Introducing the New Mexico Junto Club (aka NM Tech CXO Group)

The Junto Club (aka NM Tech CXO Group) is a peer group of local tech executives dedicated to diversifying and strengthening New Mexico’s economy (Junto means together in Spanish).

Since my first assignment in New Mexico in the early 1990s covering the state as a consultant, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur, New Mexico has exported several dozen promising tech companies just as they reached growth stage, representing billions of dollars of future wealth, thousands of high paying jobs, and the economic diversity New Mexico badly needs, resulting in much greater poverty and associated problems than would be the case otherwise. For those unaware, New Mexico's economy is highly dependent upon oil and gas revenue and the federal government. If New Mexico doesn’t diversify its economy rapidly, the regional economy will face a serious crisis, and yet the state has significantly increased dependencies on the two dominant economic engines rather than diversify.

Government labs are at risk from unsustainable federal deficits and fickle political winds. Oil and gas revenue is in the process of disruption and has a finite expiration date, albeit unknown. New Mexico’s poverty, crime rate, and opportunities for youth are much worse than the states that acquire New Mexico tech companies, which weighs heavily on the souls of some of our members. This situation influenced my decision to keep my company in New Mexico, despite perverse tax incentives, lack of competitive growth capital and few supportive customers. 

However, we needed room for the company to grow so my wife and I bought a house in Rio Rancho and relocated from Santa Fe where we matured our R&D over the past decade. Santa Fe is a nice place to live but is suffering from a housing crisis due to decades of restrictive policies. The very next task on the list after moving was to start a group for New Mexico tech executives. I’ve been a member of similar groups in other states we’ve lived in and operated businesses, including Washington, Arizona and California. An independent group of tech execs is one of several missing ingredients that was obviously needed in New Mexico—one challenge we can quickly solve.

The idea was to create a peer network independent of government entities that dominate the regional economy, or any entity dominated by same (most in NM). The mission of the group is simple—help each other be more successful in business, and diversify, expand, and strengthen the New Mexico economy. The criteria for our invitation-only group is also simple. Members must be founders or operating executives of a tech company with significant operations in New Mexico that appears to have the capacity to diversify and expand the regional economy. We also have a few members who recently sold their business and/or live in state who share the mission and are in a position to assist.

While this type of effort needs to be supported by all key players in the regional economy, including governments, educational institutions, other businesses, finance, and media, the group itself must be by and for entrepreneurs and the executives that manage tech companies. This is truer in New Mexico than other states due to specific challenges we face.

The good news is that my educated guess proved accurate. New Mexico has just enough critical mass now to support such an effort. I posted the idea on social networking sites and sent a few emails, receiving exceptional response. Other companies immediately supported the idea with offers to volunteer to assist, including Josh Edwards, head of finance at RiskSense, whose efforts were instrumental in reaching out to prospective members and initial sponsors. 

Our first dinner meeting was quickly thrown together, held in Albuquerque at the Artichoke Café in November of 2019, with eleven members attending. It was immediately apparent that the format and timing was a good match to needs. Most of us had never met each other in person, and for those who had met, it had been years since we had seen each other. During the early discussion Adam Greenhood suggested the name ‘Junto’, which means together in Spanish. Adam is founder and CEO of AdWallet headquartered in Albuquerque.  

The Junto, also known as the Leather Apron Club, was a club for mutual improvement established in the fall of 1727 by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. Junto members crafted proposals for the creation of the first lending library, the Union Fire Company, the University of Pennsylvania, volunteer militia, and Pennsylvania Hospital among other public projects. Although our group’s focus is narrower, the concept is quite similar, so at our fourth monthly meeting in February we decided on Junto for the official name for the planned 501 (c) non-profit entity.

Our second dinner meeting in December was our first topical meeting dedicated to mergers and acquisitions, so we invited entrepreneurs that had recently gone through the process to provide a first-hand review. Although the group’s mission includes local successes that are not sold to out of state owners, New Mexico is still exporting tech companies, and few will be able to avoid selling, so it’s important to do so successfully. Not only do the founders, investors, and employees need to succeed financially, but some of the profits are typically invested back in the community. The ultimate goal of course is to create multiple successful companies that can remain independent. The financial and human capital created by such companies can provide far more revenue for governments than the current tax regime, which is counterproductive and not competitive to other more successful states—one of the key reasons New Mexico has never enjoyed a significant business success. Tax policy is a good example of why NM tech CXOs need to speak with one voice.

In January of 2020 we held our first dinner meeting in Santa Fe at the Osteria D’Assisi Ristorante. We plan on meeting in Santa Fe every third month. After introductions and discussion on pressing issues, we focused on various strategies members have employed for intellectual property, from patents to trademarks to various types of software licenses. We also spent quite a bit of time discussing partnerships as several members are launching new joint ventures. 

Our inaugural sponsor in February 2020 was REDW, a leading tax and accounting firm founded in Albuquerque more than 60 years ago. Dean Willingham and James Ortiz of REDW briefed our members on the hazards and opportunities in the ever-changing state and federal tax environment. It was quite an interesting and enlightening discussion.

In March we’ll welcome Perry Bendickson from our new sponsor Rodey Law firm, which was founded in New Mexico in 1883. Perry will be briefing our members on securities law and mergers and acquisitions. In April we’ll be back up in Santa Fe and then returning to Albuquerque in May when we hope to hear from Deborah Peacock on patents, IP, and related business and transactions. Two of our members will be serving on a conference panel in May by the American Marketing Association discussing growth marketing, which is being put together by Erika Woldman Hecht and Genevieve Brown.

The Junto Club currently has a three-phase plan. The first phase was originally intended to take a year, but has been accelerated – our first sponsors are on board and we will soon be creating a non-profit entity. Later this year we plan on hosting a customer panel to discuss ways we can help them solve problems, achieve goals, and work more closely together to strengthen New Mexico's economy. We are currently seeking a part-time non-profit executive to help manage and coordinate our efforts as our all-volunteer members are already quite busy. The second phase calls for starting an annual conference that opens up to regional partners and other companies that don’t meet our narrow criteria. The third phase calls for exporting chapters to other regions and/or to work with existing groups with a particular focus on states facing similar challenges or have other synergies.

Our master list is now over 100 individuals representing 50 companies and still expanding. Below is a current list of active members in the NM Junta Club who are attending dinner meetings and otherwise contributing. 

Mark Montgomery (author), founder & CEO, KYield, Inc.

Joshua Edwards, Director of Finance, RiskSense

Kenneth Lloyd, CEO Watt Systems Technologies Inc.

Joseph Pitluck, CEO FreeRange

Amber Terrasas, Co-founder & COO, FreeRange

Angelica Bruhnke, CEO & Co-Founder of Versatile MED Analytics

Stefany (Pickin) Goradia Healthcare Data & Informatics Officer, Co-founder Versatile MED Analytics

Adam Greenhood, CEO & Founder, AdWallet

Kevind DuPriest, CEO, Planetoid Mines

Steven Brown, formerly GM & Chief Sales Officer, Lavu

Bill Bice, CEO of boomtime

Tracy Ragan, CEO & Co-Founder of DeployHub

Steve Taylor, CTO & Co-Founder of DeployHub

Terry Dunlay, Founder & former CEO of Intellicyt Corporation

Mark Benak, former CEO of Asset Performance Technologies, Inc.

Ray Quintana, President of Devvio, Inc.

Tom Anderson, CEO of Devvio, Inc.

Rob Weinstein, CEO & Co-founder of Event Rental Systems

Mark Fidel, Co-Founder of RiskSense

Tina Gibson, CFO KYield, Inc.

Sabri Sansoy, CEO of Orchanic

Philip Fraher, CEO of Descartes Labs

Abe Lederman, Founder & CTO DeebWeb Technologies

John Reynolds, Founder & CEO of Trules®

Ron Rammage, COO of WaveFront Dynamics, Inc

Dan Neal, CEO of WaveFront Dynamics, Inc

Grant Bishop, CEO at Silent Falcon UAS Technologies

Cesar Goulart, CIO PointRight, Inc.

Betsy Ehrenberg, Founder & CEO Legacy Concierge

Please let me know if I missed anyone and feel free to reach out if you or someone you know would like to join us who matches the criteria and mission of the NM Junto Club. Many thanks, Mark.