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 Partner operating in the E-Commerce space. If you think a Partner 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.
Coco Zhang-Miske
Senior Partner Manager – AVS Auto , Alexa Automotive of Amazon
Follow Coco Zhang-Miske:
About Amazon, NAAAP: Amazon is an e-commerce website for consumers, sellers, and content creators.
_______
Joey Aquino
WW Strategic Partnerships (AWS Startups) of Amazon
Follow Joey Aquino:
About Amazon: Amazon is an e-commerce website for consumers, sellers, and content creators.
Oren Zeev
Founding Partner of Zeev Ventures
Oren Zeev is the Founder of [Zeev Ventures](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/zeev-ventures#/entity), a One Man VC firm that provides funds for growth-stage companies. He also serves as a board member at [Houzz](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/houzz#/entity), [HomeLight](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/homelight#/entity), [Tipalti](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tipalti#/entity), [TripActions](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tripactions#/entity), [Next Insurance](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/next-insurance#/entity), among others. Oren is a former board of [Audible](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/audible#/entity) (went public and then acquired by AMZN) and of [Chegg](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/chegg#/entity), (NYSE: CHGG) where he was the main investor and one of the two main early backers respectively, a former board member of [RedKix](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/redkix#/entity) (acquired by Facegook) and a former chairman of [Loop Commerce](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/loop-commerce#/entity) (acquired by Synchrony Bank). Prior to that, he was a general partner at [Apax Partners](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/apax-partners#/entity) from 1995 to 2007. Zeev lives in San Francisco, California, United States.
Follow Oren Zeev:
About Chegg, Duda, Sunbit, Zeev Ventures: Zeev Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that invests in technology, financial, e-commerce, and consumer service sectors.
Eric Chan
Global Partnerships of Chargebee
Follow Eric Chan:
About Chargebee: Chargebee provides subscription and recurring billing systems for SaaS and e-commerce businesses.
Martin Hood
Vice President, Channel Partnerships of CashStar
Follow Martin Hood:
About CashStar: CashStar is a provider of prepaid commerce solutions for the world’s top retailers and restaurants.
Mike Indigaro
Partnerships & Business Development Manager of Teikametrics
Follow Mike Indigaro:
About Teikametrics: Teikametrics is an e-commerce optimization platform designed for retailers on online marketplaces.
Brian Schechter
Partner of Primary Venture Partners
Brian Schechter is a Partner at Primary Venture Partners.
Follow Brian Schechter:
About Primary Venture Partners: Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Jason Shuman
Partner of Primary Venture Partners
Jason Shuman is the Partner at Primary Venture Partners.
Follow Jason Shuman:
About : Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Benjamin Sun
Co-Founder & General Partner of Primary Venture Partners
Benjamin Sun is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Primary Venture Partners.
Follow Benjamin Sun:
About Ollie, Primary Venture Partners: Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Cat Hernandez
Partner, Human Capital of Primary Venture Partners
Follow Cat Hernandez:
About Chief, Primary Venture Partners, The Venture Collective: Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Brad Svrluga
General Partner & Co-Founder of Primary Venture Partners
Brad Svrluga is Founder and General Partner at Primary Venture Partners. He got his start in the venture business in time to see the last 12 months of the bubble, which was not early enough to lead to early retirement. Since then he has led over two-dozen investments across a range of software sectors. Brad co-founded High Peaks Venture Partners in 2004 and reinvented it 8 years later. Prior to his venture career, he was a strategy consultant with Monitor Group, leading projects out of the firm’s Cambridge, South Africa, and Brazil offices. Brad focuses his investing activities on SaaS and enterprise mobile applications, with a particular focus on vertical SaaS applications and the transformational impact of mobile computing on traditional business processes. He has led the firm’s investments in Divide (sold to Google), Savored (sold to Groupon), TxVia (sold to Google), Pump Audio (sold to Getty Images), Threadsmith (sold to Vistaprint), and Allworx (sold to PAETEC). Brad is a graduate of Williams College, where he captained the rugby team and majored in economics. He blogs not nearly enough at www.bradsvrluga.com.
Follow Brad Svrluga:
About Handshake, Healthify, Primary Venture Partners, PublicStuff, WhoSay: Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Rebecca Levine
Operating Partner of Primary Venture Partners
Rebecca Levine is the Operating Partner at Primary Venture Partners.
Follow Rebecca Levine:
About Chief, Primary Venture Partners, Techstars: Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Luke Tarbi
Operating Partner of Primary Venture Partners
Follow Luke Tarbi:
About Primary Venture Partners, Tripadvisor: Primary Venture Partners is a seed stage VC firm focused on ecommerce and enterprise SaaS.
Ryan Shuler
Managing Partner of Legendary Ventures
Follow Ryan Shuler:
About Legendary Ventures: Legendary Ventures is a venture capital firm that accelerates value creation for consumer retail technology companies.
Jayson Kim
General Partner of Legendary Ventures
Jayson Kim is a General Partner @Legendary Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in companies across the consumer, retail and technology space. Previously, Jayson served in a variety of senior leadership roles at some of the most iconic retail brands in the world, including J.Crew Group, Jones (Nine West) Group, Perry Ellis International, and BCBGMAXAZRIA Group. Jayson is also a Board Trustee with the Girl Scouts of America.
Follow Jayson Kim:
About Legendary Ventures: Legendary Ventures is a venture capital firm that accelerates value creation for consumer retail technology companies.
Kent Anderson
Executive Partner of Legendary Ventures
Global Retail Executive with a consistent track record of improving operating performance and increasing shareholder value across a broad range of leadership roles. Spent the last 16 years in the digital/omnichannel space leading the online business for Macy’s Inc. Successfully led businesses ranging from start up-$7billion in revenue. Broad experience leading large, complex businesses, turnarounds, M&A, and setting up stand alone companies. Skilled at developing strategies, facilitating organizational alignment and managing initiatives that deliver customer satisfaction and lasting financial results. Known for recruiting and building strong teams that work together to create a winning culture.
Follow Kent Anderson:
About Gear Up Consulting, Legendary Ventures: Legendary Ventures is a venture capital firm that accelerates value creation for consumer retail technology companies.
James Scharpf
Partner of LDR Ventures
Follow James Scharpf:
About LDR Ventures: LDR is a VC firm based in Los Angeles investing In Female & Minority Founders, Consumer Product, Food, E-Comm, Marketplaces & Legal Tech
Sally Banh
Strategic Partnerships of Way
Follow Sally Banh:
About Way: The No.1 Car Insuretech, Fintech Super App
Ryan Feliciano
Payment Partnerships of eBay
Follow Ryan Feliciano:
About eBay: eBay is an online marketplace that connects a global network of buyers and sellers.
Alejandro Moreno Rahal
Strategic Partnerships & Business Developement of eBay
Business Development, Strategic Partnerships and Cross-Border Trade for online commerce. Currently @ eBay, xPayPal, x tech Founde&CEO, xUnilever.
Follow Alejandro Moreno Rahal:
About eBay: eBay is an online marketplace that connects a global network of buyers and sellers.
Sandi Cesko
Founder & Partner of Studio Moderna
Sandi Cesko is Founder & Partner at Studio Moderna.
Follow Sandi Cesko:
About Studio Moderna: Studio Moderna is a multi-channel, e-commerce platform that develops and adapts product offerings to meet local market needs.
Eric Hippeau
Managing Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Eric Hippeau is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures, New York’s most active early-stage technology fund. Hippeau is also Chairman of RebelMouse and co-founder of NowThis News. Hippeau is the former Chief Executive Officer of The Huffington Post and a Special Partner at Softbank Capital, where he served as Managing Partner for many years. Prior to Softbank Capital, Hippeau was Chairman and CEO of Ziff-Davis, which was the largest media company serving the technology sector. Hippeau serves on the Board of various private and public companies, including Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
Follow Eric Hippeau:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Joe Medved
Partner, SB Capital and BN Capital of Lerer Hippeau
Joe Medved currently works as the Partner for Lerer Hippeau. He previously worked at SoftBank Capital as a Partner.
Follow Joe Medved:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Caitlin Strandberg
Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Caitlin is an associate at Flybridge Capital Partners whose investment interests and experience broadly cover companies and technologies across the information technology sector including ad tech, digital media, fin tech, and consumer internet. Caitlin joined the firm in August 2012 from LearnVest, a personal finance start-up in NYC, where she served as Director of Business Development. Previously, she was the Associate Director of Business Development at Behance, a platform for showcasing and discovering creative work online. Caitlin was also the President and Co-founder of Slope Media Group, a student-run media organization based out of Cornell University that includes internet radio, internet television and a digital magazine. Caitlin holds a BA in History from Cornell University with a minor in Science and Technology Studies.
Follow Caitlin Strandberg:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Andrea Hippeau
Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Andrea Hippeau currently works as the Partner for Lerer Hippeau. She previously worked at The Dodo as the Business Development Manager.
Follow Andrea Hippeau:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Graham Brown
Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Graham Brown is a partner at Lerer Hippeau. Before that, he was a Senior Associate at SoftBank Capital.
Follow Graham Brown:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Isabelle Phelps
Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Isabelle Phelps is a Partner at Lerer Hippeau. She’s is based in New York, United States. Prior to joining Lerer Hippeau, Phelps is a Partner at Dorm Room.
Follow Isabelle Phelps:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Ken Lerer
Managing Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Kenneth Lerer is a Manager at Lerer Ventures. He was the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Huffington Post. Lerer is Chairman of Betaworks and Buzzfeed, and is Vice-Chairman of Bedrocket. He is a member of Pilot Group LLC, a private investment firm. Lerer is Chairman Emeritus of the Public Theater in New York City and serves on the boards of directors of several nonprofit organizations, including Association to Benefit Children (ABC), and the Bank Street College of Education. In 2008-09, Lerer served as the Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at Columbia Journalism School.
Follow Ken Lerer:
About Birchbox, BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Lerer Hippeau, NowThis: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Stephanie Manning Cohen
Operating Partner of Lerer Hippeau
Stephanie Manning Cohen currently works as the Operating Partner for Lerer Hippeau. He previously worked at Work-Bench as the Manager in Talent and Community.
Follow Stephanie Manning Cohen:
About Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau helps early-stage founders with the capital and tools they need to build ideas into category-defining companies.
Rudy Karsan
Managing Partner of Karlani Capital
Rudy Karsan is a technology entrepreneur and investor. Nothing excites him more than a great idea and a stellar team of executors who he can work with to help build a world-changing business. Rudy founded Kenexa, an enterprise SaaS company, and grew it to a billion-dollar enterprise which was acquired by IBM in a record deal. He knows the highs and lows of success and failure (both of which he has had a lot of) and gets his energy from working with fellow risk-takers who appreciate the exhilarating journey of entrepreneurship. A self-confessed geek, Rudy is a numbers guy at heart (Rudy was the youngest barred Actuary in Canada); however, his true passion is working with people. He firmly believes that a lot of focus, a genuine desire to help others, and a little bit of luck is a winning recipe. That philosophy paved the way for Karlani Capital, an operating fund that aims to “enable the growth and success of ideas that are original, interesting and useful to people.” Rudy hates small talk, loves reading, consumes a border-line unhealthy amount of Coca-Cola, and is proud to call his family his greatest achievement. He has been recognized multiple times for his entrepreneurial and humanitarian achievements and is the author of a New York Times bestselling book, We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement.
Follow Rudy Karsan:
About Barsys LLC, Elite HRV, Karlani Capital, Kroo, LOQBOX: Karlani Capital is an operating fund that builds, buys, and invests in fast-growing, technology companies that serve and enrich humanity.
Nyla Koncurat
Managing Partner of Karlani Capital
Follow Nyla Koncurat:
About Karlani Capital: Karlani Capital is an operating fund that builds, buys, and invests in fast-growing, technology companies that serve and enrich humanity.
Ashish H. Mistry
Managing Partner of BLH Venture Partners
Ashish functions as an investor and adviser to young companies. His operating experience includes leadership roles with high-growth companies within Information Security, SaaS, and E-commerce. In addition to his current role at BLH, Mistry is CEO of KontrolFreek – an innovative lifestyle brand in the video game market. Ashish’s first entrepreneurial role was as co-founder of Virtex Networks (Acquired by Leapfrog Services), then as an early team member of AirDefense (Acquired by NYSE: MOT). Mistry also spent two tours as an EIR at Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), working with start-ups across Georgia. Ashish is also active in community organizations including current and prior board positions with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (ELC), Junior Achievement, Venture Atlanta and the Atlanta CEO Council, as well as serving on committees with the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Mistry is a graduate of Emory University and resides with his wife and children in Atlanta.
Follow Ashish H. Mistry:
About BLH Venture Partners, Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta: We look for smart entrepreneurs within growing markets in which they have relevant experience, keen insights or deep relationships.
Alejandro Guerrero
General Partner and Founder of Act One Ventures
Alejandro Guerrero is a General Partner at Act One Ventures, a community focused, early-stage micro-vc fund based in Los Angeles. He and his partner Michael Silton have been working together since 2013, when Alejandro was a Volunteer Associate and Michael was the Managing Director at UCLA Ventures. They joined forces again in 2015 to create Act One Ventures.
Follow Alejandro Guerrero:
About Act One Ventures: Act One Ventures is a pre-seed and seed-stage fund that leads rounds in business software.
Kat Rumbles
Lead HR Business Partner of Orchard
Kat Rumbles is the Lead HR Business Partner at Orchard.
Follow Kat Rumbles:
About Orchard: Orchard is an online platform for buying and selling residential real estate.
Rohan Shah
Co-Founder & Head of BD & Partnerships of Extend
Rohan Shah is the Co-Founder and Head of BD & Partnerships at Extend, and an investing partner at Shah Capital Partners. Formerly led product at BCG Digital Ventures and was CEO and founder of Within.
Follow Rohan Shah:
About Extend: Extend provides extended warranties as a service to merchants and innovates the broken customer experience associated with them.
Arinze Abiakam
Head Of Operations and Founding Partner of Kobo360
Arinze Abiakam currently serves Kobo360 as a founding partner and head Of operations in Trip Success. Prior to joining Kobo360, Arinze spent more than three years with Cognizant as senior infrastructure consultant.
Follow Arinze Abiakam:
About Kobo360: Kobo360 is a tech-enabled digital logistics platform that aggregates end-to-end haulage operations.
Kevin Petrovic
Partner of CustomSpace
Kevin is the co-founder of FlightCar, a peer to peer car sharing company built for airport travelers. An entrepreneur since age 13, Kevin dropped out of Princeton University to launch FlightCar, which is now disrupting the car rental market in 12 cities and counting. In addition to being named in the Forbes 30 Under 30, Kevin and his co-founder are the youngest entrepreneurs ever to raise $20m in venture capital at ages 20 and 19. Prior to FlightCar, Kevin ran a successful import/export business that generated over half a million dollars in annual revenue and co-founded an award winning clean water NGO named Drinking Water for India.
Follow Kevin Petrovic:
About CustomSpace: CustomSpace provides full-service warehousing, storage.
Ken Pilot
Managing Partner of PredictSpring
Ken Pilot is a managing partner at Crosswork, Backbone PLM, and PredictSpring Inc. He has over 30 years of retail, C-level operating experience at Gap, J.Crew, Ralph Lauren and others.
Follow Ken Pilot:
About Backbone PLM, PredictSpring: PredictSpring provides a seamless omni-channel experience that brings the best of mobile technology to consumer and store associate apps.
John Kent
Director of US Partnerships of Let’s Do This
Follow John Kent:
About Let’s Do This: Let’s Do This is an online marketplace that features almost every endurance event on the planet.
Brian Davis
Director of Business Development, Partnerships, and Strategic Initiatives of Scoutmob
Follow Brian Davis:
About Scoutmob: Scoutmob is a curated lifestyle ecommerce company that surfaces the handcrafted goods of America’s independent makers.
Sophie Stenbeck
Founding Partner of Max Ventures
Sophie Stenbeck is an investor at Colle Capital Partners LP, an opportunistic, early stage technology venture fund. She is also the founding partner of The SEA Fund, LLC (“SEA Fund”) with a focus on early stage deals in health, environment and education sectors. In addition to her effort with the SEA Fund, Sophie has been an active investor in start-up companies in a wide range of industries and technologies, including hospitality, retail, virtual reality, enterprise software, financial technologies, cryptocurrency, telecom and computing. She has extensive experience investing globally. Notable investments include Catchafire, Sanergy, VenueBook, WeVR, Doctor.com, Bread Finance, First Access, BitPesa, Makers Row, Entangled Media and Andyroid. Sophie also co-founded Imperative, a company focused on bringing purpose to the work environment for the millennial generation. Earlier in her career, she worked in the media sector at Bloomberg and Metro International. Sophie received a B.A. in English and American Literature from New York University. She studied entrepreneurial finance at UCLA Anderson School of Management. In addition to her professional career, Sophie is a significant philanthropist through the Sophie Stenbeck Family Foundation, focusing on child rights, education, and fighting trafficking. She also serves on several foundation boards. She is a co-founding board member of Queen Silvia’s World Childhood Foundation and the Chairman of the Stenbeck Stiftelse. Sophie is a co-founder of WISE (Women In Social Enterprise), and she is a true believer in social entrepreneurship.
Follow Sophie Stenbeck:
About Max Ventures: Max Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in consumer tech and health-tech companies.
Ryan Darnell
Founding Partner of Max Ventures
Ryan founded Max Ventures in 2013 with the Stenbeck family. Max Ventures is one of the most active early-stage investors on the east coast and primarily focuses on NYC and the Nordics. Ryan has also founded 4 vc-backed tech cos while at Max.
Follow Ryan Darnell:
About Max Ventures: Max Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in consumer tech and health-tech companies.
Shane Naughton
Founding Partner and Board of Directors of On The Stage
Follow Shane Naughton:
About Inundata, On The Stage: On The Stage is an online platform that offers the option to promote, manage seating, sell tickets and merchandise of the shows.
Scott Savitz
Founder and Managing Partner of Data Point Capital
Scott Savitz is the Founder and Managing Partner of Data Point Capital, an investment fund focused on the internet. Scott is a strong advocate of entrepreneurship and innovation, especially where it aims to raise the bar on the consumer experience. Scott is also the founder and former CEO of Shoebuy.com. Scott founded Shoebuy in 1999, and served as its CEO through its sale to IAC. Under his guidance, Shoebuy grew on average over 55% a year becoming one of the largest online retailers in the country, with over 1 million products and $3.5 billion in inventory available for sale, serving over 8 million visitors a month. Between the sale of Shoebuy in 2006 and Scott retiring from the company in 2011, Shoebuy tripled revenues and grew bottom line faster than top-line. Scott owns and is Chairman of Smart Lunches (www.smartlunches.com), a fast growing internet meal service for schools, daycare and camps. He also serves on the boards of Bluestem Brands, SimpleTuition, Kitsy Lane, Two Ten, and MITX, and serves as an Advisor for Olejo Stores and On The Spot Systems, Inc. He also serves on several committees focused on fostering growth and a more robust economy including the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and Co-Chair of 12 X 12. Scott received a B.A. in English from the University of Colorado and currently resides in Boston, MA. He is a frequent industry speaker and has received numerous awards and accolades including Ernst & Young’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year.
Follow Scott Savitz:
About Data Point Capital: Data Point Capital is a venture capital fund focused on the internet. The fund is non-stage specific and is made up of business executives
Mike Majors
Managing Partner of Data Point Capital
Mike Majors is an Investment Partner at Siemens Venture Capital, based in Boston, MA. He focuses on investments in the industrial space, including industrial automation, drive technologies, industrial software, transportation, and industrial cyber security. Before joining Siemens Venture Capital, Mike was the CFO at Indeed.com and a Venture Partner at StarVest Partners, a New York City based venture capital firm focusing on SaaS investments. Prior to that, Mike was the CFO at Visible World, Time Warner, and WPP. While a Vice President at BEV Capital, Mike led investments in and worked with companies including Retail Solutions, MaxPreps, and ProfitLogic. Mike received a PhD in control systems from Cambridge University and a BSE in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University.
Follow Mike Majors:
About Data Point Capital: Data Point Capital is a venture capital fund focused on the internet. The fund is non-stage specific and is made up of business executives
Geoff Oblak
Managing Partner of Data Point Capital
Geoff Oblak has thirteen years of experience investing in early stage information technology companies, including ten years at Ascent. Prior to joining Ascent, Geoff served as an Investment Analyst in the Boston office of Norwest Venture Partners, where he researched emerging technology markets and worked on successful investments such as Quatritek Systems (acquired by Lucent) and Nashoba Networks (acquired by Cisco). Prior to Norwest, he worked in the Audit/Business Advisory division of Arthur Andersen, LLP, where he was sponsored by the firm in an accelerated MBA program. Current board seats: ClickFox, Exchange Solutions, Fidelis Security, Forefield, Guardium, V.i. Labs and WebLayers.Geoff is a CPA and holds a CFA Charter. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Security Analysts Society. Geoff holds a BA in Economics from Hamilton College, an MBA from Boston University as well as General Course at The London School of Economics & Political Science.
Follow Geoff Oblak:
About Data Point Capital: Data Point Capital is a venture capital fund focused on the internet. The fund is non-stage specific and is made up of business executives
Andrea Nunn
VP of Publisher Partnerships of otto by DEVCON
Follow Andrea Nunn:
About Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, otto by DEVCON: otto by DEVCON specializes in the fields of risk management and SaaS.
Jennifer Piña
Director of Brand Partnerships of MagicLinks
Follow Jennifer Piña:
About MagicLinks: The leader in social commerce for video influencers and the world’s top brands
Malia Supe
Senior Partner, Global Managing Director, WPP Team Lead of Ogilvy
Follow Malia Supe:
About Ogilvy, Ogilvy, WPP: Global brand Strategy, Advertising, Customer Engagement and Commerce, PR and Influence, Digital Transformation, and Partnerships.
Lauren Crampsie
Executive Partner, President of Ogilvy
Lauren Crampsie As Ogilvy & Mather’s chief brand champion, Lauren is responsible for the direction and reputation of one of the world’s most recognized brands and award-winning creative agencies. She is responsible for overall brand strategy, global communications, social media, and corporate responsibility and leads new business on behalf the agency. Lauren joined Ogilvy & Mather in 2004 as a new business coordinator which led her to become the agency’s youngest director of business development three years later. She was next appointed the agency’s first North American Chief Marketing Officer in 2010 and was elevated, two years later, to worldwide CMO. During her tenure at the agency, Lauren has been instrumental in adding a number of Fortune 500 brands to the agencies client roster. These brands include: Aetna, BlackRock, Citizens Bank, IKEA, InterContinental Hotels Group, NASCAR, Philips, Tiffany & Co., Time Warner Cable, Tiffany & Co. and UPS. As Worldwide CMO, Lauren has implemented a series of initiatives across the network. She focused on internal communications first, relaunching the company’s global intranet along with its most popular series, Miles’ Minute, showcasing the agency’s Global CEO, Miles Young. In 2013, Lauren introduced the official content hub of the agency, ogilvydo.com – the award-winning home for ideas, reporting, debate and analysis – born out of Ogilvy & Mather Asia. In tandem with the launch of ogilvydo.com, Lauren also developed the first-ever agency/publisher content partnership with Fast Company and penned the premier post. Under Lauren’s leadership and guidance, Ogilvy & Mather has been recognized by Advertising Age as an “Agency to Watch” (2011), the magazine’s 2014 “North America BtoB Agency of the Year” and “Stand Out Agency” (2012, 2013 and 2016). In addition, the advertising community has applauded Lauren’s professional accomplishments. Advertising Age listed her as a 2011 “Woman to Watch.” That same year, Adweek named her among the most influential Twitter voices. The DMNews Marketing Hall of Femme inducted her in 2013, and in 2015, Lauren was the only advertising industry representative to make Crain’s New York Business “40 Under 40” list. Additionally, she was named to Adweek’s “The Young Influentials” 2015 list, an honor that is bestowed upon 25 people under the age of 40 who have made achievements beyond their years that redefine ambition and achievement and change the industry. She is an active and dedicated participant in the 4As, Advertising Women of New York, the Direct Marketing Association, the ANA, and the Paley Media Council. Lauren served as a delegate at the 2015 Media for Social Impact Summit held at the United Nations. Additionally, she was appointed to the MAKERS board, an Emmy-winning TV and digital video initiative, that harnesses the power of storytelling to capture and preserve the remarkable achievements of women of yesterday and today to inspire the MAKERS of tomorrow. Lauren’s work to globally transform the agency into a modern and high-quality marketer led to her appointment to Ogilvy’s Worldwide Board in 2016. Lauren lives in New York City with her husband, Jason, son, Drake, and dog, Charlie.
Follow Lauren Crampsie:
About Ogilvy: Global brand Strategy, Advertising, Customer Engagement and Commerce, PR and Influence, Digital Transformation, and Partnerships.
Eric Bader
Partner, Global Strategy Consulting of Ogilvy
Eric Bader Partner, Global Digital Transformation Consulting New York, London & San Francisco Eric is a veteran of digital, mobile and programmatic marketing, as well as building venture- backed start-up companies. At Ogilvy Consulting, Eric works with clients to design and implement strategies for building digital businesses through intelligence, content development, program optimization and performance. He has served as a strategy and brand leader atop three of the world’s largest agencies, and started and led digital media companies ranging from digital advertising to subscription-based sports content, mobile and programmatic ad buying. Most recently, Eric was a co-founder and the Chief Marketing Officer of RadiumOne, a leading global programmatic software platform. Other notable roles in which Eric has served include President and Chief Strategy Officer of IPG’s Initiative Media, Co-founder and President of BrandInHand Mobile and Managing Director of Digital at Starcom MediaVest Group. He was also GM at CSTV Networks (now CBS College Sports) and spent seven years as a leader of interactive marketing at Ogilvy. Eric has been an advisor and board member of AdMob (acquired by Google), Quattro Wireless (acquired by Apple), Tru Optik, 4Info, USVP and Airwalk.
Follow Eric Bader:
About Ogilvy: Global brand Strategy, Advertising, Customer Engagement and Commerce, PR and Influence, Digital Transformation, and Partnerships.
Tiffany Masterson
Founding Partner & Chief Creative Officer of Drunk Elephant
Tiffany Masterson is Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Drunk Elephant Holding.
Follow Tiffany Masterson:
About Drunk Elephant: Drunk Elephant is a non-toxic skin care brand.
Claudia Virgilio
Global Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Growth of Skai Israel
Claudia Virgilio has more than 23 years of revenue-generating experience that includes expertise in SAAS and Technology with a focus on SEM, SEO, Social, eCommerce, Consulting and CRM/loyalty channels. Claudia has been at Kenshoo for over 8 years initially headed up sales efforts with notable deals including Expedia, Hilton, Walmart, Shutterfly, HP, and more. She also led the Agency Team Globally and was been instrumental in developing Kenshoo agency solutions and partnerships. Currently she focuses on Global Strategic Partnerships including Amazon, Oath a Verizon Company, SAP, IBM and new emerging partnerships. Prior to Kenshoo, Claudia lead West Coast Sales for Performics/DoubleClick/Google/Publicis for 7 years, managing a team and instrumental in building the Western region, including accounts like HP, Patagonia, Norm Thompson, Safeway, Wells Fargo, Walmart, Disney, Countrywide, Adidas and more. Claudia has also held sales positions at Xpedite, Netcentives, Creditland, and Naviant.
Follow Claudia Virgilio:
About Skai Israel: Skai Israel is an AI-powered platform that offers consumer and market insights, and omnichannel media activation services.
Claire Chang
Founding Partner of igniteXL Ventures
Founding Partner @igniteXLVentures, @SVBeautytech, Beauty & Wellness tech, Investment, Silicon Valley, Korea, Female Founders/Investors, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Global, Golf, Opera, Food, Karaoke. Carpe Diem.
Follow Claire Chang:
About igniteXL Ventures: igniteXL Ventures is a global seed fund backing exceptional founders at the intersection point of technology, beauty, and wellness.
Skye Spear
VP, Global Partnerships of Signifyd
Follow Skye Spear:
About Signifyd: Signifyd is a provider of an enterprise-grade fraud technology solution for e-commerce stores.
Jason Caplain
General Partner of Bull City Venture Partners
Jason is a general partner and co-founded Southern Capitol Ventures after spending two years at Red Hat (NYSE:RHT), the world’s premier open source and Linux provider. There, he directed the company’s global budgeting process, provided financial analysis for the successful IPO in August 1999 and performed due diligence on many of the company’s acquisitions. Prior to Red Hat, Jason was at Harrison Hurley and Company, an investment banking and business-consulting firm headquartered in Providence, RI. Jason currently serves on the boards of ReverbNation and Zift Solutions and is also a board observer for eTix, WeddingWire and DoublePositive Marketing Group. Previously, he was on the board of Synthematix (acquired by Symyx Technologies NASDAQ:SMMX) and a board observer for Batanga (merged with Planeta Networks.) He was also on the Executive Committee of the board of directors at CED which is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation. While at Southern Capitol Ventures, he has had several interim roles with portfolio companies including CFO and Director of Business Development. Jason has received the Triangle Business Journal’s “40 under 40” leadership award and was named in 2009 by TechJournal South as one the Southeast’s Internet Mavens. He is a Guest Lecturer as part of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program at NC State University. Jason received his BS in Finance from Bentley College. Jason’s blog is Southeast VC.
Follow Jason Caplain:
About Bull City Venture Partners, Southern Capitol Ventures: Bull City Venture Partners is a venture capital firm.
David Jones
Co-Founder and General Partner of Bull City Venture Partners
Prior to co-founding BCVP, David was (and continues to be) a partner with Southern Capitol Ventures. David was with the Deloitte Consulting practice in Washington, DC where he managed strategic technology projects for the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. David was on the board of ArtusLabs (acquired by PerkinElmer) and was a board observer at AVIcode (acquired by Microsoft). He is currently a board observer at StepLeader Digital. He is co-Founder and former Chief Technology Officer of medical device portal, Orthocopia.com, which provides surgical information to operating room professionals. David’s background in technology stems from the military where he served as a Naval Aviator flying over 1900 hours in the P-3C Orion. During his last tour he served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia teaching Engineering and Leadership courses. David served as the Weapons and Operations Officer during two deployments to the Mediterranean theater and North Atlantic and led a Naval Intelligence special projects crew testing cutting-edge technologies for acoustic and non-acoustic sensors and combat mission hardware and software. David recently received the Triangle Business Journal’s “40 under 40” leadership award and is a frequent guest lecturer at UNC Kenan Flagler Business School. He received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the US Naval Academy, his MS in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Virginia and his MBA from UNC Chapel Hill.
Follow David Jones:
About Bull City Venture Partners: Bull City Venture Partners is a venture capital firm.
Darnell Kemp
Business Development & Strategic Partnerships of Tundra
Follow Darnell Kemp:
About MIT Alumni Angels of Northern California, Tundra, US Angel Investors: Tundra is the modern wholesale marketplace with the largest selection of wholesale products in the US
Lawrence Nedwed
Strategic Partnerships & Business Development Executive of SunBasket
Follow Lawrence Nedwed:
About SLG Impact, SunBasket: SunBasket is a healthy cooking service that delivers organic ingredients and customized recipes weekly to customers’ doors.
Jessica Rhoades
Director, Content Operations & Partnerships of Fandango
Jessica Rhoades manages content operations and partnerships for Fandango’s digital media strategy, which includes the number one YouTube network for movie trailers and movie-related video content. Jessica has been dedicated to content engagement, production, and strategic audience development since catapulting onto the digital content scene by way of Zefr in 2011. Her current role at Fandango encompasses overseeing content operations, distribution, core technology solutions, and partnerships for 9 Fandango brands. Fandango Movieclips was formed after Fandango’s acquisition of Movieclips in April 2014. Since Fandango’s acquisition, Movieclips subscribers have increased by 148%, adding 11 million to its network of now over 18 million subscribers. Video views are also up 20% year-over-year, with an average of 450 million video views per month. Over the past year, the Fandango Movieclips team has published more than 11,000 movie trailers and original videos to its digital network. Fandango is a unit of NBCUniversal. Long before she invaded Silicon Beach, Jessica displayed her operational and creative expertise by producing large scale events throughout Los Angeles and Orange County.
Follow Jessica Rhoades:
About Fandango: Fandango is a corporation that sells movie tickets via telephone and Internet.
Elizabeth Galbut
Managing Partner of SoGal Ventures
Elizabeth Galbut is a venture capitalist and business designer. Prior to finishing business school, she founded A-Level Capital, the first student-led venture capital firm powered by Johns Hopkins students. Prior to graduate school, Elizabeth was a strategy & operations consultant at Deloitte Consulting focusing on large healthcare clients. Outside of her client-facing work, she contributed to business development efforts that led to over $200M of new work. Elizabeth holds a MBA/MA Design Leadership Dual degree from Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Institute college of Art. She is also a proud alumnus of Georgetown University and London School of Economics.
Follow Elizabeth Galbut:
About Innovation Factory, SoGal Ventures: SoGal is a millennial VC fund that invests in early stage women and diverse entrepreneurs.
Beth Engel
Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
Beth joined Dundee VC in 2013. Her path to a career in venture capital is unconventional; start in 1997, where Beth realized her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Notre Dame was better suited to teaching middle-school science rather than attending med school. After two happy years of teaching, and subsequent jobs at two Omaha-based startups, Beth was hired as the twelfth employee at Hayneedle, helping manage the company’s growth at a time when they were launching dozens of new product categories and websites every single month. Following a move to the East Coast, Beth received her MBA from Georgetown and worked for four years for the FBI, creating a leadership development program for the Bureau before returning home to Omaha in 2013 to be Dundee VC’s first partner. Beth is primarily responsible for investing in and managing portfolio companies, as well as helping to manage our internal team and assisting with capital raising and investor communication. Beth loves the flexibility and energy of working with startups. She hosts an annual Christmas “Caroloke” party where she wows a crowd playing the piano while her brother leads the assembled in a rambunctious holiday sing-a-long.
Follow Beth Engel:
About Dundee Venture Capital: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
Mark Hasebroock
Founder and Managing Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
Mark is the founder of Dundee VC. Mark got his entrepreneurial start selling colored moccasins to pay for a spring break trip while at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (he paid for the trip, then had to issue refunds upon his return when his customers quickly realized that the moccasin dye stained their feet). After a stint as an investment banker – and one as a popcorn distributor – Mark co-founded his first company, Giftcertificates.com, in 1997. Next, Mark co-founded Hayneedle, which sold to Jet.com in 2016 before Jet went on to become part of Walmart. In 2010, Mark formed Dundee VC to solve the problem he faced as an entrepreneur building two tech startups in Omaha: the lack of early-stage capital available throughout the Midwest. Since, he’s grown Dundee through three funds with over $50 million under management and nearly fifty investments, building a team around the Dundee mission – to invest in and partner with the best technology entrepreneurs in the Midwest at the earliest stages. Mark is the first Nebraska-based member of the Kauffman Fellows and is in Class 22. He sits on the Omaha Children’s Hospital Board of Directors, and he is now 7 time coach of the BPHL team. Importantly, he’s played and coached the Beer & Pretzel Hockey League’s Team AU into a seventh consecutive championship team.
Follow Mark Hasebroock:
About Dundee Venture Capital, Hayneedle, Interface: The Web School, NetShops: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
Greg Beaufait
Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
Greg joined Dundee in 2013 and now leads our team’s efforts in Minneapolis. Greg first spent a year as an intern with Dundee VC, analyzing potential investments, revamping investor reports and creating a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) tracking system for investors. After graduation, Greg joined the team full-time in July of 2014 and manages recent investments including ABODO, Viirt, Real Vision and Fooji. Greg knows well how to help startups navigate from the seed stage to Series A funding and beyond, and is instrumental in communicating with our own investors. Greg also created and oversaw DVC’s 2015-2016 AngelList syndicate. Greg holds Bachelors of Science in Business Administration degrees from the Heider College of Business at Creighton University in Financial Analysis and Economics. He is an avid traveler and hopes to have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro by 2020, which he acknowledges is probably easier than building and scaling high-growth tech companies.
Follow Greg Beaufait:
About Dundee Venture Capital: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
Jessica Straus
Venture Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
Jessica joined Dundee VC in 2019 as a Venture Partner to support the team’s work to partner with entrepreneurs in underserved markets from seed to exit. She has spent her career at the intersection of venture capital, technology, and impact. Most recently, Jessica was an Entrepreneur in Residence for GE Ventures, where she led the development of Flux in collaboration with IDEO CoLab to enable startups to build diverse, inclusive, competitive teams. Jessica started her career in 2007 as a staff member in the U.S. Congress, where she worked on the JOBS Act, ERISA, and the Affordable Care Act. Inspired by the entrepreneurs who advocated for the JOBS Act, Jessica joined in the startup ecosystem in 2013 as head of product communications for SocialFlow, a New York-based enterprise social media platform. Her experience at SocialFlow connected her with the venture capital community. Jessica joined the National Venture Capital Association and worked with the industry to support venture capital investors across the U.S. as VP of Development. Jessica is a Kauffman Fellow, a graduate of Davidson College, and an MBA in Design Strategy from the California College of the Arts as a Graduate Merit Scholar Award and Graduate Chair Award recipient.
Follow Jessica Straus:
About Dundee Venture Capital: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
David Mann
Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
David E. Mann brings over 15 years of varied investment, operations and legal experience to his role as Lakewest Venture Partners Principal. A former corporate attorney, his investment and operational experience includes day-to-day company operations and strategic planning efforts for a parking services management company, operations management at an apparel manufacturing company and establishment and continuing oversight of ongoing venture capital, alternative investment and private equity investment strategies. Mann and Lakewest Venture Partner Jonathan McCulloch seek out new venture investments, meet with an extensive network of start-up entrepreneurs and other participants in the start-up and venture capital space, and perform the due diligence for each Lakewest Venture Partners investment. Mann graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1997 with an AB degree in Government, and went on to earn his JD degree from the Northwestern University School of Law in 2002.
Follow David Mann:
About Dundee Venture Capital, Lakewest Venture Partners: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
John B. Jenkins
Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
Follow John B. Jenkins:
About Dundee Venture Capital: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
Ron Watson
Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
Ron Watson is a Partner at Dundee Venture Capital.
Follow Ron Watson:
About Dundee Venture Capital: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
John Jenkins
Partner of Dundee Venture Capital
John joined Dundee VC in 2017 after 20+ years building and exiting three highly successful businesses. After getting kicked out of his first sales job, John built and sold his first company, AlterBen, a regional employee benefits brokerage firm. Next, he launched COBRA Outsourcing Company, which became the largest stand-alone COBRA and direct billing administrator serving over 4,000 employers nationally, before exiting to a strategic buyer in 2007. John didn’t stop there. He founded Benaissance in 2007, a cloud based advanced billing solution for benefit administrators, insurance carriers, insurance exchanges and governmental entities. Benaissance was purchased in 2015 for $80M by public company WEX Health. John lives and breathes the start-up journey, having built companies in partnership with investors and by brute force bootstrapping. He knows where the landmines are, he knows the shortcuts and loves building high quality companies who deliver amazing outcomes. John is expanding Dundee’s presence in Healthcare IT, fintech and insurance tech worlds, focusing on those three sectors, while also being a resource to all existing portfolio founders. JJ’s favorite place in the world? Jackson Hole, where he was during the 2017 total solar eclipse.
Follow John Jenkins:
About Dundee Venture Capital: Dundee Venture Capital invests between $250,000-$1M in high-growth, early-stage technology companies in between the coasts.
Andrew Fine
Co-Founder & Partner of Novel TMT Ventures
Andrew Fine is the founder of Novel TMT Ventures.
Follow Andrew Fine:
About Beanstalk Ventures, Innovative Assessments, INTURN, Michael Kors, Novel TMT Ventures: Novel TMT Ventures Limited is a British Virgin Islands company which is wholly owned by Novel TMT Investments Limited.
Luis Chou
Co-Founder & Partner of Novel TMT Ventures
Luis Chou is the founder of Novel TMT Ventures.
Follow Luis Chou:
About Beanstalk Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures: Novel TMT Ventures Limited is a British Virgin Islands company which is wholly owned by Novel TMT Investments Limited.
Daniel Rosen
Founder & General Partner of Commerce Ventures
Dan is the Founder and General Partner of Commerce Ventures, a venture firm focused on digital innovations in the FinTech, Payments and Commerce eco-systems. Commerce Ventures represents a broad, highly strategic set of investors and, thus far, the firm has invested in over forty portfolio companies since its launch, including Bill.com (SaaS Platform for B2B payments), Blooom (Digital Advice for Retirement Accounts), Covr (Insurance Distribution Platform for FIs and Advisors), Forter (Fraud Decisions-as-a-Service Platform), InAuth (Mobile Device Identification and Authentication), Marqeta (Next-generation Issuing Platform), MX (Saas Platform for Omnichannel Banking), Snapsheet (Auto Insurance Self-service Platform), Trizic (Enterprise Digital Wealth Platform for FIs and Advisors) and VestWell (Full Fiduciary Retirement Platform for SMBs). Prior to creating Commerce Ventures, Dan was a Principal at Highland Capital and invested primarily in mobile, payments and digital marketing companies, such a Quattro Wireless (acquired by Apple), Triad, Zoove (acquired by MBlox) and WePay. Before joining Highland, Dan worked at HarbourVest Partners, LLC – where he invested in and worked closely with several successful, growth-stage technology and communications businesses; in Corporate Development at RSA Security; and as a fintech software consultant for American Management Systems. He has served as a mentor or advisor in programs such as 500Startups, Commerce.Innovated, Mondelez’s Mobile Futures, Money2020’s StartupPitch 180, PYMNTS.com Innovator Awards, Plug and Play’s FinTech Accelerator, Summer @ Highland, HBS Angels, NAR’s Reach Accelerator and First Growth Venture Network. Dan received his BS in Economics (with Honors) from University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) and his MBA (with Distinction) from Harvard.
Follow Daniel Rosen:
About Commerce Ventures: Commerce Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on investments in the e-commerce, retail, FinTech, and Insurance sectors
Dan Rosen
Founder & General Partner of Commerce Ventures
Dan is Founder and General Partner of Commerce Ventures, a venture firm focused on digital innovations in the retail and financial services eco-systems. Commerce Ventures represents a broad, highly strategic set of investors and we make an average of 8-10 investments per year. Prior to creating Commerce Ventures, Dan was a Principal at Highland Capital and invested primarily in mobile and payments startups. During his time at Highland, he made several investments, worked with a total of 9 portfolio companies, and held 4 Board seats. Before joining Highland, Dan worked at HarbourVest Partners, LLC – where he invested in and worked closely with several successful, growth-stage technology and communications businesses; in Corporate Development at RSA Security (RSAS, acquired by EMC); and as a fintech software consultant for American Management Systems (AMSY, acquired by CGI Group). He has been a volunteer advisor in programs such as Mondelez’s Mobile Futures, Summer @ Highland, HBS Angels, NAR’s Reach Accelerator, NFTE and First Growth Venture Network. Dan received his BS in Economics from University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) and his MBA from Harvard.
Follow Dan Rosen:
About Commerce Ventures: Commerce Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on investments in the e-commerce, retail, FinTech, and Insurance sectors
Matt Nichols
Partner of Commerce Ventures
Matthew Nichols is General Partner at Commerce Ventures.
Follow Matt Nichols:
About Commerce Ventures, Cybersource, KitesInc, TagCow: Commerce Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on investments in the e-commerce, retail, FinTech, and Insurance sectors
Matthew Nichols
General Partner of Commerce Ventures
Prior to Commerce Ventures, Matt was the CEO of Gemvara, a disruptive jewelry eCommerce business that was sold to Berkshire Hathaway. Matt also worked as a venture capitalist at Highland Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley Venture Partners where his investments included Bullhorn (Acq’d by Vista Equity Partners), Pixable (Acq’d by SingTel), Avamar (Acq’d by EMC), Tarari (Acq’d by LSI), and Perceptive Software (Acq’d by Lexmark). Matt was a member of Morgan Stanley‘s Technology Corporate Finance team where he was part of the Google IPO team and also spent time in Google’s corporate development group.
Follow Matthew Nichols:
About Commerce Ventures: Commerce Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on investments in the e-commerce, retail, FinTech, and Insurance sectors
Nikhil Raj
Venture Partner of Commerce Ventures
Follow Nikhil Raj:
About Bain & Company, Commerce Ventures: Commerce Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on investments in the e-commerce, retail, FinTech, and Insurance sectors
D.A. Wallach
Founding Partner of Inevitable Ventures
D.A. Wallach is a recording artist and songwriter who Kanye West and Pharrell Williams discovered while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. He has been featured in GQ, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and numerous other publications, and has toured with N*E*R*D and Weezer. D.A. has also appeared on many TV Shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. As one half of Chester French, D.A. has released three full-length albums, and as a featured vocalist has written and performed on records with Janelle Monae, Rick Ross, Diddy, and many others. He is currently recording his first solo album for Harvest / Capitol Records, new selections from which are available at: www.dawallach.com/music Beyond music, D.A. invests in and advises several start-up technology companies, including SpaceX, Doctor On Demand, Ripple Labs, DAQRI, and Spotify, where he is the official Artist in Residence. Forbes has selected D.A. as one of its 30 Under 30 and Fast Company has named him one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. As one of facebook’s first users and one of the most followed artists on twitter (@dawallach), he is a recognized social media pioneer, and frequently publishes essays on media, technology, and philosophy at www.dawallach.com and www.medium.com/@dawallach.
Follow D.A. Wallach:
About Inevitable Ventures: Venture Capital Fund formed by friends Ron Burkle, Chris Hollod, and D.A. Wallach
Arvind Kajaria
Co Founder & Managing Partner of 123Greetings
Follow Arvind Kajaria:
About 123Greetings: 123Greetings.com is the world’s leading online destination for human expressions reaching 95 million visitors annually.
Christine Martin
VP Partnerships & Content of Decorilla
Interior Designer, B.A. English/Spanish literature, Masters Interdisciplinary Education, 10 years of experience in interior design in U.S. and internationally.
Follow Christine Martin:
About Decorilla: Decorilla makes top quality interior design using cutting-edge technology (3D & VR). It is collaborative, affordable and fun!
Ed Han
Partner of Tiny Prints
Ed Han is a Co-founder at Tiny Prints.
Follow Ed Han:
About Tiny Prints: Tiny Prints operates two e-commerce brands offering cards, invitations, personalized stationery and photo books.
Steven Schmutter
Managing Partner of Modloft
Follow Steven Schmutter:
About Modloft: Modloft is a digitally native, vertically integrated furniture company in the luxury contemporary market.
Venk Krishnan
Managing Partner of NuVentures
Venk Krishnan is the founder of NuWare. He is a leader who has rapidly grown NuWare by leveraging on market trends and focus on satisfying customer needs. Under the able leadership of Venk Krishnan, NuWare has gone from strength to strength. It listed on the Inc. 500 for two years in a row and ranked as a Fast 50 company by Deloitte and Touche. Prior to founding NuWare, Venk started GovXcel, a software company servicing the US local government sector which was acquired in 2003 by Mitchell Humphrey. Venk has worked in senior technical and managerial roles at Automated Securities (division of SunGard), Bell South Wireless Data, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Sybase and Wipro. An early angel investor, Venk has interests in Mu-Sigma (www.mu-sigma.com), Erasmic Venture Fund, one of India’s first early stage venture funds, K2, and Vedanta. He is also a charter member of the TIE, New York (TIE-A network fostering entrepreneurship globally). Venk is a graduate of BITS Pilani, India.
Follow Venk Krishnan:
About NuVentures, NuVentures: NuVentures is an early stage venture capital fund based out of Bangalore, India
Kyle Pagach
Strategic Partnerships of Charitybuzz
Follow Kyle Pagach:
About Charitybuzz, Charitybuzz: Charitybuzz is involved in raising funds for non-profit organizations by conducting online auctions with notable celebrities and brands.
Shilpa Challa
Sales and Partnership Manager of Poppy
Shilpa Challa currently works as Sales and Partnerships Manager at Poppy.
Follow Shilpa Challa:
About Poppy: Poppy is a tech-enabled, managed marketplace that connects customers, event florists, and flower farms.
Jalak Jobanputra
Founding Partner of Future\Perfect Ventures
Jalak Jobanputra is Founding Partner of Future\Perfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund in NYC. Previously, she was the Director of Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. While there, she created a mobile investment strategy, invested in an East African mobile tech incubator, invested in an Indian mobile classifieds site, and closed Omidyar’s largest for profit investment ($5M) to date in Latin America. She has over 18 years experience in venture capital, media and technology. She was previously Senior Vice President at the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF), a private economic development fund founded by Henry Kravis, where she managed the fund’s technology and digital media venture investments. While there, Jalak spearheaded the formation of NYCSeed in 2008, a seed fund dedicated to funding early stage tech entrepreneurs in NYC. She also was on the selection committee and served as a mentor and speaker for NYCSeedStart, NYC’s first summer accelerator program and helped launched the FinTech Innovation Lab, which has since been replicated in London. Jalak worked closely with the Bloomberg administration and NYCEDC to implement initiatives to help diversify the NYC economy through NYC’s growing tech/digital sectors and served on Governor Paterson’s Small Business Taskforce. Her portfolio at NYCIF included outside.in (acquired by AOL), Imagespan, Thumbplay and TXVia (acquired by Google) in addition to seed investments Magnetic, Ticketfly, Enterproid and SeatGeek. Prior to NYCIF, she was a Principal at New Venture Partners, a $300 million early stage venture fund which commercialized technology out of corporate labs. At NVP, she founded and served as interim CEO of Real Time Content (spun out of British Telecom), a personalized video ad platform, and was a Director of Procelerate Technologies, a SaaS workflow management tool for the aerospace industry. She also incubated a range of other technologies, including speech recognition/NLP, 3D displays, video surveillance, 4G wireless broadband and music recommendation software. From 1999-2003, Jalak was at Intel Capital in Silicon Valley, where she invested in enterprise software, internet and digital media startups, including Demantra (sold to Oracle), Extricity (sold to Peregrine), Viacore (sold to IBM), R Systems (IPO), Financial Engines (IPO), Yodlee and Zinio. In 1997 in NYC, in the early days of Silicon Alley, she launched and managed product development for online financial information startup Horsesmouth. She began her career in media, telecom and tech investment banking at Lehman and Broadview in NYC and London. Born in Nairobi to Indian parents, Jalak has invested, and traveled extensively, in North and South America, India, Europe, Africa, East Asia and Latin America. She is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship and served as a Trustee of Achievement First Bushwick Charter Schools (Brooklyn) and sits on the Executive Committee of the Social Investment Council of Echoing Green. She is on the Board of Directors for the Center for an Urban Future, Advisory Board of Loreal’s Women in Digital Initiative, and Access to Capital Subcommittee member of the US Secretary of State Women’s Leadership Council. She served as a Mentor for the Unreasonable Institute in Boulder in the summer of 2010, a summer accelerator for social entrepreneurs worldwide. In 2003, she took a year long sabbatical from VC to consult on replication strategy for Gates Foundation funded charter schools, including the Big Picture Company. Jalak spent four months setting up microfinance programs and training women entrepreneurs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after receiving her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in 1999. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Communications from the Annenberg School and a BSE in Finance from the Wharton School. Jalak was selected as an Outstanding 50 Asian American in Business in 2010 by the Asian American Development Center. She was selected as a US State Department Delegate to Indonesia in the summer of 2011, where she met with entrepreneurs, angel investors and business leaders to promote tech entrepreneurship. Jalak is a Techstars NYC Mentor, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator Mentor, Charter Member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), Advisory Board Member of Astia NYC, the Wharton Private Equity Network, Kellogg Entrepreneurs, and is a frequent speaker and judge at entrepreneur and venture conferences, including Mobile World Congress, CTIA, TechCrunch Disrupt, Bloomberg and AlwaysOn. She has been asked to speak on entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems by the Obama White House, as well as governments worldwide. She can be found at @jalak or on her blog www.thebarefootvc.com.
Follow Jalak Jobanputra:
About Future\Perfect Ventures, The Muse: Future\Perfect Ventures is an early stage VC firm focused on decentralized technologies including blockchain, crypto, IoT, and AI.
Prasanna Dhungel
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GrowByData
Prasanna Dhungel is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of GrowByData. He is a data business model expert with almost two decades of experiences building global data businesses in internet retail, healthcare and other spaces.
Follow Prasanna Dhungel:
About GrowByData: GrowByData provides Marketing Intelligence to power smarter, faster eCommerce, unifying insights across the shopper journey.
Joël Valenzuela
Dash Force Partner, Public Outreach of Dash Core Group
Follow Joël Valenzuela:
About Dash Core Group: Dash is the e-commerce and payments-focused digital currency.
Taylor Holiday
Managing Partner of Common Thread Collective
Follow Taylor Holiday:
About Common Thread Collective: Common Thread Collective is an eCommerce growth agency that exists to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.
Jeff Unze
President, Partnerships of BorderX Lab
Early China digital marketing pioneer. Expert in China e-commerce channels and marketing options. Good source on when to activate influencers, when to market cross-border, when to localize, when to join native Chinese platforms and when to go brick and mortar. Led Sales team at Sina.com in 1999, now executive and head of partnerships at BorderX Lab a leading China cross-border ecommerce platform.
Follow Jeff Unze:
About BorderX Lab: Democratization of global shopping via intelligent mobile robot; connect global brands with emerging Chinese consumers.
Brian Essig
President & Managing Partner of Creating Digital LLC
A veteran at developing websites that generate leads, automate processes, and develop automatic revenue streams. Brian is an experienced professional with expertise in open source database driven website application development, and server architecture design utilizing LAMP / Open Source. In 2007, he demonstrated initiative as one of the three programmers to launch a highly popular-and still active- social networking site within the online gaming community. A sampling of specializations acquired during this period include third party application integrations, on the fly video encoding, custom content management systems, firewall management, and search engine optimization. In 2009 Brian realized there was still a big disconnect in traditional business and online medium. In the last few years, traditional businesses have tried to digitize themselves and have come across too many web development shops and agencies that are not full service and did not satisfactorily perform the services in which they were hired. Inadequate research by these web development companies combined with a lack of understanding of the business process results in poorly designed, buggy, or incomplete web based systems that do not offer any benefit, cost savings, or innovation to the client. Brian saw an immediate need for a creative and development agency that behaved as a professional partner. A small agency that would take the time to understand the day to day operations of each client, then based on that understanding recommend a course of action. An agency that can leverage all of its past engagements and bring that insight and knowledge to each new project. Creating Digital was born.
Follow Brian Essig:
About Creating Digital LLC: Creating Digital LLC is a full service web development agency located in Hoboken, NJ
Nancy Wolff
Partner at CDAS, Copyright Guru of Scopio
Follow Nancy Wolff:
About : AI based Diverse Photo Marketplace.
David Laiderman
Co-Founder / Partner of Hungry Media
Follow David Laiderman:
About College Advertising Solutions, Hungry Media, OPER: Digital restaurant media company
Gwen U. Nguyen
Partner of Pixel
Gwen Nguyen leads Indiegogo’s new enterprise crowdfunding service, helping Fortune 500 companies leverage crowdfunding to validate and source innovation. Early partners include GE, Hasbro, Harman / JBL, Westinghouse, Philips and Anheuser-Busch.
Follow Gwen U. Nguyen:
About Indiegogo, Indiegogo, Pixel: Pixel is a full-service boutique digital agency that helps global brands create digital products and experiences.
Mohan Ramaswamy
Founding Partner & Strategy of Work & Co
Mohan is a founding partner of Work & Co, a digital product design and technology company that makes the digital products and services that people use every day. We partner with some of the smartest brands in the world including Apple, Facebook, Virgin America, ALDO, Target, and YouTube. Mohan works with client leadership to help them systematically plan and build their digital products, capabilities, and organizations. Prior to founding Work & Co, Mohan was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey, where he developed customer experience programs, new types of business models, and digital development roadmaps.
Follow Mohan Ramaswamy:
About Work & Co: Work & Co creates digital products and services that define great brands.
Joe Stewart
Founding Partner of Work & Co
Joe Stewart is a Partner at Work & Co, a digital product design company based in New York & Portland. He leads design and branding across all client engagements, including projects for Virgin America, Target, and YouTube. Prior to founding Work & Co, Joe was Partner & Global Creative Director at Huge. Joe has over 18 years of digital experience, and prides himself on continuing to be a hands-on designer. He believes in the value of prototypes over presentations, and is a subscriber to the ‘brute force’ school of design. He was named one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’, as well as one of the ‘Top 50 Web Designers’ in the world by Net Magazine. Joe has an active profile within the design community as a public speaker, writer, and juror for Cannes, SXSW, The Webby Awards, The Pixel Awards, and Fast Co. Design Awards.
Follow Joe Stewart:
About Work & Co: Work & Co creates digital products and services that define great brands.
Gene Liebel
Founding Partner of Work & Co
Follow Gene Liebel:
About Huge, Work & Co: Work & Co creates digital products and services that define great brands.
Nan Dawson
SVP, Global Partnership Operations of Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI)
Nan Dawson joined CSI in 2012 and has continued to play a pivotal role in the company’s culture of excellence in the areas of customer and partner support, system implementation and strategic vendor enrollment. Prior to her promotion in 2016 to SVP of Partner Operations, Nan lead our award-winning customer service teams. With 25 years of progressive leadership in the areas of customer service and support, Nan provides the experience and knowledge needed to continually inspire CSI’s partner teams and ensure smooth implementations and operational support for our valued partners. In addition, Nan co-leads CSI’s charity committee and oversees corporate philanthropy for CSI’s foundation, Power2Change.
Follow Nan Dawson:
About Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI), Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI), Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI): Global B2B Payments and Accounts Payable (AP) Automation
Derek J. Sine
Managing Partner of Vander
Follow Derek J. Sine:
About Vander: Vander Group is an end-to-end eCommerce solutions provider.
Tom Mucklow
Partner Development Manager of Loqate GBG
Follow Tom Mucklow:
About Loqate GBG: The world’s leading location intelligence specialist
Jessica Ho
Partner of Fetch By Us Inc.
Follow Jessica Ho:
About Fetch By Us Inc.: Same day, On-demand, Last mile courier service in 3 easy steps
Mark Zheng
President + Partner of Sene
Follow Mark Zheng:
About Sene: We design & custom-make clothing with innovative fabrics using data science