Nicolas Simon - CEO and Co-Founder

Once you meet Nicolas Simon, it’s no surprise to find out that he transitioned into IT from the Hospitality Industry.  Unlike many in the computer field, he has a honed ability to communicate with people.  And more importantly, he works hard to get them what they want.  His less suave counterparts aren’t sure how he does it.   Of course, the French accent doesn’t hurt. 

After working abroad as a Sommelier for the Royal Viking and Seabourn Cruise Lines, Nicolas launched his computer career innocently enough by landing the position of Director of Vendor Relationships at LesConcierges in San Francisco, CA.  His impressive client list included American Express Platinum Program, SUN Microsystems, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin.  Meeting these major corporation’s requirements spurred Nicolas to explore technologies that brought LesConcierges services straight to the desks of its clients.   Besides expanding his skills in IT at LesConcierges, Nicolas also met Hans DeHamer, a fellow IT newbie who would work with him at several other Bay Area start-ups and eventually become cofounder of their current venture, Cowbell Systems. 

After several Site Producer positions in Silicon Valley, Nicolas took a slightly more stable position at Fireman’s Fund Insurance in Novato, CA.  He once again worked with top-tier clients and large-scale, multi-million, multi-vendor technology projects, leading teams to deploy Policy Processing Systems to insurance agents. During his downtime at Fireman’s fund, Nicolas became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.

His latest gig is as Director of IT for Forma Homes, an innovative construction firm based out of California and Nevada.  Nicolas was instrumental in introducing this Swedish style of manufacturing top-quality homes to American vendors and helped communicate their company’s services and goals by creating and managing their website as well as directing their entire IT insfrastructure..

Nicolas has taken these two seemingly opposing worlds -- hospitality and computers -- and skillfully melded them into the client-friendly philosophy that epitomizes Cowbell Systems.  And, once again, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the French accent just as much as we do.
The Simon family, wife Susan and children Chloe and Max, is enjoying their new home in North Carolina.  Their Shih Tzu Tinker is also enjoying it, except for the daunting flight of stairs, which he demands to be carried up and down several times daily.  Nicolas still enjoys food and wine in his off time, as well as the occasional fly-fishing trip with his father-in-law.  Unlike Hans, he’s sworn off motorcycles after nearly losing his life in France as a passenger. 

C’est la vie.

Hans Dehamer - CTO and co-founder

It was through sheer curiosity that Hans DeHamer became interested in computers.  From his first Sinclair ZX81 in 1981, he had to know: “What’s in there?”  So of course he took it apart - and soon realized he’d have to put it back together if he ever wanted to use it again.  So he bought some books, went to work, and the then 11-year-old Hans officially began his computer technician career in his childhood bedroom.

For the past 14 years, Hans has translated this curiosity into a successful IT career.  Starting as an Office Manager/Systems Administrator at Zazou, a high-end accessories company in Berkeley, CA, he serviced a small office of desktop Macs, again armed with nothing more than curiosity and textbooks.  As his knowledge grew, his next position as Systems Administrator at Antenna Group, a PR company in San Francisco, put him in charge of an 100+ Network, where he lowered ISP costs by 75% while doubling bandwidth and uptime in a migration to business-grade dsl. 

His experience and expertise expanded to gain him the position of Manager of IT at Les Concierges in San Francisco, CA, the largest corporate concierges business in the world.  It was there that he first met Nicolas Simon, cofounder of Cowbell Systems, and they solidified a lifelong personal and professional allegiance over late night service calls and cold pizza.

Hans spent the next part of his career at more Bay Area start-ups, graduating his position to Senior Systems Administrator.  His latest stint was spent at Fireman’s Fund where he and Nicolas again joined forces in the IT Department.  He distinguished himself as Web Hosting Specialist and Tier 3 Server Support by designing an infrastructure for corporate and internet facing companies as well as an automated service that handles file encryption and secure file transfers, where all key handling and security is transparent to the user.

A Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Instructor since 2007, Hans also ran his own successful company, DeHamer Consulting, for two years and prides himself on his ability to keep computers running and costs low. 

He brings this wealth of experience to Cowbell Systems and looks forward to helping Cowbell’s clients with all their computer needs.  He understands they don’t necessarily need (or want) to know “What’s in there?”  They just want it to work.  And he’s happy to oblige.

Hans lives with his wife of five years, Vickie and Newfoundland dog, Clyde.  He enjoys riding his 1998 Honda Valkyrie whenever he gets the chance, and has recently made his own Camembert (that’s right, the cheese -- from scratch.)  He plans to try Blue Cheese next if his wife will let him.