Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based CEO’ operating in the Consumer Goods space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Edward W. Stack
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Dick’s Sporting Goods
Edward W. Stack has served as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 1984 when the founder and Edward Stack’s father, Richard “Dick” Stack, retired from our then two store chain. Mr. Edward Stack has served us full time since 1977 in a variety of positions, including President, Store Manager and Merchandise Manager.
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About Dick’s Sporting Goods: Dick’s Sporting Goods is an authentic full-line sporting goods retailer offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment
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Jeremy Andrus
CEO of Traeger Pellet Grills
Jeremy Andrus joined Traeger Wood Pellet Grills as President & CEO in January, 2014 and acquired the business alongside private equity fund Trilantic Capital Partners in July of that year. Prior to Traeger, he served as President and CEO of Skullcandy as well as on its board of directors. In eight years, Jeremy helped grow Skullcandy’s annual sales from less than $1 million to nearly $300 million. He served as Director of Strategic Planning and Acquisitions for boutique hotel owner and operator Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Group from 2003 to 2005 and managed his own hotel development projects focused on Marriott franchise properties from 1998-2002. He served as a Consultant for Monitor Company from 1996 to 1998. Jeremy currently sits on the boards of directors for Wilson Electronics, PurePredictive and TrueGreece, and was formerly a board member of Goal Zero. He volunteers on the loan committee for refugee microfinance agency International Rescue Committee. Jeremy received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.A. from Brigham Young University. He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and four daughters.
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About Traeger Pellet Grills: Traeger Pellet Grills is a manufacturer of wood pellet grills for outdoor cooking.
Davis Smith
Founder & CEO of Cotopaxi
Davis is the CEO of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand with a social mission at its core. Davis was named CEO of the Year 2016 by Silicon Valley Community Foundation and is a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council. He was previously the Co-CEO of Baby.com.br and Dinda.com.br, Brazil’s Startup of the Year in 2012, which raised over $40M in venture capital. In 2004, he also founded, and later sold, PoolTables.com, America’s largest pool table retailer. Davis holds an MBA from the Wharton School, an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute, and a BA from Brigham Young University.
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About Cotopaxi: Cotopaxi is an outdoor brand with a humanitarian mission at its core.
Lauren Schulte Wang
Founder & CEO of The Flex Co.
Lauren Schulte Wang is the founder & CEO of The Flex Company. Lauren has spent over a decade building leading consumer brands for companies including Coca-Cola, Autodesk, and IBM. She frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and entrepreneurship and has been featured in The Economist, TechCrunch, OZY, The New Yorker, WIRED, The Washington Post and NPR. Lauren holds a Marketing degree from Georgia State University Robinson College of Business.
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About The Flex Co.: The Flex Co. is the top-selling sustainable period care brand known for creating a more comfortable period for everyone.
Jake Kassan
CEO/Co-Founder of MVMT
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About MVMT: MVMT (pronounced movement) is a watchmaker company, founded on the belief that style shouldn’t break the bank.
Jake Kassan
CEO/Co-Founder of MVMT
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About MVMT: MVMT (pronounced movement) is a watchmaker company, founded on the belief that style shouldn’t break the bank.
Daniel Rotman
Founder & CEO of PrettyLitter
Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership Fellow. Founder and CEO of PrettyLitter.
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About PrettyLitter: PrettyLitter’s lightweight litter monitors feline health by changing colors when it detects potential issues through your cat’s urine.
Todd Siwak
Chief Executive Officer of Ferrara Candy
Todd Siwak is CEO of the Ferrara Candy Company. Prior to joining Ferrara, he was an operating partner at Catterton Partners, one of the largest consumer-focused private equity groups in the United States. He brings to Ferrara a wealth of leadership experience in sales, marketing, operations, and management, with a specific focus on the consumer packaged-goods industry. Todd’s career has been defined by his entrepreneurial spirit, which has led him to build several companies that have experienced quick and dramatic growth. Before joining Catterton, Todd was co-founder of TRG Accessories, an international manufacturer and distributor of travel gear and accessories (global licensee for Swiss Army, Timberland, Callaway Golf); Verimetrix, a developer, manufacturer, and supplier of diagnostic medical equipment; and Mindseye Group, a boutique private equity firm with a focus on consumer and health care companies. He began his career as Executive Vice President of Paramount Headwear, where, under his sales leadership, the company quadrupled in size and became the largest headwear manufacturer in North America. In 2002, Todd was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He holds a J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and a B.S. in economics from the University of Missouri- Columbia.
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About Ferrara Candy: Ferrara Candy is virtual tours of the making of Lemonheads, Red Hots, Gummies, Jawbusters, Boston Baked Beans and Atomic Fireballs.
David Lortscher
Co-Founder & CEO of Curology
David Lortscher, MD, is a licensed physician and a board-certified dermatologist. While working at a small but very busy dermatology practice in New Mexico, Dr. Lortscher saw that there were economic, geographical, and psychological barriers to seeing a dermatologist. He also noticed how changes in a person’s skin can have a tremendous impact on his or her life both socially and emotionally – and that’s when he had the idea to create Curology. Since its launch in 2014, Curology has been dedicated to removing barriers and helping people feel good about their skin. In addition to seeing patients at Curology, Dr. Lortscher serves as a remote dermatology consultant for the American Academy of Dermatology’s AccessDerm program.
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About Curology: Curology is a cosmetic company that provides actual prescription skincare customized for their skin and delivered to their door.
Jonathan Regev
Co-Founder, CEO of The Farmer’s Dog
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About The Farmer’s Dog: A smarter, healthier pet food — delivered. #longlivedogs
Kirk Tanner
CEO PepsiCo Beverages North America of PepsiCo
Kirk Tanner is president and chief operating officer of North America Beverages (NAB). He assumed his current role in March, 2016. A 24-year veteran of PepsiCo with strong leadership experience across beverages, snacks and foodservice, Kirk leads all aspects of PepsiCo’s beverage business in North America. Prior to this role, Kirk was chief operating officer of NAB and president of Global Foodservice. Under his leadership, the division introduced on-trend, transformative innovation including the Pepsi Spire fountain portfolio, STUBBORN Soda, Doritos Loaded and Hello Goodness Vending. In his role as chief operating officer of NAB, he was responsible for expanding partnerships and driving growth across PepsiCo’s foodservice and retail customer base in North America and foodservice operations globally. In his PepsiCo career, Kirk has lived and worked in 11 domestic and international locations and has had numerous positions, including senior vice president, Frito-Lay West Division and vice president of sales of PepsiCo in the UK and Ireland. His vast experience across sales, operations, customer marketing, distribution and channel development has given him a deep understanding of PepsiCo’s go-to-market systems, both in foods and beverages, as well as the varying needs of customers and consumers all over the world. Kirk has led several successful multi-cultural initiatives that resulted in multiple product introductions across the food and beverage portfolio.
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About PepsiCo: PepsiCo operates as a food and beverage company worldwide.
Ramon Laguarta
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo
Ramon Laguarta is Chief Executive Officer, Europe Sub-Saharan Africa, with responsibility for leading our food and beverages businesses across Europe and our food business in Sub-Saharan Africa. This role was effective in January 2015. Prior to this role, from November 2008, Ramon was President, PepsiCo Eastern Europe Region. Before that, from 2006 to 2008, he served as Commercial Vice President of Europe. From 2002 to 2006, he was General Manager for Iberia Snacks and Juices, and from 1999 to 2001 a General Manager for Greece Snacks and Marketing Vice President for Spain Snacks. Ramon joined PepsiCo in January 1996. Previous to PepsiCo, he worked for Chupa Chups, S.A., a Spanish leading confectionery company, where he held a number of international roles in Europe and the U.S. Ramon holds an MBA from ESADE Business School in Spain and a Master’s in International Management (M&M) from Thunderbird School of Global Management in the U.S.
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About PepsiCo: PepsiCo operates as a food and beverage company worldwide.
Albert Carey
Chief Executive Officer, North America of PepsiCo
Having served in a number of senior executive positions at PepsiCo, Inc., a consumer products company, Mr. Carey enhances our Board’s experience in and oversight of retail, supply chain and marketing matters, as well as contributing to the general management and strategic business development skills of our Board. In 2011, Mr. Carey was named Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo North America Beverages, assuming responsibilities for all aspects of PepsiCo’s beverages business in the Americas. From 2006 to 2011, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Frito-Lay North America, a snack food company and the largest North American business division of PepsiCo. He also served as President of PepsiCo Sales, the sales division of PepsiCo, from 2003 to 2006, in charge of PepsiCo’s sales and customer management for its retail, food service and fountain businesses. Other positions that Mr. Carey has held at PepsiCo, Inc. include Chief Operating Officer of PepsiCo Beverages & Foods North America, Senior Vice President of Sales for Pepsi-Cola North America and Chief Operating Officer of Frito-Lay North America. Prior to his career at PepsiCo, Mr. Carey spent seven years at Procter & Gamble.
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About PepsiCo: PepsiCo operates as a food and beverage company worldwide.
Laxman Narasimhan
Chief Executive Officer, Latin America of PepsiCo
Laxman Narasimhan is the chief executive officer of PepsiCo Latin America. PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $63 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. PepsiCo’s main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. Laxman assumed the position in September 2014. He leads PepsiCo’s food and beverage business across Latin America and reports to PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi. The business covers PepsiCo’s food and beverage businesses in Mexico, Brazil, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. He previously served as the senior vice president and CFO of PepsiCo Americas Foods based in Purchase, New York, which covered the important businesses of Frito-Lay, Quaker and PepsiCo’s Latin America Foods. Prior to PepsiCo, Laxman was a director and location manager of McKinsey’s New Delhi Office. He worked with McKinsey for 19 years around the world, including rotations in Cleveland, Tokyo, Toronto, San Francisco and New Delhi. He had responsibility for consumer-facing industries in India, co-led the Global Consumer and Shopper Insights Practice and led McKinsey’s research on the emerging market consumer. He has worked across multiple industries, including consumer, retail, energy, manufacturing, technology and healthcare. Previously, Laxman co-led the Global Retail Knowledge Council of McKinsey’s Retail Practice.
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About PepsiCo: PepsiCo operates as a food and beverage company worldwide.
Heather Hartnett
CEO and Founding Partner of Human Ventures
Heather Hartnett is the CEO and founding partner of Human Ventures, an early-stage venture studio in NYC that backs and builds industry-changing business. Heather has spent her career in venture capital, technology startups, and philanthropy. She was recently featured in Business Insider as “the first female-led startup studio in New York City” bringing a fresh new perspective to the tech scene. Heather also serves on the Leadership Council for tech:nyc. Prior to Human Ventures, Heather incubated companies within a NYC-based venture fund that invests in companies seeking to generate measurable social impact alongside financial returns. Heather leads the Human team with a knack for identifying innate talent, and a track record of building strong, successful early teams.
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About AARP, Human Ventures: Human Ventures is a business creation platform, comprised of a venture fund, studio and enterprise agency.
Justin Guilbert
Founder & Co-CEO of Bravo Sierra
Justin Guilbert is a co-founder and co-CEO at Bravo Sierra.
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About Bravo Sierra, GoodFish, Harmless Harvest, Intraloop: Bravo Sierra is the military-native performance wellness company.
Justin Wang
CEO of LARQ
Justin Wang serves as the Chief Executive Officer at LARQ.
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About LARQ: LARQ helps people access pristine drinking water easily and sustainably.
Jennifer Hyman
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Rent the Runway
Jennifer Hyman is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rent the Runway, a fashion company with a technology soul that is disrupting the way women get dressed. In her role, she sets the strategic priorities of the business and leads the company in growing all areas of the business, including marketing, technology, product, and analytics. She co-founded Rent the Runway in 2009 with Jennifer Fleiss, and has since raised $126 million in venture capital, growing the business to over 6 million members, 950 employees and 400 designer brands. Jennifer has been honored with numerous recognitions including: Forbes’ “Women Entrepreneurs to Watch”, TriBeCa Film Festival’s “Disruptive Innovation Awards”, Fortune Magazine’s “Trailblazers, 11 People Changing Business in 2013,” “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs,” and “40 Under 40”; Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30”; and Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology.” She has been a featured speaker at Fortune Brainstorm Tech, the Forbes Women’s Summit, Tech Crunch Disrupt, and Marie Claire’s Power Trip, and has appeared as a guest on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and CNN Money, among many others. In 2015, Jennifer launched the Rent the Runway Foundation with Jennifer Fleiss to inspire and ignite the next generation of female entrepreneurs. The foundation’s first initiative, in partnership with UBS, is Project Entrepreneur, a venture competition and educational program designed to provide women entrepreneurs nationwide with the tools to build high-growth, high-impact businesses. Prior to Rent the Runway, Jennifer was the Director of Business Development at IMG where she focused on the creation of new media businesses for IMG’s Fashion Division. She also ran an online advertising sales team at WeddingChannel.com and was an in-house entrepreneur at Starwood Hotels, creating Starwood’s first wedding business which was recognized on the Oprah Winfrey Show for its innovation. She received her BA from Harvard University and MBA from Harvard Business School. Jennifer is a Bloomberg Fellow, a TechStars mentor, and a member of both the Entrepreneurship Board at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Women in Business Board at Harvard University. She is an investor in and advisor to several high-growth startups throughout the U.S.
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About Brit + Co, Rent the Runway, Zalando: Rent the Runway is an online e-commerce website that allows women to rent designer apparel and accessories.
Geoffrey Martin
President and Chief Executive Officer of CCL Industries
Geoffrey Martin joined CCL as President of CCL Label in April 2001. In May 2005 he assumed the role of President and COO of CCL Industries and President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2008. He is responsible for all CCL’s operating units including the Label, Avery and Container businesses. Martin is an international business leader with a proven track record in turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining CCL, he was the Senior Group Vice President, Worldwide Converting Graphic and Specialty Tapes with Avery Dennison.
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About CCL Industries: CCL is the largest label company in the world and provides innovative solutions.
Don Thompson
Founder and CEO of Cleveland Avenue
As President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Don Thompson leads the world’s largest foodservice company. McDonald’s serves 70 million customers everyday in more than 100 countries and employs 1.8 million people across the globe in corporate and restaurant positions. During his 23 years at McDonald’s, Thompson has helped drive business results and global strategic innovation across the organization. Since joining as an electrical engineer in 1990, he has held a variety of key leadership positions within the company including Regional Vice President, Division President and Chief Operating Officer. Between 2006 and 2010, Thompson served as President of McDonald’s USA, the company’s largest business segment. Most recently as President and COO of McDonald’s Corporation, Thompson and his leadership team established three global growth priorities in support of the McDonald’s Plan to Win: to optimize the menu, modernize the customer experience and broaden restaurant accessibility. In July 2012, Thompson became President and CEO and is leading the company on its mission to become “our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink.” A true advocate of collaboration and believer in the strength of the McDonald’s three legged stool, Thompson and his leadership team work closely with the 5,000 independent owner/operators, corporate staff and restaurant employees around the world as well as countless McDonald’s suppliers. A leader in the business community, Don serves on the Board of Directors for McDonald’s Corporation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Purdue University. Thompson also serves as a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, The Economic Club, World Business Chicago and the Brazier Foundation. Thompson has been recognized for his leadership and passion by the Illinois Holocaust Museum (2012 Humanitarian Award), the Executive Leadership Council (2010 Corporate Award), the Trumpet Foundation (2008 Corporate Executive Award), and Black Enterprise (2007 Corporate Executive of the Year). Thompson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an honorary Doctorate in Science degree from Excelsior College. Thompson resides in the Chicagoland area with his wife and two children.
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About Cleveland Avenue: Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based venture fund and accelerator that invests in food, beverage, and tech businesses.
Donald Thompson
CEO and Founder of Cleveland Avenue
Don celebrates people and drives results. His 25-year ascension through the ranks of McDonald’s Corporation to become its President and CEO is one of the most respected career trajectories in corporate America. An electrical engineer by education and trade, Don approached his leadership of the world’s largest restaurant chain in a strategically methodical manner, while still embracing the warmth and enthusiasm of the dynamic teams around the world. He’s a heart leader with a head for serious business, as evidenced by his achievements such as developing the global platforms for the company’s beverages, sustainability and digital initiatives. In 2015, Don left McDonald’s to form Cleveland Avenue, LLC, bringing together his vast restaurant expertise and engineering experience with his passion for innovation, digital trends and startup concepts. Don leads the CA team in bringing creative and consumer-focused restaurant, food and beverage ideas to reality. Don is committed to mentoring others, fueled by his foundation in faith, family and community. Not to be outdone by the culinary geniuses he regularly encounters, Don occasionally dons a chef’s hat of his own, and enjoys cooking for family and friends.
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About Cleveland Avenue: Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based venture fund and accelerator that invests in food, beverage, and tech businesses.
Greg Fleishman
Co-Founder & CEO + Board Member of Foodstirs
Greg Fleishman is the Co-Founder and CEO at Foodstirs.
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About Fata & Fleishman Mentorship, Foodstirs, Modern Alkeme, Purely Righteous Brands LLC, Springdale Ventures: Foodstirs is an omni-channel junk-free baking brand that helps people connect through the power of better-for-you sweet baked goods.
Nandeet Mehta
CEO & Founder of Pyur Solutions
Nandeet Mehta has been called a competitor by Forbes, and one of “The Youngest Venture Capitalist” by Huffington Post for starting his career in Venture Capital at the young age of 18. Nandeet has experience in the VC world being a Partner & Co-Founder of Prototype Capital. He was previously at Anthos Capital, Space Angels Network, and Science Inc. He graduated UCLA as an Edison Scholar and History student in 2017. During his time as a student, he had his first successful exit with Third Eye Technologies, acquired by TheBlindGuide, and co-created and co-lectured the “Self-Innovations Lab: Converting Academic Expertise to Industry Expertise” accredited class at UCLA. He was named to the University of California Office of the President 2016 “30 Under 30” for his work in Agricultural Innovation with Pyur Solutions. Nandeet was also awarded as a Kairos Society Fellow for Pyur Solutions and is the most recent addition as an Executive to Kairos Society and on the board of Wanderset. His experience also includes a myriad of internships at Fortune 500 companies and startups including Lyft, T-mobile, Ubisoft, Dell and Samsung. Mehta strives to express his passions through speaking at conferences, university events, moderating panels, and writing as a contributor to TechCrunch and Huffington Post.
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About Afore Capital, AON3D, Aura Health, Donut Media, FaZe Clan, Ghost Robotics, Grishin Robotics, Hightouch, Kiwibot, Orai, Prototype Capital, Pyur Solutions, TechCrunch, theCut, ViaBot: A cpg-focused, house of brands building a series of contemporary brands that cohesively addresses multiple touchpoints of daily life.
Eric White
Chief Executive Officer of Dividend Finance
Seasoned distributed energy resources / energy transition and fintech entrepreneur with a passion for conceptualizing and designing innovative financial structures, products and business strategies that breakdown capital barriers and empower underserved markets.
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About Dividend Finance: Dividend Finance is a Technology-enabled finance platform supporting the energy transition with lending and other financial solutions.
Moawia Eldeeb
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Tempo
Moawia Eldeeb is the co-founder and CEO of Tempo.
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About Tempo: Tempo is a home fitness platform, combining equipment, training guidance, and social motivation with 3D sensors and artificial intelligence.
Kim Stiefel
CEO & Co-Founder of Repeat
Kim Stiefel is the CEO and Co-Founder of PRZM.
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About Repeat: Repeat is a SaaS platform that enables consumer-packaged-goods brands to turn one-time buyers into repeat customers.
Stuart Landesberg
Co-Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative
Stuart Landesberg is the Co-Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative, the leading digital-first brand & ecommerce platform for natural home and personal care. Stu has long been passionate about sustainability. He founded Grove, which has been a Certified B Corp since its founding, after learning that offline distribution meant that just a small percentage of families were choosing healthy, sustainable home care products. Grove now serves hundreds of thousands of households in the U.S. every month and has raised over $100 million in total capital. Stu was previously an investor at TPG Growth, where he was involved in over $400 million in consumer and technology investments. Stu and his wife Caitlin live in San Francisco with their daughter and dog, and spend as much time outside as possible.
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About Grove Collaborative: Grove creates and curates high-performing, planet-first home and personal care products and is the leader in zero-plastic CPG.
Sargam Patel
CEO of Rite Development Lab
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About Agent18, Rite Development Lab: Changing at home coffee experience. Rite’s first product is an innovative French press (cafetière) .
Bryan Welfel
Chairman & CEO of The Beard Club
Bryan Welfel is a business and technology strategist behind a number of successful direct to consumer businesses. From inception, Bryan has brought a number of companies to market with a blend of strong brand play and performance marketing to achieve fast and profitable growth. Bryan was the founder of JSwipe, a dating app which launched in 2014 and sold one year later to Spark Networks (NYSE: LOV), a founding investor and now Chairman and CEO of The Beard Club, a men’s grooming subscription business founded in 2015, and is a partner in iotty, a high-end Italian smart home technology company.
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About The Beard Club: The Beard Club helps men look their best by providing high-quality grooming products at affordable prices delivered right to their door.
Amrita Saigal
CEO & Founder of Kudos
Amrita Saigal is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kudos.
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About Kudos, Zera Life: Kudos is a retail company that offers natural disposable baby diapers with cotton liners.
Bentley Hall
CEO of Good Eggs
Bentley is a passionate, driven entrepreneur, who helps small consumer businesses become big – often very quickly. Ever since he was a kid, he has been fascinated with understanding how high growth companies achieve scale, disrupt industries and change the world we live in. After spending time with Johnson & Johnson and Clif Bar, he joined the Plum Organics team as employee #3 and was fortunate to hold a variety of executive roles, in multiple countries, as the business launched from $0 to ~$100+ million in annual sales in under 7 years. In 2013, the business was successfully sold to the Campbell Soup Co. Others have called him a creative problem solver, a levelheaded leader, an optimist, a self starter, a builder and a collaborator. While he is technically a certified accountant (CMA), he does not mention this at parties. Devoted to a lifetime of learning, he is continually humbled by how little he actually knew the previous year. Originally from just north of Boston, he now lives in Marin, California and spends as much time as possible outdoors (skiing, trail running, cycling, camping, stand up paddle boarding), eating tasty food and laughing with his wife, close friends and two young sons.
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About Good Eggs, Smallholding Investments: Good Eggs is an online grocer and meal kit delivery service with a mission to reinvent the food system, for good.
Jeff Russakow
CEO of Boosted USA
Jeff Russakow is CEO of Boosted, a leading provider of lightweight, portable, high-performance electric vehicles, and an innovator in fast, fun, simple “last-mile” transportation. The company is well-known for it’s first commercial product, the Boosted Board, a premier electric longboard used by riders worldwide to speed their commutes and daily trips about town. The company is now navigating the dual challenges of extraordinary hyper-growth and international expansion, while continuing to explore new and innovative ways to get folks where they need to be. Jeff began his career as a PhD in robotics and autonomous systems; spent many formative years as a management consultant and then senior executive in large-scale tech companies including SAP, Adobe, Symantec, and Yahoo!; and in the last several years has been the CEO of three high-growth companies.
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About Boosted USA: Boosted USA builds and develops lightweight, wireless, and remote-controlled motorized electric longboards.
Christopher Sinclair
CEO of Mattel
Christopher A. Sinclair has been Chief Executive Officer since April 2015 and has served as Chairman of the Board of Mattel since January 2015. He also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from January 2015 to April 2015. Prior to assuming the role of Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer, Sinclair served as the Independent Lead Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Executive Committee since 2011. From 2002 to 2008, he served as Executive Chairman of Scandent Holdings, an information technology investment company. From 2005 to 2009, he also served as Executive Chairman of Cambridge Solutions Corporation Ltd., a leader in providing information technology and business process outsourcing services. He served as a Managing Director of Manticore Partners, LLC, a venture capital advisory firm, from 2000 to 2005, as an Operating Partner of Pegasus Capital Advisors, LP, a private equity firm, from 2000 to 2002, and as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Caribiner International, Inc. from 1999 to 2000. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Quality Food, Inc., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pepsi-Cola Company and President and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Foods & Beverages International and Pepsi-Cola International for more than five years.
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About Mattel: Mattel is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of toys and family products.
John Heffner
Chairman & CEO of Summer Fridays
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About Summer Fridays: Summer Fridays offers face moisturizer that contains pumpkin and apricot seed powder.
Shizu Okusa
Founder & CEO of Apothékary
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About Apothékary: Apothékary is a global plant-based farmacy that offers clean alternatives to over the counter synthetic supplements & beauty products.
Imran Khan
Co-Founder & CEO of Verishop
Imran Khan is the Chief Strategy Officer at Snapchat.
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About Verishop: Verishop is a premium lifestyle company that offers everyday luxury in fashion, beauty, home, and more.
Morgan Hirsh
Founder & CEO of Public Goods
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About Public Goods: Making healthy products affordable
Matthew Farrell
Chief Executive Officer of Church & Dwight, Co
Mr. Farrell has been our Chief Executive Officer since January 2016. From November 2014 through December 2015 Mr. Farrell had been our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. From May 2007 through October 2014, Mr. Farrell had been our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and from September 2006 through May 2007, he was our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Farrell was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Alpharma Inc. from April 2002 through August 2006. From July 2000 through April 2002, he served as Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications at Ingersoll-Rand Ltd. From November 1994 through June 2000, he held various senior financial positions at AlliedSignal Inc. Mr. Farrell currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Lydall, Inc., a supplier of engineered thermal, acoustical and filtration products.
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About Church & Dwight, Co: Church & Dwight Co., Inc. develops, manufactures and markets a range of household, personal care and specialty products.
David McCalib
CEO and Co-Founder of Printforia
David is CEO and Co-Founder of Printforia Inc. Helping to bring a team together of former Amazon.com, jet.com, Brandless, GearLaunch executives to tackle the highly fragmented and inefficient supply chain for customized apparel. He has over 15 years of experience in E-Commerce Fulfillment and High Tech Manufacturing. He led the development and deployment of Amazon’s largest machine learning assisted inventory inspection systems, RFID/IoT and Worldwide Engineering groups helping to take new consumable businesses global with Amazon Fresh, Pantry and PrimeNow. David has over 10 patents granted in the areas of Robotics, Medical Device Design, AR/VR and Fulfilment and Delivery Systems. He advises two companies in the US and Brazil in the RFID/IoT industry. David has a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and dual bachelors in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering from OIT.
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About Amazon, Printforia: Printforia is a printing service company that offers real-time fulfillment and delivery of customized apparel.
Millie Tadewaldt
Founder & CEO of Brilliant
Millie is an entrepreneur based in San Francisco. She is the founder / CEO of Brilliant, a concierge corporate gifting and branded merchandise company. Previously, she ran Operations for Fundraising Products at AngelList. She was also co-founder and CEO of CakeStyle, a high-touch, high-end personal styling service for professional women, and one of the first “fashion in a box” companies. Prior to that, she ran the Foundry at Sandbox Industries, a venture capital firm and startup incubator based in Chicago, and was a Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where she worked with Fortune 500 companies and non-profits to develop new products, set pricing strategies, reduce costs and execute post-merger integrations. Millie holds a B.S. in Design and a B.A. in Communication from UC Davis with Highest Honors and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
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About Brilliant: Brilliant is a branded product and corporate gifting company with a focus on technology, quality, and creativity.
Simon Huck
Co-Founder and CEO of Judy
Simon Huck is the Co-Founder and CEO of Judy.
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About Judy: Judy offers a collection of ready-kits for natural disasters and home emergencies.
Todd Bluedorn
Chairman & CEO of Lennox International
Todd M. Bluedorn became Chief Executive Officer and was elected a director of Lennox International Inc. in April 2007. He was appointed Chairman of the Board on May 10, 2012. Prior to joining Lennox, Mr. Bluedorn served in numerous senior management positions at United Technologies including President, Americas – Otis Elevator Company; President, North America – Commercial Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning for Carrier Corporation; and President, Hamilton Sundstrand Industrial. He began his professional career with McKinsey & Company in 1992. A graduate of West Point with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, Mr. Bluedorn served in the United States Army as a combat engineer officer and United States Army Ranger from 1985 to 1990. He received his MBA from the Harvard University School of Business in 1992. Mr. Bluedorn also serves on the Board of Directors of Eaton Corporation and on the Board of Trustees of Washington University in St. Louis.
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About Lennox International: Lennox International is a provider of climate control solutions for the heating, air conditioning and refrigeration markets.
Gregg Renfrew
Founder & CEO of Beautycounter
A forward-thinking serial entrepreneur, our fearless founder Gregg turns concepts into thriving businesses: She sold her successful bridal registry company, The Wedding List, to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, where she served the company in executive management. Gregg was most recently CEO at Best & Co., a children’s retail group where she re-invigorated the traditional design retail model through brand strategy, marketing, and merchandising. Gregg has also consulted high-profile corporate retail spaces like Bergdorf Goodman, Intermix, and Lela Rose alongside entertainment clients including Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba.
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About Beautycounter: Beautycounter is a beauty brand that distributes products through relationship networks and online.
Frederick Hutson
CEO and Founder of Pigeonly
Frederick is the CEO and founder of Pigeonly, a platform that makes it easy for people to search, find and communicate with an incarcerated loved one. A born entrepreneur, Frederick launched and sold his first business at the age of 19. His desire to attain the American dream on his terms took him down the wrong path and at 23, he was indicted for distributing 3,000 kg of marijuana. It was during this four-year federal prison sentence a new idea surfaced, one that would give him an opportunity to impact the lives of people no one else was paying attention to – inmates, Pigeonly was born. Pigeonly’s technology cuts the cost of expensive prison calls by 80% and allows people to send their inmate photos, greeting cards, and more right from a cell phone, tablet or computer. Although the company is still young, Hutson has grown Pigeonly to become one of the largest independent inmate service providers in the country.
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About Pigeonly: Pigeonly focuses on markets that are overlooked and underserved, particularly in minority communities.
Matthias Metternich
Founder CEO of Art of Sport
Matthias Metternich is a German-American entrepreneur based in Los Angeles and the CEO and Co-Founder of Art of Sport. Matthias’ work has been backed by notable venture capitalists including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners and Index Ventures and featured in NYT, LA Times, NBC, Forbes, Techcrunch, Wired, FT, BBC, WWD, and Business Insider. Prior to Art of Sport, Matthias was the Founder and CEO of COCODUNE, a vertically integrated direct-to-consumer e-commerce company and Believe.in, an Enterprise Software company offering payment processing, CRM and marketing automation technology to customers in the US, UK, IE, ZA and AU. Matthias was also a Client Partner at AKQA in London and Managing Partner at Poke where he developed new products and platforms for L’Oreal, Barclays, XBox, Skype, American Express, ING Bank and Virgin. Matthias is a graduate from UCLA and the Humboldt University in Berlin.
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About Art of Sport: Art of Sport offers a complete line of daily essential body and skin care products.
Emily Weiss
Founder and CEO of Glossier
Emily Weiss is the founder and CEO of Glossier, a direct-to-consumer beauty company that leverages content and community to power a superior shopping experience. Emily is heavily involved in product development, creative and brand marketing, ensuring that all products and content are created with the signature Glossier voice. Founded in 2014, Glossier has 150 employees and over $86M in venture capital funding. The company has won Women Wear Daily Beauty Inc.’s 2015 Digital Innovator of the Year award and is one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2017. Emily has been included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2015 and AdWeek Top 20 Content Creators 2016. Emily lives in New York City.
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About Glossier, Into The Gloss: Glossier is a direct-to-consumer beauty company that leverages content and community to power a superior shopping experience.
Jeffrey Raider
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Harry’s
As co-founder of both Harry’s and Warby Parker, Jeff Raider aims to build companies and brands that people like more. Harry’s ambition is to create exceptional shaving and personal care products that better meet the needs of modern men. Prior to Harry’s, Raider co-founded Warby Parker, the transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially conscious businesses. In May 2019, Harry’s Inc. announced a combination with Edgewell Personal Care to create a next-generation consumer products platform. Raider will serve as co-president of US operations at Edgewell upon the transaction closing.
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About Harry’s, Warby Parker: Harry is a developer of an online platform used to sell shaving equipment and accessories for men.
Andy Katz-Mayfield
Founder & Co-CEO of Harry’s
Andy Katz-Mayfield is co-founder and co-CEO of Harry’s. Prior to co-founding Harry’s, Andy worked at Brighter.com for business development and strategy position. He holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a BA degree in public policy from Duke University.
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About Harry’s: Harry is a developer of an online platform used to sell shaving equipment and accessories for men.
Peter Baldwin
CEO and Founder of Birddogs
Peter Baldwin is the Founder and CEO of Birddogs Shorts.
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About Birddogs: Birddogs offers a pair of gym shorts with a built-in liner freeing men of the need to wear underwear.
Aayush Phumbhra
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Nectar
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About Nectar: Nectar develops an IoT solution for the hospitality and consumer packaged goods industries.
Gregory Struck
Chief Executive Officer of Noops
Gregory Struck has been described as a mission driven passionate entrepreneur who loves working with people and leading teams. Gregory is the Co-‐Founder of Hungryroot, named one of Inc Magazine’s Most Talked About New Startups of 2015. Formerly he led operations at this venture-‐backed startup offering innovative fresh, and delicious vegetable centric meals. Gregory was named to Business Insiders 2015 class of SILICON ALLEY 100, naming the 100 most influential people in technology. Prior to founding Hungryroot Gregory Co-‐Founded and led operations for Long Island Iced Tea Corp. (OTCQB: LTEA) a growth-‐oriented CPG company focused on the ready-‐to-‐drink (“RTD”) iced tea segment in the beverage industry. He sold his stake in the company to PE Firm Cullen Investments in 2013. Earlier in his career he flourished in operations at Shake Shack (NYSE: SHACK) then he was recruited to lead management operations for The One Group’s (NASDAQ:STKS) flagship multi level hospitality concept STK in NYC. Born in South Africa and raised in the United States Gregory is a graduate of the D’Amore-‐McKim School of Business at Northeastern University where he double majored in Entrepreneurial Studies and Business Management. Post College Gregory was awarded the International Culinary Center Hard Work Scholarship to attend the ICC’s Culinary Entrepreneurship program, which he completed before going to work for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. In his spare time Gregory gives back to causes he is passionate about. He is a mentor at Food: X, the #1 startup innovation food accelerator in the world. Gregory is also an advocate for animal rights and is an ambassador for The Good Food Institute, a non-‐profit and think tank whose mission focuses on cultivating sustainable and animal free foods to address animal cruelty and feeding a universally growing population. On the subject of food innovation; Gregory has been quoted in The Boston Globe as well as other respected news outlets.
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About Noops: Noops is an omnichannel brand of better for you plant-based snacks
Nikhil Arora
Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Back to the Roots
Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez are the co-founders of Back to the Roots (Oakland, CA). Back to the Roots is on a mission to reconnect families to food through its innovative and award winning Ready-to-Grow line (Mushroon Mini Farm, Water Garden, Garden-in-a-Can) and a new Ready-to-Eat line (Organic Stoneground Flakes breakfast cereal, Breakfast Toppers). The products are sold in over 8000 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Target, The Home Depot, Costco, Nordstrom, Petco, and Amazon. Nikhil & Alejandro have also been recognized for their leadership in social entrepreneurship and food innovation by Forbes 30 Under 30, INC 30 under 30, BusinessWeek’s Top 25 Social Entrepreneurs, INC 500, CNN’s 10 Next Gen Entrepreneurs to Watch, Martha Stewart’s Top 10 American Made, and President Obama’s Champions of Change. The company was founded by the duo during their last semester of college at UC Berkeley.
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About Back to the Roots: Back to the Roots offers gardening kits to grow organic and gourmet mushrooms at homes.
Craig Elbert
Co-Founder and CEO of Care/of
Craig Elbert is the co-founder and CEO of Care/of. Prior to co-founding Care/of, Craig served as the founder of Juxtapose and vice president of marketing at Bonobos.
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About Care/of: Care/of is a healthcare technology company dedicated to simplifying consumer health, starting with a fully personalized vitamin pack.
Renuka Babu Brown
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of DOTS
Renuka Babu is the CEO & Co-Founder of DOTS. Babu has held leadership positions both in biotech and financial start-ups including the RiskMetrics Group (now MSCI), ArQule (ARQL), and MEND (delivery technologies for diseases of poverty). She also served as Executive Director of New Ventures at Boston University where she focused on commercializing intellectual property. Babu obtained her BA from Bryn Mawr College and her MBA from the University of Chicago.
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About DOTS: DOTS (Detection On The Spot) is creating a revolutionary protein detection platform to improve the quality of life for millions of people.
Ryan Gunnigle
CEO of Kids2
Ryan Gunnigle is the CEO and owner of Kids II. Under his leadership, Kids II has expanded to become one of the world’s fastest growing infant and baby product companies. Gunnigle leads over 450 employees throughout Kids II global footprint which spans 14 global offices and operations in six continents. Gunnigle has been the leading force behind the Kids II success, driving the innovation, passion and culture from the top. His hands-on approach, supported by the transparency he demands from himself and his team, has enabled the company to be a united front across all offices worldwide. In addition to the demanding role at Kids II, Gunnigle is the co-founder and partner of Be Curious Partners, a venture capital fund investing in the reinvention of parenthood. The fund is currently building its portfolio of investments and includes Motherly, Wonderschool and Kidbox as investment companies.
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About Be Curious Partners, Kids2: Kids2 is a global consumer goods company that designs products and holistic solutions to help early-stage parents and families.
Carlos Brito
CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev
Carlos Brito is our Chief Executive Officer. Born in 1960, he is a Brazilian citizen and received a Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Stanford University. He held positions at Shell Oil and Daimler Benz prior to joining Ambev in 1989. At Ambev he had roles in Finance, Operations, and Sales, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2004. He was appointed Zone President North America at InBev in January 2005 and Chief Executive Officer in December 2005. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Ambev and Grupo Modelo.
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About Anheuser-Busch InBev: Anheuser-Busch InBev is a brewer and provider of consumer products that has a strong, balanced portfolio.
Sabah Ashraf
Founder & CEO of Kajaana
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About Kajaana: Kajaana is a modern food brand inspired by beloved Indian classics. Women-led, premium, plant-based, convenient and delicious.
Chris Bell
Founder and CEO of Perch
Chris Bell is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Perch.
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About Perch: Perch is a technology-driven company that acquires direct-to-consumer businesses that are selling on Amazon and growing their operations.
Brian Bushell
Co-Founder & CEO of By Humankind
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About By Humankind: By Humankind is a personal care designed to reduce single-use plastic waste in their daily routine.
Jugoslav Petkovic
Co-founder and CEO of Flaviar
Jugoslav Petkovic is founder at Flaviar.
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About Flaviar: Flaviar, a spirits tasting club, offers a subscription service that helps members discover new liquor products through sample tasting packs.
Michael Amalfitano
President and CEO – Embraer Executive Jets of Embraer US
Michael Amalfitano is the President and CEO of Embraer Executive Jets, leading the company’s global business with annual revenues of $1.7 billion and a fleet of more than 1,100 aircraft with over 800 customers worldwide. A long-standing industry veteran, Michael brings 35+ years of experience in executive leadership, global originations, aircraft valuation, asset management and lease/finance structural analysis for the business aviation industry. Prior to joining Embraer, Michael served as Executive Vice President, Senior Managing Director of Business Aviation at Stonebriar Commercial Finance. He was also Managing Director and Executive Head of Global Corporate Aircraft Finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for more than 22 years, following a decade-long tenure in sales management at GE Capital. In addition to serving on the Leadership Council, the Associate Member Advisory Council and the Joint Task Force Committee of the National Business Aviation Association, Michael is an active member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, Helicopter Association International, European Business Aviation Association and National Aircraft Finance Association. He also holds the distinction as former two-term President of the National Aircraft Finance Association and is former Chairman of the Associate Members Advisory Council for the National Aircraft Resale Association. Michael graduated with a B.A. in Economics and a Masters in Financial Management from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He has written numerous articles for aviation industry publications and is an active speaker and panelist at business aviation seminars and finance conferences throughout the industry.
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About Embraer US: Embraer US is an aviation company that manufactures aircraft.
Antonio Campello
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), EmbraerX of Embraer US
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About Embraer US: Embraer US is an aviation company that manufactures aircraft.
Christine Hunsicker
Founder & CEO of CaaStle
Christine Hunsicker is the Founder and CEO of CaaStle, the revolutionary B2B technology platform empowering retailers and fashion brands to strategically participate in a new sharing economy. As consumers have embraced a shared economy in everything from music to transportation, Hunsicker identified an enthusiastic consumer appetite for a new economy for fashion and apparel. One that is access-oriented rather than just ownership-based. In 2011, she founded Gwynnie Bee, the first everyday fashion rental subscription service enabling women to discover and experience great clothing without limitations. By leveraging technology, Hunsicker pioneered the Clothing as a Service (CaaS) model, blending traditional ownership with a new form of access. As Gwynnie Bee shipped millions of boxes to customers, evidence of this consumer appetite for rental was apparent. It was time to roll out the ultimate vision for the company in 2018 with the launch of the CaaStle platform. CaaStle is a proprietary cloud-based, managed service that empowers retailers to provide CaaS to their customers as a complement to their existing retail business. Many retailers from Ann Taylor to Vince to Express to multiple contemporary brands soon to be announced, have already embraced the CaaStle Platform. In six short years, Hunsicker’s vision of creating a new economy for apparel is in full swing. A 1999 graduate of Princeton, Hunsicker quickly rose to a leadership role as the COO of the startup Right Media. Right Media transformed the ad exchange industry, an accomplishment that led Yahoo! to purchase the company and its technologies for $850M in 2007. Hunsicker maintained her entrepreneurial spirit by joining Drop.io as COO. Soon thereafter, Facebook acquired the company. With an outstanding pedigree of leading successful startups, Hunsicker has been recognized in Inc. Magazine’s Most Impressive Women Entrepreneurs, Crain’s 40 Under 40 annual power list as well as the National Retail Federation’s List of People Shaping Retail’s Future.
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About CaaStle, Gwynnie Bee: CaaStle offers a fully managed service that allows retailers to offer Clothing as a Service.
Joseph Bartolacci
President & CEO of Matthews International Corporation
Joseph Bartolacci is President, Chief Executive Officer, Director of Matthews International Corporation. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company in 2006. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company since 2005. Joseph was elected to the Board of Directors in 2005. Prior thereto, he held various positions within Matthews, including President, Casket Division; Executive Vice President of Matthews; President, Matthews Europe; President, Caggiati, S.p.A. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Matthews) and General Counsel of Matthews. As the only Matthews employee on the Board of Directors, Joseph provides management’s perspective in Board decisions about the business and strategic direction of the Company. He has first hand operating experience in many of the Company’s diverse global businesses, and brings a well-developed understanding of the industries in which the Company operates, and the opportunities within those industries to drive shareholder value. Joseph received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Saint Vincent College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh. Joseph serves on the Company’s Pension Board, the Board of the Jas. H. Matthews & Co. Educational and Charitable Trust, and on the boards of various subsidiaries of Matthews. Joseph is a member of the Board of Directors of Saint Vincent College and serves as a member of the Citizen’s Bank Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Board.
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About Matthews International Corporation: Matthews International Corporation has built its continued success by offering products and services of unmatched quality.
Yaniv Sarig
Co-Founder and CEO of Aterian
Yaniv Sarig is a Co-Founder and CEO at Mohawk Group.
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About Aterian: Aterian is the leading consumer product platform. Formerly Mohawk Group.
Gustavo Abelenda
EVP and CEO LATAM of Mondelez International
Gustavo Abelenda is , EVP and CEO LATA for Mondelēz International. Abelenda joined the company in 1984 in Argentina as a Cost Analyst and gained extensive international experience in senior Finance, M&A, Strategy, Manufacturing, R&D, Sales, Marketing and general management roles. In 1997, he was appointed General Manager of the Brazilian Beverages and Sugar confectionery business. One year later, he became Food Vice President for the Mercosur area. Between 2000 and 2003, Abelenda was Vice President and Managing Director Brazil, where he played a key role in the integration of Nabisco and Kraft Foods. Abelenda earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Morón University in Argentina.
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About Mondelez International: Mondelez International is a branded food and beverage company that specializes in snack foods such as biscuits, chocolate, gum, and candies.
Ben Lewis
Co-Founder + CEO of Little Spoon
A serial entrepreneur, Ben Lewis’ experience lies at the intersection of brands, technology and food. He has worked extensively in the organic food industry, honing a well-rounded understanding of consumer facing brands and what it takes to build them. Ben has helped pioneer trends like cold-pressed juice and cold-brew coffee, taking them from obscure, emerging concepts to household buzzwords. Ben’s first foray into business was in high school when he founded a charitable bottled water company out of the back of his car. As a student at Wharton, he co-founded The Epic Seed, a Greek yogurt brand with a national footprint and a cult-like following. Most recently, Ben built a national distribution company which acted as an incubator to up-and-coming food and beverage brands. Over the course of four years, Ben grew the company from zero to $25 million in revenue and a team of 75 people, building a nimble just-in-time supply chain spanning eight regions. Ben’s accomplishments are a direct result of his willingness to innovate and use unorthodox solutions to transform businesses. Through his many experiences, Ben has developed a deep understanding of the obstacles and demands unique to modern consumer products marketed to a younger generation—especially those related to food. Today, Ben is the co-founder and CEO of the direct-to-consumer startup Little Spoon, the first company to offer fresh, nutritionally optimized meal plans suited to the evolving needs of growing babies. Ben is passionate about design, healthy living, food of all types, and creating processes that run smoothly.
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About Kairos, Little Spoon: Little Spoon designs products for a child’s most formative years, starting with a baby’s first bites.
Tessa Gould
CEO of Made by Nacho
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About Kindred, Kinship, Made by Nacho: Made by Nacho is an e-commerce company that delivers cat-crafted, feline-only cat food with natural vitamins and minerals.
Thomas Falk
CEO of Kimberly-Clark Corporation
A 33-year Kimberly-Clark veteran, Thomas Falk is the architect of the company’s Global Business Plan, which is positioning Kimberly-Clark to lead the world in essentials for a better life. He was elected Chief Executive Officer in 2002 and Chairman of the Board in 2003. Under Falk’s leadership, Kimberly-Clark’s total shareholder return has outperformed the S&P 500 and achieved sales of $19 billion in 2015. Kimberly-Clark has approximately 43,000 employees worldwide and operations in 35 countries. Thomas serves on the Boards of Lockheed Martin, Global Consumer Goods Forum, Catalyst and the University of Wisconsin Foundation and as a National Governor of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He also chaired the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ 2013 fundraising campaign and continues to actively advance its mission. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin and a Master’s of Science in Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Thomas was born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1958. He and his wife, Karen, have one son.
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About Kimberly-Clark Corporation: American personal care corporation.
Carlos Cashman
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Thrasio
Carlos Cashman is an MIT grad with a visionary mind, a huge personality, and an even bigger heart. Carlos has an extensive background in strategic marketing, branding and positioning, advertising, high tech software and hardware, and design, and is typically driving multiple innovative projects forward at any point in time. Over the past twenty years, Carlos has worked with numerous successful startups as an executive, founder, investor, and advisor in the US and abroad. He has been a part of several venture-backed and non-venture backed startups and has founded a dozen companies himself including Thrasio, Asset Performance Technologies (sold 2018), OrionCKB (sold 2017), CourseAdvisor (sold 2007), and Opus360 (IPO in 2000). Carlos is an active angel investor and is involved with several charities related to the promotion of global peace and education. If Carlos is running in one direction, you better get on board because you know it will be something huge. He lives in the ‘burbs of Boston and enjoys spending time with his wife and kids.
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About OrionCKB (Acquired), Thrasio: Thrasio is a next-generation consumer goods company reimagining how the world’s most-loved products become accessible to everyone.
Joshua Silberstein
Co-Founder & Co CEO of Thrasio
Silberstein is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Thras.io
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About Thrasio: Thrasio is a next-generation consumer goods company reimagining how the world’s most-loved products become accessible to everyone.
Benjamin Cogan
Co-CEO and Co-founder of Hubble Contacts
Benjamin Cogan is a Co-CEO and Co-founder at Hubble Contacts. He is also the Co-Founder of Willow Underwear and Advisor at Mockingbird. Mr. Cogan is a former Senior Customer Insights Associate at Harry’s Grooming and Associate at The Boston Consulting Group. Benjamin received an AB in Philosophy at Princeton University.
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About Hubble Contacts: Hubble is a contact lenses maker and retailer.
Jesse Horwitz
Co-CEO and Co-founder of Hubble Contacts
Jesse Horwitz is a Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Hubble Contacts. He is a former Investment Analyst at Columbia Investment Management Company and Founder of Gadfly Capital. Mr. Horwitz graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York with a bachelor of arts in Economics and Mathematics.
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About Hubble Contacts: Hubble is a contact lenses maker and retailer.
Benjamin McKean
Founder & CEO of Hungryroot
Ben McKean is a Founder and CEO of Hungryroot. Prior to Hungryroot, Ben was a Vice President and General Manager at Groupon, overseeing their food and beverage business. Ben came to Groupon through the acquisition of Savored, which he founded in 2009. Savored was the nation’s leading provider of yield management technology to the restaurant industry servicing over 2,000 leading restaurants nationwide. Prior to Savored, Ben worked in Merrill Lynch’s technology investment banking group. Ben is graduate of Georgetown University and currently lives in New York City.
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About Groupon, Hungryroot: Hungryroot is a provider of an artificial intelligence-powered personalized grocery service.
Nate Phillips
Co-Founder & CEO of Nom Nom
Nate is Nom Nom’s co-founder and CEO. A lawyer by training, Nate has held a variety of in-house counsel positions across several investment banks, hedge funds and asset managers. Nate received his BA, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Irvine, and his JD from University of California, Berkeley.
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About Nom Nom: We make real food to support healthier, longer lives for folks with paws. Because what’s good for people is good for pets too.
Tony Haile
CEO of Scroll
Tony Haile CEO of Chartbeat since 2016.
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About Chartbeat, Scroll: Scroll is creating a sustainable experience that puts amazing content in front of engaged users without all the noise.
Sarah Hoffman
Co-Founder & CEO of Maker Wine
Sarah Hoffman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Maker Wine.
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About Maker Wine: Maker Wine connects wine lovers to premium canned wines from best-in-class independent producers.
Orville Thompson
CEO & Co-Owner of Scentsy
Orville Thompson is Board of Director at Direct Selling Association. He is also the CEO and co-owner at Scensty.
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About Scentsy: Scentsy is a consumer goods and fragrance company platform.
Seth Goldman
Co-Founder and CEO Emeritus of Honest Tea
Seth Goldma is the Chief Change Agent at Eat the Change, Co-Founder at PLNT Burger, Chair of the Board at Beyond Meat
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About Bethesda Green, Eat the Change, Honest Tea: Honest Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, organic beverages.
Clay Alexander
Founder and CEO of Ember Technologies
Clay Alexander is an American inventor and serial entrepreneur who holds more than 100 patents worldwide and is the Founder and CEO of Ember, a global consumer electronics brand and maker of the World’s First Temperature Control Mug. As a lifelong entrepreneur, Alexander started his first company, Radiance Lightworks, in 1999 at the age of 23. It has become one of the top lighting design firms in the country, boasting an extensive client list which includes Universal Studios, Mattel and 20th Century Fox. He then launched his second company, Journée Lighting, in 2005 and created the world’s first LED track light. He scaled it to be one of the most respected brands in LED lighting and it was during this time that Alexander also invented General Electric’s LED light bulb, the GE Infusion™. With decades of experience building and scaling successful companies, Alexander combined both his business savvy and talent as a world-class inventor to launch Ember.
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About Ember Technologies, Radiance Lightworks: Ember Technologies is a design-led temperature control brand that produces a patented temperature adjustable dishware and drinkware.
Charlie Mills
Chief Executive Officer of Medline Industries
Charlie joined Medline in 1986 where he started as a sales representative. Since then he has held various positions within the company including sales management, vice president of marketing and vice president of manufacturing. In 1997, he was named CEO. Prior to joining Medline, Charlie was a sales rep with IBM. He received his B.S. degree in Engineering and his MBA from Cornell University.
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About Medline Industries: Medline Industries, Inc., based in Mundelein, Illinois,
Alexi Suvacioglu
Co-Founder & CEO of Because Market
Alexi Suvacioglu focuses on product and customer acquisition, perfecting the art of CAC vs LTV. Prior to ZenDeals, Alexi cofounded and sold a VC-funded ecommerce business, was a Senior Manager of Internet Marketing at eBay, and spent 6 years doing technology consulting at Accenture in its Consumer practice. Alexi holds an MBA from Stanford and a BA from Kings College London (Honors).
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About Because Market: Because is personal care direct-to-consumer company focused on meeting the needs of older adults.
Chris Clifford
Founder & CEO of Day One Beverages
CPG founder and investor
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About Building Blocks Ventures, Day One Beverages, HED Skincare, Transcend Digital: Anything is possible on Day One. There’s no baggage or expectations and no limits on your imagination. Every day can be Day One if you want it to be. We created a simple, refreshing and effective beverage formula for balance and clarity. Sparkling Water + Cannabinoids
Joseph Heller
CEO and Founder of The/Studio
Joseph Heller is the CEO and founder of The/Studio.
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About The/Studio: The/Studio is an on-demand product creation and manufacturing platform for businesses to easily bring products to market.
Seth Richards
CEO of Implus
Seth Richards is Chief Executive Officer of Implus. Seth manages the overall operations, finance, and product development efforts of Implus. Seth was appointed to the position of CEO in February 2000. Since joining the company in 1990, Seth has gained valuable experience in product development, vendor relations, sales, customer service, shipping, manufacturing, inventory, and production management. Seth holds a B.S. degree in Operations Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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About Implus: Implus has evolved to become an innovative manufacturer of consumer goods and accessories.
Greg Davidson
CEO & Co-Founder of Lalo
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About Lalo: Lalo is a modern baby and toddler brand built for today’s families.
Frank Yang
Chief Executive Officer, Design Director and Founder of simplehuman
In 2000, Frank Yang founded simplehuman with a goal to revitalize the trash can industry. Today, not only is the Los Angeles-based company the leader in stainless-steel step cans, but it also has expanded its vision—to design “tools for efficient living”—to more than 100 patented innovations and other products such as sensor soap pumps, kitchen and bathroom organization, and beauty tools. All simplehuman products embody efficient living design, a principle Yang defines as designing each product so it performs its intended task perfectly. To that end, all products are ergonomic, easy-to-clean, highly functional and durable as well. Under Yang’s design direction, in 2004 BusinessWeek/Industrial Design Society of America named simplehuman as one of the top corporations for Industrial Design Excellence. Yang has also garnered international design awards from organizations including reddot, International Housewares Association and I.D. Magazine. simplehuman products are available at fine specialty retailers in including Bed Bath & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma and Sephora as well as the company’s website simplehuman.com.
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About simplehuman: simplehuman designs and manufactures homeware products.
Tim Warner
CEO of Drunk Elephant
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About Drunk Elephant: Drunk Elephant is a non-toxic skin care brand.
Andrew Bilinsky
Co-Founder/ CEO of Lensabl
Andrew Bilinsky is co-founder at Lensabl.
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About Lensabl: Lensabl offers an online prescription lens replacement service.
Katerina Markov Schneider
Chief Executive Officer of Ritual
Katerina Markov Schneider is the CEO & founder of Ritual, a stealth health technology company. Previously, she was a Venture Partner with Troy Carter in his investment fund, AF Square, where she managed an active portfolio of over 70 investments, including Styleseat, Dropbox, Warby Parker, Spotify, Uber, and Lyft. Earlier in her career, Katerina served as Head of Global Innovation at Atom Factory, a branding, digital, and entertainment management company, where she led digital strategy & high-level technology partnerships for artists such as Lady Gaga and John Legend, along with associated brands and investment portfolio companies. She previously worked as Global Lead of Digital Innovation at Universal Music Group; and before that, was the Senior Business Development Advisor to the company’s Chairman & CEO. Before Atom Factory, Katerina served as Global Lead of Digital Innovation at Universal Musical Group, and as an advisor to the CEO of Shine America where she developed strategies to build digital brands for TV properties. She also worked in business strategy & operations at FOX Audience Network and worked as an Investment Banker at Lehman Brothers in the Global Gaming and Lodging Business. Katerina earned a degree from Brown University in Applied Mathematics-Economics and is on the board of several startups. She was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 for Venture Capital list for 2014, serves as a Global Shaper for the World Economic Forum and lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband, Michael, who is also an entrepreneur, and daughter, Tali
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About Ritual: Ritual is a health technology company that is re-inventing consumer products.
Romesh Wadhwani
Chairman and CEO of SymphonyAI
Romesh Wadhwani founded Symphony Technology Group in 2002 for one reason: he is passionate about building companies. After a 30-year career as an entrepreneur in the enterprise software sector, Romesh launched STG to lend his expertise and passion to investing. Before starting STG, Romesh was the founder, chairman and CEO of Aspect Development, Inc. until 1999, when the company was acquired by i2 Technologies. For nearly a decade, Romesh grew Aspect Development into a leader in business-to-business commerce software, which culminated in the merger of Aspect with supply chain software company i2 Technologies. At that time, this combination was one of the largest enterprise software mergers.
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About ConcertAI, National Entrepreneurship Network, Symphony RetailAI, Symphony Summit, Symphony Technology Group, Symphony Technology Group, SymphonyAI, Terarecon, Wadhwani AI, Wadhwani Foundation: SymphonyAI is an enterprise AI company focused on delivering AI solutions for vertical sectors
Jeff Church
CEO and Co-Founder of Rowdy Energy
Jeff Church is the CEO and Co-Founder at Rowdy Energy.
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About Rowdy Energy: Rowdy Energy is a drink industry business that specializes in energy drinks.
Cory Ondrejka
Co-Founder & CEO of Mori
Cory Ondrejka is the CEO and co-founder of mori, inc. (formerly Overlook Research), a stealth, venture-funded startup in Los Gatos, CA. Prior to mori, Ondrejka led the Mobile Product group at Facebook and was responsible for Facebook’s mobile turnaround and delivering Facebook to over a billion mobile customers worldwide. Ondrejka also led Facebook’s multi-billion dollar acquisition and integration of Oculus VR. Before Facebook, Ondrejka was the co-founder of Walletin, a startup focused on high-performance javascript and Web rendering acquired by Facebook in 2010. He was the Chief Technology Officer of Linden Lab, where he co-created the award-winning virtual world Second Life. He has served as Executive Vice President for Global Digital Marketing at EMI Music, and has been a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California where he gave classes on online communities. Ondrejka began his career in game development startups, shipping arcade and console video game titles. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in Weapons and Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and was an officer in the US Navy. Ondrejka also advises several early-state technology companies.
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About Mori: Mori is a branded food company with quality products.
Chad Hetherington
CEO of The Stable
Chad Hetherington is the CEO at The Stable.
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About The Stable: The Stable is a commerce agency helping connect brands + consumers across all channels.
Alexandra Fine
Co-Founder and CEO of Dame Products
Alexandra Fine got her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in 2011, focusing on her lifelong interest: sexuality. From volunteering with the Red Cross to hosting a sex talk radio show, she’s always pursued opportunities to learn more about sexual health. Her experience at other consumer packaged goods startups gave her the know-how to start her own company.
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About Dame Products: Dame Products is a sexual wellness brand with the purpose of making phenomenal sex toys.
Martin Roscheisen
Founder & CEO of Diamond Foundry
The entrepreneur behind eGroups (acquired by Yahoo), FindLaw (acquired by Thomson Reuters), and Nanosolar.
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About Diamond Foundry: Diamond Foundry produces diamonds at mining scale using a proprietary reactor technology.
Lucy Lyle
Founder and CEO of Perch
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About Perch: Design at Work – at home, the office and everywhere in between. Coming soon. .
Tomás Froes
Founder and CEO of kencko
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About kencko: kencko is a food-tech company reinventing organic fruit and vegetable products.
Gerry Price
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Price Industries
Mr. Gerry Price serves as the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of Price Industries, Inc.
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About Price Industries: Price Industries are manufacturing and supplying innovative air distribution, critical controls, and noise control products.
Hyungseok Dino Ha
Founder & CEO of Memebox
Dino is co-founder and CEO of Memebox Corporation. Dino grew up fascinated by computers and self-taught himself C+ coding language at a young age. During university, Dino pursued a degree in Environmental Engineering until he joined the Army as a trooper, and volunteered to be deployed to Afghanistan where he worked with over 20 coalition forces. It was there where he encountered his first American and decided to go to New York after he finished serving, to pursue a career in fashion. While attending Parsons School of Design, Dino joined Tom Ford as the first intern, working for 2 years in the PR department until he was asked to return to South Korea and help launch the brand abroad. After Tom Ford, Dino joined Ticket Monster until its acquisition by Living Social (LS Korea) and it was then when he found inspiration to start his own entrepreneurship. With a passion for computer science and a background in fashion design, Dino is building the world’s first tech and trend-driven beauty company, in hopes of bringing a new age of beauty culture to the rest of the world. Dino graduated with a degree in Fashion Market from Parsons School of Design and is currently located in San Francisco, CA.
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About Memebox: Memebox is a consumer company that provides customers with the Asian beauty products, culture, and trends.
Joe Heitzeberg
Co-Founder & CEO of Crowd Cow
Joe Heitzeberg previously founded [SnapVine](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/snapvine), a pioneering mobile voice applications startup. Heitzeberg began his career at Paul Allen’s Starwave Corporation where he built some of the earliest interactive, paid internet services for ESPN.com and ABCNEWS.com. In 1998 he incubated and sold a hosted ecommerce startup, JoeMart, to Infoseek.com that subsequently became the basis for GO.com’s Auctions and Stores services. Between 2001 and founding SnapVine, Heitzeberg has worked at a leading mobile software company, Openwave Systems, as principal product manager of client software. Heitzeberg holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
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About Crowd Cow: Crowd Cow works with small family farms to let users choose their cow and their cut.
