I recently read a post by someone giving Sean Hehir CEO of...

I recently read a post by someone giving Sean Hehir CEO of Brainchipscores for his performance. This actually seems like a sensible approach rather than just abusing him as some are wanting to do. However to score Sean Hehir it is only fair to set out what skills he was employed to exercise on behalf of the Board. The pointers to these are set out clearly in the Brainchip press release confirming his appointment the relevant parts of which are reproduced below as are the matters Sean Hehir himself sets out as being his skill set in this LinkedIn account.

Interestingly neither detail or suggest he is a charismatic leader withyears of experience as a CEO in the mould of Steve Job but they do make theconsistent point that his skill set is in organisational development, strategicalliances and go-to-market programs and that he has been successful in theseareas with Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Oracle, Cisco, SAP and Accenture. Clearly the Board in selecting Sean Hehir gave these skills a significantly higher priority than any other set of skills as going by the following he does not claim to have any significant proficiency in any other areas.

I have posted here a few times my personal list of engagements which nownumbers into the mid 60’s which clearly supports that since his appointment hehas been steadily working at building strategic alliances. It is also clear that he has been building out the organisation to support go-to-market programs. Whether he has performed as required only the Board can actually say because they as the Chair of the Board said at the AGM they have the advantage of being able to look under the bonnet. Certainly from what the Chair said the Board is satisfied that Sean Hehir is performing to their expectations:

“Sean Hehir, a proven technology executive with significant experiencein driving explosive revenue growth for the world’s largest technologyorganizations, as Chief Executive Officer. He will guide the company towardsfull commercialization of its Akida™ neuromorphic computing platforms out ofthe new North American offices in Laguna Hills, California.

Mr. Hehir’s track record of organizational development, strategicalliances, and go-to-market programs have driven revenue growth for largetechnology organizations, including HP, Compaq, and Fusion-io. As arelationship-builder, he has executed programs and partnerships with companiessuch as Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Oracle, Cisco, SAP, and Accenture. He currentlyserves as a board member of the Silicon Valley Executive Network and holds abachelor’s in business from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst plus anMBA from Georgia State University.

“I’m excited to join BrainChip at this pivotal time in their history. Itis a time when the company is heavily invested in working with partners thatwill benefit from AI at the edge. I believe my experience in building strongrelationships with top-tier global clients will prove beneficial to BrainChipas they enter this next phase of growth,” said Mr. Hehir. “Preparing for thebroad commercial launch of Akida silicon and intellectual property will be mytop priority, so BrainChip can begin its transformation from a companydeveloping groundbreaking AI technology to a company supplying cutting-edgemarkets like automotive, transportation, consumer, aerospace, medical, andindustrial IoT with the best AI technology available.”

Extract from Sean Hehir’s LinkedIn account:

“Mr. Hehir has managed large global teams andbeen responsible for explosive revenue growth for global enterpriseorganizations such as Compaq and HP, as well as smaller, fast-growing companieslike Fusion-io. Hehir is industry-recognized as a builder of trustedStrategic Alliances across diverse partners such as Systems Integrators, ISVs,and OEMs”

• Greg Ulepic – LinkedIn referee:

“Sean delivers. He also takes goodideas, makes them better and takes them further. In partnership, Sean and histeam took a good idea from the sales team and turned it into a strategicpartnership and strategic sales initiative with Microsoft. Better, farther andmore lucrative. Product Marketing, Strategic Initiatives and StrategicPartnerships. I would collaborate and partner with Sean again and again if Icould. And, I hope I get the chance again. ”

It might be useful for some totake note that if the Board was looking for charisma and the ability to pump the company’s valuation Sean Hehir should never have been appointed as CEO rather they have pumped for Elizabeth Holmes to take the position while on bail or as a condition of a work release order as it is abundantly clear she had this ability in spades:

Theranos unravels

Over the past decade, the story of Theranos — valued at $10 billion atits peak — has become a cautionary tale of tech-startup hubris and hype.

It had all the hallmarks of a Silicon Valley juggernaut: A 19-year-oldfounder who dropped out of Stanford and dressed like Steve Jobs, an audaciousmission to disrupt the medical establishment and lots of buzzamong deep-pocketed investors such as Larry Ellison and Rupert Murdoch.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/11/business/elizabeth-holmes-appeal/index.html

My opinion only DYOR

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