Roger O''Brien

Roger O'Brien is a senior business executive and entrepreneurial coach with broad experience in technology commercialization and support to early-stage businesses. His functional background includes 40-years in general management, finance, strategic planning, sales, engineering and organizational development. O’Brien is an active angel investor and has held officer-level positions in start-up companies as well as Fortune-500 organizations recognized as market leaders in their industries. Mr. O’Brien holds a BS degree in Nuclear Engineering from New York University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. 

Since the year 2000, Mr. O’Brien has been President of O’Brien Associates LLC (www.ROBrienAssociates.com), a general management consulting firm providing advisory and implementation services to entrepreneurs as well as the management of established companies, in a variety of competitive industries in the New York area.  In Santa Fe, New Mexico he is a member Council of Business Advisors for the Santa Fe Business Incubator as well as a visiting speaker for Technology Ventures Corporation.

Mr. O’Brien’s experience in supporting early-stage companies is extensive. Since 1991 he has advised and coached over 400 entrepreneurs through individual consulting engagements as well as pro-bono work targeted to advance technology commercialization in New York and in New Mexico. Among these efforts include:

• Advisory consulting engagements with 35 early-stage ventures - assisting them with business planning, preparation for and access to angel and VC investment sources, market research and value-proposition design.
• Selected to develop the initial design for the High Tech Incubator at the Rochester Institute of Technology and to provide regular coaching services to 12-15 resident ventures during 2004-2005.
• Retained in 2003 by the Greater Rochester Enterprise, the primary economic-development organization in the region, to develop a model for GRE’s strategic initiatives in the areas of technology commercialization and support to emerging businesses. This model was based on a best practices review of economic development initiatives required to support entrepreneurs in 21 different cities throughout the US.
• Pro-bono coaching of over 40 entrepreneurs during 2001-2005 seeking funding via the Entrepreneurs and Angels assistance program in Rochester NY.
• Visiting lecturer for Technology Ventures Corporation in Albuquerque, NM. Participant as an entrepreneur coach for the annual Equity Capital Symposium.
• Retained in 2009 and 2010 to design and facilitate the Investor Presentation Workshop for The Entrepreneurs’ Network, managed by Monroe County, New York.

Mr. O’Brien’s corporate background includes a past role in helping to turn-around Ultralife Batteries Inc (Nasdaq: ULBI) during 1998-99 as Chief Operating Officer for this publicly-held manufacturer of advanced battery power sources. From 1991 to 1996 he was Chief Executive Officer as well as a major shareholder of Holotek Ltd., a high-technology company with a proprietary position in the design, development, manufacture and sales of laser imaging systems worldwide. O’Brien, along with the Company’s founder and outside Board of Directors, represented approximately 120 shareholders of Holotek. He successfully negotiated the sale of the company to an OEM customer in 1996.

Prior to investing in Holotek, O’Brien was president of his own consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay area, providing advisory and implementation services to a variety of high-technology companies. He assisted these companies in developing their strategic plans, increasing their selling effectiveness, improving manufacturing and distribution efficiency, establishing financial planning and analysis, and implementing corporate acquisitions.

O’Brien’s corporate background also includes a role as an early officer of Sun Microsystems, Inc. during a period in the late 1980’s when the company grew from $500 million to $2 billion in sales over a 24-month timeframe. Earlier, Mr. O’Brien served as Chief Financial Officer for a $750 million unit of Tenneco Automotive, where he and the management team increased profits 75% over a four-year period through market share growth and aggressive cost-reduction programs. He designed and managed their strategic planning process, pursued business acquisitions, and led a corporate-wide taskforce to recommend and implement computer-integrated manufacturing applications. O’Brien’s previous experience includes financial management positions at Xerox Corporation and as a Lead Executive in the venture capital sector of Exxon Corporation. Mr. O’Brien began his career as a staff physicist for Combustion Engineering Inc., developing advanced nuclear power plant designs.

In the Rochester, NY area, Mr. O’Brien is a member of the Board of Directors of Odyssey Software, Inc and Bristol-ID, Inc. He is an adjunct professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. O’Brien is a past Director of the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster and a former Trustee of the Rochester General Hospital Foundation and Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee. He is a past Program Chair for the Rochester Venture Capital Group and has also served as a member of the NRS Executive Committee for the Rochester Institute of Technology,   Mr. O’Brien is a former Trustee of WXXI Public Broadcasting, Inc. and from 1996-2001 he served as Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee for the Rochester Chamber Annual Civic Award program. In 1994 and 1995, Mr. O’Brien was appointed by Mayor William Johnson as Chairman of the Roundtable for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses in the City of Rochester.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico he is a visiting speaker for Technology Ventures Corporation and also a member of the Equity Capital Advisory Team for TVC. Mr. O’Brien is a participating member in New Mexico Angels, based in Albuquerque, NM.

O’Brien is an avid runner and married with three adult children. He is a Vietnam-era veteran and served in the US Army.