Advisors you can book time with, at no cost.

Asbury Lockett

General Strategy, Financial & Manufacturing Advisor

Santa Cruz SBDC

Asbury Lockett works with founders and small manufacturers who are moving a physical product from design and prototyping toward domestic production and need help thinking through the business and operational decisions along the way. His manufacturing background includes eight years with Impact Washington, the state's NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, where he assessed operations at more than 200 manufacturing companies and helped identify opportunities to improve productivity, cost, workflow, and profitability. He also led dozens of rapid-improvement projects and trained more than 600 manufacturing employees and managers in lean manufacturing principles. Earlier, as a manufacturing engineering supervisor with PACCAR, he managed engineers supporting heavy-duty truck production at Kenworth's Renton, Washington plant. Since 2011, Asbury has advised hundreds of entrepreneurs and small-business owners through the Small Business Development Center, helping them with business strategy, operations, financial analysis, profitability, growth, and management decisions. He previously founded a process-improvement training and executive coaching firm and delivered lean manufacturing training. His advising focus is primarily on companies pursuing domestic production. Founders whose principal needs involve equity fundraising, overseas sourcing, or international tariff strategy will generally be better matched with another specialist in the SBDC network. Asbury holds a BS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, an MBA from UC Berkeley, and a JD from Concord Law School at Purdue Global. He is also a certified professional executive coach.

Sebastien Torre

Innovation & Venture Capital Advisor

Santa Cruz SBDC

Sebastien Torre has 20+ years of experience leading international marketing, sales and business development teams at technology firms. Partner and founder of Venture Development International, LLC and Venture & Capital International LLC, he has participated in the US, EU and international business development, strategic marketing, venture capital funding and M&A efforts of more than 100 European and US software, hardware and wireless companies, including long-term executive roles at SWT SA (acquired by Captiva Software, then EMC) and Captaris, Inc. (acquired by OpenText). For the last ten years, alongside global executive search and capital advisory work, he has focused on co-developing Ecosystem Management Programs for transatlantic innovation and entrepreneurship. He joined the Cabrillo College Small Business Development Center in January 2025 as a Senior Consultant for the ENRICH in the USA programs. He also speaks French.

Porter Wong

Business Advisor

Santa Cruz SBDC

Porter Wong is a micro and small business technical assistance consultant with over ten years of experience, fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin. Before working with micro and small businesses he held senior executive positions at several technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has worked with government agencies and organisations including the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency, the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, and several local government agencies.

Lonnie Barish

Biotech Advisor

Santa Cruz SBDC

Lonnie Barish is a pharmaceutical and biotech executive commercial strategist with over 25 years of experience bridging the gap between early-stage biotech innovation and commercial drug manufacturing. He specializes in guiding pharmaceutical, biotech, and university ventures through the complex Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) landscape to successfully develop, manufacture, and package Rx, OTC, and nutraceutical products. Spanning the entire drug development lifecycle, from early-stage R&D and toxicology to sterile fill/finish and solid dose or topical commercialization - Lonnie has a proven track record of building world-class commercial organizations and driving global revenue. An AI-trained tactician, he thrives on complex challenges and is driven by core values of relationship-building, continuous learning, and creating tangible value for his partners. He holds an MBA and a B.S. in Biological Science from the University of California, Davis.

Steven Baloff

Venture Capital and Scaling Advisor

Santa Cruz SBDC

Steve founded Twin Lakes Ventures in 2018 following more than two decades as Managing Director at Advanced Technology Ventures, where he has focused on software, infrastructure, and internet services since 1996. At TLV, his client focus spans strategic and operational issues for early to mid stage companies. Advisory services include CEO and founder mentoring, go to market guidance, fund raising strategies, governance structures, and organizational design and strategy. Earlier, he founded and served as CEO and Founder of Worldview Systems, launching Travelocity.com. His career began in the strategy practice at Booz Allen & Hamilton. He holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a A.B from Harvard College.