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Our Team
Our team brings together talent from Mobile, Marketing,
Ad-Tech, Augmented Reality (AR+), Virtual Reality (VR+),
Cloud Computing and Digital Media.
Interested in joining our team?
Want to change the way people experience and get the things they want, simply by holding up their device?
Paul Valencia - Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Valencia has more than 25 years as an entrepreneur and consultant driving key management, restructuring and corporate finance initiatives. Paul develops and implements corporate, liquidity and exit strategies for principals and investors, targets and negotiates potential merger & acquisition candidates, identifies and contacts potential finance sources for complete business recapitalizations and in distress situations will contact and negotiate with the company’s creditors and vendors. Prior to co-founding MERIDIAN, Paul worked as an investment banker with AM Razo & Company, where he completed capital placements, merger & acquisition transactions and business restructuring for middle market manufacturing & business service clients. Paul co-founded & managed Caval Graphics, a graphics production company specializing in the entertainment industry, where he successfully marketed and sold to leading companies like Disney, Warner Brothers & Rhino Records. Previously, Paul founded & served as CEO of Sustainabuilt, a manufacturer of eco-friendly, panelized homes where he led the company from concept to pro-type and sale of the technology and manufacturing process.
Gary Thormodsgaard - Co-Founder, Chief Revenue Officer
Mr Thormodsgaard has more than 30 years heading sales and marketing inititives in the digital media, marketing and printing industriues. Prior to co-founding MERIDIAN AR, Gary was the VP of Sales & Marketing for Meridian Graphics ) and led in the re-invention of Meridian to include on-demand print with client facing store-fronts, developed and implemented a fulfillment center, added high end image retouching and manipulation and introduced Augmented Reality to our customer base. Gary has provided multiple keynotes for the USPS, Direct-TV, UCLA and other industry events on Augmented Reality, Prior to joining Meridian, Gary was the Sales Manager at Primary Color (10 years) with plants in Orange County, Los Angeles County. Later VDP print and large format print was added and he helped the sales people in implementing sales plans in developing new and existing clients. Gary has earned a reputation for tackling problems that no one else wanted to attempt. His clients call him their emotional ambassador as he is optimistic about the future and fearless about bring new ideas that make a difference to his company and to the client’s.
Robert Brown - Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Board Member
Mr. Brown has more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and senior executive for Fortune 100 brands overseeing P&L, marketing, sales, products, engineering, finance and service initiatives in mobile, wireless, software and content. Previously, Robert served as President of an innovative mobile travel app called PHIND creating the companies brand, current generation products and strategic partnerships with leading brands. Prior to that Robert served as VP of Business Development for Rexter, a Leading CRM platform backed by Microsoft. Before founding and leading ILOGIX solutions a leading developer of mobile and cloud computing solutions, serving firms such as Bank of American, Chase & Experian. Previously, he lead the sales, marketing & business development initiatives as VP of Marketing of AudioRamp a pioneer in the digital audio and video space which was acquired by Eastech, Ltd. Brown served as a senior executive for Philips launching the first family of Windows CE devices, and as head of strategic marketing for Mitsubishi Wireless, launching the world's first smartphone for AT&T under the PocketNet brand. Brown also served as Global Brand Manager for Samsung's Mobile Computing Group growing the business to more than $1.3B in revenue. An alumni of San Diego State, Brown also held product, marketing and engineering positions with Sanyo, Seagate, Panasonic and TRW Space Systems Group.
Allen Caas - Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer
Mr. Cass has spent the last 25 years working in the technology and marketing sectors with a continuous passion for pursuing leading edge technologies holding senior positions with Disney, Canon and Konica Minolta. He started working with Augmented Reality in 2009 and continues to mold the way consumers utilize AR to interact with their surroundings. Previously, Cass developed an Augmented Reality app called Printergize, which was featured on the cover of Billboard Magazine. The AR campaign included Chaka Khan and was expanded to include many of her media ads as well as the cover of her CD. Allen is a regular contributor and evangelist to the AR and VR communities.
Dave Melin - Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board
Mr. Melin has nearly 38 years in the digital print and media space and currently serves as the Chairman and Co-Founder of MERIDIAN AR. Dave currentley serves as the President & Co-Founder of Meridian Graophics, a leading marketing services, fullfilment and digital printing conglomerate in Tustin, CA. Prior to founding Meridian Graphics, Melin served as President and COO of Direct Color overseeing all aspects of the business.