HitCheck

Dr. Jake Benford is our co-founder and the medical mind behind HitCheck. As an ER and sports medicine physician with experience in concussion diagnosis and management, he has treated thousands of patients - both on and off the field. Jake began his healthcare career in 1988 as an athletic trainer. After working with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, he knew his true calling was in sports medicine and enrolled in medical school to start the next chapter of his career. In his two decades as an MD, Jake has worked with multiple professional, college, and high school athletic programs including the San Francisco 49ers, the NBA Development-League Santa Cruz Warriors, UCSC, and Cabrillo College. Dr. Benford's primary occupation is working at CEP America LLC - Vituity (Mercy Emergency). He works 6-10 hours per week at HitCheck.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience as a successful entrepreneur and business owner in Silicon Valley, Mike is an idea shaper, play caller, and team motivator. One of Mike's true life passions is coaching youth football. For more than 30 years, he's volunteered his time to coaching and inspiring young athletes, many of which have gone on to play college and professional football. As co-founder of the NorCal Youth Football league, he has brought the game to more than 7,000 youth and in 2010, Mike was inducted into the American Youth Football Hall of Fame.

Dr. Jian is a Board-Certified Neurosurgeon with a history of working in the hospital & health care industry, skilled in Medical Devices, Trauma, Emergency Medicine, and Public Speaking. Brian serves as a Neurosurgeon at Kaiser Permanente focusing on Cerebrovascular, Skull Base, Complex Spine, and Deformity. Brian leads the HitCheck data science and FDA efforts. He has a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BS), Neuroscience and History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), Doctor of Medicine (MD), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Neurosciences from the University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Medical School with a residency at University of California San Francisco Neurosurgery.

Nishit is a 3x entrepreneur having built and sold 3 technology companies - including Co-founder and CTO of both Audiolife & GoodThreads. Audiolife provided innovative services in the music industry and helped hundreds of thousands of clients including such accomplished artists as Paul McCartney, Rihanna, and Eminem. Audiolife was acquired by Alliance Entertainment in 2012. GoodThreads provided integrated merchandise solutions for nonprofits and vendors to nonprofit organizations. GoodThreads was acquired by Zazzle in 2014.

Robert is a self-employed Consulting CFO to various companies in the software and related technology industries. He previously served in executive financial roles at public companies including Siebel Systems, Fortinet, Excite@Home (previously @Home Network), Sybase, and Cypress Semiconductor, as well as with private technology companies including AlienVault and Aerohive. He currently serves on the board of KeyPoint Credit Union, a $1 billion credit union serving Bay Area technology employees, as well as with the Peninsula Chapter of Amigos de las Americas. He is also active in Financial Executives International (FEI). Robert earned his Bachelors's Degree in Accounting from Marshall University and his MBA from Georgia State University.

Allison has 20+ years of regulatory experience, with 10 years at the FDA and over 10 years in the medical device and biotech industry. While at the FDA, Allison provided specialized and strategic direction to academia, industry, and government partners for alignment of novel, innovative medical devise development efforts. Allison has a Biomedical Engineering degree from Virginia Tec, a graduate degree from Georgetown University in Biothreats and Emerging Infectious Disease, and a graduated from the Harvard School of Public Health’s National Preparedness Leadership Institute.

Brent Jones Played 12 years in the National Football League, including 11 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played in 4 Pro-Bowls, was a three-time All Pro performer and a three-time Super Bowl Champion. Brent was honored as the NFL's Bart Starr Award recipient in 1988 for outstanding character in the home, on the field and in the community. He has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for both Division I and Division II. As the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Northgate Capital in March of 2000 - he and his business partner, Tommy Vardell, raised $5B and worked alongside the premiere venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. Brent has been the keynote speaker at some of the valley's most high profile companies, including Cisco, Google and Palo Alto Networks and has led investments in many exciting start-ups over the past 16 years. Some of these include Carbon3D, Palo Alto Networks, Admob, Meraki, Ring Central, Drawbridge, and Blue Danube.

David Brekke is a senior at Goodwin law firms technology group where his practice focuses on corporate formations, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and corporate governance for clients operating primarily in the renewable energy and sustainability technology spaces. David advises founders, investors, and companies at all stages as they bring technologies that improve our world to the market, to scale and to profitability. Prior to Goodwin David was an associate in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. David has a BA in Philosophy and Phycology from Columbia University, NYC where he played four years of football and a graduate of NYU School of Law, Doctor of Law (J.D.).