Columbus - Chicago Winter 2025

Founder Institute Mentors join weekly feedback sessions, host office hours, and in general provide you feedback every step of the way. In addition, through our Equity Collective, Mentors are invested in the success of your company both during and after the program.

See the list of current and past mentors for the Columbus program below.

Chief Executive Officer

Abdellah AOUF is a young Leader Entrepreneur from Algeria and based in Massachusetts USA, who is passionate about Entrepreneurship, Business, Branding, innovation, empowering others, and making a positive impact in society. He’s the Country Director at Oya Opportunities,...

Ablorde Ashigbi

Ablorde is the CEO of 4Degrees, a Chicago-based technology company, applying machine intelligence to help teams in relationship-driven industries manage their most important source of opportunity - their professional networks. When he's not doing that, you can usually fi...

Decile Group / VC Lab

Adeo Ressi is CEO of Decile Group, powering the next generation of venture capital firms worldwide with an integrated offering of training, tools, support, and funding. Decile Group is the parent of the VC Lab venture capital accelerator, which helped to launch nearly 50%...

Head of Sales NA

Mobilisights, A Stellantis Company

Aditya is a seasoned entrepreneur who has built multiple successful consulting and technology-enabled businesses from the ground-up over a 20+ year period. He seamlessly bridges the divide between business and technology to create profitable organizations quickly. Aditya ...

Founder, Angel Investor, Advisor, Technologist

Aidan is currently an angel investor in various startups, along with being an advisor and mentor to new startup teams. He continues to actively operate several of his own business ventures and also has a mobile/web development firm to helps startups build their software t...

A former educator, school improvement coach, data strategist in Chicago Public Schools, and consultant at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AJ is Innovare's first founder and CEO. AJ was recognized as a 2016 National EPic alumnus of Education Pioneers, is an inaugural ...

I am a founder with 12 years of experience building and scaling apps, saas and marketplaces. My specialty is in creating platform ecosystems to sustain growth. I enjoy helping founders to build intuitive marketing automation systems, execute creative growth strategies, fi...

Co-founder, CTO

Ascent Integrated Tech

I spent my career leading technical teams to build robust, operationally-relevant solutions to make it never a fair fight for freedom’s adversaries. I taught tech development and customer discovery for 5 years (National Science Foundation’s I-Corps and National Security I...

Venture Capital Manager

Alex is the Venture Capital Manager for mHUB’s Product Impact Fund, which is a $15M Venture Fund that invests in seed and early-stage physical product and hardtech companies. mHUB is the nation’s leading hardtech and manufacturing innovation center.

Andrew Loulousis

Vice President of Strategy and Venturing

TechNexus Venture Collaborative

Andrew has 15+ years of high-level financial services, strategy, and technology expertise. He is also a proven record of developing and delivering key initiatives. TechNexus Venture Collaborative is a Venture Capital firm that helps Corporations invest in venture-stage co...

Andrew Lee is the Co-Founder and CEO of Esper Technologies, Inc. Esper's scheduling software streamlines communication, automates tasks, and provides context for important meetings. In doing so, executives and their assistants save time and are more effective. Esper is ...

Ashish Rangnekar

CEO & Co-Founder

Ashish Rangnekar is the Co-Founder and CEO of BenchPrep, a Chicago-based enterprise SaaS digital learning company. Under Ashish’s leadership, BenchPrep has successfully raised $28M in venture capital funding from leading investors including NEA, Jump Capital, Owl Ventu...

Solar Simplified

I am a Business Development and Corporate Development professional with two successful startups as a co-founder and a first employee (one IPO and one Exit), as well as several successful M&A and investments under my belt from the other side of the entrepreneurship aisle. ...

Bart Carlson is the Founder & CEO of Azuba, a new national Lifetime Clinical Records Platform for health providers, payors, researchers, patients and app providers. Previously, he was the CEO & Co-Founder of Napersoft, now part of Azuba, which provides customer communica...

From scrappy indie-studios to ad-agencies, global accelerators, venture capital and tech startups, Ben has spent well over a decade pushing the boundaries of business-minded design, strategy, and communications. Currently: Ben operates Pitchverk full-time, his own ven...

Benjamin Seidman

Benjamin is the Co-Founder of Mella builds accessible technology and diagnostic products for veterinarians and pet parents to better understand, track health and help our pets live longer. Previously, he was a Co-Founder of Splitting Fares, which went through Techstars Mo...

I'm an exited startup founder who really enjoys helping other founders through the process of raising venture capital, growing post-raise, and setting up their startup for success. I was Founder/CEO of Cladwell.com (Exited Aug '19) for the past 7 years. We raised from ...

Managing Partner

REACH Commercial

Bob Gillespie is a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in technology, leadership and operations. He believes that the ability to build great teams is the most important factor for success. Companies Bob has founded have gone on to raise over $60M in ventu...

Bob is a serial entrepreneurial having sold his first company, Mobile Doorman, to Zego in 2021 (Vista Equity portfolio company). Mobile Doorman is a property management solution focused on the mobile experience for residents and managers. His current startup is Relivable...

Program Manager

Techstars Chicago

Founder/Lead Organizer of Chicago Startup Week. Founding member of Mhub Chicago and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. Serves on the board of Humanity Rising, Miracle League of Music City, and the Associate Board of Make-A-...

Co-founder and CEO of the largest cannabis media and education company in the Midwest. Entrepreneur and senior executive focused on creating and scaling enterprise value and impact for companies and nonprofit organizations. Areas of expertise include revenue generation/e...

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer

Brian is a product and operations leader. He is the Co-Founder of Roamli, which helps organizations create immersive experiences for any audience and their community. Roamli enables individuals to launch interactive adventures through a mobile app and platform with the p...

Founding Director

Bulk AG Innovations

Serial entrepreneur with two successful exits of tech-enabled, B2B companies: IPO and corporate buy-out. Deep knowledge on challenges of digital transformation especially in the insurance and healthcare industries. Operational expertise gained from advising, starting, or ...

Managing Partner

Charles Kwon is a Managing Partner at Concitor, a management consulting firm focused on helping clients with innovative and effective sales, marketing and channel programs that drive business results. He is a veteran entrepreneur, business executive and consultant with o...

Chereesca Bejasa

My background is in technology. I've helped over 30 companies (startups to large enterprises) imagine and develop custom software solutions. I'm a Lean Startup Agilist. I'm also an entrepreneur. I worked as an executive and co-founder of several startups before found...

Entrepreneur In Residence

Founder Institute + Responsible Solutions Ltd + IRG 100 CMO's & Change Agents

Chris Foltz is a renowned startup advisor, transformation strategist, inspirational speaker, and Managing Director of the Silicon Valley-based global advisory firm Responsible Solutions Ltd. In 2021 Foltz was named to the Institute for Real Growth’s prestigious ‘IRG100’, ...

Lake Forest Venture Management

I work with early stage companies to enhance their go-to-market strategies, increase their Product Market Fit Score, improve their revenue and growth strategies, and make them more attractive to venture investors. Award winning start-up executive and strategist and "do...

Christina Holloway

Executive Coach

Compass Enterprises LLC

Christina Holloway is an entrepreneur and business strategist who founded a successful multi-million dollar boutique management consulting business 16 years ago. In that time, she has led transformation programs in operations, marketing, and strategy for Fortune 500 compa...

Chief Connection Officer

Cory is a Serial Tech Entrepreneur in the areas of compliance, data privacy, blockchain, metaverse, web3 & social networking. An influencer, mentor, networker & growth hacker, Cory has been with the Founder Institute for four years now & loves helping being amazing ideas ...

Founder and CEO

I'm an active entrepreneur and investor with several active companies and several successful exits, most recently the sale of SingleHop, a cloud provider I co-founded, to Internap Corporation in March of 2018. I love advising new entrepreneurs on growth related topics, bu...

Co-founder at Scout Alarm, overseeing the design, sales and marketing teams. Over the course of six years as CEO, Dan has been directly involved in fundraising for Scout, bringing three versions of Scout's home security system to market and selling both direct-to-consumer...

David is the Founder & CEO of Yolobe Inc., a software company operating out of 1871.com whose mission is to become the standard platform connecting young adults to community, resources and services to make their lives better. In 2000, David started his first internet soft...

CEO, Chief Scientist & Co-Founder

David is an accomplished entrepreneur, researcher, technology advisor, lecturer, and published author with expertise in the fields of high-performance computing, data timing, digital signal processing, and digital advertising. He has co-founded, managed, and developed tec...

David Culver is the Co-Founder and Chief Collaboration Instigator of VentureSHOT, Chicago's Business Incubator and Strategic Growth Program. www.VentureSHOT.com VentureSHOT also hosts the Funding Feeding Frenzy event series that connects entrepreneurs with Angel Investor...

Strategic Innovator, Entrepreneur, and Business Leader who identifies and executes growth in the largest Tech companies, scales growth stage companies, and turns around/re-makes mature technology companies. With an operating penchant for bootstrapping, David looks for wa...

Orbital Transports

David has been a technology entrepreneur most of his career, with over 30 years of experience as a software engineer, managing software development teams, developing complex systems and delivering products. He has consulted with venture capital firms and advanced technolo...

Innovation and Business Development Manager

WinField United at Land O' Lakes

10+ years of entrepreneurial experience as a co-founder, mentor, board of adviser, consultant, part of the due diligence team for angel and venture capital investment groups. Passionate innovation and business analyst keen on supporting technologies and teams that shape m...

Desiree Vargas Wrigley

Chief Innovation Officer & Executive Director of TechRise

Currently, Desiree builds products and programs that help people feel less isolated and bring resources together to maximize outcomes. She brings her passion for equity and inclusion to P33 where, with the help of their corporate partners, they help underrepresented found...

Principal Technology/Owner and Co-Founder

Eight Bit Studios

Don has been a professional software developer in Chicago since 1990 during which time, he has had the great fortune to work at many types of companies employing varied technologies including bio-informatics, artificial intelligence and global investment banking to name a...

PartnerPortal.io

Eddie is currently the co-founder at PartnerPortal.io and the Head of Strategic Sales at RollWorks. Eddie has served as a manager and individual contributor across numerous software companies (pre-IPO and post-IPO). PartnerPortal.io is recognized on Forrester's Channel Pa...

Currently, Eric is the CEO of OK2Charge, which is on a quest to make this planet greener, cleaner and healthier, by making eco-friendly energy more accessible for electric vehicle (EV) travelers. Previously, Eric was the Chief Strategy Officer at InhabitIQ, which is a ...

Fernando DeLeon

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer

Social entrepreneur, product leader, and technology expert with 15+ years of experience achieving results for education organizations and Fortune 100 companies. I'm passionate about building products that improve people's lives.

Franklin Kamnang Ngansop

Vitamin C&S Coaching

- I have been mentoring entrepreneurs via the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Bridge for Billions, VC4A since 2020 - I have founded my own company https://www.betrave.org in 2021, we are specialised in online trading and advisory on Financial markets - Also I am an independe...

CEO/ Co-Founder

Dr. Garry Cooper is the Co-founder and CEO of Rheaply, whose vision is to make all the physical resources in the world discoverable and easily transferable. Dr. Cooper also currently serves on the Board of Directors of P33 Chicago and 1871, and is an Adjunct Assistant Pro...

SaaS Community Builder

Nylas, Co-Founder of CloudElements

SaaS B2B API startup sales GTM evangelist. VP Sales @Nventify. Think "Pied Piper" for images :) https://goo.gl/yDWu9e Co-founder and previous Market Builder @CloudElements. VP Sales of StreamStep- acquired by BMC Software acquired in 2011. Co-founder of VoipReview.com- ...

Senior Product Manager

Over 20 years working in distributed environments across geographies (US, China, Asia, Europe) with multi-nationals and start-up organizations. Wore CEO and product management hats to identify customer problems, extract business requirements, and develop solutions i...

Founding Partner

onPurpose Growth

Gavin Martin is a Founding Partner with onPurpose Growth, Principal and Fractional VP of Sales with PitchStack, and Strategic Sales Advisor with SalesOS. His first business was a boutique IT managed service firm, where he handled client acquisition, account management...

Genevieve Thiers

Genevieve Thiers is an disruptor, entrepreneur, speaker and investor that lives in the Chicago area. Her first company, Sittercity.com, is America’s first company to take caregiving services online. Sittercity.com now has millions of users worldwide. Thiers has spread h...

George Powell stands at the forefront of one the fastest moving technology industry trends: mobile commerce. He’s spent the past 8 years evangelizing in the professional beauty industry, an industry-wide shift to mobile commerce and has helped position Easy Beauty as a le...

Vice President, U.S. Capital Formation

Toronto Stock Exchange

George Khalife is the Vice President of Capital Formation leading the TSX's efforts across the Midwest U.S. Based out of Chicago, George works closely with innovation companies at varying stages to explore the opportunity of raising public capital as a financing option fo...

Gregory Jaros is founder & CEO of PocketKnock, a private sharing and community network within internship communities, residential & commercial buildings. The PocketKnock family of products includes industry specific brands InternConnect, CoworkConnect and Spare to Share. ...

Heather Holmes is CEO and founder of Genivity, an award-winning life-planning platform for financial professionals that helps them plan for the biggest risks to a client’s financial wellbeing: longevity and health. Before founding Genivity, Heather led global market ...

Jacqueline Kuehl

Managing Director, Digital Marketing Concentration

DePaul University

Jackie Kuehl has demonstrated success creating, building, and leading marketing teams while motivating and inspiring people. Jackie is back at DePaul University where she had been an adjunct professor for 10 years. In her current role she is building the Digital Marketing...

Jason Jacobsohn

Managing Director

Propellant Ventures

Jason Jacobsohn is well known in the Chicago area as a “connector” and go-to person for entrepreneurs who want to grow and maintain their success. For 20+ years, he has provided venture development services to align early stage businesses with resources for growth. Most ...

Senior Vice President Marketing & Strategic Growth

Jason is an entrepreneur and seasoned marketer of 13+ years that has built both companies and brands. He is a founder of Neuroactive, which is a leading marketing strategy firm based in neuro science. Currently, Jason is a SVP Marketing & Strategic Growth with Tradier, wh...

Corporate Innovation and Startup Executive

Entrepreneur / Digital Transformation

10 years: 3 startups, 1 successful exit with a little corporate innovation / digital transformation thrown in...passionate about early stage startups, translating ideas into execution and helping to foster a vibrant Chicago entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Founder of Technology Resource Center Inc., which earned an Inc Magazine Fastest Growing Company honor two years in a row before a successful exit to Fortune 500 CDW in 2006. Co-founder of digital workforce development platform SnagPad (Job Search Board, Inc.) in 2012, a...

Operating Director

City Capital Advisors, LLC

Operating Director at City Capital Advisors, Adjunct Faculty Member at Northwestern University - Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Board Director and Principal Shareholder at BigTime Software, Inc. Execution-focused early-stage and growth company leade...

Chief Talent Officer

Strong Suit Executive Search

Jeff is on a simple mission: Recruit Rockstars & teach others to do the same. He launched his recruiting career at Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart, the preeminent global executive search firms. Today, he’s Chief Talent Officer at Chicago-based Strong Suit Execu...

Executive Coach and Mentor

From September, 2007 to March, 2018, Jeff Coney served as Director of Economic Development at Northwestern University. He was a member of the management team of the Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO). In that role, his responsibilities included working with facu...

Director of Business Development

I've spent my career helping businesses scale. I am fortunate to have spent time working with and for startups, non-profits, large corporations, and community organizations in revenue-focused roles, helping them achieve both short and long term objectives. I am fired ...

She is a passionate entrepreneur, vocal advocate and thought leader on increasing economic mobility through entrepreneurship, decent work and economic growth in the United States. I have 15 years' experience in International Enterprise Business Development supporting majo...

Joe Lee is the founder and CEO at Inverse, an immersive events platform that helps organizers create engaging, brandable, and large-scale 3D experiences from a web browser. Joe previously built and led innovative tech products and teams for several startups and as a consu...

Joe is the owner of Bez Brand, a brand strategy firm that provides brand and creative direction to companies and teams starting new things. Prior to starting Bez Brand, he was the co-founder of DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX), where he filled a variety of roles in product manag...

Joe is a consumer electronics entrepreneur. For 20 years, he has been bringing consumer electronics inventions to market, from the SkipDr disc repair devices (8 Million units sold) to the Neuros line of open electronic devices. He has helped invent, produce and market a ...

Enclave Academy and Hillview Partners Network LLC

John Dallas is CEO of both Hillview Partners Network, a team of independent consultants, coaches, and speakers; credentialed individuals preeminent in fields related to strategic alignment of people, money, technology, and other resources, and Enclave Academy, a not-for-p...

Chief Growth & Technology Officer, Founder, Advisor

Entrepreneur, Executive

================================================================================ BIO ================================================================================ John has held executive positions like CGO, CTO, CEO, Executive Director, and Board Chair, and has been...

Managing Partner

Serval Ventures

June W Choi is the founding Managing Partner of Serval Ventures, an emerging tech & infrastructure venture builder, investor, and innovation partner. With a particular focus on innovation leveraging data with AI, blockchain, mixed reality, Serval is working to bring trans...

Business Development Specialist

Karim is a senior business and strategy leader having worked in distinct industries like Software, Telecommunication, Medical Technologies, and Startup support. He has held executive responsibilities in business development, partnership, technical sales, and strategy, wi...

Katie Hench is the co-founder and CEO of Infiniteach, an app development company dedicated to making the world more inclusive for individuals with autism. Katie has over 15 years of professional experience in special education and autism, and has traveled the world provid...

Kelly Fitzsimmons

Custom Reality Services

E. Keller Fitzsimmons is a serial tech entrepreneur, artist, author, and mother of two. She is the cofounder of Custom Reality Services, a virtual reality (VR) production company whose first two projects, Across the Line (2016) and Ashe ’68 (2019), premiered at the Sundan...

Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship

Stetson University

As an entrepreneurship professor, Kevin's work includes educating and mentoring student entrepreneurs, conducting rigorous, quantitative research on founders, and directly consulting with founders and teams on strategy, leadership, and growth. Prior to teaching, Kevin suc...

Cofounder, Chief Research + Product

Kim Rubenstein, Psy.D., earned a Master’s Degree in Business and Organizational Psychology and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Her professional experience includes being a Co-Founder of Compatibility, serving as faculty member in both clinical and business psychology...

Base-K Venture Partners

Kord Kutchins is a strategic advisor and business development partner who works with technology startups in defining business models, building new capabilities and optimizing business performance. Kord has raised seed capital co-founding two EdTech ventures, managed a ...

Laurence Hayward

Independence Equity

Laurence Hayward is a founding partner of Independence Equity, an early-stage venture fund focused on resource efficiency. Hayward is co-founder of Cornerstone Angels, which has invested in more than 80 companies since 2006, and founder/CEO of VentureLab. Previously, ...

Lavina Ramkissoon

AI Ethics and Technology Policy

With over 20 years in technology, Lavina is a notable thought leader in Africa's AI potential. Her mission is dedicated to the creation of meaningful and innovative solutions that shape the African continent. Besides her passion for technology, Lavina has a vast experienc...

The Catnip Times

Currently president of The Catnip Times, a cat-centric website which has about a million social media followers. The Catnip Times also; (i) hosts Meow MeetUp, the largest conference for cat lovers in the Midwest, and (ii) recently launched Kitty Shield, a first-of-its-kin...

Marisa is the Founder of Lightning Snow Ventures which focuses on investments in entertainment/media/sports. In addition, she is actively involved with a variety of organizations such as Economic Club of Chicago, Founders Network, Women's Board for The Joffrey Ballet, Wom...

Let's Make It Rain

For AI/SaaS startups struggling with enterprise sales, Mark coaches Founders and Account Executives to empower their customer champions on how to effectively sell internally and manage the impact of change. This boosts deal conversions, increases deal value, and elevates ...

Managing Director

Math Venture Partners

Mark is the Managing Director of MATH Venture Partners - an early to growth-stage technology venture capital fund and a Lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Kellogg. Mark was recently the senior vice president of new business, strategy and innovation at Redbo...

Marsha McVicker

My passion is elevating employee engagement and radically improving patient experience and all of that becomes a possibility with my company, Lyla. Based in Chicago, we help organizations in the Corporate and Healthcare markets create an environment where employees shine ...

Marshall Stanton

Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer

Catalina Marketing Corporation

As a senior executive with over 30 years of experience in fast-paced, technology-focused companies across private equity, publicly traded, and start-up sectors, I am dedicated to delivering results that drive growth and create value for stakeholders. Throughout my care...

Matt is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of several companies, and currently operates Condomania.com, Americas First Condom store as well as GAM Payments, a payment processing company focused on large and complex merchant accounts. Matt has directed strategy of a...

Director, Product Strategy & UX

In his role as Director of Product Strategy and UX at Digital Intent, Matthew helps companies bring customer voices and empathy into their products and services. In a previous life, he helped customers express themselves in their homes by co-creating custom furniture. Mat...

COO Americas & General Counsel

Green Planet Group

1) 3 exits/ People | Scaling | Legal and Revenue - Currently GM North America for 24M HR Tech portfolio company of Apollo Private Equity (2nd portfolio company assignment for Apollo). Investor in start up and Series A companies: Agtech/ Indoor agriculture/ HR Tech/ ...

With over 10 years of experience, I build and launch marketing departments for small to medium sized companies and consult Fortune 500s in areas of Digital & Social Marketing, Innovation Strategy and Global Positioning. I am a multi-faceted Senior Marketing Professiona...

Mike is a co-founder and Managing Partner at DeveloperTown (a digital product development firm), co-founder and Managing Partner at Start Something Ventures (seed-stage angel group), a co-founder of FullStack (a PEO focused on early stage ventures), the founder of Tenant ...

I attended Marquette University where I received both a bachelors degree and a masters degree in accounting. After graduation I worked in public accounting as an auditor with a focus in both manufacturing and service companies. During this time I noticed many of my client...

Co-Founder & President

For the last 20 years, I have been an Entrepreneur. In 2001 I was introduced to text messaging while working for a construction data startup. I had no idea what this new method of communication was on mobile devices but understood the potential of how this could change mo...

Founder and CEO

ManageHub, Inc.

Michael Kramer is an award-winning leadership consultant and successful entrepreneur. Kramer negotiated the sale of his first business, an FDA licensed pharmaceutical repackaging company, with world famous Silicon Valley venture capitalist, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins...

Michael Carruth

President/Founder

Fiodan Corporation

After founding his first company at age 15, Fiodan Corporation President, Michael Carruth, knew the entrepreneurial path was for him. Founder of nine companies in his 30-year career, including The Creative Alliance (1991), MAC University (1992), Digital Bootcamp (2003)...

With almost 30 years in the technology industry representing stellar firms like Oracle, Ernst & Young, Vitria, and starting two firms of my own, I've worked on hundreds of transformation projects. I've learned how important it is to have the right people, with the right s...

Mike is the founder and former CEO of SupplyHive. SupplyHive is the #1 rated software for Corporate Supplier Performance Tracking. He founded CVM Solutions, another Procurement Tech company, and had 350 Fortune 1000 clients before their exit. CVM was acquired by Kroll, a ...

Startup junkie that is passionate about helping startups develop. I have managed every aspect of running a business (accounting/finance, full-cycle human resource management, recruiting, business operations, mergers & acquisitions, acquisition integration). I enjoy design...

Mohammad Hossein Tavangar

Founder Institute Germany

A seasoned venture capitalist, excelling in translating economic insights into high-impact investment decisions. Distinguished data-driven executive, known for strong deal-sourcing and capital allocation. Proven strategist, supporting founders on fundraising, expansion, a...

Founder & President

Illinois Partners, LLC

A leading authority on technology commercialization, entrepreneurship and innovation, Kane is the Director of Curriculum and Capstone Advising in the ESTEEM Program at the University of Notre Dame. He is the former co-Executive Director of the Illinois Technology Enterpri...

Nicholas Freemen

Co-founder & Chief Growth Officer

Nick is the Co-founder & President of Innovare - Social Innovation Partners where he empowers #ChagemakersInEducation. He leads customer success, including onboarding and implementation fidelity of Innovare’s products, and is the team’s internal financial leader. He is a ...

Hello, I’m Nicole Loftus. With nothing but an idea, I disrupted a $20 billion-dollar industry and built a successful tech company that became #8 on the Inc. 500 and #1 on Crain's Fast-Fifty. I built the model, evangelized the supply chain, inspired a team and designed ...

Parminder Batra

I started building TraknProtect for moms - to know what they had in their homes and where it was. While commercializing the solution - call it serendipity or opportunity knocking on my door, but I realized there was a niche market within the hospitality industry that was ...

Patricia Riskind

Head of Global Healthcare

Patty Riskind is a dynamic healthcare services leader with demonstrated success leading high performing teams in strategy, operations, client support, business development, product management, sales and marketing. She has achieved exponential growth with both small and la...

Managing Director

PTap Advisory, LLC

Peter is a seasoned early stage executive, having participated in several early stage ventures and been CEO through multiple fund raising, acquisitions and an exit. Previously, Peter was Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Industry Relations of Spring Labs. Peter was the...

Managing Partner

Workbox Ventures

Prior to his role at Workbox Ventures, TechNexus, Phil was Managing Director at TechNexus Venture Collaborative. Prior to TechNexus, Phil was the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Havoc Shield, where he helped small businesses guard their growing cybersecurity perime...

Pinaki, a creative mercenary and a platform architect, has been in the high tech industry for 20 years. A Nuclear Physicist by training, Pinaki’s skills in high-end algorithms for the Dept. of Defense and NOAA led him to tech when dot.com was coming to life in 1998. H...

Rajesh Voddiraju

Founder & Group President

HealthiPASS Inc

Rajesh Voddiraju is a serial entrepreneur who has built two high-growth, successful SaaS ventures back-to-back from founding to acquisition. He is particularly skilled at building teams that drive high growth both organically and through mergers and acquisitions, and has ...

Founder and President

DigitalGroundUp Inc. and Digital4Startups Inc.

Reva Minkoff is the Founder and President of Digital4Startups Inc. and DigitalGroundUp Inc. DigitalGroundUp, an interactive technology platform that teaches digital marketing through short interactive online courses, was recently nominated for three Founder Institute grad...

CxO Executive Business Partner and Advisor

Dr. Rinku A. Patel is an Independent Consultant and a Board Advisor. Previously, she was the CEO of OptioRx. She is a pharmacist dedicated to improving and simplifying patients' care experience, a challenge she believes can be solved using innovative technology. Before jo...

Ronald Franczyk

I've been involved in technology startups for over 15 years in different leadership roles. I started my career at Click Commerce in Chicago, helping grow the company from 4 employees to 400 and eventually taking the company public at the height of the tech bubble. Aft...

Ross Kimbarovsky

Founder and CEO

Ross is Founder and CEO at crowdspring and Startup Foundry. Crowdspring is one of the world's leading marketplaces for crowdsourced logo design, web design, graphic design, product design, and naming services. Crowdspring gives agencies, SMBs, and non-profits access to 21...

Ryan is a 3x entrepreneur, investor, and advisor helping leaders and organizations do their best work. Over a decade of experience founding and building high-growth organizations, he is now focused on supporting early-stage companies at the forefront of our climate and en...

Sagar Pande is a business leader and engineer with significant global executive and commercial experience across the electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery industries. He is the Co-founder of Blaze Power, a company focused on making western electric vehicle and energy s...

Sanjaykumar Patel

Founder & Principal IP Attorney

EXCELON IP - Patent & Trademark Attorneys

Principal IP Attorney who understand and help you protect your Invention or Idea to convert it in to IP Asset | Patent Attorney | Startup Mentor | Speaker | On a Mission to sensitize 1,00,000 people about Intellectual Property Right by 2025.

President & CEO

Future Founders

Future Founders is a non-profit organization that believes every youth can become an entrepreneur. We immerse youth in experiences that inspire and empower them to create their own opportunity. We believe this leads to a generation more determined, hopeful and equipped as...

CEO and Founder

Shaniqua (Shawn) Davis is a digital marketing and tech enthusiast with over seven years of experience developing tech solutions. A Detroit native, Shaniqua learned early on to use innovative techniques to gain both experience and significant opportunities for advancement....

Founders Team Associate

While at P33, Shawn works on projects to help early-stage founders in Chicago access capital and networks faster. He is passionate about fostering diversity and equity in our communities. P33 is a non-profit focused on driving inclusive growth for Chicago’s tech sector.

STEPHEN MEADE is an American entrepreneur, executive and business founder who is passionate about creating companies that make a difference in the world. He has the ability to catapult an idea from pure concept to the creation of a thriving business. In the past 20 years,...

Managing Director

Sukhi is an entrepreneur & Investor in SaaS, Proptech, HealthTech, AI, & ESG. Currently, he is working with a talented group of founders, investors and advisors to design, develop, market, and build amazing companies across the globe. Previously, he started OpsTechnology,...

Old Willow Partners

Business Leader and change agent adept at driving growth based on identifying customer needs, operational execution, financial planning and deal structuring. Extensive experience creating high revenue growth through new product introduction, market opportunities and lever...

Chicago-born Timothy Kelley is an experienced business planner with extensive experience in marketing products in the medical arena. After attending Northwestern, he worked in pharmacy benefit management, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. With his vast experience in t...

Head of Platform (S4P)

 Head of Product for the Spotify for Partners (S4P) platform. Leading a globally distributed team in building, launching, and scaling world-class SaaS innovations. Responsible for developing and maintaining the entire portfolio of systems and products within the S4P ecos...

Megatron Ventures

I am an experienced product design leader with a passion for simplicity, strategy, and the Milwaukee Brewers. I’ve founded multiple successful companies, and helped guide and support many more. Currently, my focus is founding and funding startups through Megatron Ventures.

Cofounder & COO

Ujjwal Gupta is the co-founder and chief operating officer at BenchPrep where he leads day-to-day company operations and growth-related initiatives. As co-founder, he has helped secure more than $8 million in funding from prominent venture capital funds, navigated how to ...

Certified Startup Coach

Based in Sydney, Vern bags with more than 20 years of corporate experience in marketing and media. Energised by the immense potential of startups who're going to solve the world's existential problems effectively, creatively and immediately. Vern is helping entrepreneurs...

Vladimir Pletyukhin

Founder and Creative Director

Ex-Accenture / Founder and Creative Director @ Launch Deck / Venture Scout @ Flashpoint VC. I believe that the true value lies in the synergy between content and design and always strive to bring that to every project I work on. - Extensive experience in design, market...

William Furlong

Bill is a Serial Entrepreneur and most recently the SVP of Business Development, and part of founding team of Bizo, a Business Audience Data Management Platform firm, which was acquired by LinkedIn in 2014. Currently Bill serves in a variety of advisor, investor and consu...

William Mortimore

Project Foundry

Project Foundry provides Deeper Learning educational software and services. Our platform is an online workflow, portfolio and reporting solution that makes individualized, inquiry-based, collaborative and hands-on learning methods practical at scale. Foundry enables stude...

Strategy & Marketing Specialist

My entrepreneurial path started when I was 14, when I opened my first business - a platform that allowed young website owners to sell content using Text messages and micro-billing. Soon after, at 16, I partnered with the second-largest credit card company in Israel to de...

Growth & GTM For FinTechs

The Change Hive

I design & implement sales funnels & CRMs that drive predictable growth for FinTechs & Financial Services Companies. My approach is very structured and data-informed. Get ROI in days not years.

The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,500 entrepreneurs raise over $1.85BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide.

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