The Mentors

Chris McIntyre

VP of Product & Engagement | change:healthcare

A serial entrepreneur with companies spanning more than 10 years, Chris was raised in an entrepreneurial home. He got a taste for using the internet to build huge dedicated audiences with family businesses selling gourmet housewares online, helping create a multi-million dollar online store from a traditionally in-store-only product.

Over the years Chris has founded, run, and eventually sold a number of small businesses. Most notably, however, was when he launched Podcast Alley in 2004, the first and most well-known podcast directory. A pioneer in the podcast industry, he worked with iTunes to provide them with their first directory of podcasts to pre-populate their store and to foster the adoption of podcasting by their growing base of iPod users. Soon after, Chris helped launch PodShow (now Mevio) as a founding member, helping grow to over 50 million views per month (a comScore top 20 multimedia company). He now works as VP of Product & Engagement at change:healthcare. Chris received a BA from Purdue University in 2001.

Kate O’Neill

Founder & CEO | [meta]marketer

Kate O’Neill started her first business as a teenager: it was a youth services non-profit focused on youth-produced art and theater. It didn’t last long, but it cemented Kate’s enthusiasm for leadership, her passion for integrity in business, and her interest in the seemingly paradoxical dynamics of self-reliance and community that surround small business ventures. Since then, she has worked in companies ranging from 1 to 300,000 employees, launched and closed two consulting businesses in Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, and along the way developed expertise in online content, online user experience, and online data analysis. In 2009, she founded [meta]marketer, an agency focused on data-driven web marketing using analytics and optimization.

Mark Montgomery

Music and Tech Entrepreneur | EIR Claritas Capital

mark montgomery is a nashville-based music and technology entrepreneur and rabble rouser who was the co-founder and visionary behind a multi-faceted digital music marketing force known as echomusic. he exited the company in 2009 and is an Entrepreneur in Residence for Claritas Capital and working on a select group of commercial and philanthropic projects. for more info, visit hellomarko.com

Vic Gatto

Partner | Solidus Company

Vic joined Solidus as a Partner in 2007. He has over seven years of experience as an early-stage venture investor in Tennessee. Vic focuses his investment activity primarily in three industries: healthcare services, applied technology, and media/communications. He is responsible for sourcing, analyzing, and structuring new investments in addition to monitoring existing portfolio companies. Vic serves on the board of directors of five Solidus portfolio companies: SouthComm, OnFocus Healthcare, Change:Healthcare, Tricycle. Prior to joining Solidus, he worked for five years in a similar capacity with another venture capital firm: Massey Burch Capital Corp.

Before switching to the investor side of the table, Vic co-founded and subsequently sold a software company in 1993. The company was formed in Boston and grew from three initial employees to over 250 employees when it was sold in 1999. Vic moved to Atlanta to start a Southeast office of the company in 1996. He found that he preferred the southeast and decided to remain in the region and attend business school at Vanderbilt University. Vic lives in Nashville with his wife and two sons. He has a graduate degree from Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management and a BA from Amherst College. Vic is on the board of directors of the Nashville Technology Council, President of the Board for the Vanderbilt Healthcare Business Alumni Association and President of the Board of Trustees for The Children’s House of Nashville.

J Tod Fetherling

President/CEO | Nashville Technology Council

He has lead the Technology Council through a growth phase that includes a re-branding of the 10 year old organization and grew the organization by 50% in two years to more than 390 companies connecting 22,000 tech workers in Middle Tennessee.

Fetherling, a pioneer in the eHealth industry, created the initial interactive strategies for HCA, created the first online health curriculum platform, and hosted the first live birth on the Internet. He has combined content, search, and video to create properties that have topped the 1,000,000 visitors per week mark. He has several successful exits to his credit and continues to invest in local companies to help grow the community.

Marcus Whitney

Chief Technology Officer | Moontoast

Marcus Whitney currently serves as CTO of Moontoast. As CTO at Moontoast, a “Social Commerce Network” launched in December 2009, Whitney leads product development and also engages with customers to design and execute marketing and merchandising strategies that best leverage the power of the Moontoast platform.

Prior to Moontoast, Whitney was partner and Director of Technology at Emma. Whitney has also established several well-received community events such as Nashville’s first BarCamp and PodCamp, as well as the inaugural Enterprise LAMP Summit.

In his spare time, he is an advisor to several local startups through his thought leadership and advisory firm, Remarkable Wit. Whitney maintains a newly revived blog atmarcuswhitney.com where he covers startups, technology and the dilemma of the entrepreneur.

Dr. Jeff Cornwall

Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship | Belmont University

Dr. Jeff Cornwall is the inaugural recipient of the Jack C. Massey Chair in Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He also serves as the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. He has a Doctorate in Business Administration and an MBA from the University of Kentucky.

In the late 1980’s, Dr. Cornwall left academics to become the co-founder and President/CEO of Atlantic Behavioral Health Systems, headquartered in Raleigh, NC. ABHS operated a variety of health care facilities and programs throughout North Carolina. After nine years of rapid growth, he negotiating the sale of most of his corporations’ business interests, and returned to academics.

The Belmont entrepreneurship program has been named a Top 25 Undergraduate Program in the nation by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

He has published six books and numerous articles on entrepreneurship.

His blog, The Entrepreneurial Mind, is among the most popular with a focus on small business and entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurial Mind is part of the Forbes blog network and was named by that magazine as a “Best of the Web.” It is also syndicated by The Christian Science Monitor and Business Insider.

Dave Delaney

Digital Marketing Consultant and Speaker

Dave Delaney is a recognized leader and speaker on digital marketing, social media strategy, and community enthusiasm.

In the mid 1980′s, Dave discovered bulletin board systems using his Commodore 64 and modem. He’s been communicating online steadily ever since. He hosted one of the first parenting podcasts from 2005 – 2008, and he has been blogging for eight years.

Since moving to Nashville in 2007, Dave co-founded two annual unconferences, PodCamp and BarCamp Nashville. He has also launched two monthly events, Nashcocktail and Geek Breakfast, the latter now has chapters across the US, South Africa and Australia.

In 2011, Dave was awarded the prestigious Digital Media Champion AIM Award by the American Marketing Association in Nashville. In 2009, he was nominated for Nashville’s blogger of the year by the Nashville Technology Council. Dave has appeared in technology stories in USA Today, The Tennessean and Mashable.

Delaney recently departed Griffin Technology after managing their digital marketing efforts for three years. He is now available for consultation for your company’s digital marketing plan.

Find Dave at davedelaney.me

Chris Sloan

Shareholder | Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

I represent emerging growth companies (i.e. start-ups and early stage companies), often (but not always) in technology or internet-related businesses. I’m also an IP/IT lawyer and work with a variety of software, ASP, SAAS, mobile content, and similar companies, as well as advising many of our brick-and-mortar clients on IP/IT issues. My strength is my ability to give efficient, practical advice in context. I want my clients to consider me not just an attorney, but a trusted advisor.

Jamin Guy

Senior Product Developer | Griffin Technology

Jamin is a relentlessly curious, self-motivated, and detail-oriented inventor and UX designer. As a software developer, he keeps up with the latest techniques and trends related to his craft, from .Net to iOS SDK to cutting edge web services. Further, Jamin is listed as a co-inventor on utility patent applications related to inventions in the iPhone hardware-software space. Jamin’s “iTalk” iPhone app has over 2 million users and remains one of the most popular apps in the Business category. Jamin’s “AirCurve” acoustic iPhone dock was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the “Green Design 100.” As the Griffin Category / Brand Manager for iPhone software development and for iPhone hardware-software integration, Jamin is positioned on the forefront of next- generation mobile technology.

Corey Cleek

President & CEO | Uloop, Inc.

Corey is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Uloop, Inc., an online classifieds platform for colleges and universities, and is an active angel investor in Internet Media and E-Commerce companies. Corey has held various U.S. and International Marketing and Business Development positions at eBay, CitySearch, and Amazon.com.

Corey is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Jay Graves

Vice President of Digital Products | Wiland Direct

Jay is Vice President of Digital Products for Wiland Direct based in Boulder, Colorado and is responsible for developing new digital marketing technologies for the fast growing customer intelligence company. 

He has over 15 years of experience in technology management, software development, strategic business development, and high-growth start-up companies.  Prior to Wiland Jay served as the Chief Technology Officer of edo Interactive where he help developed one of the first digital coupon solutions tied directly to payment networks. 

Before edo, he was co-founder and President of SmartDM which developed Software as a Service marketing database solutions and was sold to Acxiom Corporation (ACXM) in 2005.  Jay is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Julia Polk

CFO | Change Healthcare Corporation

Veteran senior executive with proven track record in translating new business concepts to functioning, profitable operating companies, with a specific focus in healthcare services.

Over 25 years of experience in investment banking and venture capital, start-up team management, financing, business model development and M&A.

Joined senior management teams to lead several successful growth stage organizations while delivering financial, capital and legal strategies, revenue model development and identification and negotiation of strategic alliances.

Brian Lapidus

SVP Strategic Partnerships | Kroll, SVP

Brian Lapidus is SVP Strategic Partnerships for the Cyber Security and Information Assurance practice of Kroll. A seasoned expert in business development, tactical alignment, and product implementation, he applies 15 years of leadership and entrepreneurial expertise to the guidance of daily operations as well as oversight of strategic development and execution of project plans and growth initiatives.

Lapidus oversees a highly skilled management team that has consistently improved financial, market, and operational performance of the practice. Lapidus’ extensive background in the risk consulting industry combines substantial experience in launching and managing new business lines. He has established project management, marketing, and client services functions to ensure efficiency, awareness and longevity of product delivery.

Capitalizing on his sales and client relationship skills, he created and facilitated installation of a sales pipeline process to align sales, marketing, product development and operations. In his previous role as vice president of strategic development, Lapidus launched Kroll’s individual identity theft solutions business in Canada.

Prior to that as the director of strategic products and partnerships for the Background Screening division of Kroll, Lapidus created Global Academic Verification (GAV), a leading Kroll solution to assist universities in authenticating foreign student application data matriculating to domestic universities. He has developed organizational structure, business processes, and performance management programs for offices within the federal government and private business as well.

Kris Kelso

Founder & President | The Kelso Group

Kris Kelso is a business owner with a long history in the information technology industry, ranging from software development to enterprise infrastructure design and management. He spent the early years of his IT career as a designer and developer, building web sites and web applications for major corporations.

He contributed to open-source software development projects and produced extensive customizations on commercial products including Business Objects and PeopleSoft.

After almost a decade of working in various technical and management roles within the healthcare industry, he began to turn his attention toward the business side of IT. Kris founded The Kelso Group in 2007, and began to build a team of experienced consultants who combine technical ingenuity with solid communication skills and business acumen.

Over the past five years, The Kelso Group has led their clients through mergers, acquisitions, corporate moves, major technology shifts, and organizational restructures.

Ben Stucki

Founder | DAIO, Inc.

Ben Stucki is a Software Engineer, Interaction Designer and Founder of DAIO. He has more than 10 years of experience building complex client-side software and believes that good developers and great design are what make viable business models viable businesses.

Alison Lynch

COO | BlueJar Media, LLC

Alison Lynch is an operations and marketing professional with nearly 20 years experience in venture development – assisting start-up companies and established small businesses achieve profitable growth. Her multi-disciplinary background has enabled her to join a firm and make an immediate contribution whether in operations, administration, marketing, or businesses development.

Alison’s natural curiosity and drive has led her down a unique career path where she has had the opportunity to gain knowledge of a diverse skill set. Beginning her career at Oracle, Alison gained the confidence of executives in three practice groups, which ultimately led to a position at Intelligent Interactions.

As the first employee and minority shareholder of Intelligent Interactions, Alison caught the entrepreneurial bug early and easily manipulated multiple roles: web designer, code writer, office and facilities manager, bookkeeper, HR director, and Corporate Secretary working with legal and accounting firms as well as creating Due Diligence documents for investor groups. Following an acquisition by 24/7 Real Media and an IPO in 1998, Alison was invited to join IMS Ventures, an early stage angel fund in Alexandria, Virginia.

At IMS Ventures, Alison was responsible for identifying and qualifying potential investment opportunities as well as serving as Corporate Secretary and Treasurer. She also fulfilled the duties of Vice President of Operations, ensuring the financials and other organizational tasks were managed for the business. 

Since leaving IMS in Alison has been involved in multiple startups as both an angel investor and C level executive.  In her current role as COO at BlueJar Media, LLC, she is instrumental in building the corporate vision and long term plans for the company.

Erik Carlson

CEO | Streamweaver

Proven leader skilled at delivering strong results for emerging, start-up, and established businesses across consumer, midmarket, and enterprise segments.

Customer-centric driven Kellogg MBA and former Microsoft product/marketing strategist with diverse background in global business and market planning, product management (software, multi-touch hardware, SaaS, web), and professional services.

Experienced in leading talented teams to deliver compelling value propositions to target audiences.

Bob Strachan

Co-founder | Metacake LLC

Bob has a background in business consulting with The Monitor Company (a Boston based strategic consulting firm). He did much of his work for them in the mid 90′s with large US/European companies operating in Asia.

Since 1998 he has been deeply involved with technology strategy and overseeing technical design, development and deployment. he did his time with a healthcare technology startup based out of Hong Kong through the glory years of the first internet bubble… and all the way down the other side.

Bob currently co-owns a technology company in Nashville TN called Metacake. Metacake provides consulting, development and marketing services to range of companies, with a particular emphasis on working with startups. Partnering entrepreneurial ventures is where their expertise, skills and passions intersect. In addition, Metacake currently incubates their own startup companies in partnership with Fivestone Partners.

Laureen Kuzur

Corporate and Securities lawyer

Dr. Mike Butera

Founder | Artiphon, LLC

Dr. Mike Butera is the founder of Artiphon, LLC, a Nashville-based business specializing in the design and construction of innovative musical instruments and other sonic technologies. Along with Dr. Dave Gilbert, he is a co-founder of salttt, LLC, a product development agency and consultancy that works with companies to assist in the design, development, and deployment of new products with a focus on consumer electronics, web services, and retail experiences.

In addition to his business activities, Mike has four years of experience teaching at the university level in Philosophy and Sociology. Currently an adjunct professor of Sociology at Belmont University, his classes include The Sociology of Social Networks, Cultural Theory, and Critical Theories of Sound.

Mike holds a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in Social and Cultural Theory. His diverse research includes studies in the phenomenology of auditory experience and acoustics, the philosophy of technological innovation, and socio-cultural networks.

He has published in multiple formats (academic and public) and has been invited as a keynote speaker at various conferences and events internationally, specifically in the emerging field of Sound Studies. His continuing academic involvement includes peer-reviewing for the journal Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology.

Mike is also a multi-instrumentalist in the band Humming House.

Jacques Woodcock

President | theKit

Jacques Woodcock is a digital strategiest who has experience and training in all disciplines from design to project management. He started working in the digital industry as a web designer prior to graduating with a degree in Graphic Design.

He spent the next 9 years working for agencies whose focus ranged from music business to political to creative to interactive, learning multimedia, animation, Cold Fusion programming, JavaScript, PHP, Flash ActionScript along with other various technical and strategic skills.

While at his last two agencies Jacques was trained on project management, business development and strategic planning before setting out on his own to form Kite Web Consulting and then developing a SaaS, theKit.

James Fryman

Fryman and Associates, Inc

Accomplished information technology professional with over 10 years of demonstrated success developing and executing strategies aimed at growing business in various industries through the use of new and cost-effective technologies. Experience in leading Operational and Security based organizations through organizational growth and effectiveness.

In-depth experience with organizational restructuring, P&L management, and risk-based management approaches. In-depth experience with industry security policy deployment, audit and compliance including PCI-DSS 1.2, ISO17799/27001 GLBA, Sarbanes Oxley, and HIPAA. Recognized for delivering results in fast- and growth- based organizations by adaption to change, effective management, and ensuring alignment to critical business initiatives to delver business success.

Geof Vickers

Attorney | Baker Donelson

Geof Vickers is an attorney in the Nashville office of Baker Donelson and a member of the Firm’s Business Technology and Emerging Companies Groups.

Geof concentrates his practice in the areas of information technology law and general business law, representing clients with matters related to intellectual property and technology issues in corporate transactions, business process and IT outsourcing, information technology, Health IT, complex sales and licensing arrangements, and other transactions involving the development, commercialization and sale of technology.

Germain Boer

Professor of Management | Owen School

Skilled at helping entrepreneurs create simple, effective, cash monitoring systems. Knows how to ask entrepreneurs those stupid questions that have difficult answers. Good at finding creative ways to do things without spending cash. Has experienced the emotional ups and downs of a startup. Has a strong focus on results and on metrics that measure results.

Dr. Mark Harris

CEO | NextGxDx

Dr. Harris is an entrepreneur at the intersection of science and technology. He founded NextGxDx in 2010 to address physicians’ need for a more efficient method of finding and ordering the right genetic test.

Previously, Dr. Harris was brought into Thermo Fisher Scientific’s leadership development program, specifically to manage a sequencing project at Athena Diagnostics. At Athena, Dr. Harris developed the business case and implementation plan to transition Athena’s genetic tests onto a next generation sequencing platform.

Dr. Harris earned a joint PhD/MBA from Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine and the Owen Graduate School of Management. His dissertation research focused on cancer biology and biochemistry.

Scott Kozicki

Entrepreneur

Scott Kozicki is a serial entrepreneur as well as an accomplished executive of publicly traded companies.

As part of his work with JumpStart Foundry, Mr. Kozicki is a board member of two companies from the 2010 class; NewFound Solutions and Bizen.

Prior to JumpStart Foundry, Mr. Kozicki co-founded HealthCampNash, an “unconference” aimed at innovation in health care and was founder and Chief Executive Officer of Truu Health, Inc., a Nashville, TN based provider of integrated health management for small and medium employers. Previously, Mr. Kozicki was the Chief Technology Officer for Healthways (NASDAQ:HWAY), the world’s largest disease and care management service provider.

Before joining Healthways, Kozicki was founder and Chief Executive Officer of Factory23, Inc., a Nashville, TN-based data center focused on small and medium sized business IT outsourcing. From 1998-2000, Kozicki was co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of BlueStar Communications, a Nashville, TN-based DSL broadband Internet provider. BlueStar was sold in June, 2000 to Covad Communications (NASDAQ:DVW) for $650M.

Prior to forming BlueStar, Kozicki served as a technology consultant and developer for nearly 10 years, designing and building some of the Internet’s earliest sites and technologies.

Brian Bowman

Vice President and Partner | C3 Consulting

Brian Bowman has two decades of business experience in consulting, healthcare, information technology, manufacturing, and distribution. Brian has been an entrepreneur and Partner at C3 Consulting for the last 5+ years, working to build the company from a start-up to one of the largest management and technology consulting firms in Middle Tennessee. As a principal consultant, he is responsible for business consulting, business development and client relationship management.

Brian specializes in managing complex initiatives and establishing new products, services, and business processes. Brian brings an innovative mindset and strong financial and analytical background to drive improvements in efficiency and results.

Working with companies of all sizes, he brings a wide array of experience to business transformations that require changes in culture, strategy, skills, processes, and technology. Prior to joining C3, Brian directed an enterprise Project Management Office (PMO) for a healthcare company and has held consulting roles with IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Arthur Andersen.

Drew S. Fassett

Vice President & General Manager | Peak 10

Drew Fassett is the Vice President and General Manager for the overall operations of Peak 10 Nashville, the leading independent data center operator and managed services provider. Mr. Fassett is responsible for the fiscal well-being and day-to-day management of the Nashville facilities including operations, engineering, sales and business development. He was responsible for creating the Technology Assistance Program (TAP) in Nashville to provide entrepreneurs with free hosting and consulting services in support of their business. Mr. Fassett joined Peak 10 from IBM where he served as a business unit executive focused on strategic outsourcing and managed services for the Small and Medium Business (SMB) marketplace. He has more than 15 years of sales, services and sales management experience in the IT industry. Drew received his B.A. from Davidson College.

Scott Gordon

Partner | Vaco, LLC

Nashville, TN’s 2010 Blogger/Social Media Person of the Year, Scott Gordon, the “Anti Pimp” himself, is a nationally renowned speaker on the mechanics of unlocking the power of putting your money where your mouth is. He brings his 14 years of experience in “buying and selling people” for some of the nation’s most successful technology consulting and placement firms, mixes in unbridled enthusiasm and a healthy dose of sarcasm to deliver some real “ah-ha” moments.

He’s managed/produced in a Top 5 office of an IT staffing and Consulting division of a global Fortune 500 strategic staffing company (100+ offices). While assisting and training recruiters around the United States, Scott was chosen as one of twelve recruiters globally to develop policies and procedures for recruitment and retention in an IT market. Scott was also recognized as one of the Top Fifteen individual producers worldwide for the same global Fortune 500 staffing firm.

He literally escaped the Fortune 500 company in 2004 to assist in opening an office for a now national consulting firm. That firm has grown over 2000% in just 6 years and recently named as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States by Inc. magazine.

Bryan Huddleston

Account Manager | Microsoft

Bryan currently serves as an account manager for Microsoft Corporation. He is responsible for the relationship, sales, customer satisfaction and successful solution deployment for seven major healthcare customers in Tennessee.  Bryan served in Microsoft’s Small Mid-Market Solutions & Partners group for four years as partner account manager, solution specialist and territory manager. He is known for team leadership and working closely with clients, internal teams and partners to offer business-driven technology solutions.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Bryan spent five years with Quest Software. He held roles in pre-sales, product management and marketing management. He was the product marketing manager for TOAD. He also spent three years as a PeopleSoft consultant in Nashville with Oasis Software. Bryan has a BS from Murray State University in Business Administration with an area of Computer Information Systems. He has previously sat on the board of Bethany Adoption Services. He is a Young Leaders Alumni (Fall 2007). He is involved in the Nashville Technology Council.

By applying Product Management/Marketing methodologies, Bryan hopes to empower Jumpstart Foundry startups to develop the right products with the right market approach to achieve greater results faster.

David Hooper

Music Marketing [dot] com

Marketing specialist with an emphasis in music, print, and digital publishing. Host of the syndicated talk radio show, Music Business Radio. Background in live event promotion, street promotion, and direct response advertising.

Jozef Nuyens

Founder | Fivestone Partners

Nuyens is a serial entrepreneur with a background in international business, finance and Entertainment. He traveled the world as an artist and a businessman to acquire cultural and geopolitical understanding. Jozef is currently a founding partner of Fivestone Partners, a business development and consulting firm that enables innovative companies to prepare and overcome challenges to later phase growth opportunities. Jozef is currently a managing director of TRL9, a technology co. that assists, and finances companies with solutions within various elements of the federal government.

He co-founded Passalong Networks, and soon after became the CEO of its artist-centric company, Speakerheart. PassAlong Networks and Speakerheart were selected as an OnHollywood 100 Top Private CompanyAward Winner.

Jozef is passionate about music, technology, business and its impact on culture. Nuyens ran The Castle and served as its CEO for the first “high Tech” digital recording complex in the Southeast, recording projects by more than 400 Gold and Platinum artists. Jozef is a three-time GRAMMY-nominated producer and a BMI and ASCAP publishing award winner. He had a JV with Time-Warner’s Warner-Chappell. He served as a board member of NARAS, the association that organizes the “GRAMMY’s.”

Nuyens had a record label joint venture with Arista Records.

Beth R. Chase

President & CEO | C3 Consulting, LLC

Beth Chase is President, CEO, and founder of C3 Consulting, LLC, a local consulting firm. With 25 years of experience in the consulting and Information Technology profession, Beth heads C3 with hands-on leadership including business development, consulting, employee relations, and client relationship management.

C3 provides project-based leadership services for Middle Tennessee-headquartered companies who are experiencing growth or change. C3’s 50-person consulting team provides a range of services, including strategic planning, change management, business process redesign, program/project management, process & methodology implementation, solution evaluation/selection, due diligence, performance metrics, and IT advice and counsel.

As a hands-on consultant, Beth specializes in facilitating strategic planning initiatives and redesigning critical business functions for companies. Beth has worked with startups as well as Fortune 100 clients in the healthcare, insurance, distribution, manufacturing, publishing, and financial services industries.

Prior to starting C3, Beth co-founded another local consulting firm and grew that company into a profitable 35-person firm.

Beth began her career with IBM Corporation, holding a variety of sales, financial, and consulting positions including a Global Consulting Services Practice Leader in the area of Workflow Automation.

Beth has a Bachelors degree from Vanderbilt University (Mathematics and Economics).

Allen Brown

Owner | Dunkin Donuts Nashville

Allen Brown currently owns and operates a multi-store network of Dunkin Donuts in the Greater Nashville Area with a business partner. Allen also enjoys helping early stage software companies in Nashville as both an investor and advisor. Allen was a co-founder of Investment Scorecard in 1995 and served the company in various roles for 14 years. Investment Scorecard is an outsourced technology service provider for wealth management institutions with fiduciary responsibilities such as Bank Trust Departments and Registered Investment Advisors. While at Scorecard, Allen focused most of his efforts on product development, operations and sales as the “Chief Scorekeeper.” Informa plc, a publicly traded company in London, purchased Scorecard in 2007. Scorecard continues to operate as a strong business unit of the company. Allen attended Denison University and the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management.

Robert Hendrick

Founder | change:healthcare

Robert is a serial entrepreneur and founder with numerous startups under his belt including most notably change:healthcare, and Edge Net Media. As a managing partner with IncLabs, he was responsible for working alongside entrepreneur clients in the healthcare and technology space. He is also the owner of Railroad Services, a railroad maintenance and repair contracting firm and Rail Yard Studios, a firm specializing in function furnishings from salvaged railroad materials.

And he still has the energy to be a father, a husband and a cyclist. A native of Nashville, he has traveled relentlessly throughout the world with extensive stints working and studying in Europe and Australia. He speaks German fluently and has been known to accurately interpret European train schedules.

Particularly adept at guerilla marketing and technology innovation, his specialty is as a Jack-of-all-trades. He has filled virtually every role a startup has to offer including finance and investor relations and has a passion for recruiting the uniquely talented types of individuals required to propel fledgling companies forward.

His formal education is as an industrial designer with a BA from Auburn University and MA from The Ohio State University.

Keith Deerkoski

Owner | Sweet Liberty, LLC

** Graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994 ** Served in the Marine Corps for 5 years (Captain) ** 2 6-month deployments to the Mediterranean Sea – first as Scout-Sniper Platoon Commander; 2nd as Recon Platoon Commander ** Graduated from Owen in 2001 ** Executive at Investment Scorecard, Inc. ** Held multiple positions including Head of Sales, Client Services, Strategic Partnerships ** Began in Product Development ** Started Sweet Liberty, LLC with partner ** Currently own and operate 5 Dunkin’ Donuts ** Required to know and lead all facets of business development and operations (Financing, HR, Marketing, Operations, Contracts, etc…)

Brendan Wovchko

Director of Technology | Intero Alliance

I am a senior technology executive passionate about the intersection of software development and interaction design. I specialize in leading highly integrated groups of creative and engineering professionals in Agile product development — coaching teams to become self-organizing, cross-disciplinary, and delivery driven.

Most recently I have served the organizational roles of CTO to two start-ups and as a director at a larger company — managing multiple projects in parity, each with budgets between $500k and $9MM. Aside from my organizational titles I have served as Scrum Master, Product Manager, and Architect in Agile teams.

My primary advantage in team leadership is that I began developing websites 15 years ago — in “simpler times”. As new technologies emerged I progressed to more sophisticated responsibilities — designer, front-end developer, *NIX administration, programmer, and database architect. In most cases I have held the role of each of the people I manage — allowing me to understand the time it takes to complete a job, create an atmosphere where people feel both challenged and successful, and have experience to coach team members through frustration to find best-practice solutions.

In May 2008 I was recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a “social networking expert”.

Chris Blanz

Founder / CEO / Creative Director | cabedge.com

Having had only 3 “real jobs” since graduating college, Chris been an entrepreneur most of his adult life.

After his first business merged with another, and that company’s eventual sale to an investment firm, Chris founded cabedge.com, LLC in 2001 as an interactive design studio. Having evolved over time, cabedge now provides web-centric brand strategy, design, content development and the development of “usable communication tools” for their clients. In addition to many prominent local companies, their reach goes beyond Nashville with a client list that includes National Geographic, Tylenol, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, LEGO, and The Washington Post among others.

A winner of two “Best in Business” and two “Future 50” awards, Chris’ entrepreneurial efforts have also been highlighted with honors from the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) in 2008 and from the Nashville Business Journal in 2009 as one of the inaugural Forty under 40. To date, the cabedge has received more than 60 American Advertising Awards.

Bob Grohovsky

Worldwide Services Director | Microsoft

Bob Grohovsky is the Worldwide Services Partner Director for Microsoft. In this role, Bob leads Microsoft Services’ strategy for a key global Alliance partner – to drive increased market penetration of our mutual solutions.

Grohovsky brings more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry to role, having joined Microsoft in February of 2005. Prior to Microsoft, he was Director of Network Operations at Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) – the world’s largest music performing rights organization’s (PRO) – having built their worldwide network. Before BMI he was with Nortel as Manager of North America Business Development, having held various marketing and partner roles including: Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), Competitive Analysis, Pricing and Premier Accounts. He began his career as a manufacturing software engineer with CTS Corp.

Bob holds a BS in Electronics and Computer Technology from Indiana State University and an MBA in Marketing from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Roddy Bailey

Member | Miller & Martin, PLLCb

Roddy Bailey focuses his practice on the representation of entrepreneur based companies, from formation, to seed stage and venture capital financing, and eventual exit transactions. Roddy advises companies in all types of capital raising efforts, including venture capital financing, initial public offerings of equity securities, follow-on offerings and placements of debt securities. Roddy’s experience includes representation of both companies and investors at every stage of the capital raising process. In addition, Mr. Bailey counsels companies on merger and acquisition transactions and other general corporate matters.

Roddy has a wide range of experience in assisting companies to achieve their business goals. For example, Mr. Bailey assisted a technology company raise late stage venture capital as a prelude to an initial public offering. He has also assisted a software technology company in obtaining multiple rounds of venture capital funding to promote growth and sales and marketing expansion and a high school sports broadcasting company in connection with its ongoing development.

Roddy serves as counsel to a leading provider of sampling systems to the life sciences industry in its capital raising efforts. Roddy also represents a private equity fund in connection with its acquisition and divestiture transactions as well as another fund that utilizes federal tax credits to make investments.

Mr. Bailey has also advised technology companies, financial services companies and insurance companies in their respective initial public offerings of stock, as well as follow-on offerings. Mr. Bailey assists companies with federal securities compliance once publicly registered and ongoing compliance with national stock exchange regulations.

Michael Burcham

President, CEO | Nashville Entrepreneur Center

Michael has extensive experience in healthcare innovation, entrepreneurship, and startup venture coaching. He served as President of ParadigmHealth, a provider and integrator of care and disease management services for health plans and employers, from 2001-2007. He also founded and served as President of Theraphysics, a venture-backed specialty healthcare firm managing rehabilitation services, from 1992-2000. He is founder and Director of the Accelerator Summer Business Institute, a 4-week intensive immersion program designed to challenge undergraduate students to develop their own personal brands and business skills. At the Owen Graduate School of Management, Michael teaches healthcare innovation and strategy. He is passionate about helping the creative class transform their ideas into real businesses, and looks to the Entrepreneur Center as an opportunity to revolutionize Nashville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and creative venture development on a large scale. Michael received his PhD in Healthcare Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2003.

David L. De Busk

Founder and General Manager | 47th Proposition, LLC.

David is the founder of 47th Proposition, LLC. advising clients on the creation of actionable strategies by connecting art, science and soul.

David previously served as Vice President of Business Development for Landmark Digital Services, LLC. David was instrumental in the acquisition of the technology of Shazam Entertainment LTD by BMI. David represented BMI in International Music/Technology consortiums including DDEX, CISAC, FastTrack and SDMI. He has several patents pending and a received a patent for a Device for Monitoring Multiple Broadcast Signals.

David conceived, developed and implemented several major technology initiatives at BMI including the MusicBot, BMI’s Repertoire Database, BMI’s Horizon Project and the Protonet, the first distributed database of musical works documentation information for Rights Organizations. David’s career at BMI included positions from Project Manager to Assistant VP of Strategic Development. Before BMI, he was employed in a range of activities that included: Recording Engineer, IT Director, Software Sales and Stock Broker.

David is a graduate of Belmont University and has served on the Board of Advisors. He has been a featured speaker/presenter/guest lecturer at events including the CISAC World Congress and the Hong Kong IFPI’s Asian-Pop Music Festival, Belmont and MTSU.

Dr. Dave Gilbert

Member & Principal | salttt

Dave specializes in product design, development, and manufacturing, as well as UX research, retail anthropology, contract negotiation, IP strategy and portfolio management.

Dave recently founded salttt, a product development agency and consultancy that works with companies to assist in the design, development, and deployment of new products with a focus on consumer electronics, web services, and retail experiences.

Dave spent almost six years at Griffin Technology, the world’s largest manufacturer of iPod, iPhone, and iPad accessories, where his worked ranged from strategic partnerships and IP strategy to UX research and new product development centered on Apple’s iOS platform. On Griffin’s behalf Dave has overseen the design, development, and manufacture of award-winning products and worked directly with Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, and Apple Retail to strategically place products in stores.

A former professor of communication at Denison University and Marymount Manhattan College, Dave’s work with students designing crowd-sourced museum guides for mobile phones and iPods, Art Mobs, was the subject of a front-page story in the New York Times, and segments on BBC World television and NPR’s Talk of the Nation and On the Media.

Dave has a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Texas, Austin. He enjoys living in Nashville and riding his old Raleigh bicycles.

Harris Gilbert

Owner | Gilbert Market Solutions

Harris Gilbert is an experienced marketing executive who provides business consulting services focused on identifying growth opportunities, building market presence and increasing revenues and profitability. At Gilbert Market Solutions, Harris works with entrepreneurs and companies in a variety of industries to build go-to-market strategies, prepare plans and pitches for potential investors and stakeholders, launch their ventures and promote their products and services.

Prior to starting his consulting firm, Harris was a brand manager at Dell Computer Corporation launching new corporate desktops platforms for Fortune 500 companies and other large organizations. He later led all hospital marketing efforts for HealthStream, a healthcare e-learning software company, and most recently, he served on the executive team at digiChart, an electronic medical records firm. Harris holds a BA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. Harris is married with two children and serves on the board of directors for CASA of Nashville.

Dennis Lyftogt

Entrepreneur / Mentor / Coach

‘In a start-up, like playing soccer, Hard work is required when you don’t have the ball’ My Fuel: Commercializing new ideas and technology; Sharing my resources, knowledge, and connections; Building the bridge between wild & crazy Entrepreneurs and pin-stripe suits. ‘Silicon Valley of Death’ Survivor:  Diverse technology background in emerging products and services, Expertise in- complex customer buy cycles, relationship management, & diverse customer environments. Education- Executive MBA – Saint Mary’s College of California  BS Chemical Engineering – South Dakota School of Mines and Technology .

Jack Waddey

Founding Member and Shareholder | Waddey & Patterson, P.C.

Jack Waddey is an intellectual property lawyer.  He is co-founder, along with Mark Patterson, of the firm of Waddey & Patterson, PC, Nashville’s only boutique law firm specializing solely in the practice of intellectual property law.

Jack received his undergraduate degree from Auburn University in Aerospace Engineering, and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.  While in law school, Jack worked in the United States Patent Office as a Patent Examiner and later for the DC firm of Arent Fox.  Jack is a native Tennessean and moved back to Nashville in 1974 where he began his practice in litigation, business, and intellectual property matters.  In 1992, Jack and his partner Mark Patterson, launched Waddey & Patterson and they have grown to 15 patent attorneys and represent clients locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Jack has always placed a strong emphasis in his practice on helping clients become successful businesses.  He has not only specialized in intellectual property advice, but has focused on guidance in the development and growth of clients and their companies to success.

Recently, Jack has focused a significant amount of his time on the Alternate Dispute Resolution of Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation matters, and has been recognized as one of the top mediators, not only in the South and Southeast, but nationally.  He is on the panel of technology mediators for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, he is a Distinguished Fellow in the International Academy of Mediators, he is the Director of ADR Services for Ocean Tomo, he was one of the founding members and the first President of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators, he has been listed as one of the Top 101 Lawyers in Nashville for the past half decade, and has been listed as one of the Top 150 Lawyers by Tennessee Business Magazine for the last eight years.  Jack now says that he is enjoying his “senior status” by devoting a significant amount of time to the Entrepreneur Center and the assistance of entrepreneurs in the growth and development of their businesses and the protection of their intellectual property.  He enjoys mentoring clients not only through the Jump Start Foundry mentoring program, but through the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and as part of his private practice as well.

John Wark

Entrepreneur, Educator, Consultant

Serial entrepreneur, 30+ years software industry, teach entrepreneurship @ Belmont University, currently learning the tea industry, cancer survivor, married to Linda for 39+ years, music lover. Love to hang with, educate, challenge, hold accountable, advise, commiserate with and celebrate with entrepreneurs.

JJ Rosen

CEO | Atiba LLC

Born and raised in Nashville. Went to USN and then Vanderbilt. Started Atiba in 1992 providing programming and networking services. A geek at heart, still spend most days on the techie side doing web development and IT work. Have been fortunate to work behind the scenes on many startups in Nashville providing programming and technical services.

Tim Franke

President | Due North LLC

Tim Franke is currently the President of Due North LLC, a consulting company focusing on executive technology leadership in early stage companies. Prior to Due North LLC, Mr. Franke served as CEO of DisastersNet Inc., a startup company delivering a software solution into the healthcare industry. The software solution is a multi-tenant, SaaS based product running on the cloud that helps health care facilities (primarily hospitals) be prepared for and manage planned and unplanned events (severe weather, patient surge, terrorist event, etc.). Before taking leadership role with DisastersNet Inc. Mr. Franke served as CTO at Juris Inc. where he led his team to deliver five new strategic products from concept to market in less than three years. Juris Inc. was acquired by LexisNexis in 2007.

Don Leyrer

Entrepreneur

Starting my career in social work, as a houseparent for abused children and then as Senior Adult Probation Officer, I learned how to work effectively with people in highly stressful environments. This prepared me well for the next phase of my career working as an executive for high profile Fortune 100 companies, and planted the seed for my current endeavors in Social Entrepreneurship.

I was recruited by Ryder System to start a new venture, Cashchek International, specializing in electronic funds transfer services to the Gaming Industry. As Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Field Operations, we grew revenues to $18 million in one year positioning the company to be purchased by American Express.

As Senior Vice President/General Manager of Comdata Corporation, Gaming Services Division, we grew from $25 million to $160 million in revenue. After the successful divestiture of the Gaming Services Division to a strategic buyer, I co-founded Mailnet Services Inc., a venture backed database marketing firm that specializes in customer analytics, data management and direct marketing solutions, growing the company to $27 million in revenues.

I currently serve on the Board of the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance and provide advisory services to for profit and non-profit businesses.

Matt Mueller

Project Manager | change:healthcare

Matt Mueller is a Project Manager at change:healthcare and Co-Founder of checkd.in. He has been leading the development team at change:healthcare since the company’s beginnings in 2007, managing ongoing agile development with a distributed team of in-house and remote developers.

In 2010 Matt helped co-found checkd.in, which built location-based reward platform CarlSays and later expanded its offerings to include white-labeled engagement features for both brands and entertainment figures. With a focus on technology and development, he continues to help these companies grow and expand their products. Matt received a BA from Hendrix College in 2007.

Bill Brennan

Entrepreneur

Bill is a serial entrepreneur founding and co-founding over a half dozen companies, including: founder/CEO DataMarketing Network 1984 and sold in 2009, Founder Listcleanup.com 1997, Co-founder Mailnet Services Inc, dba Conclusive Marketing 2000, Co-founder Publishing Group of America – American Profile – sold 2008, Co-founder DMB LLC – sold 2011.

Currently, Bill is an angel investor in several Tennessee companies and serves on Dataium’s board of directors. Highlights include: a patent, multiple Future 50 awards, a sale for $135 million and an Inc. innovation award.

Bill lives with his wife of 27 years, has three children, two cats and a dog.

David Klements

CEO | Qualifacts Systems Inc

Currently President & CEO at Qualifacts Systems, a SaaS enterprise-EHR (electronic health record) for behavioral health, human service and public health providers. Qualifacts is my second successfully completed turnaround and while turnarounds are rewarding, I am passionate about driving industry-leading revenue growth (bringing on lots of new customers) through quality of service & reputation (by taking great care of our customers). Since taking over as CEO of Qualifacts in late-2006 the company has increased its customer base five-fold and 2011 will be our 3rd consecutive year of 40%+ top-line growth. Prior to Qualifacts I have had various leadership roles with early stage and high-growth tech and telecom service companies.

David Corts

Vice President | AOL Content Platform

David Corts is currently Vice President of Product Management and Operations for the AOL Content Platform. He assumed this role in January 2010 when AOL acquired StudioNow. At StudioNow, Mr. Corts served as Chief Operating Officer where he has led product development, account services, and content production for the Company since 2007.

Prior to StudioNow, Mr. Corts was founder and CEO of Impulse Radio, a venture-backed company in New York City providing technology to enable wireless content and data services through HD Radio and satellite digital radio.

Before founding Impulse Radio, Mr. Corts was a founding partner of @Plan, an Internet advertising and market research company based in Stamford, Conn. While at @plan., Mr. Corts was responsible for overall data integrity and all the company’s market research products. @plan completed its IPO in May 1999 and was acquired by Doubleclick in February 2001 for $120 million.

David holds a B.A in English from of the University of Tennessee. He completed additional coursework at the University of Amsterdam where he also played minor league baseball. He currently lives in Nashville with his wife and three children, ages 8, 6 and 2 years.

Matthew Musser

Market Director for Healthcare and Life Sciences | BEDROC

Matthew is a president’s award winning sales executive with more then 15 years experience as a sales and marketing leader. Currently the Market Director for Healthcare and Life Sciences at BEDROC, Matthew is focused on building the firm’s enterprise level healthcare client base. Aside from his professional career, Matthew is actively serving as chairman of the McCallie School Nashville Alumni Chapter and was nominated to serve on the Healthcare Advisory Board at Ingram Micro.

Adam Solesby

Director of Technology | AOL

Adam Solesby is currently a Director of Technology at AOL. Prior to the company’s acquisition by AOL, he founded and was CTO of StudioNow where he led the development and operation of StudioNow’s platform.

Adam has 15 years experience leading technology based startups.

He has led several large and small software development teams. He built large-scale data mining applications in the healthcare field. He’s been recognized for operating the world’s largest relational database. He founded and created an internet based wholesale marketplace for import perishable goods. He built an early internet video distribution network. He has designed and operated the infrastructure of a large investment fund.

Adam holds BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Vanderbilt University. He currently lives in Nashville with his wife and two children.

Jack Randow

Entrepreneur

Jack Randow has 30+ years experience serving in a variety of roles including sales, marketing, software development and operations. Prior to beginning Randow Consulting, Jack spent 11 years with Investment Scorecard. While with Investment Scorecard, Jack served in many roles including COO, SVP of Marketing and SVP of Scorecard after the acquisition by Informa Investment Solutions in 2007. Before joining Investment Scorecard, Jack spent 10+ years with various integrated oil companies leading high-profile, business critical efforts in operations, strategic planning, systems development and process automation.

Rob Humphreys

Entrepreneur

Rob Humphreys currently is playing in the entrepreneurial sandbox. He is also helping some established companies sort through growing pains and industry transformation. Additionally, he is serving as a board member and consultant to an industrial manufacturer, United Fiberglass of America (UFA). Previously he served as CEO, where in less than eighteen months, he led the company during its most profitable year, completed its first acquisition, rebuilt the IT/telephony infrastructure, deployed a new CRM, added external directors to the board and restructured the management team. He also held positions as Executive Director and Regional Sales Manager for UFA during his seven year tenure. He initially was engaged as a consultant to turn around UFA.

Rob spent four years as a consultant with Covenant Consulting and AT Kearney in New York. Rob began his career in Commercial Banking, Corporate Finance and Investment Banking spending six years at First American National Bank and SunTrust Equitable Securities.

Rob holds a B.S. in Business/Finance from Birmingham Southern College. He is an avid cyclist, traveler, gardener, photographer, outdoorsman and expectant father.

Salil Shibad

Technologist and Entrepreneur

Salil is a technologist and an entrepreneur. His experience is in three main areas – technology for insurance and banking, healthcare infrastructure and applications deployment, and mobile payments. His previous experiences include technical roles with Indus Software, Affinion Group, Comdata, and Ozburn-Hessey Logistics. He currently works with Ingenuity Associates, an IT consulting firm in Nashville and provides leadership in deploying clinical systems for a publicly held operator of general acute care hospitals. He has co-founded a startup, a behavior change platform for financial savings, mobile payments and social networking. In addition, he is one of the founding members of JumpStart Foundry.

Salil received his Executive MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management. On nights and weekends, he enjoys making connections for entrepreneurs and helps create pre-seed stage technology startups. In 2001 he scaled the Himalayas at a height of 15,000 feet. He lives in Nashville with his wife and two incredibly talented boys. Although Salil left behind many friends and a great life in Silicon Valley in 2000, relocating to Nashville has been the most enjoyable and gratifying event for him.

Brian Fox

Founder | Capital Confirmation

Brian Fox, CPA, MBA, is the creator of Electronic Confirmations and he received the first two patents granted on electronic audit confirmations. Brian founded Capital Confirmation, Inc., ranked #96 on the 2010 Inc 500 list, which created Confirmation.com, now used by all of the Top 10 Banks, the Federal Reserve and by more than 45,000 accountants in 106 countries. Brian is a three-time winner of the “Top 40 Under 40 CPAs in America,” was named as an Entrepreneur of the Year in Nashville, was recognized as one of Nashville’s “40 Under 40” and as one of Nashville’s Emerging Leaders in its inaugural class. Prior to Capital Confirmation, Brian was in Dallas where he worked in audit for Ernst & Young LLP and in mergers and acquisitions for PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Confirmation.com won the overall “Best in Business Award”, was named as a Future 50 company for 4 years, Fast 50 twice, a Tennessee Hot 100, won the Tax & Accounting Innovation Award, the Reader’s Choice Award, and the Quality Award for Tax & Accounting Software among other honors.

Brian completed his MBA at Vanderbilt with a dual concentration in Finance and Electronic Commerce and received a BBA in Accounting SMU.