+ AKSHAY GUPTA

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
akshay@newdaypartnersllc.com

+ BENJAMIN CAPPIELLO

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.

+ CHRIS LAIBE

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
[chris.laibe@infrontusa.com][0]

+ CHRISTA COTTON

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

+ DANIEL METH

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

+ DAVID DART | EIR

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
david.dart@ideavillage.org

+ DOUG VANCE

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
douglaspvance@gmail.com

+ FOSTER DUNCAN

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
foster@bernhardcapital.com

+ JACQUELINE TAYLOR

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
jacqueline.e.taylor.14@gmail.com

+ JOE TRUHE

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

+ JOSH ENTE

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
josh.ente@gmail.com

+ KEITH JOHNSON

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
keith@cashpointusa.com

+ LAUREL HESS

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

+ LYDIA WINKLER

Co-founder and COO
RentCheck

Lydia is the founder of REEP Now (Relief Effort for Earning Parole) a nonprofit that provides parole advocacy and support to people in Louisiana. Prior to law school she lived in San Francisco where she worked for the Golden State Warriors and then for tech startup, Whistle (acquired by Mars). RentCheck is Lydia's third tech startup she's been a part of. Lydia holds a Juris Doctor and Masters in Business Administration from Tulane University.

Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Management/Human Resources, Marketing & Branding, Market Research, Public Relations
lydia@getrentcheck.com

+ MICHAEL DALLE MOLLE

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
mike@goodwoodnola.com

+ NEIL KLEINBERG

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
neil.kleinberg@diliver.com

+ PATRICK BURTCHAELL

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

+ RAVI PRAKASH

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
raviprakashwork@gmail.com

+ SAM FIHMA

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
samfihma@gmail.com

+ SOUMITRA SENGUPTA | EIR

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
soumitra.sengupta@ideavillage.org

+ TOMMY CAMPBELL

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.
tommy.campbell@ideavillage.org

+ WILL SCOTT

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
will@searchinfluence.com

+ AL GILES

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
algiles1@googlemail.com

+ BRETT DURRETT

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
brett@durrett.net

+ CHRIS READE

CEO & Founder
LookFar Ventures

Bio Coming Soon

Areas of Expertise Software Programming / Technology Development, Business Modeling, Business Development + Sales, General Business Strategy
readec@lookfar.com

+ DARRYL GLADE

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
darryl@imotophoto.com

+ DIANNA LIU

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
dianna@arix-tech.com

+ DYLAN DIBONA

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
dylan@mondayandpartners.com

+ FRANCO SILVA

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
franco.silva@mexssub.com

+ JANE COOPER

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
redheadneworleans@gmail.com

+ JOHN CLARKE

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
jfc@tulane.edu

+ JOSH JOHNSTON

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
josh@trayaway.com

+ KEVIN EDWARDS

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
edwardskevin@mac.com

+ LEO HOLZENTHAL

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
llholzen@msbenbow.com

+ MARCO NELSON

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
marco@getrentcheck.com

+ MAX VORHOFF

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.
mvorhoff@lvcpartners.com

+ NICHOLAS CALLAIS

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
nick@callaiscapital.com

+ PATRICK COMER

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.
pcomer@luc.id

+ ROBBIE VITRANO

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
robbie@trumpetgroup.com

+ SAM PEAKE

Bio Coming Soon

Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Banking, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling sfpeake@gmail.com

+ STEPHANIE DORSEY

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
stephanie@e2jdj.com

+ TONY ZANDERS

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
tony@skilltype.com

+ ALFREDO SANCHEZ

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

+ BROOK BISSINGER

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
brook5280@gmail.com

+ COREY JONES

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

+ DARYL ROY

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
daryl.roy@3dmedia.io

+ DIPTI RAVICHANDRAN | IIR

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

+ EDDIE CLIFF

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
eddie.cliff@gmail.com

+ GREGORY BROWNE

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
haswell@aol.com

+ JEREMY HUNNEWELL

CFO & Business Strategist
Zehnder Communications

Jeremy has deep financial and analytical experience across a variety of industries. He’s a CPA but he doesn’t let that interfere with his work developing forward-looking projections. He’s seen a lot of companies as an auditor and understands how today's decisions will have ramifications in the future. Jeremy’s warm, happy place is Excel.


Areas of Expertise
Accounting/Bookkeeping, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, General Business Strategy
jeremyh@z-comm.com

+ JOHN FOSTER

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.
johnfoster26@yahoo.com

+ JOSH WEBB

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
josh.m.webb@gmail.com

+ KIRK COCO

Director of Account Management and Sales
NOLA Brewing
US Naval Officer who transitioned to Entrepreneurship, founding NOLA Brewing Company and NOLA Distilling Company. I have brought a concept from napkin idea to fully developed successful $4.5 million/year revenue company, and also started a company and failed three years in. Both of these experiences gave me a unique knowledge base of both success and failure in the entrepreneurship arena.

Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics, Financial Modeling, Fundraising, Management, Project Management
kirkcoco@me.com

+ LESLIE CAMPISI

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.


lesliecampisi@gmail.com

+ MATT CANDLER

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

+ MIKE KATZ

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
mike@bensoncp.com

+ NICK CAREY

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
nick.carey@gmail.com

+ PETER LIU | IIR

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
peter@revelry.co

+ ROBIN BARNES

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.
robin@resilienceresolutions.com

+ SANJEEV AGRAWAL

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
sanjeev1969@gmail.com

+ STEPHEN NEAL

Data Analyst
Dapper

Finance undergrad. Worked several years as financial consultant. Transitioned into sports with a focus on data analytics. Worked a few internships and served as graduate assistant w/ northwestern basketball before joining the Pelicans + Saints in their business intelligence department. Worked in this capacity for over 4 years before leaving in October to work for Dapper.

Areas of Expertise

Data Analytics, General Business Strategy, Project Management
stephen.neal88@gmail.com

+ TJ NEAL

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
tjneal@me.com

+ WALKER SAIK

Managing Director
Ernst & Young

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
walker.saik@ey.com

+ ANDRE CHAMPAGNE

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
andre.champagne@passcodeentertainment.com

+ CAROLINE CRUMLEY | IIR

Investor
Benson Capital Partners.
Caroline a venture capitalist and works for Benson Capital Partners, an investment firm focused on making investments across the Gulf South. She is a native New Orleanian and is thrilled to be living back in New Orleans.

Areas of Expertise
Banking, Fundraising + Investor Relationships, Financial Modeling, Project Management
caroline@bensoncp.com

+ COREY TISDALE | EIR

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.
coreytisdale@me.com

+ COY HENDERSON

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
coy@levelset.com

+ DAVE GUILFORD

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
dguilford@ft.newyorklife.com

+ DIEGO LLANEZA

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
dllanez@entergy.com

+ EDWIN BRAGG

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.

+ HISHAM YOUNIS

CTO
Levelset

Building technology and managing engineering teams.

Areas of Expertise
Data Analytics, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development, Website Development

+ JOE BRINZ

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.
joebrinz@eisllc.net

+ JOHN MARSHALL

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
john.marshall@seriesnextsolutions.com

+ JUSTIN WOHLSTADTER | EIR

Founder & CEO
Waldo.fyi

Founder & CEO of Waldo.fyi, where we're building a better Google search, for work. Before that was Founder & CEO of AskWonder.com, the largest on-demand desk research service, powered by a hive mind of brilliant research analysts around the world. Before founding AskWonder.com, served as the Director of Product Design for Divide (acquired by Google) out of their New York, Hong Kong, and London offices. Prior to that, co-founded BOLDstart Ventures, where I led or co-led investments in Divide, GoInstant (acquired by Salesforce), Klout (acquired by Lithium), Rapportive (acquired by LinkedIn), Blaze (acquired by Akamai), ThinkNear (acquired by Telenav), IndieGoGo, and Yipit, among others. Attended Harvard University and Oxford University, writing my master's dissertation on how the Internet will affect access to higher education.

Areas of Expertise
Business Development & Sales, Business Modeling, Data Analytics, Design, Financial Modeling, Fundraising & Investor Relations, General Business Strategy, Legal, Management/Human Resources, Market Research, Project Management, Software Programming/Technology Development, Website Development
justin@waldo.fyi

+ JULIAN HEBERT | EIR

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
julian@ideavillage.org

+ KWAMENA AIDOO

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 kwamena.aidoo@gmail.com

+ LOUISA SMITH

Managing Director
NO/LA Angel Network

Louisa is the Managing Director of the NO/LA Angel Network (NO/LAAN), a New Orleans based network of over 120 accredited Angel Investors. Since the network’s inception in 2014, NO/LAAN members have invested over $10M in early-stage companies while helping entrepreneurs grow businesses through fundraising, mentoring, and networking. Louisa is responsible for leading NO/LAAN’s operations and deal flow activity, including due diligence, syndication, and portfolio management. In addition to her role as Managing Director at NO/LAAN, Louisa also serves as the Manager of The Pelican Angel Fund. She earned an MBA with a concentration in finance from Tulane’s A B Freeman School of Business after receiving her BA, Cum Laude, from Tulane in 2012.
louisa@nolaangelnetwork.org

+ MAURICIO PRIETO

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.
mprieto@gmail.com

+ NAGESH PABBISETTY

Bio Coming Soon

+ OWEN BROWN

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
owen.brown@paid4.io

+ RAMIN TABIB

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
tabibramin@outlook.com

+ RUPA MOHAN

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.

+ SCOTT WOLFE

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
scott@levelset.com

+ SYDNEY NEAL

Senior Technical 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.

Areas of Expertise

Personnel, Team Growth, HR
sydneyasherman@gmail.com

+ TOM MANCUSO

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

+ WILL LOVETT

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
will@trayaway.com