Our Team – Productified

Our values

Integrity and honesty.
Commitment to our customers.
Humility and empathy.
Passion to advance innovation.

Our Founders

Alex Triener, CEO

Alex is a serial entrepreneur based in San Diego, CA, who co-founded three companies: Productified, Brainstorm Medical, and Pet Wireless, which was acquired in 2018. Alex is a named inventor of 18 issued utility patents.

Alex is passionate about helping fellow innovators. He volunteers at the Lab-to-Market program at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego, the StartR startup accelerator, and the Regional Entrepreneurship Center at Miramar College.

Alex holds degrees in electrical and computer engineering (MSEE) and business administration (MBA). He has more than 20 years of experience developing technology products.

Sid King, COO

Sid is a serial entrepreneur based in San Diego, CA, who co-founded Productified and Steel Bar in Austin, Texas. Sid was the 1st. employee and head of operations at Origin, a Y-combinator startup (YC W17) in Silicon Valley.

Sid brings over 12 years of engineering experience from top-tier technology companies Tesla, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Intel Corporation, IM Flash (Micron) Technologies, and Cymer-ASML, where he was a program manager leading multi-million dollar projects.

Sid is passionate about helping students become entrepreneurs and volunteers as a judge at Science and Engineering Fairs. He holds a masters degree in mechanical engineering.

Board of Directors

Brad Chisum

Brad is a co-founder and former CEO of Lumedyne Technologies, a MEMS Inertial Sensor company acquired by Google.

Before Lumedyne, Brad held engineering and management positions at the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Defense Systems Command (SPAWAR) and semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics. Brad holds four patents and three degrees: an MBA from San Diego State University, a B.S. Electrical Engineering, and B.S. Mathematics from Southern Methodist University.

James Hereford

James previously served as the Chief of Staff for the Technology Engineering division of Google’s Hardware Product Area.

Before Google, James held engineering, program management, and business analyst positions at ION Geophysical and Chevron Technology Ventures. James holds three degrees: an MBA from Rice University, an M.S. in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University, and a B.S. in Multidisciplinary Studies – Physics from the University of Oklahoma.

Advisors

Andy Ballester

Andy is a co-founder and former CTO of GoFundMe, the world’s largest online fundraising platform, and a technology mentor and advisor. Before GoFundMe, Andy served in senior management and founder positions at several companies, including Create a Fund and California Product Shop.

He also volunteers as a Mentor with the EvoNexus incubator, Techstars Anywhere Accelerator, and Ad Astra incubator to help multiple startups and their founders navigate product development. Andy holds a B.A. in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kim King

Kim was a General Partner with IDG Ventures, where she played an active role over nine years in managing and investing a $120 million captive fund. She led multiple software and technology infrastructure investments, including F5 Networks (FFIV) and VA Linux (LINUX). Before joining IDG Ventures, she was an Associate at BankAmerica Ventures, and served as a product manager in the Multimedia Publishing Group at Microsoft.

Kim holds a B.S in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Today, she teaches Entrepreneurship at both UCSD and SDSU, sits on various non-profit boards, and holds multiple leadership positions, including the National Charity League.

Chris d’Eon

With over 20 years of marketing experience, Chris has been responsible for internet, mobile, radio, TV, catalog, direct mail, print, and brand advertising.

He helps companies implement innovative, cost-efficient, scalable marketing programs and has held leadership roles as Head of Marketing at Founders First Capital Partners, Senior VP at RealAge.com, original VP Marketing at ProFlowers.com, and Direct Marketing Manager at Intuit’s TurboTax, among numerous others. Chris was the recipient of the Margaret Sellers Award as Marketer of the Year and is an educator at San Diego State University.

Adrian Pelkus

Adrian is a multiple award-winning new product developer. He has 35+ years of experience creating over 300 different electronic products and high technology processes for other inventors, as well as his own ideas.

As Founder, CEO, COO, and CTO, Adrian has helped start several technology companies, including his own – California Product Developers. Adrian is named inventor on 17 issued U.S. patents, including the “Baby Think it Over” infant simulator, a “Thin Film Flexible Solar Cell,” the FDA cleared “Jaw Elevation Device,” and O2Misly™ Wound Treatment System.

Brian Fried

Brian is a successful serial inventor with multiple inventions sold at major retailers, a recipient of the prestigious “Innovator of the Year” award, Inventor Coach, sought-after celebrity guest speaker, and author of several books.

Brian is the Founder and President of the National Inventor Club and the Chief Invention Officer of Inventor Smart.

He has been featured in the New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Inventors Digest, CBS News, and Nicole Richie’s Candidly Nicole VHI show. He is a regular guest speaker at major trade shows, schools, and the USPTO. Brian was an on-air guest on QVC representing his own inventions and those of others.

As host of Got Invention Radio, he interviewed Shark Tank’s Lori Greiner and representatives of the USPTO. The show is seen on RokuTV, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, and his podcasts are heard on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Bill Orabone

Bill is a veteran of global business, a successful serial entrepreneur, an angel investor and a mentor to countless entrepreneurs.

His four successful technology start-ups resulted in exits worth over $450M with four industry-first product introductions. After ‘retiring’ from startups, he has made more than 50 early-stage investments and achieved over 45 profitable exits in a wide range of technologies and markets. Prior to his startup career, Bill worked in multiple roles in manufacturing, engineering, sales, finance and strategic development at PPG, Eagle Picher Industries and Energy Conversion Devices.

He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and is one of the earliest Six Sigma Black Belts.

Mark "Schmiddy" Schmid

Schmiddy has over forty years of “inventor” experience in the action sports & consumer products spaces.

His skill sets include product design, brand launch, supply chain management, manufacturing, marketing, professional athlete management & distribution in both hard goods & soft goods in domestic & foreign markets resulting in the sales of hundreds of millions of dollars in branded products.