Team

Michael Zeligs, MST

Founder & CEO · Senior AI Research Engineer · Stanford CCRMA

Operating executive with 15 years building and scaling technology companies from zero through institutional fundraises, paired with deep marketing and communications experience driving $1B+ in attributed client revenue. Stanford-trained in computational engineering and digital signal processing at CCRMA — the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. Writes production Python, C++, and JavaScript daily.

Currently a Senior AI Research Engineer at Project Horizon — Spectra Division, training frontier models on complex executive-decision tasks (Diamond Fellowship · Prodigy Cohort · Gather Platform), while serving as CTO & CEO of ApertureAPI — an API-first platform for AI/ML systems integration accepted into Stanford StartX (top 10% of applicants).

Prior leadership includes Director of Engineering Operations at Clockwork AI (built the technical narrative for a $100M+ Series A); engineering lead on the Apple Green Bond–backed Radian Solar Project at Terabase Energy and Intersect Power; and Technical Program Manager at Amazon Advertising on the Fire TV streaming-advertising platform serving 50M+ monthly active users.

What he does at Start Motion Media

Founded Start Motion Media in 2014 as a commercial production company for emerging brands. Today the company runs a 12-person team producing brand films, DTC product video, and crowdfunding campaigns for Apple, Amazon, Google, the Smithsonian, Discovery Channel, and more than a hundred founder-led startups. Personally directs strategy on flagship campaigns, brand narrative, and product PR; runs the analytics-driven communications stack (Looker, Mixpanel) that lets a small team ship at agency scale.

Selected work & engagements

• Project Horizon · Spectra Division — Senior AI Research Engineer. Built a Python evaluation harness that cut review time from 45 to 8 minutes per task and tripled cohort throughput.
• ApertureAPI · Stanford StartX — CTO & CEO. Cut p99 latency from 480ms to 190ms via event-driven pipeline redesign.
• Clockwork AI — Director of Engineering Operations. Built the technical narrative supporting a $100M+ Series A.
• Terabase Energy + Intersect Power — Engineering Operations Lead. Apple Green Bond–backed Radian Solar Project, second-largest U.S. solar array.
• Amazon Advertising — Fire TV — Technical Program Manager. 23 release cycles serving 50M+ MAU.
• FocusCalm — Head of Engineering Operations. Built the manufacturing pipeline for a consumer EEG headband (prototype to 5,000-unit production).
• Baubax — Head of Operations. Three product launches generating $20M+ in Kickstarter and retail revenue.

Education & technical training

Stanford University — CCRMA · 2005–2010
B.A. in Computational Science, DSP Engineering & Media Systems. Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics — research institute at the intersection of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Physics. Training in digital signal processing, parallel computing, real-time systems architecture, filter design, codec and transcoder engineering, and software synthesis in C++, Python, and JavaScript/React. Mathematical foundations in linear algebra, Fourier analysis, statistical modeling, and optimization.

Honors

• Diamond Fellowship · Project Horizon (Spectra Division)
• Prodigy Cohort · Gather Platform
• Stanford StartX (ApertureAPI)
• Stanford Creativity in the Arts
• Rotary Youth Leadership Award

Contact

Petaluma, California · 415-450-0056 · mzeligs@alumni.stanford.edu
Resume: HTML · DOCX