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Alicia Amaral Managing Director Scalar Analytics

Alicia Amaral is the Managing Director of the Cambridge, MA office of Scalar Analytics. Alicia is a CPA and she teaches entrepreneurial finance at Tufts University and accounting and finance courses in the Graduate School of Management at Clark University. Prior to joining Scalar, Alicia held CFO positions for The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Sentinel Benefits and Financial Group. Prior to that, she was a senior auditor for the public accounting firm Arthur Andersen. Alicia received her Bachelors in Business from Furman University and her Masters in Accounting from Bentley University.

Michelle Basil Partner Nutter McClennen & Fish @MLBasil

Michelle L. Basil is a partner in the Business Department and chair of Nutter’s Life Sciences practice group and is actively involved with the firm’s Emerging Companies practice group. Michelle focuses her practice on corporate and securities law, including public and private equity and debt financing, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships and collaborations. She represents clients in a broad range of industries, including life sciences, technology and financial services. Michelle advises private companies regarding formation, ongoing business issues, equity compensation and angel and venture financing. She also counsels clients regarding ongoing reporting requirements of publicly-traded companies, securities compliance, corporate governance, equity compensation, and various other matters affecting publicly-traded companies and their officers and directors.

Will Bernat Associate Nutter McClennen & Fish @NutterLaw

William J. Bernat is an associate in the Business Department and a member of the firm's Emerging Companies and Commercial Finance practice groups. His practice is focused on private equity, venture capital and angel financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance issues. Will represents clients in a broad range of industries, including life sciences, technology, social media and consumer products. His representation of emerging and entrepreneurial companies spans the companies’ entire lifespan, from initial planning and formation to operations and exit. Will also has significant experience representing major lending institutions and companies in complex multi-party financings and asset-based/commercial lending transactions. Will is a frequent lecturer for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.

 

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Jerry Bird President MassVentures @JBird14

Jerry is the president of MassVentures, a firm he joined in 2005. He has over 25 years experience advising and financing entrepreneurial-driven companies, the past 15 in venture capital. Prior to joining MassVentures in 2005, Jerry was president of Boston-based Claflin Capital Management which he joined in 1996, becoming president in 2001. At Claflin, he led over a dozen investments in early-stage technology companies focused on software and Internet-enabled businesses. While at Claflin, he frequently co-invested with MassVentures becoming familiar with its team and its investment approach. From 1986 to 1996 he worked at Bank of Boston in their energy financing group, operations group and was a vice president of the international investment banking division. He is a frequent speaker on venture capital and entrepreneurship. Jerry earned his undergraduate degree in geology from Dartmouth college and his MBA from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck School of Business. Throughout his professional career, Jerry has operated both as an investor and an active partner to entrepreneurs building their companies. His direct investment experience covers dozens of companies and in many cases as the lead or co-lead investor. Several of these companies were acquired by significant publicly-traded companies. Among the companies Jerry has been on the board of are e-Travel (acquired by Oracle), Andover.net (Nasdaq: ANDV, purchased by VA Linux), LinkSoft technologies (purchased by QuadraMed), NexCen Technologies (purchased by UCMS), and Bitpipe Inc. (purchased by TechTarget). He currently is a board member or board observer at MassVentures’ portfolio companies Forerun, lifeIMAGE and uTest. He also serves on the advisory board of MassDevelopment’s Emerging Technology Fund, and the Board of the Mass Technology Transfer Center. He serves on the boards of Massachusetts Audubon, Crossroads for Kids, and the Massachusetts chapter of the Trust for Public Land. In his free time, Jerry loves to ski and bike.

Justin Borgman CEO & Co-Founder Hadapt @JustinBorgman

Justin is Co-Founder and CEO of Hadapt. Prior to Hadapt, Justin led product development for COVECTRA, an anti-counterfeit technology firm. Before that, Justin founded an online social media company and spent the first six years of his career as a software developer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Raytheon. Justin has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar, and attended graduate school at the Yale School of Management.

 

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Joe Butt Launchpad Venture Group @LaunchpadVG

Joe Butt has examined the convergence of media and high technology for his entire career. Prior to founding Blackfriars Communications with fellow Seeking Alpha contributor Carl Howe, Joe led entertainment and consumer research teams at Forrester Research and explored the relationship between user experience and system infrastructures as a senior analyst. Prior to Forrester, Joe helped lead the creative department at the Strategic Interactive Group, creating and executing Internet strategies for companies such as Mobil, IBM, and Lever. Joe had previously spent 15 years in the New York creative community, where he was active as both director and producer. Joe is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Harvard Business School, and he is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

Joe Caruso Founder BREW Boston @joecaruso2020

For the last 20 years Joe has served as mentor, coach, and personal advisor to CEO’s and entrepreneurs. In recent years, he has served as investor, advisor and active director with dozens of companies, public and private. Joe is currently a director and active investor in Boston MicroMachines and i2Chem. He is a member of CommonAngels and eCoast Angels, and was previously a principal in Walnut Ventures and a Managing Partner of Brookwood Partners, all investment groups for early stage companies. He also maintains an active consulting practice dealing with structuring and negotiation of acquisitions, strategic partnerships and financings, and issues related to dispute resolution. He has served on dozens of boards over the years and is recipient of the Leadership in Private Corporate Governance award from the National Association of Corporate Directors New England Chapter. He is a graduate of Northeastern University (BSEE with honors) and the Harvard Business School (MBA) He is an advisor to Northeastern’s School of Technological Entrepreneurship, and serves as a mentor for Boston University's entrepreneurship program and for the Boston TechStars program. Previously, Joe served as interim CEO for companies in need of strategic change - running businesses ranging from 5 to 1,000 employees. Early in his career, he worked at Teradyne and Autex, Inc., and was CEO at Cyborg Corporation, a venture-funded company that was a pioneer in the use of PC’s in laboratory and factory automation. He also has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. Former board memberships include: ACT Medical, Acumenta, Adhesive Technologies, American Fantasy Sports, Audiofile, Boston Restaurant Associates, Boston University's Photonics Center (advisory director), Coffee Connection, Colonial Mills, Common Angels, Corion, Cyborg Corporation, General Analysis, Haymarket Bank, Iconics, Laser Science, Metrisa, MicroE, Nimbit, Qiave Technologies, QD Vision, Quant Funds (trustee); Tytronics, Wwwhoosh, Zentox, the Turnaround Management Association (founding director, New England Chapter), the National Association of Corporate Directors (New England Chapter), the Association for Corporate Growth (New England Chapter) and WEST (Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology). Joe has also served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

 

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Glenn Champagne Launchpad Venture Group @glennchampagne

Glenn is an active angel investor and serves on the board of directors of Launchpad Venture Group. Over the last 8 years Launchpad has made 30 investments, investing nearly $9M in companies that in turn, have gone on to raise nearly $150MM. Glenn brings more than 20 years of experience in the software industry focusing in sales and consulting at the likes of then pre-IPO companies Oracle and Business Objects. He was also Director of Technical Services for Eprise Corporation, and a Principal with IBM/Tivoli. Glenn was Vice President of sales at Inboxer, which was acquired by SafeCore in May 2009. In 2010 Glenn was a 2nd round judge at the MassChallenge. For seven years, Glenn volunteered weekly at Children's Hospital Boston playing games with children battling cancer. He is an avid skier and enjoys Porsche Club of America autocross racing. Glenn holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

Yumin Choi Vice President HLM Venture Partners @YuminVC

Yumin is currently a Director of Vets First Choice and is a board observer at Institute for Health Metrics (IHM), Nordic Consulting, and TYRX. Yumin is a director to The Capital Network, a non-profit focused on educating entrepreneurs around topics of fundraising and finance. He previously was chair of the New England Venture Network (NEVN), the largest young Venture Capital organization in New England. Yumin is co-chair of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Venture Capital and Private Equity committee and is on Boston University’s Coulter Foundation Oversight Committee. Prior to HLM, Yumin was with Angel Healthcare Investors, a health care focused early stage investment group, ZweigWhite’s Financial Advisory Services and Mergers & Acquisitions Group and was co-founder and CEO of CY Digital. He is also a mentor in health care focused startup accelerators, Blueprint Health and Healthbox, and is an active angel investor. Yumin received a BS from Babson College.

Paul Cronin Partner Nutter McClennen & Fish @paulcronin

Paul J. Cronin is a partner in the Litigation and Intellectual Property Departments of Nutter McClennen & Fish, and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation practice group. His practice focuses on trial work in cases involving patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyright disputes. He also counsels clients with respect to the licensing and procurement of intellectual property rights, due diligence studies, and product clearances.

 

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Charles de Gaspe Beaubien President & CEO Groupize @charlesdgb

Charles de Gaspe Beaubien is a Group Travel Guru. His 25 year career in the travel industry has included experience in every aspect of group travel. Whether guiding group tours, welcoming thousands of guests to the rafting company he co-founded, helping planners select Montreal as their destination while at Tourisme Montreal or serving in executive positions for major group tour operators including Yankee Holidays and Group Voyagers Inc. (Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and more); Charles understands the complications of planning and booking group travel. His hands on planning experience, combined with his extensive experience in travel technology fuels his passion to bring efficiencies to the difficult processes involved in booking and managing a group. “I want Groupize to be the leader in the Group Travel Technology and provide the solutions to facilitate online transactions for groups. My dream is that more people will share unique experiences and travel together because we ultimately make it easier to organize. We are the Booking Engine for Groups”. Charles has held various board seats such as the Canadian Tourism Commission Leisure Advisory Board, the Starwood Advisory Board, and the Gloucester DMO. He credits his education in Entrepreneurship from Bishop’s University in Quebec and l’E.S.S.C.A. (Ecole Superieur des Science Commerciales d’Anger) in France for his ‘we can fix this problem’ attitude. Best Group Travel Experience: Annual Friends and Family Rafting Trip in Maine, which combines two passions, Rafting and Sharing Experiences as a Group.

Ken Deckinger Co-Founder Jess, Meet Ken @KenDeckinger

Co-Founder - Jess, Meet Ken - Ken Deckinger is a serial entrepreneur with close to ten years experience in the online dating space. He previously co-founded, and was CEO of HurryDate pioneering the global speed dating concept in 45 cities throughout the US, UK, and Canada. Eventually expanding the idea to include an online dating site, HurryDate was acquired by Spark Networks (parent company of JDate.com & ChristianMingle.com). He spent three years at Spark Networks managing HurryDate and overseeing JDate’s travel & events business. Ken has appeared in media around the world including Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, CNN, BBC, and Dateline NBC. He is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he was honored with the University’s Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year Under 40 award and sits on the Board of Directors for the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and has an MBA from Boston College. He’s a Mentor at TechStars Boston, actively advises entrepreneurs nationwide and is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study.

 

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Mac Dougherty CEO Cognitive Electrics @TMcKD

Thomas “Mac” Dougherty is the CEO and a co-founder of Cognitive Electronics. Cognitive is building the next generation of Big Data hardware. Cognitive’s proprietary co-processors inspired by neuroscience research done at Dartmouth accelerate MapReduce applications and other parallel software by 100x compared to commodity hardware. Mac also founded and was CEO of AskOnline (askonline.net) a SaaS business serving the higher education market. Mac holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA, with distinction, from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was a Tuck Scholar.

Martin Flusberg CEO PowerHouse Dynamics @eMonitorSystem

Martin has been a technology entrepreneur and executive for more than 30 years, with the past 20 focused on energy and clean tech. He currently is the CEO of Powerhouse Dynamics, a pioneering, CommonAngels-funded company in the energy management space. Prior to that, he was co-founder and President of Nexus Energy Software, a global provider of enterprise software solutions for the utility industry, addressing smart grid and energy efficiency. Nexus was successfully sold in 2005 and integrated with its sister companies into Aclara Technologies. Martin previously served as Director of Commercial Systems for TASC, with responsibility for the firm's Lodestar® product line for the utility industry (later spun out as LODESTAR Corporation and sold to Oracle in 2007). He was also founder and CEO of REALink Systems, a software company serving the real estate industry, and CEO of Multisystems, a software and management consulting firm focused on transportation. Martin has a Masters of Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT and a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from CUNY.

Ed Friedman Boston Harbor Angels

Ed Friedman is the Co-founder and president of TeleType Co, a software/hardware development company based in Boston, MA. Building on over 30 years of experience, TeleType specializes in software/hardware system integration and has produced cutting edge products in a variety of industries. Today TeleType is incorporating its innovative global positioning solutions into the mobile devices of the future. Previously, Ed was the co-developer of software PostScript interpreter, and Co-Founded BooksOnDisk. Developer of popular series of Digital Gourmet and other reference books in digital format. As a member of Boston Harbor Angels and Investors Collaborative Ed has invested in numerous start-ups in Boston area. Currently, you can find Ed working and holding office hours at the Cambridge Innovation Center to help start-up companies to achieve their financial goals.

 

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Bill Geary Partner Nutter McClennen & Fish @billgeary

William C. Geary III is co-managing partner and a member of the Intellectual Property Department and Life Sciences and Emerging Companies practice groups. He is also a member of the firm's Executive Committee. His practice concentrates in all aspects of patent and trademark law. Bill counsels clients in strategies for the development, protection, and exploitation of patent and trademark rights in the United States and abroad. He has extensive experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications in a variety of technologies, with emphasis in the fields of medical devices, polymers and advanced materials, and chemicals. He represents start-up as well as established companies, including Johnson & Johnson, various medical device manufacturers, and medical and research institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital. Active in the patent bar, Bill is a member of the Boston Patent Law Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is one of the firm's representatives to the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC), and serves as MassMEDIC's legal counsel on a pro bono basis. He is also a member of the American, Massachusetts, and Boston Bar Associations. In his community, Bill is actively involved with the Merrimack Valley Venture Forum, serving on its Board of Directors, and he is on the Advisory Board of The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2).

Robert Gervis Launchpad Venture Group @LaunchpadVG

Bob is an active Angel Investor through Launchpad Venture Group, a Boston-area-based group that provides funding and mentorship to early-stage companies. He also serves on the board and advisory board of several companies. Current Boards and Board Commitments include: Axiall Corporation (NYSE: AXLL), Aspen Aerogels, EnergySage, and Crowdly. His previous board appointments include: Tronox (NYSE: TROX), Incentive Targeting, ProBuild, Production Control Services, Avtek, Boston Coach, Pembroke Real Estate, FIML Natural Resources and Veritude. Bob is the Founder and Managing Member of Epilogue, LLC, a private consulting and financial advisory firm. Previously Bob was with Fidelity Investments and also Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York, NY. Bob received a J.D. from George Washington University Law School, a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and a CFA 2000 from the CFA Institute.

 

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Adam Ghander Partner Nutter McClennen & Fish @NutterLaw

Adam B. Ghander focuses his corporate finance and securities practice on private equity, venture capital, and emerging companies representation; mergers and acquisitions; and securities regulations. He represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including banking and financial services, telecommunications, social networking, manufacturing and professional sports. Adam previously served as in-house counsel for a publicly-traded manufacturing and technology company. Prior to his in-house experience, he spent many years as a corporate attorney at the Boston office of an international law firm. Adam lectures frequently on corporate finance and teaches at the Boston University School of Management.

Alex Glovsky Partner Nutter McClennen & Fish @AlexGlovsky

Alex Glovsky is the Chair of the Firm’s Emerging Companies Group and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. His practice is focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital finance and complex corporate governance issues. Alex has broad experience handling mergers and acquisitions for both strategic and financial buyers as well as public and private companies selling their businesses. He has served as lead counsel advising clients through auction processes, aggressive roll-up strategies, and complex deal negotiations, specializing in middle-market transactions ranging in size from $25 million to $500 million. Alex has also guided clients at each stage of private finance, from initial angel round investments through late stage venture-backed financings. As Chair of Nutter’s Emerging Companies Group, Alex assists early-stage clients in formulating the strategy to realize their business goals and in building the foundation necessary to secure third party investment. Alex has counseled clients in angel financings representing an aggregate of over $40 million in investment in early stage companies.

Scott Goodwin Member of the Firm Wolf and Company @BostonTechCPA

Scott serves as an engagement leader in our Commercial Audit group where he is responsible for providing audit and advisory services including assisting rapidly growing, entrepreneurial-driven technology companies and consulting on complex accounting matters including revenue recognition, equity instruments and business combinations, internal controls and corporate governance. Scott also has significant expertise with employee benefit plan audits, ERISA and the Department of Labor regulations related to such plans. Scott joined Wolf in 2002 and has over twenty years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant. His technology sector experience includes software, medical devices, life sciences, biotech, cleantech, web service and mobile. Scott serves on Wolf’s Accounting & Auditing Committee.

 

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Jeremy Halpern Partner Nutter McClennen & Fish @startupboston

Jeremy Halpern, is a Partner, and the Director of Business Development, Emerging Companies Group, at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP. As a former entrepreneur in mobile and entertainment, Jeremy concentrates on connecting with and supporting the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in New England, working with current entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate strategic partners. In addition to his work with TCN, Jeremy is an angel investor, and serves on the Boards of MassVentures, a MicroVC firm and Pintley, a next generation marketing company for the brewing industry. Jeremy is a member of or participates at Launchpad Venture Group, Boston Harbor Angels, Golden Seeds, TiE-Angels, MassChallenge, Web Innovators Group, MassTLC, Mobile Mondays and other area industry groups. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the UCLA School of Law.

Rick Harris Launchpad Venture Group @rchphd

Richard C. Harris is a consultant to companies and professional service firms, helping them raise performance by aligning around a core mission and strategy. A consultant for more than 25 years, clients have recently used his services to… • Build strategic alignment within senior leadership teams • Coach executives on how to achieve higher levels of individual performance • Provide high-stakes facilitation for functional teams (sales, engineering, etc.) Dr. Harris is also active in the greater Boston start up community. As a member of Launchpad Venture Group, he is an active angel investor. Launchpad, the largest angel investment group in the Northeast, is focused on investments in technology and life sciences. In addition to investing he acts as a mentor to start up teams and provides advice on how to communicate with potential investors. Ina this latter capacity he co-chairs a joint venture with The Capital Network that brings together Launchpad mentors with TCN members.

Josh Herzig-Marx Google @herzigma

Josh works at Google having sold his retail marketing startup, Incentive Targeting, to them in 2012. He received his MBA from Babson College; prior to that he worked in product management and account management in the healthcare and financial services.

 

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Ben Littauer Boston Harbor Angels and Walnut Ventures @littweb

Mr. Littauer is a business and technology management consultant with expertise in Internet and communications technologies, as well as healthcare IT. In addition he is an active angel investor, member of Boston Harbor Angels. Mr. Littauer was Technology Strategist for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he defined the architecture for PatientSite, a system that allows patients to communicate securely with their healthcare team and view their own medical records. He also was a consultant to the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium on healthcare data security projects. Mr. Littauer was co-founder, President, and CTO of Baranof Software, the leading vendor of service-level management software for messaging and Internet applications. Baranof was sold to Tally Systems in 1997. He has worked for Cisco Systems, Tumbleweed Communications, On Technology, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Lotus, and BBN. In addition he has worked with a number of startup ventures including LocaModa.com, Zion.com, and CafeAbroad.com. He has spoken at the Open Group, The New England HIPAA Workgroup, ISSA, and numerous other conferences and events. Mr. Littauer was also an analyst with Ferris Research and Baroudi Bloor International.

Bill McCullen Director LaunchCapital @launchcapital

Bill is an experienced private investor, with over 7 years backing companies in the networking, semiconductor, clean energy and online markets. Bill has been in/around the Boston startup scene for close to 15 years, previously holding senior level roles at companies such as Sycamore Networks. Bill received his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Bill is a lifelong Bostonian who currently lives in the suburbs with his wife and 3 children. When he has time he enjoys playing basketball and cycling.

Jess McLear Launchpad Venture Group @LaunchpadVG

Jess is an angel investor and member of Launchpad Venture Group. Her family has been investing in and mentoring start up companies for over 20 years in both Canada and the US. Her portfolio companies fall into many sectors including manufacturing, IT, medical devices and consumer goods. She is an observer or serves on the board for various non-profits as well as portfolio companies. She has served as an investor and mentor for several companies throughout the New England area. Jess earned a BA from Williams College and MEd from Harvard University.

 

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Christopher Mirabile Managing Director Launchpad Venture Group @cmirabile

Christopher Mirabile is the co-Managing Director of LaunchPad Venture Group. Christopher is a full-time angel and an active member of the Boston-area angel investing community with investment more than 25 start-up companies. He was named one of XConomy's "Top Angel Investors in New England" for 2012. Christopher is an adjunct lecturer in the MBA program at Babson College, a regular advisor and mentor to start-ups, and a frequent panelist and speaker. He is a member of the Board of Directors or Board of Advisors of numerous start-up companies as well as several non-profits, and he is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Babson's Olin School of Business. Christopher has served as a public company CFO with IONA Technologies PLC, a corporate and securities lawyer with Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault and as a management consultant with Price Waterhouse's Strategic Consulting Group. Christopher earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School and his B.A., with honors, from Colgate University.

Heather Onstott Venture Partner LaunchCapital @seedcapitalchiq

With over 15 years of credit and small business experience, Heather joined LaunchCapital in 2009 to help create the Small Business division. She looks for startups with smooth growth expectations as well as established small businesses needing to restore traditional financing relationships. Heather earned her BA at Wofford College and her MBA at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. An avid Red Sox fan and enthusiastic pilot, Heather lives in Cambridge with her cute mutt and brilliant husband.

 

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Panos Panay CEO Sonicbids @sonicbidspanos

Panos is the founder and CEO of Sonicbids, the leading platform for bands to book gigs and market themselves online. Sonicbids connects more than 450,000 bands with 32,000 promoters from over 100 different countries and counts major events like SXSW, Bonnaroo and CMJ as exclusive partners. The company’s Social Music Marketing product suite enables brand marketers to reach and engage music fans and consumers using rich music-oriented content. Customers include Diesel Industry, Red Bull, Bud Light and Renaissance Hotels. In 2013 Sonicbids was acquired by Backstage LLC, in a deal financially backed by Guggenheim Partners. Panos is widely credited for spotting and capitalizing early on three distinct emerging trends in the music business over the last decade: the shift to a primarily online means of marketing; the emergence of an "artistic middle class”; and the shift from a record-label funded industry to a consumer brand-funded music business. Panos lectures regularly about entrepreneurship and the new business of music at universities including MIT, Tufts, Babson, NYU, and Northeastern as well as at industry events like SXSW, and MIDEM. He is the co-founder of Boston Young Entrepreneurs, a City Hall-backed group that mentors local start-ups; a founding director of Boston World Partnerships, which facilitates collaboration between innovators in the community; and the Chair of his alma mater Berklee College of Music’s Presidential Advisory Council.

Enrico Picozza Venture Partner HLM Venture Partners @hlmvp

Enrico is a pioneer in the life sciences with a history of recognizing and developing new technologies that change markets. He is currently a director of SensAble Technologies and Board Observer of Aventura and Tandem Diabetes. Prior to joining HLM as a Venture Partner, Enrico co-founded HTS Biosystems, Inc., an early developer of platforms for drug discovery and point of care diagnostics, where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer. Prior to HTS, Enrico held leadership positions with PerkinElmer, Inc. and Applied Biosystems, Inc. At Applied Biosystems, Enrico was one of the major forces behind the development and commercialization of PCR, the revolutionary DNA-replicating technology that enabled the development of some of the most significant advancements in molecular biology. Enrico is the holder of nine patents and has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute for his achievements in PCR. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and has been a frequent international speaker. In addition he is an advisor to several companies in the field of regenerative medicine and molecular diagnostics and is a board observer for Interlace Medical. Enrico earned his master’s degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of Connecticut.

 

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Ramji Raghavan CEO Pragya Systems @RaghavanRamji

Ramji Raghavan is the Founder/CEO of Pragya Systems, which is developing solutions to fuel the disruption of higher education. Ramji was most recently at Movik Networks, where as Founder/CEO he led the company to raise over $40M in venture capital and deliver ground-breaking solutions to help mobile operators deal with radio network congestion caused by the rapidly increasing Over-the-Top rich media internet content in their networks. Prior to founding Movik, Ramji was the General Manager of the Networking Business Unit of Telsima (acquired by Aviat), where he ran a multi-national organization building market leading WiMax and backhaul products for emerging markets. Prior to Telsima, Ramji was the Founder and CTO of Coriolis Networks before which he held senior leadership roles at Digital/Cabletron and Motorola. Ramji has an MS from UMass, Amherst and a BTech from IIT, Madras.

Heather Repicky Associate Nutter McClennen & Fish @NutterLaw

Heather is an associate in the Litigation Department of Nutter McClennen & Fish, and a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Litigation group. She focuses her practice on civil litigation, with an emphasis on patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret disputes. She represents clients in all stages of the litigation lifecycle—pre-trial, trial, and appeal—in both state and federal courts. Heather also currently co-edits the Patent & Trademark Bulletin for the District of Massachusetts, which Nutter publishes on a bi-monthly basis.

Arnie Scott Director Sevo Nutraceuticals

Arnie currently serves as Vice Chairman and a Director of First Commons Bank, NA, a national bank which he co-founded in 2008. He also serves as on the Board of Directors of Hub Management Co., Pneuron Corp. and Sevo Nutraceuticals, Inc. He is a member of the Advisory Boards of AI-Resource, LLC, Successimo and Vestmark. Prior to 2001 he was a senior officer and a Director of MFS Investment Management. He also has been a lecturer at Boston University Law School’s Morin School of Banking and Finance.

 

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Heather Sears VP Marketing Sense Networks Inc. @HeatherSears

Heather is a senior marketing executive with 20 years of experience building marketing and customer engagement programs that drive business growth. As Vice President of Marketing, Heather is responsible for developing and executing Sense Networks’ strategic marketing vision and driving exposure of their location-based mobile advertising solution. An eight year Digitas veteran, she was one of founding team chosen to start-up a new agency marketing capability which grew to over $20 million revenue in four years. She was founder and president of Mobile Synergies, a company which provided strategic consulting to mobile companies focused on market expansion. Over the course of her career, she worked with over 20 early-stage company CEOs and brand clients including AT&T Wireless, Coors, Dunkin’ Donuts, GM, Kimberly Clark, PayPal, Sam’s Club and XM Radio. Heather has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and received her BA, with high honors, from the University of Michigan.

James Stuart Walnut Ventures

Principal with Lion Rock Capital, focused on venture capital/private equity, fund investments and special situations. Previously, he was a Managing Director, based in Europe, of SOFTBANK Europe Ventures. Prior to SOFTBANK, he was based in the U.S. and Europe, at Insight Capital (now, Venture) Partners. Sectors in which he has invested include Information Technology: software and services, Telecom, Security, Financial Services, Consumer Products, Information Services, Retail and Energy. Before moving to venture capital, James was an investment banker with Goldman, Sachs & Co. & Deutsche Bank Securities. James is a graduate of Brown University and has an MBA from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago. He speaks English and basic French.

Praveen Tailam Managing Director TiE Angels Boston @tieboston

As a managing director Praveen overseas the operation of the TiE Angels functions and partnerships. Praveen is an active investor, mentor, start-up advisor, entrepreneur and business plan competition judge. Prior experience includes Information Technology and Consulting. Praveen incorporated Redtail Consulting, a Boston area consulting firm and managed the business from 2006 thru 2012. Praveen was associated with companies in retail, banking and insurance sectors and catering to their IT infrastructure needs. Prior to being an entrepreneur his direct engagements were in managing and deploying enterprise messaging solutions at IBM, Putnam Investments, Wellpoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield etc,. Additionally Praveen works closely with his dentist wife in managing multiple dental practices in New Hampshire area. Praveen has Masters in Information Systems from Northeastern University and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Praveen is an avid golfer and has interests in cricket and squash. Praveen is active charter member of TiE-Boston.

 

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Chuck Toye VP Business Development Cognitive Electrics @ChuckToye

Chuck is the VP of Business Development for Cognitive Electronics. His primary responsibilities include fundraising, strategy & customer development. Initially part of the team that performed Cognitive’s early market research, Chuck re-joined the company after spending four years at J.P. Morgan. He also worked for AlixPartners and Tigris Consulting where he focused on data—driven solutions to improve business decision making. Chuck holds and SB from MIT in Aeronautics & Astronautics with a minor in Economics, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was a Tuck Scholar.