Founder Institute Mentors

Austin Spring 2024

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 Austin program below.

Mentors

Aaron Ali

CEO, Helix

Aaron Chavez

Managing Partner, (un)conventional ventures

Abdellah Aouf

Chief Executive Officer, GO Platform

Abe Chu

Co-founder & CMO, NextSeed

Abhi Dobhal

Founder/ COO/CFO , Warehouse Republic

Abhishek Kumbhat

Dr, SapidBlue Technologies

Adam Weinroth

CMO & Advisor, Various Startups

Adeo Ressi

CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab

Aeryn Cagle

FI Mentor

Aki Ohashi

Vice President, Evolution Ventures

Albert Baez

President, Blended Sense

Amanda Lettmann

CEO, COO & Co-Founder, Kardia Ventures/ SimpleDisability, Inc.

Amanda Eakin

FI Mentor

Andrew Millet

Founder, Process Pro Consulting

Andy Fruhling

SVP, Nokia

Andy Hart

Advisor, a Mana Project

Anita Roberts

FI Mentor

Anu Pansare

CEO, Volyx

Arturo Piña

President, ProductCamp Austin

Ashley Jennings

Managing Director , Texas Innovation Center - Technology Commercialization at UT Austin

Ashley Connell

CEO & Founder, Prowess Project

Ben Chaib

FI Mentor

Bill Blackstone

EVP of Operations, Galvanize

Bob Bridge

Founder and Executive Director, SWAN Impact Network

Bora Laci

Assistant Director of Programs, SMU Tower

Bre Cruickshank

Founder & CEO, Radical Girl Gang

Brett Beckett

Vice President - Finance & Strategy, Realogy - Independence Title

Brian Hammer

Founder & CEO, Residual Media

Brian Childress

Architect, Technical Advisor, Calendly

Brian Sparkes

Head of Communications, Bay Angels

Candace Ohm

Founder, Canz.Art

Candice Digby

Partnerships and Events Director, Vapor IO

Cara McCarty

CEO, Betterleave

Caroline Healey

Director , Antler

Charles Martin

Co-Founder , Flux Bucket

Chintan Oza

Founder, Anantam Ecosystems

Chris Palmisano

Investor, Sano Ventures, LLC

Chris Turnley

FI Mentor

Chris Smurthwaite

Founder, VC Insider

Christiana Yebra

CEO, Vouch

Corey Rose

Vice President, Global Technology & Innovation, Opportunity Austin

Cs Freeland

Co-Founder, Texas Venture Association

Dana Marruffo

Owner, Buzz Public Relations, LLC

Dana Abramovitz

Founding Team, SXSW

Daniel Alvarez

Vice President, Disruptive Technology & Disruptive Commerce, JPMorgan Chase & Co

Daphne Bernicker

CEO, HumanAim

Dave Heimnuck

CEO / Founder, Hidrent

David Robinson Jr.

Founding Member, Blueprint Local

David Franklin

Founder & CEO, knowRX

David Gibson

FI Mentor

David Mandel

Managing Partner, Managing PartnerManaging Partner Emerging Ventures Fund

David Valentino

Managing Director, Austin Venture Association

Dean Cruse

Principal, DC Marketing

Dennis Menendez

FI Mentor

Diane Yoo

Managing Partner, Medingenii Capital

Dianthe Skurko

Principal, GVC Partners

Dustin Byington

FI Mentor

Ed Latson

CEO & President, Opportunity Austin

Edward Madongorere

Co-Founder, CEO, Moon

Emma Borochoff

Head of Marketing, 8fig

Emmit Schultz

Founder & CEO, Savi, Inc.

Eric Fishhaut

President, Gelber & Associates

Eric Samdahl

CEO / Founder, GHSD Group

Eric Salwan

Co-founder, Firefly Aerospace

Fabian Geyrhalter

Founder and Principal, FINIEN

Frankie Arvelo

Startup Counsel, Arvelo PLLC

Gabriel Rucker

Co-Founder & CEO, Founding Titans

Gennadiy Goldenshteyn

Managing Partner, First Principles, LLC

Guc Ozenci

Tech-Entrepreneur | Mentor | Director | Investor, Founder Institute

Guy Parker

Chief Strategy & Creative Officer, Ambient Way

Harrison Wells

VC, Notley

Hazel Chappell

CEO | Founder, ishca health Inc

Heath Butler

Founder/Managing Partner, Gestalt Growth Advisors

Heather Buffo

FI Mentor

Heidi Leach

Vice President, Emerging Tech & Disruptive CommerceVice President, Emerging Tech & Disruptive Commerce, JP Morgan

Horacio Rodriguez Rilo

Founder, Boop

Howard Freidman

Managing Partner, Bluechip Jets

Hugh Forrest

Chief Programming Officer, SXSW

Ian Bidot

FI Mentor

Ignacio Castro

Managing Director, Founder Institute Boston

Ivelin Ivanov

co-founder, FI Web 3

Jacqueline Hughes

Founder, Austin Startup Week

Jaleh Daie, Ph.D

Chairman/Founder, AgFoodHealthSpan (AFH Vertical), Band of Angels

James Phelan

Co-Founder, The Cannon

Janice Omadeke

CEO, The Mentor Method

Jasmin Brand

Founder / CEO, Her Texas

Jasmin Brand

CEO and Founder, Her Texas

Jason Taylor

FI Mentor

Jason Assir

Principal Consultant, Opex Digital Consulting

Jason Scharf

Creator and Co-Host, Austin Next

Jason W. Taylor

President & Founder, CodeLaunch Accelerator

Javy Martinez

Managing Director | Startup Advisor | Event Host, Founder Institute North Texas

Jeff Eversmann

Mentor, FI

Jenaro Diaz

Founder & CIO, Minero

Jodie Slater Hastings

Co-Founder , The Slate

Joe Daniels

Partner, Co-Chair - Emerging Companies, Partner & Co-Chair, Emerging Companies Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Joe Beard

Founder / CEO, Advisor

Joey Jones

Co-Founder/Chief Revenue & Compliance Officer, CurveBlock Ltd

Jose Padilla

FI Mentor

Jose Angel Ortega

Investor, VC

José Luis Silva Vázquez

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Dux Capital

Joseph Liu

Venture Partner, Wise Ocean

Juan Thurman

Managing General Partner, SWAN Impact Fund

Juan Martinez

Founder, HyveCity

Judy Tsuei

Founder, Wild Hearted Words

Justin Mc Kenzie

Vice President, Bandera Electric Cooperative

Katie Russel

Executive Director, Central Texas Angel Network

Ken Pomella

CEO, RevStar

Kendall Gallagher

Head of Sales , Skaled

Kennie Matthews

Chairman & CEO, M Infrastructure, Inc.

Kevin Sharp

General Partner, WIV Ventures

K.J. Royal

Founder, Join Sprints

Kristie Whites

FOUNDER & CEO, Serving Social

Kristy Alballero

Co-Founder & CFO, IOOGO

Kwame Boler

Co-Founder & CEO, Spritz

Kyle Wiggins

FI Mentor

Laura Kamrath

CEO, Zebra Marketing Solutions

Lauren Washington

Co-Founder, Black Women Talk Tech/Fundr

Leigh Christie

CEO and Executive Director, BEAM Angel Network

Levi McMellian

CEO | Founding Partner | Managing Director, CFO4Life

Lily Turner

Manager, Global Investment & Innovation, Opportunity Austin

Lito Rodriguez

Partner, DWX Par

Lucas Chaya Del Pino

Dell for Entrepreneurs Lead, DELL Technologies

Malcolm Woods

Founder - Alumni, Meander Travel

Mara Rada

CEO & Chief of Strategy, Feral (thinkferal.com)

Marc Nathan

Senior Director of Market Development, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

Marcos Rodriguez

Mentor Investor, Rodriguez Capital Holdings LLC

Marcus Carey

CEO, ThreatCare

Maria Burgos

Founder & CEO, Trendy Seconds

Maria Pienaar

Principal, First Principles

Mariana Muntean

Founder & CEO, Cinevva

Mariano Gonzalez

Founder and General Partner, MGV Capital Group

Mario Soave

Founder, CleverFi

Marlon Montgomery

Director of Technology & Product , Globant / MediaTech.ventures

Martín Martinez

Executive Director, Founder Institute Texas

Maryna Burushkina

Founder, GrowthChannel

Matt Brown

HEAD OF TECH & GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, Galaxy Venture Capital

Mauricio Delgado

Co-founder and CPO, Nada

Maxim Nazarov

Investment Director , FinSight VC

Melisa Pinto-Rivera, MS

Consultant/ Founding Partner , Stella Sophia Global

Melissa Unsell-Smith

Co-founder and President, https://rectifydata.com

Mellie Price

Executive Director, Texas Venture Labs, University of Texas at Austin

Mercedes Bankston

Founder, Funderstar LTD

Miao Yan

Corporate Development Manager-Renewable Energy, NOV

Michael Morton

CEO, Morton Consulting Group

Michelle Witt

Principal, Propelled Marketing

Mike Breck

Principal, Acuity Thinking

Mike Solow

FI Mentor

Molly Walsh

Director, Founder Institute Dallas

Nakevia Miller

Founder, Nakevia Designs

Narek Gevorgyan

FI Mentor

Natasha Gorodetsky

Founder&Head of Product, Product Pursuits

Nathan Ryan

CEO and Co-Founder, Blue Sky Partners

Navin Jagannath

Principal, KRP Consulting

Neha Sampat

Founder, CEO, Contentstack

Nelly Yusupova

Founder, TechSpeak.co

Nelly Yusupova

Founder, TechSpeak.co

Nick Hahn

President & Founder, Creative Liberation

Nikola Korac

CEO, Downstream IT Solutions

Noah Wallach

Founder, Hope OS

Oleg Lysiak

Partner Success Manager, Honeycomb Software

Omar Zaki

Founder, Qima Ventures

Paola Origel

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, ChainLink Capital

Paul O'Brien

CEO, MediaTech Ventures

Pavan Kumar

Founder, 3pmVentures

Peter Busch

FI Mentor

Prerna Sharma

Associate Partner , Antler

Q Manning

Head of Design, SmartAC.com

Rafael Kartaszynski

CEO, TechEdge Developers

Rahul Agarwal

Principal Technical Product Manager, Hasura

Ram Prasad

Fractional CPO/CTO, Delence

Richard Delgado

Partner, ERA Capital Partners

Riley Knox

Founder, Accelerate3D

Robert Balderas

Founder & CEO, Bob's Containers

Rogelio De los Santos

Cofounder and Managing Partner, Dalus Capital & FI Monterrey

Roger Heaston

President & CEO, Refinition

Roland Peña

SVP Global Tech & Innovation, Opportunity Austin

Saima Siddiqui

Director of Product Management, Joyride.com

Sally Aiello

Business Development, Walmart

Samuel Riehn

Chief Executive Officer, SBIR Advisors Inc.

Scott G. Cornelius

VP, Refinition

Sean Bauld

Founder & Chief Experiment Officer, spxk

Sebastien Long

Founder & CEO, Lodgeur

Shane Brechmann

Founder & CEO, Topmost Ventures

Shelby Stephens

Founder & CEO, GrowthMatch

Shlomi Podgaetz

Director/CEO, Rizasmart Consulting

Shree Moorthy

Senior Vice President, Vertex Software

Sloan Foster

Principal , Envisage Associates

Sneha Lundia Agrawal

Founder & CEO, Step2Growth

Sophia Clark

Founder & Creative Director, Galiatea

Stephanie Lopez

Vice President, JPMorgan Chase & Co

Stephanie Mc Kee Zielinski

Host & Producer, INSIDE.COM

Steve Jennis

Founder and CEO, Jennis Consulting Group

Tarun Gulati

Founder & CEO, Adios

Taylor Johnson

Partner, Performance Coach, The Liminal Collective

Thom Singer

CEO, Austin Technology Council

Tiana Laurence

GP, Laurence Innovation

Tony Banning

Chairman, Smash Digital Media

Trey Ikard

FI Mentor

Ty Audronis

Founder/ ceo, Tempest Droneworx

Ty Audronis

CEO, Tempest Droneworx

Tyler Durman

CEO & Founder, Ignition Growth Consulting

Ugochi Owo

CEO, Flindel

Unnat Bak

CEO, Revscale

Valliappan Narayanan

Director of Engineering, AT&T

Vidhi Data

FI Mentor

Wesley Grottesman

Partner, Brand Foundry Ventures

William Douglas

CEO, OpticWise

Wogbe Ofori

Founder, Wrx Companies

Yagub Rahimov

Founder, Tested Web

Yemi Oluseun

Founder/ CEO - Fintech, SaaS Business Growth, Automation & Change Management, The Change Hive

Yj Lin

Senior Program Manager, Dell

YJ Lin

Program Manager, Dell for Entrepreneurs

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