Mission discipline from orbit. Four decades of AI company creation. Two venture funds built and managed. An agentic platform running the firm itself.
Colonel Terry Virts (USAF, ret.) is a former NASA astronaut and 30-year Air Force veteran. An F-16 pilot with more than 230 combat hours, he piloted Space Shuttle Endeavour and commanded the International Space Station, leading a crew of six for 200 days in orbit. A guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, public speaker, and consultant, Terry brings mission discipline, technology fluency earned the hard way, and an uncompromising approach to risk — forged in combat and in orbit.
A serial AI entrepreneur with four decades at the intersection of AI, technology, and company creation, Ed has founded five AI ventures over 35 years with three exits, and is a two-time Entrepreneur of the Year and AI-150 honoree. He is Professor of the Practice at NC State University and Chairman of Cloud Pharmaceuticals, which applies AI to drug discovery. With three engineering degrees focused in bioinformatics and AI, an MBA, and a law degree, Ed is the entrepreneurial and AI engine of the firm.
Carl served as founder and Managing Director of the Next Generation Capital Fund I and II venture funds, participated in 22 investments, mergers, and acquisitions, and replaced the CEOs of three struggling portfolio companies, steering them to successful exits. Through IBM, Price Waterhouse, Arthur Young, and his own firm, he has provided consulting and technology services to over 250 organizations. Carl is the systems thinker who sees how the pieces fit together — and how they scale.
Solomon is the founder and CEO of Blue Collar Objects, an innovation-as-a-service technology company, and the architect of its agentic AI platform. Over more than 25 years he has led transformation programs for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Fannie Mae, and others. At Alpha Endeavour, Solomon builds and manages the proprietary AI platform that runs the firm — applying agentic AI to sourcing, diligence, monitoring, and operations.
A founding Associate of Next Generation Capital Fund I, Mr. Ekhsigian led the fund's financial operations and actively engaged in investor relations, capital formation, and managing new business opportunities, and played an active operational role in several of the technology portfolio companies. Currently, as Chief Financial Officer of a private real estate development and investment firm, he manages multiple subsidiaries and reports directly to the President and parent corporation. His diverse investment and management experience spans multiple industries, with senior responsibilities for capitalization, asset management, development, acquisitions, and dispositions — he has closed over $500 million of transactions. He earned an MBA from George Mason University and a BA in Economics from Whittier College, and is an honorary member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon economics society.
An expert in intellectual property, licensing, international trade development, joint venture structuring, innovation management, and corporate entity structuring for IP commercialization, technology acquisition due diligence, and technology valuations. His current emphasis is helping technology start-ups manage, develop, and execute the agreements necessary to bring their intellectual property to its full commercialization potential. Joe worked at GE for 34 years, finishing his career as Chief Innovation Officer & Managing Director, Ventures for GE Licensing & Trading, then helped Danaher acquire innovative technologies as Director, Corporate Development — Open Innovation. He holds an MBA from Pace University's Lubin School of Business and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University.
Founder of Encounter Strategies, Sean is a seasoned consultant with experience supporting organizations with strategic planning and large-scale transformation. Current and past clients include private sector firms ranging in size from $1M+ to $1B+. He has created numerous strategic plans for professional services firms, tech companies, non-profits, and government agencies, helping them define objectives and set paths toward accomplishing them. Based in Austin, Texas, Sean is an avid outdoorsman and hiker with a long habit of going out beyond the end of the trail — for better or worse.
A serial entrepreneur and senior executive bringing disruptive technologies to market across the telecom, wireless, satellite, alternative energy, and cybersecurity industries, with senior marketing leadership at MCI, US West Cellular, and McCaw Cellular/AT&T Wireless. As President of Manich Strategic, Helen has developed go-to-market strategies for U.S. and international companies including Vonage, Telstra, Columbia Energy, Xtreme Spectrum (acquired by Motorola), Tenzing (acquired by Boeing), and over 200 start-ups. She is a Senior Advisor and mentor on "The Path to the Revenue Stream" and serves on the selection committee for the Halcyon Incubator in Washington, DC.
President and team leader with 20+ years of marketing experience, Kathryn specializes in marketing plans, content strategies, and outreach campaigns that have helped clients acquire thousands of sales leads. She is an expert in content and search marketing, lead nurturing, and performance metrics, has taught marketing and sales at the college level, and frequently speaks to business groups. Before founding Market Wise she was president of newsletter publisher InformAction and marketing director for the National Association of Realtors, where she developed online information products for the real estate industry. Kathryn holds an MBA in marketing from Virginia Tech and a BS in Business, magna cum laude, from the University of Maryland.
Mr. Miller has an extensive record of growing value at technology-based enterprises — from privately held start-ups to intrapreneurial units in large corporations — across telecommunications, pen-based computing, networked systems, real-time operating systems, and database software. As CEO he generated significant investor value at Software AG and executed turnarounds at Cortex Corporation and Linus Technologies, and as Vice President at Verizon he headed development and deployment of the $1B systems supporting local competition under the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act. Earlier, as VP and General Manager of Sperry Computer Systems' Communications and Terminals Division, he was responsible for the world's first fully integrated office automation system. He has testified before Congressional subcommittees and served on President Reagan's OMB Information Technology Advisory Committee.
Maury recently completed five years as Dean of Business at George Mason University, where he consistently grew the school's revenues, programs, faculty, and research. An authority on change, talent, and leadership across markets and borders, his books include the market-leading Managing Change (McGraw-Hill) and The Handbook of Career Studies (Sage), with work appearing in Harvard Business Review. He previously served as Dean of Cranfield School of Management (UK), Associate Dean at London Business School, and Professor at IMD (Switzerland), and has advised Adecco, Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, EY, GlaxoSmithKline, IATA, Otis, and Santander, among others. Maury holds a BS in Engineering from Princeton and an MBA and PhD from Harvard.
An educator, entrepreneur, and consultant with more than 40 years' experience assisting new business ventures, Jim specializes in strategic planning, new business development, and capital formation for emerging growth companies in the U.S. and abroad. He serves as Associate Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence at the George Mason University School of Business and has consulted to USAID, the World Bank, the German Finance Ministry, and private sector investors throughout Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. Jim co-founded WorthPoint Corporation and FirstGuard Technologies Corporation, a weapons-detection company based on patents developed at George Mason University. He holds JD, MBA, and BS degrees, all from Indiana University.
Alpha Endeavour: the leading commercialization platform for deep technology emerging from America's research ecosystems.
Contact Us