Meet Our Team
Roderic G. March
Rod is CEO of Nanocrowd. He has over 30 years of experience in business and technology.
Rod has worked at all levels of management, including CEO, CFO, and VP of Marketing and Sales in ventures ranging from low-tech LBO’s to high-tech start-ups. He has co-founded and run several companies, including FirstFloor Software that merged with Calico Commerce, whose IPO was the 6th "Best Debut of 1999" during the Internet madness of 1999. While at FirstFloor, Rod shared a patent on a new method for collecting and displaying information on networked computers. Rod has also worked as an independent consultant for clients including Sun Microsystems, TrizecHahn, and Open Logic. His experience as a consultant began at Bain & Company.
Rod has applied his analytical skills to develop new laser systems, hunt for ancient Egyptian artifacts, analyze pharmaceutical trial data, and build business strategies. As an engineer at SRI, Rod developed tunable dye laser radar systems for remote sensing of gases, led a team preparing resistivity contour maps of archaeological sites in Egypt, and published papers on laser technology. Recently, he used his nerd skills to design several “green” buildings that are powered by hydro or solar power and are heated and cooled by nature (including his current off-the-grid home).
Rod earned his MBA from Stanford University and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Rod has served on advisory boards including a high-tech start-up and a non-profit foundation. He has also worked as a director, producer, and choreographer in regional and university theater.
Doug Millasich
Doug is responsible for managing (and often developing) the code and databases that support Nanocrowd's website search engine and back office analyses. He wears about a dozen hats, doing whatever it takes to entice good behavior from all the bits and bytes that make our applications fly.
Doug's career in software development was ceremoniously launched on the front lawn of his grandmother's house in 1968, when he was eight years old. His Aunt Jan presented him with an unlikely toy computer with four buttons and a series of scrolling wheels not unlike those of early gaming slot machines. When the buttons were pressed the wheels would spin and yield a magical result.
Another spark of inspiration was ignited in 1978 in Leucadia California when he witnessed a device capable of displaying frames of pictures in series, thus emulating animation. Working for an animation company in the San Fernando Valley, Doug recognized the potential for the device, and then disappeared for a few years - there was a party to attend.
In 1982 (when the party finally ended), Doug completed a course in computer programming in San Diego and went to work developing systems in COBOL on HP 3000 mini computers. As Doug's career gained momentum, he found himself working with smaller, but more powerful computers, and writing programs in C, then C++. Doug has obviously been doomed to work with computers from an early age, and has been doing so since. Currently, Doug develops Web 2.0 technologies and wishes he could locate that toy computer his Aunt Jan gave him which would yield a mint on eBay.
Jeff Simons
Jeff is the primary force behind the secret sauce that makes our nanogenres and movie matches sizzle.
Jeff has over 25 years experience developing algorithms for solving highly nonlinear systems of equations. With a background in applied mechanics and structural engineering he has developed algorithms for analyzing static analysis of snap-through buckling, cracking in bowling pins, progressive collapse of offshore structures, fatigue cracking in pavements, impact response of ballistic fabrics, crashing stability of high-speed trains and has used statistical analysis to determine the root cause of prestressed stud hang-ups in space shuttle launches and to quantify the advantages of throwing strikes in baseball.
Jeff earned his MS and PhD at UC Berkeley in Civil Engineering. He got his BA in Applied Mechanics at UC San Diego. Jeff's PostDoc was at the Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim.
Tim Todd
Tim has developed many of Nanocrowd's unique website tools, and he leads our data acquisition and social networking integration efforts.
Tim has a double major in Computer Science and Math. He also currently manages and oversees information technology systems at Mendocino College where he is also a part-time instructor.
Cindy Wallace
Cindy drives the design of our websites, as the producer and UI designer for the online channels.
Prior to joining Nanocrowd, Cindy spent six years managing eCommerce and the web services channel for a financial institution in California and many years working in web development in the US, Australia and SE Asia.
Cindy graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business with an emphasis in Marketing. Over the years she has continued her education completing a plethora of courses trying to keep up with the ever changing world of web technology. Her least favorite twenty-something question? Why didn’t you major in web design? An avid animal lover, Cindy is a volunteer dog trainer and small animal massage therapist. Her philosophy: there are no inherently bad dogs, but there are inherently bad dog owners.
Will Hawkes
Will is our Creative Consultant on all things film.
Will is an actor living in Los Angeles. He has been studying and working in filmmaking and acting for over 15 years. With his extensive training and passion for storytelling, Will has the ability to blend his imagination with human observation to create compelling characters. He applies these same skills in helping Nanocrowd stay playful and in touch with the world of movies.
Will got his BA from UCLA and hones his acting skills taking classes at the Stella Adler Acting Academy, the Groundlings, and Actors Circle Theater. He loves playing the seven degrees of Kevin Bacon game.
Laura Torres
Laura is our Marketing and Communications guru.
Laura brings 15 years of strategic marketing experience for technology companies. Recognized for enthusiasm, leadership, consultative and communication skills, both as a consultant and as VP of Marketing, she has helped a variety of companies develop and execute go-to-market plans, communications strategies and customer acquisition strategies.
Laura has worked for Fortune 500 companies including IBM and Hewlett Packard as well as start-up companies including Silicon Graphics and Calico Commerce and PeopleSoft. As a marketing strategy consultant, her clients include Sonic Solutions, Serena, Open Logic and RedSeal Systems.
Laura earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
John M. Mulvey
John is an advisory member of the Nanocrowd team, and he brings his knowledge and analytical skills to improve our methods and results.
When he isn't working with Nanocrowd, John is a Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering and a founding member of the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University. His specialty is large-scale optimization, with applications to strategic financial planning and other domains. He has implemented Asset and Liability Management systems for many companies, including PIMCO, American Express, Towers Perrin and Tillinghast, Merrill Lynch, American Re-Insurance, and Mount Lucas Management. These systems integrate key risks and opportunities to assist the organization in making critical high-level decisions. His current research involves the role of alternative investments for large institutional investors, such as pension plans, insurance companies, university endowments, and family trusts, with an emphasis on multi-period models for optimizing performance.
In addition, John conducts research on analyzing patterns in high frequency time series data. He has developed and implemented a number of innovative clustering models based on large scale optimization (e.g. at the U.S. Treasury Department). These approaches have direct application for Nanocrowd, especially for larger problems. The work involves setting measures of association, finding efficient solution algorithms, interpretation of the results, and related issues.
