MBA in Entertainment, University of Southern California | Ex: Disney, JPMorganChase, KPMG, PwC

Fun fact: My LinkedIn isn't my resume. 

So don't come here looking to evaluate hiring me based on my LinkedIn. 

Or maybe you should look at my LinkedIn to realize I beautifully blend data and analytics with entertaining and educational storytelling. 

I always dreamed of being a television programmer. It never happened, so instead I live out my dream programming LinkedIn like my own TV channel. 

Over the past 5 years, I’ve logged 10,000+ hours on this platform. I’ve built a following of 100,000+ by programming my LinkedIn like my own TV channel. My content isn’t random. It’s strategic. Story-driven. Designed to drive real outcomes.

And it’s worked, generating $10M+ in deals for the companies I've worked. Read that one again. Not me, but my companies. The power of companies leveraging LinkedIn is the future of LinkedIn. 

In 2021, I launched a global  events company while working with a Mark Cuban and Ashton Kutcher startup, producing 40+ events in LA, NYC, Dubai, Paris, and London that drove millions of dollars in  revenue. I understand how to leverage LinkedIn so companies can drive real results. 

A few highlights:

-Closed a strategic partnership with CAA
-Raised $7M in funding for a Mark Cuban venture-backed startup
-Secured $4.13M in brand deals for one of the world’s top celebrities

My background spans banking (JPMorganChase), global advisory (PwC, KPMG), and a decade as CFO/COO in the luxury design world, managing 50+ people and overseeing $40M+ in ARR and $1B+ in real estate projects for icons like President Obama, George Clooney, and Cindy Crawford.

I’ve lived and worked in LA, NYC, and Dubai. I’ve built communities in tech, luxury, and now the creator economy. I’m obsessed with solving complex business problems through storytelling, partnerships, and scalable brand strategy.

Always open to meeting new and interesting people that love life, love to win, and love to make the world a better place.

John Kraski

The best follow on LinkedIn?

Nila Makhfi, M.S.

She’s doing something no one else is doing.

She’s bringing together LinkedIn and real life. 

She's building LinkedUp.

I went to one of her events last week.

Mind blown.

Creators. Founders. Creatives. 
Same room. Same energy. Real conversations.

We both went to University of Southern California.

She invited me to speak on a panel to students about LinkedIn.

I told them:

90% of people in my phone are now people I met on LinkedIn over the past 5 years.

That's not an exaggeration.

That's the power of this platform.

But here's the thing:

LinkedIn gets you the connection.

Meeting in person builds the relationship.

That's what Nila Makhfi, M.S. understands.

That's what LinkedUp is all about.

Do yourself a favor and follow her.

Trust me and Keemia Mahmodian on this one.

Partnerships at Dhar Mann, Forbes #2 Creator I MBA in Entertainment, University of Southern California

The best city in America right now?

It might be San Francisco.

I'm shocked I'm even saying it.

I've always been an LA or NYC guy.

But I was up there this week for the first time in a while.

Attended some amazing events hosted by my friends at Brand Innovators and Creative Artists Agency during Super Bowl week.

I was immediately struck by the cleanliness.

The homeless crisis that dominated headlines for years?

Addressed in a major way.

I felt safe.
I felt energized.
I felt proud to be American.

Maybe it was just the Super Bowl energy.

But I think it's something more.

San Francisco's new Mayor Daniel Lurie took office in January 2025.

He's not just signing executive orders from City Hall.

He's out there.
In the neighborhoods.
Picking up trash himself.
Leading community cleanups.

His "Breaking the Cycle" initiative is tackling homelessness head-on.

Not with press releases.
With action.

The city that tech abandoned?
The city that became a punchline?

It's coming back.

I hope the mayors of LA and NYC book a flight to SFO soon.

Because this is the model.

American cities deserve better. 

The American people deserve better. 

Trust me and Daniel Lurie on this one.

Partnerships @ Dhar Mann, Forbes #2 Creator I MBA in Entertainment, University of Southern California

Eric R West

Convertible AI

Convertible — an advanced AI Studio — allows enterprises to realize the potential of AI using their existing resources. Our robust, multi-modal AI applications, coupled with your existing technology and data, can drastically improve the performance and growth of your enterprise.

Chief Growth Officer

Teamm.ai

Teamm is a private community for Marketing, Sales and Customer Success Leaders

Our Mission 
To provide every GTM leader with a Teamm that has their back so they can Lead Fearlessly.

Our Vision 
A world where every GTM leader has the support and insights they need to maximize their careers.

Founding Member

ThroughPut Inc. 

ThroughPut is an Industrial AI company that manages operational bottlenecks to increase output & cash-on-hand when it really matters.

Member Of The Board Of Advisors

Explorers' Lab

Explorers' Lab leverages the collective wisdom of an expert crowd to turn weak signals into actionable strategies and shape the next wave of culture-defining ventures.

Partner

Ford Motor Company

The corporate strategy organization subsumes the partnership team to ensure partnership resources are allocated to strategic needs.  Through this time, I led the external discovery of potential partners in the evolving home energy management space at the control layer, as the strategic discussion about moving from electric vehicle charging focused on home energy management, primarily behind-the-meter.

Corporate Strategy & Partnerships

Acted as proactive discovery lead for novel top-of-funnel partnership activities, as well as lead for strategic partner requests to shepherd their idea through the request for considerations of core strategy workstreams.

Partnerships Manager

HARMAN International

Developed & grew corporate alliances in Cloud, IoT and AI practice areas across the retail, home, enterprise, automotive, and broader mobility verticals.

Strategic Partnerships, Connected Services

- Selected by Ford Motor Company’s Innovation Lab to sit for a new Supplier-in-Residence program at their highly-coveted Design Studio, where all new in-car experiences are born, to inject select suppliers’ perspectives with Ford’s roadmap 
- Independently leading an initiative to launch next generation JBL headphones, leveraging early user data to build the world’s most robust database of alert sounds, utilizing machine learning and neural networking technology to support and launch an Audio Augmented Reality platform
- Developed an evaluation methodology for HARMAN’s technology project portfolio in support one of our new CTO’s first initiatives to develop an investment strategy, and created a framework to support its future maintenance
- Identified a key product development partner and negotiated terms to support near term request from our CMO to design and build a custom headset for use by select NASCAR pit crews, driving JBL brand impressions through affinity marketing

Open Innovation and Corporate R&D

Sikorsky Aircraft

- Re-hired as a resident intrapreneur with authority to task Sikorsky’s marketing, market intelligence, and product development teams to build a digital marketplace for Sikorsky helicopters as a novel strategy for driving sales of aftermarket parts and services in order to strengthen relationships with supply chain partners amidst tectonic market changes
- Secured $800k of internal funding to develop an Aircraft Performance Upgrade kit that helped Sikorsky’s aftermarket business defend against its competitor’s more powerful aircraft model by offering a simple, cost-effective solution for its’ customers to add more power to Sikorsky helicopters
- Revised the customer support strategy by analyzing historical financial data to generate a new pricing strategy and customer communication plan as well as the tactics used to develop new business for the commercial aftermarket group
- Conceptualized and executed a new marketing campaign including sales training, which helped the organization surpass original goal of liquidating $1.5M of slow-moving inventory within a month

Commercial Business Development

SkySpecs

- Secured an exemption from the FAA’s Section 333 ban on the usage of drones in commercial applications in order to position SkySpecs’ platform as the solution to enabling safe and legal drone operations 
- Led leadership team through a Customer Journey exercise as a framework for transforming operations from having only internal customers to managing priorities between internal and external customers in advance of launching beta service
- Developed initial lead scoring methodology for potential early adopters, focusing heavily on the time required to derive value from their usage in comparison with the internal resource burden of supporting their use of the platform

Business Operations Consultant

EvoLux Transportation, LLC.

- Developed G2M strategy and operating plan for the roll out of EvoLux’s beta phase, testing methodology for metrics such as product virality, sales conversion rates, and customer service rollout
Built and maintained a three-year financial model to support fundraising activities that led to multiple investments
- Negotiated a partnership with Rolls Royce Motorcars NA and worked with their CMO to structure a program whereby EvoLux would be the exclusive air carrier for their events catering to current and prospective owners 
- Secured Letter of Intent for a partnership with AirFastTickets.com to cross-promote services to respective customer bases
- Hired and managed a decentralized team of six highly-motivated and experienced individuals to bring EvoLux to market

Head of Business Development

Applico

- Retained by Toys’R’Us to help them increase sales against non-brick and mortar (E-commerce) competitors by creating a mobile product development roadmap with functionality exclusive to an in-store experience with the goal of driving customer engagement and increasing sales
- Managed and shipped the first build of StayAtHand, an iOS travel application designed to support frequent travelers’ mobile needs by leading G2M phase through Agile methodologies to effectively coordinate UX, UI, and technical resources 
- Decreased the cost of future client engagement by 22% by designing an operational and prototyping partnership between Applico and Fahrenheit212 that capitalized on the iteration velocity of mobile products

Mobile Product Strategist

Explorer | Accelerating innovation thru AI & Deep Tech

Eric West is a multidisciplinary leader with over 18 years of experience. He leverages emerging technologies to achieve impactful results for market leaders in B2B, B2C, and B2B2C spaces. He effectively bridges legacy systems with innovative solutions, driving transformative outcomes.

Key achievements include securing $25M of funding from DARPA for Sikorsky Aircraft’s Blackhawk helicopter modernization to support a strategic technology hedge. At Harman, he led the lifestyle audio unit in forging commercial relationships to revitalize growth. At Ford, he commercialized a customer-insights-driven initiative, attracting a strategic partner to co-invest over $103M into a JV spin-out company.

Eric seeks a director role in a forward-thinking company eager to harness emerging technologies for transformative growth through early-stage partnerships. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon and Columbia and an MBA from NYU Stern. His experience was further enriched after Harman’s acquisition by Samsung, where he collaborated with startups and innovation labs in Silicon Valley to drive technology commercialization and strategic growth.

Open Innovation Leadership | Strategic Partnerships & Alliances | Emerging Technology Scouting & Evaluation | Startup Collaboration & Ecosystem Management | Product Commercialization Strategy | Cross-Functional Project Management | Technology Trend Analysis | Business Development & Negotiation | Consumer-Centric Innovation | AI & Emerging Technologies Integration | Executive Stakeholder Communication | R&D Portfolio Management

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