TJ—as he is known to colleagues and friends—is the Founder and CEO of CasselRoad, a Santa Monica-based Strategy Consulting firm. He’s also a trained software engineer with a passion for team building. For over two decades, he’s brought people together in diverse sectors such as government, automotive, and telecom. When he’s not advising industry organizations, you’ll find him coaching early-stage companies in the finance, healthcare, and AI industries, both as an advisor and a board member. TJ also serves as a faculty advisor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

As a co-founder of EZ Texting, a frontrunner in the SaaS messaging industry, TJ guided the company through its Series A and B funding rounds, taking on the role of due diligence executive for all corporate development activities. With a knack for nurturing talent, he grew the team from a small group of five to a dynamic force of over 110 employees. As COO, he took on the diverse challenges of overseeing the company’s gross margins, business and technical operations, and all governance, risk, and compliance activities. Among these duties was the important task of managing government relations at the FCC.

With a BS and MS in Computer Science from UC Irvine and leadership program participation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business under his belt, TJ’s educational background is as strong as his professional one. Still, he always finds time to share his thoughts on software, startups, and simplicity on his personal blog, tjthinakaran.blog, where he warmly invites everyone to engage in conversation.