About Dave
David “Dave” Sikora is an accomplished, 7-time CEO of private and publicly traded technology companies. Dave has also served as a board director for 15 companies, 4 of which were traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. He currently serves as a board director of several private, venture backed software companies and is also Board Chairman of Texas Dow Employees Credit Union, the largest state-chartered Credit Union in the State of Texas with $5B in assets, 1,000 employees and 380,000 members. Sikora was blessed with several terrific mentors in the early stages of his career and spends significant time sharing his successes and failures with CEOs in the technology and Fintech industries.
What is “CIEN” CEO?
“Cien” (pronounced “chen”) means “Shadow” or “Shade” in Polish. A Shadow CEO is someone who is known to provide objective, outside counsel to executives in leadership positions. This name honors our Founder’s father, Ray Sikora, whose family immigrated from Poland during the Great Depression. Ray was orphaned in the 8th grade in inner city Newark, New Jersey, and successfully raised 4 children while shoveling glass during the graveyard shift at Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery. As an example of the opportunities in our country, Ray somehow created the conditions for our Founder to complete his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the University of Houston and obtain a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Photo: Dave and Ray Sikora at Harvard Club of Boston, HBS Graduation, June 1989