Elevator Pitch Finals
Bill Maris co-founder of Google Ventures
Bill Maris is a Managing Partner of Google Ventures. Bill brings more than a decade of diverse operational, entrepreneurial and leadership experience to Google Ventures. Bill's past successes include founding Web hosting pioneer Burlee.com, which he subsequently sold to Interland, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW), now known as Web.com. Prior to that, Bill was a portfolio manager for Stockholm, Sweden-based Investor AB, one of the world's largest industrial holding companies, where he co-managed the biotechnology and health care portfolios. Bill’s background also includes scientific research into cholinergic visual pathways, cell membrane patch clamping techniques and in-vivo neuronal cell injection at Duke University Medical Center, Department of Neurobiology. Bill is based in Mountain View, CA and received an A.B. with honors in Neuroscience from Middlebury College.
Undergraduate-led Startups Track:
Rich West '77, CEO of Advanced Liquid Logic
Mr. West is CEO of Advanced Liquid Logic, his third early stage company as CEO. Advanced Liquid Logic is a fast-growing Duke technology spinout exploiting a novel microfluidics technology that the company will apply to medical diagnostics and other markets.
Prior to joining Advanced Liquid Logic, Mr. West was founder and CEO of TriVirix, a medical equipment contract manufacturer. Mr. West managed the growth of TriVirix from inception in 1998 to over $70M in revenue, winning #1 in the 2004 Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 in North Carolina. At TriVirix Mr. West raised over $40M in private capital and completed three acquisitions.
After earning an engineering degree from Duke University Mr. West spent fifteen years in the aerospace industry in program, sales, marketing, and engineering management, including four years as a commissio ned officer in the US Air Force. In 1996 he joined Tecstar as a general manager of their electronic systems division and left there to found TriVirix.
Mr. West has an MBA from the University of West Florida and has completed all requirements except dissertation for a PhD in management from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University. Mr. West serves on the Board for the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and is past Board Chairman for both Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abuse, a non-profit that serves recovering substance abusers, and NCMD, the North Carolina medical device trade association.
Will Pearson '01, Co-founder and President of mental_floss magazine
Will Pearson co-founded mental_floss with Mangesh Hattikudur while both were still students at Duke. mental_floss, “Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix” is a successful magazine and blog site focusing on humorous facts and trivia. Will Pearson graduated from Duke with a BA in 2001.
Jon Fjeld '90, Professor of the Practice and Executive Director, Fuqua's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Jon Fjeld has spent over twenty years in marketing, engineering and general management in start-ups and public companies, as well as five years in academia.
From December, 2000, until July, 2004, he served as vice president of engineering for Align Technology in Santa Clara, CA. Between 1995 and 2000, he served as CEO of two RTP venture backed firms: Geomagic, a 3D software company and NetEdge Systems, a data networking equipment company. Prior to that, Fjeld spent 13 years at IBM, where he served in a number of management and executive positions within the networking and software business units. He began his professional career as an assistant professor in the philosophy department at Duke University.
Fjeld holds a Ph.D. and MA in philosophy from the University of Toronto, an MBA from Duke University, an MS in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BA in mathematics and philosophy from Bishop's University.
'90, Professor of the Practice and Executive Director, Fuqua's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Healthcare & Life Sciences Track
Ralph Snyderman ‘67, Chancellor Emeritus, Duke University, Past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System, James B. Duke Professor of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine, Venture Partner at NEA Associates, and founder and Chairman of Proventys, Inc.
Ralph Snyderman, MD, is Chancellor Emeritus for Health Affairs at Duke University and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine. He served as Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine from 1989 to July 2004. During this period, he oversaw the development of the Duke University Health System, one of the most successful integrated academic health systems in the country, and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer.
During his tenure as Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, the medical school and hospital were ranked among the nations best. A graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Md. (1961), Snyderman received his MD, magna cum laude, in 1965 from the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York. He served his internship and residency in medicine at Duke and later worked as a Public Health Officer doing research in immunology at the NIH (1967-72).
Jonathan Gindes ‘03, Co-founder and CFO of Affinergy, Inc
Jonathan and Affinergy's scientific co-founders (M. Grinstaff, D. Kenan) began working together in 2002 to form Affinergy while Jonathan pursued his M.B.A. at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Jonathan developed Affinergy's initial business strategy, negotiated the technology license from Duke University, and recruited a senior management team along with other scientific staff and business advisors. Jonathan now focuses his time at Affinergy building, strengthening, and managing relationships with Affinergy's corporate partners, as well as overseeing all of Affinergy's financial activities.
Prior to attending Fuqua, Jonathan spent several years working in the corporate strategy group at Deutsche Bank with the firm's senior management team. His work focused on merger integration, IT/Operations consolidation strategies, and business plan development for potential spinouts and involved significant periods of time working overseas, including extensive commitments to projects in London and Frankfort. Jonathan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Rutgers University, and is also certified in Regulatory Affairs.
B. Jefferson Clark ’78, Co-founder and Managing General Partner, Aurora Funds
Jeff Clark co-founded The Aurora Funds with Scott Albert in 1994. He works primarily with Aurora's life sciences portfolio. He pulls from his strategic planning and operational experience to help these companies create or refine business plans, build solid management teams, develop strategic partnerships and secure key customers.
Prior to forming Aurora, Jeff spent thirteen years working in development and external affairs for Duke University (including Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duke Medical Center and the School of Engineering). Through Aurora, he hoped to close the gap between local universities and the venture capital community to facilitate the growth of life science companies.
Jeff maintains strong ties to the RTP community, serving as past Chairman of the Board of North Carolina's Council for Entrepreneurial Development, the Board of Overseers of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Board of Directors for TROSA and the Choral Society of Durham. Jeff is also Founding Chair of NC EntrePAC and associated entities.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Energy & Environment Track
Van Morris ‘78, CEO of US Microgrid
Stacy Glass ‘99, President of CaraGreen
Stacy Glass has her BA from the University of Minnesota and MBA from Duke University. She began consulting with CaraGreen in its formative stage, and then decided she couldn’t leave. Her consulting years, pre-CaraGreen, provided development of expertise in all aspects of operationalizing a business, including financial modeling, business development and fundraising for the non-profit sector, private industry and government. And Stacy has worked on an international level developing and executing start-up strategies for businesses and social enterprises, as well as contributing to rapid growth and expansion by developing new markets and managing multi-million dollar projects. She also serves as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Triangle USGBC.
Jeff Keller External Technology Initiatives at GE
Jeff leads External Technology Initiatives from GE Global Research where he is responsible for leveraging the vast technical resources of GE Global Research in support of GE Energy Financial Services’ venture investment activities, as well monitoring the external technology landscape in the energy space. Jeff’s areas of interest and expertise include grid scale energy storage, biofuels, distributed generation, and waste heat recovery. In 2010, Jeff will serve as a Department of Energy Entrepreneur-in-Residence in the national lab system.
Prior to joining GE in 2007, Dr. Keller worked previously at Harris Williams & Co., the nation’s leading middle market investment banking firm providing transactional advisory services to the private equity community. Jeff has previously served a Visiting Scientist at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. Jeff holds an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management where he was an Emmet Scholar, a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Cell Biology, and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.
Women-led Startups Track
Kimberly Jenkins’76
Dr. Jenkins, a graduate of Duke University (BS 1976, PhD 1980), is the former President of the Internet Policy Institute, an independent, nonprofit research and educational institute that examines global Internet policy issues. She was also the Founder, Chairman, and President of Highway 1, a nonprofit corporation focused on helping the federal government operate more effectively through the use of information technologies.
During her career in management Dr. Jenkins created Microsoft’s Education Division, ran market development at NeXT, and worked as a technical analyst for Control Data Corporation. She has also served as a consultant to companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Sun, Oracle, and Cisco.
Dr. Jenkins has served as a part-time faculty member and mentor to students in the Masters in Engineering Management Program in the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering. Her teaching and speaking engagements focus primarily on issues related to increasing the number and effectiveness of women and minorities in entrepreneurial careers. She currently teaches courses in entrepreneurship and leadership to faculty and students at both Duke University and the University of North Carolina.
Catherine Massey’71, Co-Founder of LawDocsXpress
Catherine E. Massey is the co-founder of LawDocsXpress. She has more than 15 years experience as Owner & President of Legal Resources, Inc., a legal temporary and placement service based in Atlanta, Georgia, with clients all over the United States. In addition, she has more than 10 years experience in corporate management with emphasis in human resources. She has a BA from Duke University and an MS from Georgia State University.
Brooks Bell ’02, Founder and CEO of Brooks Bell Interactive
As President of Brooks Bell Interactive, Brooks leads her team to develop effective conversion strategies and creative solutions. She is a graduate of Duke University with a degree in Psychology. Prior to founding Brooks Bell Interactive in 2003, she co-founded web design and development firm, novelProjects, as a undergraduate in college. Brooks' frequent speaking engagements include presentations at the 2009 Marketing Sherpa Email Summit and 2009 DM Days Conference, the 2008 Internet Summit in Chapel Hill, HOW Magazine's "Mind Your Own Business" for agency principals in 2008, and Duke University Entrepreneurship classes for several years. Additionally, Brooks has been published as an expert in the fields of direct marketing and conversion path optimization in iMedia Connection, Tech Journal South, and Duke Magazine. Brooks is an active member of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO).
Katrin Burt ’04, Partner, Intersouth Partners
Katrin joined Intersouth Partners in 2004, serving as an analyst for two years before joining the information technology investment team. As an analyst, she worked across the firm to aid in both the analysis of potential new investments as well as the growth of Intersouth’s existing portfolio companies.
Katrin joined Intersouth from London-based HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. At HSBC she moved through a series of roles, starting as a foreign exchange trader in London, managing portfolios of treasury products and equities in Tokyo and eventually moving to a business development role managing the annual operating plan for the bank’s billion-dollar Global Markets Europe Division.
Katrin has served on the selection committees for CED’s Venture and Tech conferences and lectures at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. She holds a B.A. from Oxford University. She received an M.B.A. from Duke University and an M.S. in Microsystems and Nanotechnology from Cranfield University.
IT & Media Track
David Samuel, Founder of Freestyle Capital
David Samuel is a founding general partner at Freestyle Capital. A serial entrepreneur, David is the co-founder of Spinner Networks, Grouper, and Brondell. David is a graduate of MIT.
Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO of ShareFile ‘00
A self-taught software programmer and entrepreneur, Jesse has been involved in internet technologies since 1999, when he co-founded a software company focused on the personalization of online advertising. In 2001, he became President of Rapidata.net, a pharmaceutical marketing research company. In just two years, he helped grow revenues at Rapidata.net by over 500% and laid the foundation for the company's acquisition by Greenfield Online (SRVY). Subsequent to Rapidata.net, Jesse co-founded the internet services firm novelProjects and served as the company's CEO. Over the years, novelProjects has evolved into Brooks Bell Interactive and ShareFile. Jesse serves as the Vice President of Brooks Bell Interactive, an online advertising services company with clients such as AOL, AARP, and Nickelodeon and 20 employees. He currently serves as President and CEO for ShareFile, an inte rnet software company. In less than 4 years, ShareFile has grown from zero to over 7,000 customers and 17 full-time employees. In September 2006, ShareFile registered its 10,000th user after introducing their services to the international market less than a year before. Jesse graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duke University degree in philosophy in 2000.
Sue Harnett, Founder and CEO of Replay Photos ‘90
Sue Harnett, originally a native of Staten, Island, NY, joined the Duke Women's basketball team in 1988 and graduated a 4 year letter winner and All-America selection in 1991. During her time at Duke University, she became a charter inductee into the Duke Basketball Hall of Honor, as she led the Blue Devils in scoring in both her junior and senior seasons. Harnett became the 4th all-time leading scorer in Duke Basketball history with a career point total of 1,785 points.
After retiring from professional basketball in Europe and healthcare administration at Duke University, Harnett turned Replay Photos into her full time passion in 2005. The original idea for Replay Photos sparked Harnett's mind during her college days playing on the hardwood of Cameron Indoor Stadium. While at Duke, Harnett came across an old closet of Duke athletic photos and was inspired to preserve and share these priceless memories with those around her. The Replay Photos model began with one school, Duke, in 2003 and has since grown to over 100 Universities in 2009. Harnett devotes her passion and energy to forming relationships with universities to provide unmatched service and dedication.
When not working with Replay Photos, Harnett can be found spending time with her four kids and husband Rich. Sue also enjoys college basketball, cycling, great food and anything to do with New York City.
Joe Velk, Founder of Contender Capital ‘85
Joe Velk is a seasoned venture capitalist with 20 years of investment and company building experience. From 1990 to 2003, Joe served as one of two investing partners at The North Carolina Enterprise Fund (NCEF), a $20 million evergreen venture capital fund based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park area. At NCEF, Joe led information technology investing and sourced, executed, and managed investments that generated substantial gains to investors. Representative investments include: Broadband Technologies (BBTK), Orologic (acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor for $450 million), RF Micro Devices (RFMD), and SELEE Corporation (acquired by Porvair, Plc).
Before NCEF, he was a partner at Intersouth Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm also located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park area. Joe currently serves as a board member or an advisor to several high technology companies that are positioned to become market leaders. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Social Enterprises Track
Bill Stevenson ‘96, Founder of The Elevator, Formerly Director of Social Investments at Lenovo
Bill Stevenson manages Corporate Social Investments for Lenovo, which is a 21st century way of saying he directs philanthropy programs. Bill’s job is to help create a culture of giving in Lenovo that not only has an impact on society, but also aligns with Lenovo’s corporate strategy. Bill has been working in marketing for Lenovo and IBM’s Personal Computing Division for a total of six years, with a few years off chasing his dotcom dream in the early 2000’s. He has also served on several nonprofit boards and is the creator of the Carolina Hope Festival, a music and arts celebration that benefits women and children in Africa affected by HIV / AIDS.
Bill has a bachelor’s degree in theology from Grove City College, an MBA from Duke University, and a certificate in International Business Management from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Products & Services Track
Jay Mebane CEO of Snaptotes.com ’90, 99
Michael Olander President and CEO of Apple Gold Group
Michael D. Olander is the president and owner of the Apple Gold Group, which he founded in 1979 after graduating from law school. The Apple Gold Group currently owns and operates a total of 80 restaurants in four states. Over the years the Apple Gold Group has also divested itself of another thirty restaurants in two states.
Peter Heffring President of Futures, Inc
Peter joined Futures Inc. as President and equity partner in 2008 and plans to bring the Future Talent Management Platform to Fortune 1000 companies and regional economic development projects. Prior to Futures, Peter was the co-founder and CEO of Ceres Integrated Solutions, which quickly became a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software and analytical services with clients such as Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Lowes Home Improvement, Wells Fargo, and Travelocity. Ceres was acquired by NCR for $90M in 2000. As President of Teradata CRM Division, Peter led his CRM solution to remarkable revenue growth and industry acclaim. Prior to founding Ceres, Peter rose through the IBM organization, taking on a series of leadership roles in marketing, manufacturing, corporate finance, forecasting and international management.
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