Executive Officers

Jose Antonio Bengochea, 34
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

Mr. Bengochea has served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Iron Horse I since November 2021, and has served as the managing member of Bengochea SPAC Sponsor I LLC, the sponsor of Iron Horse I since November 2021. Mr. Bengochea is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bengochea Capital LLC (“Bengochea Capital”), an investment firm founded in 2020 to pursue frontier asset classes and, through Mr. Bengochea’s network of connections to various M&E industry executives and celebrities, to examine global opportunities in media and entertainment. Bengochea Capital has been a registered media entity with the Recording Academy for the 2023 Grammy Awards; is currently a registered media entity with the Recording Academy for the upcoming 2024 Grammy Awards; has been present at the Cannes Film Festival, among other prestigious events; and has access to several animation, family, and IP potential deal-flow, with a growing number of business touchpoints across Asia. Prior to founding Bengochea Capital, Mr. Bengochea was a part of Sony’s Global Business Development team in Los Angeles and, prior to that, served as a corporate attorney at the law firm of Jenner & Block in New York City. Mr. Bengochea holds an A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard University, where he designed his own degree, entitled Comparative Imperial History, and graduated with a secondary specialization in Archaeology. Mr. Bengochea also holds a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

William Caragol, 57
Chief Financial Officer and Director

Mr. Caragol has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Iron Horse I since December 2023. Mr. Caragol has over thirty years of experience working with growth stage companies. In 2018, he founded and is the Managing Director of Quidem LLC, a corporate strategic and financial advisory firm. Since July 2021 he has been the Chief Financial Officer of Mainz Biomed N.V. (NASDAQ: MYNZ), a molecular genetics diagnostic company specializing in the early detection of cancer. Since 2015, Mr. Caragol has been Chairman of the Board of Thermomedics, Inc., a privately held medical diagnostic equipment company. Since July 2021, Mr. Caragol has served on the Board of Directors of Worksport Ltd. (NASDAQ: WKSP), a growth stage technology company, and sits on the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee. Since July 2023, Mr. Caragol has served on the Board of Directors of Janover, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNVR), a PrB2B fintech marketplace company, and sits on the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee. From 2021 to 2023, Mr. Caragol served on the Board of Directors and was Chairman of the Audit Committee of Greenbox POS (NASDAQ: GBOX) a financial technology company leveraging proprietary blockchain security to build customized payment solutions. Mr. Caragol earned a B.S. in business administration and accounting from Washington & Lee University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Board of Directors

Tarron Hecox, 34
Lead Independent Director

Mr. Hecox has ample public markets and operational experience. Since 2019, he has held various commercial roles at AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO), a Fortune 500 company. Previously, Mr. Hecox worked with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, William Blair & Company, and Parnassus Investments, and he also formerly co-founded Spartan Capital L.L.C. in 2017, a private fund formed to pursue technology opportunities. Mr. Hecox is also well versed in SPACs and entertainment through the private fund he co-founded in 2014, Limitless Strategies, LLC, which focuses on creating value through public and private investments in media, entertainment, and AI. Mr. Hecox received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 2016; an undergraduate degree with highest distinction from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he studied economics, finance, and accounting; a masters from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and has held a CPA designation.

Melissa Escobar, 56
Independent Director

Ms. Escobar is an especially prominent global figure in entertainment, having been recognized as a pioneer in the development of Hispanic content and global talent. She co-founded Latin World Entertainment alongside actress Sofia Vergara and Luis Balaguer in 1994, and together leads Latin World Entertainment’s growth into a multicultural entertainment leader specializing in series, documentaries, films, and brand marketing, with an audience of over 900 million global followers through its network. Under Ms. Escobar’s leadership, Latin World Entertainment has won critical acclaim, having produced works such as Griselda for Netflix and Maradona: Sueño Bendito for Amazon Prime. In all, she has over 30 years of entertainment experience, having worked with top-tier companies such as Telemundo, Univision, Amazon, Netflix, YouTube/Google, Disney Buenavista, ABC and HBO Latino. Her team has marketed over 1,000 major Hollywood studio films to Hispanics, and promoted premier Spanish-language music tours for the largest live entertainment companies in the USA.

Dr. Constantino Mendieta, 61
Independent Director

Dr. Mendieta is renown surgeon, having appeared on NBC, CNN, as well as on several programs for his advancements in the surgical community, and the founder Mendieta Family Holdings LLC, a family office focusing in part on investments in media & entertainment assets, SPACs, and emerging technologies. Dr. Mendieta is an avid global technology and entertainment investor as well as a leading, Board Certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Dr. Mendieta founded the 4Beauty Aesthetic Institute in 2002 and serves as [PLEASE ADD]. Dr. Mendieta has appeared on NBC, CNN, as well as on several programs for his advancements in the surgical community, and the Consumer Research Council in America has named Dr. Mendieta one of America’s Top Surgeons five years in a row. In 2018, Dr. Mendieta also founded his family office, Mendieta Family Holdings LLC, which, in part, focuses on investments in media & entertainment assets, SPACs, and emerging technologies. He is also the doctor to several high-profile musicians, models, and celebrities. Dr. Mendieta holds a B.S. in Psychology from Creighton University, MD from Creighton University. Dr. Mendieta has Fellowship of Plastic Surgery from the Royal College Of Surgeon, Edinburgh, Scotland, performed plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Fellowship in Aesthetic Surgery and Clinical Fellow from Harvard Medical School.

Ken Hertz
Strategic Advisor

Ken Hertz will serve as a strategic advisor to the Company, and has been serving since December 2023 as an Iron Horse I independent director and Chairman of Iron Horse I’s Executive Committee. Mr. Hertz is currently a director for JUST GOODS and has served as a Senior Partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Hertz Lichtenstein Young & Polk LLP since 2007. Mr. Hertz and his partners specialize in representing talent, senior executives, entrepreneurs, agencies, and brands in entertainment, fashion, sports, media, and technology industries. Prior to forming the firm, Mr. Hertz had been a partner in Hansen Jacobson & Teller, since 1989. Before that, he was global head of music — business and legal affairs — for The Walt Disney Company. He is also a principal in memBrain — an entertainment marketing and strategy consulting firm that advises a number of C-Suite executives on their company’s entertainment related marketing strategies. memBrain has worked with Intel, McDonald’s, Hasbro, MillerCoors, Li & Fung and Logitech. Mr. Hertz has also been an active early-stage venture investor and advisor since 1997 and is a frequent speaker and commentator on the subjects of entertainment, marketing and convergence. He is often quoted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal, has appeared on CNBC’s monthly newsmagazine “Business Nation,” has been an instructor at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, Marshall School of Business, Stanford Business School, and an adjunct professor of law at USC. He graduated UCLA with a J.D. in 1984 and U.C. Berkeley in 1981 with a B.S.

Brian Turner
Strategic Advisor

Brian Turner will serve as a strategic advisor to the Company. Mr. Turner has been serving since December 2023 as the Chairman of the board of directors of Iron Horse I and was formerly Chair of the Board of Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS), a public company in the lidar space. He has served on numerous public and private companies boards of directors as well. Mr. Turner was the Chief Financial Officer of Coinstar Inc. from 2003 until June 2009. Prior to Coinstar, from 2001 to 2003, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer of Real Networks, Inc., a digital media and technology company. Prior to Real Networks, from 1999 to 2001, Mr. Turner was employed by Bsquare Corp., a software company, where he initially served as Senior Vice President of Operations, Chief Financial Officer, and Secretary, before being promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Turner was Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Administration of Radisys Corp., an embedded software company. Mr. Turner’s experience also includes 13 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he held several positions including Director of Corporate Finance. Mr. Turner was formerly Chairman of the Board of Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS), a public company in the lidar space, and is now Chair of the Audit Committee for MVIS. Mr. Turner has also been a director for several private companies. Mr. Turner holds a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from the University of Washington.

Scott Morris
Strategic Advisor

Scott Morris, will serve as a strategic advisor to the Company. Mr. Morris was an Iron Horse I independent director and has been Chairman of Avista (NYSE: AVA) since 2008. Mr. Morris started his career at AVA in 1981. From 2008 to 2019, he served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and served as Avista’s President from 2008 to 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Morris was also the company’s Chief Operating Officer. His experiences include management positions in multiple industries, including construction, customer service, and utilities. He is a graduate of Gonzaga University and received his master’s degree from Gonzaga University in organizational leadership. He also attended the Stanford Business School Financial Management Program and the Kidder Peabody School of Financial Management. Mr. Morris serves on the boards of McKinstry Inc. and California Water Service. He is also on the Board of Trustees of Gonzaga University. He has served on a number of Spokane nonprofit and economic development Boards.