Mr. Merade founded Caldera in April 2002, and focuses on corporate strategy, portfolio development and intellectual property. In 1997, Mr. Merade founded Surgical Solutions, Inc. which he built into a successful medical device distribution organization focused on Gynecology and Urology technologies. Prior to founding Surgical Solutions, he served as Director of U.S. Sales for BEI Medical Systems, a publicly traded manufacturer of devices for the Gynecology market prior to its acquisition by Boston Scientific. While at BEI, Mr. Merade had complete responsibility for the company‘s U.S. sales operations, which represented 88% of BEI‘s revenue. He led a team of 70 sales representatives, 15 distributors and 20 inside sales professionals. Mr. Merade began his career with Integra Precision Corporation as a Regional Sales Manager, where he had sales management responsibilities in numerous states and developed his region into the company‘s largest revenue producing and most profitable area. Mr. Merade received his M.B.A. from the University of Southern California, his B.S. in Business Administration from Regis University, and an A.S. in Criminal Justice from Moorpark College.
Mr. Tamler joined Caldera in 2002, and has held a series of roles across the organization. He currently oversees the company’s finance, administration, and operational functions. Prior to Caldera, Mr. Tamler was Category Marketing Director for Keen, a consumer internet company, where he was responsible for the company‘s largest market and oversaw revenue growth in excess of 300%. Prior to Keen, Mr. Tamler held a series of business development and marketing roles at Intel Corporation, where he partnered with consumer software companies in support of Intel‘s next generation processors, including the 1999 launch of the Pentium® III Processor. Mr. Tamler received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, and holds a B.A. in Communication Studies with honors from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Ms. Muhlfeld joined Caldera in 2006, and is responsible for all product development, product management, and corporate marketing activities. Previously, Ms. Muhlfeld was Global Product Manager for St. Jude Medical, where she focused on implantable left ventricle leads and delivery systems for cardiac resynchronization therapy. Ms. Muhlfeld has also held several marketing positions with Guidant, including serving as Senior Product Manager for global drug eluting stent marketing. Ms. Muhlfeld received her M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and her B.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of Connecticut.
Mr. Kothari joined Caldera in 2010 and oversees the Finance and Accounting functions of the company. Prior to Caldera, Mr. Kothari was Corporate Controller at JSM, a privately held real estate development company, where he headed the Finance, Accounting and Management Information Systems. At JSM, Mr. Kothari managed the Accounting & Reporting for as many as 15 LLCs in addition to budgeting, treasury management, tax planning and annual audits. Previous to JSM, Mr. Kothari was Assistant Controller at Citysearch, an online City Guide and a wholly-owned subsidiary of InterActive Corp. At Citysearch, Mr. Kothari was instrumental in building the Accounting department from the ground up, establishing internal controls and policies. Mr. Kothari was the point person to the CFO during the CitySearch IPO process and oversaw SEC reporting post IPO. Mr. Kothari holds a B.S. in Accounting from California State University, Dominguez Hills.