Groundswell Startups is excited to announce the addition of Mamoon Rashid, a seasoned executive with long-standing ties to the Space Coast community, to the board of directors. Rashid joins Bud Deffebach, Jon Vecchio, and Mark Mohler on the board.
First introduced to Melbourne in 1998 following his employment at Harris Semiconductor, Mamoon, his wife, and two children quickly fell in love with the area. After an 8-year stay in Melbourne, Mamoon and his family moved to Phoenix, where he began working for ON Semiconductor (ON Semi) as a Vice President of the discrete products division.
During his time at ON Semi, he held a number of leadership positions, as a core member of the executive team which scaled the company from $0.9B to $5.5B in revenue. The most challenging role was transforming Sanyo Semiconductor, acquired by ON Semi in January 2011. Mamoon spent 3.5 years in Japan from Jan 2013 to Sept 2016 reshaping the business. The multi-faceted nature of his experience allowed him to learn how to scale businesses while simultaneously maintaining the company’s core identity and keeping future options open.
Towards the end of his tenure, Mamoon headed ON Semi’s strategic ventures team One of the key responsibilities was the acquisition and integration of startups into existing business units.
It was also his first exposure to the world of startups. Once introduced, Mamoon was drawn in by the intense and infectious energy expressed by passionate founders. There was just one problem. Despite having incredible ideas, many startups failed to successfully transition to a tangible, profitable business. With his existing skill-set, Mamoon realized he was well-equipped to give back to the innovation community by helping founders scale their businesses and pursue profitability.
He left the corporate world in 2020 and founded Sapient Edge, a strategic consulting practice focused on startups and small cap companies. In this role, He was able to leverage his existing expertise in business operations and strategy to coach founders on how to bridge the gap between idea generation and the creation of a sustainable business.
Mamoon returned to Melbourne and began looking into local startup incubators, and was pleasantly surprised when he found Groundswell. Following a brief introduction, he was quickly incorporated into the GS ecosystem. According to Mamoon the importance of startups is more than the transformation of an idea into a product – the effects of entrepreneurship reverberate throughout communities, stimulating economic growth, individual empowerment, and strengthening local ties.
"We are so excited to have Mamoon join our Board of Directors. It is not often that we meet someone with Mamoon's experience and sincerity for helping founders - he is the perfect fit for our community and I am excited about the additional insight and support he is bringing to our thriving ecosystem" said Jarin Eisenberg, CEO of Groundswell Startups.
In his new role as a member of the board, Mamoon will help Groundswell accomplish two goals: accelerating innovation in specific markets and technologies with the hope of economic growth within the Melbourne community. In doing so, he will be able to combine his love for strategy and long-term growth with a passion for helping founders.
In addition to the duties required in his new role, Rashid is looking forward to reigniting his passion for tennis, improving his golf game, and continuing to travel around the world with his wife.
