Albuquerque, New Mexico (November 20) — Roadrunner Venture Studios, the nation’s premier platform for founding and scaling breakthrough companies in deep tech, today announced the addition of Amotz Maimon as Head of Technology and Product and Jim Ward as its first Company Mentor.

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Roadrunner builds the most promising deep tech, taking it from lab to market to ensure the continued economic security and competitiveness of the United States and its allies. With support from America’s Frontier Fund (AFF) and the New Mexico State Investment Council, Roadrunner has assembled a world-class team of investors, advisors, and technologists to build new ventures that will transform every part of life.

As a venture studio, Roadrunner provides its portfolio companies with support across business development, communications, marketing, legal, human resources, executive recruiting, and more. Company Mentors will provide strategic counsel, advice, and support by drawing on their decades of experience across diverse industries.

“Expert advice is the lifeblood of a successful start-up. Going from zero to one is complex, delicate work,” Adam Hammer, Roadrunner Co-Founder and Head of Studio, said. “Having seasoned veterans in your corner can make all the difference between closing up shop and a successful exit. All along, Roadrunner’s oath to its founders includes providing all the assets they need to build a company from scratch. These team additions are a core element in keeping that promise.”

Amotz Maimon

"Roadrunner's vision of creating a venture studio to foster deep-tech, category defining innovation outside traditional innovation hubs is uniquely compelling. I am excited by the opportunity to contribute to that vision as Head of Technology and Product. I am looking forward to supporting the Roadrunner team and the brilliant entrepreneurs building these companies."

Biography:

Amotz Maimon is the studio’s first Company Mentor focusing on engineering and technology. Amotz works closely with Roadrunner portfolio leadership and founders to validate ideas and scale technology.

Amotz is also a Distinguished Technology Fellow at Schmidt Futures. Prior to Schmidt Futures, Amotz was a VP/Distinguished Engineer at Alexa — Amazon’s voice-based, AI driven digital assistant and companion. In Alexa, Amotz owned the technical vision, major initiatives, and architecture for the Alexa system. Amotz also led the Principal Engineers community and focused on diversity efforts in the engineering organization. Prior to joining Amazon, Amotz was the Chief Architect at Yahoo where he led Yahoo’s Technology Council and drove innovation and tech excellence. In his role as Chief Architect, Amotz was responsible for Yahoo’s technology strategy, architecture, and governance, including Yahoo’s private cloud platform, big data systems, and overall infrastructure.

Amotz is an entrepreneur and was part of five start-ups as an engineer and later as a founder in technology and product leadership roles. He was an advisor to multiple start-ups, and a couple of early stage VC funds.

Jim Ward

"A career spanning venture capital, entertainment, technology, and advertising has taught me that companies, no matter the industry, are only as strong as their leadership. That's why I'm honored to accept the role of Company Mentor and guide the next wave of tech leaders. The innovations of the future are ready to be unleashed, and the magic of Roadrunner is that it convenes the right people to do so."

Biography:

Jim Ward is currently a Venture Partner with Alsop Louie Partners, a firm based in San Francisco focused on early stage technology investments. Working with the general partners on strategic development of ALP investment strategies and building the ALP brand, Ward also has been involved with Alsop Louie’s portfolio companies including Gowalla, Framehawk, Next Big Sound, Zephyr, Niantic, Meow Wolf, Mixed Dimensions, Blok Party and Ursa Major. He is also CEO of newco Integral Reality Labs, a company established to capture existing and emerging trends in the physical/digital divide, technological divergence, NFT’s, metadata, 3D printing and the evolution of gaming.

Ward previously served as the co-CEO of Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment group that creates immersive, interactive experiences to transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. Meow Wolf is a portfolio company of Alsop Louie Partners. In addition to the strategic management of the company overall, he was responsible for all content generated across the Meow Wolf story universe including transmedia properties, merchandising and marketing activities as well as managing the Interactive Technology and IS/IT division of the company.

Prior to joining Alsop Louie, Ward spent over a decade as President of LucasArts and Sr. Vice President of Lucasfilm, Ltd. where he was responsible for the global business growth of the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" franchises across the motion picture, television, home video and video game revenue streams. Ward’s thirty-year business career began in advertising with Doyle Dane Bernbach in New York, then as Senior Vice President and General Manager of BBDO/Los Angeles and onto Worldwide Account Director for Wieden and Kennedy in Portland, Oregon. As an advertising executive, Ward was involved in many major global product introductions including Apple Computer’s original PowerBook, Microsoft’s Windows ’95 with the Rolling Stones and Nike’s introduction of Tiger Woods.

Having multiple Emmy Award nominations and an Emmy win as an Executive Producer, Ward is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, served as Chairman of the Entertainment Software Association in 2007, and was Chairman of the Creative Committee for the 2016 San Francisco Olympic Bid Committee. In addition, he has been recognized as one of Advertising Age’s Top 100 Marketers, was EPM’s Entertainment Marketer of the Year, was an advisor to ASU’s SkySong Center for Innovation and a member of the Board of Trustees at Hanover College.

He also ran for Congress in Arizona’s Fifth Congressional District during the 2010 cycle and was recognized in 2017 as Executive of the Year by The Phoenix Business Journal in addition to receiving the Industry Leader of Arizona Award from AZ Big Media. Ward was a Governor appointed member of the Arizona Zanjeros State CEO Leadership Team, a Secretary of State appointed member of the Technology, Transparency and Commerce Council, served on the Board of Directors of the Electronic Media Association and a negotiating team member, and was a member of Thunderbird’s Global Council and a Board member of The Downtown Phoenix Partnership.

A native of Rockford, Ill, Ward received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hanover College and a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

About Roadrunner Venture Studios:
Roadrunner Venture Studios is a company creation factory. We co-found breakthrough deep-tech ventures with the nation’s most brilliant scientists, engineers, and innovators. Our team gets involved at the earliest possible moment — often when a company is just a whiteboard scribble, a concept modeled in wire-frame, or as founders are puzzling through how to design a pitch deck or process payroll — and rapidly accelerates product development, commercialization, and recruitment. We are the ultimate company “starter-kit,” equipping our portfolio companies with everything they need to go from the kernel of an idea to a venture-backed growth engine. Our promise is clear: our founders leave our studio with a company, a check, a customer, and a team.

Contact info: John Rich, john@touchdownstrategies.com