Founding
Team
Meet our Founders
Titans Universe was founded by a group of partners with a combined 450 years of experience and includes a Private Equity fund manager who raised more than $6 billion in capital, a Hall-of-Fame NBA basketball legend, a former Head of Business Development at Apple, a next-gen telecoms pioneer, a multi-billlion-dollar business strategist, a former MD of a Big 4 firm with 100+ large Private Equity and business transactions, and the former CFO of a Formula One racing team and big public and private companies.
The team brings more than 450 years of combined experience, and has worked more than a combined 200 years together on other projects.
The Titans founding team specializes in unique, disruptive projects with massive potential, which are referred to as once-in-a-lifetime or Black Swan Events: disruptive, big, and with huge ramifications for their respective industries. In 2020/2021, they decided to halt all other projects and to focus on Titans Universe/Titans Space projects.
The Titans founding team basically acts as the supervisory board of all Titans Universe projects. Management of the ever growing executive team and advisory board,is the responsibility of Neal S. Lachman, Titans Universe Principal Founder and CEO, and Farooq Malik, MBA, Chief Financial Officer.
Neal S. Lachman
Principal Founder, President & CEO
– 35+ years business experience
– Space, telecom, tech, investment veteran
Rick F. Barry III
Co-Founder
– NBA Hall of Fame Legend
– Angel investor & professional connector
Sanjay Basu MBA
Co-Founder
– 20+ years PE, M&A, operations experience
– KPMG NYC M&A MD with 100+ transactions
Richard Borsboom MScBA
Co-Founder
– 25+ years business experience
– Former CFO Spyker Cars/Force India F1/SandD
Ian Browde J.D.
Co-Founder
– 35+ years business experience
– Former Head of Bus. Dev. Apple/Nokia/Trend
Zoe Güvener, M.A.
Founding Chief Communications Officer
– 30+ years institutional experience
– Director of Studies, Manager of the International Relations Office at ISU
Sue Güvener, B.A.
Founding Chief Sales Officer
– 34 years business experience
– Involved in multiple large international projects
Aniel P. Lachman
Co-Founder
– 34 years business experience
– Involved in multiple large international projects
Mahinder Lachman Esq.
Founding Chief Legal Officer
– 30+ years legal officer
– 27 years legal, investment operations
Farooq A. Malik, MBA
Founding CFO
– 35+ years global business experience
– Managed & executed billion-dollar projects
Gregory W. Nemitz
Co-Founder
– 30+ years business experience
– Joined the National Space Society in 1988
Jose A. Novoa, M.A.
Founding Chief Outreach Officer
– 30+ years in journalism and publishing
– Newspapers and university publications
Franklin Ratliff, B.A.
Founding CTO
– 40+ years in technology and design
– Space, Aerospace, Technology, and Engineering experience
Amjad Shaikh, BSc.
Co-Founder
– 22+ years business experience
– 15+ years experience in oil, chemicals, infra
Michael J. Sullivan
Co-Founder
– 30+ years business experience
– Passion for aviation, piloting, aircraft
Richard Waryn MBA
Co-Founder
– 25+ years experience, including Private Equity
– $6+ billion in PE funds raised and deals completed
Neal S. Lachman
Founding CEO
Neal is the principal founder of Titans Universe, which he envisioned as a consolidator, builder, and developer of unique, disruptive projects, while creating incredible value for humanity at the same time.
Over the last 23 years, Neal assembled a team of highly successful people who share his goals for the long term.
The team has grown with a culture of trust and integrity, and a desire to do good for humanity.
Neal has more than 35 years of business experience, including 30 years in investing, finance, telecom, and technology.
Neal also serves as the founding CEO of Titans Space Industries, which recently launched the world's largest commercial space program. He is an expert in orbital infrastructure and has access to an international network of space and aerospace experts and executives.
Neal is a thoroughly experienced, energetic, and bold investor who is 'cut from entrepreneurial cloth.' He is also a pragmatic and strategic planner with a long-term business philosophy.
Neal is a telecoms pioneer and an outspoken entrepreneur; his opinion (often conveyed through White Papers since 2000) has earned him the respect from one part of the industry, as well as severe dislike from another part.
Neal takes pride in having correctly called most of the telecom and technology trends and developments since 2000, often contrarian to commonly understood trends.
From 1998 to 2000, Neal and his younger brother Aniel pioneered satellite broadband (InternetHyperGate; IHG) for millions of users in the international residential markets, which was a novel business model.
The brothers invested more than $2.5 million in R&D and marketing, including piloting the world's first multi-hundred megabit internet downlink on an Eutelsat satellite in December 1999, which they advertised in the Wall Street Journal and other global publications.
Since early 2000, Neal pioneered and evangelized, along with his brother Aniel and Gregory Nemitz, the Fiber-to-the-Home/Fiber-to-the-Premises industry, which at that time had no market, and is today a growing part of the $2 trillion telecom market.
Active in the residential fiber industry since 2000, Neal sponsored and presented at the first major Fiber To The Home (FTTH) gathering in the world, which took place at the Rotterdam Theater, the Netherlands, in March 2002. As such, Neal, his brother Aniel, and Gregory Nemitz are widely recognized as the earliest pioneers in the now global FTTH industry.
➟ Raised his first angel capital in 1989 (at age 18.5), and again in 1992 from a group of angel investors, including a direct investment from one of the Netherlands’ UHNW- and oldest business families
➟ Specialized (at age 22, together with his younger brother Aniel – for their business mentor, a major real estate investor and Management Buyout specialist) in finding real estate corporations with tax replacement reserve obligations. Their success with this business allowed them to become an investor at a very young age
➟ 1992: Launched trial magazine for millionaires
➟ 1995: 28-year tech/telecom veteran
➟ 1995: Received 3 satellite broadcast TV licenses
➟ 1995-2000: Founding Managing Partner at Holland Advisory Services Ltd.- a boutique investment firm with several groups, including (media & retail) investments, business consultancy, and M&A
➟ 1998-2000: Pioneered Satellite Broadband (InternetHyperGate; see link)
➟ Since 2000, envisioned, introduced, popularized, and open-sourced numerous technology application concepts that are now widely used
➟ 2000-2003: Published the world’s largest Wi-Fi, Free Space Optics, and Fixed Wireless Access newsletter (sent to ~25,000 email recipients)
➟ 2000: Hired the then Director of the Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science (RIACS) at NASA Ames Research Center, Dr. Barry Leiner, one of the fathers of the Internet, to the InternetHyperGate Advisory Board (see link)
➟ 2000: Pioneered Fiber to the Home
➟ 2001: Hired Dr. Raj Reddy, the father of Artificial Intelligence (see link, p. 22)
➟ 2003: Founded 21st Century Infrastructures Consortium (see link)
➟ 2008: Hired Hollywood legend and angel investor Rutger Hauer as Creative Director
➟ 2008: Added NBA Hall of Fame legend and angel investor Rick Barry to NSL & Co as Partner
➟ Literally wrote “the book” (150+page white paper) on Next Generation Telecom Infrastructures (June 2007): “Building Communications Infrastructures for the 21st Century: A Multi-Billion Dollar Opportunity for Investors, Vendors and Partners”. Read by 2,000+industry and investment professionals
➟ Alerted telco industry (through published papers) on shortcomings of Broadband over Satellite (2000), PON (2003), WiMAX (2005/07), City-WiFi (2007), etc.
➟ Wrote an analysis in August 2012 on Google’s entry in the FTTH market. Was the Editor’s Pick on SeekingAlpha. The analysis was featured in a Forbes article
➟ In November 2012, published “Disastrous Flaws in FTTH Business Planning”, a wake-up call that shook the industry, and forced the industry to look for more robust business and development models
➟ From 2012 to 2018, wrote numerous 4G and 5G telecom consultancy papers for the FCC (USA), Ofcom (UK), and European countries.
➟ Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (accredited by ABC Awards) at MindPower Alliance; volunteering therapist for suicide-prevention, burn-out, and depressed individuals
Since 2019, Neal has been focusing on projects that will contribute to a better world for all living beings.
Neal's main focus is to build Titans Universe into the largest corporation in the world by 2035, generating multiple trillion dollars revenue from numerous disruptive projects, including lunar mining of precious metals, investments, aviation, telecom, media, technologies, transportation, robotics, automation, clean energy, (eco-)tourism, space commerce, and space tourism.
Neal has often overcome adversity, including two bankruptcies (1992 and 1998), and helped his companies and projects survive several recessions and economic downturns since 1997.
Neal is a truly modern, global executive who is of Indian descend, born in South America, and fluent in six languages: English, German, Dutch, Hindi, Urdu, and Surinamese, along with a good understanding of Punjabi, Spanish, French and Italian.
Neal is a citizen of the Netherlands where he grew up and lived for more than 25 years before moving abroad. Neal is a perpetual traveler and has lived in Vancouver Canada, New York City, London, and Sarajevo (Bosnia).
Some of Neal's most recent publications concern aerospace developments such as space travel, rocketry, and spaceplanes.
Rick F. Barry III
Founding Advisor
Rick Barry is a Basketball Hall of Fame member, and one of the Top 50 NBA players of all-time. He is nowadays involved in a myriad of businesses.
Rick has been involved with the Titans Universe founding team since 2008.
Rick is one of the most celebrated players in NBA history — not only for his game, but also for the competitiveness he brought to the court. In 1965, following a stellar collegiate campaign at the University of Miami (FL), Rick was drafted third in the first round of the NBA Draft by the San Francisco Warriors. He quickly established himself as an elite player, garnered NBA Rookie of the Year honors, and was a member of the NBA All-Pro First Team. The next season, Rick proved he was for real by leading the league in scoring (35.6 ppg), and being named MVP of the All-Star Game. Once again, he was part of the NBA All-Pro First Team.
For over 30 years, Rick proved to be an accomplished sports broadcaster, having covered a wide range of sports on both radio and television. Rick is also the two-time World Champion in the Grand Champions Division, a one-time World Champion in the Legends Division, and a one-time World Champion in the Masters Division of the ReMax World Long Driving Championships.
During his 14-year professional career, four in the ABA (Oakland, Washington and the New York Nets) and ten in the NBA (San Francisco, Golden State and Houston), Rick was a 12-time All-Star. His deadeye jump shot was one of basketball’s most feared weapons and enabled him to become the only player in history to lead the NCAA, ABA and NBA in scoring. In 1975, Rick earned the NBA Championship Series MVP, leading the underdog Warriors to a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets to win the title.
In a combined ABA/NBA career, Rick tallied 25,279 points and received nine All-NBA/ABA First Team honors. In 1987, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted Rick as a player, and in 1988; the Golden State Warriors retired his #24 jersey. Rick is one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players. His unorthodox underhanded free throw style enabled him to finish his career with the second best accuracy in the history of the NBA, 90%.
Rick began his broadcasting career after his rookie season. He was the morning drive-time sports reporter on KNBR radio in San Francisco. His articulate style and insightful perceptions provided a refreshing and honest view of sports. After moving to the Oakland Oaks of the ABA, Rick began doing television work as a color analyst for college basketball games telecast on KTVU in Oakland, as well as providing sports commentary on a local radio station.
Rick’s next broadcasting experience came in New York City, when he played for the NY Nets. During the off-seasons, he worked as the weekend sports reporter for the local ABC-TV station. During the week, he also filled in for the six and eleven PM sports reporters, Frank Gifford and Jim Bouton. Rick even branched out into non-sporting event broadcasting, hosting NBC’s Monitor Radio program on several occasions.
Rick eventually returned to play for the Warriors and in his off-seasons, he provided color analyst for the nationally broadcasted NBA games on ABC-TV. Later he did both play-by-play and analyst work for the NBA games broadcasted by CBS-TV. Rick also covered a variety of sports, including track and field, swimming, diving, rodeo and even weightlifting and bodybuilding.
When TBS and then TNT began broadcasting NBA games, Rick became part of their broadcast team and did both play-by-play and color analyst work. He also covered other sports as part of Turner’s Goodwill Games in Moscow and Seattle. While living in the Seattle area, Rick served as the color analyst for the SuperSonics NBA games. He then moved to Los Angeles and did local sports at night for one of the independent TV stations. Finally, for two years he served as both the NBA studio analyst and game analyst for CTV in Canada as part of their NBA game of the week, which ended when the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis.
For five years, Rick was host of the Rick Barry Show on KNBR radio in San Francisco and for one season co-hosted “In the Paint” for the NBA, on Sirius Satellite Radio. He also was a co-host of some TV shows on the Outdoor Channel
For fun, Rick has started Rick Barry 24 Adventures, where fishing, golfing, hunting and other sports adventures are provided for companies and individuals.
Rick lives in Lakewood Ranch, FL in the winter, and in Colorado Springs, CO the other months with his wife, Lynn, who was an All-America basketball player at The College of William & Mary, where she became the first female athlete, and still is the only basketball player, to have her jersey retired. For twelve years, she was the Assistant Executive Director of USA Basketball, in charge of all women’s programs. For five years, Lynn was the special advisor to the WNBA and was a valuable asset in helping the new league get started.
Sanjay Basu
Founding Advisor
Sanjay has over 20 years of experience in venture capital, M&A, and operating roles. He has been involved with the Titans Universe founding team since 2008.
Sanjay has served as Managing Director in M&A Advisory for KPMG, providing guidance to private equity and corporate clients on more than 100 transactions. He has worked on buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions advising on transaction due diligence, valuation impact, business modeling, deal structuring and business integration.
Previously, Sanjay served as founder of Quest, an advisory startup, providing consulting services to “emerging growth” technology companies on transaction execution (valuation, deal structuring, negotiation and identification of funding sources) and technology execution.
Prior to Quest, Sanjay was a VP at Amphion Capital Partners, where he helped raise $150M. He established key business development and financing programs for Amphion portfolio companies and partner spin-offs based around patents (IP) in Software, Materials Technology and Electronics.
Sanjay holds an M.B.A. in Finance & Marketing from Pace University, New York City, an M.S. degree in Systems & Control from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK, and a B.S. in Electronic/Communication Engineering from Leeds, UK
Richard Borsboom MScBA
Founding Advisor
Richard is the former CFO of companies like Spyker Cars, Force India Formula One, and Sandd, and (interim-)executive of numerous other large corporations - both public listed and privately operated. He has been involved with the Titans Universe team since 2008.
Richard is a thoroughly experienced corporate problem-solver with decades of executive experience, especially in the business development and financial field. Richard has a proven track record of creating winning environments and successful turnarounds within numerous corporations in order to successfully initiate and execute change processes.
➟ Former CFO of Spyker Cars, Force India Formula One, and SandD
➟ Founder Questore
➟ Corporate business strategist
➟ 25+ years business experience
➟ Partner NSL & Co. since 2008
Richard is a generalist with an exceptionally strong financial, operational, and change background, having served in roles at CFO as well as COO levels. Richard is a people manager who ensures that the company has intrinsic values or changes intrinsically.
Richard has worked at companies in automotive, leasing, insurance, music, high-tech, technology, media, and logistics. These companies all had a serious challenge that his team solved under his leadership.
Richard received a Masters of Science degree in Business Administration(MSCBA) from Erasmus University (2001), with a major in Change Management, and a minor in Marketing Management & Information Management. In 1995, Richard got a diploma as Qualified Controller from NIVE - HOFAM, and he received a Bachelor of Economics degree from Praehep - SPD in 1993.
Ian Browde J.D.
Founding Advisor
Ian Browde has more than 35 years of experience in leadership and management, business development, strategy, product and product support management, sales, sales training, marketing and consulting.
Ian has been associated with the Titans Universe team since 2004 in various roles, including advisory board member.
Ian has extensive public speaking experience as keynote speaker and business futurist. His business strengths include relationship development, mentoring and stewardship, solutions architecture and evangelism.
Ian was the head of business development for Apple’s International division in the mid-1980s when Apple expanded significantly in Europe with the Apple University Consortium, Japan, and Latin America. In 1989 he led Apple’s first foray into China, long before it was mainstream, by establishing a personal computing lab at the University of Western China for the Medical Sciences in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.
Ian also served as Director of Strategy & Business Development at Nokia Enterprise Solutions. Over the years, Ian has been founder/CEO of a number of cybersecurity and sustainability companies.
Ian and his wife, Dr. Melissa Berrenge, have run their horse farm in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, a few kilometers from the Pacific Ocean, for the last 19 years. They have specialized in managing a show-horse barn, keeping trainers, borders, and horses happy.
Ian holds a BA from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and a JD in Law from Santa Clara Law School in California.
Zoe Güvener, MA
Founding Chief Communications Officer
Zoe has an extensive background in language teaching and a wealth of experience spanning nearly 30 years. She embodies the essence of experiential and change-based teaching. Zoe firmly believes in lifelong education and has made it her mission to inspire minds and foster transformative learning experiences.
Zoe's remarkable journey in education began at Hacettepe University, where she honed her skills in teaching English as a Foreign Language.
She received a CELTA (Cambridge Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) in 2002, and a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature in 2016, with a thesis focusing on Motivation, Wellness and Burnout among Teachers.
Zoe held pivotal roles at esteemed institutions, including the International University of Sarajevo. One of the original team of five to be tasked with establishing the university, over her 18 years, she served as Director of Studies and later, Manager of the International Relations Office.
Her tenure involved managing academic affairs, directing international admissions, overseeing visa and residence permit processes, and spearheading numerous projects that bridged cultures and minds.
Beyond her educational expertise, Zoe is a gifted writer and artist. She crafts poetry and short stories in English and Turkish, and has been active in creative drama since her late teens, and uses drama as a teaching tool. Her artistic endeavors mirror her ability to infuse creativity into education, transforming ordinary lessons into vibrant, engaging experiences.
Zoe's passion extends beyond the classroom; she has actively contributed to society through projects for underprivileged youth, coordination of international programs, and her role as an Internship Coordinator for prestigious global initiatives.
Her proactive, solution-oriented approach, coupled with her ability to work seamlessly in diverse and multicultural environments, has made her a beacon of inspiration.
Sue Güvener
Founding Chief Sales Officer
Sue is a dynamic force and the beating heart of Titan's sales team.
With a diverse educational background that includes Hotel and Tourism Management and Philosophy from Anadolu University, and later Graphic Design from Marmara Academy, Sue is driven by a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship that serves a higher purpose - the betterment of society.
Over the past two decades, Sue has launched companies, spearheaded projects and worked across a wide range of industries, always looking forward.
Sue's unique blend of artistic flair, keen business acumen and a genuine human touch defines her work ethic. With a go-getter attitude, Sue has mastered the diverse skills required in the multinational and multicultural workplace, adapting seamlessly to working with and leading a diverse international team.
A relentless pursuer of excellence, Sue's vision, eye for detail and keen insight into potential problems make her the ideal person to discuss how to get to and from space safely.
Aniel P. Lachman
Founding Advisor
Aniel has more than 34 years of business experience, ranging from satellite broadcasting (1995) to pioneering satellite internet (InternetHyperGate, since 1998) and fiber to the home (2000).
Aniel is the Founder & CEO of Kishan Bhumandla NV, a project developer in Suriname that has many large scale projects in the pipeline, including a joint venture to develop Titans Universe’s proposed spaceport near the South American equator.
Aniel and his brother, Neal S. Lachman, Principal Founder of Titans Universe, have been business partners since 1989, when they started a small snackbar in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as teenagers. They have come a long way since.
➟ 1992: Launched trial magazine for millionaires
➟ Specialized (at age 20, together with his brother Neal– for their business mentor, a major real estate investor and Management Buyout specialist) in finding real estate corporations with tax replacement reserve obligations. Their success with this business allowed them to become an investor at a very young age
➟ 1995: 28-year tech/telecom veteran
➟ 1995: Received 3 satellite broadcast TV licenses
➟ 1995-2000: Founding Managing Partner at Holland Advisory Services Ltd.- a boutique investment firm with several groups, including (media & retail) investments, business consultancy, and M&A
➟ 1998-2000: Pioneered Satellite Broadband (InternetHyperGate; see link)
➟ 2000: Hired Dr. Barry Leiner, one of the fathers of the Internet (see link)
➟ 2000: Pioneered Fiber to the Home
➟ 2001: Hired Dr. Raj Reddy, the father of Artificial Intelligence (see link, p. 22)
Mahinder Lachman Esq.
Founding Chief Legal Officer
Mahinder has more than 30 years of experiences, including business ventures, and operating his own legal advisory firm since 1999. He has been an angel investor since the 1990s, and was co-founding investor of the first millionaire and elite magazing in the Netherlands, which was founded by his brother, Titan Universe's principal founder, Neal S. Lachman.
Mahinder has also been a significant angel investor in almost all of Neal's (previous) businesses.
Injm 2018, Mahinder co-founded BusinessLegals, a business and legal advisory firm that focuses on startup and entrepreneur consultancy, and seed investments.
Farooq Malik MBA
Founding CFO
Farooq is a throughly experienced executive, having previously managed and executed billion-dollar projects, and revenues of almost $500 million.
Farooq has 35 years global business experience, including 20 years in executive leadership roles. He has been associated with the Titans Universe team since 2005 in numerous executive positions.
➟ Managed and executed billion-dollar projects
➟ Generated revenues of approximately $500 million
➟ 20 years executive experience
➟ 35 years global business experience (EU, Asia, South America, Africa)
Farooq brings extensive experience in several fields to Titans Universe, including business development, organizational transformation, M&A, investor reporting, financial policies, HR, regulatory compliance, ROI, and strategic planning. Farooq has led global businesses and turnarounds, and managed billion dollar projects.
Farooq executed customer management, and built executive relationships to manage high profile, strategic customers to grow business and close projects and products delivery successfully, with high quality and customer satisfaction. He managed major, strategic accounts and delivered mega-value contracts, up to $80 million, each.
Farooq managed global turn key projects and programs in the Asia-Pacific, EU, EMNA, and South American regions, at a value of almost $200M. He worked with global service providers, enterprises, financial, and health and government/state agencies to provide network infrastructures, systems, services, solutions, and applications.
Farooq delivered over 17 mega projects with high Earned Value Management (EVM), while establishing regional competency centers to gain quality efficiencies (98%), customer responsiveness (24 hours), vendor management, and in-country sales support functions. He established regional strategies and contracting of mega-bids, for as much as $300 million. Farooq also headed the Lucent company-wide Y2K conformance program for 180 products, and for 80 global customers.
Farooq lead efforts in general and business management, portfolio management, BPM, BTO, BPO, ISVs, out-sourcing, billing, OSS, network management, communication, and ordering to achieve a target of budget allocations to 98%, on-time delivery to 97%, and Quality 99%.
Farooq built an in-country supplier & alliance network to deliver differentiated services portfolio, and to mine cost out of business. He performed mergers and acquisitions to gain expedited growth. Farooq managed vendors and procurement, and he defined delivery, quality, and offering parameters.
Farooq holds an MBA in International Business & Marketing (1984), a Masters in Computer Science (1985), a Masters in Electrical Engineering (1981), and a M.Sc. Physics (1975). He also earned Certification in Project Management, and is a Six Sigma Green Belt expert.
Gregory A. Nemitz
Founding Advisor
Greg's personal passion is being a Space Activist. Much of his career focus has been for developing seeds for a space-faring civilization for humanity's future. He joined the National Space Society in 1988, the Space Frontier Foundation in 1995, and he was elected Advocate of the Foundation in 1997.
Orbital Development is Greg's consulting company for space activities. He developed extensive contacts in the emerging commercial space industry and the space activist movement.
As a part of his space advocacy, he performed extensive legal research into property rights, common law, and constitutional rights and initiated legal proceedings to require the US government to recognize claims and property rights to natural objects in Space - for humanity's future.
Greg also worked in Moscow, Russia as his client's liaison to major aerospace companies, government agencies and academic aerospace programs. He was a C-level executive at TransOrbital, a start-up company created to provide infrastructure services in space and on the moon. Plans included lunar orbiters, microlanders and deep space communications services.
Greg was liaison to potential customers and investors, developed technical specifications for proposed missions, and wrote and reviewed contracts. At International Space Enterprises, he was an Engineering Technician in the field of robotics, hand-building a series of 14 remotely controlled prototype Mars rovers for a NASA contract.
Greg is currently sailing the oceans again. He began voyaging by learning celestial navigation using a sextant, and setting out from California as crew, sailing south to Panama, then west to Australia; he was at sea for eight months.
Greg's roles at Titans Universe include advising the core development team on business strategies and directions. Greg has worked closely with Titans Universe's principal founder, Neal S. Lachman, since 1999 in a broadly technical and business development capacity.
Jose A. Novoa, MA
Founding Chief PR & Outreach
Jose was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1961, where he lived until the age of nine before moving to Northern California.
Jose entered UC Berkeley as an engineering student in 1980 but transferred out after one semester, ending up graduating as an English major. While an undergrad, he worked for the campus newspaper (The Daily Californian) as a newspaper reporter, copy editor, executive editor, and ultimately as editor-in-chief (an elected position).
While working as a reporter for The Daily Californian, Jose had the opportunity to interview Noam Chomsky after he delivered a lecture on campus about the many human rights violations being committed in Central America by U.S. client states like Nicaragua and El Salvador. Chomsky's works have played a big part in shaping Jose's political views and understanding of the world.
After graduating from college, Jose entered a summer reporting internship at the San Jose Mercury-News. A major story at that newspaper helped Jose land a job as a newspaper reporter in Austin, TX, where he worked for the largest newspaper in Austin for two years. After a while, Jose decided to leave journalism and return to graduate school.
Jose entered a Ph.D. program in ethnic studies at UC Berkeley in the late 80s, where he focused primarily on studying Chicano literature and the Civil Rights Movements that peaked in the 1960s in the USA. He also studied African American, Asian American, and Native American literature (especially texts related to the Civil Rights movements) and literary theory, especially Mikhail Bakhtin’s literary theory and philosophy of language).
Jose earned a Master’s degree in ethnic studies from UC Berkeley and came very close to earning a Ph.D. there, as he completed all of the required courses and passed his Ph.D. exam. Regrettably, he could not complete his dissertation, the main reason being that his dissertation advisor (professor Alfred Arteaga, an expert on Mikhael Bakhtin’s work) died before he could finish it.
While in graduate school at UC Berkeley, Jose worked for the Graduate Assembly (the graduate student government) as the editor of The Berkeley Graduate, a newsletter for graduate students for four years.
Jose taught as a graduate student instructor at UC Berkeley for four years and also taught at two community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area for six years (at Laney and Merritt community colleges). The courses he taught included courses on the Civil Rights Movements, racial relations in the U.S., Chicano literature, reading and composition, journalism, and U.S. Relations with Latin America.
Working on a freelance basis, Jose has edited or copy-edited many books, including books by the famous Chicano writer, Gary Soto, collections of essays, and a history book aimed at high school students.
Franklin Ratliff, MA
Founding CTO
Titans’ technological development and leadership is the responsibility of Franklin Ratliff, who -along with his team that includes the company’s principal founder Neal S. Lachman– has recently finalized the Critical Design Review of the company’s planned spaceplanes and spacecraft, paving the way for final analysis and design, and manufacturing, starting in Q1-2024.
Franklin has more than 40 years of experience with aerodynamics and rocketry, during which he has developed a broad understanding of rocket engineering and all aspects of aerodynamic design. Over the 3+ decades, Franklin has worked on numerous stealth projects for large and startup aerospace companies, including at Lockheed Martin as a technical writer for a total of nine years.
For the last 40+ years, Franklin has been working with (jet) engines and designing rocket vehicles and systems for a variety of projects, ranging from rocket drag racing cars to spaceplanes. He designed his first drag racing car in 1972 while at high school, and he was the junior/co-designer for the Bullet Project land speed rocket car project where he was responsible for the rocket system and escape capsule.
Spaceplanes and spacecraft have long held a particular fascination for Franklin, having developed his first concept for a private suborbital spaceplane in 1980. Franklin also keeps up with past and current proposals for interplanetary flight and lunar bases.
Besides affording more than 40 years of experience in rocketry and aerospace, Franklin is also a polymath designer with a broad understanding of chemistry, physics, and engineering.
Franklin has been a frequent commentator and contributor in various forums and media on space analysis with a focus on the difficulties of space flight during ascent and descent between ground level and the top of the atmosphere.
Franklin’s in-depth knowledge is uniquely encyclopedic and has already proven essential to the company. Titans Space is convinced that Franklin and other members of its core technology and development team, which consists of aerospace and rocketry experts and consultants, can make spaceplanes, on-orbit refueling, deep-space travel -including safely landing on various terrain surfaces-, and a Moon base happen in the very near future.
Amjad Shaikh
Founding Advisor
Amjad has more than 23 years of business experience, including 16 years experience in the fields of oil, chemicals, infrastructures and development.
Amjad has worked in senior roles in Dubai (UAE) and India. Amjad has been associated with Titans Universe's principal founder, Neal Lachman, since 2000, and served in several advisory and executive roles as a trusted friend and business associate.
Michael J. Sullivan
Founding Advisor
Mike is a high achieving, results producing, team building, and business development leader with 30+ years of telecommunications, construction industry, and U.S. military leadership experience. He is proficient at implementing projects on time, on budget, reducing costs, and maximizing capital investment payback.
Mike has been associated with the Titans Universe team since 2014.
Mike successfully led multiple 150+ employee teams. He has a strong reputation as an outstanding leader who has instant credibility with customers; he can get things done and deliver bottom line value. Mike has an exceptional ability to work with multi-function senior leadership, middle-management, and front-line teams.
Mike has consistent outstanding performance evaluation ratings throughout his career, as CEO or other C Level, as senior military officer, and as a front line employee.
Mike is a team building and business development leader with experience in multiple industries that spans over 30 years, but the industry where he honed all of his skills was communications. Beginning his career as a lineman with Frontier Communications in 1987, Mike became an expert in the architecture of fiber optic engineering and construction. His natural leadership skills helped him rise through the ranks as Frontier Communications to become Corporate Director for the company.
As a combat arms veteran in the U.S. Army from 1982 to 1994, Mike learned how important having the right surveillance and protective equipment is to protect troops. With a wealth of knowledge in engineering due to his service training, his education at State University of New York, and many years in communication engineering, Mike started consulting for Defense Solutions International Group (DSIG) in 2006. He made the jump from communications to defense in 2017 where he signed on as COO of DSIG. The company has become a leading defense contractor, providing military and government program management, specializing in military equipment upgrades and infrastructure project management.
Just a few of the projects the now multinational DSIG has spearheaded include T-72 tank upgrade programs, oil pipeline construction, and security in Iraq and factory builds in India as well as past projects such as the rebuild and delivery of armored vehicles in Iraq, Hungary, Jordan and the Ukraine and government building, construction and real estate acquisition and management on multiple sites.
Richard Waryn, MBA
Founding Advisor
Richard has more than 25 years experience, including 17 years in emerging markets private equity where he raised more than US$6 billion in private equity funds and deals completed worldwide. Richard has been associated with the Titans Universe team since 2008.
As a private equity professional, Richard gained over 25 years of experience in buying, growing and exiting from a wide variety of early to mid-stage growth companies and large infrastructure companies around the world. He founded Centurion Capital in London in 2003, a mid-market buyout firm targeting deals in a variety of sectors including retail, financial services, distribution and real estate.
Richard was also a Managing Director of Dubai Capital Group’s private equity activities in the CIS Region where he helped to set up and run a private equity fund group affiliated with Dubai’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. Richard was also the co-founder of several successful emerging market funds including Troika Capital Partners’ $300 million (Moscow) Russia New Horizon Fund targeting private equity investments in Russia, and the €150 million European New Horizon Fund (London) targeting private equity investments in Central Europe and Russia.
Previously, Richard was one of the founding members of Emerging Markets Partnership (EMP) in Washington DC where he helped launch the $1.1 billion AIG Asian Infrastructure Fund in 1994, the world’s largest emerging market private equity fund at the time. At EMP, he also worked on the $1.8 billion AIG Asian Infrastructure Fund II and the €550 million Emerging Europe Fund.
Earlier in his career, Richard was an Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector part of the World Bank Group. He also served as the senior international finance director at Martin Marietta Corporation and a senior management consultant at Booz-Allen & Hamilton.
Richard was an adjunct professor of International Finance at Johns Hopkins University and at the Georgetown University School of Management, both in Washington D.C.
Richard holds a Master’s degree in Applied Finance and Economics from Harvard University and a BS with honors from the University of Toronto. Richard was the Chairman of the Uplift Equity Investment Committee where he assisted Uplift in sourcing, managing, and funding socially responsible investment opportunities. He also served as a Member of the Supervisory Board at ESCADA AG and headed ESCADA’s audit committee.
