Entrepreneurship Summit March 31 - April 1, 2022

Emory Entrepreneurship Summit Speakers

  • Founders Address Speaker

    Thursday, March 31st 5:15PM - 6:15PM (GBS Auditorium)

    Vivek Garipalli

    Vivek Garipalli is the co-founder and CEO of Clover Health, a health insurance company leveraging data to proactively improve health outcomes, filling gaps in care and reducing avoidable costs. Prior to founding Clover, Vivek founded CarePoint Health, a fully integrated healthcare system in New Jersey. Through his role at CarePoint – whose mission is to serve uninsured and underinsured patient populations – Vivek experienced the misalignment of providers and insurance companies first-hand. Prior to CarePoint, Vivek owned and operated various outpatient facilities. He began his career in finance, holding roles at Credit Suisse First Boston, J.P. Morgan Partners and Blackstone Group. Vivek is active in health tech, serving as a board member of Flatiron Health and Doctor Evidence. He earned a BBA from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University with a concentration in entrepreneurship.
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  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session Session 1B: 10:00AM - 11:00AM (GBS_304)

    Jared Belsky

    Jared Belsky is CEO and Co-Founder of Acadia. Before starting Acadia with Sean Belnick, Jared Belsky was CEO of 360i, one of the top advertising & marketing agencies in the U.S. Under Jared’s leadership, 360i was named Adweek’s Breakthrough Media Agency of the year, repeatedly ranked among the best Performance Marketing Agencies by Forrester Research, and featured in AdAge’s coveted A-List issue for eight consecutive years. Jared is also the author of The Great Client Partner, a book written to help educate and inspire around the topic of soft skills, and is a frequent contributor to AdAge, Adweek, and AdExchanger. Jared was named to AdAge’s “40 Under 40”in 2017, honored as “Executive of the Year” at the 2016 Bing Awards, on Adweek’s Media All-Star list in 2014, and has served as a trusted advisor to world-class brands. Jared is an active member of the Atlanta investment and entrepreneurial community. Jared serves as an Operating Partner for Overline, a top seed-stage venture capital firm operated by Michael Cohn and Sean O’Brien. Jared serves on the board of directors for DTC laundry start-up 2ULaundry and serves as an advisor to Off Beat Media Group, On-Site Dental, and Grubbly Farms. Before joining 360i, Jared had over a decade of digital marketing experience, including launching a new CPG brand, managing the integrated media budget for Coca-Cola’s Fanta brand, and working in media buying and account roles as one of the first employees at Avenue A (now Sapient Razorfish). Jared received an M.B.A. from Emory University in Marketing & Management and a B.A. with Honors from the University of Pennsylvania. When not working, Jared is with family. He enjoys time in nature—ideally, Acadia National Park. If not that, he can be seen rooting for the Mets (which creates a lot of resilience) or figuring out his life-long dream of being a college professor one day, 20 years from now.

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session 2A: 11:15AM - 12:15PM (GBS_301)

    Eden Chen

    Eden is the founder of Pragma. Pragma is a backend game engine that enables multiplayer and social games. Pragma has raised $40 million from investors like Insight, Greylock, Upfront, and the founders of Twitch, Oculus, Zynga, Scopely, Cloudera, TSM, and Plaid. Before this, Eden was the founder of Fishermen Labs, the largest creator of branded AR and VR experiences and Lightmark Capital, a Los Angeles based hedge fund. Prior to these ventures, he worked as an investment banker at Citigroup and Lehman Brothers. Eden was selected as a part of Forbes’ 30 under 30, LA Business Journal's 20 in their 20’s, Emory Magazine’s 40 under 40, and was a TedX speaker. Eden graduated from Emory University.

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session 1A: 10:00AM - 11:00AM (GBS_301)

    Dustin Finkle

    Dustin is the founder and CEO of Awakened Foods, comprised of Ka-Pop! Snacks, B.Fine Foods, and Awakened Food Crafters. Awakened Foods, through its brands and manufacturing arm, deliver outstanding food products to consumers across the globe. Awakened Foods, and its entities, are growing 350%/year and have been acknowledged as the fastest growing business in Colorado and featured on Shark Tank. Following his BBA from Emory University, Dustin began his career as an investment banker and equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs. Following his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, he shifted into CPG general management. Dustin started his food career at General Mills where he led a team to transition Chex Cereal to Gluten Free, the first national gluten-free product from a multinational CPG. From there, he has held several leadership roles at WhiteWave Foods, Famous Brands, Abbott Nutrition and multiple PE-backed Natural Foods companies. Additionally, Dustin is a Professor of Business at The University of Colorado, Boulder. Dustin is a community service leader and participant; competitor in multiple sporting events, avid cross fitter and is passionate about food.

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session 2B: 11:15AM - 12:15PM (GBS_304)

    Gardiner Garrard

    Gardiner Garrard is the co-founder and managing partner of TTV Capital, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm focused on early stage fintech companies. Since its founding in 2000, TTV Capital has invested in 80+ companies, including the category defining fintech companies bill.com, Cardlytics, Greendot, Greenlight, Taxbit, MX, SmartAsset, and many others. Gardiner began his career in venture capital in the late 1990s and was one of the first venture investors to recognize the transformative impact technology would have in the constitution and delivery of financial services. He has since been recognized multiple times as one of Institutional Investor’s top fintech investors. To date, Gardiner has served an active director role for 15 TTV Capital portflio companies. Gardiner earned a B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. In 2004, he was honored with the Goizueta Business School’s Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. Gardiner is the Vice Chair and Chairman-elect of the Shuford Entrepreneurship Program at UNC Chapel Hill. He is also a board member for the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, a past board member for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and a member of the advisory boards for the Emory Eye Center and the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session 1A: 10:00AM - 11:00AM (GBS_301)

    Caren Kelleher

    One of the main reasons Caren Kelleher 05B, founder and president of Gold Rush Vinyl, chose Emory was because of the region’s entertainment industry. With her background in both liberal arts and business, Caren had multiple internships which showed her what she didn't like to do, “which is just as important as finding out what you like to do,” she says. Over the years, Kelleher has taken a winding road to her current hometown of Austin, Texas. From her first job at Paste Magazine in Atlanta and earning her MBA in Boston to serving as the first US employee for a music start-up based in London and the launch team of Google Music, the one thread that ties her whole journey together is a love of music and wanting to help musicians succeed in a tough industry. While holding these 9-5s, Kelleher started a pro bono music management company that was operational for seven years and eventually led her to her a-ha moment: while streaming is a profitable business for apps and a great service for consumers, these apps pay a pittance to the artists who are trying to make a living doing what they love. “The thing I love most about entrepreneurship is creating jobs,” says Kelleher. “When I walk into the factory and see everybody bringing their own joy and quirks to the work, well, it’s just extremely rewarding.”

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session 2B: 11:15AM - 12:15PM (GBS_304)

    Kerry Leigh Miller

    Kerry Leigh Miller is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Overton Venture Capital, an early-stage VC fund dedicated to investing in ambitious entrepreneurs building exceptional, next generation consumer brands and services at the intersection of commerce and digital influence. She is a startup advisor focused on human capital strategy including building high performing teams, managing and incentivizing talent. Kerry spent eight years at Goldman Sachs where she joined the investment bank as head of talent and recruiting strategy. During her tenure at the investment bank, Kerry held leadership roles across technology, real estate and finance. Kerry began her career in management consulting at Willis Towers Watson. As a philanthropist, Kerry sits on the board of directors of UJA Federation of NY. She was selected as the recipient of the inaugural Elaine Winik Award for Excellence in Young Leadership. Kerry has also been a 10-year member and grantor of The Natan Fund, a venture philanthropy organization that funds social impact start-ups in Israel and globally, where she sits on the Confronting Antisemitism and Jerusalem Renewal Allocation Committees. Kerry graduated from Emory University's Goizueta Business School with a degree in Finance and Marketing and earned her MBA degree from Columbia Business School where she focused on organizational behavior and design. She was the Georgia high school state champion in the mile run & scored a perfect 800 on the math SAT.

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session Session 2A: 11:15AM - 12:15PM (GBS_301)

    Omer Sattar

    Omer is Co-Founder and Co-CEO for Sightline where he plays a pivotal role influencing the future of the company, covering new business development, and partnership strategies. Prior to Sightline, Omer served as President of UB Ventures, a service provider to the prepaid card industry. Previously, he was SVP of Cash Access Services for Global Cash Access Inc. (NYSE: EVRI), Omer started his career in debt capital markets, and healthcare corporate and investment banking with Wachovia Securities.

  • Alumni Workshop Speaker

    Workshop Session 1A: 10:00AM - 11:00AM (GBS_301)

    Josh Sigel

    Josh is currently the Founder and CEO of Lasso Ventures, a digital studio and venture platform focused on building, accelerating, and investing in companies from early and growth stage start-ups to large corporations. Pioneering venture management or business-as-a-service, Lasso aims to serve as an extension of the companies it partners with and focuses on bringing senior-level talent and operational and digital acumen across the areas of food, health & wellness, retail, consumer products and services, and hospitality. In addition to Lasso, Josh is the Founder and CEO of SHĹŚ Group. SHĹŚ Group is a hospitality platform setting a new standard in the industry, delivering experiences that transport guests by harmonizing elements of culinary and social energy through unparalleled service, superior food quality, and innovative technology Josh graduated with honors from Emory University Goizueta School of Business with a Bachelors in Business Administration majoring in Decision and Information Analysis, Consulting and Venture Management.

2022 Peachtree Minority Venture Fund Panelists

A MILLION-DOLLAR VENTURE CAPITAL FUND FOCUSED EXCLUSIVELY ON BLACK, LATINX, AND NATIVE AMERICAN FOUNDERS Underrepresented minority founders receive less than 3% of US venture capital investment. A large part of that issue is that typical venture capital investors are White/Asian and have very little exposure to underrepresented minority markets. Peachtree seeks to play a role in changing these narratives.

General Partner Zabe Venture Fund 

Shila Nieves Burney

Shila Nieves Burney, an award-winning project manager, is the Founding and Managing Partner of Zane Venture Fund. Shila spent her 20+ year career advocating for marginalized groups. She has worked closely with leading organizations and exceptional talent to create solutions that address disparities through investment in human capital.

Shila founded ZANE Venture Fund, a seed fund that invests in underrepresented founders with the goal of closing the funding gap while generating high returns for investors. Shila also founded Zane Access which provides early-stage companies led by diverse teams access to cross-functional experts, resources, best practices and customized content critical to accelerating growth. Shila is an Executive in Residence at Harvard Ventures and VC-mentor for Pipeline Angels.

Shila is also the recipient Atlanta Inno's 2021 Fire Awards and the winner of the 2020 Unsung Heroes' Champion Award by the Female Founders Alliance. Shila is a sought after speaker who has been called on to speak across the world about the changing dynamics of venture capital and the missed $4T opportunity of investing in diverse founder and teams.

The objective of the Pitch the Summit competition is to provide Emory undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to learn how to effectively pitch an idea for a new venture. Winning individuals and teams will receive guidance, financial support, and in-kind contributions in order to move the venture forward.

An elevator pitch verbally outlines an entrepreneurial concept or idea in a short period of time. Participating individuals or teams will have the opportunity to pitch their idea to panels of judges, with the most successful pitches advancing through three rounds of competition.

The first round of the 2022 Pitch the Summit Competition is now closed. 

 

2019 Summit Highlights

  • 2019 Founders Address

    William Hockey (Co-Founder, President and CTO at Plaid) and David Politis (Founder & CEO, BetterCloud) served as the 2019 Founders Address speakers for the Emory Entrepreneurship Summit. Conference attendees, students, and alumni were treated to an exciting pair of chats hosted by Dean Andrea Hershatter during which each entrepreneur shared their success story, tips for distinguishing your company in an ever changing market, and advice that inspired the next generation of entrepreneurs.

  • 2019 Venture Spotlights

    The 2019 Venture Spotlights featured Emory alumni who have distinguished themselves in various industries by creating products and services that have addressed unique needs in the marketplace. Each entrepreneur spoke about their company, provided advice to summit attendees, and later served as judges for the 2019 Pitch the Summit Competition final round.

WILLIAM HOCKEY

Co-Founder, President and CTO at Plaid

William Hockey is the co-Founder, President and CTO at Plaid, the technology company providing the tools and access needed for the development of a fully modern, and digitally-enabled financial system. Plaid powers the financial experiences for a quarter of the US population and tens of thousands of developers across North America and Europe. After learning firsthand how difficult it was to build and scale a secure finance software, William and his co-founder Zach Perret started Plaid in 2012, creating a toolkit to encourage an inclusive and competitive ecosystem that drives innovation while protecting consumers’ financial data.

Plaid has raised over $300M in fundraising at over a $2.5b valuation and has witnessed exponential growth since its founding - today, one in four people in the US with bank accounts use Plaid. Prior to starting Plaid, William studied computer science and business at Emory University and worked as a consultant at Bain.

DAVID POLITIS

Founder, CEO BetterCloud

David Politis is the founder and CEO of BetterCloud, the first SaaS Management and Security platform, where he oversees the day-to-day activities of the company and is responsible for the overall product vision and business strategy. Over 2,500 companies in 60+ countries rely on BetterCloud for continuous event monitoring, threat remediation, and fully automated policy enforcement across their digital workplace. With 250+ employees in Atlanta, New York City, and San Francisco, BetterCloud has raised over $100 million to date from investors including Bain Capital Ventures and Accel. As a pioneer in the cloud services industry, David has vast experience launching and building high growth technology companies and an immense passion for enterprise cloud technology.

Before founding BetterCloud, David was an early employee of Cloud Sherpas (acquired by Accenture [NYSE: ACN]), a preeminent leader in cloud advisory and technology services. As the VP of SMB Solutions, David led Cloud Sherpas to become the leading cloud services partner to small and medium sized businesses worldwide. Prior to Cloud Sherpas, David was the founding employee and General Manager of Vocalocity (acquired by Vonage [NYSE: VG]), which he grew into one of the top providers of cloud PBX technology. As General Manager, David ran day to day operations and led the company’s product strategy.

David is a native of New York City and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Emory University. He has contributed to TechCrunch, Mashable, VentureBeat, Forbes, The New York Times and others.

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