Company
Leaders
Lex Sisney, CEO
Lex is ELC's master conductor, orchestrating our diverse talents into a cohesive symphony and pressing us to reach new highs. Lex has been a strategic advisor for ELC since 2006. In mid-2007, he joined as CEO to sharpen the business's focus and lead our accelerating growth into new markets.
Lex is a serial entrepreneur with a Midas touch. In 1998, Lex co-founded Commission Junction, the first aggregate affiliate marketing network. As CEO and Chairman, Lex grew Commission Junction into a global powerhouse, leading to its acquisition by ValueClick in 2003. Lex spent most of 2004 on the beach. In 2005, Lex founded Sisney Inc., an executive consulting firm assisting technology start-ups and Fortune 100 companies with strategy, execution, and leadership development.
A Minnesota transplant, Lex holds a BA in Marketing Management from the University of St. Thomas. Lex is an avid scholar of personal and organizational change management methods. He is certified in Adizes®, Spiral Dynamics®, HeartMath® and numerous other methodologies.
Lex's mantra for ELC is to "create an environment where the best possible outcome is most likely to happen."
Jonathan Siegel, Founder
Jonathan is ELC’s trailblazer; he is the reason for our existence and our driver for disruptive innovation. He founded ELC in 1991 and has since transformed the company into the largest, most knowledgeable Ruby on Rails agile development team in the world. Currently, Jonathan is focused on bringing ELC’s development technology and services to new lands.
Jonathan is an industry visionary and an accomplished businessman, but his greatest passion lies in rolling up his sleeves and tackling thorny architecture, strategy and programming challenges for clients. He co-founded RightCart.com, a free embeddable shopping cart system built with Ruby on Rails, which was purchased by Buy.com in 2007. He acts as the Technical Excelerator for Forquest Mobile Ventures, a European investment advisor for mobile commerce. He is repeatedly invited to keynote industry conferences and his research has been published in numerous technology journals. Jonathan is also an active member of the academic community through his involvement with the MIT Enterprise Forum.
Before starting ELC Technologies, Jonathan served as CTO of BRE Systems. He holds a BS in Computer Science and a BS in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Jonathan is a world-class juggler (he can ride a unicycle while juggling flaming torches) and a master of the Rubik’s cube.
Ryan Garver, Director ELC Products
Ryan is ELC’s technology seer, keeping us ahead of technology trends to deliver greater value to our customers and contribute innovate code and methodologies to the developer community.
Ryan joined ELC in 2002 and led the development of RightCart, a Ruby on Rails application that was purchased by Buy.com. He has been instrumental in building and growing the ELC Core software library and shares his experience and vision with the Rails and Agile communities through his various articles and speaking engagements. He holds a Bachelors and Masters in Computer Science, with a concentration in Distributed Systems Design, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Ryan, a Southern California native, is a former triathlete that grew up in the water, surfing and playing water polo.
Josh Stephenson, Director of Engineering
Josh is ELC's development team captain, providing leadership for all ELC project teams to ensure they cross the goal line in time to win the game.
Josh was an early adopter of Ruby on Rails. He developed a passion for web programming at the University of New Mexico, where he studied Computer Science and Fine Arts. At the University, Josh supported and architected computer networks and didactic web applications.
Josh is one of ELC’s most colorful characters. Possessing a broad range of talents, he is known for doing things in odd ways. He’s an accomplished sketch artist and dancer, keeps a vegan diet, types with a Czeckoslovakian keyboard layout, and has experimented with polyphasic sleep. He strives to constantly learn and experience life in new ways. As ELC’s DOE, he’s been affectionately nicknamed Bambi.
Betsy Wise, Director of Operations
Betsy is ELC’s cruise director, ensuring that our business runs smoothly and our employees are well supported. Betsy has a breadth of business experience in markets ranging from footwear and apparel to software and hardware technology. She ran operations for Deckers Europe and managed Somera Communication’s international expansion into Europe, Asia and Brazil. As ELC grows globally, Betsy’s international experience is proving invaluable.
Betsy was born in the Chicago area, received her B.A. in International Relations at Hamilton College in Upstate New York, and found her way out to Santa Barbara, California in 1993. She is active in several sports and invented ZENnis, a blend of yoga and tennis. Music is another passion that she honors through her involvement with the summer music academy.
Wolf Klinker, Director of Services
Wolf is ELC's gifted facilitator, keeping lines of communication open between ELC and our clients while employing strong organizational skills to ensure all projects are delivered seamlessly. He establishes agile practices and manages iteration planning with the ultimate goal of driving productivity and ensuring mutual satisfaction.
Wolf is a serial ELC employee. He worked as a programmer for ELC throughout his four years at the University of California, Santa Barbara, while completing a BS in Physics. Prior, he administered the technology infrastructure for uWink, a startup led by Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari.
After having caught a travel bug, he ventured from Santa Barbara to New York City. His east coast adventure began with RiskIntegrated, creating commercial real estate loan portfolio management systems to aid in compliance with the Basel II Capital Accords. Later, he joined Mars & Co., a global strategy consulting firm, to help Fortune 100 companies assess and strategize post-merger integrations, growth opportunities, distribution strategies, supply chain dynamics, and acquisitions. Last year, no longer able to stay away, Wolf rejoined ELC in Santa Barbara.
The western gravitational pull was no doubt strengthened by Wolf’s San Diego beach roots, where he spent hours surfing, spear fishing and playing water polo. Though the New York waves can’t compete, he still enjoys his regular east coast visits sponsored by ELC.
