesses achieve operational excellence & yield superior business performance. These services include: • Strategic plan development & cross-functional alignment. • Mergers and acquisitions due diligence. • Market analysis. • Products & services positioning & direction. • Partner & Customer development. • Technology assessments, studies, & transfers. • Intellectual property protection & portfolio management. • Engineering, Operations, & Product Lifecycle process development. • System and product design, development, & manufacture (including off-shore). • Supply chain optimization. • Project management. Current and previous clients include Blaze Energy Technologies, Starfire Energy, Quandary Consulting Group, Biocare, SunTech Drive, Elintrix, Lockheed Martin, Dominion Power and Power Tagging Technologies
• Revitalized relationships with strategic partners. • Mentored executives. • Established KPIs for Executive Leadership Team. • Facilitated organization restructure. • Implemented offshore lead generation program.
Starfire Energy is a clean energy company that walks the walk. We are a registered Colorado Public Benefits Corporation. Our focus is carbon-free ammonia (NH3) and Hydrogen (H2) fuels. We have a proprietary and flexible process for making ammonia and hydrogen from air, water, and clean energy. The emissions from ammonia fuel use are nitrogen and water. We are providing a COMPLETELY carbon free way to make and use fuel for long term energy storage, transportation, and heat & industrial process applications. What we deliver to the marketplace are modular chemical plants for deployment around the world. • Drove the Intellectual Property portfolio and led the filing of over 12 subject matter patent applications (3 of which I coauthored). • Built multiple application-specific laboratories to enable creation of novel technologies and product. • Facilitated the creation of a high-performance catalyst for both NH3 generation and reformation. • Established strategic relationships with high-tech metals, monolith, and coating suppliers along with ASME Section 8 vessel suppliers. • Led the development of an automated continuous operating demonstration system.
• Built an Engineering and R&D team consisting of Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Process, Controls, and Software Engineers, Material and Catalyst Scientists, 3D Modelers, Technicians, and Fabricators. • Established a Product Development Lifecycle Process • Introduced a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) Process. • Developed a novel RF based NH3 desorption system and authored several patent filings.
• Drove development of a 50 tpd NH3 multi-skid scalable system model from 10 kgpd prototype, facilitating close of Series A Round. Transitioned into full-time VP Engineering position.
• Actively influenced corporate functions: hiring, HR, compliance, risk management, contract negotiations, corporate policies/procedures, facilities management, vendor relationships and product manufacturing. • Achieved first volume production delivery on schedule, meeting the needs of a major new customer. • Drove adoption of numerous operational improvement systems, including cloud based BOM management, ECR/ECO, EDN, ECL, MCO, Risk Buy, PPAP, DFMEA, PFMEA and Behavioral Interviewing. • Increased annual production by a factor of 10.2, with peak month yr./yr. production by a factor of 25.3. • Co-authored one patent application.
C Factory Systems, Inc., developed novel, patent-pending, reusable, humidity control technology for portable and/or small spaces, addressing the needs of over 25 areas of modern life, while eliminating the environmental problems associated with traditional chemical-based single-use solutions. • Developed business plan & pitch deck. Raised initial funding. • Lead development of proof-of-concept prototype. • Authored PCT (international) patent application. • Won regional Dartmouth Entrepreneurship Award for innovative new business.