World-class consultants & engineers

Derek works closely with business leaders to develop novel AI and algorithms that solve their thorniest problems. He applies expertise in data systems construction and business analytics to the resolution of previously unsolvable operational impediments. He brings industry experience from wearable robotics company Lumo Bodytech, acquired by Seismic, and from pedabyte-scale web tracking company Optimizely, acquired by Episerver. As part of his PhD research in electrical engineering, Derek collaborated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to develop a time microscope that allows scientists to capture waveform recordings at a resolution of quadrillionths of a second. Both literally and figuratively quick on his feet, he has performed with two Bay Area dance exhibition teams, the Swing Cats and Danse Libre, and also enjoys woodworking.

Charles works as a data decoder, translating between the worlds of mathematics and business. He applies a unique blend of machine learning know-how and corporate acumen to helping CEOs glimpse the future and forge new paths for their companies. He previously held data science roles at Andreesen-Horowitz-backed mid-market companies Jawbone and Optimizely, and was director of data science at Oak Labs, acquired by Verifone. He served as a research fellow at NYU, analyzing stock market performance, and later as assistant director of research at the Wharton School, connecting top companies to academic teams in order to conduct applied data science investigations. When he’s not building businesses–he runs a short-term rental outfit and a Japanese street food company–or boning up on one of the four languages he speaks, you can find Charles at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or attending the Sundance Film Festival.

During Peter’s career in law, banking, publishing, and education technology he was CEO for twenty years, including ten years as CEO of Random House, the world’s leading trade book publisher. In 2001-2002 he was a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Vienna, and during 2008-2013 he was a professor at Harvard Business School. Peter is married to Candice Carpenter Olson and has seven children. He is a mountain biker and enjoys reading in English, German, and Russian.

Following his career as CEO, Peter became a CEO Coach and Advisor. He works with McKinsey as a Senior Advisor to CEOs, and he also coaches highly talented individuals. His focus in coaching is to design approaches specific to each client, and he emphasizes strategic and tactical changes that can make clients more effective in their careers and happier in their personal lives.

Angela’s focus is bringing clarity to the business core. Prior to joining Stratus, she was an independent content consultant, with projects spanning film, tech, higher education, sales, fintech, and food/beverage, and employers like Facebook and Red Wagon Entertainment. She is a writer; her work has received the Les River Fellowship for Young Novelists, as well as the New Voices in Fiction prize, judged by R.O. Kwon.

David’s mathematical abilities allow him to deeply grasp a broad range of analytical techniques and adapt rapidly to the specificities of a given client problem. As an undergraduate research fellow at Caltech, David explored microeconomic modeling of business performance, and he later developed methods of predicting viral evolution and spread as a member of Stanford’s Palacios Research Group. When the work day ends, you can catch him running up the steepest trails he can find or doing agility training exercises with his dog.

Kate excels at wrangling data from disparate sources and putting it to work through visualizations and dashboards. She has served as a research assistant at several laboratories, applying her skills to subjects ranging from neurological development to laser network simulations to modeling Hernquist galaxies. Kate’s PhD research focused on making the invisible predictable: she derived a theoretical framework connecting magma fluid dynamics and seismic wave generation, allowing volcanologists insights into processes that cannot be directly observed. She enjoys swimming, exploring the Los Angeles food and film scenes, and knitting cardigans for her friends.

Stephen’s specialty is the causal modeling of complex systems using feedback loops to extract non-linear behavior. He brings a wealth of experience from the worlds of business consulting and medical software-as-a-service, and has also served as a strategic planning consultant for the business department at Chico State. When he’s not at work on correlation v. causality research, he unwinds on the tennis court, at the piano bench, or in the kitchen, where he savors the challenge of making authentic Chinese recipes with American ingredients.

Tzu-Chiao brings an ability to contend with highly variable non-numerical inputs to the team, transforming messy data in order to tease out clear relationships with predictive power. His PhD research in developmental biology focused on understanding how the 3D conformation of DNA within cell nuclei regulates gene expression. He spends his time outside the office doodling and photographing insects, and is collaborating with his lifelong friend on a manga project exploring fascinating animals.

Anne stands undaunted before new datasets, with a proven ability to apply her analytical skills to unfamiliar contexts and draw out actionable insights. During her PhD research, she built a complex apparatus to manipulate and image single atoms in order to better understand magnetism and novel phases of matter. As a postdoc at Johns Hopkins, she analyzed health-related data, quantifying the impacts of complex phenomena including the opioid crisis and organ transplantation. When not at her desk, you can find her outdoors–Anne enjoys an array of alfresco activities, including rock climbing, cycling, and running half marathons.

David is a veteran data and systems engineer with several decades of experience constructing data warehouses and developing engineering teams in the wearables, IoT, computer hardware, banking, finance, and analytics spaces. He is currently a senior data architect at Nauto, an artificial intelligence company that coaches safe driving for fleet vehicle operators. David serves as an advisor to Stratus Data.

Audre is a data scientist and software engineer with training from Stanford University, Amazon, and LinkedIn. In addition to data science, she has experience in full-stack development and signals processing. In her spare time, Audre is a crisis counselor, a non-gourmet chef, and a part-time plant parent.

Eleanor is a data analytics engineer with 10 years of experience and a background in quantitative finance and healthcare tech. She has worked across a variety of industries and is passionate about clean and well-modeled data to make generating insights easy and straightforward. She is also passionate about mentoring newcomers to the field and supporting bootcamp students. In her spare time, she loves being out in nature and tending to her animals.

Yasser brings deep expertise in unifying disparate, messy datasets across complex organizations. He’s worked in business intelligence in a wide range of industries, with stints at HelloChef, a meal kit startup; Yara-backed Agoro Carbon Alliance, a collaboration focused on agricultural carbon sequestration; and the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. When he’s offline, he enjoys the tactile nature of beekeeping, woodworking, and mechatronic experimentation.