Craig Ranta is the Founder and Chief Technical Officer for Vioguard LLC. Craig has over 25 years
experience in electronics design, hardware development and project management with his most recent
experience serving as the Senior Director of Hardware Development for Microsoft Corporation. During
his twelve-year tenure at the software giant he also served as Director for Microsoft Surface,
Director of Technology Development, Xbox Wireless Test Director, and was the founder and Chairman
of the Bluetooth Human Interface Device working group. Prior to Microsoft, Mr. Ranta served
as the Principal Hardware Engineer for Intermec Corporation - a large manufacturer of
handheld PC bar code readers, printers and scanners. Prior to Intermec Corporation, he
served as the Senior Hardware Development Engineer for SpaceLabs Medical where he
developed portable semiautomatic defibrillators, external pacemakers, and portable
critical care monitors. Prior experience he worked for Pacific Electro Dynamics as a Project
Engineer where he helped in the development of weapons test systems for the F-111, F-
16 and B-1B aircraft. Craig graduated in 1982 from the University of Washington with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering, and is a graduate of the Microsoft Management Bench training program. Craig is an avid boater and resides in Redmond with his wife.
Laurance Ranta is a co-founder and President/Chief Executive Officer for Vioguard LLC
with over 30 years of extensive experience in P&L responsibility in business and
management. Mr. Ranta has served as a senior executive, consultant and advisor for
several medical and high technology corporations, as well as a mentor to CEO’s. Mr.
Ranta has a comprehensive background in startup and emerging companies,
turnarounds and complex company assignments. He has written over 800 business
plans across a wide variety of industry sectors and has extensive experience in
analyzing potential breakthrough companies. He has created strategic alliances
nationwide and his accomplishments emphasize a rare combination of visionary
analytical skills and a reputation as a dynamic consensus-builder, moving projects
forward in challenging relationships. He also has an outstanding record of results in
proposal preparation with his plans resulting in the procurement of over $200 million
dollars in funding. He is also the owner of a Seattle based consulting firm which has
helped hundreds of businesses in startup, proposal preparation, contract administration,
pricing, capital procurement, operations, business management, and marketing. Mr.
Ranta holds degrees in both Business and Economics from the University of
Washington. He resides in a suburb of Seattle with his wife and their two children.
John Sharps is a co-founder, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Manufacturing for Vioguard LLC. Mr. Sharps has over 15 years of experience in the manufacture and development of consumer electronics. Prior to Vioguard, John served at Microsoft Corporation as a Senior Development Program Manager, where he managed a diverse team of more than 40 in-house and contract employees, with a development budget of nearly $8M. His knowledge of consumer electronics manufacturing applies to both local manufacturing as well as offshore. He has extensive experience in Asia for both development and manufacturing of high volume products and is knowledgeable in Asian economics, labor, and political issues. Mr. Sharps led the development of Microsoft's entrance into the web camera space with the launch of four new products over the course of 18 months. During the first year of sales, the products generated just under $100 million in revenue. Prior to Microsoft, John worked for Acres Gaming as a Supply Chain Manager where he managed purchasing and contract manufacturing for their domestic operations. John received his B.S. in Health Care Administration from Oregon State University, and currently resides in Bellevue, WA with his family.
Steven Fisher is the Design Director for Vioguard and also the President of BN4 Design
LLC. Prior to Vioguard, Mr. Fisher worked for Microsoft for over ten years. While at
Microsoft, Steven Fisher was the lead industrial designer in the hardware group for the
software giant. Steven Fisher was responsible for the industrial design of over 30
products for Microsoft® including the design of Microsoft’s peripheral mice since the
creation of the first Microsoft Optical Mouse in 1999. For most of his career at Microsoft
Fisher has worked with hardware including remote controls, phones, toys, cameras and
keyboards. Before joining Microsoft, Fisher worked for Walter Dorwin Teague Associates
in New York and Fluke Corporation. He was one of eight key designers for the interior of
the Boeing 777 and he worked at Boeing’s Advance Product studio from 1987 to 1993.
Fisher is credited with over 90 patents and has won numerous design competitions
including those from Business Week, the Industrial Designers Society of America, iF
International Design Forum and ID Magazine. Fisher graduated from Western
Washington University with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial design. He
belongs to the IDSA and the Cascade Austin Healey Club. In his free time, Fisher
teaches as a volunteer at Western Washington University and the University of
Washington in the Senior Industrial Design Program. Steven resides in a suburb of
Seattle with his wife and children.
Dave Egner is the Director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs for Vioguard LLC. For over 25 years, Dave has been directly involved in the design, execution and manufacture of a total of 36 unique computer hardware products, including data terminals, computers, monitors, disk peripherals, keyboards, mice and printers. In the consumer electronics space, the list includes set-top boxes, satellite receivers and game consoles. Dave's career history includes HP, Apple, NeXT, WebTV and Microsoft. Dave's engineering specialties are systems integration, EMC design, analog and power systems design. He has designed power supplies, monitor display electronics, modems, audio solutions and more. He has co-developed dozens of integrated systems designs both with in-house teams and outside vendors. Dave has also designed compliance solutions and worked with regulatory agencies world-wide as well as having conducted a wide range of agency-approvals qualification test programs both in-house, with ODM/OEMs and with third-party test services. He has built, staffed and equipped fully-fledged agency-approvals developmental test laboratories for two different companies. Dave has also worked in manufacturing/production engineering and has worked continuously with overseas developers, manufacturers and vendors. Dave is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering. Dave resides with his wife and family in Sammamish.
David Crist is Vioguard's Senior Mechanical Engineer. With over 20 years experience in mechanical engineering, product design, and project management, Dave has worked on projects ranging from lower limb prosthetics, treadmills and elliptical trainers, consumer electronics, and medical devices. Dave is a graduate of the University of Arizona with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two children and is active in youth soccer, cyclocross, and mountain biking.
