Where innovation meets execution.

We are the catalyst for what comes next.

Co-Create the future

We help organizations navigate and thrive within an ever-evolving world.

  • Ideation sprints and workshops

  • Harnessing emergent technology

  • New products + business model ideation

  • Technology transfer

  • Strategic planning

Operational Leadership

We drive competitive advantage and bottom line growth through efficient and effective business operations.

  • Fractional COO

  • Team restructuring

  • Product management processes

  • Strategic partnerships

  • Org design + resource optimization

Growth & go-to-Market

We take opportunities from the whiteboard to market to drive sustainable growth and success.

  • Expansion into new markets

  • Product-market fit optimization

  • Product pricing

  • Intellectual property activations

  • Experiential content production

Client Testimonials

  • Aaron Solomon, CEO

    AMBL

    “I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Kilgore Trout, and their influence on our business has been profound. As a founder, I've greatly benefited from Ryan’s guidance, leveraging his extensive experience and connections. Ryan has a knack for supporting both vision and execution.”

  • Jamie Barras, VP

    FIDELITY CENTER FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES

    “I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating and working with Ryan since 2021 when he partnered with Fidelity’s Center for Applied Technology to produce the VR film, ‘The Cost of Admission’. Since that time, Ryan and his team have been an amazing resource and connector across all forms of emergent technology.”

  • Paul Manivannan, CEO

    MACXTECH

    “As a fractional Chief People Officer, my reputation has been built on connecting the right opportunities with the right people. Kilgore Trout has consistently been a capable pair of hands who have jumped in and provided immediate and lasting value for my clients.”

  • Navid Khonsari

    Navid Khonsari, CEO

    INK STORIES

    "Kilgore Trout has been integral partner and collaborator at INK Stories and for Block Party: Bodega, a AAA metaverse game built on blockchain technology that is preparing to launch across VR, mobile, and PC. “

  • Jeffrey Travis, CEO

    POSITRON

    “Ryan has been a trusted advisor and fractional Business Development VP. Working with him on a fractional basis allowed us scale his level of engagement to match business need. He helped us to innovate and implement new commercial strategies and pricing models as well as established new strategic partnerships for content and distribution.“

  • Dr. Leslee Battle, DEAN

    SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES, WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY

    “Ryan and his team of collaborators worked with Winston Salem State’s School of Health Sciences to innovate how our nurses are trained. This program has had an incredible impact at WSSU and has the potential to impact nursing educational programs everywhere. We wouldn’t exist without him.”

  • Daniel Horner, CSO

    APPEARHERE

    “Ryan came in on short notice to help me and he CEO to assess product strategy going forward and provide mentorship for the Product Development team. We really valued his input and it was useful to have such a senior resource on a flexible basis.”

WE WORK FOR AND WITH THE BEST.

We are a network of top-tier professionals with backgrounds in professional services (strategy, design thinking, advisory, and audit consultants) with hands-on operating experience at VC-backed startups, scaleups, Fortune 100 companies.

Startups + Scale-ups

big tech + Media

Professional Services

EDUCATIONAL Institutions

TECHNOLOGIES

B2C, B2B, + B2B2C

University-industry

Experiential entertainment

Gaming

Sponsored research

Research commercialization

SECTORS

Artificial Intelligence

VR, AR, + XR

Blockchain / Web 3.0

Game Engines

Digital Production

Multi-Modal Storytelling

Ryan Schmaltz

As founder and CEO of Kilgore Trout LLC, Ryan brings 20 years of experience including 8+ years with large technology companies, 15 with VC backed startups, and 6 years leading industry-academia emerging media programs, research, and collaborations.

Designing the Future:

Ryan works at the intersection of startups, established companies, and academic research.

As a consultant and as a workshop curator, Ryan helps to identify and cultivate trends and opportunities that are 5-10 years out. He collaborates with organizations to harness new technologies and storytelling to create experiences, products, and services.

Operational Leadership:

Ryan started his career in consulting and working for large technology companies including Microsoft, Apple, Disney, Dolby, Adobe and others. He developed expertise in designing and optimizing business processes as well as commercializing products and IP.

And for the past 15 years, Ryan has led at the intersection of operations, product, and strategic partnerships across sectors. He has built and led world class distributed teams, taken products from concept to launch, optimized organizations, pricing, and products.

Growth + Go-To-Market:

Ryan takes an entrepreneurial (/intra-preneurial) approach to drive growth through new products, commercial models and by expanding into new markets.

He has closed more than $2.5B in partnership deals, launched and optimized products, adapted products for success in new markets, and redesigned business operations to scale globally.

Say Hello.