Flywheel's Team
Flywheel's Strategic Advisory Board

Hiten Somwal

Biography
Hiten is currently completing his MBA from The Johnson School at Cornell University where he also works with the Cornell’s student run early stage venture fund to evaluate new opportunities. He has nearly 8 years of experience in assisting new ventures as well as established businesses within the Internet, Media, Retail and Telecom sectors. He has helped shape business and technology strategy, implement technology solutions and improve operational efficiency. Originally from New Delhi, India, he obtained his engineering degree in computer science from University of Pune in 1999. After a brief stint with the Indian operations of NextBrick, a California based internet Software Company, he moved to London in 2000 where he worked as a consultant and assisted new businesses in closing technology gaps and preparing business plans for Venture Capital investment. In 2001, he joined IBM Global Services in London. At IBM and more recently at Conchango, a management and technology consulting firm, he worked in a variety of management consulting, software architecture and development roles and led numerous implementations.

“Any professional experience is defined by two key ingredients, the people and the work itself. The Flywheel Fellows program was exceptional in both of these aspects. I had the opportunity to experience all aspects of the venture capital business and was trusted with responsibility to deliver meaningful real world results. Among other things, I evaluated new opportunities, performed due diligence and developed exit strategies for the firm’s portfolio companies. I also conducted the deal process for a new seed stage investment where I worked with the entrepreneur to refine the business model and marketing plan, presented the opportunity at the general partner meeting and subsequently drafted the term sheet to close the deal. But the real value of the fellows program lies in an opportunity to work with the Flywheel team. The team is a group of extremely talented investment professionals who constantly encouraged us to think beyond the ordinary when evaluating opportunities and intellectually challenge ourselves. The firm culture although very results driven, is also informal and sociable with events like barbeques and lunches which helped me connect with the Flywheel team and other fellows outside of work. It was simply the most intellectually stimulating and rewarding summer experience I could have asked for.” ~ Hiten Somwal

Karthik Meda

Biography
Karthik is currently a student in the Duke MBA program and has experience in enterprise software development, business development and retail operations. Karthik began his career with IBM India Software Labs, where he initially developed several components of a B2B software product that managed transactions in large supply chains. In addition to his software development responsibilities, Karthik also engaged with pre-sales teams and built a Proof-Of-Concept that was widely utilized across IBM Software labs in India & China. Subsequently he did business development in India for IBM’s first open source J2EE application server. In his business development role, Karthik built strategic partnerships with large Indian IT services firms, marketed the product to the open source/Java development communities and helped spread the use of the product in academic institutions. After his time at IBM, Karthik managed a watches & jewelery retail business, where he oversaw operations and led a 36 member sales team. Karthik also co-founded a company in the technology education space; the company provided training in advanced computer topics to undergraduate students. Karthik holds a Bachelors of Engineering degree in Computer Science from the R.V.College of Engineering in Bangalore, India.

"The summer experience at Flywheel gave me great insights into the the Venture Capital world. I was exposed to several areas of the venture capital investment process, ranging from business plan reviews to financial exit scenario analysis. Furthermore, the educational sessions conducted by the partners were a great value add and gave me the opportunity to understand some of the latest trends in the industry. Finally, the Flywheel team was an absolute pleasure to work with; we were always treated as part of the Flywheel family, which made it so much more of a pleasure to work there." ~ Karthik Meda

Mbei Enoh

Biography
Mbei Enoh is a first year MBA student at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School studying finance and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Flywheel, he founded a successful online marketing start-up, TicketDon LLC, where he was involved in raising funds for the initial start-up, developing the business plan, and pitching it to various investors. As CEO of TicketDon, Mbei was also responsible for the execution of various initiatives which involved governance, employee management, and strategic alliances. He was instrumental in charting the financial and marketing blueprint for the company’s brand, which led to TicketDon’s profitability from its very first year, and a 54% CAGR. These days Mbei is working with Texas A&M’s Office of Technology Commercialization to raise seed funding for another start-up which has created cost effective 3-D design software, with the unique advantage of being able to deliver 3-D printing at about 20% of the cost. He currently holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Connecticut, and looks forward to a career in venture capital upon completing his MBA in December 2008.

"My Flywheel Fellowship was the experience of a lifetime! Not only did I learn about the intricacies of the venture capital industry, I also participated in key transactions from day one. I was involved in reviewing and conducting the due diligence for over thirty business plans on a wide range of topics, which resulted in start-up funding for a very promising loyalty marketing company. Another exciting project was shadowing the Managing Partner Trevor Loy and participating in pitching sessions which led to the creation and initial funding of a Native American Fellows program to nurture and educate Native American entrepreneurs. The level of responsibility and trust that was placed on the Fellows made this a unique experience that one almost never encounters during the standard summer internship. Additionally the learning experience at Flywheel University was absolutely first-class and provided deep insights into the future of the VC industry. The bonding between the Fellows enabled us to fully experience and fall in love with New Mexico’s scenic views, its culture, and of course, its green chile. Finally everyone at Flywheel was eager to help us enjoy our total experience, and the numerous Flywheel BBQs and other social activities made the Flywheel Fellowship experience truly memorable, and one of my best career decisions to date." ~ Mbei Enoh

Omowale Casselle

Biography
Omowale just completed the 1st year of his MBA program at Harvard Business School. His background is in engineering; having earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Michigan-Dearborn. While in business school, Omowale has taken an active role in the African-American Student Union, Finance Club, and Venture Capital & Private Equity Club. During his 2nd year of business school, he plans to focus on entrepreneurship and venture capital & private equity investment. Prior to business school, Omowale worked for several years as a product development engineer at Ford Motor Company where he gained significant product development, program management, manufacturing operations, product launch, and international experience. He primarily worked on the Ford Mustang, Ford Fusion, and Ford Escape vehicle programs. He is planning to combine his passion for technology, business development, leadership, entrepreneurship, and mentoring into a successful career in venture capital. Omowale enjoys spending quality time with his lovely wife and two children.

"As a Flywheel Fellow, I had the opportunity to work as the Business Development Manager at Tred Displays Corporation. Tred is bringing low-power, green-tech, digital display products to the information display and signage industry. This company was in sharp contrast to the large company I worked for after completing my undergraduate degree. I quickly found that working at a startup requires tremendous energy, focus, and confidence for the daily task of making high-impact decisions. In my 10 weeks: the team negotiated the 1st customer contract, hired new employees, refined the marketing plan, and developed plans for a production facility. The unique structure of the Flywheel Fellows program also allowed me to understand early-stage companies from the point of view of an investor by working on partner assigned projects. This combination helped me confirm my pre-business school interest in venture capital. While I still have a lot more to learn during my 2nd year of business school and beyond, Flywheel Ventures provided me with an excellent start to a successful career in venture capital." ~ Omowale Casselle

Ricardo Leon

Biography
Ricardo Leon will receive his MBA from Texas A&M University in December 2008 with an emphasis in Marketing. He was born in Bogota, Colombia and brings 5 years of project management and development experience to Flywheel. Prior to Flywheel, Ricardo worked with Viacom International Japan in the design and development of Internet and mobile phone services for the Japanese market. After achieving cost reduction and efficiency improvements in his projects, he was promoted to Senior Systems Manager to lead an offshore development team and coordinate the development among Japanese and Indian development teams. Prior to Viacom, Ricardo worked as a project manager for HottoLink Inc., a Japanese startup, where he successfully drove the execution and launch of IT projects to clients such as NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone provider, and JTB, Japan's largest travel agency. In addition, Ricardo researched and developed systems to extract and analyze data from Japanese websites using natural language processing technologies. Ricardo holds a Computing Engineering degree from Los Andes University, in Colombia. When not working, Ricardo enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and golf.

"I believe that I found the best summer program among all options for MBA students. I had the opportunity to participate wearing both the investor and entrepreneur hats. I worked for one of Flywheel's portfolio companies. By taking part in the whole process, I have now a much deeper understanding of how the Venture Capital industry works. I doubt any classroom experience could have taught me so many insights. I had the opportunity to interact with clients from Japan, France, Mexico, and Israel. In addition, I met angel investors and participated in their meetings. The best of all is that Flywheel is creating an elite Fellows community through which we can network. Not everything was work; my fellows and I visited Santa Fe, Roswell, Durango (CO), White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns, Mesa Verde National Park, Elephant Butte Lake, and many other places." ~ Ricardo Leon