Les Schmidt

Les constantly pursues the extraordinary.

He is the improbable combination of collaborator and leader, entrepreneur and seasoned-advisor, open-communicator and trusted confidant, team player and individual contributor. He approaches decisions and challenges by gathering diverse inputs and data to make high-quality decisions. Closely paralleling the lean business movement, he lives by the mantra: do, learn, evolve.

His diverse career, an unquenchable thirst to learn and his “native language” (numbers and metrics) provide him with the operational tools to add value to a wide variety of organizations and enterprises. For the past decade, Les has deployed these tools in support of entrepreneurship:

• currently advising/mentoring small companies - especially AI/ML-powered startups and entrepreneurs - honing their strategies as they dream of conquering the complex and the unknown
• founded an early-stage startup Accelerator  and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the opportunity-rich Tri-Valley
• angel investing
• working to bring awareness to entrepreneurship at high schools and colleges throughout the region