Daniel Dickson
About Daniel Dickson
Daniel Dickson is a 73-year-old independent Class I director of QT Imaging Holdings, Inc. (QTIH), first joining the QT Imaging, Inc. board in November 2022 and continuing on the QTIH board after the March 2024 business combination; he was re-elected on August 19, 2025 to serve through the 2028 annual meeting . He holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School (1980) and a BS in Public Communication, Summa Cum Laude, from Boston University (1974), and is a registered Agile Product Owner and Scrum Master . The Board has determined he is independent under Nasdaq rules . During FY2024, each incumbent director attended at least 75% of Board and committee meetings .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Electric Company | Strategic/operational roles; responsibility for $300M business in Consumer Electronics | 1980–1987 | P&L leadership for large business unit |
| Consumer products retail startup | SVP Marketing; helped drive IPO | 1987–1990 | Grew revenue to $12M; key player in 1989 IPO |
| Privately held data management company (Santa Monica, CA) | President & COO | ~1990–1996 | Repositioned toward personalized marketing/internet-based research |
| Draper Fisher Jurvetson portfolio company | President & CEO (early-stage internet company) | ~1996–1998 | Early-stage scaling for DFJ-backed venture |
| The Brenner Group, Inc. | Built interim CEO practice; “parachute” CEO | From 1998 | Retained by Bay Area VC firms to reposition portfolio companies |
| Armus Corporation; Vital Transport | Parachute CEO/manager | 1998–2003 | Armus later acquired by Health Catalyst Capital Mgmt (2022) |
| Best Cellars, Inc. | President & CEO | 2003–2007 | Doubled sales; created internet business; negotiated sale to A&P in 2007 |
| A&P (wine/beer/spirits operation) | “Virtual COO” overseeing $200M operation | 2007–2011 | Operational leadership post-acquisition |
| The Winebow Group | Board member and later advisor | 2011–2018 | Advisor to $800M fine wine distributor |
| Latin American Auto Group | CFO | 2018–2021 | Finance leadership under Marshall S. Cogan |
| Independent consulting; SUMMi7 LLC | Executive coach & strategic analysis; coach affiliate | Current | Executive coaching, strategic advisory |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Winebow Group | Board member/advisor | 2011–2018 | Advisor to multi-state distributor |
| SUMMi7 LLC (Dallas, TX) | Executive coach (affiliate) | Current | Executive coaching |
Board Governance
- Board classification and tenure: Class I directors (Dickson, Greene) stood for election in 2025; Dickson was re-elected to serve until 2028 .
- Independence: Dickson is independent under Nasdaq standards .
- Committee assignments (FY2024): Compensation Committee member; Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee member; not on Audit .
- Attendance: Each incumbent director attended at least 75% of Board and committee meetings in FY2024; Board met 6 times; Audit met 4; Compensation 1; Nominating 1 .
- Executive sessions: Held regularly without management; chaired by the Board Chairman .
| Committee | Role | Chair | FY2024 Meetings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit | Member: N/A (Dickson not on Audit) | Ross Taylor | 4 |
| Compensation | Member: Daniel Dickson | James Greene | 1 |
| Nominating & Corporate Governance | Member: Daniel Dickson | Prof. Zeev Weiner | 1 |
Shareholder support signal (2025 AGM):
| Nominee | For | Withhold |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Dickson | 17,768,717 | 103,405 |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | FY2024 Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual director cash retainer | $24,226 | Director services |
| Special board committee fees | $9,892 | Services on special board committee |
| Total cash fees | $34,118 | Sum of retainer and committee fees |
Performance Compensation
| Award Type | Grant Date | Shares/Options | Exercise Price | Grant-date FV per Option | Vesting Schedule | Total FV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock options | Jul 3, 2024 | 40,000 | $0.748 | $0.47 | 1/3 on Feb 15, 2025; remaining 2/3 vest quarterly over 2 years thereafter | $18,920 |
Performance metrics tied to director compensation:
| Metric | Specification |
|---|---|
| None disclosed | Director options time-based; no performance metrics specified |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Exchange/Ticker | Role | Interlock/Conflict |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed | — | — | No public company directorships disclosed for Dickson |
Note: Other directors hold external roles (e.g., James Greene at Umpqua Bank and UpHealth), but no disclosed interlock involving Dickson with QTIH suppliers/customers/competitors .
Expertise & Qualifications
- 30+ years of C-level experience across startups to Fortune 50; expertise spanning consumer products to enterprise software; scaling and repositioning companies .
- Harvard MBA (1980) and Boston University BS (1974); Agile Product Owner and Scrum Master .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Beneficially Owned Shares | % of Outstanding | Vested Components within 60 days | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Dickson | 212,482 | <1% | 85,616 warrants; 41,250 options exercisable within 60 days | Beneficial ownership per SEC rules includes exercisable options/warrants |
Shares outstanding at record date: 28,710,144 .
Governance Assessment
- Board effectiveness: Dickson’s dual membership on Compensation and Nominating committees positions him within pay-setting and director selection processes; he is not on Audit, which can concentrate financial oversight elsewhere (chair: Ross Taylor) .
- Independence & alignment: Formally independent; cash/equity mix suggests moderate equity alignment (cash $34,118 vs option fair value $18,920 for 2024), with time-based vesting rather than performance metrics, typical for small-cap director pay structures .
- Attendance & engagement: Board reports ≥75% attendance by incumbents; Dickson re-elected with strong support (99.4% of votes cast for his seat), signaling investor confidence in his continued board service .
- Conflicts/related-party exposure: No related-party transactions disclosed involving Dickson; related transactions in proxy predominantly involve Dr. John Klock; Audit Committee reviews related-party matters under policy .
- Policies & red flags: Insider trading policy exists; Section 16 filings for option grants in July 2024 were filed one or two days late due to the holiday weekend across “each of our directors and executive officers” (minor procedural lapse) .
- Say-on-pay context: Company is an emerging growth company, exempt from say-on-pay; thus no historical say-on-pay voting data to infer compensation sentiment .
Overall: Dickson brings broad scale-up/operator experience and committee contributions, with clear independence and strong shareholder ratification; absence of disclosed conflicts involving him is positive, though director equity is time-based without performance gates and the board’s classified structure can reduce accountability in contested situations .