John Argo, MBA

John Argo is a serial entrepreneur and an Entrepreneur-In-Residence for NIREC. As an EIR, John  mentors RD&D project teams developing new energy technologies. He takes a hands-on role, helping formulate and test commercialization plans, establishing strategic alliances, and developing funding. John has 21 years' experience in large-scale program and project management and technology commercialization.

Prior to his role as EIR, he was director of energy projects for Octus Energy and de facto CTO where he led development of smart energy building automation tools for commercial applications and established strategic alliances with key partners. Octus hired John to help repurpose a publically-traded shell company and set a new direction for the company.

He also negotiated licensing and drove product development for Octus’ first commercial product, an evaporative cooling technology developed at the UC Davis Western Cooling Efficiency Center.  John was a driving force in Octus’ first acquisition, a 30 year old energy services firm with an $18M pipeline.

Before joining Octus, John was founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of Q1 NanoSystems (Bloo Solar). As chairman of Q1 Nano/Bloo Solar, he and his team raised over $5M from National Science Foundation, angel investors, and a private equity fund. He is co-inventor on three pending patents for ultra-thin film solar cells and nanostructured devices. He has served as field study advisor for the UC Davis Graduate School of Management Consulting Center study of the commercial state of Hydrogen Fuel Cells.

Before launching his career in startups, he led technology projects at Hewlett-Packard and Electronic Data Systems for 17 years.

John serves on Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s Greenwise economic development task force, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management Dean’s Advisory Council, and advises several early-stage companies. John is a credentialed project manager with an MBA from the University of California, Davis.