At the intersection of business & geopolitics

Max is a commercial and operational leader with extensive experience across mature and emerging markets. He began his career at a San Francisco investment group partnered with the Nakhodka Free Economic Zone (NFEZ) on an infrastructure initiative supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC, now DFC), as part of a planned $100 million regional commitment. The joint venture gave him hands-on exposure to cross-border project finance and supply-chain execution.

That experience led to advising stakeholders on a Silicon Valley–Kyiv real estate project involving the acquisition and redevelopment of six hotels, including operational assessments and reviews of management agreements with global operators such as Hilton, Sheraton, and Radisson.

At Robert Half (RHI), Max worked with its risk and regulatory consulting arm, Protiviti, securing multiple multimillion-dollar Sarbanes-Oxley engagements—including Silicon Valley’s largest at the time—setting a new company benchmark in his first year.

In 2006, Max co-founded Execuforce, scaling the IPO, regulatory-compliance, and leadership-search firm to more than $1 million in revenue in its first year. He built the firm’s early client base and led advisory engagements that supported sustained growth.

Max brings geopolitical insight and an entrepreneurial mindset across high-growth and public companies. He holds an M.A. in International Policy Studies and a B.A. in International Relations from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.