Founder Institute Mentors

Pittsburgh - Philadelphia Spring 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 Pittsburgh program below.

Mentors

Aaron Karp

Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Founder Institute

Abby Sugar

CEO, Play Out Apparel

Abdellah Aouf

Chief Executive Officer, GO PLATFORM

Albert Whale

Founder & CEO, IT Security Solutions

Alfred Poor

Keynote speaker and virtual event expert, The Health Tech Futurist

Amrish Macedo

Co-Founder, Intempio

Arcui Usoara

Founder/CEO, Iaculus

Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills, MSEL, PCC, CPQC®, CELC

Founder & Owner, Purpose-Filled Solutions & Evolutions

Ben Stacey

CEO, Pitchverk

Ben Williams

FI Mentor

Bill Rivkin

Virtual Relationship Manager |non-dilutive funding, Citizens Bank

Bobbi Muscara

CEO - Director of Education, Ledger Academy

Brad Messer

., .

Brian Griffiths

FI Mentor

Carl Starkey

Co-Founder & CEO, AWSM Sauce Co

Cassie Tate

FI Mentor

Chris Foltz

Global Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Founder Institute

Chris Morris

FI Mentor

Connor Sattely

Deals Team, Decile Group

Daniel Nelson

Recovering Accountant, Startup Economics

Daniel Rosenthal

Partnerships Manager, StartEngine

Daniel Ritterman

CEO & Founder, MainLineDelivery (acquired by Square)

Daria Duda

Product Marketing, Consultant

David Stengle

CEO & Founder , Board++

Deep Parmar

Founding Partner, Caramel Advisors LLC

Deka Dike

Founder & CEO, Omatochi

Don Samoil

Managing Partner, Trusted Scale

Don Pancoe

Chief Blinker, Blinkenlights Technologies

Dustin Betz

Director of Operations, White Rose Ventures

Elena Mlotok

General Manager, Head of EU Newsstand, Amazon

Ellen Weber

Executive Director, Robin Hood Ventures

Eric Torigian

CEO and Managing Director, Advisory Services, CHRO Solutions

Frank Jacquette

FI Mentor

Franklin Kamnang Ngansop

Cofounder , Vitamin C&S Coaching

Gary Cohen

Owner, Practical Agility LLC

Geoffrey Kent

Founder and CEO, I left corporate America 24 years ago, and launched my current venture (Think Big with Geoffrey Kent) 4 years ago.

Greg Mester

President, Idea Communication Networks, Inc.

Heather Lawver

Founder & CEO, Ceemo

Helen De La Rosa

FI Mentor, Founders Institute

Isabelle Kent

FI Mentor

Jasmin Sethi

CEO, Sethi Clarity Advisers

Jedidiah Weller

CEO, OpenForge

Jess Edelstein

FI Mentor

Jesse DiLaura

FI Mentor

Joe Daniels

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

Joel Ginsparg

Managing Partner, Firelight Partners, LLC

John Weathers

Business Development & Research Consultant | Board Member | Co-Founder & Director, Vizmoo.com | BenchK12.com | The Cultural Bridge Project

Jon Zaikowski

Assistant Director, New York Angels

Jon Wonnell

CEO, Transformative Sciences LLC

June W Choi

Managing Partner, Serval Ventures

Karen Robinson

Pitch Deck & Data Room Advisor, Karen Robinson Consulting

Karina Sotnik

Founder/CEO, WorldUpstart

Mac Goswami

Senior Technical Program Manager, Fiserv Inc

Maggie Dillon

CEO, Empress Security Insights, LLC

Mara Schwartz

FI Mentor

Martina Truche

Healthcare Innovator , Space Medicine Enthusiast

Matiullah Rahmaty

Founder/President , BrightPoint Consulting Services

Max Thalheimer

Co-Founder & CEO, Fynd

Michael Bertoni

Founder and CEO, SaaS Talent

Michael Spidaliere

Principal, First Time Founder Capital

Michelle Peters

Co-Founder & CEO, Supplino

Morgan Doyle

Associate Director - Buisness Development, Corporate Tax Incentives (CTI)

Nadia Al-Banna, PHD, MBA

Senior Director of Product and Business Development, Allarta Life Science

Nadine Campbell

Founder, ACE Entrepreneurs

Nathan Mancine

FI Mentor, LeanTaaS

Noah Wallach

Founder, Hope OS

Orly Zeewy

Brand Strategist, Zeewy Brands

Owen Occhetti

Consultant, Avant Technology Group

Ozan Sonmez

Co-Founder, Brutally Honest Group

Pam Knox

CEO/Chief Strategist, Pam Knox LLC

Paul Mosenson

Owner, NuSpark Consulting and NuSpark Media

Pete Biggam

Director / Mentor / Advisor, Founder Institute

Peter Chmiel

Owner, Cutting Edge Consulting

Raghu Rao

CEO, Splitbyte Inc

Rajat Kapur

FI Mentor

Rajiv Madhok

Founder, Oorja

Randy Fisher

CEO, Expand to New Markets

Raoul Davis

CEO, Ascendant Group

Rich Heckelmann

Marketing Specialist , Forward Vision Consulting

Ronda Siegel

Partner, RSiegel Consulting LLC

Ryan Long

CPO & Founder, OnPurpose Studio

Sameer Babbar

Director, SVB Group

Sara Ledterman

General Partner, 3+ Ventures

Scott Wittrock

Fractional CPO, Head for Product

Seth Goldstein

Principal Creative Director, Goldstein Media LLC

Shawn Gregoire

FI Mentor

Stacy Kimmel

Independant Consultant , FoodVisors LLC

Stefanie Smith

Founder, Double S Consulting

Stefanos Damianakis

President, Zaruko Advisors

Stephan Thomas

Managing Partner, Artimon3D

Stephen Spivak

FI Mentor

Tanya Williamson

Chief Visionary Officer , Tanya Williamson

Tim Dodd

Founder, JTD Group

Tovit Neizer

Chief Storyteller, Yellow Bricks

Trevor Longino

Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers

Vipin Makhija

Founder, Mentor, Advisor, Kast

Vladimir Pletyukhin

Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck

Wendy Moore

Founder & CEO, Eleve Talent

Xan Hong

Owner, Drive Phase Consulting

Zach Messler

Founder, 26th Letter LLC (zachmessler.com)

Zoe Qiao

FI Mentor

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