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Fall 2011 Washington DC
Applications: Oct 30, '11
Sessions: Nov 09, '11 - Feb 29, '12

Vision

Our vision is to Globalize Silicon Valley by creating and fostering local startup ecosystems in promising markets across the globe. We aim to help launch 1,000 technology companies per year in over 75 cities worldwide.

Join the Program

42 Mentors

Fall 2011 Washington DC

The Founder Institute carefully recruits approximately 25 Mentors per Semester, who are normally the CEO or founder of a successful startup. The Mentors are selected based on their ability to convey lessons learned on a topic in the curriculum and help participating Founders by sharing their relevant experiences. Mentors are accessible to Founders in the program during the sessions and through email. The shared equity upside of each Semester encourages supportive and collaborative relationships with the Mentors.

The Institute recruits some of the Mentors after a Semester has launched to match the needs of Founders with the skills of Mentors.

Adeo Ressi

CEO, TheFunded.com

Adeo Ressi is Founding Member of TheFunded.com, an online community of 17,000 CEOs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide. Adeo also runs the Founder Institute, a mentoring program that helps entrepreneurs launch hundreds of world-class companies each year. The Institute is the eighth start-up that Adeo has founded or built, four of which were acquired and three of which are still operating.

Ajay Sravanapudi

Founder/CEO, LucidMedia

Ajay Sravanapudi is the Founder and CEO of LucidMedia, a leading Demand Side Platform in display advertising. For the past 10 years, as he transformed a three person startup in telecom in 2000, into a cutting edge business in advertising, Ajay has seen and regrettably, experienced more than his fair share venture capital related "issues". Prior to starting LucidMedia, Ajay was the VP of Product Architecture at Versatility. Prior to that he was a Principal at American Management Systems (now CGI-AMS). He received a M.S. in Information Management from Penn State University in 1990 and a B.S. from IIT Madras in 1987.

Andy Louis Charles

VP, Business Development, CustomInk.com

Andy Louis-Charles is the Vice President of Business Development of CustomInk — one of the largest online custom apparel companies in the US — where he leads the company's strategic investments and partnership opportunities. Over his career, Andy has founded, managed, and invested in numerous companies and investment partnerships. Andy received a Bachelor’s of Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech where he was inducted into the ANAK Society, the highest senior honor. Subsequently, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida College of Law, where he graduated cum laude. Andy won First Place Honors at Harvard Business School’s AASU – Entrepreneurial Ventures Competition. He subsequently leveraged Harvard’s $10K cash award into a multi-million dollar commercial real estate venture which he exited in 2007. Andy has been a contributor and equity analyst for The Motley Fool as well as a featured analyst on CNBC Worldwide. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Andy has served on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations and currently advises several startups.

Bill Schafer

CEO, Digital DME

Strong entrepreneurial management and executive leadership experience in the healthcare software industry. Founded and led OrthoSpot increasing revenue from $60k in 2001 to $1.8M in 18 months with 5 people who knew nothing about the orthopedc industry. Restructured business model and developed distribution channel resulting in immediate growth in net revenue.

Brent Halliburton

VP Products, Verve Wireless

Brent Halliburton is currently the VP, Products at Verve Wireless after Verve acquired his start-up, Deconstruct Media. Started and sold multiple companies, worked in technology consulting (Group Cortex, Hackett Group, Booz Allen), big companies (Booz Allen, Aol, Advertising.com), and small companies (Group Cortex, MillStar, Deconstruct Media, Verve Wireless). Broad range of technology expertise: Enterprise software, consumer web apps, online advertising. Read his blog at http://www.cogmap.com/blog/

Cynthia Traeger

CEO, Pacific Siren International

Cynthia Traeger concurrently serves as CEO, Pacific Siren International LLC and President, VSI Pacific. Previously, CEO, Pacific, 2006 - Present; President, VSI Pacific, 2009 - Present; President & CEO, VSI, 1989 - 2009. An active business and community leader, Ms. Traeger donates time in a wide variety of philanthropic, artistic and entrepreneurial organizations including the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and is a mentor to the George Washington University’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Network. Ms. Traeger serves as an advisor to the board, Faulkner Information, was a participant and author with the American Bar Association's Digital Evidence Work Group, and has been a contributor to the Journal of the ACM Special Interest Group on Graphics. Her contributions to the Telecommunications Development Fund's Corporate Governance Project received the highest regards by the Emerging Business Forum and Washington Post. Ms. Traeger served as a Corporate Ambassador for Vital Voices’ Corporate Ambassadors Program (CAP) launched in cooperation with the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) at the U.S. Department of State.

Dan Solomon

Managing Director, Builder LLC.

Dan is an accomplished entrepreneur as well as a recognized expert in marketing and communications. He is currently Managing Director of Builder, LLC providing strategic counsel and business development assistance to several corporations in the media, health care, and education industries. He co-authored Media Rules!: Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect with and Keep Your Audience, published by Wiley in 2008 and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Dan served as CEO of Virilion, a full-service digital agency for almost ten years. During Dan’s tenure, the firm grew to have offices in Austin, Boston, New York and Washington, DC, and have as clients leading organizations, such as eBay, Anheuser Busch, Abbott Labs, Sirius/XM Radio and UNICEF. Under Dan’s leadership, Virilion was named to INC Magazine’s 5000 Fast Growing Companies for three consecutive years and received numerous industry awards for the quality and effectiveness of its work. Virilion merged with RepEquity at the end of 2010. In addition to his responsibilities at Virilion, Dan served during 2010 as interim-Chief of Staff for the National Restaurant Association, which is one of the nation’s largest trade associations. Dan assisted the association’s CEO manage board relations, establish a new executive team, and accomplish numerous strategic objectives, including the consummation of a relationship with United Health Care to provide affordable insurance options to restaurateurs and negotiate with the White House regarding the industry’s involvement with the First Lady’s Let’s Move Initiative. Because of Dan’s business and marketing expertise, he has presented to numerous professional audiences, including: the PRSA Health Academy, Association of National Advertisers, PR News Best Practices Conference, and ASAE Great Ideas Conference as well as being quoted in major publications and appearing on television. Dan serves on several non-profit and corporate boards including: the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History as well as the Advisory Board for the College of Charleston’s Communications Department. Dan is also founder of the Politics Online Conference now hosted by George Washington University. Prior to joining Virilion, Dan was publisher of nationaljournal.com, National Journal Group’s “members only” Web site and general manager of National Journal’s Daily Briefings Group, which then included The Hotline, American Health Line and National Journal’s Technology Daily. He was also responsible for developing content syndication relationships with media organizations such as America Online and MSNBC. In 1999, Dan held a political appointment with the U.S. Department of Commerce and for five years before worked in senior legislative positions in the United States Senate for Senator Harris Wofford and Senator Daniel Akaka. He has also worked in a variety of capacities on state-wide political campaigns across the country. Dan practiced commercial law with the firm of Hale and Dorr and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Missouri. Dan is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota Law School. Dan and his wife, Laura Dove, daughter Abigail and son Jacob live in Alexandria, Virginia.

David Greene

Vice President and Financial Advisor , Bernstein Global Wealth Management

David Greene is a vice president and financial advisor in the Private Client Practice of Bernstein Global Wealth Management. He advises high-net-worth individuals and institutions regarding investment strategies and works closely with clients and their professional advisors on a wide range of investment matters, including tax and estate planning, concentrated stock positions, and the sale of privately held businesses. David has founded, advised, and managed several emerging technology companies on his own and through organizations including Active Angel Investors. He is a graduate of the Mindshare program, class of 2008, and of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.

David Bain

Founder / Chief Innovation Officer, VeraVid

As an inventor, my specialization is idea stage, Lean MVP validation, and defense of new ventures through intellectual property strategy. My current projects are Bump.com (west coast), VeraVid (east coast) and the Arlington Incubator with the County.

Dede Haskins

President/CEO, NewVision Health, Inc.

Founder and CEO of New Vision Health, a healthcare technology company. Experienced, award winning senior executive with a successful 20+ year career history with six of Northern Virginia’s fastest growing companies (Cigital, Proxicom, Legent, MAXM, XMCO, and RCI). Experienced in both commercial and government services environments. A highly organized, competitive leader, capable of teaming with peers and building high-performing teams to drive revenue generation. Strong record of improving customer satisfaction. Experienced in developing strategic plans, meeting organizational objectives, managing budgets and staff, and developing and managing performance and compensation plans. An impressive list of “firsts” in establishing new departments and new lines of business; marketing, growing, and spinning off product/service lines; and building and running professional services units. A dynamic speaker, recognized in the technology community, with an influential network of community leaders.

Ed Harrel

Managing Partner

Harrell knows a thing or two about making things happen. The Chevy Chase, Md., resident has more than 30 years of experience in managing private and public programs in the areas of privatization, technology commercialization, entrepreneurial training, capital market development, private investment in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East and early stage financing of technology companies. He has held senior managerial positions with Rohm & Haas Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., the State Department, the Agency for International Development and Price Waterhouse, LLP. Harrell also has served as executive director of the Murata Business Center incubator in Carlisle for three years, while he was an adjunct professor of International Business and Management at Dickinson College. He has lived and worked in India, Japan, Thailand and Jordan and is currently the Managing Partner of Harrell Partners, LLC, a family owned early stage equity investor in seed and early stage IT and biotech. Last fall, Harrell taught Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Financing at HU to six students, five of which are graduate students and have careers in technology. The sixth one is an undergraduate at the university.

Elana Fine

Director of Venture Investments, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

Director of Venture Investments, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

Eric Koefoot

Co-founder, Ascend Sales Partner

As co-founder of Ascend Sales Partner, Eric Koefoot helps companies make sense of the Internet and how it impacts their future, assists in the development of new revenue-generating products, and builds sustainable, profitable digital businesses. An experienced software executive and an Internet pioneer, Eric either founded or served as a senior executive for early-stage Internet companies since 1996. He was most recently the founding CEO and Publisher of U.S. News Ventures, a branded Internet publishing company funded in part by U.S. News & World Report. Prior to that role, he was co-founder and CEO of Five Star Alliance, a successful eCommerce startup in Alexandria, which became the largest independent booker of luxury hotels worldwide and was sold in 2007 for over a 10X return to investors in less than 3 years. For almost 7 years before that, Eric served in various executive roles at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), including CFO, VP of Business Development, VP of Strategy, VP of Operations and Technology, and then quite successfully as the VP of Sales for the division. Prior to WPNI, he worked for 9 years as a financial executive in product development at Ford Motor Company, consulted at Deloitte Consulting, and founded a startup company, PrimeSource, which provided financial and strategic consulting services to Fortune 500 clients. Eric has an engineering degree from M.I.T. and an MBA from the Sloan School at M.I.T. Eric is currently co-founder of his 5th startup venture - an enterprise software company that is operating in stealth development mode at this time.

Eric Wechselblatt

Partner, Holland & Knight

Eric Wechselblatt is a Partner in the firm's Business Law Group and Co-Chair of the firm's Venture Capital and Emerging Growth Companies Team. He represents clients in a variety of corporate and securities activities, with an emphasis on venture capital transactions and other private placements, mergers and acquisitions, debt transactions, and general corporate matters.

George Pappas

EVP Sales & Marketing, Presidium

High technology executive with deep cross-functional experience in R&D, Product Management, and Sales/Marketing. Have built and led a variety of high-growth organizations that create, market, and sell software products and services to a wide variety of organizations in industries including Financial Services, Telecommunications, US National Security Community, and Higher Education. Former EVP Sales & Marketing, Presidium; helped grow company to acquisition by Blackboard inc. Former EVP of Educap, leading technology-based Education Finance provider. Former CEO, Plesk inc - leading hosting infrastructure provider acquired by Parallels. Have strong Regional, National, and International experience. Was based in Hong Kong while running international operations for leading Internet payments provider CyberCash Have led R&D teams in US, India, Russia, Poland, and China. I am a member of the Edison Venture Fund Director's Network and a Board Member of their portfolio company, Motionsoft. I perform due diligence and assist in Entrepreneur deal structure creation and execution. A member of Greater DC Mindshare and MIssion LInk organizations of local High Tech Executives. Holder of Patent for Sales Risk Management system. Graduate of Boston University.

Glen Hellman

Principal, Driven Forward, LLC

Glen Hellman is a principal at Driven Forward LLC,. Mr. Hellman works with Venture Capital Investors as a turn-around CEO for troubled portfolio companies and has driven multiple successful IPOs and M&A exits. Mr Hellman has held senior executive positions for 3Com, Progress Software, Call Technologies, Ikimbo, Proxy Governance, Cloakware, Astracon and IntelliPark. He has managed companies for a list of investors that include: New Enterprise Associates, Cisco Ventures, Intel Ventures, Geocapital Partners, Menlo Ventures, Columbia Capital and Cross Atlantic Venture Partners. Mr. Hellman serves as coach and a member of the selection committees for both Cooley's Capital Call and the Dingman Center's Capital Access Network. He is a frequent guest lecturer on raising early stage capital at the University of Maryland's, RH Smith School of Business. In addition, he is a member of the Board of the University of Maryland, RH Smith School, Dingman Center For Entrepreneurship and is a Vistage Chair. Founder of TweetDingman, the ultimate fast pitch http://bit.ly/dG3t2i

Gregg Smith

CEO, KoolSpan

Gregg Smith was named CEO of KoolSpan in September 2011, bringing more than 25 years of technology and business leadership experience to the growing provider of mobile security solutions. As CEO, Smith leads the company’s overall strategic direction with an emphasis on sales, organizational development, and worldwide partnerships, with a goal to make KoolSpan’s TrustChip the No. 1 choice for mobile security and encryption. ??The KoolSpan Board selected Smith to lead the company due to his outstanding track record for delivering successful outcomes for several technology businesses large and small. Prior to KoolSpan, Smith served as CEO of Acuity Mobile, where he built the mobile marketing firm from a start-up to an industry leader. At Acuity, Smith negotiated agreements with brands including Harrah’s Entertainment, Urban Outfitters, and Acxiom, before negotiating the sale of Acuity to NAVTEQ, a billion dollar division of Nokia.??As President of Aether’s Enterprise Division, Gregg grew revenues from $3 million to $100 million, creating and launching products that won market share around the world, before negotiating a sale of the division to TeleCommunication Systems (TCS). After the sale, Gregg ran the division for TCS from 2005 to 2007. Previously, as Corporate Vice President and Senior Vice President of the Enterprise Division of Aether Systems (NASDAQ: AETH), Gregg was instrumental in building the wireless software solutions provider into a global leader with a $9 billion market capitalization in less than two years.

Jen O'Daniel

Senior Associate, CIT GAP Funds, Center for Innovative Technology

Jennifer O’Daniel is a Senior Associate at CIT GAP Funds. She is responsible for sourcing, diligencing and closing of seed and early stage investments. Throughout her career, O’Daniel has invested in 48 seed and early-stage companies via CIT GAP Funds which has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine's Annual VC100 list since 2006. O'Daniel is a member of the Young Atlantic Venture Association, MIT Enterprise Forum, CFA Society of Washington and the Young Venture Capital Society. In addition to serving on various board of directors for GAP portfolio companies, O’Daniel currently sits on the board of directors for The Richmond Venture Forum and has previously served on the boards of Leadership Fairfax, Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program, Virginia Tech Business Technology Center, and William and Mary's Technology and Business Center. Prior to joining CIT, O’Daniel worked with the Business/Technology Center in Blacksburg, Virginia spinning-out technology companies from Virginia Tech. O’Daniel also worked as a financial consultant making acquisitions for SVIT Holding Company in Maribor, Slovenia. She also started and ran two companies while in college – one with a successful outcome and the other a complete failure. O’Daniel holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Technology and a Bachelor or Science in Management from Virginia Tech.

Jesse Thomas

CEO and Founder, JESS3

Jesse Thomas is the CEO and founder of JESS3, a creative interactive agency specializing in data visualization, social strategy and visual storytelling. Thomas recently was named one of Washington's top 100 "Tech Titans" by Washingtonian magazine, and he has been profiled by Communication Arts, PSFK and Modern DC Business Magazine for his unconventional thinking, creative genius and expansive vision for his company – to fuse "Silicon Valley with Madison Avenue." Thomas is the executive creative director and ideator behind the comic book “The Zen of Steve Jobs” – a co-production between Forbes and JESS3 – due out later this year.

Jill Stelfox

Executive Vice President, Binary Group

Jill Stelfox is the CFO & EVP of Corporate Development at Binary Group. Jill has run four companies, including founding two venture capital backed technology companies. She has 15 years experience in the mobile & wireless software. She is a successful serial entrepreneur, having bought & sold dozens of companies, raised over fifty million in venture capital & returned over 1000X to investors.

Joe Bezdek

Co-Founder and Former Brand Director, DivX, Inc.

Joe Bezdek is a co-founder of DivX, Inc., the creator of the popular DivX video format and technology. While there, he filled a variety of roles in product management, marketing, and brand management, most recently as brand director. He left DivX in late 2007 to spend time with his wife and three young daughters, road tripping across the country in a variety of vehicles, including a 38-foot motorhome. He has BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M and The University of Texas - Austin, respectively, but he's terribly mechanically disinclined so don't ask him to fix anything. Currently he is the co-founder of Cloudtop, a company building mobile and web applications for pilots. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Rady Children's Hospital Foundation in San Diego.

Jonathon Perrelli

Founder & General Partner, Fortify.vc

An employee (UUNET) that grew into a Founder (Plesk, The Shadow Group, eTantrum, SecureSoftware, SecureForce) that became an Angel (Plaxo, FormSpring, FormStack, Blackridge, Brivo, and others), and in 2011 became a VC and founded Fortify.vc. in May of 2011. Jonathon's experience ranges from founding pre-IPO venture backed startups to executive level roles with publicly traded companies. Prior to becoming a VC, Jonathon was the Founder and CEO of SecureForce, a cyber security solutions provider serving the US Intelligence and DoD, as well as some of the country’s largest corporations. He continues to provide strategic leadership as Chairman of SecureForce. Other startups that he has co-founded include; Plesk (renamed “Parallels”) which is the largest platform for hosting automation in the world, The Shadow Group (acquired, and now part of BAE Systems), SecureSoftware (acquired by Foritfy Software, and subsequently by HP), and eTantrum which was the “other half of Napster” and ended up a casualty of the dot-com era. An early employee at UUNET (the largest ISP in the world now owned by Verizon) in the mid 1990’s, Jonathon served in various roles over a five-year period. Jonathon received his Bachelors of Science in Finance from Virginia Tech, is actively involved with VT IDEA (Virginia Tech Intelligence, Defense and Executive Alumni), serves as a Founders Institute Mentor, coaches Soccer and Lacrosse, and he is the proud Father of three future Hokies. Jonathon and his children reside in McLean, VA and he spends a good portion of his time on Virgin America flights between DC and Silicon Valley.

Joshua Konowe

Founder & CEO, Uppidy.com

Joshua Konowe is the CEO & Co-Founder of Uppidy.com. Uppidy let's everyone search, store and publish their text/sms messages for free. Previously, I founded and exited both BrandClick.com & eAgent.com. In the 90's I worked up and down Madison Ave. for Nielsen, TheDeal.com, IImagazine, & Katz Radio Group. I have a BA from the University of Kentucky in Ancient European Civilization which only took me 5 years and 3 summers to barely complete.

Kristi Hedges

Principal/CEO, The Hedges Company

Kristi Hedges is the Principal at The Hedges Company, a business and leadership coaching company. She is also the author of Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others. Prior to The Hedges Company, she was co-founder and principal of one of the top technology public relations firms in the Washington, D.C. area which she operated for nearly a decade before successfully selling her corporate interest. She is an experienced entrepreneur, communications professional and trained leadership coach, and writes about leadership for Forbes.com and penned the monthly column "The Leadership Factor" for Entrepreneur.com. Hedges has also been named one of the "50 Women Who Mean Business in Washington, D.C." and as an owner of a top 25 Largest Women-Owned Businesses by the Washington Business Journal.

Kurt Baumann

CEO, Kadoo, Inc.

Currently CEO of Kadoo a startup in the social video sharing space, we make it private. In the past I have founded the first TCP/IP (internet) software company on the Macintosh (InterCon Systems), the first commercial ISP in Japan (IIKK), was SVP at PSINet for Consumer products / services, funded and did strategy for one of the first web calendards (WebCal) sold to Yahoo, spun a 135M organization out of PSINet in the late 90's (Inter.Net), and have sat on various boards. Attended the University of Illinois, worked on the PLATO system a ground breaking computer based educational system which was the inspiration for several games (Everquest).

Leslie Bradshaw

President, COO and Co-founder, JESS3

Leslie Bradshaw is the president, COO and co-founder of JESS3, a creative interactive agency specializing in data visualization, UX, social strategy and visual storytelling. Named one of the top five female executives in the technology industry by Fast Company, Bradshaw has been described as the "operational energy" behind JESS3's explosive growth and international success. Leveraging her background in economics, anthropology and gender as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Chicago, Bradshaw is a trusted strategist and consultant for top brands including Intel, Nike, C-SPAN, Pfizer and Google. Since joining Jess3 in 2006, Bradshaw has grown the company's revenues more than 4,000 percent and built a transnational operations system to coordinate across five physical offices, 30 full-time employees and hundreds of contractors worldwide. The Wall Street Journal has recognized her not only as a Top Woman in Tech Under 30 but also as the "brains" driving the company forward. A native of Northern California and Oregon and a farmer at heart, Bradshaw also writes a Forbes column about female entrepreneurship.

Liz Sara

Managing Director

Elizabeth Sara has 25 years of experience in the local high tech community as an entrepreneur, business leader, angel investor and philanthropist. In 2001, she founded Best Marketing, LLC to provide early stage software companies with strategic marketing, PR and business development services. Her company offers clients all the benefits of a full-scale, seasoned marketing department on a ‘virtual’ basis -- eliminating overhead and headcount associated with full-time staff. Since inception, she has worked with nearly 60 companies, assisting them in re-positioning their message, re-focusing their business model and target audience, planning and introducing new products, forging alliances with global firms, developing lead generation campaigns, gaining visibility in the press and with industry analysts, winning awards, acquiring companies, raising capital and increasing revenue. Previously, she played a principal role as co-founder of SpaceWorks, an eCommerce software company, where she facilitated its startup and growth to nearly $25 million in revenue; at America Online, where she designed the PR program and investor road show for the IPO; at United Press International, where she facilitated a turn-around strategy; and for LEXIS/NEXIS, where she was instrumental in the creation and successful launch of a new division. She is on the Board of Advisors of the Dingman Center of Entrepreneurship at the RH Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She has been a past adjunct professor in that MBA program. She is a member of Active Angel Investors and a frequent speaker on topics related to entrepreneurish, raising capital, and marketing.

Marisa Terrenzi

Partner, Holland & Knight

Marisa Terrenzi practices principally in the areas of business and corporate law, with an emphasis on venture capital transactions and other private placements, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters. Her clients are engaged in industry sectors including software, telecommunications, services, government contracts, and information technology. She has represented a number of leading venture capital and private equity firms in numerous transactions as well as a wide range of early stage and later stage companies.

Matt Mandell

Director, Simple Storage

Matt is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of several companies, and currently operates SimpleStorage.com and Store4Summer.com, storage companies in the Washington DC area. Matt has directed strategy of a $2.5B strategic procurement company and consults to government and private companies. Matt recently sold DCSnacks.com, a food delivery company and has operated companies in the food, logistics, technology, entertainment and consulting space. Matt's companies have been widely covered in national and local news outlets. He serves as a board member for non profit and for profit companies.

Matt Baker

CEO

Matt Baker is CEO of Bid4Assets. Matt has launched several companies which collectively raised over $300M from top-tier VC and strategic investors and achieved market leadership and profitability. He has been an active Angel investor and advisor to emerging growth companies for more than 15 years. Currently, he leads a group of investors and management team working on a roll-up, consolidation play and has created a trusted, on-line marketplace enabling transactions on value-oriented real estate (including distressed, foreclosed properties, opportunistic deals; etc.) In 2010, he sold 8,300 of these properties. Previously, Matt founded kajeet, a nationwide mobile and wireless carrier selling cellphones, Internet applications, interactive media and games to teens and tweens. At kajeet, Matt designed the technology architecture, recruited the executive management team, and negotiated long-term distribution agreements with Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart and with major record labels, gaming and media companies including: MTV, Nickelodeon, AOL, Google, EA, TimeWarner and others. Matt helped found iBAHN which is the leading global provider of Internet and data communications services to the hospitality industry. Prior to iBAHN, Matt was VP of Technology Strategy & Ventures for Marriott where he was responsible for developing new technology products, services and ventures. Matt was responsible for Marriott’s early Internet development and e-commerce strategies, including the first three generations of marriott.com, the first online distribution channel partnerships, the first web-based procurement/B2B services and the first Intranet service offerings. At Marriott, Matt also pioneered and developed systems delivering on-demand in-room movies and interactive media services setting the industry standards that still exist today. Matt has a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Matthew Bromberg

CEO & Founder, ImOK.com

Matt is the former CEO of Major League Gaming and Founder of I'mOK. He spent 5 years at AOL as GM of Moviefone, Consumer Products, and Games. Prior to AOL, he was the GM of Techweb (IPO'd and sold to United News and Media) and Deputy Publisher of American Lawyer Media (Sold to Bruce Wasserstein). He holds a JD from Harvard Law School. Full bio is available here: http://corp.imok.com/about

Naresh Verma

FI Mentor

Nick Baily

Founder, CEO / Principal, Reelgrid Media, Complex Ventures

Founder & Principal of Complex Ventures, LLC, a hub for startups in digital media located in NYC's Village Voice building, currently leading REELGRID, a just hatched new startup that aims to create a new model to mechanize the system for making intriguing, beautiful video for the digital era. Prior: Founder & CEO of Belgrave Trust, source for high design environmentally friendly products, gifts, and corporate programs. over a decade of experience in media, managing public profile of Oscar & Grammy winning entertainers (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Paul Simon, Minnie Driver) consumer initiatives for Fortune 500 companies/brands like Moet Hennessy and advocacy for groups like The Creative Coalition. Background in public policy, economics, and complex adaptive systems analysis and a passionate advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. Other activities include: Huffington Post columnist; speaker at SxSW; Wall Street Green Trading Summit, and a co-host for Founder Institute NYC.

Odysseas Papadimitriou

CEO & Founder, Evolution Finance

Odysseas Papadimitriou has more than ten years of experience in consumer lending and direct marketing. Prior to becoming the CEO of Evolution Finance (parent company of CardHub.com), he worked at Capital One for nearly eight years. During this time, Mr. Papadimitriou held various positions of increasing responsibility in areas including marketing strategy, new business development, new product development, credit risk management, and customer retention. As senior marketing director for Capital One, Mr. Papadimitriou headed all indirect marketing for the corporation's credit-card division. His many accomplishments include building from the ground up a large indirect credit-card business, managing a $550 million P&L, and spearheading the largest customer giveback in the history of Capital One. Mr. Papadimitriou believes that consumers are entitled to the constant assurance that they are using the correct financial products to fit their ever-changing needs; he also believes this assurance is not currently delivered within the industry. In response to these beliefs, Mr. Papadimitriou founded Evolution Finance in 2008. Evolution Finance combines the power of the marketplace, consumer education, data, and technology to constantly bring the right financial services to consumers. Odysseas Papadimitriou is widely recognized as an industry expert in personal finance and his views are regularly mentioned in leading publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and TheStreet.com. Mr. Papadimitriou graduated Magna Cum Laude and received Honors for his Senior Thesis while obtaining a double major - a B.A. in Economics and a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering - from Brown University in Rhode Island. He holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Mr. Papadimitriou is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi.

Robert Schumann

President & Co-Founder, DateNight

Mr Schumann is a serial entrepreneur who has more than 20 years of experience in developing and marketing technologies in consumer electronics, Web Services, large scale IT infrastructure and content security fields. Mr. Schumann is currently President and Co-founder of DateNight (www.itsadatenight.com) an emerging company focused on helping couples discover the joy of dating each other again. Mr. Schumann has been involved in founding and running multiple companies including as General Manager of the Cinea division of Dolby laboratories where he led Dolby’s work with content owners, computer manufacturers, and consumer electronics manufacturers on content protection. As the founder of Cinea in 1999 Mr. Schumann led Cinea through the raising of venture capital in 2002 and its subsequent sale to Dolby labs in 2003. In 2002 Cinea was awarded a coveted NIST Advanced Technology Program grant for $2M to develop anti-camcorder technologies based on technology Mr. Schumann was primary inventor of. Mr. Schumann is a frequent contributor and speaker at industry events including NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), Digital Hollywood, and IBC (International Broadcast Convention). Mr. Schumann has been featured in radio, television, and print articles and is a contributing author to DIGITAL CINEMA. Mr. Schumann has been a contributor on multiple industry standards efforts and is also a contributing author for the overview book Understanding Digital Cinema a Professional Handbook. Mr. Schumann was a founder officer of the Digital Watermarking Alliance and has contributed to a variety of industry technical standards. Prior to co-founding Cinea in 1999, Schumann was chief architect for the innovative Digital Video Express “DIVX” encrypted DVD platform. Earlier in his career, Schumann served in various senior information technology roles at Circuit City Stores, Inc. where he developed sophisticated secure telecommunication, transaction processing and customer support technologies. Mr Schumann has 17 issued and pending US patents and has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Class of 1985.

Roger Yee

Investor

Roger is a veteran of start-ups, having founded three companies that included investor-backed funding and successful exits through acquisitions and IPOs. His previous companies and executive roles include ShadowLogic, Inc. (CEO), a cybersecurity services company; LaunchFuel, Inc. (CTO), a technology venture accelerator; and AppNet, Inc. (VP) an Internet and electronic commerce solutions firm acquired by CommerceOne for $2.1B. Most recently, Roger was Vice President at BAE Systems responsible for global defense and security programs and was an executive with DigitalNet, Inc. which was acquired by BAE Systems for $600M in 2004. Roger's work has been featured in The Washington Post, Federal Computing Week, Washington Technology, Government Security News and is a frequent invited speaker at government and industry events. He is currently an angel investor and LP with fortify.vc

Simon Rakoff

CEO, FocusLab

Simon Rakoff is the founder and CEO of FocusLab. FocusLab works closely with elite athletes, performing artists, and senior executives to help them achieve peak performance through increased focus, attention, awareness and relaxation. Simon has founded and built both software and professional services companies. In 1998 he founded a software company who did pioneering work in real time Internet usability and dynamic experience software applications. Simon built out the senior management team, raised more than $10 million in venture capital and negotiated a $30 million dollar acquisition offer. Simon is a former firefighter, paramedic, and technical rescue specialist. Simon holds undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Administration of Justice, a Masters degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) at George Mason University, and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University.

Tanya Renne

Cofounder and CEO, Orchid

As co-founder and CEO of Orchid, Tanya manages the growth and vision of the company. She has led her team from start-up to now being a competitive player in a challenging and crowed market. This process has lead her to multiple crossroads and challenges around diversification, channel strategies, and product development. Tanya brings a range of expertise and talents to her work with tenacity, determination and legendary persistance. She is highly skilled in multiple stages of development, product profitability, needs-assessment, design, data and financial modeling. She'll run through a wall whenever necessary. Tanya graduated with honors from Colorado College 400 years ago and received her master's degree in sociology from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) while on a Fulbright. She published a book called "Ana's Land: Sisterhood in Eastern Europe" which can be found on Amazon, used book stores, and remainder piles if you are lucky. She's a great cook and has rusty fluency in a handful of useless languages.

Tim Keough

Founder & CEO, Kinsail Corporation

Tim Keough is the founder and CEO of Kinsail Corporation, a leading provider of solutions that enable organizations to automate and bring online information and payment processes like permitting, applications, registrations, licenses, and more. Tim has founded several other companies (AperServ, Zona Financiera, and Virtual Loan Corp) raising approximately $50 million in VC funding. Tim went to George Mason University on a full academic scholarship and enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters as well as attempting to remain active.

Tom Brooks

Partner, Holland & Knight

Thomas W. Brooke practices intellectual property law at Holland & Knight. Mr. Brooke handles matters involving trademark, copyright, trade secret and patent litigation, trademark and copyright prosecution, drafting license and technology transfer agreements, and all forms of intellectual property counseling. He is a member of the firm's task force on electronic discovery.

Tonya Harmon

FI Mentor

Tonya Harmon is leading the expansion of CareWorks in the US. As the Affordable Care Act revolutionizes the way social care is managed in this country, Tonya is excited to be part of a team that is on the forefront of this change. Tonya is the founder of Harmony Information Systems, Inc., where she raised over $40M in funding. Tonya was selected as a winner for the 2009 Top 100 CEOs for the Greater DC Area; 2007 and 2008 winner of the SmartCEO Top 50 Women Entrepreneurs; and was a 2008 finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year from Women in Technology. Tonya leads the Greater DC Area Chapter of the Founder Institute and is dedicated to developing the leadership skills of up and coming high tech entrepreneurs. Tonya is a passionate and frequent speaker on the topic of women and entrepreneurship. Prior to founding Harmony, Tonya ran her own consulting company, providing strategic counsel to human services organizations across the commonwealth of Virginia with a focus on performance management improvements through the use of technology. Tonya is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, in Ontario, Canada, and a former MS candidate at the George Washington University.

Vinnie Lauria

Co-Founder, Lefora.com

Vinnie Lauria co-founded Lefora.com in San Francisco, a forum hosting service for communities on the web. In less than 3 years, Lefora grew to over 100,000 communities and was acquired by CrowdGather, Inc. in the summer of 2010. Vinnie also started the Silicon Valley NewTech meetup and grew it to over 7,000 members, with hundreds of startups demoing and launching their product at the monthly events. Prior to Lefora, Vinnie was part of the Meetro.com team building a location-aware IM client. Earlier in his career, Vinnie helped shape how IBM was approaching social software as an emerging and disruptive technology. He can be contacted at vinnie@vinnie.net

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