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Team
AAG Ventures has assembled a world-class team with deep expertise in blockchain, gaming, enterprise software, data science, cross-border service operations, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and non-profits. AAG Ventures is comprised of a Core Team, Advisors, Country Ambassadors, Scholars, and Backers.
We are currently looking for like-minded backers, partners, advisors, builders, players and other community members to join our team and help us achieve our vision and dreams.
Our team has 80+ years of combined software experience (incl., Google, JPMorgan, TIBCO, and McKinsey) and is representing over 17 countries: putting the platform in steady hands to follow through roadmap expectations
Nelly is an Advisor and Investor to many high performing startups across many sectors, including blockchain, biotech, fintech, and med tech. She is also a Managing Partner of a large portfolio of U.S. real estate. She passionately practices and believes in Impact Investing: "Doing Well by Doing Good." Nelly serves on the Board of Fellowship of Fathers Foundation, the parent organization of Family First Global, founded by The Honorable Ambassador Gregory W. Slayton, with chapters in over 10 Asian countries, reaching over 5 million families last year.
Nelly earned an MBA in Management Information Systems from San Diego State University and holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University with Honors. In her leisure time, she enjoys playing piano, guitar, and singing. She and her husband, Solomon, are blessed with three unique and amazing sons. They love throwing balls and frisbees with Miracle, their Belgian Malinois rescue.
Jack is a serial entrepreneur and tech enthusiast with an extensive background in enterprise software architecture and development. In the past decade, he has created platforms for scalable applications, omnichannel retail (XY Retail), content management (TOOVIA), and real estate (CozyBid). He also spent 5 years at TIBCO Software, where he gained experience in large-scale integration projects in various sectors: including insurance, broadcasting, energy, wholesaling, airlines, telecommunications, and consumer / non-cyclical. He is an avid investor and advisor to many tech startups globally. Jack received a B.S. in Computer Sciences and Japanese from the University of Wisconsin.
Omar is an experienced crypto fund manager specializing in NFT assets and formerly worked as a trusted escrow agent who helped broker deals in the crypto space. He is responsible for the operationalization of AAG's Play-To-Earn Scholarship Program with Axie Infinity that has grown to 1.5K scholars in 7 different countries all over the globe in just 7 weeks.
Omar received a B.S. in Nursing from Ateneo De Davao University. He was a competitive Badminton player and won a few regional badminton tournaments in his younger years.
Jayson led our NFT management efforts, enabling the rapid growth of AAG. He is responsible for creating AAG's breeding algorithm to ensure the quantity and quality of our assets as we aim to provide our scholars the best chance to succeed. Jayson has a B.S. in Information and Technology from Quezon City Polytechnic University. He has been a gamer his entire life and also created a Play-To-Earn guild with 85 scholars in Manila before co-founding AAG.
Eric is a data scientist with a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from Columbia University. He has 20 years of experience as a computer programmer in finance, computer-aided drug design, and algorithms for quantum chemistry. He worked at JP Morgan Chase as a data scientist and taught machine learning and data science. He also worked in algorithm design at Schrodinger, the scientific leader in developing state-of-the-art chemical simulation software, as well as R&D in computer simulations for protein engineering in biofuels at NREL, the premier US Department of Energy lab for renewable energy.
David is a tech professional with 25 years of experience, including as a Google PM, McKinsey consultant, and a CMO in digital learning. David has consulted for Fortune 500 gaming companies. He earned a doctorate in Computer Science from UC Berkeley. He has been a gamer all his life and fondly remembers Might & Magic, Wizardry, and (the original) Starcraft.
Robert has been a Blockchain investor and trader since 2017. After learning the ways of the market, he started a cryptocurrency investing consulting business in which he advises clients on how to manage a personal investment portfolio. His strategy revolves around using data models to analyze the broader crypto market trends while applying qualitative analysis to different sectors of cryptocurrencies (Smart Contract Protocols, Centralized/Decentralized Exchanges, DeFi, NFT Platforms, and Gaming) to diversify, manage risk, and outperform Bitcoin.
Robert runs his own residential mortgage business through C2 Financial, the largest mortgage brokerage in the United States. He also helped build the infrastructure for the commercial division of the company. As a lifetime gamer, Robert has operated Play-To-Earn systems in traditional games such as Runescape and Maplestory. Robert holds a B.A. in Economics, B.A. in Psychology, and minor in Finance from Claremont McKenna College where he also served as the Captain of the CMS Men's Tennis Team.
Solomon has been in Blockchain/Crypto since 2018. He has 18 years of IT experience as an implementation consultant, Oracle DBA, software developer, senior project manager, and applications manager. He holds BBAs in International Business and Electrical Route to Business from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA in Information Systems from SDSU. His 2nd career is as a developmental USPTA tennis pro after a team he coached and won a national championship in 2013.
In 2013, Solomon suffered greatly through a harrowing three-month ordeal with pheochromocytoma (a rare tumor on the adrenal gland, 50% of which are diagnosed in autopsy). Given a 2nd chance at life, he vowed to make health and happiness the highest priorities. AAG wants to incorporate these same priorities into its culture. Happy people perform better. The ultimate goal is to make everyone in AAG a "happy camper"!
Solomon is responsible for ensuring that health and happiness are prioritized and integral to the culture of AAG. AAG believes that this will enhance performance, as well as attract and retain top talent.
Nick is an experienced tech leader with proven records of driving innovation and turning ideas into mainstream products. He loves to code and build technology that is simple to use and scale. With decades of experience in development and management roles for both multinational companies and startups, he designed and delivered innovative products such as TIBCO BusinessEvents, the award winning Event Processing Software. He architected large enterprise systems around the globe for companies like Intel, Samsung, Vodafone, Citibank. He also worked with consulting firms including BearingPoint, Capgemini, Boomi to craft their reference architectures and solutions. Nick holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering with summa cum laude from UCLA.
Marius is a serial tech entrepreneur, investor, former professional athlete (European u20 and u23 championships representing Lithuanian national team in shot put), and former CPO, CTO of Lympo. He led the team to build mobile health dApp Lympo (400K+ users). He has delivered successful integrations of Samsung Health POS with Samsung HQ and Samsung USA teams and developed one of the first 10 dApps integrated into the Samsung Blockchain wallet. Animoca Brands successfully acquired Lympo.
Marius holds a B.S. in Business Informatics from Mykolas Romeris University. In his leisure time, he enjoys hiking, sports, and reading good books.
Domas is a passionate idea hunter, entrepreneur and founder of creative agency Peak Studio. He has worked with startups from all over the world and elevated their brands to the next level. With a B.S. in Mechatronics, he considers himself a Design Engineer - putting care and attention on every pixel and second of experience. He has worked with clients such as Infosys, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, Argyle, Samsung and helped make a pitch that led to closing the deal worth $3.2B. Domas is former Lead Designer at Lympo, which had a succesful ICO ($12M raised) and a creative mind behind the screen. Lympo has since been successfully acquired by Animoca Brands.
Domas doesn’t let any second to be wasted. He loves wakeboarding, kitesurfing, hiking, traveling, cooking and eating good food. Together with his wife, they are converting a cargo bus to a camper van with their own hands and are planning to travel the world.
Euny is responsible for the management and expansion of AAG's fast-growing scholarship program. With her experiences in teaching and technical support, Euny created a training program to ensure that AAG scholars are provided with best-in-class knowledge and coaching. She is also responsible for our social media presence and grew our queue of potential scholars to 10,000+ in less than 7 weeks. Before AAG, she worked in ESL and had experiences dealing with accounting software, internet, cable, and phone companies. Euny received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Southern Bicol Colleges.
Leah led the effort in creating AAG's communication strategy to ensure that our ever-growing community of scholars is properly served. She has extensive experience working with the online casino community, where regulations and policies must be strictly adhered to. She also started playing Axie Infinity early and has since become one of the most competitive players. Leah received a B.S. in Marketing Management at the Philippines School of Business Administration.
Totis is an e-commerce and branding specialist with focus in multi-channel digital expansion. A keen marketer since young age, Totis ventured his way to UK where he eventually became an integral part of the success in digital expansion for many businesses (including Disney, Baboo and Brand Threads) in the past decade. Totis also owns a digital marketing agency providing advertising and creative services to support businesses with brand/product launches and business expansion within online trading channels. Totis received a B.S. in Strategic Marketing Management from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Elaine is an entrepreneur, tech startup advisor, investor, and mobile game enthusiast. Elaine is the Co-Founder and CSO of Muse Builder, a tech startup accelerator program in Taiwan. She also assists the Taiwanese government in fostering global connections in the tech startup ecosystem. Her other experiences include serving as the Co-Founder of Greenway Revolution and the Scientific Advisor of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Elaine received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University and postdoc at Stanford University.
Edmond Truong (張偉健) has been obsessed with margins/derivatives in the forex and blockchain markets. He managed over 100+ Million USD worth of transactions via over-the-counter trading for institutional businesses to arbitrage price discrepancies within different markets and asset classes. Edmond has established deep international networks in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Korea, Japan, Silicon Valley, and Europe. He is also one of the Founders of Formation Finance, which is looking to disrupt the decentralized finance sector by providing a robust, algorithmic asset manager protocol driven by the "Risk Parity" movement. Edmond holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Banking, Corporate Finance, and Security Law from the University of California, Riverside.
Tess is an Investor and Advisor to high performing startups, deep tech companies and extraordinary founders across the world.
A respected leader and subject matter expert, Tess is a sought-after speaker, lecturer, and advisor on venture capital, startups, entrepreneurship, strategy, Southeast Asia expansion and growth. She has been both speaker and moderator on numerous prominent VC and entrepreneurship panels. She was featured on Thrive Global’s list of “Top Women to Watch 2019”.
Among her many roles: Founder of venture fund Tess Ventures; Venture Partner at Spike Ventures, a venture capital fund for alumni of Stanford University; Co-Founder of a stealth startup; and as a previous advisor to the Stanford Office of Technology Licensing, Tess was COO of GCBC Stanford Graduate School of Business. She was also appointed as Chief Ambassador by the Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Tess is a Member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Nick White is COO of Celestia, a pioneering blockchain that aims to make decentralized apps more scalable, secure, and sovereign. He previously served as Co-Founder of Harmony, a high-performance blockchain protocol built to power decentralized applications and DeFi. Nick holds bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University, with a focus on neural networks and artificial intelligence.
Rongjian Lan is the Co-Founder and CTO of Harmony blockchain. He is in charge of the design and development of the Harmony blockchain, the first Proof-of-Stake blockchain with state sharding. At Harmony, he designed the Effective PoS mechanism, which enhances staking decentralization and security in a sharded blockchain. He also designed the FBFT consensus protocol, which achieves 2-second block finality and supports hundreds of validators. Before Harmony, Rongjian worked on search infrastructure for the Google Play Store and also serves as the Co-Chair of ABC blockchain community in the bay area. He also co-founded a startup called Joobali, focusing on child care online invoicing and payment services.
He was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park, and graduated with a Master of Science in Computer Sciences. He finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of Science and Technology Beijing.
Antonny is a Venture Builder and Investment Partner at GDP Venture, one of Indonesia's most prominent Internet investors and venture builders, focusing on digital communities, entertainment & media, commerce, and enterprise solution. A geek in denial and a financial management graduate, Antonny started his professional career in Enterprise IT and Solution Services, a journey that took him to several other IT companies and a President Director position when he was 27 years old. He then pursued his passion for marketing & branding by joining a then small 14 people startup agency called SemutApi Colony as a Partner and Managing Director in 2005. The company has grown into a Group, which operates several agencies, a tech incubator/investor, and technology startups.
Antonny graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, Indonesia, with a degree in Finance and Management and a non-degree International Program in Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan. He is an avid gamer and serves on the Board of Agate, Indonesia's biggest game company. He still has a dream that one day he can play piano and own a Coffee and Steak House.
Joe Brenneman is a multi-award-winning corporate executive, internationally-acclaimed business coach, featured keynote speaker and recognized revenue-growth strategy expert. He is heart-centered, purpose-driven, and mission-focused. Joe is an accomplished Media company operator with over 20 years of experience leading teams, divisions, and companies such as Disney, Tribune Company, and ABC/Capital Cities to revenue and profit growth records in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Joe is Co-Founder of Incubator B, where entrepreneurs and business owners validate & launch new service-based businesses. He is also the Founder of Growth Coach of Orange County, a business and sales coaching company that utilizes a proprietary system (The Strategic Business Mindset) that has a long and successful track record of delivering proven results.
Joe earned an MBA in Marketing from the University of Kansas, where he also previously earned a B.S. degree in Journalism. He is a Certified Business and Sales Growth Coach. He and his wife Beth have four unique and amazing sons. They live in a small neighborly Southern California community called Ladera Ranch.
Roger, a Business Advisor to the company, has advised several crypto funds and companies utilizing blockchain technology. He has taught Business Basics of Blockchain in the Stanford Continuing Studies program, is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and former chair of several committees of the American Bar Association Sections of Business Law and Taxation. Roger has been an instructor or professor of legal, tax, and business topics for the Center for International Studies (Salzburg, Austria), Golden Gate University School of Law, and is a frequent speaker, writer, radio guest, blogger, and panelist for bar associations, CPA organizations, and business groups. He has been interviewed and quoted in Enterpreneur.com, the Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Tax Notes, Nikkei Asian Review, Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, The Recorder, 7X7, and Fast Company.
Roger earned his J.D. from the University of North Dakota, where he also previously earned a B.S. in Accounting. He holds a Master in Laws in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Tarn is currently part of the Asia-Pacific Product Strategy & Go To Market team at Google Singapore where she is exposed to the lucrative world of mobile gaming apps business and how to leverage new technologies to build a better product roadmap. Tarn is originally from Bangkok and right after she obtained her Bachelor's Degree from Thammasat University in 2011, Singapore was where she started her professional career.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Tarn reached out to local Food & Beverage communities across Thailand to help those less fortunate and managed to distribute over 5 tons of rice and over 60,000 cooked meals within six weeks, helping over 8,000 families in need.
Ting Peng comes from an international cooperation background and is a former university teacher. She’s passionate about how disruptive technologies can empower people and help businesses transform in the new digital era. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and has joined several blockchain startups since 2017 and run a PR agency since 2018. She speaks fluent Chinese, English, and Korean, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Cointelegraph China.
Please meet our 2K happy, grateful AAG Scholars and their inspiring, life-changing stories - the "WHY" we do what we do
Last modified 11mo ago