Paul Hynek Adjunct Professor
Finance and Accounting
Pepperdine University
Paul Hynek is a Wharton MBA, an Adjunct Professor of Finance and Accounting at Pepperdine University, and the creator of startup financial projections software that has raised over $1 billion for thousands and startups. He has significant executive, software and high tech experience in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Paul is the creator and President of EZ Numbers, financial projections software for startups that allows entrepreneurs to make their own business models in hours, learn the basics of accounting and finance, and raise money from investors and bankers. He has worked with hundreds of new ventures, and has been dubbed “The Startup CFO.”
Paul is actively involved in virtual and augmented reality in both distribution, content creation, and academic research aspects.
Paul led the successful acquisition of Giant Studios’ ownership of its renowned virtual production motion capture software, and was behind the software license deals that powered Avatar 2-5, The Hobbit, Dawn/Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Happy Feet, Grand Theft Auto, and was instrumental in the successful sale of Giant Studios to James Cameron.
Paul conceived and produced Surf Monkey, the world’s first children’s online service, and introduced it with Bill Gates at the launch event for Microsoft Internet Explorer 4. Paul was instrumental in raising over $30,000,000, and positioning it for an IPO.
As Director of Business Development at Bandai Digital Entertainment, he produced the first online service for a set-top box, managing this multi-million dollar project with custom browser, chat, and e-mail, including relationships with over 100 developers.
Paul has a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of Business, a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Joseph H. Lauder Institute, and a BA in French from the University of Illinois. Paul’s highly-rated course at Pepperdine uses a curriculum he developed that combines elements of accounting, finance, personal finance, entrepreneurship, and negotiations, and also features diverse guest speakers, real world experience, and great food.
Paul has significant Board experience, serving on several corporate Boards and Advisory Boards, and has 15 years of non-profit Board experience, nine years as Chair, of the Red Cross of Santa Monica, La Reserva Forest Foundation, and the Lauder Institute Alumni Association. Paul serves as a grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation, and is a highly sought-after speaker on startup funding and virtual reality, and has spoken recently at South by Southwest and Mensa.
Paul follows the Singularity and robust lifespan extension. He is fluent in French, capable in Japanese, and speaks some Mandarin, Thai, Portuguese, and Spanish. He authored a paper entitled “The Hyper-Commons: How Open Science Prizes Can Expand and Level the Medical Research Playing Field” that was published in Rejuvenation Research. He recently participated in a year-long study out of the Stanford Neuroscience Institute to regrow the thymus gland.
