Grooming The Next Generation Of Startup CEOs
Sectors: Technology
CEO of Wishclipper.com
Ariel Assaf founded and is currently CEO of Wishclipper.com, a consumer internet company that is building an intelligent agent that can act as personal shopper. Previously Ariel Founded and exited a successful consumer products company that became a very well known jewelry brand. After studying economics (thesis in Game Theory) Ariel was a strategy consultant in industries as diverse as semiconductors and Energy. He holds a Masters in Economics from McGill University.
Sectors: Technology, Clean Tech
Founder & CEO, Retroficiency
Bennett Fisher is Founder and CEO of Retroficiency, a web-based platform that helps commercial real estate owners maximize value when retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency and sustainability. He is a recent MBA graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management where he was Co-President of both the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club and the Innovation Club as well as a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Prior to Sloan, Bennett worked for a real estate private equity firm doing acquisitions and asset management and a financial consulting company before that. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and has successfully started three companies to date. Bennett holds a Bachelors degree from the Johns Hopkins University and currently lives in Boston with his wife and dog.
Sectors: Technology, Clean Tech, Life Sciences
VP of Technology Development, Nano-Terra Inc.
Brian Mayers is VP of Technology Development at Nano-Terra Inc., which he joined as the Founding Scientist. He earned his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle and worked as a Research Assistant at NASAs AMES Center, before joining Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow working in Professor George Whitesides group on a range of collaborative interdisciplinary research projects in assembly, nanotechnology, bioengineering and applied optics.
Sectors: Technology
Co-founder & CEO, Pinyadda
Chase Gabardino is a Co-founder and CEO of Pinyadda, a web startup based in downtown Boston that provides users with personalized and social news and content aggregation. Pinyadda was chosen at the DEMOfall 2009 conference as one of seven companies with the best pitch and most likely to succeed in market. Prior to founding Pinyadda, Chase was a Co-founder and President of The Campus Word, a national collegiate media outlet that hosted hundreds of articles a week from a staff of over 100 college journalists from 65 of the countries top academic institutions. Chase is an avid Boston sports fan and supporter of the Massachusetts tech startup scene. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Hamilton College.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Designer
Emily Rothschild is an Industrial Designer interested in problem solving for individuals and communities. She is co-founder of Hello! We Are, a collective of artists, designers, and engineers with a range of interests, experiences, and skills. With a BA in art history and two fellowships in curatorial studies, Emily worked in art museums such as the Guggenheim, Whitney, and New Museum before returning to the Rhode Island School of Design for a Master’s degree in Industrial Design. Emily’s graduate work investigates individual needs and preferences relating to medication management in our lives and homes today; new tools which aim to integrate medicine into daily routines relating to quality of life. This continued body of work received a departmental award and has subsequently been selected for multiple exhibitions, recognized by design publications, and sold at design stores. A native New Yorker, Emily currently resides in Cambridge, MA, where she pursues projects that cultivate her love of all things design.
Sectors: Technology
Founder, Shareaholic, Inc.
Jay Meattle is the founder of Shareaholic, Inc. (www.shareaholic.com), a company fanatical about making sharing on the web better, faster, and easier. Over 1 million people have used the award winning tools created by Shareaholic. Previously, Jay was Vice President of Products at Lookery, an online user-targeting network that offered lightweight, economical targeting data for over 200 million users. Before Lookery, Jay was the Product Manager and founding member of the small team that was responsible for creating and launching Compete.com, now part of the WPP Group [Nasdaq:WPP]. In addition, as co-founder of PopSignal, one of Bostons largest professional networking organizations, Jay is actively contributing to the growth of Bostons technology startup community. Jay earned a B.S. cum laude in Computer Science from Tufts University. He also minored in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Multimedia Arts. At Tufts he was awarded the MacJannet scholarship. He loves creating, lives for technology and innovation, and likes making things happen.
Jeff McAulaySectors: Clean Tech
Manager, Fraunhofer Incubator
Jeff McAulay is currently working to start a new cleantech Incubator in collaboration with a major non-profit research lab. As part of this project he is screening potential clients on both technical and business merits before connecting startups with early stage investors or government grants. In this role, Jeff sits at the interface between energy technology, business development and public policy. He graduated from MIT in the Technology & Policy Program where he conducted research in the Sloan Automotive Laboratory. While at MIT Jeff was a lead organizer for several student groups including the MIT Energy Club, and the MIT Electric Vehicle Team. Jeff also sat on MITs Campus Energy Task force to help form MITs long-term campus greening strategy. Before coming to MIT, Jeff worked as an engineer at Nuvera Fuel Cells where he lead project work and supported the company in reaching several technical milestones for the integrated fuel processor group. He has a BS in biomedical engineering from Boston University where he won an award for best project presentation for undergrad research on microbial fuel cells, and received the scarlet key for excellence in student leadership.
Sectors: Technology
Associate, Bain Capital Ventures
Jordan Bettman is an Associate at Bain Capital Ventures. Jordan focuses on digital media and data software companies. His responsibilities at Bain Capital Ventures include leading diligence efforts on new opportunities and working with portfolio companies on executive projects. Prior to joining Bain Capital Ventures, Jordan was an associate consultant at Bain & Company, focusing on a number of strategic and operational issues for clients in healthcare, retail, and media. Jordan graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelors of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations. He is from New Jersey, and is currently living in Boston, MA. Jordan is an avid skier, loves to play hockey, and enjoys traveling.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Designer
Julianne Snow Gauron has longstanding professional, personal and academic experience surrounding the body and designed objects. In addition to her strong interpersonal skills, which are critical for conducting design ethnography, Julianne brings the tools for cultural analysis and subsequent problem solving through design of products, systems and services. In her professional work as a Design Researcher and Strategist Julianne acts as a user advocate and gaining deep understanding of the user needs and challenges. This in-depth knowledge enables a design team to identify design opportunities to improve strategy and design output. Julianne attended the Rhode Island School of Design to earn her Masters degree in Industrial Design, and was selected to be the departments Graduate Representative, working with peers and administrators to shape graduate curriculum and experience. At RISD she further evolved her love of making and seeing with her hands, learning and thinking through making. In addition to her graduate degree Julianne has an undergraduate background in Art History and Architecture from Bowdoin College. In subsequent years she worked for Burberry Home Ltd in London, taught sixth grade English and Art in Micronesia, acted as Outreach Coordinator for The Food Project-a multimillion dollar urban agriculture non profit. After grad school jobs and pursuits include, though are not limited to, working as Lead Design Researcher on the Business Innovation Factorys year long Elder Experience (gerontology design) project, working with MITs IIH/DLab on medical devices for the third work and creating the Making Rhode Island web video series, an exciting new project which Julianne co created, researching and interviewing people in RI still creating a living by making with their hands. (www.makingrhodeisland.com) Ongoing personal pursuits include downhill skiing, surfing and hiking, creative and travel writing, and coaching and mentoring.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Principal, Exponential Pharma Ventures
Kwa Liou has focused on life sciences entrepreneurship throughout his career. He has extensive experience conceptualizing and evaluating various venture and technology opportunities. Kwa is currently a Principal at Exponential Pharma Ventures, which creates new enterprises focused on the clinical development of promising drug candidates. He was previously an Associate at PureTech Ventures, where he participated in venture creation activities within the life sciences. Prior to venture capital, Kwa performed academic research for ten years, with a focus on novel therapeutics. He received a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Harvard Medical School and a Bachelors degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. His personal interests include international travel, basketball, and poker.
Sectors: Clean Tech, Life Sciences
PhD, Brown University
Love Sarin finished his PhD in August 2009 under the supervision of Prof. Robert Hurt at Brown University. His graduate research focused on synthesis of nanomaterials for biological and environmental applications, as implant coatings, chemotherapeutic agents, and environmental mercury sorbents. At Brown he also received his M.S. degree in 2005. Before coming to Brown he received his B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India in 2004. Currently he is working on an early stage start-up which is based on a part of his graduate research.
Sectors: Technology
CEO, Dragonfly Product Company
Mangesh Wadegaonkar is the CEO of Dragonfly Product Company, a media & entertainment company serving broadcasters and music artists. He has over 10 years of experience in the technology industry, during which he has donned various roles, from engineering to product management to business strategy & development. Prior to joining Dragonfly, Mangesh co-founded a web-based personalized health solution company named Marveluz where he helped negotiate and close deals to build international strategic alliances. In addition, he has led teams at Motorolas 2-way radio solutions division for bringing to market the first ever VoIP-based 2-way radio solution and other voice technology products. Mangesh completed his MBA from Cornell University, and holds a B.E. in electrical engineering and an MS in computer science. He loves traveling, has lived in all time zones in the United States and is an avid fan of classic rock. Mangesh currently resides in Waltham, MA with his wife Ulka (pronounced Oolka)."
Sectors: Technology
CEO & Co-founder, rentbuywhatever.com
Michael Mullins is the part-time CEO and co-founder of rentbuywhatever.com, a next generation ecommerce marketplace and asset portfolio tool. Modeled on electronic stock exchanges, the site transacts commodity goods and performs data analysis using regression to value asset in users portfolios. As CEO, he is responsible for overseeing a software development team in Chennai, India, along with other business development matters. Michael presently works full-time as a real estate developer and asset manager focused on the development of smart-growth town centers. During his tenure as a developer, Michael worked on several technology projects. He was the CEO of Paradise Cable, a broadband internet startup as well as Cadservice, an offshore architectural rendering company. He also led several CAD conversion and electronic document management efforts. Michael has a bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Miami and a masters degree from the MIT Center for Real Estate. Michael is a Trustee of the Dublin School, a director of Caritas Communities, and previously served for four years as a director of the Greater Boston Real Estate Boards Rental Housing Association.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Consultant, Decision Resources
Nitasha Manchanda is a biologist turned analyst, working for Decision Resources, a market research and consulting firm in Waltham, MA. She specializes in Central Nervous System disorder therapies and is building her biopharma knowledge before launching into the start-up world. Nitasha obtained her PhD in Cell Biology from Harvard Medical School, and a BA from Vassar College. Besides a passion for early stage ventures, Nitasha enjoys eating and, occasionally, cooking.
Sectors: Social Ventures
CTO, Assured Labor Inc.
Sidd Goyal is CTO of Assured Labor Inc., an online marketplace that leverages the power of SMS and the Internet to connect employers and workers in emerging markets. Sidd has extensive background in mobile and wireless technologies having worked with the co-inventor of the SyncML specification on an early implementation of the protocol as a college intern, co-founded a startup in the enterprise mobile space out of MIT, and most recently before Assured Labor served as a lead architect on Palms synchronization team. Sidd holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science from MIT. Hes an avid traveler, sports enthusiast, and volunteers his time to various organizations around the Boston area.
Sectors: Technology
Associate, Globespan Capital Partners
Steve Meyer is currently an Associate at Globespan Capital Partners, a global technology venture capital firm with offices in Boston, Palo Alto, and Toyko. At Globespan he is responsible for deal sourcing, evaluation of potential investment opportunities, and portfolio company assistance. Prior to Globespan he was an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company in New York. Steve is also the founder of Meyer Media, an internet media company involved in developing, acquiring, and managing content-based web sites. He is a founder and board member of Duke Venture Forward, an entrepreneurship incubator and career mentoring organization for business-oriented students. Steve also serves on the Social Investment Council of Echoing Green, a seed-stage social venture fund that provides funding and support to emerging social entrepreneurs. Steve graduated from Duke University with a BA in Public Policy Studies and a certificate in Markets and Management Studies.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Manager, Material Science & Engineering, Arsenal Medical
Upma Sharma is a biomaterials technologist dedicated to finding innovative solutions for problems at the interface of biology and materials. Currently, Upma heads up the Materials Science and Engineering department at Arsenal Medical a medical device, startup company focused on leveraging materials engineering into life-changing therapies. In this role, she is responsible for the development and characterization of materials to support Arsenals lead programs in cardiovascular disease and pain management. Previously, Upma investigated the relationship between material microstructure and bone tissue formation during her post-doctoral work in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. During her Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Princeton University, she studied the relationship between material properties and transport of therapeutics.
Sectors: Technology
Founder, President & CTO, Architexa
Vineet Sinha is the Founder, President & CTO of Architexa, a suite designed for software developers to help them understand, document, and collaborate about important aspects of their code. Architexa, slated to launch into public beta in late 2009, is built on Vineets PhD work at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). This work has been motivated by previous experiences working with large codebases, such as Microsoft Office, has been done in part through collaboration with Accenture Research Labs, and was selected as a semi-finalist at the 2007 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Architexa is Vineets second startup and he has also been part of the initial team of multiple other startups. Beyond entrepreneurial activities Vineet enjoys playing Soccer and Basketball, and dances Argentine Tango to wind down. Vineet was on the board of the MIT Tango Club for 5 years.
Sectors: Technology
Associate, Longworth Venture Partners
Vishy Venugopalan is on the investment team at Longworth Venture Partners, an early-stage VC firm in the Boston area, where he helps assists partners with all stages of the investment process, including sourcing deals, performing due diligence on potential investments and supporting Longworth portfolio companies. Prior to Longworth, Vishy was an industry analyst at The 451 Group, a enterprise IT research firm, where he provided research insights to technology companies and investors on enterprise software market segments. Vishys professional experience also includes stints as a software developer at Morgan Stanley and Hewlett Packard. Vishy graduated from MIT with a Master of Engineering degree in Computer Science. He also received Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Cognitive Science from MIT.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Ph.D. candidate, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Will Adams is a Ph.D. candidate at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is completing his dissertation research at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens Hospital. His work addresses biomechanical contributions to the early onset of atherosclerosis in premature aging disorders for which he is developing a stem cell model. Will graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a B.S. degree in Engineering Sciences. Will participated as an intern within the Cancer Bioscience division of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and later received an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. He is interested in developing more sophisticated assays for higher fidelity preclinical drug testing.
Sectors: Life Sciences
Product Engineer, Perkins School for the Blind
Zahra Kanji is a product engineer at the Perkins School for the Blind, where she is designing a smart next generation brailler, a typewriter for the blind. Through social entrepreneurship, she combines her engineering background to build feasible and evidence-based solutions for public health concerns in resource-poor communities. Prior to joining Perkins, Zahra was a medical researcher in anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital. She also worked with E-Ink, the electronic ink technology behind the Amazon Kindle, as a product and research engineer. Zahra also works as a volunteer program manager for the Prajnopaya Foundation, which leads teams in finding cost effective solutions for communities in need of help. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering, with a minor in biomedical engineering from MIT. Zahra was a finalist at MITs 100K competition in 2006, and a five time winner of the IDEAS competition on innovative solutions for communities in need. Outside of work, she enjoys an active lifestyle of cycling, martial arts and skiing with the YESKids, a program that takes inner urban children to the outdoors.
Sector: Life Sciences
Founder, ex-CFO Intezyne Technologies
Rebecca Boudreaux Breitenkamp, Ph.D. earned a B.S. in Polymer Science (magna cum laude) from the University of Southern Mississippi and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, where her research focused on the design and use of amphiphilic graft copolymers as gene delivery vectors. She was selected an Isenberg Scholar by the University of Massachusetts School of Management as part of an initiative to bridge the gap between technology and management and studied finance and entrepreneurship through this program. Dr. Breitenkamp has a broad range of academic and industrial experience, having performed research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Southern Mississippi, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and National Starch and Chemical. She has co-authored six peer-reviewed publications and is a co-inventor on eight patent applications. In 2004, Dr. Breitenkamp co-founded Intezyne Technologies and served as Chief Financial Officer for four years and as a member of the companys Board of Directors. In her role as CFO, she oversaw daily corporate operations, risk management, and the financial and business development of the company. Currently, Dr. Breitenkamp serves as a consultant to startup ventures, assessing the commercialization potential of scientific inventions. Because of her work at the interface of technology and business, Dr. Breitenkamp has given invited lectures at the University of Connecticut, University of California Santa Barbara, University of South Florida Center for Entrepreneurship, and Apple Incs MacWorld Conference. She is a member of the San Diego Venture Group, ATHENA San Diego, and American Chemical Society and serves as advisor to the University of South Floridas Biotechnology Masters Program.
Sector: Life Sciences, Cleantech
Research Fellow, UC Berkeley
James is currently a Research Fellow at the University of California Berkeley and the Joint BioEnergy Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy research center in Emeryville, CA (www.jbei.org). He is working to make iteasier to engineer biology for bioenergy and cleantech applications. For six years he served on the Board of Stockholders of the Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society, a for-profit corporation with >$40 million in annual sales. He is a co-founder of the Introductory College Level Experience in Microbiology (iCLEM) at UC Berkeley, a paid research internship for low income High School students and their teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area http://www.synberc. org/education/HSBiotech.htm.) James earned a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and a Ph.D.in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard University.
Sector: Life Sciences, Cleantech
PhD candidate, UC Berkeley & UCSF Bioengineering Graduate Program
Howard Chou is currently a PhD candidate in the UC Berkeley & UCSF Bioengineering Graduate Program. He is recipient of the NIH Graduate Fellowship in Genomics and the Anselmo John Macchi Engineering and Science Fellowship. His research focuses on engineering enzymes for the production of small molecules, such as pharmaceuticals and biofuels. He received his M.Eng. in Computer Science, B.S. in Computer Science, and B.S. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, Howard has participated in several business plan competitions. His team was awarded 2nd place at the Bears Breaking Boundaries Competition - Solar Fuels in 2006 and 3rd place at the Global Venture Business Competition in 2008. Recently, his team was awarded the QB3 Catalyst Grant ($50K) to continue work on their startup idea. Howard has also mentored other graduate students in entrepreneurship through the Cleantech to Market program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Sector: Technology, Semiconductors
Strategic Marketing Manager, Cypress Semiconductor
Ashish is a Strategic Marketing Manager at Cypress Semiconductor working on emerging LED Lighting and Power supply technologies. Ashish is also the CEO of BITSAA International -- the alumni association for BITS Pilani. Ashish has worked with BITSAA for four years at different positions including Chief Editor, BITSAA Sandpaper 2.0 (Alumni Magazine), Secretary of the BITSAA Silicon Valley Chapter as well as a volunteer for Project BITSConnect. Ashish created on-campus BITSAA teams at the Pilani and Goa campuses as well as the first Cypress PSoC lab in India at the BITS Pilani Goa campus. At BITS, Ashish was member Election Commission, member Department of Controls, Instru APOGEE co-ord and President, Sangam. Incidentally, he also holds an MS defree in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara.
Sector: Technology
Justin Jow is working to help consumers understand and manage their personal investments. Most recently, Justin worked with Sony in their Corporate Development group, where he evaluated business combinations with internet service and digital content partners. Previously, Justin was a private equity associate with ACI Capital, an associate at Brown Gibbons Lang, and an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities. Justin received an A.B. in Computer Science from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Sector: Technology
Founder and CEO
Victor is Founder & CEO of a Stealth Mode Startup that provides a system for online content management. Victor started his career at Trilogy, a maker of ecommerce software for FORTUNE 500 firms, where he worked with the CFO on internal consulting projects. Via an externship from Trilogy, he then served as an Analyst at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of Trilogys venture investors. Upon his return to Trilogy, Victor played a key role in building and spinning off the subsidiary insuranceOrder.com, a pioneering online insurance agency built on an innovative technology platform. Victor also worked in business development at Roche Diagnostics, where he created the business plan and initial market research plan for a new genetic test for drug response to a prevalent cardiovascular condition. He later worked in business development at Maxygen, a maker of next-generation protein therapeutics, where he conducted due diligence supporting licensing deals and reviewed and executed various types of agreements. Victor has an MS in Chemical Engineering (emphasis in Biotechnology/Bioengineering) from Stanford University and a BA in Biology from Brown University.
Sector: Technology
Founder and Chief Architect, TheFind
Shashikant is a Founding Member and Chief Architect at TheFind Inc, a startup in shopping search with more than 15 million visitors per month. At TheFind, Shashikant has been involved in venture funding, product innovation (5 patents pending), and building a scalable search engine. He recruited a team to solve hard problems in information extraction using machine learning, and has played a crucial role in traffic growth and revenue optimization. Shashikant also co-founded BITSEmbryo, a project for BITS Pilani, and led the team from idea inception to building an Embryo Club on campus to run this project. In 2 years, Embryo has conducted 80 lectures via video-conferencing, some of them simultaneously across Pilani, Goa and Dubai campuses with an attendance of over 500 students.
Sector: Technology
Business Development Manager, Nokia Messaging
Abhinav drives strategy for Nokia Messaging, a key service that is driving Nokia's transformation into a service company. As a business development manager, he is responsible for partnering with social networking & media companies, scouting for white space opportunities in BRIC countries and driving operator and retail strategy. Prior to Nokia, Abhinav was an associate at General Catalyst Partners assisting a portfolio company with growth strategy. He has consulting experience at Booz Allen Hamilton, a mobile startup in New Zealand and a European seafood company. He has spent 5 years at Citrix Systems as release program manager leading a team of over 60 for the Internet security business and was awarded the leadership and team achievement awards. Abhinav has an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management where he worked on startup ideas in social media and mobile and was a semi-finalist in the MIT $100k competition. He alo has a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from University of Florida and bachelors from BITS, Pilani. Besides establishing the TiE Leadership Program in Silicon Valley, he has also founded the Sparks New Ventures program to mentor, teach & fund student startups.
Sector: Life Sciences
Design Engineer, NFOCUS Neuromedical
Siddharth (Sid) Loganathan is the lead implant design engineer at NFOCUS Neuromedical- a start-up that focuses on developing implantable medical devices for treating hemorrhagic stroke. He has worked on aneurysm embolization technologies, vascular occluders and stent grafts. Prior to NFOCUS, Sid worked on developing polymeric coils at Biomerix Corporation and on vascular grafts at Boston Scientific. Sid has a Bachelors in ME from BITS-Pilani, India as well as a Masters in ME from New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is also a co-inventor on two patents.
Sector: Cleantech
CEO, SpeakEnergy
Jagan Nemani is a Co-Founder CEO of SpeakEnergy LLC, which he started with a vision to improve energy efficiency of US homes. He is passionate about environmental causes and believes that all of us can do our part to save the earth from a catastrophic disaster. His current venture focuses on getting people together to do their part by saving energy and improving energy efficiency at their homes. Prior to venturing on his own, Jagan worked for Deloitte Consulting as a management consultant in their corporate strategy practice. He helped many clients in Semiconductor, Telecom and Software industries devise their strategic and operational plans. Jagan has helped clients identify attractive global markets and devise market entry strategies. He worked as a research fellow with Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation where he researched strategies regarding co-innovation in social communities.Jagan has an MBA (with honors) in Finance, Strategy and Marketing from Chicago Booth School of Business. He was the actively involved in the Chicago Booth community and was the recipient of KPMG Award for excellent academic achievement and outstanding contribution to Chicago Booth community.
Sector: Technology
Software Engineer, FanSnap
Jenny is currently a software engineer at FanSnap, a live event ticket search engine located in Palo Alto, where she's been focusing her work on designing and implementing the backend systems of user tracking, data collection and analysis, and reporting. Prior to FanSnap, she worked at Yahoo for 3 years in their Search Marketing division, working on a variety of projects including the Advertiser System and Sponsored Search ranking algorithms for US and international traffic. Jenny graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Computer Science. She lives in San Francisco and enjoys reading, yoga, and ballet.
Sector: Life Sciences
Fellow, Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, Stanford University
Kaartiga Sivanesan is currently a Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation Fellow at Stanford University, where she is working in the field of cardiovascular medical device innovation. She is a medical student at Vanderbilt University, where she was Chapter President of the American Medical Association and was awarded an American Heart Association Health Sciences Fellowship for her research on lipid droplet maturation in fat cells. Kaartiga graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Biology and Health Policy. At Harvard she was President of her undergraduate house, Lowell House, and led a Habitat for Humanity team to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Her senior thesis was a study of the implementation of new medical technologies at Brigham & Womens Hospital. Kaartiga is passionate about the field of cardiology and is interested in cardiovascular research as well as emerging technologies in the field.
Sectors: Technology, Life Sciences
Executive, RBM Technologies
Ken Baughman is currently an executive with RBM Technologies, a small software company in Harvard Square that produces an ERP solution for merchandising manangement. Prior to that, Ken worked as a consultant to a small medtech investment banking boutique, as well as a nacent venture fund in the pacific northwest. Kens interest lies in working with Biotech, Medtech, and drug development related start-ups. Ken is an avid fly fishermen and boat builder. Ken has a BS in Economics from Washingon University in St. Louis, as well as a Masters (MS) degree from Yale in Experiemental Pathology, where his doctoral thesis project was focused on regeneration after spinal injury.
Sector: Life Sciences
Senior Analyst, Health Advances, LLC
Seth is a healthcare strategy consultant at Health Advances, LLC. As a Senior Analyst he assists pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies with product commercialization, market assessment, portfolio prioritization, and technology valuation. Prior to his work as a consultant, Seth received his PhD in Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As part of his PhD, he created the first specific and controllable mouse model of human osteosarcoma to further the understanding of the disease and catalyze the development of new cancer therapies. Seth has also been a business development intern for PureTech Ventures, a venture firm committed to transforming breakthrough technologies into leading hedge firms, and for BioScale, a Boston start-up developing nanotechnology for the identification and differentiation of chemical and biological materials. Seth graduated with a BS in Biochemistry and Economics from Rutgers University, where he was the leader of several undergraduate organizations. In his spare time he is a resident tutor for MIT undergraduates and enjoys playing several intramural sports, cooking, reading, and traveling to foreign countries.
Sector: Life Sciences
Ph.D. candidate, Harvard Medical School
An-Jou is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard Medical School in Medical Oncology. Her dissertation work focuses on dissecting the biology of glioblastoma - the most malignant form of brain cancer - through mouse modeling and gene discovery, with the goal of identifying new drug targets and discovering novel therapy opportunities. She currently serves as co-Managing Director of the Harvard Biotechnology Club, a student organization aimed to bridge the gap between academia and industry. An-Jou graduated cum laude from Stanford University with a B.A. degree in Human Biology and thesis work on Alzheimer's disease. She interned at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan, one of the two largest national research institutes in Taiwan as well as MediBic Inc. in Japan, a startup bioinformatics and consulting company that went public in 2003. An-Jou is interested in accelerating translational research and facilitating drug discovery from bench to bedside.
Sector: Life Sciences
Founder & Director of Technology, Relay Technology Management
Ph.D. candidate, Tufts School of Biomedical Sciences
Mr. Greenwald is a co-founder of Relay Technology Management, Inc. (www.relaytm.com), a patent commodity brokerage firm operating the biomedical intellectual property space, and serves as the Director of Technology. Mr. Greenwald has several years of business development and intellectual property (IP) poriolio management experience with Wright Marketing in New York. While employed at the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, MD, he worked with international corporations and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to file 510(k) applications for diagnostic devices for dengue fever. Mr. Greenwald is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Genetics at the Tufts Sackler Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, where he was awarded an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award to study gene therapy strategies for retinal degeneration diseases. Mr. Greenwald was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) research fellow while earning a B.S. in Cellular Biology and Molecular Genetics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Mr.Greenwald enjoys tennis, biking, golf and world traveling.
Sector: Clean Tech
Visiting Scientist, MIT
Soren Harrison is a scientist and entrepreneur with a strong background in engineering and physics, and a passion for energy and the environment. Soren completed his doctoral research at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center in October 2008, where he is now continuing research as a visiting scientist. He founded Fusion Research Technologies, LLC in 2006 to perform R&D in the field of nuclear fusion research, develop a thin film measurement technique, and transfer technology from the field of nuclear fusion to mainstream commercial industries. In 2007, Soren founded SolSolution, an innovative nonprofit in the solar and education spaces. Soren is an active member of the MIT entrepreneurial and energy community, a member of the MIT Energy Club, and served on the 2009 MIT Clean Energy Prize Organizing Team as the Industry Mentorship Chair. He was a Fellow in the 2009 TiE Leadership Program, where he is now a program manager.
Soren currently lives in Somerville, MA with his wonderful wife, Christine. His personal interests include surfing, scuba diving, playing music (guitar, drums, bass, vocals), martial arts, entrepreneurship, energy, environment, and education.
Sector: Life Sciences
Vice President, Arsenal Medical
Amar is the Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Arsenal Medical, a venture-backed medical technology start-up company. A member of the executive team, he brings into focus the needs of customerspatients, physicians, hospitals, and payers-- in the development of biomaterials-based interventional therapies for the treatment of complex, multi-factorial diseases.
Prior to joining Arsenal in 2007, Amar led the technical development of cardiovascular medical devices for the cardiac surgery marketplace at Boston Scientific (formerly Guidant) in Silicon Valley. His medical device experiences span early concept development through product development, market launch, and post-launch field support. For his innovations in opto-mechanical product design, Amar was honored as the BSC Cardiac Surgery 2006 Innovator of the Year.
Amar's interests in convergent technologies began during his tenure at Surface Logix, another Boston-area venture-backed start-up in the life sciences space. As a member of a broad-based group of chemists, engineers, and biologists, he developed tools to increase the efficiency and performance of the drug discovery process. His work at Surface Logix resulted in four issued patents.
Amar enjoys listening to recorded and live folk music from all over the world, with a particular love for bluegrass and bhangra. He lives in Newton with his wife Prabha.
Sector: Technology
Founder and CEO, Sensobi
Ajay is CEO and Co-Founder of Sensobi, a Blackberry application to help professionals organize and manage their business relationships, slated to launch in early 2009. He is also a recent MBA graduate from the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Computer Science, both also from MIT. Ajays 5+ years of experience in the mobile and financial industries includes time spent at Microsoft, Citigroup, 4INFO, and other startups, as well as a researcher at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab (now part of CSAIL).
While in business school, Ajay organized and led the first ever MIT M-Prize for Mobile Entrepreneurship, securing sponsorship from Nokia and two leading Venture Capital firms, helping 15 teams of students develop their business plans targeted at the wireless industry. He is also a Co-Founder of Emerginvest, a financial startup that was a Finalist in the 2007 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, and that was selected as one of the 50 hottest new startups in 2008 by TechCrunch. He currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sector: Venture Capital, Life Sciences, Technology
Associate, Summit Partners
Jesse is an Associate at Summit Partners in their Venture Capital group. Summit Partners is an $11 billion growth equity firm with offices in Boston, Palo Alto, and London. Jesse focuses on software, and healthcare and life sciences investments. He focuses on deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio-related projects. Prior to joining Summit, Jesse worked at UBS Investment Bank in the M&A division. Jesse graduated from Harvard University, where he majored in Government. Jesse was a 3rd round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He is an avid skier and enjoys traveling.
Sector: Clean Tech
Director, 1366 Technologies
Founder, FanZanimal
Craig is Director of Business Development of 1366 Technologies. Prior to this he was the founder of FanZanimal and till recently he was in Highland Partners' entrepreneurial program. He has worked in Iraq and Argentina, and traveled to over 25 countries. Craig was a former investment banker at UBS in New York and an Economic Advisor in the US Department of Defense. Craig received a civilian services achievement award. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelors in Economics from Dartmouth.
Sector: Life Sciences
Co-founder, AngioSim, Inc.
Pavan Narra is co-inventor and co-founder of AngioSim, a firm that designs and manufacturers angiographic training and simulation equipment for medical students and physicians to acquire and advance skills for vascular interventions. Pavans interest in minimally invasive procedures led him to conduct extensive research and authored several publications in the field of vascular and interventional radiology (VIR). He is currently in his chief year of residency at Boston University Medical Center, Department of Radiology. He is planning on pursuing a fellowship in VIR.
Prior to pursuing a medical career, Pavan co-founded CollegeCorner.com in 1996, a website that provided online classifieds, apartment and restaurant guides to the Baylor University community. Pavan currently lives in Boston, MA and interests include traveling, foreign policy, and radiology informatics.
Sector: Life Sciences
Senior Scientist, Modular Genetics, Inc.
Jahnavi Chandra Prasad (Prasad) works as a senior scientist at Modular Genetics Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts based biotechnology startup. His work currently involves design of proteins and microorganisms through computational modeling.
Prasad is a firm believer in the promise of data-driven life sciences of the 21st century, and is interested in the commercialization possibilities of high throughput biology approaches. His interests range from personalized medicine to microbial engineering. Prior to working at Modular Genetics he worked at Biogen Idec, Cambridge. On the side, he is actively involved in fund raising for and supporting developmental and environmental projects in India through the Boston chapter of Association for India's Development.
Prasad holds a Ph.D. in bioinformatics from Boston University, where he specialized in structure-based drug discovery approaches. He holds a bachelor of technology degree in Biochemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India.
Sector: Technology
Co-Founder, RunKeeper
Michael Sheeley is the CoFounder, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Product Officer at FitnessKeeper, the makers of RunKeeper - the leading GPS fitness application on the Apple iPhone app store. Michael also founded Mobile-Link Solutions, a software company focusing on mobile enterprise software. Michael started his career founding Estorrs, a social website for the UConn Storrs campus. Michael's expertise in social networks and mobile software has resulted in him being quoted in Forbes.com, The Hartford Courant, and numerous technology websites while his products have been covered by tech and business writers in the Wall Street Journey, TechCrunch, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and many other news sources.
Outside of his entrepreneurial endeavors, Michael has held the positions of Project Manager and Senior Software Engineer at BAE Systems where he managed millions of dollars in software development efforts in the area of military planning, strategy development and computer vision. He has also held engineering positions at United Electronic Industries and Polaroid Corp. Michael is a former NCAA Track & Field athlete who lives with his wife in Chelmsford, MA. Michael has an Engineering degree from the University of Connecticut School of Engineering, a masters degree in Computer Science from Tufts University School of Engineering, and an MBA with distinction from Bentley University.
Sector: Technology
Senior Product Manager, Visible Measures
Parul is a product manager at Visible Measures where she builds products that find insight in traffic data for video playing all over the internet. Current customers include MTV and NBC, with more to come. Previously she worked at The New York Times Digital as a product manager focused on multimedia and video, and for six years worked as a web developer and project manager for Fast Company, Inc. Magazine and the Fund for the City of New York. She started her career as an interface developer at Razorfish, and continues to be passionate about usable interface design, product marketing and packaging.
She has spent time volunteering for charities in the US, UK and India focused on women, development,and technology. She completed her BA from Harvard University in Government.
In her spare time, Parul enjoys fiction, running, and yoga.
Sector: Technology
Director of Business Development, ReachEverywhere
Adam currently leads the business development efforts for ReachEverywhere Inc, helping the company expand into the mobile phone application business with solutions for retailers and everyday shoppers. Previously, Adam lived in Bentonville Arkansas and managed the Wal-Mart businesses for Procter & Gamble, Newell Rubbermaid, and Eastman Kodak. His teams were awarded numerous Vendor of the Quarter/Year awards from Wal-Mart while simultaneously sewng all-time sales records for the manufacturer. In order pursue his entrepreneurial nature, he left the consumer products industry for Harvard Business School. He earned firstyear honors and was elected President of his 90 person section at HBS.
Previously, Adam graduated from Indiana University's business honors program, where he received the Lionel D. Edie award as top student in Business Economics. He was captain of the IU rowing team, and his senior thesis on internet retailing price dispersion was published in the The Economics of the Internet and E-commerce (2002). Adam can fly planes and has been known to jump out of them as well. He is passionate about playing and coaching ice hockey, and lives in Boston with his wife and infant daughter.
Sector: Business
Senior Program Manager, TiE-Boston
Tarangini Suresh is the Senior Program Manager in the Boston chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a global business networking non-profit whose mission is to foster Entrepreneurship. In her capacity as Sr. Program Manager, Tarangini handles Marketing, Communication and Operational responsibilities of TiE-Boston. She is also in the steering committee of the newest proposed Special Interest Group- the Marketing Media and PR SIG.
Before moving to the United States to get her Masters, Tarangini was an Associate, International Business, with Craftsbridge India Pvt. Ltd, a for-profit, cross-channel design and marketing firm, connecting the underprivileged artisans of India with the world, through the procurement of hand-crafted goods from the NGOs/cooperatives representing them.
Immediately before Craftsbridge, Tarangini worked as a Senior Officer- Marketing Coordination at India's largest automotive company, Tata Motors (who have been in the news recently for their launch of the small car 'Nano' and for their takeover of Jaguar.)
Tarangini has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Pune University and a Graduate Diploma in International Business (equivalent to an MBA) from the Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune. She also holds an MS in Advertising from Boston University's College of Communication.
Her interests include Travel, Reading, Film, Theatre, Etymology, Romantic Languages and Cooking.
Sector: Social Enterprise
Founder & CEO, First Help Financial
Parker is the co-Founder and COO of First Help Financial, a financial services company focused on auto lending to the new immigrant population of the US. Incorporated in 2006, First Help Financial has developed proprietary underwriting and servicing models that are able to provide safe and reliable financing to new immigrant borrowers with little to no reportable credit or income. The company is establishing a traditional financing plaiorm for immigrants, while giving them the ability to purchase a vehicle at a choice dealership and establish a credit history.
Parker is also the founder of The Trickle-Up Effect, which is a non-profit focused on enabling entrepreneurship for the disadvantaged. The company provides the distribution of goods at below wholesale prices to the disadvantaged to sell as street vendors.
Parker graduated from Duke University in 2006 with degrees in Mathematics and Economics. He is a member of the Neighborhood Association of Back Bay and The Union Boat Club.
Sector: Technology
Principal, Strategy & Operations, CA Inc.
Balakrishna (Bala) Venkatrao is an experienced technologist and an entrepreneurial business leader, with a penchant for innovation and execution. He is actively exploring start-up ideas in the cloud computing space. He is also a founder of a non-profit, MBA For Good, that aims to help students gain admission to top business schools while helping making this world a better place.
Bala is currently at CA Inc as part of the corporate strategy team, leading key initiatives in virtualization, IT automation and Cloud Computing. In addition, Bala is also managing the CEO Innovation Fund a dedicated fund to invest and nurture new ventures focused on emerging technologies. Prior to CA, Bala worked as a Principal at the Parthenon Group, where he primarily worked with venture capital/PE firms, supporting both the due diligence process as well helping the portfolio companies on their strategic and operational issues.
Bala has also worked for several years as a microprocessor architect at Sun Microsystems. He has 4 issued patents and six research publications to his credit. Bala holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, where he was an executive leader of the MIT Innovation Club and the South Asia Business Club. He holds a masters degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) and completed his undergraduate engineering from University of Mumbai, India
Sector: Technology
Founder & Research Director, Ampient Inc.
Praveen is one of the founders of Ampient Inc., a Cambridge, MA based high-tech software startup where he serves as the Director of Research. Previously he has worked at three other software startups making valuable contributions through software design and development. Prior to that he was co-founder of an engineering design consulting firm. Praveen brings over a decade of startup company experience. This experience includes software and network security, SAN, application development, and, research. Educational qualifications include an MS in Computer Science and Engineering from UT Arlington and a BS degree in Electronics Engineering from BIT Bangalore. As one of the founders at Ampient Praveen has been instrumental in taking ideas and turning them into a software startup which is now among the few companies that are working to help the environment. Praveen is actively engaged in helping non-profit organizations in various parts of the world. Other interests include mountain biking, rock climbing, saxophone, photography and sketching.
Sector: Life Sciences
Senior Analyst, Leerink Swann
BS, Biology, MIT
Joanna is currently an Associate at Leerink Swann Strategic Advisors. In this capacity she worked on emerging market opportunities. She completed a strategic assessment in the GI space, developed a case study for mareting drugs in the dyslipidemia market, and assisted a diagnostics company in identifying attractive diagnostic and device-based neonatal opportunities. At Leerink, Joanna also lead the Analyst and Consultant recruiting efforts at MIT. Prior to joining Leerink, Joanna was a Research and Development Engineer at Angstrom Medica.
Sector: Technology, Life Sciences & Cleantech
Associate, Extera Partners
B.S. magna cum laude, Chemical Engineering & minor, Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
Founder, LuminaPrep
Ed is the Founder of LuminaPrep, a fast-growing online SAT Prep company. He is also an Associate at Extera Partners where he advises international life science clients on business development, corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. Previously he worked at Monitor Group, focusing on life science and energy clients. Ed split his time between Monitors consulting practice and Monitor Ventures where he provided strategic advice to portfolio companies and performed due diligence on deals. During his academic career, Ed worked for two years on innovative gene sequencing technology at the Columbia Genome Center and for a year researching health care patents at Columbia Law. Ed enjoys an active lifestyle of sailing, running, skiing, and dancing. While at Columbia, he founded CU Swing, an organization of dancers and jazz enthusiasts, and instructed, choreographed, and performed.
Sector: Life Sciences
Senior Systems Designer, CIMIT Simulation Group
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Ryan graduated with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in Industrial Design, attended the European Honors Program, and took several classes within Brown Universitys Department of Medicine. His thesis work at RISD involved fabrication of a real-time simulation engine, the design of a telemedical device for NASA, and extensive research into the theory of simulation. Since 1998, Ryans research in simulation has contributed to the design of many of the medical simulation systems being developed including those at Virtual Presence, Muse Technologies, Endovia Medical, Mentice, METI, and Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs. He holds six worldwide patents for core simulation technologies, has been published in many of the leading peer-reviewed medical and technology journals, The New Yorker, Wired, and the Associated Press. His work has won several awards including two Armys Greatest Invention Awards, the Edward M. Kennedy Award for Healthcare Innovation, the Partners Excellence Award, and the Satava Award. Most recently, two of his simulation systems were recently added to the permanent collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC. Ryan currently holds the position of Program Manager at the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Cambridge, MA; a research lab funded by the Department of Defense to deliver cutting-edge technologies to our Armed Forces.
Sector: Life Sciences
Resident: UCSF
MD/MPH, Harvard Medical School
Founder, Unite for Health
Anna is the co-founder of Unite for Health!, a non-profit working to bring powerful approaches to screening and treatment for cardiovascular disease in China. The business plan for Unite for Health! won the 1st place in the Harvard Business School Business Plan Competition, Social Enterprise Track. She completed her MD at Harvard Medical School after a year at the Harvard School of Public Health. In medical school her focus has been in community health and community-based research. She spent time in China after completing her studies, working on her startup. At the School of Public Health she was exposed to the powerful contribution that social enterprise can have to innovation in health care delivery. She also completed the Zuckerman Fellowship in leadership and public service at Harvard University, concurrent with her year at the School of Public Health. Her interests are increasingly centered on delivery quality care for people with chronic diseases, and she plans to do a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Geriatrics. Through social entrepreneurship, she plans to contribute her clinical and public health background to the creation of feasible and evidence-based solutions for chronic diseases in resource-poor communities.
Sector: Technology
MBA, Kellogg
Solutions Consultant (Sales), Manhattan Associates
B Tech, Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Delhi
Shobhit is currently an MBA at Kellogg. Prior to joining Kellogg, he was a Solutions Consultant at Manhattan Associates, designing and marketing Supply Chain Solutions for multi billion dollar corporations in the food, consumer goods and retail sectors. Previously, he managed Product Development projects at Manhattan Associates for their transportation solutions. Shobhit is passionate about promoting development through collaboration, and serves as a Socio Professional Chair for Network of South Asian Professionals (NetSAP) Boston. He is currently organizing the NetSAP USA Conference for 2008, as the Content Chair. He also founded the Boston Chapter of the non-profit organization Vibha, which works to provide education, health and opportunity to underprivileged children. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, where he launched his first startup, aimed at providing easy access to internships for students across India.
Sector: Technology
CEO/Founder, AuthorsGlobe
BS, MBA Georgetown
Entrepreneurship MIT
Antonio Faillace is an accomplished venture start-up executive with 15+ years of domestic and international strategic marketing, business development & operational expertise in high growth technology entrepreneurial companies & two Fortune 500 multinationals, Hewlett Packard Company (HP) & Exxon-Mobil Corporation, including a MBA in Georgetown University & further entrepreneurial studies at MIT Sloan. He is currently Founder & CEO of AuthorsGlobe, runner up at the MIT$100K competition, and a powerful web platform that enables Authors/Experts/Speaker to transmit and leverage their knowledge using web video, live webcast and advanced management tools generating substantial additional income for the author by opening a virtual global market and additionally providing an effective way for audience to access experts knowledge 24/7.
Sector: Life Sciences, Social Entrepreneurship
Director, Innovations in International Health, MIT
BS 2008, WPI
Jose Gomez-Marquez is the program director for the Innovations in International Health initiative at MIT. Among the projects under his technology practice at IIH is the Aerovax Drug Delivery System, a device for mass delivery of inhalable drugs and vaccines to remote populations. The rest of his IIH invention portfolio includes SafePilot, a next generation cane for the blind, and most recently, the X out TB program, which aims to increase TB therapy adherence in developing countries using novel diagnostics and mobile technology. These technologies have been featured in Forbes, Wired, the Booz Allen Hamilton Technology Petting Zoo, and the Dow Jones Emerging Ventures Conference on Tomorrow's Innovation.
Jose has been a guest speaker at the NCIIA's Invent2Venture discussing affordable technology and a director of MIT's D-Lab: Health, a course on designing global health technologies at MIT. After working in institutional investments and international development, Jose went back as a mid-career student to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he focuses on policy research studies covering international technology transfer and small team innovation. Jose is a 3 time MIT IDEAS Competition winner, including two Lemelson Awards for International Technology. He arrived to the United States from his native Honduras on a Rotary scholarship and currently lives in Newton, Massachusetts.
Sector: Venture Capital / Technology
Associate, General Catalyst
BS, Babson College
Gautam joined General Catalyst from Procter and Gamble, where he analyzed brand strategy and consumer preferences in the Consumer Market Knowledge group of Proctor and Gamble's North American Fabric Care business unit. Prior to that, he worked closely with the sales and marketing groups at Wireless Services Corporation and CTV Live on Campus, during his studies at Babson College. Gautam received a B.S. in Business Administration from Babson College, with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Studies.
Sector: Technology
Founder, CEO iRelai
MBA, Babson College
BA, Computer Science, University of California, Santa Cruz
A proven leader in execution of strategic initiatives, Hooman is the Founder of iRelai. After completing his MBA at Babson, he combined knowledge and experience in business and technology as the director of IT for an international sporting goods retailer and manufacturer. There, he successfully implemented strategic and operational initiatives to support the profitability and expansion of the business. Hoomans career background includes Senior Technology Management, Project Leadership, Management Consulting, Technical and Product Marketing, and Software Engineering. In addition to spending time with his wife and baby girl, Hooman enjoys playing soccer, golf and has passion for martial arts and skiing.
Sector: Life Sciences
Senior Platform Director, Depuy
MBA, Harvard Business School
MS, Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Indian Institute of Technology
Rajit is Senior Platform Director at Depuy Mitek. Prior to joining Depy, he was a Manager at Innosight, working primarily in the consumer products, pharmaceuticals, chemical and technology industries identifying business opportunities for new technologies developed within the company. Prior to joining Innosight, Rajit spent two years at The Boston Consulting Group, working across multiple industries. At BCG, Rajit developed go to market strategies, acquisition due diligence, competitive cost benchmarking, organizational redesign and procurement strategy for Fortune 500 companies. Prior to BCG, he spent three years at Procter & Gamble as Team Manager in operations responsible for safety, quality and productivity of the paper machine. Rajit also spent several summers at Deloitte consulting on sales force effectiveness, performing cost benefit analysis comparing outsourcing clinical/commercial supply chain activities v/s bringing it in house.
Sector: Technology
Founder, ITShore
MBA, Entrepreneurship, Babson College
MCA, RECW, India
Rama is the President and founder of a software outsourcing firm, IT Shore LLC. Through IT Shore, she provides software outsourcing services from her team in Hyderabad, India to Boston based customers. Her previous experience includes outsourcing manager and QA manager in Siebel and EMC working with geographically dispersed teams and managing quality assurance groups; systems manager at Wipro working at different U.S. customers and their customers in professional services projects; Sr. Engineer at Satyam, working on off-shore projects and tools development. She has done her evening MBA at Babson college and has a masters in computers from RECW, India.
Sector: Venture Capital / Technology
MBA, Stanford
Associate, Commonwealth Capital Ventures
A.B., Psychology, Harvard University
Pat is currently a student at Stanfords Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining Stanford, he was an Associate at Commonwealth Capital Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focused on software and software-based services, Internet and digital media, and communications/mobile investments. He focuses on deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio-related consultative projects. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Pat worked for the strategy arm of Capgemini, a global management consultancy. Based first in the firms Cambridge, MA offices and later in its London, UK offices, he advised start-ups and Fortune 500 companies in the telecom, media, and entertainment industries. Pat graduated from Harvard University, where he was Second Class Marshal (Vice President) of the class of 2003.
Sector: Life Sciences
Senior Associate, AgaMatrix Inc
MS, School of Engineering, MIT
MBBS, KMC, Mangalore, India
Anoop manages the IP portfolio at AgaMatrix, a company that makes blood glucose measurement devices for diabetics. Prior to that, he worked at Global Prior Art, an IP consulting company, where is jointly led the medical/surgical device group. His work included IP landscape development to assist in clients strategic, technical and legal decision making; primarily focusing on minimally invasive cardiothoracic, orthopedic and GI surgery. He holds an MS from School of Engineering at MIT. While at MIT, he was a runner up at the $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, the President of a Cultural group and a Math tutor for a SAT outreach program. He finished his early clinical training and research training from KMC, Mangalore and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), India. All along, his research work in computational biology and medicine was supported by several fellowships & scholarships.
Sector: Life Sciences
MBA, Harvard Business School
Senior Analyst, Health Advances, LLC
MSE, BS, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Alok is currently an MBA student at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining HBS, Alok was a healthcare management consultant with the firm Health Advances. As a Senior Analyst he works to assist biotechnology, medical technology and pharmaceutical firms with new product commercialization strategy, product portfolio prioritization and valuation of new technologies and concepts. Prior to Health Advances, Alok was a Senior Research Scientist in Cardiac Rhythm Management division of Boston Scientific, formerly Guidant. As a Senior Research Scientist, Alok was intimately involved with the ideation, development and implementation of novel device based technologies through bench, pre-clinical and human clinical trial evaluation. Alok is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University where he received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering and a graduate degree in cardiac tissue engineering.
Sector: Life Sciences / Social Enterprise
Founding Member & CEO, Fitness Forward
MBA, Harvard Business School (Class of 2010)
B.A., Neuroscience, Boston University
Rishi Shukla is an MBA student at Harvard Business School, where he is the recipient of the Goldsmith and Rock Fellowships, respectively, and serves as president of his section. Prior to HBS, Rishi worked at the nexus of healthcare and social entrepreneurship. He was the CEO and founding member of Fitness Forward, a national non-profit organization that promotes healthier lifestyles among children. He also played a leading role in developing a first of its kind pediatric clinic at New Englands largest safety net hospital, Boston Medical Center. Rishi has served on more than 20 advisory boards and committees and given over 25 invited presentations from coast-to-coast. He has co-authored more than 15 publications and posters and has received honors from the U.S. Army and Navy for his work on thermal sensitive resistors. Rishi is an alumnus of Boston University, where he pursued a self-designed major in neuroscience, conducted Parkinsons Disease research, and served as president of the universitys premedical honor society. He is an avid tennis player and photographer and enjoys working out, graphic design, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Sector: Life Sciences
Founder, Mass Medical Angels
Consultant, Frankel Group
MPH, Harvard University
MD, Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, India
MBA, University of New Delhi
Pushwaz Virk is the co-founder of Mass Medical Angels, an angel investor firm in Boston. He is also the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Dimagi, Inc. which is a technology company which designs and develops innovative medical communication technologies, disease management platforms, healthcare enterprise systems and remote physiological measurement and monitoring solutions for US and global healthcare markets. He was earlier a consultant at the Frankel Group, a life science consulting firm. Prior to this he was a Management Fellow at Harvard University where he worked on strategy, finance and operations projects at Health Services and Group Health Plan. Previously, he set up the Life sciences & Healthcare practice of a multinational technology company and was responsible for business development in North America. Pushwaz practiced as a physician and hospital administrator before moving to corporate sector. Pushwaz is on the board of Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs and was earlier the Director of Harvard Biotech Club. Pushwaz lives in Somerville, MA and his interests include mountain adventure sports and pencil sketching.
Sector: Life Sciences
PhD, Harvard Medical School
Kanchan is currently working on a biotech startup. She is a PhD from the Harvard Medical School in cell, molecular and cancer biology. Her dissertation work has focused on understanding the molecular underpinnings of Fanconis Anemia, an inherited childhood cancer susceptibility syndrome. Kanchan has served as co-managing director of the GSAS Harvard Biotechnology Club, a student organization aimed at bridging the gap between academia and industry. During her tenure at the Harvard Biotechnology Club, she has helped raise the visibility and prize money for the annual biotechnology entrepeneurship competition and has forged alliances with leading players in the biopharmaceutical industry. Kanchan has also served as an intern with Flagship Ventures, a leading seed-stage venture creation fund in Cambridge MA helping with intellectual property assessments for a life-science start-up. Kanchan is especially interested in life-science venture creation in the developing world and in alleviating disease through innovation and technology.
Sector: Life Sciences & Venture Capital
Director, Business Development, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Formerly at Boston University Ventures
PhD Neuroscience, Tufts University
BSc Biology, McGill University
One of six under 30 to watch: Mass High Tech 2007
Christina is currently Director of Business Development at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, a venture-backed startup since 2007. Prior to this she was Manager, New Ventures at the Office of Technology Development (BU Ventures), and focuses on opportunities in life sciences. Her responsibilities include sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities and helping to develop companies incubated in the Launch Award program. Prior to joining OTD, she worked at Accelerator Corp., a biotech incubator in Seattle, WA, where she identified and evaluated early stage investment opportunities in the life sciences sector. Christina received her B.Sc. in Biology from McGill University, and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Tufts University. Her doctoral research involved using biochemical and biophysical approaches to better understand the role of a potassium ion channel in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. She was a member of TiE's Leadership Program in 2006-07, and was named one of six under 30 to watch in 2007 by Mass High Tech.
Sector: Life Sciences & Venture Capital
MBA 2011 Wharton
Formerly at Siemens Venture Capital
BSc Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins
Inventor of a biomedical device
After TLP: Edward is currently at Wharton completing his MBA.
Edward joined the Boston office of Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) in July 2006 as Analyst for the Medical Solutions Fund. Prior to joining SVC, Edward worked as a Business Analyst at Capital One in Virginia. Edward also had experience in developing medical devices and working with healthcare startups. While at Johns Hopkins University, Edward led a small team in the development of a patent-pending biomedical device in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medical School. He also worked with the MMT Fund, a Maryland life sciences incubator, where he supported portfolio companies by conducting market research, writing federal grant applications, and filing patents. Edward graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering.
Sector: Life Sciences
MBA 2010 Wharton
Formerly consultant at Extera Partners and McKinsey
BA Neurobiology, Harvard
After TLP: Vikas is currently at Wharton completing his MBA. He interned at SROne, the venture arm of GlaxoSmithkline. Prior to joining Wharton, Vikas was a founding team member of Extera Partners (formerly PureTech Development), where he has led and supported the business development, M&A, and corporate strategy efforts of over 40 private and public life science companies. Previously, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Co, where he worked with top-tier pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health companies around the world. Over his career, Vikas has supported the diligence, negotiations, and post-transaction management of multiple corporate partnerships, from multi-billion dollar M&A events to initial R&D collaborations. Vikas is a graduate of Harvard University, where he studied neurobiology. He has over seven years bench research experience in electrophysiology, and has worked with top investigators at the Rockefeller University and Boston Universitys Center for Memory and Brain.
Sector: Life Sciences
Research Fellow, Childrens Hospital & Harvard Medical School
MD, Osmania University
Sanjay is a Research Fellow at the Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He has trained as a physician-scientist, and has published several research articles on neurobiology, neurology, bioinformatics and life sciences in leading journals. He has received awards and honors for excellence in research, and has been invited for technical presentations at national meetings. He is interested in the application of interdisciplinary knowledge resources towards identifying and executing innovative ideas towards improving accessibility to novel therapeutics and devices. An excellent communicator, with experience as a healthcare professional, he has effective problem-solving and organizational skills. Sanjay is passionate about application of translational technology solutions to healthcare industry.
Sector: Life Sciences & Social Enterprise
Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Formerly consultant at IMS Health
PhD, Dartmouth Medical School
MPharm, BPharm, BITS Pilani
After TLP: Niranjan is currently Program Officer for Infectious Diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He was formerly at SDG, a subsidiary of IMS Health, a strategy consulting firm. Niranjan was one 100 BioVision Nxt fellows chosen internationally by BioVision and Nextwave to attend the World Life Sciences Forum in 2003. He also served as a board member for YEA, a New England based nonprofit. Niranjan has worked with various volunteer organizations in the New England area and has served as an active member of the graduate student council and International Students Association at Dartmouth College, for which he was awarded the graduate student community award by the college. He was selected as the class day speaker for the Dartmouth Medical School graduation ceremony in 2004. He holds a PhD from Dartmouth Medical School, and MS and B Pharm degrees from BITS Pilani.
Sector: Life Sciences
Former business development associate at CIMIT and research analyst at Alternative Investment Analytics
BBA, UMass Amherst
MBA, Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management
After TLP: Tamara is currently an MBA student at Cornells Johnson Graduate School of Management where she leads the Lifesciences activities and is a fund manager for Cornell's Big Red Ventures. She interned at Covidien in product management. Tamara was a business development associate at CIMIT, Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, supporting the Industry Liaison Program. She acted as a liaison between member companies and investigators to catalyze collaborations to impact patient care. Tamaras previous experience includes working as a research analyst in an alternative investment consulting firm, developing fund of hedge fund products for institutional investors. Tamara is passionate about novel technology solutions to challenges in the healthcare industry. She holds a Bachelors degree from Umass Amherst.
Sector: Life Sciences & Venture Capital
Associate, HLM Venture Partners
Former analyst at Zweigwhite and CEO of Consumer Electronics Company
Yumin Choi currently works for HLM Venture Partners, a healthcare focused Venture Capital firm. He is also working on several startups ranging from stem cell tissue reengineering to hospital incentives programs. He previously worked at Angel Healthcare Investors performing due diligence and making early stage investments in healthcare startups. He worked as an analyst at a boutique investment firm called ZweigWhite where he worked on valuations, ownership transitions, and M&A services for the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering industries. He was a co-founder and CEO of a consumer electronics consulting firm and is a Babson College graduate.