Meet the Hypercraft team.
JAKE HAWKSWORTH
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Jake’s early career launched in the powersport sector, and he quickly moved from entry-level product designer to COO of Skinz Protective Gear, a leading manufacturer of aftermarket accessories in the powersports industry.
By the age of 27, he had developed and designed over 100 products for Yamaha Motors, contributing significantly to Yamaha Parts and Accessories Division’s meteoric rise in accessory sales revenue in 2014. His efforts helped them jump from last place to second globally in just five years.
Jake has a technical background in fabrication, engineering, and product design. Being a self-taught product engineer and industrial designer, he operates with uncommon speed and efficiency and has a voracious appetite for learning. He is fluent in 3D CAD, robotics, CNC machining/programming, welding, composites, and prototype fabrication, with core competencies in suspension, chassis, drivetrain, and fuel systems.
Jake has created many industry firsts among the 500+ products he has designed — collectively generating over $250 million in revenue over the past decade. He has been awarded eight patents in suspension design and other mechanical systems. He now brings all of this detailed experience, both specialized and broad-reaching, to Hypercraft with a mission to offer EV solutions to everyone.
BRIAN BOWERS
President
Brian Bowers is a seasoned leader with over 24 years growing and operating high-growth companies in Aerospace, Electronic and Hard-Goods Manufacturing, and Ecommerce. He has worked with renowned companies such as Raytheon, Agilent, Visible SCM/Maersk, and Sorenson Capital Partners. Brian has successfully managed P&L for companies ranging from $42M to $500M revenue and $6M to $60M EBITDA.
Originally from the Boise, Idaho area, Brian obtained his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University (BYU) and later graduated with dual master’s degrees (MBA and Engineering) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He started his career at Raytheon, gaining expertise in various areas, including systems engineering, lean manufacturing and program management. He played key roles in the portfolio companies of Sorenson Capital, including leading MityLite’s product-line expansion and profitability.
Brian’s supply chain skills shone during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he led a tech and operational transformation at Visible SCM/Maersk allowing the company to profitably adapt to rapid changes in labor and global trade. Currently, he serves as the president of Hypercraft, a leading EV powertrain manufacturer known for its proprietary technologies driving the future of transportation.
DR. ERIC REAM
Founder, Advisor / Business Development
Eric Ream is a practicing physician with over 20 years of experience leading and managing teams of physicians and medical staff in high-stress environments — including through the current COVID-19 pandemic.
He graduated summa cum laude from Creighton University, attended medical school at the University of Nebraska, and served his residency at Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University. Eric also owns a successful Italian restaurant in Reno, NV where he continues to refine his skills as an entrepreneur and business owner.
Eric grew up riding snowmobiles in Omaha, Nebraska which instilled in him a passion for performance early on. His ambitious dream of engineering and building the ultimate, no-compromises snowmobile is what brought him and Jake Hawksworth together — ultimately culminating in the founding of Hypercraft and his initial investment in the venture.
JONATHON MILLER
Co-Founder, Chief Brand Officer
Jon Miller is an innovator, visionary, brand-builder, and creative thought leader. Over the last 20 years he has played leadership roles as a creative director, strategist, and brand steward for Fortune 500 companies such as Polaris, P&G, and Vail Resorts.
During his 10-year long career servicing Polaris, Inc. at The Integer Group / TBWA (an Omnicom agency), Jon developed brands and new product launches for Polaris RANGER, Polaris RZR, Polaris Slingshot, Polaris Snowmobiles, Victory Motorcycles, and Indian Motorcycles. More recently,
Jon has provided strategy and creative leadership for the U.S. Forest Service, National Forest Foundation, Vail Resorts (Epic Pass, Breck, Crested Butte), and Bombardier Racing Products (Ski-Doo Snowmobiles.)
Along with his creative talents and leadership experience, Jon brings to Hypercraft a vast network of iconic athletes, creative talent, and industry leaders to help build this new and compelling chapter in the EV story.
ISAAC HAWKSWORTH
Co-Founder, Head of Manufacturing
Isaac is an operations expert, especially in the field of domestic sourcing and manufacturing. He co-founded Skinz Protective Gear, managing the textiles development and manufacturing of aftermarket and OEM products.
Before co-founding Hypercraft, he was the Production Manager for KPI, a Tier One supplier of OHV seats for Textron and other OEMs. He also oversaw the manufacturing of products for boats, personal watercraft (PWC), off-highway vehicles (OHV), snowmobiles, motorcycles, and motor vehicles.
With a focus on textiles products, his talents combine old school skill and modern production expertise to move U.S.-based textiles manufacturing into a new era. His strengths are in training teams, developing supply chain, organization, and SOP’s.
Isaac brings logistical and operational expertise that is essential to the success of Hypercraft’s mission to make EV available to everyone.
SHAUN HILL
Chief Revenue Officer
Shaun Hill leads the Revenue and Sales departments at Hypercraft and is responsible for global streams of revenue including recreational, commercial, private sector, international, public sector, and emerging markets.
In his previous role, he was responsible for enterprise sales to public sector clients including state and local governments, higher education, federal agencies, Department of Defense, and members of the intelligence community. He was foundational in standing up the public sector sales division at Nuvolo, yielding millions in new revenue for the organization.
Shaun has spent more than 20 years in both the private and public sectors. He has served as a Specialist in the Foreign Service, first at the Embassy in Beijing, China and next at the Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey for the U.S. Department of State.
KIRK MILLER
VP of Direct Sales
Kirk Miller spent time at industry behemoth GReddy Performance Products before moving to AEM Electronics. During his 24 year run as VP of Sales and Marketing at AEM, Kirk functioned as an expert in the performance aftermarket, focusing specifically on the tuner, EV, and motorsport segments.
Kirk is also a founding member of SEMA’s Import Performance Committee, which evolved into the Sport Compact Council (SPC), and was awarded the SPC Person of the Year in 2001. He is proud to be considered one of the pioneers of the Tuner market. He is a technical, knowledge-based enthusiast to his core.
In recent years Kirk has turned the majority of his attention toward the EV motorsport and conversion markets. He maintains a goal of creating products that will serve an exciting, developing market segment, as well as a desire to connect Tuners to the EV market, thus further expanding the performance aftermarket as a whole.
As VP of Direct Sales at Hypercraft, Kirk will help the team serve a large and rapidly growing segment of customers interested in swapping from internal combustion to EV.
DENNIS HAWKSWORTH
VP of Programs
Dennis Hawksworth has many years of varied experience, working as both VP and general manager of a large plumbing company where he oversaw a team of 125 employees. With tens-of-millions of dollars in annual revenue, and millions of dollars of property to manage, he also has extensive experience with negotiation, purchasing, and mergers and acquisitions.
As VP of Programs at Hypercraft, Dennis brings his business acumen and relationship experience to the management of Hypercraft’s wide variety of high-value internal and external customer projects. Dennis has a wealth of relationships in the racing, performance, and automotive business spaces, and will continue to cultivate those and new partner and customer relationships.
CHRIS MITTON
VP of Finance
Chris is a proven financial executive with experience scaling startups and building teams from startup to medium-sized business and beyond. He brings with him 12 years of experience as a financial executive — the last four of which were spent as Chief Financial Officer at a global supply chain software company where he oversaw explosive growth leading to an acquisition by a private equity firm.
Chris has extensive M&A experience as a result of his continued experience with private equity investors. Chris lead the activities around the acquisition of multiple companies to extend functionality of his previous employer’s supply chain software solution.
With Chris’ experience in finance, supply chain management, and M&A, he is positioned to play a key role in financing the growth and acquisition strategies of Hypercraft well into the future.
RYAN KALB
Head of Engineering
Ryan Kalb has packed over 20 years of experience into 10 short years in the EV industry — a career that includes time at some of the top electric vehicle manufacturers and engineering firms.
Ryan hit the ground running working on the Shift Electric Vehicles Porsche, and at 3 Prong Power where he improved design and increased reliability by 25%. From there, he moved to Tesla where he spent five years working in various roles directly involved with the Tesla Semi, Model 3, Model Y, and Model X — from electromechanical integration and calibration to developing Tesla’s proprietary automatic windshield wiper system.
From there, Ryan moved to Rivian. As Lead Special Projects Engineer he worked directly on the R1T and the Rivian Amazon delivery van project. As “the voice of the vehicle” and a Rivian Certified test driver, he also spoke with legislators and attended vehicle demonstration and marketing events, including the Blue Origin space launch.
In the space of a year at Hypercraft, Ryan has helped grow the engineering team from three employees working in a small space, to a large team fully capable of supporting high-quality, volume-level production — high speed development and growth that large OEMs cannot match.
BROOKLYN STEPAN
Head of People Operations
Areas of expertise: Experience design, event planning and coordination, administrative, team management
Years of experience: 6
Career highlights: Managed teams and team travel for groups and events of varying sizes; Experience design sabbatical in Hawaii; Researched and developed restaurant location plan and liaised with government organizations to provide permitting and achieve a successful launch.
KIRK TANNER
Head of Marketing
Kirk Tanner is a senior marketing executive with extensive traditional and digital marketing experience, and a proven track record in marketing management. His focus for the past 25 years has been in accelerating revenue growth in early stage and start up companies.
Kirk has held multiple C-Level positions, from CEO of his own marketing consulting firm, President of a public software company he co-founded, COO at a triple play fiber optic telecommunications company and more recently CMO at a global supply chain software company where he grew revenue more than 1,100% over his 12 plus years there.
Due to Kirk’s broad experience across the C-suite, he has a very holistic view of marketing and how to effectively work in a cross functional approach. Combined with his experience in growing early-stage companies he adds great value to the existing marketing team.
JONATHAN SILVESTER
Program Director
Jonathan is a master problem solver with over 25 years of multidisciplinary experience in military service, engineering, consulting, and teaching. During his time in the U.S. Army, he served as a combat engineer and helicopter pilot. After transitioning from the military into the private sector, Jonathan worked as an engineer and program manager at Boeing, Bell Helicopter, and Air Methods. Additionally, he spent time as a strategic management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Because Jonathan has a deep love for teaching others what he is passionate about and building up the next generation of engineers, he has also worked as a STEM teacher for younger students and as an adjunct lecturer for Colorado Mesa University.
Jonathan’s range of expertise and cross-industry experience with defense, aerospace, automotive, renewable energy, education, and strategic business consulting provide a dynamic and creative perspective that he brings to his role as Program Director at Hypercraft where he’s responsible for defense and commercial fleet projects customers.
KORY NEGRICH
Product Design Director
Areas of expertise: Computer Aided Design, product design, rendering, prototyping, developing design language
Years of experience: 3
Career highlights: Obtained a Master’s degree in Industrial Design from Arizona State University; Led new product development for clients in the powersports industry; Worked on suspension, body, and electrical components for off-road vehicles; Designed over 50 products with multiple patents over various industries.
BEN SMITH
Product Engineer
Areas of expertise: Electric powertrain systems and components, technical diagnostics, communication and collaboration between technical and non-technical teams.
Years of experience: 11
Career highlights: Reverse engineered Tesla Roadster powertrain to repair vehicles Tesla no longer had the resources to service; Designed and built a ground up conversion of a Mazda Miata for autocross that was praised by Mazda executives and engineers at a Mazda Raceway/Laguna Seca event.
LOGAN TANNER
Creative Director
Areas of expertise: Copywriting, creative strategy, marketing, cross-departmental collaboration, team leadership.
Years of experience: 12
Career highlights: Wrote copy for Porsche marketing projects, including for the launch of the Porsche Panamera; Created promotions and content for various Polaris Industries products, including the launch of the Polaris Slingshot; Worked at global ad agencies in Boston, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
