Team

Richard Walker CEO

Richard joins Zero Motorcycles from Control4 Corporation, a leading provider of personalized home automation and control solutions, where he served as Executive Vice President for Product Development and Product Operations. At Conrol4 he was responsible for overseeing product management, engineering, quality, customer training, customer support and supply chain operations. He comes to Zero with an extensive consumer products background having previously been General Manager of Hewlett Packard's $6B consumer desktop PC business unit comprising the HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario and HP TouchSmart product lines. Under his leadership and direction, profit improved significantly and revenues grew 15%.

Richard brings a wealth of global business experience to Zero. He has lived and worked in Europe, North America and Asia. Having developed and executed growth plans for the emerging markets of China, India, Russia and Brazil while at HP, he not only understands the tremendous growth opportunities these countries represent, he also understands the unique challenges of each market. At Zero he takes on the leadership responsibility for establishing the company as the premier global provider of electric motorcycles to consumers and commercial customers.

Abe Askenazi CTO

Abe is a passionate engineer and motorcyclist who did his Master’s Thesis on “The Dynamics of Motorcycles.” Abe worked at Buell Motorcycle Co. for 15 years, where he rose to the position of Sr. Director of Analysis, Test and Engineering Process, reporting to Erik Buell and actively participating in Harley-Davidson Inc.’s Senior Leadership Group. He provided increasing levels of leadership to multi-functional teams in the delivery of 26 high-performance motorcycle models across 4 different platforms, resulting in the production of over 130k vehicles yielding over $1B in sales.

In 2010, Abe was recruited by Zero Motorcycles as VP of Engineering to head the development of a full line of industry-leading, on-road and off-road electric Motorcycles. In 2011, Abe was promoted to the role of Chief Technology Officer and led his team in delivering the first mass-produced electric motorcycles capable of exceeding 100 miles on a single charge, with batteries that last up to 300,000 miles, and with powertrains that are completely maintenance-free.

Abe has numerous patents for motorcycle components and has published a textbook and multiple articles on analytical engineering.

John Borofka CFO

John brings strategic and financial guidance to Zero Motorcycles since joining the company in January of 2010. In addition to overall financial management of the company, John leads the strategic planning and reporting processes. Prior to joining Zero Motorcycles, John worked as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group where he assisted clients in tackling their top business issues. His work at the Chicago office of BCG spanned numerous functions including international growth strategies and process redesigns across various industries including consumer and industrial goods. John graduated from Duke University after studying Mechanical Engineering and Economics.

Scot Harden VP of Global Marketing

Scot brings more than 40 years of racing, management, product development and brand building experience in the motorcycle industry to Zero. Inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2008, Scot has amassed 20 different International motorcycle racing titles and more than 200 wins including two SCORE Baja 1000 wins, three SCORE Baja 500 wins and two SCORE Championship titles. Throughout his career Harden has held executive sales, marketing and race team management positions with leading European motorcycle OEMs, including KTM and Husqvarna. His track record for building brands and companies is well known throughout the industry.

John Lloyd VP of Global Sales

John’s love of motorcycles started as a young kid growing up in the high desert of California. Keeping his motorcycle interests alive he spent the 22 years prior to Zero Motorcycles developing and managing several sales and operations organizations for large and startup companies. His varying global sales experiences with innovative technology based startups influenced his creativity towards leading edge sales models that drive competitive advantages of the companies he helps grow. John combines his passion of motorcycles, years of technology-based startups, and interest in alternative fuel technologies into a “perfect storm” that enables Zero Motorcycles and our selling partners worldwide with the best chances of success.

John has a BS degree in Computer Science and Business from San Francisco State University.

Mark Kennedy VP Manufacturing, Logistics and After Sales

With over 20 years in the motorcycle industry, Mark is a senior executive who brings an impressive track record of building and overseeing world class teams. Having started his career on Triumph’s production line, Mark moved up the ranks taking on a broad range of management roles in logistics, production, quality control, sales and marketing. As the General Manager of Triumph France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland, Mark was able to turn around an unprofitable business by streamlining the operation and increasing revenue by 81 percent. Most recently Mark was the CEO of Triumph North America where he grew market share by 23 percent by focusing on and improving brand awareness, dealer relationships and sales performance.

As a lifelong motorcyclist, Mark has been riding for more than 30 years during which he’s competed both in motocross and road racing.

Jay Friedland VP of Strategy and Sustainability

Working with Congress as well as consumers, industry, and environmental leaders, Jay helped drive the inclusion of over $14B in US government funding for plug-in vehicles, including the 10% US Federal Tax Credit for electric motorcycles, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Jay also serves as the Legislative Director of Plug In America, advocating for policy which broadly supports electric and plug-in vehicles. A self-described serial entrepreneur, he has built successful companies as well as developing key industry alliances between companies both large and small.