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Founder. Operator. Investor. Educator. No matter the role, I’ve always believed in trusting your instincts and never outsourcing your judgment.
 
That mindset has led me down an unconventional path from poverty to investor. I grew up in Queens, hawking flowers on street corners and working at McDonald’s to help put food on the table. On a mission to transcend poverty as fast as possible, I dropped out of high school at 16 to work full-time and enroll in college early.
 
Over the next decade, I earned a law degree from Fordham at night and began a career as the youngest press secretary in NYC history, where I helped manage the global press response to 9/11.
 
I went on to be an executive for two NFL teams, found/invest in some of the most dynamic brands through RSE Ventures, and become a guest shark on ABC’s Shark Tank (seasons 10-11) as well as an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, where I co-teach "Moving Beyond Direct-to-Consumer." 
 
Always looking to meet great founders and the people who invest in them.

Follow me on Twitter @MHiggins.

Matt Higgins

Some of the world’s most transformative technologies don’t start in labs. 

They start in elite competitive arenas where performance demands are highest, failure is immediate, and innovators are forced to redefine what is possible.

Think about Ferrari. 

Ferrari began as a racing company, not a consumer brand.

Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, it used Formula 1 as a proving ground where engineering was tested under the harshest conditions imaginable. The road cars the world covets were not born from showroom whiteboards or hypothetical demos. They were forged on unforgiving circuits where speed, reliability, and performance determine the difference between success and failure. 

Only after technology was validated on the track was it transferred to road cars, making Ferrari a rare example of a company where the consumer product is the byproduct of elite competition. Racing was not a marketing exercise. 

It was the foundation of Ferrari’s engineering DNA.

That same dynamic is happening in drones today.

Almost a decade ago, I wrote the first check into The Drone Racing League, where elite pilots flew custom-built drones at over 100 miles per hour through complex three-dimensional courses, pushing hardware and software to the limits of physics and human reflexes.

Broadcast live on ESPN, from stadiums in France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia to arenas in Las Vegas, Miami, and Phoenix, our racing drones were pushed to their limits across the globe.

Whether in competition or high-performance test environments, they were flown under extreme conditions, exposing weaknesses instantly and forcing rapid iteration at the edge of what the systems could handle. Even a few nanoseconds of latency between drone and pilot could mean a crash before the pilot realized it had happened. 

This was the original no-fail drone mission.

The technologies developed there were not just for sport. They proved real-world value and opened a path to far higher stakes, including national security, battlefield advantage, and life-saving applications.

That insight informed our next chapter: co-founding Huntsville, Alabama-based PDW with Nicholas Horbaczewski, Ryan Gury, and Trevor Smith.

What began as performance-driven racing technology evolved into a company building next-generation tactical drones and autonomous systems for defense and public safety. PDW’s systems, including the C100, are now deployed at every level of the United States military.

In the same way Ferrari’s racing pedigree became the foundation of its engineering excellence, elite platforms like drone racing accelerate innovation by demanding leaps traditional product development rarely forces.

The lesson is simple: find your hardest arena, compete there, and let that pressure forge products that matter.

CEO and Cofounder at RSE Ventures | WSJ Bestselling Author: Burn the Boats, Harper Collins, 2023 | Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School

BlueStar Ventures

As the Owner and Founder of BlueStar Ventures, a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), I specialize in providing consulting services for organizations to help meet their corporate responsibility objectives. My demonstrated expertise spans various disciplines, including energy efficiency assessments, installing and maintaining EV charging stations, and expert-level capability in replacing fluorescent lights with energy-efficient LED products.

President/Founder

Johnson & Johnson

Led the governance, proactive development, and enhancement of the end-to-end talent acquisition process across the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, supporting transformation objectives aligned with Enterprise Standards & Productivity.

Global Process Owner, Talent Acquisition

Pfizer

Led Continuous Improvement, Innovation & Project Management efforts focused on the delivery of clinical trial initiatives. Responsible for assisting Clinical Trial Process Quality with the full range of Continuous Improvement (CI) activities including advising management on developing, prioritizing, and executing CI strategies and overseeing the portfolio of clinical trial improvement initiatives. Additionally, led the professional staff of Project Mangers ensuring the most critical initiatives are planned, tracked and executed in flawless fashion.

Senior Director

Merck

Merck Sigma
Led the HR Sigma group--responsible for the full range of Merck Sigma activities including advising divisional and functional management on developing, prioritizing and executing Sigma strategies. Oversaw the portfolio of divisional improvement initiatives, and provided leadership and guidance to a global function while identifying target areas for business process improvement. Led the Six Sigma Franchise work-stream of a company-wide strategic initiative (End-to-End [E2]), a global, integrated, market and customer-driven organizational model and process for product discovery, development, commercialization and life cycle management, directly supporting the Chief Marketing Officer in this capacity.

HR Leader

Lockheed Martin

Led International Business Development efforts across Lockheed Martin’s Maritime Sensors and Systems Division representing entire enterprise portfolio.  Areas of concentration included Australia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South America.  Engagements: led Lockheed Martin Maritime business interests in Australia, namely, the sale of a new class of littoral combat ships to Greek and Kuwaiti Navies. Identified and led business development efforts for Saudi Navy Eastern Fleet Modernization Program -- program value nearly $10b.

Director

US Navy

Naval Aviator

• Exemplary leader with more than 20 years’ experience in managing complex organizations and motivating individuals to significantly higher levels of performance.
• Executive level professional with advanced experience in human resource management, governance, and veteran programs under fiscally-constrained conditions. Skilled at working in a fast-paced environment and solving intricate managerial, financial, and personnel issues. 
• Transformational change agent; expert at using six sigma toolkit to drive change globally across the business. 
• Proven integrity; driven to achieve organizational success and to meet departmental goals and objectives within budgetary constraints.
• Selected as first-ever President of Merck's Veteran's Leadership Network. In one year, grew organization from grassroots group to a structured employee resource team, which was nationally recognized with numerous awards for overall program design and collaboration with organizations assisting Veterans.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS and RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Senior-Level Leadership / Strategic Planning
• Led Pfizer’s Clinical Trial Process Improvement & Innovation Team within CTPQ, providing project management, and continuous improvement and process management support and consulting. Led numerous RCA efforts that proved instrumental in diagnosing ongoing systemic issues within clinical trials and at Alliance Partners. 
• As Senior Director, HR, Merck Sigma -- responsible for leading Human Resources with the full range of Merck Sigma activities, including advising divisional and functional management on developing, prioritizing and executing Sigma strategies to include change efforts, and overseeing the portfolio of divisional improvement initiatives. Exceeded divisional scorecard measures, netting nearly $7MM in direct savings during 2009. 
• Provided direct leadership and coaching to launch Merck's HR Process Council

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