Our Featured Guest for Sunday, November 2, 2025 is Caroline Winnett

Caroline Winnett is the Executive Director of Berkeley SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s global startup accelerator and incubator. Named to Forbes 50 Over 50, she leads one of the most unique accelerators in the world—combining Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial drive with UC Berkeley’s academic and research excellence. Under her leadership, Berkeley SkyDeck has become a global hub for entrepreneurship, bridging the gap between academia, venture capital, and startup innovation. With a powerful mentor network, world-class resources, and a strong commitment to supporting breakthrough innovation, SkyDeck propels visionary founders from idea to impact—helping them truly reach “to the moon.”

Berkeley SkyDeck supports Cal entrepreneurs and transformational startups—those aiming for true “moonshots.” Located atop Berkeley’s tallest building, SkyDeck blends the consulting know-how of a traditional accelerator with the vast resources of UC Berkeley. Formed in partnership with the Haas School of Business, the College of Engineering, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, SkyDeck helps startups grow through mentorship, funding, and access to the university’s research and talent.

The SkyDeck Fund is a first-of-its-kind public-private venture fund that invests $200K in each accelerator startup and participates in later rounds. Managed by Chon Tang and Brian Bordley, it is one of the Bay Area’s most active seed investors, with over 130 investments in three years. Uniquely, 50% of fund profits are shared with UC Berkeley, fueling education and research.

SkyDeck’s six-month Gold Tier acceleration program includes over 700 mentors, more than 140 startups in residence, and access to UC Berkeley’s faculty, students, and research labs. Its twice-yearly Demo Days attract leading investors from around the world. Startups can participate through three programs: the SkyDeck Accelerator Program, where roughly 20 startups every six months receive $200K investments from the SkyDeck Fund; the Innovation Partners Program, a 3-month acceleration experience for partner organizations’ startups across various industries; and the Pad-13 Incubator, which supports early-stage startups—even at the idea stage—with at least one Berkeley-affiliated founder.

What makes SkyDeck special is its combination of resources and access. Founders are introduced to an extensive network of top-tier VCs and investors, including Sequoia Capital, Sierra Ventures, and Canvas Ventures. More than 750 advisors guide founders on product development, go-to-market strategy, and fundraising. Hundreds of Berkeley students, MBAs, postdocs, and faculty collaborate with startups through internships and advisory roles. With connections to 500,000+ Berkeley alumni, SkyDeck facilitates introductions to early adopters and corporate partners. The Berkeley Acceleration Method (BAM) provides curated, expert-led workshops on launching and scaling startups, and specialized tracks offer deep-tech startups focused mentorship and industry-specific expertise. Read more at: https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/

Our Entrepreneur Presenters:

Braydan Young is the Co-Founder and CEO of SlashExperts, the first Buyer-Led Growth platform that connects prospects directly with successful customers to create authentic conversations that lead to faster, more confident buying decisions. SlashExperts is revolutionizing the sales process by giving buyers what they actually want—real, trustworthy, human insights from peers who have already solved the same problems. As Co-Founder and CEO, Braydan leads efforts to streamline customer referrals and accelerate pipeline generation, leveraging deep expertise in sales and marketing technology to redefine how businesses close deals. With over five years of experience supporting early-stage companies through Launch 639 Ventures, he has advised, invested in, and driven go-to-market strategies for innovative startups. His mission is simple but powerful: to empower teams to achieve scalable growth through practical, customer-focused solutions.

SlashExperts exists because today’s B2B buyers self-educate, distrust vendor claims, and value peer insights above all else—yet many go-to-market teams still use outdated strategies. The platform fixes the broken B2B buyer’s journey by enabling organizations to connect prospects with real customers and experts instantly, helping them make faster, more confident purchase decisions. Buyers want real-time social proof but often receive AI-generated collateral instead, so SlashExperts gives them instant access to top customers and experts for authentic conversations. Sellers scramble for customer references and burn out top champions, while SlashExperts provides custom booking links, confidence in references, and smoother deal cycles. Marketers tend to oversell features rather than showcase genuine customer stories, and SlashExperts offers a new way to convert buyers by highlighting real customer voices instead of sales fluff.

To make the buyer-led growth process even smarter and more scalable, SlashExperts integrates a suite of AI-powered features. AI Expert Scores™ identifies and ranks the top customers and experts using CRM and third-party data. AI Expert Match™ pairs prospects with the most relevant experts based on personas, industry, and pain points. AI Expert Plays™ enables marketers and sellers to embed social proof across every stage of the funnel, from email CTAs to digital ads. AI Expert Deal Tracker™ provides real-time visibility into which deals have customer or expert engagement, ensuring better forecasting and deal support. AI Expert Insights™ captures and organizes conversation data, fueling product marketing, ICP analysis, and more effective campaign messaging. Read more at: https://www.slashexperts.com/

Clint Lotz is the Founder and CEO of TrackStar AI, a machine learning platform that helps lenders unlock the hidden value in their existing data, improve compliance, and increase revenue through predictive credit intelligence. He has spent his career transforming how financial institutions leverage technology, from introducing the first digital mortgage application for a community bank to pioneering digital-first mortgage solutions. After a successful career in retail banking and improving online sales processes for an auto dealer group in Florida, Clint joined a Credit Remediation Software company near Phoenix. In 2013, he purchased the company and turned it into the leading platform for credit professionals across North America, helping them scale operations, maintain compliance, and boost profits with tech-driven solutions. Using millions of dispute records, Clint built TrackStar AI’s Dispute Result Predictive Model and developed credit intelligence products that create secondary lending pipelines. Known for his no-nonsense, problem-solving approach, Clint focuses on delivering efficient, measurable results for his clients.

At TrackStar AI, Clint’s mission is to help banks and lenders uncover the hidden value in their existing data. Guided by the motto “Start Where You Are, Use What You Have,” his team builds AI tools that transform traditional systems into new revenue streams—increasing approvals, lowering acquisition costs, and improving retention while enhancing operational efficiency and community impact. Core solutions include Revelar, an alternative data tool that uses predictive analytics to identify new lending opportunities, reduce acquisition costs, and expand approvals; Furnisher Data Accuracy, which ensures accurate credit reporting for compliance and customer trust; Actionable Credit Monitoring, a solution that goes beyond passive alerts to help consumers detect and fix credit errors; Outreach Marketing, which re-engages customers with personalized, data-driven credit health campaigns; and FCRA Compliance & Liability Mitigation, designed to detect credit inaccuracies early to prevent costly violations.

Throughout his career, Clint has achieved notable success, including increasing client engagement by 65% through AI-based machine learning solutions, cutting development costs by 50% using offshore teams, scaling the company from a startup to $3 million in revenue, reducing technology spending by 30% through cloud migration, and building a predictive model that analyzed more than 30 million credit records to detect report errors in real time. Read more at: https://trackstar.ai/