Our Partners
Meet the team
Over five decades of combined Silicon Valley experience in AI, startups, and venture capital.
John Whaley is a serial entrepreneur and renowned expert in compilers, cybersecurity, and machine learning. He founded three cybersecurity companies—Moka5, UnifyID, and Redcoat AI—and created Inception Studio, a zero-equity accelerator for elite AI founders.
Academic excellence
- Stanford PhD, Arthur Samuel Best Doctoral Thesis Award
- MIT B.S. and M.Eng. in EECS with a perfect 5.0 GPA
- Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford (Compilers & Building with LLMs)
- Named to Forbes AI 50
- Best paper awards at PLDI, ISSTA, and OOPSLA
- His work on compilers formed the basis of Chapter 12 of the "Dragon Book"
Entrepreneurship
- Redcoat AI: AI-powered cybersecurity
- UnifyID: Behavioral biometrics authentication (acquired by Prove)
- Moka5: Enterprise virtual desktop infrastructure (raised $80M+)
- Multiple startup competition wins including SXSW, RSA, MIT AI Idol
- Runner-up at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016
Inception Studio impact
In 2022, John launched Inception Studio to give experienced founders the focused, zero-equity support they need. The community has now welcomed 235 founders who have started 47 companies and raised over $198M, with trust built before any capital is deployed.
Mike Morris is a 28-year Silicon Valley veteran with deep expertise in building world-class technical teams. Before co-founding Inception Studio and Redcoat AI, he helped grow multiple startups through acquisitions and an IPO.
Career highlights
- VMware: one of the first 80 employees, scaling from startup to 20,000-employee public company
- NetCitadel: founding technical leader (acquired by Proofpoint)
- UnifyID: VP Engineering (acquired by Prove)
- Led engineering organizations through multiple acquisitions
- Nearly three decades of leadership in enterprise software and cybersecurity
Expertise
Mike brings battle-tested operational experience—knowing how to build, scale, and integrate technical teams. His track record through multiple exits gives founders a clear blueprint for creating acquirable, defensible companies.
Inception Studio
As co-founder of Inception Studio, Mike shapes the retreat programs and community that attract elite technical founders. He focuses on identifying teams with the depth, execution, and resilience to win in AI-native markets.
Advisors & Partners
A global network of founder‑first experts
These operators, founders, and investors help us vet and support exceptional AI‑native teams from idea to Series A.
