Catherine Mikkelsen is the managing partner of Silicon Valley Way. She brings in other consultants, depending on the project, from a large pool of people who have worked together in the past.

Catherine Mikkelsen, Managing Partner, Silicon Valley Way

(formerly Brindle Labs Consulting)

Catherine Mikkelsen is a Silicon Valley and business professional with a rich background in both software development and business. She was an evangelist for Steve Jobs at NeXT Computer, where she helped bring groundbreaking technologies to market.
Catherine has worked with startup companies for over 25 years: from product teams to marketing, business development, fund raising, and founding.

Catherine's experience, perspective, and current market knowledge make her a strong strategist, and decades of communication and business development/fund raising make her a powerhouse for validating and clarifying opportunities and products, developing strategies and plans for businesses, marketing, and product.

She works with founders, larger companies, and investors. For founders, she frequently produces an Opportunity Analysis, which brings data and analysis before investing in teams. When she works on a business plan or pitch deck, the result is compelling, with a clear value proposition, well laid-out implementation strategy and roadmap, and a founder who is ready to answer questions. Whether marketing strategy or a business plan, Catherine often also provides coaching and helps roll projects out.

This past year, Catherine and the SVW team have been creating The Founders Series, a series of classes designed to bring wisdom to founders.

The unique class series turns the often-generic, laundry list of "how to do a startup" steps into a pragmatic series of processes -- with an understanding of what and why. And of course, many stories.

After all, when you do a startup, you really can break all of the rules. But it's best to know why they existed in the first place.

Scott Wiener, Partner, Silicon Valley Way

(formerly Brindle Labs Consulting)

Scott is an entrepreneur and technologist, and an award-winning visionary product thinker who understands how to connect innovation to market opportunities and customer needs.

With over 25 years of experience, he’s a superior strategist, who understands how to navigate complex markets and reach partners and customer in innovative ways.

An expert fundraiser who has raised over a hundred million dollars from top-tier silicon valley venture capitalists as both founder and cofounder, and who has worked on both sides of the process, Scott has performed over 100 due diligence reviews of companies who are trying to fundraise, advising investors on the best path forward.

Scott's built teams from scratch, managed the transition of organizations going through M&A to optimize outcomes, and has ramped and managed many remote and overseas teams.

And finally, Scott is a great communicator and leader who engages people intellectually and emotionally in common purpose and clear, aligned goals.

Scott enjoys coaching founders, and enjoys working with Brindle and Silicon Valley Way clients to advise on everything from product definition and roadmap, to how stock allocation should work and reviewing pro formas. He’s been one of our core advisors and teachers in The Founder Series.