Jose Calero is the developer of the Laptop Desk and President and Chief Product Architect of LapWorks Inc. (www.lapworksinc.com).  After a twenty-year career in the industrial packaging industry, Mr. Calero started LapWorks in April 2000 to develop laptop accessories that take the hassles and hazards out of mobile computing, and reduce the heat in laptop computers. Calero studied the notebook industry for 2 ½ years to identify the hazards of using a laptop computer – to both the user and the computer itself. Aside from the fatal crash to the floor, which IDC determined was the leading cause of laptop damage, constant overheating is the laptop’s worst enemy. Risks to the user include “hot leg,” and neck, back and shoulder strain from the poor ergonomic angles users are forced to type in when a laptop is set flat on a desk.

To address these concerns, in June 2001, LapWorks launched the Laptop Desk v1.0. LapWorks’ goals were to enable safe typing on laps without slips or burns, while also cooling the computer. With the Laptop Desk v2.0, announced in April 2002, LapWorks launched a new category with the industry’s first dual-purpose lap desk that doubled as a desktop stand for better ergonomic typing on desks. Calero’s third product, the Laptop Desk UltraLite, was launched in August 2004. It quickly established itself as the thinnest and lightest portable lap desk on the planet and still holds that title as of this writing.

Calero’s fourth Laptop Desk was the Futura launched in July 2007. Due to its radical design and heat reducing qualities, it quickly became the best selling laptop desk LapWorks ever produced. At it peak in September 2008, the Futura was selling over 250,000 units per year. Combined, LapWorks has sold over 1,000,000 laptop desks to date. Over the last nine years, LapWorks products have earned more awards for quality and performance than any other competitor in its category.

In 2008 LapWorks was first to launch three gamers desks for those gamers who play FPS and WoW fantasy games. In the year since their launch, LapWorks Gamers Desks have become the best selling gamers desks on the market.

To sharpen his business skills, Mr. Calero has worked with the Small Business Institute, Center for Entrepreneurship at California State University at Fullerton since 2004. He assists teams of seniors advising them with the launch of a product or a business or performing a consulting service for a local business. He assists the student teams in such areas as Management, Sales & Marketing, Financial Controls, Leadership and New Venture Creation & Funding. Mr. Calero also assists at local high schools working with at-risk students to help them develop a broader and more focused life perspective.

In the past, Mr. Calero served as president of Los Angeles’ Latin Businessmen’s Association and founding president of the Los Angeles’ Federation of Minority Business Association. He also served on the Board of Directors of Los Angeles’ Salesman’s Boys Club, as chairman of the City of Los Angeles Committee for Minority Procurement for the 1984 Olympics, on the Los Angeles’ Youth Motivation Task Force and on the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation for the city and county of Los Angeles.  Mr. Calero is a Viet Nam veteran and was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received in combat. He was discharged from the Army with honor. 

Mr. Calero lives and works in Rancho Cucamonga, California, with his wife, Leslie, of 40 years. They have three grown sons, two granddaughters, and a dog named Max.