
Founder and CEO, RiffWare LLC
San Francisco Bay Area

Founder and CEO, RiffWare LLC
San Francisco Bay Area
Rob Witman continues to meld his multifaceted technological interests with business intuition as founder and CEO of RiffWare. In the last 4 years, RiffWare has grown from a few lines of code and an idea, to a leading mobile application developer. Created, developed and produced in house, their applications have launched on various wireless service providers including the nation’s largest carrier, Verizon Wireless. With RiffWare’s first application, Guitar Tuner, in the ‘Best Sellers’ category and 5 new applications already approved for the coming year, RiffWare is poised to emerge from ‘small company’ status to ‘major player,’ all without taking outside capital.
Before venturing out with RiffWare, Rob worked for Evolution Robotics as a Sr. Robotics Engineer. Having joined the company as the first full-time employee, Rob had many opportunities to provide critical design influence and leadership on a variety of projects. A consummate team player, Rob led the design of numerous electrical subsystems, including personally developing from end-to-end the Robot Control Module and Northstar positioning system. NorthStar® has recently been recognized by major publications for its innovative, low cost solution to robotic localization / mapping and subsequently integrated into major consumer products such as the Rovio® by WowWee.
Wireless Startups
Corporate Strategy
Systems Integration
Product Management
New Technology R&D
Hardware and Software Development
Robotic Algorithm Development
Liaise between Engineering and Management
(Wireless industry)
February 2005 — Present (4 years 10 months)
Core business plan development and direction
Daily operational & resource management
Strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies
Deployed applications on Tier 1 carrier
Brand development through industry conference awards and presentations
Profitability in 18 months
(Privately Held; Computer Software industry)
June 2004 — April 2005 (11 months)
While at Evolution, I was responsible for designing various electrical components used internally in the Robotics Division as well as sold to outside customers. I was ultimately responsible for the majority of the electrical hardware designed during that time, including the Robot Control Module, IR Sensors, Gripper Arm and the NorthStar sensor for robot positioning in an indoor environment. Design included initial conception, electrical design, PCB layout, and the embedded programming required to provide intelligent behavior to the devices in question.
When not designing new technology, I made use of my diverse engineering and sciences background to analyze and monitor outside technology developments for potential partnerships/licensing and report on the above to senior executives. In addition, I was the lead presenter and MC for Evolution at E3 in 2002, CES in 2003 and more recently demonstrated the latest LaneHawk technology to 3 of the top 5 US retailers in 2004 and early 2005.
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Consumer Electronics industry)
June 2001 — June 2004 (3 years 1 month)
MS , Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics , August 1999 — May 2001
BS , Mechanical Engineering, Minor Electrical Engineering , August 1995 — May 2000