Mentors
Winter 2009 Seattle Area
The Founder Institute carefully recruits approximately 25 Mentors per Semester, who are normally the CEO or founder of a successful startup. The Mentors are selected based on their ability to convey lessons learned on a topic in the curriculum and help participating Founders by sharing their relevant experiences. Mentors are accessible to Founders in the program during the sessions and through email. The shared equity upside of each Semester encourages supportive and collaborative relationships with the Mentors.
The Institute recruits some of the Mentors after a Semester has launched to match the needs of Founders with the skills of Mentors.
Adeo Ressi
CEO, TheFunded.com
Description:
Adeo Ressi is Founding Member of TheFunded.com, an online community of 12,000 CEOs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide. Adeo also runs the Founder Institute, a mentoring program that helps entrepreneurs launch hundreds of world-class companies each year. The Institute is the eight start-up that Adeo has founded or built, four of which were acquired and three of which are still operating.
- Incorporation on 02/08/2010
Alain Raynaud
CEO,
Description:
Alain Raynaud is the founder and CEO of FairSoftware, a TechCrunch50 Finalist that lets people associate online for profit by forming virtual corporations. In 2002, Alain co-founded EVE-USA, an electronic design automation company that grew to 100 employees and $30M in revenue. He is the author of two U.S. patents. Alain was also a freelance journalist between 1987-97, covering Apple for MacWorld France and other magazines.
- Intellectual Property on 02/22/2010
Alexander Castro
CEO,
Description:
CEO and founder of Delve Networks, an online video platform backed by Intel Capital, Labrador, and DFJ Frontier. Previously held senior management roles at Amazon, Microsoft, and AT&T Bell Labs. Received undergrad and graduate degrees in Computer Science from Cornell University, completed coursework at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
- The Funding Lifecycle on 03/29/2010
- Hiring and Firing on 02/01/2010
Bryan Thatcher
CEO,
Description:
Bryan Thatcher is CEO of Empressr, a leading Web application that allows users to create, manage and share rich-media presentations. As CEO and Founder of Fusebox, Bryan applies his mind for innovation to some of the most revered brands in finance, media, and pharmaceuticals—Discover Financial Services, JPMorgan Chase, MTV, CNN, ESPN and Pfizer—helping them increase profits and stay relevant in an ever-changing world of marketing opportunities.
- Presentation on 03/22/2010
Bryan Starbuck
Founder & CEO, TalentSpring
Description:
Bryan Starbuck is the Founder & CEO of TalentSpring, a $2.7m private investor funded startup that allows employers to select one of their job openings and go immediately to the best active and passive resumes. His career started in software engineering at Microsoft with a focus on data mining projects. 39 patents later and after having experience managing engineering teams, Bryan left Microsoft to create TalentSpring. Bryan graduated from UCSD with a BA in Computer Science.
Bubba Murarka
Business Development, Facebook
Description:
Bubba Murarka is an active startup adviser, investor and event host. As a member of Facebook's Business & Corporate Development team he works with numerous startups to help them acquire and engage customers via the Facebook Platform & Advertising Solutions. Previously, Bubba started Pocketwerks & Texame, served as an Entrepreneur in Residence with Bay Partners and ran several product development teams at Microsoft. He is the primary inventor on 13 patents and enjoys playing racquetball whenever possible.
- Marketing and Publicity on 03/08/2010
Dan Shapiro
CEO, Ontela
Description:
Dan Shapiro is CEO and co-founder of Ontela, where he has taken his experience developing and managing both enterprise and end-user applications to deliver on a simple idea: make it ridiculously easy for wireless customers get at the pictures trapped in their phones.
Prior to founding Ontela, Dan managed development of the RealArcade service at RealNetworks, enabling thousands of end-users to play classic games such as Monopoly, Scrabble and Rollercoaster Tycoon on their desktops. He arrived at RealNetworks by way of Wildseed, where he managed software development for the Identity Cellular Phone, from the modem to the Linux platform to the user interface. Dan started his career at Microsoft, where he was responsible for Windows XP user interface components, the critically acclaimed Windows PowerToys, Windows 2000 Storage Management, and consumer storage in Windows 98.
Dan is a frequent speaker and serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Technology Industry Association. He has been awarded 6 patents, and received his B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College. Dan loves unusual cuisines, and has been known to blog about his woodworking foibles at www.nothingseveredyet.com.
- Basic Research on 12/14/2009
- Incorporation on 02/08/2010
- The Funding Lifecycle on 03/29/2010
Dave Parker
CEO, 9Spaces
Description:
Dave Parker is a seriel entrepreneur in International Business and currently the CEO of 9Spaces, Inc as well as a board member for three other companies. I was introduced to the funded while an Entrepreneur in Residence for a venture fund in San Jose. That three years of EIR expernience gave me the "other side of the table" view of the world and confirmed what I knew about myself as an Entrepreneur.
I'm a founder that is good and connecting ideas to business models on the front end and positioning companies for sale and the back end. I've founded four companies as CEO. Sold Four, closed one, and sit on the board of four compnanies today.
- Your Vision & Idea Types on 12/07/2009
David Kidder
CEO, Clickable, Inc.
Description:
David S. Kidder is the co-Founder and CEO of Clickable, an online advertising web service based in New York City. Prior to Clickable, Kidder co-founded SmartRay Network, a mobile advertising delivery pioneer acquired by LifeMinders. Kidder is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, received the ID Magazine's International Design Award and the Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2008 (Metropolitan, and National Selection). He is the creator and co-author of the two-time NYT’s bestselling book series, The Intellectual Devotional. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and two sons.
- Earning Revenue on 01/25/2010
Derrick Morton
CEO, FlowPlay
Description:
Derrick is the CEO of FlowPlay - a creator of online game technology and consumer products. He has been a games and online entertainment executive for over 14 years. Over the course of the past 7 years he has been a key executive at the top online game websites - iWin, Uproar, Flipside, Virtual Vegas and GameHouse. Most recently he was General Manager of Mobile Games for RealNetworks, a business unit he founded. Derrick was a key executive at GameHouse which was acquired in 2004 by RealNetworks. Mr. Morton received a BA, magna cum laude, from USC Film School and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School.
- Company Roadmap on 01/11/2010
Glenn Kelman
CEO, Redfin
Description:
I co-founded Plumtree Software, a Sequoia-backed enterprise software company that created the corporate portal market & went public in 2002 before being bought by Oracle. I've run Redfin since October 2005, when it was just a few guys in an apartment; the company has grown to a $20M revenue run-rate and recently recorded its first profits. I was graduated from UC Berkeley.
- Your Vision & Idea Types on 12/07/2009
- Marketing and Publicity on 03/08/2010
Hillel Cooperman
Founder,
Description:
Hillel founded Jackson Fish Market in November of 2006 with co-founders and partners Walter Smith and Jenny Lam. Since its inception, JFM has shipped six hand-crafted consumer web experiences including They’re Beautiful!, Invitastic, and What a Lovely Name. Before JFM, he worked for Microsoft from mid-1997 to late 2006 as a program manager, a product unit manager, and all the positions in between. While at Microsoft, he helped ship Internet Explorer for the Macintosh, several versions of MSN Explorer, and the Windows Vista program. Before Microsoft, he worked at two small software companies creating products for the Macintosh. He also founded and writes for Tastingmenu.
- Naming and Branding on 01/04/2010
Jay Jamison
Founder & President,
Description:
Jay Jamison is the Co-Founder and President of Moonshoot, an early-stage online gaming company with the mission to spark English language learning in children everywhere. Prior to starting Moonshoot, Jay held leadership roles in product management and marketing for Microsoft in Redmond and Tokyo for over 9 years.
- Naming and Branding on 01/04/2010
- Earning Revenue on 01/25/2010
Joe Betts-LaCroix
Founder,
Description:
Joe Betts-LaCroix founded OQO, creator of the world’s smallest PC, in 2000, and established the resulting market category of smaller-than-laptop PCs, now called UMPCs, netbooks, etc. He is now operating a new, stealth-mode hardware+software startup in Silicon Valley called SeePort. Prior to OQO, he has operated numerous other companies, as well as having done groundbreaking academic research at Caltech, Harvard, JPL, MIT and the IBM Almaden Research Center in various fields, including quantum biophysics, marine chemistry, human-computer interface and alternative energy. Joe has patents pending and granted for over 110 ideas in a diversity of fields, ranging from electronic methods to consumer finance to cleantech.
- Basic Research on 12/14/2009
- Intellectual Property on 02/22/2010
- Partners and Suppliers on 03/01/2010
Jordan Weisman
CEO and founder,
Description:
Jordanis the CEO and Founder of Smith & Tinker. Jordan has been the creative and motivating force behind the founding and success of a number of entertainment companies, including: FASA Corporation (roleplaying games), Virtual World Entertainment (the world's first public networked virtual reality entertainment centers) acquired by the Disney Family in 1992, FASA Interactive (PC games, including the MechWarrior franchise) acquired by Microsoft in 1999, WizKids (collectible games, including HeroClix) acquired by Topps Inc. in 2003, and 42 Entertainment (alternate reality gaming).
- Your Vision & Idea Types on 12/07/2009
Michael Kim
CEO & Founder, Grapevyn, Inc.
Description:
Michael Kim is the CEO & Founder of Grapevyn, a new social reputational platform (in private beta) created by Facebook, Google, Amazon, XBox, & Wizards of the Coast alumni. Grapevyn connects innovations in social networking, social gaming, & influencer marketing to create an exciting new platform of social experiences enabling you to "Play Your Best Life."
Michael has been launching & leading new interactive platforms for over 15 years, including Surface, XBox Live Video, bCentral, "Hailstorm" Web Services, and Microsoft's New Consumer Products digital ventures incubator, a business unit he founded. He has also advised Google, Yahoo, and Facebook on innovation management and new product development. He holds degrees from Yale & Harvard University.
- Partners and Suppliers on 03/01/2010
Michael Schutzler
CEO Sherpa,
Description:
Michael Schutzler is a CEO Advisor & Executive Coach at Blue Seven Partners. He has a 25+ year career leading business teams including: co-founder of RR Donnelley Direct Printing Division; co-founder & CEO of Freeshop.com which had an IPO in 1999; turnaround CEO of Classmates.com which sold to UNTD in 2004; and currently serves on the board of three Seattle start-ups - Flowplay, Talentspring, and Digital Forest. Michael has an BS in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, an MBA in Economics from WE Simon School at University of Rochester, and is a member of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches.
- The Funding Lifecycle on 03/29/2010
- Naming and Branding on 01/04/2010
- Intellectual Property on 02/22/2010
Ron Wiener
Chief Mechanic,
Description:
Serial entrepreneur and angel investor; currently Chief Mechanics at incubator Venture Mechanics, LLC in Seattle. Founder and CEO of five investor-backed companies including Earth Class Mail, SnapNames.com, PrintBid.com, Distribution Sciences Corp and Azure Technology. Have incubated more than a dozen startups since 1998. Starred on Startup Junkies TV show for its first season (see it on hulu or itunes).
- Presentation on 03/22/2010
- Hiring and Firing on 02/01/2010
T.A. McCann
CEO, Gist, Inc.
Description:
T.A. McCann serves as founder and CEO of Gist. His past experience includes entrepreneur-in-residence roles at both Vulcan Capital and Polaris Venture Partners. He also held senior positions at Microsoft, leading product planning for the Exchange Server Group and developing the Service Delivery Platforms group focused on mobile applications development. In addition, he is a founder of Jump2Go, HelpShare, and Soft Labour. He currently serves on the board of Art with Heart and is an advisor to Wishpot, Asset Archives, and Notary One. In addition to his technology background, T.A. has won sailing's America's Cup and sailed around the world.
- Marketing and Publicity on 03/08/2010
- Presentation on 03/22/2010
Todd Hooper
CEO and founder, Napera Networks
Description:
Todd Hooper is CEO and founder of Napera Networks Inc. He has been an executive at several Seattle startups, including WatchGuard Technologies, and he co-founded Trillium Lane Labs. He is passionate about building compelling products for both enterprise customers and individual end users.
- Basic Research on 12/14/2009
- Company Roadmap on 01/11/2010
Will Hodgman
EVP - International,
Description:
Will Hodgman is Executive Vice President of International for comScore, Inc. Will is a veteran marketer and a successful entrepreneur - having founded, built and sold two digital measurement companies - AdRelevance and M:Metrics. Will’s career spans global advertising, marketing, media and measurement. He has founded, built and managed global media measurement companies that represent the benchmarks in the industry.
- Company Roadmap on 01/11/2010
