Our History

Michael Small

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Michael Small is a co-founder and CEO of K4 Mobility. He is a wireless industry veteran, most recently serving from 2010 to 2018 as President and CEO of Gogo Inc, an inflight wireless company that went public in 2013 at a valuation of $1.4 billion.

Prior to that, Michael served as CEO of Centennial Communication Corp from 1999 until it was sold to AT&T for $3 billion in 2009. He has twice received the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2005 and 2012, and the Illinois Technology Association CEO of the year award in 2013.

He has a BA in history from Colgate University and an MBA in finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Anand Chari

Co-Founder & President

Anand Chari is a co-founder and President of K4 Mobility. He is a wireless industry executive and technologist, most recently serving from 2003 to 2019 with Gogo Inc in various roles, from the first employee of the commercial aviation division to Executive Vice President and CTO.

His track record of innovation includes: over 20 patents; deployments of the first CDMA network in the US, superconducting technologies, and carrier-grade VoIP; and the design, development and deployment of air-to-ground and satellite inflight internet networks.

He has an MSEE from Iowa State University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rishi Potdar

Chief Financial Officer

Rishi Potdar is the CFO of K4 Mobility. He is a Finance, Strategy and Operations leader in Consulting and Industry, most recently serving from 2017 to 2019 as the CFO of the $2+ Billion revenue Sears Online Division.

He held prior roles in Finance and Strategy with Gogo, United Airlines and Booz Allen.

He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering, an MS in Industrial Engineering, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Darryl Matfin

Sales Director

A seasoned business development professional, Darryl has held leadership roles in top organizations and has demonstrated continuous sales growth in the marine industry.
Using his extensive knowledge and understanding of consumer behavior, Darryl’s vast network of connections as well as his successful track record have made him an authority in the marine industry.
As such, Darryl brings a unique 360-degree perspective to developing new marine business opportunities for K4 Mobility.

Mark Theissen

Sales Director

Mark Theissen is a Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate and has an international business & sailing background that he has been marrying with his passion for technology. Having lived in Germany, Croatia & USA, he loves bringing the world closer together whether in person, through industry efforts or technology.
He has been an avid industry advocate holding board, committee and advisory positions with Marine Industry Association of South Florida and Young Professionals in Yachting (YPY).
As director of K4 he is responsible for all aspects of growing the digital services and communication business units enabling our clients to harness the power of digitization through simple, reliable and powerful solutions. He is a proud father and loves spending his free time with family and friends on the water or in the mountains.

Sato Ramdas

Operations Manager

Sato Ramdas is the Operations Manager at K4 Mobility. Sato is responsible for overseeing operations related to activation, installation, and maintenance. Over the past 6 years, Sato has been working as an IT consultant- designing and implementing Wi-Fi network for mega yachts. While working in the Marine Industry, Sato saw the need for better cellular connectivity – one sim card for the entire world. He also has a vision of implementing a secure and strong Wi-Fi Network for yachts and Marinas with the ability to select different services from one platform. Sato holds a B.S. in Computer Science in Information Technology. He enjoys gardening and deep-sea fishing.

Craig Sylla

Senior Architect

Craig Sylla is a Senior Architect at K4 Mobility. He has extensive experience in creating embedded systems for the telecommunications and gaming industries.

His prior experience includes two decades in the highly regulated gaming industry, where he was a leader in creating new technologies and platforms for WMS Gaming. During his time in gaming he was named as an inventor on over 100 issued patents covering gameplay, security, and reliability.

After leaving gaming Craig joined Gogo, where he was involved with the next-generation platform and the wireless seatback system in use by Delta Airlines on their new Airbus A220 regional jets.

He has a BS of Computer Science and Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Bryan Lauer

Chief Technology Officer

Bryan Lauer is the CTO of K4 Mobility. He brings over 20 years of experience in the telecom industry and has a proven track record of innovation with over 50 U.S. patents awarded.
Prior to joining the K4 team, Bryan was one of the founding employees with Gogo, Inc. where, from 2006 to 2020, he was instrumental to the design, deployment and operation of the first at-scale, global inflight Internet service.
Prior to Gogo, Bryan was an architect for Alcatel Lucent in the wireless mobility division, where he optimized the core service controller for the first widely deployed 3G wireless data system for Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS.
Bryan has a PhD in Physics from Iowa State University. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the search for the Higgs Particle at Fermi National Laboratory 20 years before its eventual discovery at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.