Our Village is comprised of investors, corporate partners, thought leaders, CEOs, industry experts, and seasoned entrepreneurs from across the country and at home in New Orleans. We believe in sustained mentoring and that these long term relationships provide founders with the lasting support they need to be successful.
With mentors spread out all over the country, we are proud to bring a diverse realm of expertise to entrepreneurs from within and outside of New Orleans.
Many mentors are alumni of our accelerator programs. We love to see our founders paving the way to support new entrepreneurs in the Greater New Orleans area, and we are excited to see our network continue to expand.
Executive Partner
New Day Partners LLC
Akshay is a Serial entrepreneur and investor who has built and successfully exited from multiple venture-funded technology-enabled businesses.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Other
Director of New Orleans
Venture For America
As the Director of New Orleans, I am actively engaged in the pursuit of funneling and retaining young talent to promising startups (for-profit and non-profit) for the benefit of New Orleans' economic development. Moreover, I desire to do work investing, both capital and resources, into New Orleans' underrepresented entrepreneur communities as well as the underutilized talent pool.
Facilitator
Greater New Orleans Funders Network
I am passionate about making positive and long-lasting impacts on both enterprises and society. My vision is that all historically disenfranchised and underinvested people will have better life outcomes as a result of the professional contributions I’ve made in consulting, venture capital/private equity, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.
Areas of Expertise
Linking & Leveraging, Strategy Design and Implementation, Analysis/Insight Production & Communication
Director of Operations, Sales and Customer Success
Align Technologies Corp.
Brook has been drawn to operations throughout her entire career, even if hrt official position was in marketing or fundraising. As one of the first 15 employees at Lucid, she built scalable processes for project management and customer success as they grew, culminating with opening the London office in 2016. In the past 18 months at Align she led the sales department, creating thought out processes and changing business and pricing models as needed. In addition, Align now has a solid customer success process with an onboarding course and measurable success.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Project Management
CEO & Founder
LookFar Ventures & Carollton Enterprise Services
Goal - keep shooting gazelles and maybe an elephant - ideas/businesses, not animals.
Specialties: Nerf Herding, Geek Wrangling, Expert Parade Rider, Indefatigable
Mission:
walk organizations through constructive change, build the things people dream of, teach what little I know to those willing to listen
Relevant History:
Started programming computers in 1984 at age 13
Started my first company (Desktop Publishing) in 1988 at 17
Graduated from Rutgers in 1994
Started my second company (Outsourced e-mail) in 1995
Moved to New Orleans from Manhattan in 1998-2000
Got married in 2000
Changed Company name to Carrollton Technology Partners in 2003
Grew my company(ies) substantially Post-Katrina
Started my new company, LookFar in 2014
Started Entrepreneur Mortgage Finance in 2016
Split off LookFar Labs in 2018
Opened Club Discovery in 2019
Spun off Carrollton Export Services in 2020
Board Member
BBQ Guys
Corey cofounded BBQGuys, ran an EO accelerator, started and is on the board of Return of the Masterminds executive education non-profit. He is also an angel investor. He has in depth experience in e-commerce, technology, marketing, angel investing, management and strategic planning, and financial modeling.
Founder
3D Media
US Army Vet, just under 10 yrs Commercial Nuclear Operations, Founder and CEO of 3D Media.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, General Business Strategy, Public Relations, Software Programming/Technology Development
President/Founder
ARIX Technologies
Worked for ExxonMobil in operations/logistics on their trading floor and as a mechanical engineer in one of their refineries. Founded a robotics company for oil & gas, went to Yale for an MBA and went through IdeaVillage's EnergyX program in 2019.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Software Programming/Technology Development
Partner
Monday and Partners
Dylan DiBona has over 20 years of experience working with new and established brands to help them express their reasons for existing in ways that are clear, authentic, and defensible. With practical experience that crosses all media Dylan brings a no-nonsense, practical approach to the work he does. Throughout his career his work has won awards but, more importantly, has consistently grown clients' businesses.
Areas of Expertise
Design, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Marketing & Branding, Website Development
Operating Partner
Bernhard Capital Partners
Foster is currently an Operating Partner at Bernhard Capital Partners, a private equity firm, based out of Baton Rouge. He also serves as a Board Member and Advisor for multiple equity firms across the US.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources
CTO
Levelset
Building technology and managing engineering teams.
Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development, Website Development
Founder and Owner
Grande Krewe Fine Wine
Jane has founded and led 4 healthcare companies over the last 30 years, the most recent being a national healthcare advocacy and transparency company, which she started in 2001 and sold in 2017. In 2015 she joined 3 partners to open a local wine and spirits retail and event space in the Faubourg Marigny. She is an adjunct professor with AB Freeman at Tulane University and also lead a national healthcare consulting business.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Project Management
CFO & Business Strategist
Zehnder Communications
I am a CPA and former auditor with expertise in building financial models and a deep appreciation of how those financial projections can help young and growing companies to avoid future pitfalls by examining the potential implications of current decisions. I ran a boutique management consulting firm in New Orleans prior to my current gig as CFO of a regional advertising agency through which I assisted scores of businesses to achieve their potential and take advantage of the market opportunities before them. I enjoy learning about the latest business ideas local entrepreneurs conjure up and welcome the opportunity to leverage my 20+ years of experience as these new companies begin their journey.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy
Associate Dean, Professor of Entrepreneurship
A. B. Freeman School of Business
John is an active advisor in several early-stage startups. John has advised several companies that have gone on to secure angel and subsequent rounds of funding. He teaches new venture planning and has run workshops and short courses for startups.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Design, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Project Management, Other
Co-Ceo & Co-Founder
TrayAway
Josh’s background is a mix of entrepreneurial activities combined with 10+ years in the hotel industry working for Four Season and Hilton.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding
Software Engineer
Revelry
LinkedIn
Director of Support
Susco
Kirk Coco is a native of New Orleans, who spent 11 years in the United States Navy serving as a Surface Warfare Officer. Kirk chose to leave the Navy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to return to New Orleans and help in the rebuilding and renewal of the city.
After a short career with Capital One Bank, Kirk began his initial dream of bringing production and manufacturing back to New Orleans, founding NOLA Brewing Company in 2008. and NOLA Distilling Company in 2015.
Kirk was a founding member and President of the LA Brewer’s Guild and the a founding member of the LA Distiller's Guild. Kirk is currently the Director of Support at Susco in New Orleans.
Kirk served as a member of the Strategic Advisory Council for Economic Development for the Mayor of New Orleans and as an Advisory Board member for the YAYA Arts Council. He serves as Vice-Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Orleans and was a voting Delegate for their 2016 and 2020 National Convention.
Kirk is a graduate of Louisiana State University where he received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration and his Juris Doctorate. Kirk also earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of New Orleans in 2003.
Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Fundraising, Management, Project Management
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Something Borrowed Blooms
Lauren Bercier is the Co-Founder & CEO of Something Borrowed Blooms, an innovative company revolutionizing the wedding flower industry.
Something Borrowed Blooms (SBBlooms) is changing the way brides plan and pay for wedding flowers with a unique solution to keep wedding flower costs low while still offering elegant arrangements that capture the attention of brides across the country. The company specializes in providing on-trend, premium silk wedding flowers for RENT - offering cost savings, convenience, and sustainability.
Since launching, SBBlooms has taken in over 20,000 orders, now serving over 1,000 weddings per month and growing. SBBlooms has received national press from media outlets including Forbes, The New York Post, The Today Show, Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, InStyle, and more.
Bercier has led the organization through substantial growth even with the lingering COVID-19 impact. She oversees business development by creating, planning, & implementing the strategic direction of the organization from its central office in Lafayette.
Lauren is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations and a certification in elementary education. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Acadiana. Lauren is a VILLAGEx alum and the winner of the 2021 Idea Pitch Competition. She is a graduate of Louisiana Economic Development’s CEO Roundtable and was a past member of FedEx’s Entrepreneurial Advisory Board.
Lauren loves the thrill of entrepreneurship and aspires to pave the way for young entrepreneurs, especially women, and the capital that is available to them.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, Startup Operations, Team Growth
Chief Executive Officer
AxoSim
Lowry is co-founder and CEO of AxoSim. He drives the vision and implementation for product development and commercialization of AxoSim’s NerveSim® and BrainSim® drug discovery platforms, with the goal of making a significant impact on medicine and patient care. Lowry received a PhD in biomedical engineering from Tulane University focused on tissue engineering and neuroscience. He is active on HESI’s (Health and Environmental Science Institute) Neutox Committee, which is a national nonprofit that works to resolve global health and environmental challenges through engagement of scientists from academia, government, industry, NGOs, and other strategic partners. Lowry is also an early member of the Nonclinical Innovation and Patient Safety Initiative collaboration (NIPSI) which advocates to the FDA for use of safer, more effective non-animal testing models in drug discovery. Locally, he serves on the New Orleans BioDistrict Board, dedicated to supporting economic growth of the biosciences sector in Southeast Louisiana.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, Business Development & Sales
Management, Growth Strategy, Product Development
Managing Partner/Founder
Legacy Capital LLC
Marianne has 38 years of investment banking experience. She worked on Wall Street for 10 years before founding Legacy Capital LLC and its affiliated broker/dealer, Legacy Capital Fund, in New Orleans.
Partner
Travel Tech Essentialist
Maurio is the co-founder, former CMO and board member of eDreams Odigeo from 1999 to 2015. Odigeo grew to become the 3rd largest online travel company with USD$5.5 billion gross bookings, $550 million revenue, $140 million EBITDA, and eventually went public in 2014. Currently, he is doing independent consulting in various projects in the online travel industry. Mauricio’s expertise is focused in the travel and hospitality industries, and is willing to help out in general with B2C startups across industries.
Bio Coming Soon
CEO
PAID4, LLC
Fintech SaaS Founder in the Payments Space - product creation, launch, IP prosecution, channel partner relationships, capital raising.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Marketing & Branding, Software Programming/Technology Development
Executive Officer
INNOTECH
Prithwee(Prith) Bhat is a Corporate Venture Capitalist (CVC), leading the VC arm of Tokyo Stock Exchange(TSE) listed company, INNOTECH. He is managing a multi-million dollar strategic corporate tech-fund to invest with Silicon Valley based VC firm having $1B+ AUM. Prith has built a tract record of Japanese business collaborations of more-than 10 startups from USA, Israel and Asia. Prith lived in Tokyo for 15 years and can speak, read and write fluent Japanese language. His 2 decades of international experience in high-technology industry, both as a business person and as a tech-savvy system software engineer with Fortune 500 companies. His areas of interests are in enterprise level Process Automation, AI, Machine Learning/Vision, Robotics, IoT, EDA Tools and Simulation software.
Areas of Expertise
Venture Capital, Business Modeling, Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations, Product Development, Software Programming, Management, Startup Operations, Website Development
CEO
Innisfree
Journalist to advertising/branding to founder to investor/mentor. Designer in sum. Robbie founded companies in media, marketing, and food with an emphasis on social entrepreneurship and conscious capitalism.
Robbie was founder and CEO of Trumpet, a branding studio. This venture expanded to include an investment fund and accelerator which launched The Idea Village (Co-founder), New Orleans' first co-working space, and planning catalyst of multiple post-Katrina initiatives (ie. public safety, health, education, media). More recently he is focused on organic/natural food (CEO Good Spread, investor Uncanny, Natch, New Barn, I.E. Mills) with an emphasis on CPG, and regenerative agricultural supply chain. Robbie splits his time between Boulder, Colorado and New Orleans.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Design, General Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding, Other
Founder
If Financials
LinkedIn
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Banking, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling
Founder, CEO
Resilia
Sevetri Wilson is the Founder and CEO of Resilia, a technology startup she launched in 2016 to revolutionize how socially-conscious leaders develop, maintain, and grow the nonprofits, corporations, cities, and other enterprises they lead. She has raised over $11M for Resilia to date. The New Orleans-based company, which has a second office in New York, was named to Venture Beat’s Top Startups to Watch Out For in 2019. Sevetri is also the Founder of her first company, the strategic communications agency Solid Ground Innovations, LLC. She is one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Female Founders Building World Changing Companies, has been included on PitchBook’s 27 Leading Black Founders and Investors list, and her company Resilia named to 2020 Forbes Cloud 100 list. Sevetri is also a recipient of the 2010 Jefferson Award, widely considered to be the Nobel Prize for Public Service, and her work was featured in the U.S. Senate report to the White House on Volunteerism in the U.S. Sevetri has authored two books: Resilient: How to Overcome Anything and Build a Million Dollar Business With or Without Capital (2021), and Solid Ground: How I Built a 7-Figure Company at 22 with Zero Capital (2019), which spent six weeks at No. 1 on Amazon’s Startup category. Her work has been featured in national publications such as USA Today, Time Magazine, and CNN, and she provides a voice for communities as a Forbes contributor. Sevetri creates over 3 million monthly impressions from her 200,000+ readers and followers across social media.
Co-Founder, Managing Partner
E²JDJ
Stephanie is the co-founder of E²JDJ and oversees deal sourcing, structure and investment execution as well as heads up strategy, retailer partnerships, investor relations and general management of the Fund. Prior to founding the firm, Stephanie was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell where she advised financial institutions. Stephanie holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Dickinson College. During Harvard Law, Stephanie worked at the Community Enterprise Project where she advised start-ups, including companies in the food and beverage space.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal
Startup Investor, Technologist, Author
Terence Craig is a high-impact investor, entrepreneur, and advisor for early-stage companies and venture funds across multiple verticals. He has been involved in several exits and significant positive changes in valuation for the majority of the companies he has invested in both professionally and as an Angel. He has broad experience in all aspects of running, investing, performing due diligence, and advising startup companies with deep expertise in Software, SaaS, AI, Femtech, Digital Health, and Medical Devices.
Areas of Expertise
Venture Capital, Fundraising & Investor Relations, Product Development, Management, Startup Operations
Principal Owner
Campbell Investment and Consulting
Tommy is an expert in developing and sustaining high-performance organizations by building team culture and guiding continuous improvement. His business acumen and diligence have lead domestic and international organizations to higher levels of success. Tommy worked at Iron Mountain, a Data and Records Management firm, for almost 18 years, serving in management roles as well as multiple SVP roles both national and internationally. Tommy also helped Co-Found the Lagniappe Angels, a capital angel investment group based in New Orleans, where he currently serves as the Executive Committee Chair.
Areas of Expertise
Executive Leadership, Change Management, Performance Improvement/KPI’s, International Operations, M&As, Technology Integration, Budgeting / Forecasting, Multi-Departmental Collaboration, Cost Control / ROI, Business Solutions, Quality Relationships, Sales Team Development, Restructures / Consolidations.
Corporate Controller
POOLCORP
As a managing director in the audit practice at Ernst & Young, Walker has served clients in a variety of industries. His clients have ranged in size and complexity from fast-growing PE-backed start-ups to mature public companies. In addition to technical accounting skills, Walker emphasizes to his engagement teams the importance of effective leadership, budgeting, and planning as well as other essential skills such as researching, writing, and communicating.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Business Modeling, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy, Project Management
Head of Strategic Operations
Initialized Capital
Zoe is a skilled project manager with experience leading complex business operations. At Initialized, she brings her background in finance coupled with her passion for helping our portfolio companies grow. Prior to joining Initialized, Zoe was a relationship manager in BlackRock's Institutional Client Business. Zoe specialized in client partnerships, focusing on BlackRock's strategic relationships with corporations, public pensions, and endowments across private and public markets. Zoe also served on the Board of Oasis for Girls, a San Francisco based non-profit. Zoe graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Business Administration from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Areas of Expertise
Startup Operations, Venture Capital, Growth Strategy
Investor / Advisor
Ex corporate lawyer, founded international business of Axiom, tech-enabled legal services company. Part of leadership team to grow business internationally (70% U.S) to ~$400m prior to successful exits to Permira and Relx. Direct experience as CRO/general manager, over all sales functions and operations, international roll-outs, marketing, tech-enablement of product and sales functions.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Project Management
Executive Director
Technology and Disruptive
Commerce Group at J.P. Morgan
Brannon Albritton is an Executive Director and market lead in Houston and Louisiana for J.P. Morgan's Technology & Disruptive Commerce team. He focuses on covering high growth technology & consumer companies and helps deliver commercial banking and capital raising solutions across the startup lifecycle.
Brannon has over 15 years of banking experience and has been with J.P. Morgan for 11 years, having previously served as a Corporate Banker in J.P. Morgan's Global Corporate Bank for 10 years. Prior to JP Morgan, Brannon had banking roles at Sumitomo Mitsui, Citibank and US Bank.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, Business Modeling, Venture Capital
Director
Benson Capital Partners
Caroline is a Native New Orleanian and a venture capitalist. She serves as the Director of Benson Capital Partners, an investment firm started by Gayle Benson in 2019.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, Venture Capital, Business Modeling
CEO
El Guapo
I am the Founder/CEO of New Orleans Beverage Group, which holds the trademark to El Guapo - a line of bitters, syrups and mixers manufactured here in Orleans Parish. I'm currently building America's first bitters brewery in Mid-City after raising a seed round in 2021. I am passionate about helping other entrepreneurs succeed.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development + Sales, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Fundraising + Investor Relations, Marketing + Branding, Market Research, Public Relations, Project Management, General Business Strategy, Business Modeling
Sr. Director Of Growth
Levelset
Coy has had several "educations" in business: Two entrepreneurial parents, college, starting/exiting my first company, and working through several stages of an early stage growth company. Coy currently works at Levelset, where he leads the charge around the business development and growth of one of New Orleans most rapidly scaling companies.
Areas of Expertise
Digital Marketing, Management / Human, Market Research, Project Management, Public Relations
Financial Advisor
NYLIFE Securities
Financial Services professional. Lean startup mentor. Serial entrepreneur.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy, Insurance
Strategic Design Lead
Keystring Labs
Diego has 20 years of experience consumer insights, corporate strategy and 20 years experience consumer insights, corporate strategy, and design–thinking based innovation. He has developed this experience within several business sectors such as retail, consumer product goods, energy and nonprofits. He is currently a strategic design lead for Keystring Labs, leading strategy and design behind several projects a different stages of development.
Areas of Expertise
General Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding, Market Research
Director, Product Management
Salesforce
I currently lead a team of product managers focused on building best in class products for small to medium size businesses. Prior to leading a team, I owned the Chat and Social channels for Service Cloud. I have worked for Salesforce in a number of other roles(Sales, Solution Engineering, & Customer Success) around the world (New York, Singapore, Sydney, & San Francisco).
Areas of Expertise
Design, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, General Business Strategy, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development
Founder & CEO
Origin-8
Franco is a serial entrepreneur, currently involved in multiple startups across several industries. His primary focus is Origin-8, and O&G technology company looking to scale into the international market. He also has projects in the Pet Industry, Sports Industry, and Real Estate Industry (co-working & storage). His areas of focus are team building, negotiating, strategic planning, leadership, and business clarity (prioritization, vision, alignment).
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, General Business Strategy, Legal, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Other
Founder and Managing Member
3D Ventures
Analyst and Portfolio Manager at T. Rowe Price (22 years). SVP of Corporate Development at 3D Systems (6 years). Founder and Managing Member of 3D Ventures (3 years+). University of Virginia BA and Stanford University MBA. Relocated to New Orleans in 2020 after 28 years in Baltimore.
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, Growth Strategy, Venture Capital, Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations, Management
Strategic Advisor
rasa.io
Jared has spent most of his life building businesses. From his first one selling beaded necklaces in the 5th grade (which later got him sent to the principal's office) to the one started by selling shirts out of a backpack in college that led to opening a retail store, his entrepreneurial spirit is interwoven into all that he does.
After selling his retail store to focus on e-commerce, Forbes called him College Football's Biggest Entrepreneur. Since then, he's co-founded multiple businesses, including two food trucks and an education company that helps schools improve their students' ACT Scores (which wound up on the Inc 500 two years in a row).
Currently, he's found himself at the unlikely intersection of low-information diets and artificial intelligence with rasa.io.
President
Middle School MBA
John is an author, executive, angel investor, and lifelong student of markets. John’s industrial career failed its way through process engineering, plant operations, business management, M&A, and corporate strategy, finally failing big enough to exit. John now teaches kids the lowdown on business, economics, and entrepreneurship in the hopes that they can fail bigger and sooner.
Innovation Leader
Palmisano Construction
Background in engineering and economics. Experience doing competitive landscape analysis, due diligence, and M&A deals. Experience with developing organizational maturity across the early-stage company life cycle. Experience identifying and refining product-market fit.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Market Research, Software Programming/Technology Development
Founder & CEO
Waldo
LinkedIn
Founder
projectXLIV
Chief Financial Officer
Square Button Consulting, LLC
Kwamena spent his entire entire 16 year career in the finance industry. He has 6.5 years of private equity investment and operations experience. Additionally, he has over 4 years of CFO experience within investment portfolio companies.
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Market Research
President
M S Benbow and Associates
Leo is a professional engineering with 30+ years of experience in the consulting engineering (Professional services) business. He is also an Adjunct professor at UNO in ME and EE, an Angel Investor, and qualified private capital investor. He has been president of MSB for over 20 years and has mentored many entrepreneurs in small and medium businesses. He is currently a mentor in the Lowe Foundation American Academy of Entrepreneurs program.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Data Analytics, Design, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Project Management
Head of Product
RentCheck
Lucy has been a product manager and leader in the New Orleans tech startup scene for the past 14 years. As an early employee at Lucid, she helped build and market successful products over the course of her 5 year tenure. She then went on to Levelset to build out their Product team, serving as the Executive Director of Product through a Series B and leading up to their Series C round of funding. Now Head of Product at RentCheck, Lucy has had a pivotal role in the company’s rapid growth and success over the past three years. Her passion lies in product strategy and human-centered design. There’s nothing she loves more than building products people love and helping companies grow.
Areas of Expertise
Product Development, Project Management, Growth Strategy, Design
Chief Revenue Officer
Levelset
Martin is the Chief Revenue Officer of Levelset, a New Orleans-based company that helps contractors and suppliers get paid faster on construction projects.
As Levelset's first sales hire and revenue leader, Martin has led the company's revenue growth since joining in January of 2013. Over that time, Levelset has grown from 5 employees to more than 350 employees and has raised over $46M in venture funding from the likes of Horizons Ventures, S3 Ventures, Altos Ventures, and Brick and Mortar Ventures. Levelset was acquired by Procore for $500MM in November 2021.
Martin's experience as an entrepreneur and a SaaS sales leader has helped propel Levelset to an outstanding exit. He regularly advises early-stage SaaS companies on their Go-to-Market strategy and execution.
Areas of Expertise
B2B SaaS, scaling to $10MM revenue and beyond.
Principal
LongueVue Capital
Max Vorhoff is a Principal at LongueVue Capital, where he is responsible for the sourcing, diligence, and execution of new investments, as well as partnering with existing portfolio companies to achieve their growth objectives. Max currently serves on the boards of LVC portfolio companies Pod Pack, Quality Senior Living Partners, Platinum Senior Living Partners, and Soho Studio Partners.
Founder & CEO
GDiliVer
My day job is founder & CEO of DiliVer, an award-winning FinTech M&A due diligence software company. DiliVer is my 4th company to date. My second hat is as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins, Miami, and IE business schools, where I teach entrepreneurial finance, M&A, and have launched capstone/internship courses with local businesses. My third hat is as a mentor/advisor in 8 accelerators around the world.
Areas of Expertise
Banking, Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding
Product Designer
Facebook
I make software. In my career, I’ve worked as a product designer, a software engineer, and a founder of my own studio. Currently, I am a senior product designer at Facebook, working on privacy and end-to-end encryption for Facebook Messenger and Instagram; and a volunteer product designer at the U.S. Digital Response, helping governments and nonprofits deliver critical services. I have a B.Des and minor in HCI from Loyola University New Orleans.
Areas of Expertise
Design, General Business Strategy, Software Programming/Technology Development, Website Development
Senior Vice President, Club and Fan Development
Major League Soccer
Ramin oversees Club and Fan Development for Major League Soccer and leads three areas: Develop the league-wide strategy to grow the fanbase of the clubs, lead the league's engagement with the clubs, and lead the consumer insights and analytics functions for the League.
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, Data Analytics, General Business Strategy, Market Research, Project Management, Other
Principal
Resilience Resolutions
Robin’s experience spans both the practice and policy of recovery and resilience—from “boots on the ground” technical assistance work with small businesses rebuilding across New York City after 9/11, to developing a gold-standard post-Katrina small business recovery program for Gulf Coast fisheries, to writing the chapter on small business and entrepreneurship for President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy. As EVP and COO at Greater New Orleans, Inc., for nearly a decade, Robin operated at the intersections of practice and policy and environment and economics and has overseen several major initiatives designed to create and protect jobs in the region and to turn environmental threats into economic opportunity and job creation, including the creation of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, a roadmap to guide policymakers, public and private leaders, businesses, and community stakeholders through improved management of stormwater, subsidence, and other threats of climate change. Now, Robin's consulting engagements are focussed largely on small business and economic resilience where she advises philanthropy, higher education, NGOs and economic development organizations on strategies for small businesses to adapt to environmental and economic threats and opportunities to generate revenues and jobs and contribute to community and economic development.
Robin is a faculty member of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement Masters of Public Administration Program. She is a Director of the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, a Commissioner of the Governor’s (Louisiana) Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation, and Chair of the Board of Coastal Communities Consulting, Inc.
Robin is a born and bred New Yorker who has been living in New Orleans since 2006.
Chief Marketing Officer
Chargebee
I am a marketing and product management executive with a passion for customers, solving business problems, creative storytelling and data-driven marketing. I lead Marketing at Chargebee, a rocketship whose products customers love (ranked #1 among all Finance Products in 2021)!.
I have helped rapidly scale new product businesses, contributed to building a multi-billion dollar SaaS business and delivered successful go-to-market and demand gen strategies for developed and emerging markets at Box and Microsoft, At Microsoft, I was responsible for Office 365 product marketing and go-to-market for enterprise and mid-market. At Microsoft I got to work in a variety of product marketing and product management leadership roles for Office 365, SharePoint, Office and BizTalk. Along the way, I've helped shape new market categories, create new platform businesses and innovate in digital marketing and story-telling.
As an entrepreneur, I co-founded and was CEO of a Silicon Valley venture-funded XML data management software startup focused on the enterprise. I enjoy working with and advising startups, and am on the advisory board at EdGE Networks (talent acquisition and workforce optimization using AI and data science), and Idea Village (GAN accelerator in New Orleans).
Areas of Expertise
Business Strategy, General Management, Product Marketing, Growth marketing, Developer Platform marketing, Strategic Partnerships, Go-to-Market strategy, Industry marketing, Digital Marketing, Sales Enablement, Positioning, Storytelling, Coaching, Product Strategy, Competitive positioning, Messaging
Private Equity Partner
Geneses Capital Management
LinkedIn
Data Analytics
Dapper Labs
LinkedIn
VC
Acadian Capital Ventures
VC at Acadian Capital Ventures.A true startup nerd and deep-generalist. Currently Reading: "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.C. Gwynne
Founder and CEO
Skilltype LLC
Award-winning education technology entrepreneur funded by the Gates Foundation, Inaugural EIR @ Camelback Ventures, Inaugural EIR at Boston University. Three-time software founder. Ex-Silicon Valley alum. New Orleans native.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Design, Marketing & Branding, Website Development
Co-CEO
TrayAway
For the past 5 years, Will has built two SaaS startups from the ground up, starting with ForecastRx (a predictive analytics engine for small business purchasing) and currently at TrayAway, the leader in hotel room service management and tracking. His roles have been mostly tech focused, crafting enterprise-level applications with robust, scalable back-end architectures. Additionally, as in most startups, he’s been involved with almost all facets: financials, research and development, fund raising, business processes, etc.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development, Other
RVP, Sales
Litify
Throughout my career in finance, tech, and as an advisor/investor in startups, I have always been passionate about discovering new ways to help people and companies find solutions to their business challenges, in turn, helping the world evolve. Over the past 15 years I have been fortunate to have worked in New York City with highly talented professionals at transformational companies like Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg L.P., and LinkedIn.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development + Sales, Diversity, Equity, + Inclusion, Management/Human Resources
Medical Technology Entrepreneur After graduating from Tulane University’s biomedical engineering program, Ben Cappiello founded Bioceptive, a New Orleans based women’s health company. Ben splits his time as both Chief Executive Officer of BioCeptive and Chief Business Officer at AxoSim, where he was a founding advisor before joining the company full time in 2017. Ben is also the Vice President-Elect of the North American 3R’s Collaborative, where he focuses on reducing the amount of ineffective animal testing in pharmaceutical development.
Group Product Manager
Google
Brett is a Startup executive in technical, product, and CEO roles. Brett is an expert in the Lean Startup.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Project Management
Director of Investments
LongueVue Capital
As Director of Investments, Charles Cox leads LongueVue Capital's business development activities, including the sourcing, evaluation, and execution of new platform investments and add-on opportunities for existing portfolio companies. An active member of the private equity industry, Charles serves on the Board of Directors of the Southeastern SBIA and Louisiana ACG organizations.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Growth Strategy, Business Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations
Startup Operator, Public Goods Funding
Protocol Labs
Corey James is experienced in strategy, operations, program management, and startup development. At Protocol Labs, he works to create new funding mechanisms for public goods in the form of blockchain ecosystems and social solutions. He previously served as the Program Director at The Idea Village and helped launch a startup incubator called Innovation Portal. Previously, he also started a chocolate social enterprise called Magis Chocolate in partnership with a Belizean cacao farmers cooperative. Corey is from New Orleans, and in his spare time he studies social innovation at the University of Cambridge. Beyond work and research, his areas of interest include philosophy, emerging technologies, rock climbing, cycling, running, and clocks.
Areas of Expertise
Startup Operations, Growth Strategy
CEO
Ingest
New to New Orleans by way of New York City, Daniel is an experienced founder and technology executive with a proven track record and demonstrated ability to set vision, build teams, and drive revenue.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development + Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Fundraising + Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Personnel, Team Growth, HR
Principal
Alluvian Capital, LLC
David Barksdale is Managing Director of Alluvian Capital, LLC a privately held company with diversified investments in the telecommunications and software industries. David is also Co-Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer of Spread Networks, LLC. During his tenure as CEO, Spread Networks completed construction of its Chicago-to-New York fiber optic network and expansion of services throughout the greater Chicago and New York markets.
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations
Senior Director - Strategy & Transactions
EY - Ernst & Young
Accomplished CPA with 15+ years of standing up and managing end-to-end finance & accounting operations (people, process & technology) alongside senior and executive leadership with internal and external stakeholders (external auditors, bankers, shareholders etc.)
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Banking, Business Development + Sales, Business Modeling, Diversity, Equity, + Inclusion, Financial Modeling, Fundraising + Investor Relations, General Business Strategy
Founder
Bragg Marketing
Edwin is the founder of Bragg Marketing, where he consults for emerging and established businesses. He has led the global marketing and communications for several leading brands including Shake Shack, GQ and local eyewear brand Krewe. He headed up branding, digital, social, growth marketing, events, CRM/guest experience, advertising and communications strategies, and helped successfully scale and take Shake Shack public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). A graduate of Tulane University, Edwin holds an MBA in Marketing from Georgia State University.
Areas of Expertise
Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Marketing + Branding, Market Research, Public Relations, Website Development, Project Management across Hospitality, Retail, Fashion and Consumer Products.
GHB Consulting
Executive Officer (CEO & CFO) of four Nasdaq companies in the healthcare space. Experienced in private & public companies, and Boards of Directors.
Areas of Expertise
Banking, Business Modeling, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal
Senior UX Interaction Designer
GE Aviation
Jacqueline is a UX Designer who has worked at various startups in the New Orleans area for the past five years, including Spectrum Interactive, Radolo, and Align. She currently works for GE Aviation where she designs software used for jet engine repair. Jacqueline is currently the design lead for the digital maintenance repair and overhaul product suite. She is able to help companies with web and mobile application design, wire-framing, user testing, user journey mapping, personas, design thinking, and examining user problems.
Areas of Expertise
Design, Software Programming / Tech Development
CEO
360insights.com
Jason has 15+ years of experience focused on innovative technology solutions. He is passionate about leadership in growth companies which create measurable long term value for their clients, providing them a competitive advantage.
His newest venture 360incentives.com is an innovative full service incentives company that is powered by a state of the art analytics engine and provides rebate management, sales channel incentives, promotions management, payroll cards and prepaid card solutions to Fortune 100 companies.
Areas of Expertise
Specialties: Strategy, Business leadership, Motivation, Solutions Development, Growth
CEO
Engineering & Inspection Services, LLC
Joe Brinz is a company visionary who has spent the past 19 years serving Engineering & Inspection Services, LLC as both Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer. Joe is responsible for the development and execution of strategic company goals, and he helps foster a culture that is conducive to collaborative, creative thinking at all levels of the organization.
Founder
Series Next Solutions
John's most recent position before founding Series Next Solutions was a COO role at a growing startup, so he has seen the process first-hand of going from having the model in place, to building the infrastructure to scale, to surviving a due diligence process by a buyer. John's deepest background and skills are in business intelligence, digital transformation (using cloud software to build a scalable organization), and financial planning and analysis.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Software Programming/Technology Development, Other
Managing Director
Camp Street Advisors LLC
LinkedIn
Credit Analyst, Credit Underwriting, Commercial Lender, Senior Banker, Squadron Commander - military, Business Owner, Real Estate Development
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Banking, Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy, Project Management
Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer
Something Borrowed Blooms
Laken Swan is the Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer of Lafayette based Something Borrowed Blooms. Laken and her co-founder, Lauren Bercier, pioneered the rent & return wedding flower market in 2015, disrupting a $6B industry. To date, Laken and the team have empowered over 20,000 couples across North America to reallocate their wedding budget to better fit the needs of modern couples.
Through her leadership, Something Borrowed Blooms has been featured on Good Morning America's Stahan, Sara & Keke, within FedEx Office’s national brand campaign, and in several wedding publications including Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, and Wedding Day Magazine. Laken has also developed strategic partnerships with industry leaders, including David’s Bridal and Watters.
Laken has a passion for growing brands through strategic marketing. She began her career with Harrah's New Orleans overseeing special events and promotions before transitioning to Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) as Regional Marketing Specialist, Regional Marketing Manager, and later promoted to Regional Marketing Director for Louisiana and Mississippi where she had extensive experience managing all aspects of marketing strategy and brand management of Caesars Entertainment for the gulf coast states.
Laken graduated with her B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and currently resides in the Greater New Orleans area.
Areas of Expertise
Marketing & Branding Personnel, Growth Strategy, Business Development & Sales, Digital Marketing / SEO / Social Media
Consultant
Fractional CMO
Leslie has 20+ years working in the global tech ecosystem, in-house at startups, in tech PR, and in VC. She is a marketer with deep experience in brand, corporate communications, and editorial strategy. She is also an entrepreneur & operator who has launched and run agencies. She is based in NYC with deep networks in London and SF and in the fintech sector. She is a tech generalist having worked across B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and nearly every vertical. She is enthusiastic about working with female and BIPOC founders, as well as companies building new business models. This includes those truly re-engineering the way a process or system works vs. just improving UX. She is also excited about working with businesses with B2B and B2C ambitions, mission-driven founders and companies and first-time entrepreneurs.
Co-founder and COO
RentCheck
Lydia Winkler is the co-founder and COO of RentCheck. RentCheck technology provides guided inspections built for residents to help property managers increase profits, increase visibility, and improve resident satisfaction. Her most recent accolades include recognition as Inc Magazine's 2022 Top 100 Female Founders, Finalist for the ADA Lovelace Tech Founder of the Year, and Business Insider’s Rising Star in Real Estate.
Lydia is the founder of REEP Now (Relief Effort for Earning Parole) — a nonprofit that provides parole advocacy and support to people in Louisiana. In the community, Lydia also serves as a mentor at Idea Village.
Lydia holds a Juris Doctor and Masters in Business Administration from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Public Relations
Founder
Night Shift Bikes
I'm into electrification, education & both kinds of equity: 25 years teaching, coaching & early-stage investing, mostly in new schools & learning tools; 15 years side-hustling on electric motorcycles; committed to creating opportunity and jobs as we transition to clean energy in the Southeast.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development + Sales, Design, Personnel, Team Growth, HR, General Business Strategy; particularly as related to education, energy storage, & electrification
Founding Partner
Goodwood NOLA
Mike is an entrepreneur with a background in communications, operations and design. His experience is predominantly in the manufacturing/product industry, specifically furniture/fixtures and interior construction, with a heavy emphasis on lifestyle branding and sustainable business practices. He also has extensive experience in education, having developed and taught design and business classes (lecture and studio) at all levels - community, nonprofit and university. He has specialized expertise in the physical services and products/manufacturing world.
Areas of Expertise
Physical services, products, manufacturing
Managing Partner, CFO & CCO
Callais Capital Management
Nick serves as Managing Partner, CFO & CCO for Callais Capital Management, a venture capital and private equity asset management firm based in Louisiana that has invested over 150m in private transactions over the past 5 years. Nick oversees the firm’s operations including accounting, compliance, finance, tax, risk management, loan operations, IT, tax, and investor relation functions. He is a board member for Pelican Waste & Debris, Louisiana's #1 fastest growth company in 2018 and #3 in LA for 2019 on the Inc5000. Nick graduated with a B.A. and MBA from Tulane University and lives in the Warehouse District in New Orleans.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Banking, Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Insurance, Legal, Management/Human Resources, Public Relations
Founder and CEO
Lucid
Since 1998, Patrick Comer has been a founder, investor, and executive for startups. He founded Lucid with a vision to democratize data collection by applying programmatic technology to market research. Lucid is now the world-wide leader in enterprise marketplaces for sampling. Since its inception in 2010, Lucid has become one of the most successful tech startups in New Orleans, with hundreds of employees across the globe.
Patrick was named Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year by the A.B. Freeman School of Business. In 2018, the New Orleans Times-Picayune listed him as one of the city’s most important figures in the “300 for 300” project. Patrick holds a BA from Sewanee and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Head of Product
CivicSource
Ravi was one of the original founders of Dinner Lab, serving as CTO. He currently works at CivicSource where he serves as the Head of Product. He is an expert in comprehending complex business processes, transforming them into requirements, building technology solutions and driving customer growth.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, General Business Strategy, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development, Website Development
Founder and Chief Product Officer
The Sweat Social LLC
Rupa has a background in corporate finance and spent 10-years on Wall Street before she left to pursue her passion for health and wellness. She started The Sweat Social almost 6 years ago and since then has scaled her business to a corporate audience and expanded to a global client base. The Sweat Social is in the health and wellness industry, but she also has a background in Corporate Finance, working in the Pharmaceutical industry as well as the Financial Services industry.
President and COO
LeanTaas
Sanjeev serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer for LeanTaaS the leading ML platform for healthcare operations. Sanjeev was Google’s first Head of Product Marketing. Since then, he has led three successful startups - CEO at Aloqa (acquired by Motorola), VP Products & Marketing at TellMe Networks (acquired by Microsoft) and Founder & CEO at Collegefeed (acquired by AfterCollege).
Sanjeev graduated Phi Beta Kappa with BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He started his career at McKinsey & Company and Cisco Systems before joining Google. Sanjeev is a Forbes contributor and also writes on his personal blog at http://medium.com/@saagrawa. He is an avid squash player and has been named by Becker's Hospital Review as one of the top entrepreneurs innovating in Healthcare.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding, Public Relations
Managing Director
Atlas Technology Group
Steve Bachmann is a Managing Director at Atlas Technology Group. Steve has 30+ years of experience as a technology M&A banker/VC investor working with software-driven companies. Prior to joining Atlas in 2014, Steve was a Managing Director at Tech Venture Advisors focused on cross-border software M&A, an e-commerce entrepreneur as CEO/founder of Vinfolio, and a Managing Director at Broadview where he spent 12 years in M&A and 5 years as a GP of Broadview Capital Partners, a $250m late-stage VC fund.
Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics,
Fundraising & Investor Relations,
Venture Capital,
Business Modeling
Retired as Executive Director
Worked in the synthetic fiber manufacturing industry in different roles and capacities for the last forty odd years. Areas of expertise include:
Manufacturing/ Technical Management
Plant start ups and project management
New Product Development, Quality Control. Continues improvement
Customer Interactions and Business Development support.
Profitability analysis and strategic planning of asset utilization and performance
Customer interactions for problem resolution new product placement/business development
Equipment modernization and upgrades. Capital projects direction and oversight. Identification of new technology, processes or products
Role model leadership for long term value creation and develop people with the right personal qualities, skills and capabilities.
Identified Key Drivers for the across the board product performance excellence and value creation.
Six Sigma
ISO expertise.
Corporate Controller
EOI Service Company
TJ has 12-years of experience leading and serving as an advisor to small businesses and non-profit organizations. His passion is focusing on operations, finance, technology, and strategic planning to build empowered teams and organizations.
Areas of Expertise
Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, Education
Investment Professional
Van began his career in economic development at GNO, Inc. Van moved back to New Orleans after spending 6 years in New York in investment banking, most recently at Credit Suisse, where he worked on the 23andMe de-SPAC merger with Virgin and Iora Health's acquisition by One Medical. Van has a BA from Cornell University, an MBA from Cornell's SC Johnson Graduate School of Management, and an MS from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations, Growth Strategy, Venture Capital
Partner
Phelps Dunbar LLP
Will Bishop is a partner in Phelps’ New Orleans business practice. He has over a decade of experience counseling emerging and established businesses on corporate formation and governance matters, debt and equity financings, M&A transactions, joint ventures and other corporate transactions. He has represented both emerging companies and investors in over $200 million in investments through various financing structures. He leads deals across a variety of industries, including technology, energy, solar, telecommunications, online retail, maritime and financial services. Chambers USA recognizes Will as “a well-regarded practitioner with significant expertise in M&A and capital markets transactions.” He is also recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for his corporate law practice. Clients compliment Will for his strong interpersonal skills, sharp negotiation techniques and diverse experience across deal structures, sizes and industries.
Areas of Expertise
needed
Founder and CEO
Passcode Entertainment
Andre is an entrepreneur, accomplished speaker, inventor, and international business executive who brings over 15 years of expertise in the environmentally-friendly film transportation, film production, and finance sectors to Passcode Entertainment.
Prior to joining the Passcode team, Andre was the founder and CEO of Hollywood Trucks, a full service, eco-friendly, entertainment fleet. The company began in 2008 with seven vehicles and under his guidance, grew to more than six offices with 400 vehicles. Andre graduated with a B.S. from Louisiana State University where he was asked to give its commencement address in 2012.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Other
Senior Director, Product Management
Google
Product leader with 20+ years of experience building useful and relevant consumer experiences, as well as business products. Strong track record for execution, has successfully led cross-functional teams to achieve product and overall business objectives. Likes to push boundaries -- be they technical, legal/policy oriented, or having to do with the business model -- and breathe life into hidden potential by creating new products or improving and effectively scaling existing ones.
Senior Director/GM
DoorDash
LinkedIn
Founder
inFRONT
Chris is the Founder and CEO of inFRONT, an Emergency Readiness software company that serves hazardous workplaces. He has extensive experience in the startups, enterprise sales, and business processes.
Areas of Expertise
Business Operations, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Enterprise Selling
Founding Partner
E²JDJ
Corey is originally from New Orleans, and went on to attend The George Washington University and Harvard Law School. He worked in President Obama's White House for a year, Morgan Stanley as an investment banker for three years, and most recently at Providence Equity before launching his fund, E²JDJ which focuses on Food and Beverage companies. His expertise mostly lies in the food and beverage consumer products industry.
Areas of Expertise
Food & beverage consumer products
CEO
IMOTO Photo and Rocket Photo
Originally from New Orleans, Darryl graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A in risk management. He later returned to New Orleans and obtained his MBA from Loyola University New Orleans. After successfully establishing himself as a top Realtor in Louisiana, Darryl returned to Loyola University New Orleans Law School and obtained his law degree. During his second year of law school, Darryl co-founded IMOTO photo with Kris Haug. Over the next few years IMOTO expanded into new markets and quickly became an industry leader. Darryl is a founding member of the Association of Real Estate Photographers, a national association created to address the complicated digital media rights issue between the real estate industry and photographers. In 2017, Darryl co-founded Stilio with Hannah Huppi and Kris Haug. The team was interested in attacking the major issues and obstacles facing IMOTO. Ultimately, the team determined that it was the business model itself that was source of the issues. Creating Stilio using a different business model has allowed the team to take major steps forward in the real estate photography industry.
Areas of Expertise
General Business Strategy
Founder & Managing Member
Solstice Holdings LLC.
President of the Board
Read to Them
David's background is in engineering and finance, and spans Fortune 500 companies to startups when he launched a SaaS multi-level marketing company at Lighthouse Labs RVA. David also serves as a finance and operations advisor to private equity-backed and founder companies across the US, usually as CFO. Additionally, he makes venture investments in select emerging companies. David founded Solstice Holdings in 2015 and currently serves as a Managing Partner.
Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Fundraising, Management, Project Management
Vice President, Product Management
The Walt Disney Company
I've worked in product management at Disney for ~10 years, managing teams of product / design / engineering talent. Previously, I worked in video games and e-commerce for The Pokemon Company, Viacom / MTV Networks, and a few Israeli startups.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Project Management, Other
Senior Product Manager
HubSpot
LinkedIn
Senior Vice President
IMOTO photo
LinkedIn
Founder; Principal
Maroon Workspace; J.D. Russell Consulting
Frustrated with the lack of representation for Black Americans and safe spaces to build community, Jade came up with a concept to build a home for changemakers to foster innovation, collaborate with like-minded people and embrace equity. The goal of Maroon is simple: build more black-owned business through a community of kinship, alliance and power.
Jade is an Equity Diversity & Inclusion consultant with over 15 years of experience in helping companies create and execute global equity strategies, develop creative policy and programmatic strategies, and manage employer brand communications.
Partner
Jefferson Capital Partners
Joe is a partner with Jefferson Capital Partners, a New Orleans-based Private Equity firm. Joe has also led the firm's Opportunity Zone investment initiatives which are uniquely focused on operating businesses. He serves on the board of several JCP portfolio companies.
Areas of Expertise
Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy
Senior Consultant
The Justice Collective
I've done much of my work at small organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit; I typically do or lead the "thing" (executing the org's core value prop), talk about the thing (comms; partnerships) and grow the thing (scaling programs; fundraising/sales). Currently I lead comprehensive consulting engagements for a boutique firm focused on DEI, where my client orgs cross sectors including tech, healthcare, real estate and housing, government, philanthropy, entertainment, and climate.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Project Management
Product Manager
AWS Startups
Julian has been in the High Tech industry for the past 12 years, specifically focused on product design, management and delivery. He builds products that support startups in the AWS ecosystem. His background is primarily focused on high tech, but he has experience in biotechnology and pharma industries.
Areas of Expertise
General Business Strategy, Project Management, Product Management
Partner in the Customer Development Practice
The Partnering Group
Kevin is a former VP at Procter & Gamble of 22 years, where he also served in a GBLC capacity. He led businesses in most of the Americas, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Asia. He was a Senior Vice President at Novartis and later led two entrepreneurial start-ups in the healthcare and food service space. Kevin’s expertise lies in go-to market strategy, innovation, customer and portfolio development, pricing and promotion and organization capability.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Design, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Project Management
Founder, CEO
hampr
I am the Founder + CEO of hampr - an on-demand laundry start up that grew 10x in its first year amidst a pandemic. My background is in marketing - both B2B and B2C. While I started my career in public relations - working on accounts like Verizon Wireless and American Airlines, I am most knowledgeable about digital marketing and positioning.
Areas of Expertise
Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Fundraising + Investor Relations, Management/Human Resources, Marketing + Branding
Personnel, Team Growth, HR, Public Relations
Founder, CEO
The Vault Collective
Lisa LaCour is an accomplished media and marketing executive who has worked at both high-growth startups and leading digital brands. Having spent two decades in LA and NYC, she now lives in New Orleans and leads a business strategy and growth acceleration firm for companies across the globe. Lisa's work spans multiple categories and includes companies such as Endeavor, AOL, Outbrain, Comcast, Madison Square Garden, Mattel, and many A-level music artists.
Areas of Expertise
Business and growth strategy, brand building, audience growth, digital and IRL experiences, B2B, B2C, and Web3.
Co-founder and CEO
RentCheck
Marco is a graduate of the Naval Academy, where he went on to serve 7 ½ years as a Naval Officer. He holds his Masters in Information Technology Management and iOS Development. Marco is well versed in the Lean Methodology as well as startup pitching and fundraising.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Design, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Market Research, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development, Website Development
DISC Trainer and Communications Coaching
Forman Huguley Consulting
Maureen Huguley is a partner at Forman Huguley Communications, a Professional Communications Coaching firm. Forman Huguley has worked with over 50 different New Orleans area businesses and non profits, developing their corporate sales presentation, enhancing their interpersonal skills, and assessing their communications style through body language. She is a certified DIsC trainer.
She received her degree in Journalism/Marketing from the Manship School of Journalism at LSU. She worked at New Orleans Publishing Group, as sales manager over New Orleans CityBusiness , New Orleans Magazine, and other ancillary products including New Orleans Saints Gameday, The New Orleans Symphony Program, The New Orleans Ballet Program, and The Chamber of Commerce Membership Directory. She then served as Associate Publisher for New Orleans CityBusiness.
Managing Director
Benson Capital Partners
Mike is a venture capitalist who relocated to his wife’s native New Orleans two years ago. He serves as the Managing Director of Benson Capital Partners, an investment firm started by Gayle Benson in 2019.
Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Fundraising, Management, Project Management
SVP, Head of Sponsorships & Brand Engagement
Wells Fargo & Co.
Nick is Head of Sponsorships and Brand Engagement at Wells Fargo, where he leads the bank’s national sponsorship strategy, experiential marketing, brand engagement and client hospitality activities. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, he held sports marketing, business development, and brand roles within Omnicom, Charles Schwab, and ESPN.
Areas of Expertise
General Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding, Other
Vice President
Pritzker Group Venture Capital
Peter is a Vice President at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, where he is responsible for sourcing investments across the firm’s enterprise and consumer sectors. Peter has worked in the firm’s Chicago and Los Angeles offices, the latter of which he helped build out in 2016. Peter is an active participant in the national venture capital community, having founded VentureUP, the top Midwest network for emerging venture capitalists and a member of Kauffman Fellows, a premier innovation, leadership and venture capital-focused program.
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy
Partner and Chief Financial Officer
Louisiana Fund
Experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the venture capital and private equity industry. Strong business development professional skilled in Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, IPO, Corporate Development, and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A).
Associate
LongueVue Capital
As an Associate at LongueVue Capital, Sam participates in both real review and transaction execution. Sam is primarily engaged in performing fundamental analysis for new opportunities, executing financial modeling and investment analysis for transactions, and providing operational support for portfolio company management.
Before joining LVC, Sam was a financial analyst in the Corporate Finance group at Duff & Phelps, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt private placements, and transaction opinions in the consumer and industrials sectors, as well as fairness and solvency opinions across a wide range of industries. Sam graduated magna cum laude with a BSM in finance from the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.
Areas of Expertise
Banking, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations
CEO
Levelset
Scott is the founder & CEO of Levelset, a SaaS company founded and headquartered in New Orleans with over 160 employees. Its software is used by thousands of contractors across the United States to get paid faster and easier. The company is venture-backed, having raised $47M from national investors like S3 Ventures, Altos Ventures, and Brick & Mortar Ventures.
Areas of Expertise
Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding
Founder, Mentor, Investor, Executive
Soumitra has over 25 years of experience engineering products and leading teams in broad range of technology areas including Cloud Computing, Databases, Mobile Phones, AI and Robotics. At Microsoft, Soumitra was Director of Engineering for Platform, Tools and Personalization in the Microsoft Storefront team. During his 15 years at Microsoft, Soumitra worked on several “startup” initiatives including Azure, Power BI, Windows Phone and Hololens. Prior to Microsoft, Soumitra led product and engineering teams at Corio (acquired by IBM), B-Bop (acquired by Progress Software) where he was the co-founder, Philips Electronics. Soumitra started his engineering career and his first startup in New Orleans. Soumitra has several patents in Database, Cloud Computing, Computer Vision and Robotics. He received his Ph.D. from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA and Masters from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Soumitra is passionate about innovation and building teams to solve complex problems. This has led Soumitra to investing in early-stage technology companies where aside from his investment, he enjoys working with, advising and mentoring entrepreneurs building products and companies.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Design, Fundraising, Management, Market Research , Project Management, Software Programming, Website Development
Sr. Recruiter
Coinbase
Technical recruiter with 10+ years experience. Started career at Discover then moved to Citadel | Citadel Securities for 5 years and recently transitioned to Coinbase where main focus is on security engineering recruitment.
Founder, Managing Partner
Acadian Capital Ventures
Skip is founder and Managing Director of Acadian Capital Ventures, a Seed Stage Venture Capital Firm based out of Lafayette, LA. Acadian Capital Ventures (Acadian.vc) provides access to professional and institutional Venture Capital for investors and companies in locations that are often over-looked by conventional venture capital.
Areas of Expertise
Fundraising & Investor Relations
Venture Capital
Owner / President
Greywing Enterprises, LP
I have 20 years in the medical device industry (specifically ophthalmic surgical devices) and am skilled in navigating the myriad issues that arise for small, closely held, and start-up businesses, including Regulatory Compliance & Quality Management Systems, Enterprise Management, Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain Management, and Accounting & CRM Systems.
Previously I was in various production environments as a Manufacturing Manager, Distribution Manager, and Industrial Engineer.
Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Business Development & Sales, General Business Strategy, Management/Human Resources, Project Management, Other
CEO
Research Defender
Past Experiences:
Business Development Intern
Team Leader
Software Engineer
MBA, Finance
B.E, Computer Science
Areas of Expertise
Business Modeling,
Business Development & Sales,
Product Development,
Project Management
CEO
Search Influence
Co-founder
UpScribed
Will has spent the last 25 years in digital media including co-founding this area's largest online marketing firm. In 14 years they grew Search Influence to nearly 100 employees with clients across the US and Canada. He has also launched a number of internal products in support of their operations.
He recently served on the board of the Louisiana Entrepreneurs' Organization as the Accelerator chair and is passionate about helping emerging businesses scale. Originally trained as an architect, he considers himself a professional problem solver.
Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Digital Marketing/SEO/Social Media, General Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding, Public Relations, Other
Mentors have the opportunity to give their time and expertise to help founders thrive.
Basic mentoring requires a commitment of 8-12 hours over the course of our 4-month accelerator program. Each mentor in our general pool remains open to meetings with founders throughout the program, which can include any of the following engagements:
+ Facilitating an Accelerator Workshop - for example, giving a talk or hosting a session at Kickoff, a Lunch and Learn, or a Breakfast Roundtable
+ Hosting Office Hours - structured blocks of mentoring on a designated day where a mentor hosts 45-minute meetings with founders to advise on a specified area of expertise
+ Sustained Mentorship - meeting 1:1 regularly with founders to solve specific problems facing their ventures
Advisory Board Members are required to commit 12-16 hours over our 4-month accelerator program. Advisory boards will consist of 4-5 advisors who will meet monthly with up to 3 companies for 60-minute board meetings, which are run by the founder. Advisory board members should be prepared to provide general business expertise, milestone accountability, and track progress throughout the program.
The majority of IIR involvement occurs during the second half of the program. IIRs are required to commit a minimum of 25 hours over the course of the program to assist companies in becoming “capital ready.” This means working with founders on aspects such as:
Assist founders in deck creation and preparation for investor pitches
Leading pitch groups, including facilitating pitch rehearsal and giving feedback to both individual companies and small groups
Helping founders identify what investors would be most successful for their venture, and making those introductions when needed
Facilitating cohort training/workshops on topics such as term sheet creation, due diligence processes, data room organization, and valuation
EIRs are the “quarterbacks” throughout the program and give a minimum of 60 hours over the course of the accelerator. They lead in selection, program development, and catalyze resources for the companies. We strive to maintain a 4:1 company-to-EIR ratio in our program. EIRs maintain a sustained engagement post-program with the founders of their companies throughout the capital-raising process.
