Board of Directors

Early Stage MT is led by some of Montana’s best tech experts and experienced professionals who are each committed mentors and strategic industry advisors.

Susan Carstensen

Bozeman, MT

Susan is a founding partner of Yellowstone Growth Partners and a 5th generation Montanan with a commitment to dedicating her time and talents to help others succeed. Previously, she was the COO, CFO, and senior vice president of customer experience at RightNow Technologies; the CFO of Powerhouse Technologies; and held accounting positions at Lockheed Martin and Ernst & Young. Susan serves on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards across state and nationally. See more about Susan on her LinkedIn page.

Adam Gilbertson

Billings, MT

Adam is a Vice President at RDO Equipment Co. – one of the nation’s largest distributors of construction and agriculture equipment. His responsibilities there include investigating and integrating new technologies in construction, mining and landfills to include machine learning, unmanned aerial vehicles and machine guidance. He is a former officer in the United States Army, Iraq War Veteran and a 2020/2021 Presidential Leadership Scholar. Learn more about Adam on his LinkedIn page.

Philip Brittan

Livingston, MT

Philip Brittan is VP of Engineering for Google Workspace. Previously, he worked for over 30 years as an entrepreneur, CEO, CTO, business leader, innovator, Board member, and adviser. He founded and managed 4 software start-ups, including Droplets -- which in the early 2000s pioneered many foundational aspects of the interactive Web as we know it today and for whose IP has been licensed to a number of leading tech firms, including Google -- and, mostly recently, Crux Informatics -- which provides a data delivery and operations platform and managed service to financial firms, and is backed by Goldman Sachs, Citi, Morgan Stanley and hedge fund Two Sigma. Learn more about Philip's experience on his LinkedIn page.

Tracy Killoren Chadwell

Big Sky, MT

Tracy Killoren Chadwell is the Founding Partner of 1843 Capital, a venture capital fund focused on early stage technology companies. In 2021, Tracy was named to Forbes Magazine’s Inaugural “50 Over 50” list and in 2019 to Entrepreneur Magazine’s list of “100 Powerful Women.” Notable investments include Beautycounter (Exited: $1B), Tempo Automation, and May Mobility. She is a leader and a sought after speaker including giving testimony before a U.S. Senate Committee. She has been a speaker for the Nantucket Project, MIT and TEDx NYIT. Formerly, she was a Partner at Baker Capital, a $1Billion growth capital fund and a VP at Robertson Stephens. She is a current Advisory Board Member Millennium Technology Venture New Horizons Fund, Adviser Recuro Health, Adviser UBS Project Entrepreneur, and a member of the SuperConnector Board for Aging 2.0.

Pat LaPointe

Board Chair - Bozeman, MT

Pat is the founder and managing director of Frontier Angels, a 100+ member angel investment group focused on investing in Montana’s emerging technology companies. An entrepreneur who built and sold three companies in the marketing and data analytics field, Pat draws on this experience when mentoring entrepreneurs on their path to growth and success while helping to grow Montana’s technology ecosystem. Pat also serves on the board of the Angel Capital Association, the national organization of 200+ angel investment groups. See more at his LinkedIn page.

Dan Rausch

Sioux Falls, SD

Dan is Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy for NorthWestern Energy where his responsibilities include finding and investing in emerging clean energy and “green” technologies in Montana and across the Western US, while overseeing all treasury activities of NWE. He is a member of corporate development and strategic planning for NWE and many of its subsidiaries. Learn more about Dan on his LinkedIn page.