Washington DC Panelists:
Howard TullmanFounder, Tribeca Flashpoint Media Academy
Howard A. Tullman is the President/CEO of Flashpoint Academy, Chairman/CEO of Experiencia, Inc., and immediate past President of Kendall College. Mr. Tullman is General Managing Partner of the Chicago High Tech Investors, LLC and a Director of The Cobalt Group and Passage Events. He is also a Trustee of WTTW, Chairman of the Endowment Committee of Anshe Emet Synagogue, a member of the board of advisors for HighTower Advisors, a member of Mayor Daley’s Council of Technology Advisors, an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a guest lecturer at the Northwestern University School of Law.
Troy HenikoffCo-founder, SurePayroll, Excelerate Labs
Troy Henikoff is the CEO and Co-founder of Excelerate, a seed stage accelerator in Chicago. Additionally he teaches Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University, is on the board of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and an advisor to Hyde Park Angels. His last 25 years have been spent starting, running and advising early stage technology companies. Prior to Excelerate, Troy was the CEO of OneWed.com, a wedding website that provides the largest online database of wedding vendors, detailed ratings and reviews and a smart, unique voice for wedding planning tips and advice. Troy was also the President of Amacai, a consumer and business data supplier. Previously, Troy co-founded SurePayroll.com, now the largest Internet based payroll company in the country. Prior to SurePayroll, Troy built the technology for Jellyvision (creators of “You Don’t Know Jack!” ) and his first company was Specialized Systems and Software, which focused on creating custom database applications. Troy has an undergraduate degree in Engineering from Brown University and a Masters Degree in Project Management from Northwestern.
Ted LeonsisFormer President, AOL
Founder, Chairman, Majority Owner and CEO, Monumental Sports & Entertainment
Ted Leonsis is the founder and chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which comprises three professional sports teams (Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics) and Verizon Center. He retired from active management of AOL in 2006 and retains the position of vice chairman emeritus. Former chairman of Revolution Money, which was sold to American Express, Ted is now on the Board of Directors at American Express. He is currently chairman of Clearspring Technologies, the largest online content sharing network, and has been a board member or early investor in a number of successful technology companies, from Google to Groupon. In 2008 Leonsis founded SnagFilms, which enables online audiences watch, share and support documentary films. SnagFilms grew out of Leonsis’ experience as a producer of award-winning documentary films, including Nanking, which won Peabody and Emmy awards. An author and daily blogger at TedsTake.com, Ted published a book, “The Business of Happiness,” which quickly became a bestseller. Ted sits on the board of several publicly held companies and serves on the Board of Directors of his alma mater, Georgetown University. A committed philanthropist, Ted is actively involved with numerous charities through the work of the Leonsis Foundation.
Ara H. Bagdasarian
CEO and Co-founder, Omnilert
Ara H. Bagdasarian is CEO and Co-founder of Omnilert, the leading developer of communications technologies that keep communities safe and connected. The company launched the first campus emergency notification system in 2004 that is now relied on in over 800 college campuses in the United States. In addition to Omnilert, Ara recently co-authored and published the why to book on entrepreneurship, “The Lemonade Stand”, which presents a fresh perspective on how anyone can convert a problem into a successful business while minimizing risk, debt, and obstacles. As a lifelong entrepreneur, Ara launched his first business Kidco at age 8. In 1996, Ara founded XNETIX and webRESONANCE in 1999. Both companies were early-market providers of web-based applications that powered hundreds of Internet startup companies. Recently, Ara has been in the national news media dealing with Omnilert and its brands: e2Campus, Amerilert, and RainedOut. He has appeared on TV, radio, and in newspaper interviews on CNN, ABC, CBS, USA TODAY, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review & others. Ara is an active community leader who serves as Chairman of the Town of Leesburg’s Economic Development Commission, President of the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra, and founding Board member of the Loudoun Center for the Arts. Mr. Bagdasarian is a graduate from the State University of New York College at Buffalo.
Chicago Panelists:
Mike DomekFounder, TicketsNow
Mike Domek founded VIP Tour Company in 1992 with a one hundred dollar investment. In June 1999, still with no venture capital, Mike launched the TicketsNow.com Web site. The online business instantly captured the attention of the secondary ticketing industry as well as the media, including Inc. Magazine, which featured TicketsNow as one of the “Great Companies Started for $1,000 or Less.” In 2001, under Mike’s direction, the company’s software division rolled out the EventInventory Web store plug-in. This cutting-edge technology and subsequent programs have established TicketsNow.com as the world’s largest and most trusted online marketplace for premium event tickets. After raising $34 million in venture capital in March 2007 and continuing to grow, TicketsNow was acquired by TicketMaster in February 2008.
Ron GalowichFounder, Initiate Systems Inc. & First Health Group Corp.
Ron Galowich is a successful entrepreneur with demonstrated history of identifying, and extensive experience in, founding and growing a successful public company and a variety of private businesses, including software, information technology, healthcare cost management, solid waste disposal, cable television and major real estate development. He also has experience in negotiating and completing mergers and acquisitions and securing private and venture capital financing. After establishing the business and actively participating in the early growth and development of the company, Galowich identified experienced and successful executives to operate and grow the business while raising substantial private capital from investors and venture capital funds. He founded Initiate Systems, Inc. (www.initiatesystems.com) and served as a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman since its inception in October 1996. President 1996-1998; Chief Executive Officer 1996-2002. He completed favorable sale of the company to IBM in March, 2010. Galowish is also co-founder of First Health Group Corp. (Nasdaq: FHCC), serving as a Director (June 1982 to February 2005), Secretary, General Counsel and Executive Vice President. Chairman of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Transaction Committee that negotiated the sale of the company to Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE: CVH) for $1.9 billion. He served as Director of Real Estate Operations for the Pritzker Family from April 1981 to November 1990.
Jim GrayFounder, optionsXpress
Mr. Gray, 44, has served as our Chairman of the Board since our inception and as Chairman of the Board of optionsXpress, Inc. since 2000. Mr. Gray has served as President of G-Bar Limited Partnership, an independent proprietary trading firm, since 1996. Prior to that, Mr. Gray served as the Head of Equity Trading at G-Bar. As one of the founders of optionsXpress and President of G-Bar, an independent proprietary options trading firm, the Board feels Mr. Gray is uniquely qualified to be Chairman of the Board of optionsXpress. He has profound knowledge of optionsXpress, our businesses, our operations and our customers. The Board also values Mr. Gray’s expertise in options trading, his understanding of the industry and relationships throughout the industry.
Dane MillerBiomet
Dr. Miller received his B.S. Degree in Mechanical Materials Science Engineering from General Motors Institute in 1969. He then received a Masters Degree and Ph.D. in Materials Science-Biomedical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1971 and 1974, respectively. Dr. Miller began his professional career at the Frigidaire Division, GMC in Dayton, Ohio from 1964 to 1969, working as a cooperative engineering student. From 1972 to 1975 he was employed at Zimmer U.S.A. in Warsaw, Indiana, in the position of Director of Biomedical Engineering. His responsibilities included engineering, prototype design and fabrication, as well as basic research support for all new product development programs. He was also responsible for coordinating and developing a custom and special product group, including marketing, sales, and manufacturing of custom products. From 1975 to 1978, Dr. Miller served as Director of Biomedical Engineering for Cutter Biomedical, a division of Cutter Laboratories, Inc., in San Diego, California. His responsibilities included organizing and staffing of a complete product development group, including formal budgeting and product planning functions. Finally, in 1978, Dr. Miller returned to Warsaw and, along with three other local individuals with orthopedic manufacturing experience formed Biomet, Inc. Their goal was to become the most responsive company in orthopedics while simultaneously providing patients with the highest quality and most clinically proven products in the marketplace. Since its inception in 1978 until March of 2006 Dr. Miller served as President and CEO of the company. With Dr. Miller at the helm, Biomet grew from $17,000 in sales its first year into one of the leading musculoskeletal companies in the world – with annual sales exceeding $2 billion.
New York Panelists:
Bonnie BaskinFounder, AppTec Laboratory Services
Bonnie Baskin, Ph.D., is the founder and past CEO of Viromed Laboratories, a nationally recognized clinical infectious disease testing laboratory and AppTec, an international provider of regulatory-compliant testing and cGMP manufacturing services for biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. She founded her first company – Viromed Laboratories – in the early 1980s and built it from a small independent virology laboratory into a nationally recognized leader in clinical infectious diseases and industrial biosafety testing. After steering the acquisition of the clinical infectious diseases division of that business by Laboratory Corporation of America in 2001, she reorganized the remaining biotech/medical device service components as the newly formed AppTec and secured venture capital to further grow the company. This allowed for the successful expansion of AppTec’s services into biopharmaceutical manufacturing and in 2008 sold AppTec to WuXi Pharmatech,. Baskin serves on a number of private and non-profit boards and is a past president of MNBIO, the Minnesota Biotech Association.
Glen TullmanCo-Founder, ECIN & CEO, Allscripts
Glen E. Tullman joined Allscripts as Chief Executive Officer in August 1997 to lead the Company’s transition into the healthcare information sector. He led the Initial Public Offering and Secondary Offerings of the Company, which is now traded on NASDAQ (MDRX) and has driven the Company to become the leading provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that physicians and other healthcare stakeholders use to improve the quality and reduce the cost of healthcare. Prior to joining Allscripts, from October 1994 to July 1997, Mr. Tullman was Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Systems, Inc., a leading healthcare information services company providing resource management solutions to large integrated healthcare networks. Mr. Tullman led the company’s Initial Public Offering and secondary offerings. HBO and Company of Atlanta acquired Enterprise in 1997 in a stock transaction valued in excess of $250 million. From 1983 to 1994, Mr. Tullman served in a number of management roles including President and Chief Operating Officer of CCC Information Services, a provider of information systems to the country’s largest property and casualty insurers. Under his leadership, the company grew from $17 million to more than $100 million.
Jim DolanFounder, The Dolan Company
James P. Dolan is President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of The Dolan Company. He has held these jobs since founding the company in 1992. Previously he was managing director and then executive vice president of the Jordan Group, Inc., a New York-based investment bank specializing in media. He previously held executive positions with Kummerfeld Associates, Inc., a media mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in New York and Chicago; News Corporation in New York and San Antonio; Sun-Times Company in Chicago; and Centel Corp. in Chicago, and also was an award-winning reporter and editor at newspapers in Texas. He is currently a director of Advisor Media, Inc., a magazine and conference company; Peoples Educational Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ: PEDH), an educational materials publisher; GovDelivery, Inc., a software and services provider to governments and large institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom; and The Greenspring Companies, the for-profit arm of Minnesota Public Radio.
Mark TebbeFounder, Answers.com, Lante Corporation
Mark Tebbe is Founder and Chairman of Techra Networks, a Chicago-based business consulting firm which assists companies in better leveraging technology for their business needs. Tebbe is also a Founder and Vice-Chairman of Answers Corporation, founded in 1999, which owns and operates Answers.com, an advertising-supported, free website which since its launch in January 2005, has become one of the leading information portals on the Internet. Prior to creating Techra and Answers, Mr. Tebbe was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Lante Corporation which he grew from a two-person firm to an 850-employee NASDAQ-listed international corporation until it was acquired by SBI Group in September 2002. Tebbe remained an SBI Board member until it was acquired by Aquantive in August 2004.
Al BerningCo-Founder PEMSTAR, CEO Hardcore Computer
Al Berning was co-founder and CEO of PEMSTAR, a start-up he led from launch through IPO and ultimately through merger with Benchmark Electronics. Prior to founding PEMSTAR, IBM employed Mr. Berning for fifteen years, where he held numerous management positions in process engineering, supply chain management and operations. Al is now CEO at Hardcore Computer, a technology company using patented liquid submersion cooling technology in high performance and energy saving computer systems and servers for the HPC, High Frequency Trading, and data center markets. Mr. Berning received a B.S. Industrial Engineering and an M.B.A. from St. Cloud State University. In 2005 he was selected by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to serve on the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee. He served as the Olmsted County United Way Campaign Chair of the 2007. In 1999, Mr. Berning received the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He currently serves on the board of HMN Financial.
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