Neil Wadhawan
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Neil serves as Heartwood Studios’ Chief Executive Officer, championing the philosophy of “show-not-tell” into the business world through cutting edge visual solutions. Over the past few years, Neil has been the driving force behind Heartwood Studios’ growth into the defense sector, actively guiding the sales and production teams to solve the challenges of the industry.
After a short stint in the corporate world at John Hancock Financial Services, Neil quickly realized that he was an international entrepreneur at heart. He first founded Lucid Air Designs, and then in 2002 he co-founded Heartwood Studios with Raj Raheja. Under the guidance of this dynamic duo, Heartwood Studios quickly grew from a small startup into an international studio with locations and teams around the United States and the world.
In addition to his leadership role at Heartwood Studios, Neil motivates future entrepreneurs by guest-lecturing at MBA programs across the country, including Northeastern University, Endicott College, San Francisco State University, and Merrimack College. When he’s not motivating his employees or graduate students, Neil enjoys sports, music, and entertainment. His goal is to eventually intertwine these hobbies with a creative business venture.
Neil holds a B.S. in MIS and Finance with a concentration in Computer Technology from Northeastern University.
Raj Raheja
Founder Chairman & Chief Innovation Officer
Raj Raheja provides a leading voice for the future of visual technologies within the workplace. His interest in visual technologies began as early as 1994, while he was in architecture school in India. In 2002, he co-founded Heartwood Studios with Neil Wadhawan. Since 2006, Raj has focused exclusively on new technologies and product development—leading the efforts of Heartwood Studios’ R&D team towards breakthrough visual solutions.
Raj searches for problems within the business world and then guides the search for solutions.
Raj won the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ 2007 award, given by the San Francisco East Bay Business Times. He received the Gold Medal for Best Thesis from the prestigious School of Planning & Architecture in New Delhi presented by (former) Prime Minister of India, I.K Gujral. Some of his most memorable experiences have been:
- • Appearing as Guest Speaker with Autodesk CEO, Carol Bartz
- • Partnering with Dilbert’s creator Scott Adams,
- • Visiting Whoopi Goldberg at her home
He loves the water and swims and windsurfs between deadlines. Raj encourages everyone at the studio to live a complete life, sometimes dragging them away from their desks!
Timo Wadhawan
Chief Operating Officer
Timo Wadhawan serves as Heartwood Studios’ COO and is a Founding Board Member. Since 2000, Timo has been a Board Member and Corporate Officer of Heartwood of Danville–builders in San Francisco’s Bay Area.
Previously, as Senior VP and COO of Argos Adriatic Corporation, Timo was a member of the team responsible for taking the IT services company from $300k annual revenue to $10 million. He served as Senior VP of Construction for Kapareva Construction Corporation, a builder of luxury homes in Danville, CA. From mid 70s to 1985 Timo was a Construction and Contracts Manager for BC Hydro & Power Authority’s multi-million dollar projects, such as the Cathedral Square underground substation in Vancouver, Canada and Seven Mile Hydroelectric project in Trail, British Columbia.
When he’s at home, he’s a passionate gardener who enjoys growing vegetables. Timo has also been a championship ping-pong competitor, and he loves to play tennis.
Timo holds a B. Tech Electrical Engineering degree from IIT Delhi and Master of Applied Science in Systems Design from University of Waterloo, Canada.