The Founder Institute's four-month curriculum covers everything you would expect from an early-stage startup program, including topics like "Startup Legal and IP” towards the beginning, to “Fundraising” near the end. What makes the curriculum special is the Mentors that teach it, whose passion, feedback and support helps our companies avoid rookie mistakes and set the foundation for a meaningful and enduring company.
The Founder Institute carefully recruits approximately 25 Mentors per Semester, who are normally the CEO or founder of a successful startup. Rather than specialists or consultants, we prefer Founders and CEOs to give our companies "the entrepreneur's perspective." The mentors share their experiences, best practices, and mistakes, while also providing specific guidance and feedback on the Founder companies.
In addition, the Founder Institute's unique Graduate Liquidity Pool allows our mentors to share in the equity of companies formed in each program - and, their share is based solely on the anonymous ratings they receive from the Founders both during, and after the program. In this way, the Founder Institute incentivizes mentors to take a special interest in our startups, and provide as much assistance as possible after the program.
We have a great lineup of Mentors confirmed for the Autumn 2013 San Diego Founder Institute, including many from out of town. See the full list below.
Adeo Ressi
Founder/CEO, Founder Institute
Adeo Ressi is the founder and CEO of the Founder Institute, the worlds largest startup-technology company accelerator. The Institute is the eighth startup that Mr. Ressi has founded or built, four of which were acquired and three of which are still operating. Mr. Ressi was also a Founding Member of TheFunded.com, an online community of 17,000 CEOs to research, rate, and review funding sources worldwide.
Albert Chow
CFO & SVP Operations , PrimaCinema
Albert Chow is CFO & SVP of Operations at PRIMA Cinema, a startup that is incubating a first-run private home movie screening service. He previously served in senior executive positions in a number of technology firms including DivX, Memec, and Yahoo, leading the Strategy and Corporate Development functions with several IPO and M&A transactions in these roles. Albert started his career as a Management Consultant at Bain & Company and as a Device Engineer at Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector. Albert graduated from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Andrew Beinbrink
CEO, SportsForce
Andrew Beinbrink is the CEO and Founder of SportsForce (www.sportsforceonline.com), a web-based Software/Coach as service for aspiring student-athlete to maximize their recruiting and scholarships opportunities. SportsForce is Andrews 3rd start-up with sports software companies Trajan Sports and IDV-GMOD. With 10+ years as an Internet entrepreneur, Andrew has a deep passion for helping people reach their goals. He believes business is the ultimate sport and entrepreneurs are the ultimate athletes. His current mission at SportsForce is to "Empower the Next-Generation of Student-Athletes, Parents and Coaches."
Brad Slavin
Co-Founder, LeadActivate
Chief Conversion Officer at WebHEAT.com Greater San Diego Area Marketing and Advertising Current WebHEAT, Think Contact, LeadActivate Previous Backupright, Skyriver Communications, Integrate IT Education National University (PH)
Bryan Hall
Co-Founder & CTO, Embarke
Bryan is the Co Founder & CTO for Embarke which increases engagement and revenue for marketers within 15 minutes of integration and a simple click of a button. Embarke automatically deliver messages when each individual user is most likely to engage, and with content they actually care about.
Charlie Jackson
Founder, Silicon Beach Software
Charlie Jackson is an entrepreneur, currently in startup mode with his third software company, Silicon Beach Software. Charlie began his entrepreneurial career in the 1980s, and in the mid 1990s became co-founder/Chairman of FutureWave Software, creators of Adobe Flash. He earned the title of San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year - High Tech in 1990. Jacksons education history includes a BA degree in Near Eastern Studies from UCLA, a Masters degree in Linguistics from San Diego State, and C.Phil in Linguistics from UCSD.
Chris Studer
Founder & Former CEO, ScholarPoint Financial
Chris is an entrepreneur with a successful track record of starting and building two financial services companies specializing in student loans. Most recently, Chris was founder and CEO of ScholarPoint Financial, where he led the development and launch of a web-based technology platform for 100% paper-free sourcing and origination – funding over $300 million e-loans in the first three years. Prior to ScholarPoint, Chris was part of the founding team at College Loan Corporation, reaching $120 million in revenue and 400 employees in just three years. Chris earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University. A native of Minnesota, Chris and his wife Melissa currently reside in La Jolla, CA.
Cliff Boro
Managing Partner , Team Ventures, LLC.
Cliff Boro began his career on Wall Street in 1987 in the hedge fund industry working as a full-time Wall Street trader during his senior year at Dwight School. His career began on Wall Street working in several capacities at Steinhardt Partners, Soros Fund Management and Berg Partners. Yet he also held many other occupations which have ranged from teaching skiing to hundreds of children, to crossing the Atlantic as second-mate on a mega-yacht and riding the ups and downs of the internet boom followed ever since by a career as a serial entrepreneur that allowed him to raise over $50 million before selling his later company to AOL..
Craig Hagopian
Co Founder & prior CMO
Craig Hagopian was responsible for driving xAd’s sales, advertising partnerships and marketing operations within the local-mobile marketplace. He possesses more than 20 years of experience in sales and consumer-marketing leadership for hardware and service-based companies in the PC, wireless and broadband-Internet sectors. Craig previously served as chief marketing officer at Axesstel — a CDMA-terminal manufacturing company — where he oversaw sales, marketing and new-product development, as well as investor and media activities that included securing $7 million in funding and transitioning Axesstel to a public company. Prior to Axesstel, Craig held management positions at AIR2LAN, a regional provider of broadband-Internet services. Even earlier, he served wireless-data-messaging entity SkyTel Communications as general manager, vice president and senior director, developing consumer strategies and building partnerships with major retailers and telecommunication providers. Finally, at Epson America, he served as manager of market planning and product management, a position that enabled him to author the market-entry plan for a $150-million, multimedia product line. He holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and MBA from Duke University.
Dan ONeill
CEO, Nettle, Inc.
Dan has spent twenty five years in software and systems development specializing in technologies that cross software, hardware and networking disciplines. He also spent ten years in executive management roles as CTO, Founder, Chairman of the Board and Executive Vice-President. He is a business friendly technologist who has helped three companys grow from a start-up situation through to a successful IPO ($372m), sale and transition to new owners.
Daniel Obodovski
Co-founder, Managing Partner, Diosys Technologies LLC
Daniel Obodovski is currently the managing partner of DND Ventures and author of "The Silent Intelligence - the Internet of Things". Most recently, Daniel was Director of Business Development at Qualcomm, where he led the commercial launch of multiple M2M products and businesses. Prior to that, Daniel was Director of Strategic Marketing and Business Development at Motorola Germany. In 2011 Daniel co-founded, and currently co-chairs, M2M SIG at CommNexus San Diego. He is passionate about helping companies go to market with connected devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies. He has worked with some of the top people in the industry to realize the vision of the Internet of Things. Daniel holds an MBA degree from the University of South Carolina and Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, as well as a Master’s degree from the Moscow State Lomonosov University.
Derrick Oien
President & CEO, ScoreStream
Derrick Oien is an experienced entrepreneur with executive level experience from startups to public companies. He has taken a company from founding to exit in the case of Intercasting Corporation and was a member of the management team that sold MP3.com to Vivendi Universal, where he subsequently ran the digital music division of Vivendi as President, overseeing MP3.com, Rollingstone.com and eMusic. His industry experience includes digital media, advertising, social media, mobile and wireless enterprise software. In addition to his operational roles he has been a director of socialthing, acquired by AOL, and Trusonic, acquired by Fluid Media corporation, as well as an advisor to various startups. Derrick has a BS in Computer Information Systems from California State University, Los Angeles where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Gioia Messinger
Founder & CEO, LinkedObjects, Inc.
Gioia Messinger is a serial entrepreneur, executive and mentor. She is the Founder and CEO of LinkedObjects Inc. a newly formed company focused on making products smart, simple and social by connecting them to the Web. Most recently, she was Founder and CEO of Avaak, Inc. (acquired by NETGEAR), the leader in wire-free video home monitoring products for the consumer market. While at Avaak, Gioia was the Principal Investigator and managed a project that deployed large-scale sensor networks under a DARPA grant. Prior to Avaak, she founded SUMMIT Design Technologies, Inc., a San Diego based engineering services firm, and was a contributor in the development of the first wireless Endoscopic Capsule or PillCam™ - a revolutionary, patient friendly diagnostic product and one of the first wireless ingestible devices ever conceived. She was also Founder and CEO of MedSmart, Inc. (acquired by Kaiser), a medical information systems company that developed disruptive patient centric electronic health record software.
Greg Solovyev
CEO, Citybot
Greg started as a hacker in an information security class @ RSUH in 1999. Worked as a software engineer in Moscow and Silicon Valley, co-founded Exchange3D.com, URMyStar, Citybot and participated in many others startups. Currently reinventing travel guides as the founder and CEO of Citybot.
Jason Pang
Founder & CEO, PRIMA CINEMA
JASON PANG, FOUNDER AND CEO of PRIMA CINEMA - a startup that is incubating a first-run private home movie screening service. Prior to founding PRIMA Cinema, Inc. in 2009, he was involved with DivX, Inc. from pre-funding in 2000 to a successful IPO in 2006. During his tenure, he held key positions in business, marketing and operations. Prior to DivX, Jason served over 5 years at Accenture, a leading global technology consulting firm, with a specialty in Technical Architecture. He designed and delivered large scale ERP solutions as well as custom developed software, infrastructure design, and data center operations for Global 1000 firms. Jason holds both an MS and BS in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Jimmy Hendricks
CEO & Co-Founder, Deal Current Network
Jimmy Hendricks is Co-Founder and CEO of Deal Current and has mentored in both the US and Chile. Deal Current is one of the most well recognized "white label" daily deal software companies in the US. Deal Currents hosted social commerce solutions and sales force training tools help media publishers implement their very own revenue-generating deal or coupon platform in 30 days or less. Prior to founding Deal Current, Hendricks was an executive at Active.com, a leading provider of application services technology and marketing solutions for community service and participatory sports organizations with $300M+ annual revenues. Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and holds a Masters Degree in Accounting – Corporate Taxation.
Joe Bezdek
Co-Founder and Former Brand Director, DivX, Inc.
Joe Bezdek is a co-founder of DivX, Inc., the creator of the popular DivX video format and technology. While there, he filled a variety of roles in product management, marketing, and brand management, most recently as brand director. He left DivX in late 2007 to spend time with his wife and three young daughters, road tripping across the country in a variety of vehicles, including a 38-foot motorhome. He has BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M and The University of Texas - Austin, respectively, but hes terribly mechanically disinclined so dont ask him to fix anything. Currently he serves on the board of trustees of the Rady Childrens Hospital Foundation in San Diego and is dabbling with several interesting projects.
John Girard
Co Founder & Prior CEO
John Girard co founded Clickability in 1999 in a garage with three fellow Stanford graduates. He served as the company CEO and spent 10 years building Clickability, the leading web content management software-as-a-service business, raising almost $20 million of investment capital and closing 10s of millions of dollars business. John currently is Principal at JG3 Advisory Services.
Jon Carder
Founder & CEO, Mogl
Jon Carder is a serial Internet entrepreneur, who by the age of 30 had founded three multimillion dollar online businesses. In 2010, Jon started his 4th Company Mogl.com. Mogl is revolutionizing Loyalty Programs by turning eating out into a fun game that earns consumers cash rewards while dramatically increasing sales for participating restaurants as well as automatically donates a meal to Feeding America through its Meal for a Meal program every time a user spends $20 at participating restaurants. Jon has been a Mentor with the San Diego Founder Institute since the Fall of 2009.
Jordan Greenhall
Co-Founder & Former CEO, DivX
Jordan Greenhall is co-founder DivX back in 2000 which he took public in 2006. Prior to DivX, he spent his time learning the art of entrepreneurship at San Diego start-ups InterVU and MP3.com. Since retiring from DivX, he invested in a few startups, and currently serves on the board of several think tanks . Mr. Greenhall holds a JD magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1997 and a BA summa cum laude from Texas A&M in 1994.
Jose Doval
CEO & Founder , XBand Technology
Jose Doval is CEO & Founder of t XBand Technology Corporation which designs, develops, and markets technology platforms and products that help athletes train and improve their game. We specialize in integrating electronic sensors with wireless technologies to measure, store and analyze performance data that are important to the athlete and provide them in real time to a smart phone or a standalone display device.. Jose holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from San Diego State University.
Joshua Windmiller
CEO & Co-Founder, ElectroZyme
Joshua Windmiller received the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego in 2012 where he was awarded with the prestigious Charles Lee Powell Foundation fellowship and was a Gordon Scholar in engineering leadership. He is the recipient of the internationally-acclaimed Printed Electronics USA 2010 Academic R&D award for his developments in textile-based printed bioelectronics. Dr. Windmiller was inducted as a Gordon Fellow in 2011 in recognition of demonstrated leadership in the engineering profession. He gained international reputation for his development of transdermal and percutaneous biosensors, printed bioelectronics, screen printed nanotechnology, and bioelectrocatalysis.
Ken Wahlster
Founder & CEO, BikeBandit.com
Ken Wahlster, Founder & CEO of BikeBandit.com, started the company in 1999 and quickly turned it into one of the largest motorcycle part retailers on the web. The San Diego based company has over $50 million in annual sales and found success by putting their customers first and having a great website backed by reliable service and support. Ken received his MBA from Pennsylvania State University and his undergraduate degree in Economics from University of Pittsburgh.
Liz Gasser
Vice President, Business Operations, Qualcomm
Liz Gasser is currently responsible for leading strategy and corporate development activities across Qualcomm Technologies portfolio of emerging businesses, working with executive management to identify and pursue promising new opportunities including via M&A. She was previously responsible for business operations for the Qualcomm Labs group (www.qualcommlabs.com) and led the creation of the QualcommLabs@EvoNexus incubator program (www.evonexus.org/qualcommlabs). Prior to joining Qualcomm, Liz held strategy and product marketing roles at Openwave Systems. She started her career in Management Consulting, working in London and San Francisco. Liz graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA/MA, in Economics.
Michael Davidovich
Founder & Prior CEO
Michael Davidovich co-founded Direct EDI, Inc., in 2002, as an e-commerce solution provider, specializing in offering solutions for business integration of supply chain networks. Direct EDI, Inc. empowers its clients to streamline workflow systems while satisfying compliance requirements. Prior to Direct EDI, Michael worked in several web application development firms including Web Dynamics, Net Create and Vicinity developing web systems for clients such as Intuit, FedEx, Starbucks, Mc Donalds, and MapBlast (now part of Microsoft Virtual Earth), and creating innovative solutions embraced by other companies in the marketplace. Currently, Michael sits on the Advisory Board for IT@Once, managed and outsourced enterprise IT services, Value AD – a Web Application Technology provider for online marketing. He is also a member of the California E-Business Group and San Diego Chamber of Commerce. Michael holds an MBA from University of Phoenix and a BS in Computer Science with minor in Applied Math from Radio Electronics Institute of the Ukraine.
Mike Alfred
Co-Founder and CEO, BrightScope
Mike is Co-Founder and CEO of BrightScope. BrightScope is an independent provider of 401k ratings and financial intelligence to plan sponsors, advisors, and participants in all 50 states. Their mission is to increase the retirement security of Americas workforce by bringing transparency and efficiency to the 401k plan market. Previously, Mike was the Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Alfred Capital Management LLC, an independent registered investment firm located in La Jolla. Mike received his bachelors degree from Stanford University.
Pat Walsh
Co-Founder / Chief Impact Officer, StayClassy.org
Founder & Chief Impact Officer at StayClassy. Pat co-founded StayClassy in 2006, and leads the Annual CLASSY Awards and Collaborative. Pat is focused on StayClassy’s growth - strategically growing the organization’s presence across the globe. In 2011 Pat received the Young Alumni Award from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and was recognized by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the Top 5 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs in America.
Patrick Dillon
Co-Founder & President, Deal Current Network, Inc.
Patrick Dillon is Co-Founder and President of Deal Current. Patrick brings over ten years of sales, sales management and promotional experience to the Deal Current Network. He has considerable experience in both B-to-B and B-to-C environments, and has built out large networks of distribution and contractor networks. In his previous company, a $250 million direct sales company called Vector Marketing and Cutco Cutlery Patrick was as the head of Sales Promotion for 15 states, 100 offices, and 8,000 independent representatives. As President of The Deal Current Network Dillon oversees sales and partnership strategy, and revenue maximization for the partner network. Patrick graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison - School of Business with a Bachelor Degree Finance, Marketing.
Penny Bauder
CEO & Founder, Green Kids Craft
Penny is the CEO & Founder of Green Kid Crafts. Green Kids Craft is an award-winning, environmentally friendly kids toy company. Each month subscribers receive a box filled with simple science projects, art materials, and lesson plans that spark kids’ creativity and cultivate respect and love for the environment while offering kids an engaging way to explore, create, and learn. Penny was a winner of the 2012 Startup Nation Leading Moms in Business Competition and a recipient of the Female Founder Fellowship at the Founder’s Institute. Penny has a Master of Science (MS), in Environmental Science from Alaska Pacific University.
Renee Zau
Co-Founder & CEO, DonationMatch
Renee is a Co-founder of DonationMatch, a platform that streamlines how companies attract consumers with goods that are given to charitable events. Their self-service marketplace allows verified nonprofits and schools to easily find and request donations of goods and gift certificates from partner companies in one place. Agencies and brands can also quickly identify target audiences and offer samples and promotional offers to multiple events in just minutes. Their SaaS (software-as-a-service) reduces hundreds of hours of tedious work to just clicks for charity event committees, PR/marketing/promotions agencies, and marketers of charitable companies. A graduate of the Founder Institutes Fall, 2012 class, Renee is also the recipient of NAWBO San Diegos 2013 Trailblazer Award and a finalist of San Diego Business Journals 2013 "Women Who Move the City."
Ricardo dos Santos
Sr Director of New Business Development , Biological Dynamics
Ricardo dos Santos has recently joined Biological Dynamics as head of business development. Here, he will manage business development, strategy, marketing and fund raising for early stage, molecular diagnostics startup in San Diego with breakthrough solution for early stage detection of cancer using proprietary AC Electrokinetics technology. Ricardo is also an adjunct professor at San Diego State University where he teaches MBA courses on Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Ricardo holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in systems & industrial engineering from Louisiana State University, as well as an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Ryan Alfred
Co-Founder & President, BrightScope
Co-Founder, President, and Head of Product Development at BrightScope, an independent quantitative 401k ratings firm. Ryan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle and numerous industry publications. Previously, he was the Co-Founder and Chief Compliance Officer of Alfred Capital Management LLC, an independent registered investment firm located in La Jolla, CA. Ryan received his bachelors degree in Economics from Harvard University.
Ryan Bettencourt
Founder & CEO, Blurtopia
Ryan is currently President of Zui (recently acquired by Saban Brands) as well as the Founder and CEO of Blurtopia. KidZui is the creator of the KidZui kids browser and Zui.com, the fastest growing online destination for kids. Blurtopia is a rapidly growing mobile social network fueled by lifes little questions. Ryan recently sold a successful social commerce business that was named an Internet Retailer Hot 100, has been the head of a leading digital agency, owned an active fashion brand, and directed a large consumer package goods business. Ryan is a mentor and advisor to numerous web and mobile start-ups and has an MBA from Babson College.
Scot Chisholm
CEO & Chairman, StayClassy
Scot Chisholm founded StayClassy, an enterprise fundraising software company for Nonprofit organizations, in 2006. He is currently the company’s CEO and Chairman. Recently Scot was selected by Businessweek as one of the top 5 most promising social entrepreneurs in America. In 2009, Scot was chosen as one of the top 40 young leaders under 40 years old by San Diego Metropolitan Magazine. Prior to StayClassy, Scot worked as a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton specializing in process improvement on the Economic Business Analysis team. Scot is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society of Quality, and holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, with a Mechanical Engineering concentration, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Scott Tilton
Co Founder & CEO, Hookit.com
Scott is the Co Founder and CEO of Hookit.com. He has been an entrepreneur since college. He spent a majority of his younger life competing in action sports, including motocross, BMX and downhill mountain biking. Combining his passion for sports with business, he was the co-founder and CEO of SponsorHouse.com in 2001 and later rebranded the company as Hookit.com in 2009. With nearly 1M members and 400 brand and media partnerships, Hookit.com is the leading online and mobile app for sports. Scott has a degree in sports medicine from Elon University and a master’s degree in Internet business systems from Mercy College.
Taylor Cavanah
CEO & CO-Founder, Locai, Inc.
Taylor Cavanah co-founded and is currently CEO of Locai, Inc - home of The PetPartner App. Taylor began his career at Zyvex Corporation where he helped develop the semiconductor application, managed sales, co-founded a resulting spin-off (Zyvex Instruments) and later managed the division as a separate P&L after it was acquired by DCG Systems. Taylor found his entrepreneurial spirit while studying at Rice University, where he started his own DJ business, raised $10K to co-found the campus first nightclub (The Digital Undergrounds), and went on to work for Sony America in a think tank tasked with forecasting products 10 years down the road.
Tim Norris
CEO, Ixel Innovation
Tim Norris is the co-founder of J!NX (www.jinx.com), a clothing brand with the largest collection of video game apparel in the world. J!NX licenses many of the worlds bestselling video game franchises including World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Star Wars. Previously, Tim co-founded, developed, and sold teachingjobs.com, an internet job board to help teachers find jobs. Tim is currently the CEO of Ixel Innovation, his personal consulting firm, where he counsels companies on innovation, technology, and social media. Tim graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science.
Tim Drees
Co Founder & Prior CEO
Tim currently splits his time between investing, philanthropy work, and travel. He was previously the co founder and CEO of Webmetrics Inc., a leader in advanced website monitoring and testing solutions, and remains active as an investor in emerging technologies related to mobile and social networking. His philanthropy work is centered around animal welfare; he is currently serving on the national council of the Humane Society of the United States and is in the midst of launching a non profit startup aimed at improving the lives of farm animals: www.humaneeatingproject.org.
Tyson McDowell
President, Avadyne Health
Tyson McDowell is the Co-Founder and prior CEO of Benchmark Revenue Management which is a technology platform designed to overlay and rapidly integrate with any hospital IS infrastructure. In 2012, Benchmark merged with Avadyne Health, and Tyson became President of the merged companies which is focused on innovating the healthcare revenue cycle. He is also Chairman of the Medical Banking and Financial Systems Committee for HIMSS, is a passionate mentor at the Founder Institute and is an avid pilot. Tyson founded his first company, 4th Dimension Graphics, at 14 years old and after graduating high school, he became CTO and partner of CamZone Networks, an internet streaming video company.
