Advisory Board

Cliff Schertz

Cliff Schertz is founder and chief executive officer of Tiempo Development, where he is responsible for the strategic vision of the company. For over 25 years, Mr. Schertz has been leading and growing successful technology service companies, enabling his customers to achieve superior performance, high customer satisfaction and profitability.

Prior to Tiempo Development, Mr. Schertz was CEO of Camisa Technologies, where he and his team implemented and integrated customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions for hundreds of mid-sized companies such as United Concordia, Motorola, Weitz Construction, Harlan Bakeries and Best Western International. Prior to Camisa, Mr. Schertz also served as Vice President of the CRM National Practice for ePartners and grew the ePartners from zero CRM sales to national sales leader for SalesLogix, Onyx, Pivotal and Siebel mid-market software companies.

Kristopher Nybakken

Kristopher Nybakken is managing director of Newton Second Advisors. He has a background in operational management and corporate finance along with extensive experience in information technology and product development. Newton Second Advisors advises clients on strategic, financial and operational issues in venture, joint venture and corporate development. He is an active corporate director of companies in the United States and Japan.

Mr. Nybakken spent over 20 years in the information technology (IT) industry. He was chief technical officer (CTO) of WebMD, an Internet healthcare concern acquired by Healtheon in May 1999 for approximately $7.9 billion. He was responsible for product and software development, network and systems operations, and research and development at WebMD. Mr. Nybakken joined WebMD as the co-founder of Sapient Health Network, which was acquired by WebMD in 1999.

Rob Owen

Rob Owen is the vice president of information services at Microchip Technology, where he has worked since 1996. He has a successful track record of global IT leadership and management in a variety of manufacturing and technology industries, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, banking and manufacturing. Mr. Owen’s international experience includes the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Mr. Owen has an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management. He is an adjunct faculty member at both Thunderbird School of Global Management and Grand Canyon University.

Dan Brooks

Dr. Dan Brooks has 20 years’ experience applying decision and risk analysis to the development of decision-making processes and risk-based strategy formulation. Working for both public and private sectors, he is a full-time faculty member in the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and Director of the Executive MBA Program and the Global MBA Program. Mr. Brooks is also on the advisory board for the Masters in Statistics degree program, a member of the Supply Chain Management Department and the 1992 Distinguished Professor of Business.

Mr. Brooks teaches courses in strategic decision-making, decision modeling and risk management, and statistics. He served as Senior Scientist for Applied Decision Analysis, Inc., a San Francisco management consulting firm, and most recently served as a Director for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Financial Advisory Services group. He has a Ph.D. from Indiana University, a M.Sc. from Colorado School of Mines, and a B.Sc. from Colorado School of Mines.

John Scherer

John Scherer is the Managing Partner for the Arizona practice of Tatum, LLC. At Tatum, Mr. Scherer worked with the financial management teams of a premium consumer goods manufacturer, a national cell phone reseller and a retail grocery chain. He also served as Interim Managing Partner for Tatum’s Arizona practice and as a member of the CFO Council, an advisory group to Tatum’s management team.

Prior to joining Tatum, Mr. Scherer founded Scherer Strategic Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm providing integrated strategic and financial planning and modeling. He also increased sales by 10% as VP/CFO for Strategic Equipment and Supply Corporation, a top food equipment and supply industry leader, while driving numerous acquisitions as VP/CFO for Nash Finch Company, the third largest publicly-traded grocery wholesaler. He negotiated the sale of 16 facilities and freed up $25 million in excess pension assets at Central Soya Company, a merchandising and warehousing agri-business.

Mr. Scherer has a Masters in Business Administration from Indiana University and a Bachelors degree from Eastern Illinois University. He serves on the boards of numerous for- and non-profit organizations and is a founding co-chair of the Phoenix Chapter of Business Forums International.