Education

Harvard University
Masters of Liberal Arts, 2003

University of Virginia
Bachelor of Arts, 2000

Jason Chen: CEO

Jason is a business strategist, entrepreneur, and venture investor with over 20 years of experience in domestic and international business consulting engagements. He has unique expertise in both large corporate and early stage startup strategy, management, financial analysis, and product development; an established track record of building strategic partnerships and alliances to generate new or alternative revenue streams; and is an innovation practitioner in crowdsourcing, emerging technologies, and the application of lean startup methodology within both large organizations and startups to develop new service offerings. He has founded four startups and served as an advisor and mentor to dozens of entrepreneurs. He is also early stage venture investor. Jason has lived and worked in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Middle East.

Certifications & Affiliations

• InnoCentive Challenge Driven Innovation Methodology
• Techstars Entrepreneur-In-Residence

Education

State University of New York
Masters of Science:
Creativity Studies, 2015

Creativity & Change Leadership (graduate certificate), 2014

University of Virginia
Bachelors of Science:
Cognitive Neuroscience, 2000

Jennifer Addie: COO & CWO

Jennifer is a professional innovation strategist, entrepreneur and investor who facilitates organizations through all stages of innovation and acceleration, from startups to large enterprises across the public and private sectors.  Leveraging decades of international business experience to help organizations transform, bridge cultures and de-risk ventures, Jennifer’s approach to innovation emphasizes effective problem deconstruction, strategy development, methodological integration, applied cognitive and behavioral approaches, iterative and experiential learning, and holistic wellbeing practices.  As Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Wellbeing Officer (CWO) of VentureScope and MACH37 Cyber Accelerator she helps lead the consulting, investment, emerging tech scouting, training, accelerator operations and entrepreneurial wellbeing practices.  Jennifer also serves as an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship teaching Lean Startup at seven universities, a Creative Problem Solving (CPS) facilitator, a certified instructional systems designer (CISD), and leader in entrepreneurial wellbeing with a BA in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Virginia as well as a Master of Science in Creativity and graduate certificate in Creativity and Change Leadership from the International Center for Studies in Creativity (ICSC) at the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo State.

Certifications & Affiliations

• Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship & Lean Startup
• Certified Lean Startup Instructor
• Certified Instructional Systems Designer
• Certified Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Facilitator
• InnoCentive Challenge Driven Innovation Methodology

Education

Graduate education in economics & defense trade policy from:

California State, University
George Mason University
Cambridge University, UK
Cranfield University School of Management , UK
Thunderbird School of Management

Van Espahbodi: Investment Advisor

Van combines two decades of deeptech venture capital investing and advanced technology commercialization predominately scouting/incubating across the aerospace and defense sector.

• Currently at Generational Partners, a Los Angeles-based venture firm investing in deeptech commercialization, the workforce of tomorrow and reshoring of critical supply chains.

• Investment advisor at VentureScope, a Washington, DC-based innovation and investment advisory practice, operator of MACH37, the leading cyber startup accelerator.

• Advisor to leadership in the US Space Force, Air Force, and NASA on increasing non-traditional engagement with entrepreneurs and venture investors.

• Built Starburst – worlds first dedicated aerospace and defense startup accelerator & venture capital fund with an equity portfolio of 100+ companies, including 2 unicorns

• Helped launch a public-private venture fund between NATS; Lockheed UK

• Former Congressional Aide and Raytheon Corporate Business Development

An entrepreneurial futurist, Van is passionate about empowering founders and investing in deeptech startups. With over 20 years’ experience in aerospace and defense, Van has helped industry identify future technology trends, shape product strategy, and inform investment trade policies. Prior to working in Government and Corporate strategy positions in both defense and commercial markets, Van started his career as a congressional aide before joining Raytheon and later UK NATS, the British airspace operator.

Van currently serves as an advisor to:

• US Space Force

• NATO

• Mayors of Los Angeles and the City of El Segundo

Additionally, Van sits on the Advisory Boards of the Alliance for Southern California Innovation and the MIT Enterprise Forum.

Education

University of Mary Washington

Bachelors of Science

John Asbra: Director of Strategic Partnerships

John is a business strategist, sales leader, entrepreneur, and two time founder. After graduating from the University of Mary Washington John has spent the last 25 plus years working in the technology space in a variety of roles. He has unique expertise in sales, partner development and strategy with large corporate, early stage and growth startups. Before joining Venturescope he served as a mentor to MACH37 and is on the board of WeatherAlpha.

Education

Pardee Rand Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy in Policy Analysis, 2022

Masters of Philosophy in Policy Analysis, 2018

Leiden University

Terrorism & Counterterrorism Theory (certificate), 2015

Lindsey Polley de Lopez, PhD: Director of Disruptive Technologies

Dr. Lindsey Polley is a futurist who specializes in the emergent landscape around cyber and “cyber-adjacent” technologies. She provides C-Suite and SES-Level leadership with strategic and advisory services related to the research and analysis of disruptive technologies and emergent capability-sets evolving within the commercial sector to guide long-term adoption and implementation. Dr. Polley also leads embedded strategic advisory cells that provided emergent technology solution identification for segments of the DoD, with an emphasis on space applications.

Prior to joining VentureScope, she served as a defense and policy researcher at the RAND Corporation where she worked on cyber and defense-related science & technology projects spanning the DoD, DHS, and the IC. Dr. Polley’s doctoral research examined the United States Government’s Vulnerabilities Equities Process for assessing software vulnerabilities, and the intricacies of balancing the various equities involved. She has been featured in several high-profile outlets, including SXSW, Lawfare, OODA Loop, America’s Future Series events, GEOINT Symposium, and the international Ground Systems Architecture Workshop.

Select Publications

Lindsey Polley, To Disclose, or Not to Disclose, That Is the Question: A Methods-Based Approach for Examining & Improving the US Government's Vulnerabilities Equities Process, Dissertation, February 2022, RAND Corporation, RGSD-A1954-1.

Derek Grossman, Christian Curriden, Logan Ma, Lindsey Polley, J.D. Williams, Cortez Cooper III, Chinese Views of Big Data Analytics, August 2020, RAND Corporation, RR-A176-1.

Daniel R. Gonzales, Sarah Harting, Mary Kate Adgie, Julia Brackup, Lindsey Polley, Karlyn D. Stanley, Unclassified and Secure: A Defense Industrial Base Cyber Protection Program for Unclassified Defense Networks, March 2020, RAND Corporation, RR-4227-RC.

Sean Robson, Bonnie Triezenberg, Samantha E. DiNicola, Lindsey Polley, John S. Davis, Maria C. Lytell, Software Acquisition Workforce Initiative for the Department of Defense, March 2020, RAND Corporation, RR-3145-OSD.

Education

Quantic School of Business and Technology
Executive Master of Business Administration, 2022

California Institute of Integral Studies
Doctor of Philosophy, 2017

Liberty University
Master of Arts, 2014

Duke University
Master of Arts, 2012

University of Virginia
Bachelor of Arts, 2011

Adrian J. Mack, PhD, MBA: Director of Corporate & Talent Development

Dr. Adrian J. Mack, PhD, MBA is a business developer, strategist, business operator, and transdisciplinary academic with a background in social impact. Prior to joining the MACH37 team, he worked for Amazon as an Account Executive. Adrian regularly publishes and speaks about his research focused on media, technology, and society through a diversity, equity, and inclusion framework. Adrian is an adjunct professor, and has served as a DEI consultant and government contracts and grants consultant. He has experience in both the public and private sectors, including the Department of Defense, K-12 independent schools, nonprofits, and tech startups. Adrian has served in advisory and board roles for different startups and community organizations, such as NASA’s Astrophysics Division’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Council.

Adrian lives in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill region of North Carolina with his wife, April, who is an educator for Wake County Public Schools, and their dog, Pepper. In his spare time, he enjoys writing fiction, reading, working out, college sports, and pop culture.