Joel Scotkin, Chief Executive Officer
Since joining Masten in 2007 as executive director and lead investor, Joel has helped guide the firm’s development by providing it with the benefit of his extensive expertise in successfully growing new technology companies. In July 2011, Joel was named Masten’s new CEO in order to lead the company into its next stage.
Before he became involved with Masten, Joel was best known as the founder and CEO of Random Walk Computing, now known as the Accenture Capital Market Solutions Group, one of Wall Street’s most successful technology consulting firms.
Joel’s hands-on leadership guided Random Walk from a two person startup in late 1995 through to a 150+ person enterprise with offices in NY, Chicago and San Francisco, along with a significant international customer base. As Random Walk’s chief executive, Joel developed a deep understanding of team and group management, delegation, planning, the critical importance of strategic vision in informing even small decisions, and how to build a team focused on customer satisfaction. Throughout the growth of Random Walk he also maintained his role as chief technologist, and worked closely with clients to help them make the best decisions to realize their financial and technology plans. In late 2006 Random Walk was acquired by Accenture as their re-entry into the front-office of the capital markets world.
In 2007 Joel took the opportunity to pursue a long held passion for space and joined Masten as lead investor and executive director. Since that time he has played an increasingly active role both as business strategy advisor and by getting involved with the technology side in developing Masten’s proprietary software and helping out with the development of Masten’s groundbreaking reusable rockets, including the rocket that won the 2009 NASA Lunar Lander Challenge.
Joel has also been active as an investor both directly and through his membership in New York Angels. New York Angels is a consortium of independent angel investors specializing in early stage technology startups. In addition to the investment funds themselves, Joel has provided the founders of these new companies with mentoring based on his own experience as a successful entrepreneur.
Prior to founding Random Walk, Joel inaugurated the role of webmaster at JP Morgan in 1994, and was responsible for building out the online platform for the launch of their RiskMetrics product (later spun out into a separate company). Before that, he worked for Fusion Systems Group, a boutique Wall Street consultancy. Joel graduated from Brown University in 1992 with degrees in Computer Science and Philosophy.
David Masten, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer
David Masten is the founder, Chairman, and Chief Technology Officer for Masten Space Systems. MSS represented David’s move from being an active member of the rocket community in his spare time into full time commercial technology development, combining the skills and knowledge acquired in his long career in IT networking and software startups with his experience designing rocket propulsion systems.
David was the lead designer on all of Masten’s groundbreaking reusable VTVL rockets, including Xoie and Xombie, the company’s highly praised winners of the prestigious Northrop Grunman Lunar Lander Challenge. He continues his central role in the development of Masten’s next generation reusable vehicles, both leading Masten’s technology development team and as one of its active members. Apart from his work at Masten, David has served as President and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society.
Sean Mahoney, Chief Operating Officer
Since joining Masten Space Systems at the end of 2010 as Director of Business Operations, Sean has overseen all the non engineering functions of the company and was named the company’s COO in July 2011. Sean brings to Masten his extensive business experience building organizations in emerging technologies fields. From large established corporations to the earliest of startups, Sean bridges the gap between technology and business.
After graduating from college, Sean joined AT&T’s Enterprise Hosting where he proved himself as an innovative and effective manager, rapidly rising through the corporate ranks. Upon graduating from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in 2006, Sean committed himself to the challenges and opportunities of working with emerging technology startups. Working with technology startups afforded Sean the opportunity to work in a creative and flexible environment at the interstices between technology, business development, marketing and management. When not building technology companies, Sean serves in a leadership capacity for both entrepreneurship and environmental non-profit organizations.
Colin Ake, Director of Business Development
Colin joined Masten full-time in 2009 and leads Masten’s customer facing activities. A Georgia Tech graduate, Colin’s previous work experience includes time as a project manager helping grow a technology startup from three employees to a sixty-person enterprise and starting a number of small businesses. Outside of the startup world, Colin spent time working for a large research institute in government business development and growing business development support infrastructure.
At Masten, Colin is in charge of everything related to sales and business development, including messaging, client acquisition, and client management. He coordinates all of the company’s grant and project proposals while working with other members of the firm’s leadership to craft Masten’s broader development strategy.
Reuben Garcia, Crew Chief & Systems Integration Engineer
Reuben attended Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology and has degrees in Aircraft Maintenance and Electronic Engineering. He brings an extensive work history involving advanced composite flight vehicle designs both air-breathing and rocket propelled after working for Scaled Composites and XCOR Aerospace. He holds an FAA A&P with Inspection Authorization and holds an FCC Commercial license with RADAR endorsement.
Alex Hreiz, Propulsion Engineer
Alex holds a Masters degree from Georgia Tech in aerospace engineering. He previously worked with Siemens Power Generation modeling heat transfer, NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center doing materials testing, and the Georgia Tech Combustion Lab doing combustion instability and emissions research. His blend of experiences all lend to his current work on Masten Space Systems’ engine family.
Nathan O’Konek, Director of Business Operations
Nathan is Masten’s Director of Business Operations. Nathan’s responsibilities include managing the company’s service delivery operations and financing activities, coordinating Masten’s contracts in both the private and public sectors, and addressing regulatory matters. Before joining Masten, Nathan worked as an attorney with Latham & Watkins LLP in the firm’s corporate and capital markets practices in London and New York. His work included structuring and executing complex securities offerings and corporate transactions for clients, including major US and European satellite service companies and financial institutions.
Nathan graduated from Carleton College and received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School where he was a managing editor of the Minnesota Law Review. Nathan has been a lifelong space and aviation enthusiast and volunteered aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York.
