About Max

I'm an engineering generalist and leader who's spent 25 years in industry inventing, developing, and scaling new technologies across a range of domains (robotics, solar, displays, nanotech, manufacturing, optics, and ML/AI*), as well as building the teams, culture, and partnerships that act as force multipliers and make that possible. I use this experience to help teams tackling tough challenges, in a range of roles (e.g. Fractional VP Eng, Interim Manufacturing Lead, or general kick-the-tires advisor).

People approach engineering from many different directions– I come to it from the “mathy first-principles” MIT background, tempered by the “good-enough pragmatism” of having to deliver working systems to customers, over and over.

If I had to pick overarching categories for my work, they would probably be “deeptech”, “cleantech”, and “hardware”. Software is part of many projects, and I’ve built and led multidisciplinary and software-heavy teams, but everything I work on comes back to some tangible physical-world system.

I’ve spent half of my career in large organizations where rapidly scaling teams and engaging a wide range of partners is critical (it’s worth it to hire specialists and spend $$ millions with vendors to be able to move faster), and half in the early startup world where it’s been important to keep teams lean and wear many different hats (where along the way I’ve done product design, business development, facilities planning, regulatory compliance, even a little wet-lab chemistry).

Advising + Consulting Practice:

15+ years ago, my consulting practice was engineering-focused, whether that was building rapid product prototypes (integrated mechanical + electrical + software), turnkey automation (robotics + high-performance machine vision), or analytical models to guide decision-making (ranging from partial differential equation models in COMSOL Multiphysics or Matlab to often good-enough carefully-engineered spreadsheet models). 

Recently I’ve focused more on engineering-adjacent leadership advising such as:

• Building technical teams (helping founders figure out what they need and how to interview for it-- I've even rolled up my sleeves to do in-depth technical interviews for clients for a range of roles).

• Building super-effective high-retention teams (through alignment on company + personal goals, priorities, planning, communication, culture)

• Transitioning from prototypes to product and manufacturing (which starts with a mindset shift, in addition to the best-practices design, process, tools, and team aspects)

• Impartial review and critique of tech roadmaps and product plans in areas I have experience (for companies internally, or for investors)

Note that while I primarily work as an individual advisor, I have a broad network of former colleagues (from the MIT, Google, cleantech consulting, or startup worlds) with complementary experience who also work as consultants. For the right project I can pull together a team, or introduce you to someone who's a better fit for your needs.