Our Leadership
Dinesh Ravishanker
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder · dinesh@callfire.comAs a key innovator and CEO, Dinesh drives corporate strategy, product R&D and business development. Dinesh originally spearheaded GUI design for CallFire and then the R&D behind our most popular products like Text Messaging, Phone Numbers and our Voice Messaging API. Prior to this, Dinesh led enterprise-level software projects for the U.S. Navy, Pfizer, and Unisys Corp. His love for design began while using his father's TRS-80, Commodore, Atari and Mac IISi. Even today, he enjoys living in Photoshop and disrupting UX paradigms. Dinesh earned his BS in Computer Science and an MBA from UC Irvine. When he's not building products, you might find Dinesh working toward his blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, watching a TED flick, devouring some Sushi or uselessly obsessing over the impending Singularity.
Ron Burr
Chief Revenue Officer · ron@callfire.comHe may have just recently hopped on the CallFire express, but Web pioneer Ron Burr is already having a significant impact. He oversees sales, marketing and business-development initiatives, expands the range of clients served, and builds vendor, partner and investor relationships. Ron founded NetZero, eventually helping it become one of the world’s largest Internet service providers. Holder of eight Internet technology patents in online advertising and market research, he was named one of the “25 Top Unsung Heroes of the Net” by Interactive Week, one of the “21 people leading us into the 21st Century” by Response Magazine, and one of the “Top 50 IT executives at xSPs” by InfoWorld. Ron also serves as an advisor and board member for his nonprofit, Faith Horizon.
Komnieve Singh
President & Co-Founder · ksingh@callfire.comA meditator and a motivator, Komnieve manages our superior Sales & Support team at CallFire. One of our co-founders, he originally served as the systems architect and played a key role in building the core infrastructure that powers our platform. He has almost 13 years of experience in managing companywide IT initiatives, scalable VoIP architectures, and networks that must continuously work in order for the business to function. In doing so, he’s garnered a reputation as a proven VoIP veteran with a track record of delivering results on ambitious projects. In addition to his love of meditation, Komnieve greatly brightens our daily work life by bringing his beautiful Chocolate Labrador, Ronak, to our offices.
TJ Thinakaran
Chief Operating Officer & Partner · tj@callfire.comTJ is responsible for day-to-day operations at CallFire, as well as overseeing CallFire’s major business development initiatives. He has more than a decade of experience in software solutions and architectures. Before joining CallFire as a partner, he worked at IBM Corporation, where he earned a reputation for consistently delivering on high-visibility, high-risk projects.He has authored many IBM Academy of Technology studies and was a frequent speaker at various technology leadership conferences. TJ graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Irvine, with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in informatics. When not at his desk, you'll find him on his yoga mat or cycling the canyons of Malibu.
Vijesh Mehta
Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder · vmehta@callfire.comVijesh has over 10 years of experience taking web-based services to market and sits on the board of four major web-based platforms. He also has extensive experience in shaping corporate strategy and exceptional knowledge of highly scalable software architectures. His previous endeavors include the widely recognized consulting firm Skyy Consulting, which developed one of the largest open-source telecom platforms available today. Fun fact: Vijesh got his first computer at age 8, at which point he proceeded to write his first lines of code in Basic while trying to get a game to work.
Punit "Pete" Shah
Chief Information Officer & Co-Founder · pshah@callfire.comA developer by trade but business technologist at heart, Punit has over a decade of experience with product design and execution. Early in his career, he served on engineering teams at Microsoft, co-patented technology for stroke rehabilitation, and began building VoIP systems that handled tens of millions of calls monthly for telecom carriers. Today, his industry experience and business mind are a rare commodity - while primarily driving product design and requirements he contributes on most teams here, including operations, development, marketing and design. Its no coincidence, he is also regularly advising the startup community. Apart from CallFire, Punit is a little-well-known socialite in the Los Angeles area - spending his free time dancing, traveling, and rubbing shoulders with his tens of thousands of contacts. He holds a bachelor’s in computer science from the University of California, Irvine and a master’s in information technology from Harvard University. Fun fact: Way back when - he created the CallFire brand name!
Dan Retzlaff
Vice President, Engineering · dan@callfire.comIf you don’t find him on his bike or on a mountain, you’ll likely discover Dan blazing new trails for CallFire's telephony products. He’s been instrumental in the design and implementation of our new telephony platform, which offers customers unprecedented usability and performance. A graduate of Western Washington University with degrees in physics and mathematics/computer science, he previously led the development of the NASA Global Hawk ground station at Northrop Grumman. In his spare time, he enjoys endurance sports like cycling, trail running, and backpacking.
James Nguyen
Vice President, Operations · james@callfire.comDon’t let his smooth and steady manner fool you: When it comes to computing architecture and systems, James possesses almost superhero-like powers of coming to the rescue when the going gets tough. A graduate of the University of California, Irvine in sociology, he spent six years at IBM as an information technology specialist, and then returned to his alma mater to work for four years as a systems administrator. Here at CallFire, he manages our infrastructure, which includes the data center, network, servers and operations. When not flying through the air with the greatest of ease, James hangs out with friends, searching for hip new restaurants and cafes, and also tinkers with the latest gadgets to keep up to date with technology in a fun way.
Shane Neman
Chief Product Officer · shane.neman@callfire.comA lifelong New Yorker, Shane is a savvy senior executive with a proven background of building successful businesses from the ground up. While earning a degree in computer science from New York University, he founded Offyx Corporation, serving as lead senior developer. He later co-founded JoonBug Productions, one of the earliest digital marketing platforms for events. In 2006, as president and CEO, he launched Ez Texting, a cutting-edge startup that quickly provided an easy, affordable way for organizations to communicate via mobile. Thousands of clients, ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, now use Ez Texting's web-based, do-it-yourself service to send mobile coupons, keyword autoresponders and efficient group messaging wherever they are, at any time. When he’s not playing the role of entrepreneur, Shane enjoys playing tennis, working with technology, and clinging to obsolete BlackBerrys.