Sports and Finance Professional
Canyon Ceman is currently the Senior Director of Talent Development for the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). In this role, his primary directive is to recruit and develop sports entertainment talent for the WWE. It is a wonderful and interesting world of people, and a great opportunity to put his education and life experience to productive use.
Prior to joining the WWE, Mr. Ceman spent 2011 working as a fixed income analyst and apprentice trader for Mark Fishman at Diamondback Capital.
Prior to Diamondback Capital, Canyon served from 2009-2010 as Strategic CFO to the AVP (Pro Beach Volleyball Tour). During his tenure at the AVP, his primary foci were cost cutting, business development, and managing employees in both marketing and finance departments.
During the final years of his volleyball career in 2006-2008, while still competing full time on the AVP tour, Mr. Ceman started Canyon Consulting, a consulting practice that focused on business and financial planning for startups and cash flow management for distressed companies.
During his 15-year volleyball career, Mr. Ceman explored all aspects of the volleyball industry. He served on the Board of Directors when the company was a player run non- profit, he served as a player representative on AVP player committees, he obtained his own sponsorships, he negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreements on behalf of the player group, he worked for a volleyball apparel brand (Sideout) and he wrote and spoke about the sport of Professional Beach Volleyball frequently. He also published a variety of sports and travel themed writing in magazines and newspapers, did color commentary and sideline reporting in numerous Volleyball Television Broadcasts, and was a statistician for NBC at the 2004 Olympics.
Finally, from 1995-2006, Canyon invested both actively and passively in California and Central American Real Estate… raw land, condos, multi-family housing, single-family residences, and development projects, along with a few commercial enterprises.
“I first worked with Canyon in 2003, during the prime of his Pro Beach Volleyball career. Coincidentally, some of the same reasons he worked so well as a sponsored athlete were the same qualities that drew me back to him as a virtual CFO. Fast forward to 2007, when I was looking for a mild mannered, business savvy individual to join our team of virtual entrepreneurs. I was re-introduced to Canyon and he delivered from Day 1. The critical task on the list was to create an operating plan that could properly connect to our start-up business strategy, being prepared for the utmost scrutiny by angel investors. Once again, Canyon delivered. Perhaps the “cool under pressure” demeanor Canyon carries comes from performing in front of stadium crowds, or perhaps it is due to his extensive education from the halls of Stanford and UCLA… bottom line, Canyon brings a combination of skill and insight to the table that is exceptional.”
-Andrew Colehower, Managing Partner, Ola Beverage Company