Scout was born when one of the founders went to buy a home security system for his new house in Chicago. He quickly found that, not only is home security 20 years behind the times, it's so expensive that 83% of homes in the USA go without. With that, the team went to work.
In February of 2013, Scout launched an independent crowdfunding campaign to pre-sell its devices. Within 30 days, Scout exceeded its goal. Since then, over $500,000 worth of systems have been sold. Scout was possible because of people like you - backers who shared a common problem and common vision. Our customers gave this company its start and their needs are what drive our company daily.
Meet the Team
Ryan M. McCall – Chief Executive Officer
He previously led the global commercial team for software, SaaS, and Data-as-a-Service at Futuremark (a subsidiary of global safety certification company UL, LLC). Prior to UL, he managed the global business development team for Avery Dennison, bringing it into the consumer electronics space and rapidly developing a multi-million dollar pipeline.
Mr. McCall received his MBA from Santa Clara University, with a focus in leading organizations and entrepreneurship. He also holds a B.Sc, majoring in Materials Science Engineering from Michigan State University.
Daniel Roberts – Chief Product Officer, Executive Director, Co-Founder
Mr. Roberts received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Ohio State University, with a double major in Marketing and Logistics. Mr Roberts also holds a Master of Design (MDes) from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. His professional life spans work experience in each of these areas, having worked in sales, logistics, as a design consultant and a founder-in-residence.
Prior to Scout, he worked as a Founder-in-Residence at Sandbox Industries, a start-up incubator in Chicago. During his time at Sandbox, Mr. Roberts was charged with overseeing every aspect of starting and running companies on behalf of Sandbox and the incubation team. His responsibilities included initial market research, concept development, financial modeling, design strategy, prototyping, pitching, project management and fundraising. It was during this time that he honed his skills for starting and scaling new ventures. Also, while at Sandbox, Mr. Roberts met David Shapiro and the two started working together professionally.
Prior to graduate school, Mr. Roberts worked for MAYA design as a design consultant, working on design-related projects for Fortune 500 companies. He also spent two years as a Sales Account Executive with Total Quality Logistics, where he gained a depth of knowledge in supply chain operations.
Kevin Brennan – Chief Operating Officer
From his career prior to Scout, Mr Brennan brings more than 30 years of global sales and operations experience working with some of the largest manufacturers in Asia supporting OEM’s like Apple, Motorola, RIM, Amazon and Google on a global scale. He brings a wealth of corporate and start-up experience to Scout. Most recently as the founder and CEO of Ninety7 Inc., he developed and launched a lifestyle product brand that became the #1 selling accessory to Amazon’s Echo Dot in 2017.
Hilari Smith – Vice President of Accounting
Ms. Smith has over 20 years of Corporate Accounting experience. She has held positions of increasing responsibility for various Corporations—from a tech start-up, to a global certification company, to a telecommunications services provider.
In these roles, Ms. Smith had overall responsibility of financial reporting, planning and budgeting, and systems of internal controls.
Ms. Smith, a Certified Public Accountant, received her B.Sc degree from Brigham Young University.
Marek Dzik – Vice President of Engineering
Mr. Dzik is a product-focused engineering leader with over 20 years of tech start-up experience in product development, engineering, leadership, and quality assurance.
Mr. Dzik received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from DePaul University in Chicago. He has been heavily involved in start-ups based out of Chicago, scaling teams and platforms and leveraging technology to accelerate growth at early-stage companies. Most notably Groupon, Redbox, and Braintree.
Martin Pretty – Non-Executive Chairman
Mr. Pretty has over 20 years of experience in the investment and finance industry. He has been deeply involved throughout his career in supporting and investing in growing Australian-listed technology businesses. He was previously an investment manager with Thorney Investment Group and held management roles at ASX listed companies Hub24, Bell Financial Group and IWL Limited.
Anthony Brown – Non-Executive Director
Mr. Brown has been involved in the electronic security industry for over 28 years, with a career that spans all facets of the security industry, from the mechanical, physical, electronic, cyber and logical areas. Mr. Brown currently consults to major organizations in Australia and the Asia Pacific, with prior positions held being as the company owner of a systems integration business that was sold to Schneider Electric, general manager of several successful organizations and as the regional director for critical infrastructure for Smiths Detection.
During Mr. Brown’s leadership, his organizations have delivered large multi-faceted projects, won major awards for product sales and system installations within Australia and the Asia Pacific. Mr. Brown is a high-energy leader with entrepreneurial flare, excellent communication skill and a passionate commitment to professionalism at all levels of an organization.
David Shapiro – Non-Executive Director, Co-Founder
Mr. Shapiro received a Bachelor of Science and Arts in computer science from Miami University of Ohio. Prior to Scout, Mr. Shapiro worked at Sandbox Industries in Chicago, Illinois as a lead developer. Similar to his role at Scout, he was responsible for overseeing and implementing the creation of technology stacks for the various projects he worked on during his time at Sandbox.
Prior to Sandbox, Mr. Shapiro worked at JPMorgan Chase as a software engineer. His role primarily focused on application development for Private Client Services within the Asset and Wealth Management group at JPMorgan Private Bank. He also spent two years as a Sales Account Executive with Total Quality Logistics, where he gained a depth of knowledge in supply chain operations.
Solomon Majteles – Non-Executive Director
Mr. Majteles is a commercial lawyer and has been in private legal practice since 1972. He has over 40 years’ experience in business, corporate, property and commercial law. Since 1983 he has been a director of a number of public listed companies operating in the mining and exploration sector (gold, base metals, coal, uranium, oil and gas) and in the biotech and technology sectors.
Kim Clark – Company Secretary
Ms. Clark is an experienced business professional with more than 20 years in banking and finance, and nearly 17 years as a Company Secretary to other ASX-listed entities. Her experience includes debt and capital raising, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, compliance, and governance.
As Head of Corporate Services for BoardRoom Australia in Queensland, Ms Clark provides company secretarial services to a range of private and public companies, along with business development expertise.
