Start-Opia

Jim Eckstein / Founder of The Ignition Project and Partner at The Angel Advisors Pete Santora / Startup Catalyst & Entrepreneur in Residence at ATDC

Sly Barisic/FotoIn Mobile Sly Barisic is the founder and CEO of FotoIN Mobile, the only automated and searchable photo documentation solution. Sly founded the company in 2012 after running the largest publicly traded, private equity real estate fund, for a Croatian fund management group. Before that he worked for Capital One, in the US Card division, on multiple projects spanning risk management and online products. Sly earned his MBA at the Terry School of Business at the University of Georgia in finance, real estate, entrepreneurship and risk management.  Along with running FotoIN, Sly is also an active angel investor and member of the Citrix GoToMeeting Virtual Customer Advisory Board.   Matt Suber/Split Matthew Suber is the former lead mobile experience designer for CNN and design polymath that has spent most of his 8 year career in the mobile space developing a range of products including mobile point-of-sales systems, various mobile pay apps and in-store retail applications for brands like Verizon and Ann Taylor. Titania Jordan/Kidslink Titania Jordan serves as chief marketing officer of Kidslink, a private social network and world-managing app for parents. With over a decade of experience in advertising, sales, digital marketing, blogging, and PR, and multiple platforms for expression, she thrives on helping brands make valuable and meaningful connections.

This show focuses on successful entrepreneurs involved in repeat ventures and features Ed Trimble, president of Bonds Cove and Jim Garrett, chief revenue officer of Tillster. Ed Trimble/Bonds Cove Ed Trimble is the President of Bonds Cove, a digital consultancy helping companies capture new opportunities created by emerging technologies. After starting his career at Accenture, Ed has been a serial entrepreneur in the Atlanta tech community for 20 years. Ed was a Founder and President/CEO of InterArch Technologies, SparkIP, Kevy and EzGov. EzGov, a pioneer in the e-government space with 180 employees across 4 global offices, was acquired by CACI in 2009. Ed has received recognition for his companies’ successes including Ernst and Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year and Duke University’s Distinguished Young Alumnus.   Jim Garrett/Tillster James (Jim) Garrett, founder and CEO of Snapfinger.com received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Georgia in 1980 and his MBA from Georgia State in 1991. He has spent more than 30 years developing and marketing advanced application technology including the deployment of much of the Internet’s initial infrastructure with companies like Scientific Atlanta, Cisco and Harris Corporation.  In 1993 Garrett formed Accelerated Growth Partners, a consulting firm focused on re-inventing companies and strategic business initiatives around the changes brought on by the Internet and other advanced technologies; assisting companies such as Disney, Bank of America, Cisco, Equifax, NET and others. Garrett is largely credited as being one of the pioneers behind the Internet banking and online bill payment industry.  His accomplishments included developing and marketing the leading on-line banking technology in the financial services industry. In 2004, Garrett started Kudzu Interactive AKA Snapfinger Inc. the leading provider of remote ordering technology within the restaurant industry.  Today Snapfinger as the Internet’s largest and only nation-wide restaurant online ordering site (www.Snapfinger.com) with over 12,000 restaurants in over 3,600 cities. Garrett’s vision for Snapfinger is to enable their restaurant partners to take advantage of emerging technologies and new media applications.  Snapfinger has over 6 million registered users and has processed more than 25 million online orders.  Snapfinger’s mobile app represents the single largest mobile ecommerce application connecting mobile users to thousand of restaurants for ordering and payment.

Fredrik Westin, the president of Sensiotec and Tommy Cunningham, the co-founder and COO of CCB Research Group both speak about the trends they are seeing in the healthcare space.

Cynthia Morneweck / Great Parents Academy   Cynthia oversees the overall strategic and operational responsibility of the three core areas of the company: Learning, Technology and Business. She provides leadership and coordination to the senior management team and is on the Board of Directors keeping them abreast of strategies progress and challenges. Prior to GPA, Cynthia worked for PointClear Solutions, a consulting firm in the healthcare vertical. She was the Director of Operations for the UX practice. She also worked for Northrup Grumman as a Lead UX practitioner on a CDC contract. Before that she worked for the CTO of Georgia Institute of Technology as a UX practitioner promoting and helping the IT team produce a more user-centered approach to building applications. Even though her roles have changed over the years, her love of User Experience stays with her. She applies the core principles of the discipline (HCI) to all aspects of her life. “I can’t turn it off. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I breathe it. It has served me well.” Cynthia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Psychology from Smith College as well as a Masters of Science in Human Computer Interaction (Computer Science) from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Along with her GPA responsibilities, Cynthia is a wife and mother (daughter and son). Steven Walker / Great Parents Academy Steven is responsible for developing strategic partnerships and relationships to foster community growth with corporate child sponsors, charitable foundations, parent associations and education organizations. Prior to joining GPA, Steven served as the CEO of a charter high school that focused on career academies and a STEM curriculum. He served on a subcommittee to advance STEM education for the state of GA and he currently serves on the education committees and board of trustees for two independent schools in Atlanta. Steven has over 22 years of experience in operations, finance and business strategy where he ran a multi-national information technology training and consulting company and oversaw the operations and financial controls of two restaurants as a franchisee and two mega-fitness centers in Atlanta and in District Heights, MD. Before pursuing his entrepreneurial passions, Steven structured and executed investment-banking transactions for Bank of America, formerly NationsBank, in the corporate finance and private placements groups. Steven holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Along with his GPA responsibilities, Steven’s other duties are as a husband and father (daughter and son). Sarah Lodato / The Iron Yard     John Saddington / The Iron Yard     A serial entrepreneur, John is a graduate of Georgia Tech and has two Master degrees from Dallas Seminary. He’s been an engineer and executive in the Fortune 50 as well as leading his own bootstrapped and venture-funded startups. He currently is a Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at The Iron Yard, a technology accelerator, incubator, and code school. He also continues to work on his iOS app Pressgram and his OS X app, Desk PM. Phillip Hardin / YouScience   An experienced technology CEO, Philip Hardin has spent his career building technology products to solve complex industry issues. Now Mr. Hardin is tackling two of the most pressing issues of today – education and employment –with YouScience and its product Latitude®. Prior to YouScience, Mr. Hardin joined a start-up in Atlanta in 1995 focused on technology innovation in healthcare where he stayed for 17 years until the company was $1.3 Billion in revenues. He served in various executive capacities at Healtheon, WebMD and Emdeon before it was sold to the Blackstone Group. Mr. Hardin received a B.S. in accounting from the University of Georgia and received an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Daryl Dollinger/Big Game Brands Since 2007, Dollinger has been the president and co-founder of Big Game Brands (formerly Raving Brands). As the head of the company, he oversees functions including franchisee marketing, sourcing and qualification, sales and recruiting, franchisee relations, franchise training and operations, real estate, legal, finance and general administration. Dollinger is the key player on the management team since the company's inception five years ago. He works with a diverse team of eight individuals who assist in the management of the enterprise. Prior to his time at Raving Brands, Dollinger was involved in all facets of restaurant management with companies such as ARAMARK and Einstein’s Bagels. He is a member of the International Franchise Association (IFA) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Steven Carse/King of Pops Steven Carse founded King of Popsin April of 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. Steven, born in Minnesota, but raised in Georgia, was living in Idaho before moving to Atlanta in 2007 to work for AIG. This move would indefinitely change the course of his life as he would find that the corporate world had its ups and down after he was laid off and left with the opportunity to start something big. Inspired by his numerous trips to Central and South America, Steven began experimenting with fresh paleta (Spanish for popsicles) flavors and sought to bring those delicious fruit based creations to Atlanta. In 2010, with the help of friends and family, the first King of Pops cart popped up in the corner of North Avenue and Highland Ave and has been there ever since. Steven is optimistic for the future of King of Pops as it grows in a smart-environmentally conscious way.

Allyson Eman / Venture Atlanta

Dean Trevelino and Genna Keller / Trevelino Keller    Everett Steele/Kanga