Sam Howard

Sam is currently the VP of Product for Merlin and oversees the day-to-day operations for all-things digital and provides these services to their clients. He is an experienced entrepreneur with a strong technical background and is a skilled marketer. 

He previously worked as Director of Marketing for Nex Cubed where he led the marketing program, within their accelerator, for more than 30+ seed-stage portfolio companies in a variety of industries.

He was previously the co-founder of MiP.O.V. Technologies, an EvoNexus portfolio company, where he successfully raised capital and led product development. He has worked with Tech Coast Angels to conduct due diligence on high-tech and life science companies. Sam was selected as one of two Program Leads to run the 2018-19 Startup Leadership Program (SLP), a highly selective training program for startup founders. He is a sitting member of the Marketing Advisory Board at Point Loma Nazarene University and is a coach for the Principles of Marketing course in the Fermanian School of Business. Sam was also the Director of Business Development at a premium marketing agency, STN Digital. 

Prior to his entrepreneurial journey, Sam worked as a production engineer for Toyota Motor North America where he specialized in lean systems and the continuous improvement of the Toyota Production System (TPS).

Sam has a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky with a specialty in lean systems, operations, processes, and manufacturing. In his spare time, he enjoys sailing and exploring the outdoors.