Chris Howard was among the top 2% of students in his High School class. Choosing between architecture, computer science, and electrical engineering, he was awarded a full scholarship to study EE at the University of Houston in their honors program. But after an IBM engineer jokingly told him to "become an expert" in the department's first and only IBM PC, he did just that and became a lifelong entrepreneur in the field.
Chris started his career as a co-op student at IBM's Federal Systems Division, which supported the space program at NASA. Working during the day at IBM and attending night classes at UH, his early professional experience included software development for a space workstation — prototyping user interfaces and software that could be easy to use in space.
Chris founded Softeq Development back in 1997 with a focus on technical software development, based on his passion for solving complex problems. Since then the company’s firmware, hardware, and embedded capabilities have been augmented with mobile and web expertise, as well as complex engineering for IoT.
A lifelong entrepreneur, Chris is an active angel investor and advisor in several start-up technology ventures. Chris is interested in building businesses that excel while fostering a positive and creative work environment. He loves using technology to solve complex problems and working to build the best technical software outsourcing team possible. He is a family man, a sport pilot, a published magazine and book author, an admitted gadget geek -- and he believes that sleep is highly overrated.
Howard also serves as General Partner of the Softeq Venture Fund.
Edwin Lemus is a seasoned human resources leader with international experience in technology and other industries.
Edwin has 20+ years of experience leading people and talent-related programs globally for technology enterprises. Lemus recently led the People Experience organization for a cybersecurity company where he designed and executed their people experience strategy centered on building a destination culture for employees. Lemus previously held the position of Director of the Americas for a technology company where he successfully expanded their LATAM region that included a new R&D center in Mexico City. Lemus further elevates the company’s people operations team and will build a cohesive company culture with an increasingly distributed workforce in 22 locations around the world.
Guy Hunter has broad experience in finance, accounting and information systems and is a CPA. He has worked as a CFO/Controller for start-ups, small and medium-size private companies, PE backed entities and a public company listed on the NYSE. He has also run his own consulting practice implementing accounting systems, developing information systems and being a fractional CFO.
Guy began his career with Price Waterhouse as an auditor and has been a CPA for 40+ years. His most recent experience was as a CFO and Exec VP and board member of a professional services firm in the oil and gas industry for 17+ years. While there he installed a multi-currency consolidation accounting system that enabled the company to expand internationally. Prior to that he worked with a PE firm evaluating prospective investments and as the CFO of two of the portfolio companies and was engaged in capital raises and bank financings. As a consultant, he acted as Controller and Chief Accounting Officer for a company helping it to go public and obtained permission from the SEC to use special accounting treatment for partial ownership of natural gas pipeline and storage assets. After the company went public, Guy joined the company as VP Information Systems where he created natural gas trading systems and allocation systems for the company’s gathering and storage systems. He was able to turn the unit from a cost center to a profit center by contracting with third parties for allocation services. Guy made presentations to industry trade groups and Federal Energy Regulatory hearings concerning allocation issues during the deregulation of the natural gas industry. As a Consultant, Guy has worked in specialty manufacturing, technology, communications, oil and gas (E&P, pipelines, storage and gas marketing), real estate and communications.
Damon Vance is a B2B marketer with 25 years of experience driving growth across energy, tech, and industrial sectors.
Damon's 25-year career began in sales and business development before moving into the marketing agency world serving B2B clients in energy, professional services, manufacturing, and industrial markets. Vance has led multi-disciplinary marketing teams and managed client accounts developing and executing everything from branding and marketing strategy to multi-channel campaigns. Prior to joining Softeq he lead the marketing function for a number of tech startups and a media company building brands and campaigns that drove sales opportunities and revenue. Damon holds a MS in Marketing from Texas A&M University and lives in Houston with his wife and daughter.
Director of Delivery at Softeq, leading teams that build secure, scalable IoT, and embedded solutions.
Director of Delivery at Softeq, where she leads high-performing Engineering, Solution, and Project Management teams known for delivering complex IoT and embedded systems. With deep expertise across the product lifecycle, her teams build secure, scalable solutions that drive meaningful business results.
Vytautas Jurkevičius is an experienced finance and operations leader with international expertise in technology, retail, and healthcare industries.
Vytautas has more than 12 years of experience driving financial management, process development, and operational excellence across global organizations. Before stepping into his current role at Softeq, he led business process and automation initiatives that streamlined company-wide operations and improved scalability. Previously, Vytautas held senior roles in the retail and healthcare sectors, where he delivered major efficiency and process optimization projects across multiple markets. He also served as an internal auditor for the largest retail and pharmacy group in the Baltics, where he focused on performance improvement across diverse business units. At Softeq, Vytautas strengthens the company’s financial and operational foundation, enabling innovation and growth across its global footprint.
