Start-Up Strategist | Operations Expert | Delivered >$2B in Revenue | Entrepreneurial Hyper-Growth Mindset | Strategic Partnerships | Digital Advertising Pioneer - $Bs in Media Placed | Multi-X Executive

As a CEO, CRO, COO and CFO, and multi-time founder, I have successfully led early-stage, high-growth Web and tech firms consistently delivering hyper-growth profitable revenue. I thrive in dynamic, fast-paced and often ambiguous environments and offer additional expertise in strategic planning, general, operational, and financial management.

As a founder/CXO, my banking and finance background served as the foundation to all my work.

@25, as Sr. Credit Policy Officer/VP at JPMorgan Chase, I designed, wrote and implemented numerous credit products for the Bank, ultimately bearing the credit risk for and overseeing a $50B+ loan portfolio. 

Over my career, I have led the growth of seven companies, including four self-funded start-ups and one venture-backed firm. Notably, two of these companies exceeded $140 million in annual revenue. My individual efforts have delivered over $2 billion in uninterrupted, profitable revenue to these ventures and two exits.

My comfort zone is complex problems, dynamic changes and continuous improvement in an organization. I am energized by competition and the need for continuous cost reduction and performance efficiency. 

My first full startup was a first-mover pioneer in the digital advertising sector, founding and building a digital advertising agency that created many of the methods and practices now broadly employed in digital marketing (SEO, SEM, etc.), targeted media planning and buying, programmatic advertising, data, tracking and reporting. We reached nearly $150M within 3 years; highly profitable, no investors or debt; started the company with $100.

I launched my career in corporate and investment banking, reaching VP at JPMorgan Chase @25. And, to kick off my startup career, I was on the founding team of two intrapreneurial startups in US and international telecommunications where I was the sole IC to a $50M run rate in year one.

I am passionate about complementing founding teams with my experience, ensuring success through effective planning, execution, operations and B/D strategies. I am driven by the connections and communications between individuals - employees and partners. People_Are_Everything!

brayton@gmail.com or (650) 397-1627.

Brayton Johnson

Proud to announce that #Eqvista has been named the #1 #EquityManagementPlatform by #G2.com!

Open article: Best Equity Management Software: User Reviews from February 2026 by g2.com

Best Equity Management Software: User Reviews from February 2026

#1 !!! The Best!!! Unequalled!!! Check it out!

https://lnkd.in/gcAwFP2M

Eqvista, a BDev portfolio company, is ranked the #1 Equity Management Platform by G2, based on user satisfaction.

In a category where too many cap tables still live in spreadsheets, this is a clear signal that the market is choosing clarity and control.

Congrats to Tomas Milar and the entire Eqvista team.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gvVHEeaQ

Fairness Opinions are becoming a more frequent assignment at Eqvista. Companies - and individuals need a qualified, objective 3rd party opinion on transactions and holdings.

When an M&A offer lands, most shareholders have no way to tell if the price is actually fair.

That's exactly what a fairness opinion is for.

It's a report prepared by a qualified third party that evaluates whether a merger or acquisition offer is fair, not just the price, but the terms and conditions, too. 

Think of it as an independent reality check before a major deal closes.

Public companies use them regularly. But private companies? Most skip them entirely, and that's where things get complicated.

We broke down when fairness opinions are required and why even private companies should consider getting one: https://lnkd.in/g6iCQ3kZ

#MergersAndAcquisitions #FairnessOpinion #StartupValuation #PrivateEquity

Special shoutout to #albertswantner of #NamelessCPG One of our top #Founders on #eqvista!

A master CPG entrepreneur!

In our latest edition of Founder Spotlight, we talk with Albert Swantner, CEO and Co-Founder of NamelessCPG, a trailblazing Austin-based company revolutionizing the consumer packaged goods (CPG) space through strategic brand acquisitions.

Albert, a serial entrepreneur with a mechanical engineering background from the University of Texas at Austin, brings deep expertise from prior ventures such as Mobile Tech RX (acquired by Repairify) and SaveDay, now part of Verdara. At Nameless CPG, launched in late 2023 alongside co-founder Kate Herling, he’s building a powerhouse portfolio of wellness-focused brands by bringing manufacturing, logistics, and marketing in-house for greater efficiency and profitability.

Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/g7A_DkYV

#startup #founder

Take a minute to connect with Tomas if you're going!

Founder and CEO @Eqvista: The future belongs to the private market. Real-Time Valuation for your company, targeting $1T in asset valuations.

This Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll be at The Montgomery Summit in Santa Monica.

And to be honest, getting invited and being able to attend feels a little crazy.

It’s one of those events that brings together financial legends, investors, and incredible CEOs!

Our path to this moment actually started with something very specific: 409A valuations.
That led us deeper into fair market valuation, pricing both common stock (409A) and preferred stock. And obviously, stock administration and management.

Private companies don’t really have one price.
In many cases there are 10-15 implied prices, depending on preferences, deal structure, secondaries, or investor terms.

Pricing common stock is the easier part.

But the real challenge - the one nobody has really solved - is figuring out what the company is worth in an exit-like scenario, continuously, in real time.

That’s the problem we’re trying to solve at Eqvista.

We believe private markets need pricing infrastructure, and that’s what we’re building through Eqvista Real-Time Company Valuation®.

Excited for the conversations in Santa Monica.

If you’re attending The Montgomery Summit, let’s connect.

#PrivateMarkets #RealTimeValuation #PricingInfrastructure #Eqvista #VentureCapital

Valuation conversations have changed.

Market uncertainty has made it harder for founders to understand how their companies are being evaluated and what really matters in today's environment.

On March 18 at 11:00 AM ET, we're partnering with 5th Line for a live webinar on how valuation expectations are evolving, what the data is showing across stages, and how risk is being assessed right now.

📊 Valuation insights across stages
 💡 Real-world lender perspective
 🎯 Practical guidance for capital conversations
 ❓ Live Q&A

Speakers: 
Tomas Milar, Founder & CEO at Eqvista 
James Turner, Founder & CEO at 5th Line

Join us live for the discussion. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gNJFjkbm 

#valuation #funding #startups #founders

Outwork(and outsmart) the other teams. THIS is #Eqvista’s philosophy. THIS is why we are winning - and beating the competition.

There’s a strong belief inside most winning companies: hard work is the only way to win.

Lately I’ve been thinking about two very different “lead by example” philosophies, from two CEOs.

On one side, you have the ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt view (I had to dig to find the clip again): the reason startups win is because people work like hell. Not because they optimize comfort. Not because they log off early. Because they outwork the market.

On the other side, you have the ex-Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan saying that if anything comes up after 6:00pm, it needs to clear a very high bar, otherwise it can wait for another day.

Two approaches. Two cultures.

So the real question is: do we optimize for performance, or do we optimize for comfort? Because the market doesn’t care what time it is. Customers don’t pause. Competitors don’t pause. And outcomes don’t pause.

In my view, performance culture has to be embedded in every startup. You don’t build something great on “we’ll do it tomorrow.” You build it by showing up early, staying late, and caring more than the next team.

That’s how we’ve built Eqvista.

We operate with a winning culture. We work like hell. Team leaders are up at 5am, and I still see replies and follow-ups at 10pm, sometimes 1am. We built the company without traditional venture funding (just a few SAFEs), became profitable, and we’re now pushing private markets from static snapshots to live pricing, already across $270B in value, scaling fast toward $1T.

And that work shows up directly for clients:

We’re roughly 70% more cost-effective than many competitors
We don’t jack up prices to satisfy investor growth targets
We build based on client feedback, not internal opinions
Onboarding can happen in hours, not weeks
We’ve built one of the strongest 409A valuation teams in the market

There are two ways to look at building: one prioritizes comfort, the other prioritizes winning.

We’re here to win.

StartupX

StartupX is a pioneering consultancy that serves to enable and synergise innovation in corporates and startups. Through our unique community focus, we have established a robust network of startup luminaries, investors, mentors and resources to elevate the early-stage startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia and beyond.

The team comes with deep-seated expertise in understanding the growth needs of corporates and startups, bridging connections to foster meaningful partnerships and enable access to innovation platforms. We curate bespoke innovation programmes that maximise business successes and build ecosystems, communities, corporates and startups.

StartupX, at its core, is a catalyst that aims to drive impactful innovation on a global scale. We constantly strive to enrich and value-add to the community that we are a part of and bridge the gap between corporates and startups.

Visit https://www.thestartupx.com for more information.

Chief Executive Officer

IxSA

Co-Founder

Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend Singapore 2017 – Where Innovation Begins!

On the weekend of 20-22 January 2017, over 150 passionate startup enthusiasts will be gathered at Google's spanking new HQ to hack out their next company. They are participants of Startup Weekend, a global movement of entrepreneurs who are crazy about starting a technology-based business and forging bonds that will last a lifetime. 

In just 54 hours, participants will form teams, brainstorm, design a product, validate their business idea and pitch in front of experienced judges on Sunday evening. Throughout the weekend, there will be highs and lows, frustrations and moments of triumph, but some people will meet their co-founder at the event, and some teams will even move on to start a company after the event. Win or lose, we are certain that new lessons will be learnt, ideas will be tested, limits will be pushed and lives will be changed forever. 

To spice things up, we will be having a few special activities: Pizza & Beer Party on Friday night to break the ice and form your teams! On Sat, we will be inviting special mentors and guests down to interact with the teams! In the true spirit of Startup Weekend, we will be bringing in local startups, budding founders and cool companies to sponsor, showcase and network with you! 
Startup Weekend has a strong brand in Singapore. Globally, it has touched more than 1140 cities and its alumni consists of more than 480,000 entrepreneurs. Notable success stories coming out of Startup Weekend include Carousell, which started off as SnapSell at Startup Weekend 2012 and has since raised nearly SGD $50 million in Series B funding led by Rakuten Ventures in August 2016. 

Startup Weekend is designed to embrace diversity, creating a conducive environment for anyone to turn their concepts into companies! 

https://www.facebook.com/startupweekendsingapore/

Lead Organizer

HyperX Global Sustainability Hackcelerator

Launched the world's first global sustainability innovation hackcelerator, brought together through a partnership between StartupX and Temasek. This platform is part of our commitment to double down on sustainability x innovation efforts, and accelerate good solutions that are tackling the world’s biggest problems on a global scale.

Program Director

Sweetlands Childcare

Supervise all administration, client-management of parents, brand-building and marketing decisions.

Specific responsibilities over client-interaction, marketing development and brand management.

Management Executive

Driven - Car Marketplace

Driven is a car marketplace app that lets you browse, sell, buy and explore cars with just your mobile phone. The app makes it easier and faster to find the best car deals, saving you time and effort. Sellers will be able to list their cars in 30 seconds and buyers can browse through thousands of deals easily on their phones. Users will be able to get recommendations based on their browsing habits, secure loans directly from the app and even chat with our live concierge 24/7 for any queries!

Strategic Advisor

At Startup Weekend, anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams will work on the top ideas and given 54 hours to create a business model, code, design, and conduct market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders and well-known luminaries.

The event was held from 11 to 13 Dec 2015 at Plug-In @ Blk71 and approximately 150 people attended. There was great media outreach and publicity, getting the attention of the entire startup scene in Singapore leading up to the main event in December. 

Judges included Monique Shivanandan, Chief Information Officer at Aviva, Edmas Neo, Assistant Director, Partnerships @ Infocomm Investments, Anson Zeall, CEO of CoinPip, Arthur Brejon, Co-founder, COO - Lazada.sg, and Cameron Priest, CEO of TradeGecko.

Organizing Team: Durwin Ho, Thinh Ly, Jerry Tan, Piyush Vjani and Keith Ng.

For winners and more information on Startup Weekend Singapore 2015: Visit http://www.up.co/communities/singapore/singapore/startup-weekend/7299

Organizer

JUSTVIM

Managed overall Goal-setting and Strategic Business development for the 2008 Start-up
 Conducted personal client-marketing, proposals and clinching strategic supplier and client deals
 Co-editor for over 20+ website articles and Key marketing personnel supervising overall advertising,
 brand-building, value-proposition developer and major marketing decisions and channels

appbackr inc.

appbackr is the first and only digital wholesale marketplace for the application market. By applying the time-honored wholesale model to the digital age, we solve common funding and distribution problems of application developers. Developers sell copies of an app to wholesale buyers ("backrs") on our marketplace, giving developers funds. We make this easier still with the innovative use of social media tools and more.

Business Development and Marketing

Citi

Managed Social Media Agencies and supported Citibank's local brand-building initiatives
Assisted with various marketing-related activities, country marketing management and branch audits

Strategic Marketing and Branding Intern

CEO of StartupX | Frontier Tech: AI and Web3.0 | Angel Investor | Co-Founder at IxSA | Director of Startup Weekend Singapore | Sustainability Champion at HyperX

I write prolifically and read voraciously. Follow me at https://durwinho.medium.com/

Possessing a deep passion for positive changes and tech, I believe that the world is driven by people who seeks constant betterment. I strive hard as an innovation leader who has partnered corporations and governments in Asia on smart city digitalisation, corporate innovation and sustainable initiatives. In my current role as Chief Executive Officer of StartupX, I am working hard at creating the blueprint for Southeast Asia, to accelerate the next generation of startups and drive innovation for corporations as they work towards the next decade of sustainable growth.

In my years as an innovation advocate, I have consulted for management teams and government leaders from GIC, Temasek, HDB, GovTech and the Nanning Municipal Government on developing sustainable ecosystems for innovation and building a supportive environment for the next generation of tech founders and innovators.

In 2014, I launched Startup Weekend Singapore, a non-profit, volunteer-led initiative that has supported over 2000 innovators globally to kickstart their entrepreneurial journey. Over a decade working with early-stage founders across Asia, my team identified large gaps in the early-stage startup ecosystem and pioneered the pre-accelerator model for startups in Asia, bringing together global organisations and investors to back the model. 

Prior to my current role, I took over the reins of my family’s business in early-childhood education. Under my leadership, we modernised business operations and invested heavily in expansion, growing the company to become one of the largest privately-owned pre-school operators in Singapore in just half a decade. I continue to serve as an advisor to the business today.

AppBackr, a blossoming startup in Palo Alto, was where I started my career in technology and startups. I participated in many hackathons and subsequently came back to Singapore to launch my own tech startup. I graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Masters in Business Administration and completed a year at Stanford University under the NUS Overseas College programme.

Oh, and I absolutely hate being told that it cannot be done. No, it's not that it's difficult, its just that no one has done it before, but that does not mean it's impossible. Most successful, ground-breaking ideas and founders are typically wrong, until they are right.

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