Co-Founder
John P. Dilts
John Dilts is a Co-Founder of The Biotech Forum, a regional organization created to provide practical business information and networking opportunities for executives, entrepreneurs, scientists and investors focused on the biotech, medical device and healthcare industries along the “101 Corridor”.
Dilts is also the Founder and President of Maverick Angels, LLC, a highly innovative angel investor network based in Southern California, which focuses on mentoring and funding early-stage companies. Since founding the company in 2006, John has established Maverick Angels Chapters in Southern California and Europe. He is an expert in the areas of innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship and often serves as a featured speaker at innovation conferences and angel investor forums.
Dilts formed a corporate consulting division of Maverick Angels which creates competitive innovation acceleration strategies for larger companies based on a unique "pipeline Innovation" methodology. This proprietary strategy models the angel investment network process by profiling accomplished entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which they operate.
He frequently teaches seminars on the topics of angel investing, innovation acceleration ad entrepreneurial leadership around the world. His work also includes advising and coaching executives from global companies, including Nestlé USA, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, Microsoft, ChevronTexaco and the Fiat Group in Italy. He has appeared as a guest lecturer and panelist on the topic of entrepreneurship at various universities, including the University of Southern California, UCLA, Pepperdine University, California Lutheran University and the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Early in his career, Dilts was employed for several years with top corporate law firms in Silicon Valley and has since served on the board of directors for numerous emerging-growth companies, both private and public, addressing a variety of industries. He earned his law degree from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California.