Prominent Entrepreneur John Dilts Passes Away

John Dilts, co-founder of The BioTech Forum based in Westlake Village and founder of the investor network Maverick Angeles, passed away Aug. 2. Dilts founded Maverick Angels, LLC, in 2006, an innovative angel investor network based in Southern California, which focuses on funding and mentoring early-stage companies. Since then, Maverick Angels Chapters have been established in Southern California and in Europe. Visitation takes place Aug. 5 at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village. The funeral is Aug. 6 at 1 p.m. at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Westlake Village. As the co-founder of The BioTech Forum in Westlake Village, Dilts helped develop a networking group focused on creating a new biotechnology cluster to bring together investors, entrepreneurs, scientists and corporate executives. The Forum addresses the biotechnology, medical device and healthcare fields and targets the region along the 101 Corridor stretching among Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. For the past two years Dilts had also been working with El Nido Family Centers, a non profit organization with offices in Mission Hills and Pacoima, to help create a youth run business to help disadvantaged kids. The project, called Hub City Teens, is an entrepreneur venture between El Nido Family Centers and Maverick Angels. Considered an expert in the areas of innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship, Dilts often served as a featured speaker at innovation conferences and angel investor forums. He frequently taught seminars on the topics of angel investing, innovation acceleration and entrepreneurial leadership around the world. His work also included advising and coaching executives from global companies, including Nestlé, Kraft, Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, Microsoft, ChevronTexaco, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and the Fiat Group in Italy. Dilts served as a guest lecturer and panelist on the topic of entrepreneurship at various universities, including the University of Southern California, UCLA, Pepperdine University, California Lutheran University and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Early in his career, Dilts was employed for several years with top corporate law firms in Silicon Valley and has since served on the board of directors for numerous emerging-growth companies, both private and public, addressing a variety of industries. He earned his law degree from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California. Andrea Alegria