Matt Hixson, CEO
The son of an entrepreneur, Matt hails from Joplin, Missouri and has always been one to question the way we do things. His questioning nature and high-energy may have have gotten him kicked out of kindergarten, but it gave him all the right tools for becoming a great team builder and coach.
A veteran of enterprise software, Matt has been leading new initiatives and social strategies for the past ten years. One of these projects was an initiative to create a new startup within Tripwire - taking an idea to market in only nine months. After pioneering two social strategies for two separate brands within Tripwire with great success, Matt saw the need for something more in social media - not just a new software tool, but a revolution in the world of social. (He's an A -> Z type thinker.)
Matt is fascinated by the way people interact with technology, and nowhere are those interactions and connections more apparent than in social media. That's why he is out to change the way business approaches social media. Tellagence is the culmination of Matt's drive and passion to reinvent the way businesses connect with audiences online.
Always curious to know more, Matt has an extensive educational background, including participating in the executive education at Harvard for High Potential Leaders. Although he has an MBA and CPA, he manages to be rather charming in spite of it. Matt is a loving husband and the proud father of three kids. In his spare time, he enjoys volunteering at their school.
Nitin Mayande, Chief Scientist
Originally from Hyderabad, India, Nitin was in the lab with his scientist father since his childhood. By the time he started his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, he was already designing farm machinery. After graduating, he started his first job as a systems analyst for Wipro. However, as he went about daily activities there, Nitin would ask questions about why things were done a certain way - especially when he saw there was a better way. Boggled by this behavior, and a questioning scientist at heart, Nitin chose to return to school for his master's degree.
He applied for two programs in the United States, but after being admitted to both, Nitin decided Portland sounded much less cold than North Dakota and began his studies. His extensive interdisciplinary research is the basis for what Tellagence does - and has been received with rave reviews at major conferences, including INFORMS, the User and Open Innovation Conference at MIT, the World Conference on Mass Customization, and Personalization and Co-Creation at UC Berkeley. He is currently in the process of completing his PhD in Engineering Management at Portland State University.
Nitin is a member of Omega Rho International Honor Society for Operations Research and Management Science. His aptitude for analyzing concepts in extreme detail also made him an ideal fit for Intel, as a Business Intelligence Analyst, where he conducted and managed BI for Intel's App stores, developer communities, and user communities.
In his spare time, Nitin can be found watching The Big Bang Theory, as well as creating concentric circles of messes in his bedroom. He speaks six languages, and originally set out to be an astro-physicist - but being a social creature decided to pursue management science. (They aren't that different.)
