Entrepreneurs in Residence
Our Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs) bring deep professional experience and provide founders with focused, hands-on guidance in their areas of expertise. They help startups build on their progress, prepare for their next stage of growth, and move closer to becoming investment-ready.
They support startups across CSULB and the greater Long Beach community, from student teams to local small businesses. We are excited that these experts have joined us to support founders in our startup ecosystem.
Branding & Marketing
Kenneth Bator
Founder, Bator Training & Consulting
Kenneth founded Bator Training & Consulting in 2001 after climbing the corporate ladder to an executive-level position in financial services, and is a sought-after speaker delivering keynotes on branding, generational dynamics, and strategic planning. He holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from DePaul University, developed the proprietary B+C+S Formula aligning Brand, Culture, and Strategy, and has authored three business books.
Tech & IP Protection
James Cole
VP, Intellectual Property & Technology Regulatory Counsel
At a Class III medical device company in the Los Angeles area, James captures, protects, and monetizes intellectual property rights, provides legal support for product launches, and handles AI and cybersecurity matters. He advises C-Suite members and the Board of Directors and mentors law student externs.
Marketing Strategy
Jeffrey McKinney
Managing Director, Account Services & Integrated Marketing, Sensis
Jeffrey helped lead Sensis through its strongest period of growth, more than quadrupling annual agency fee revenue at its peak, and has directed integrated marketing campaigns for more than 40 organizations across healthcare, government, and consumer brands. Earlier in his career, he was involved in the launch of Lexus, helped manage the Kia Motors account as it became the fastest-growing automotive brand in the U.S., and founded his own marketing consultancy.
Software Engineering & Tech Infrastructure
Abhimanyu Narwal
Engineering Team Lead, Bloomberg
Abhimanyu is an Engineering Team Lead at Bloomberg and has held leadership roles within the firm's Reliability Engineering Guild, where he helped build the observability foundations for Bloomberg's public cloud infrastructure. His expertise spans reliability, observability, and security engineering, with a focus on building resilient systems and understanding failures across complex distributed environments. A CSULB computer science master's alumnus who speaks at conferences such as Conf42, PlatformCon, and DevOpsCon, he is passionate about mentoring engineers and supporting programs that connect academic learning with real-world engineering practice.
Share what you know. Shape what's next.
The EIR has a specialized set of skills and is willing to support/mentor an entrepreneur in the business/entrepreneurial community. These skills range from social media/digital marketing and advertising; technical skills in areas such as software engineering; specialized technology; intellectual property protection; financial, accounting or marketing strategy; or Go-to-Market strategies, as examples. Whatever your expertise in the entrepreneurial journey, our founders are excited to work with you!
We match you with founders whose needs fit your strengths.
Reach out to us at csulb-iie@csulb.edu. We'll set up a conversation to learn about your experience and find the right fit.
