BizTech@Wharton Conference

Peter Fader

Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor, Professor of Marketing, Co-Director, Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative (Moderator)

Professor Fader’s expertise centers around the analysis of behavioral data to understand and forecast customer shopping/purchasing activities. He works with firms from a wide range of industries, such as consumer packaged goods, interactive media, financial services, and pharmaceuticals. Managerial applications focus on topics such as customer relationship management, lifetime value of the customer, and sales forecasting for new products. Much of his research highlights the consistent (but often surprising) behavioral patterns that exist across these industries and other seemingly different domains.

Many of these cross-industry experiences have led to the development of the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative, a new research center that serves as a “matchmaker” between leading-edge academic researchers and top companies that depend on granular, customer-level data for key strategic decisions.

Professor Fader believes that marketing should not be viewed as a “soft” discipline, and he frequently works with different companies and industry associations to improve managerial perspectives in this regard. His work has been published in (and he serves on the editorial boards of) a number of leading journals in marketing, statistics, and the management sciences. He has won many awards for his teaching and research accomplishments.

Gil Beyda

Founder & Managing Partner, Genacast Ventures

Gil is a seasoned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. Gil launched his first company Mind Games in 1982 to develop games for the original Apple II. Gil then started a software consulting firm with Fortune 100 clients in the U.S., Asia and Europe.

In 1995, Gil helped pioneer Internet advertising by founding Real Media, the first online ad network and ad server company. After Real Media was acquired in 2001, Gil pioneered the next wave of online advertising as CTO of TACODA, the first behavioral targeting, ad network. Following AOL’s acquisition of TACODA in 2007, Gil founded Genacast Ventures in partnership with Comcast Ventures.

Raju Malhotra

Director, Microsoft

Raju Malhotra is a Director at Microsoft responsible for customer engagement & online commerce for more than 280M users at microsoft.com. Before this role, he led product management for Bing Shopping, a decision engine for shoppers around the world. Prior to joining Microsoft, Raju worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in Silicon Valley where he helped many innovative startups and corporate ventures with their marketing strategy. He holds an MBA from the Wharton school of business and an undergraduate degree in computer engineering from National Institute of Technology in India.

Hilary Peterson

VP of Business Development, Lyst

Hilary Peterson heads up business development for Lyst, a rapidly growing internet startup that’s revolutionizing the way people discover fashion online. Lyst connects users with the fashion designers, retailers and style icons they love so they can discover what’s inspiring them. Lyst also lets users create their own ‘lysts’ to start sharing their style. Hilary began her career by bringing Hollywood Fashion Tape to the shores of Australia and New Zealand and subsequently has worked on every side of the fashion industry from designing to marketing. She has also worked for DDB Worldwide doing business development Asia Pacific helping creating winning strategies for accounts such as Dell, Amex, Unliever and Speedo. More recently she has consulted on various branding projects for Estee Lauder, Waterford, and Omega to name a few.

John Sheldon

SVP, Strategy & Planning, True Action Network

John is an expert in marketing strategy coupled with the art and science of integrating analytics, brand equity, and the processes required to develop and execute great relationship marketing programs. At True Action Network, he leads the Strategy and Planning Team in North America and provides strategic direction to clients so as to ensure that TAN drives measurable and incremental value.

Before joining True Action Network, John was the director of brand dialogue at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, where he led the development of the CRM, digital, and social media capabilities. Throughout his career, he has guided numerous Fortune 500 brands in their quest to master 360-degree marketing strategies in the online, financial services, high-tech, and retail verticals.

John has also held the following key roles: executive director of marketing strategy and technology at Ogilvy NY; founder of Customer Portfolios; and marketing consultant for Oracle Corporation and Price Waterhouse LLC. He is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has been world-ranked in Roshambo (Rock-Scissors-Paper).

Joah Spearman

Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, Bazaarvoice

Joah Spearman joined Bazaarvoice, Austin's Best Place to Work, in April 2011 as the Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives reporting directly to its Chief Operating Officer. He is also the co-founder and executive producer of Style X, the official fashion showcase of South by Southwest Festival. An accomplished writer, Joah is a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post and the author of Real Role Models: Successful African-Americans Beyond Pop Culture (Univ. of Texas Press).

Previously, Joah moved to D.C. to become the head speechwriter for FEMA, only days after the resignation of Michael Brown and weeks after graduating from college. Joah helped to pave the way for increased transparency and their use of social media. Later he consulted former members of Congress, and the top leaders for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the International Olympic Committee, Volkswagen and Northrop Grumman. In these roles, Joah was often the primary social media eyes and ears in high-pressure situations for top executives. In addition, Joah has offered communications and social media counsel to the Commissioner of the Pac-10 Conference, the CMO of Kimberly-Clark, the head of Strategic Communications for FedEx, and the President of the University of Texas at Austin.

Nathan Solomon

Founder, Philadelphia Game Lab (Moderator)

Nathan leads the Philadelphia Game Lab, a physical nexus for game creation and learning in Philadelphia. Until recently, he was CEO of superfluid, a virtual currency provider implementing complementary currency principals in an IRS-compliant system. superfluid won the 2011 RHD award for Best Implementation of Virtual Currency for Social Good. Last year, he organized and moderated the Money Meetup panels in NYC, which were focused on exploration of currency and transactions.

Prior to this, Nathan was a consultant on game industry business models and co-founder of a technology company in New Orleans called GameFlood, dedicated to in-game sale of assets. For several years he headed business development as VP of Business Development at Electronics Boutique, and negotiated a variety of non-traditional digital distribution and transaction scenarios in games. He oversaw the first streamed rental of triple-A game titles and first major US initiative marketing point of sale activated cards for online game content, as well as mobile and location-based distribution. Before entering the game industry, he was CTO and Executive Producer at national ad agencies.

Christopher Barnard

Co-Founder, President and Director, Points.com

Christopher, President of Points International Ltd., co-founded the Corporation in 2000 and is a member of the Corporation's board of directors. He is responsible for corporate strategy, product development, corporate development and financing activities as well as investor relations and has also held various additional interim operating positions including CFO and VP of Product Development and Marketing. In 1998 Christopher also co-founded Canada’s first internet business incubator, Exclamation International, from which Points.com was created. Christopher holds a Masters of Business Administration.

Daniel Colleton

Vice President, Membership Rewards Partnerships, American Express

Dan Colleton has been with American Express since 2000 and has held a number of roles across the Membership Rewards, Merchant Services and OPEN/Small Business divisions. He is currently a Vice President of Membership Rewards Partnerships in the USA. In this role, he is responsible for driving partner strategy, negotiating partnership contracts and relationship management across the retail, dining and digital categories. Dan and his team currently manage over 75 partners and are also responsible for the Membership Rewards Merchandise business including over 3MM products and 200+ brands. During Dan’s tenure in Membership Rewards, he has launched a number of exciting new partners including Amazon, Zappos, Kohl’s, Facebook, Old Navy and OpenTable.

Prior to Membership Rewards, Dan was Director of Retail Partnerships within the Merchant Services Strategic Relationship Group where he was focused on expanding and developing partnerships with some of the company’s largest merchants including The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Staples and Crate and Barrel. Prior to this role, Dan spent six years in the OPEN/Small Business division where he held a number of positions including business development, partner management, loyalty and acquisition marketing, customer service and branding.

Before joining American Express, Dan held marketing and sales roles for an internet start-up, a major advertising agency and a non-profit community outreach organization.

Dan holds a BBA from the University of Notre Dame. When not working, he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his wife and two children.

Patrick Gauthier

Head of Retail Services Product Marketing and Business Operations, PayPal

Patrick Gauthier is the Head of Product Marketing and Business Operations for PayPal’s newly created Retails Services division.

Patrick is a payments and commerce innovation specialist, with, prior to PayPal, 20 years of experience managing products, sales, innovation and corporate venture at e/m.commerce startups, Visa Inc. and Schlumberger Electronic Transactions.

Patrick has also held positions on the board of directors of, mFormation; Arcot; mTLD; Upek; Humetrix.net. He is currently an advisor to Tyfone and Sequent Software, two companies pioneering NFC solutions and a Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur de la France.

Patrick holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Institut Supérieur des Télécommunications in France.

Iqram Magdon-Ismail

Co-Founder, Venmo

Iqram studied Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania and started a company called Venmo, an app that lets you send money to your friends.

Jorge Fernandes

CEO, Mobibucks

Jorge Fernandes is the CEO of Mobibucks with responsibility for leading the way in the rapidly growing mobile payment market. Prior to Mobibucks, Mr. Fernandes was co-founder, CEO and Chairman of ViVOtech, having conceived and demonstrated the initial products for PayPass and NFC. Previously Mr. Fernandes was president and founder of EmployeeLife (NASDAQ-ICGE), BioLumin (NASDAQ-MDYN), and LaserTron (NASDAQ-LZTN). He has authored over a dozen patents in the areas of payment technology, software algorithms, robotics, digital feedback, and laser systems. Mr. Fernandes received his BSEE from San Diego State University and MBA from Santa Clara University.

Leonard Fishman

Co-Founder, pledge4good

Leonard Fishman is a co-founder of online fundraising company, pledge4good. Leonard is a Joseph Wharton Scholar at the Wharton School, from which he will receive his MBA with majors in Entrepreneurship and Marketing in May 2012. Before Wharton, he worked as a Media & Telecomm investment banker at Lehman Brothers/Nomura in New York and Asia. Leonard graduated cum laude from Duke University with majors in Economics and Spanish and a minor in Political Science. He is currently a Board Fellow at the Community Partnership School in Philadelphia. During his free time, he enjoys trekking, scuba diving, and emerging market history.

Brian Fujito

CTO, Razoo

Brian joined Razoo as Chief Technology Officer in August of 2009. Brian brings deep and extensive technology leadership experience to Razoo, with a track record of working with mission-driven internet companies. In 2000, Brian joined Christianity.com where he served as Chief Technology Officer; there, he helped revamp the business, and designed and rebuilt an online giving system to handle millions of dollars in donation flow to client nonprofits.

Whenever possible, Brian loves spending time with his wife and twins.

Brian graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Princeton University.

Patty Huber

Director of G-Team, Groupon

Patty Huber, Director of G-Team, leads the philanthropic arm at Groupon. Harnessing the collective action platform, Patty developed the G-Team initiative to turn deal seekers into do-gooders by tapping into the collective power of the group to respond to local community need. Passionate about volunteer involvement and crafty with online engagement, she has led the G-Team in raising funds and awareness for local charities across the nation.

Patty discovered her passion for community development and civic engagement through her experience developing service-learning and experiential education programs for high school and college students. She went on to produce corporate volunteer programs while pursing work in mental health and social service agencies. Patty approaches corporate citizenship and civic engagement from a social work perspective and seeks to create innovative ways to solve social problems through sustainable for-profit models.

Patty has a Bachelor’s degree on Psychology from James Madison University, as well as a Master’s degree in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. Her hobbies include braving the elements during her year-round bike commute to work and spending time with her husband, Brian, and new daughter Vivian Rose.

Missy Sherburne

Chief Partnerships Officer, DonorsChoose

Missy and her team at DonorsChoose are responsible for building partnerships with corporations and foundations across the country. Previously, she served as the founding Executive Director of DonorsChoose.org North Carolina and South Carolina. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she was the North Carolina Executive Director with Teach For America. She started her career as a Teach For America corps members in Baltimore, teaching the third and fourth grades. Missy holds B.A. degrees in Political Science and Speech Communication from Miami University and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government where she was a Public Service Fellow.

Alec Rieger

Consultant, Communications and Transparency, Pencils of Promise

Alec Rieger is Consultant, Communications & Transparency at Pencils of Promise, the world’s fastest growing global education incubator.

He has a background in entertainment management and nonprofit development, including positions at Warner Bros. Records, The Jewish Federations of North America, and the U.S. Fund for Unicef.

Alec holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and lives in New York City.

Patrick FitzGerald

Lecturer, The Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program, The Wharton School (Moderator)

As a veteran entrepreneur with a background in many industries, Mr. FitzGerald has assisted in the foundation or expansion of a variety of business, most notably RecycleBank, Philadelphia Distilling, Carbonrally, Shopiks, ReProduct, Philly Car Share and Nanny Caddy.

Mr. FitzGerald is the former CEO of Nanny Caddy, the vending machine for parents on the go. During Mr. FitzGerald’s tenure, Nanny Caddy expanded from one machine to 30+ in 12 states via partnerships with Sea World Entertainment, Legoland, the Bronx Zoo, Philadelphia International Airport and various strategic locations nationwide. Nanny Caddy was named one of Redbook’s “Top Five Products for Moms” in 2011 and has been prominently featured in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, American Baby and the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Mr. FitzGerald is also the creator, co-founder and former President of RecycleBank. Through its partnerships with over 1,000 local and national retailers (including Starbucks, Home Depot, Whole Foods, Coca-Cola, Target, Staples, and Kraft), RecycleBank financially rewards households that recycle, provides cities and municipalities with landfill/incinerator fee savings, and promotes socially responsible businesses. Launched in 2003, RecycleBank currently operates in over 35 states and the United Kingdom and to date has raised over $75 million in capital from Columbia University, Kleiner Perkins, and private funds.

Prior to RecycleBank, Mr. FitzGerald was an attorney in the Wall Street office of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP where he specialized in mergers & acquisitions and corporate governance. Patrick received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Patrick has been a guest lecturer at the Wharton School of Business and Temple University’s Fox School of Business and a mentor in the Columbia University Lang Center for Entrepreneurship Program and University of Pennsylvania Fox Leadership Program. He has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Philadelphia Inquirer, MSNBC, Fox News, NBC and other media outlets. The Philadelphia Business Journal recently honored Mr. FitzGerald with its “40 under 40” award which recognizes exceptional business leaders under the age of forty and he was recently awarded a United States Patent for his work in creating RecycleBank.

Steve Davis

President, Rue La La

Steve Davis is the President of Rue La La, a leader in the digital private sale space with a membership base of over 3 million. Mr. Davis joined Rue La La in October of 2010.

Prior to joining Rue La La, Mr. Davis served as President, GSI Commerce International from 2007 to 2010, based in Barcelona, Spain. Mr. Davis served in various roles upon joining the founding GSI executive team in 2000, including Senior Vice President responsible for Account Management, Product Management, and Marketing. In addition to building GSI into the leader of outsourced e-commerce services, Mr. Davis developed the strategy for and launched GSI’s Marketing Services division, which is currently a Top 15 Interactive Agency as ranked by Ad Age.

Previously, Mr. Davis held a number of management positions at Anheuser-Busch and Just For Feet. Mr. Davis received his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his Bachelor of Science from the University of Delaware. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts with his wife, Milsy, and their three children.

Guillaume Gauthereau

CEO, Totsy Inc

After an international career in the luxury goods industry which propelled him to become the youngest Chief Executive Officer of Lalique North America, Guillaume Gauthereau chose to parlay his talents towards a new purpose. As co-founder & CEO of Totsy.com, Guillaume is one of the key players of a successful team building leading private sale website on the family segment in the US.

Prior to Totsy, Guillaume founded the advisory firm G&G Advisors/Sequoia Lab. G&G Advisors/Sequoia Lab is dedicated to helping corporate and private clients implement sustainable practices and lifestyles, showing them strategies to improve business efficiency while harnessing the power and well-being inherent in greener practices.

A veteran social and green advocate, Guillaume sits on the Board of GustoOrganics, the first USDA certified 100% organic restaurant in the United States. Guillaume is also an advisory board member for the business organization of the internationally renowned artist Alicia Keys, and for BrickHouseSecurity.com a leading online retailer of personal security & safety electronics. He is also Board member of Ayoka Productions, a non-profit group that promotes international grassroots initiatives using short films. He has also been involved with the Clinton Global Initiative for over 3 years.

Before joining LALIQUE, Guillaume worked as a Manager at Louis Vuitton’s largest flagship store on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Preceding retail, he was the founder of an internet start-up, Alidoo.com, and worked in the Health & Pet Industry for Ralston Purina Nestle and Hill’s Pet Nutrition Colgate Palmolive. Guillaume received a PhD from the Veterinary School of Maisons- Alfort in Paris. He also holds a certificate in Marketing & Communication from the Vet School.

Guillaume has given numerous lectures over the last years. He most recently spoke at several prestigious schools and alumni clubs (Harvard Business School, Colombia Business School, INSEAD Alumni, Parsons School of Design, and others).

An avid traveler and photographer, Guillaume is never without his camera, committed to capturing nature’s beauty as well as social & environmental issues. He is currently working on a social photo project, his first book that will depict the misfortune of tent city dwellers.

Mike Kopelman

Partner, Edison Ventures

Michael Kopelman is a Partner with Edison Ventures, an expansion-stage venture capital firm that invests in technology companies. Michael leads Edison's e-commerce and consumer investment sector, and is a member of the financial services team.

Michael began his career as an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston where he advised clients on numerous M&A and financing transactions. In 1999, Michael left CSFB to launch E*OFFERING, a venture-backed online investment bank affiliated with E*TRADE. He launched several new online products, including the first web-based roadshow for retail investors. E*OFFERING was acquired one year after its launch by SoundView Technology Group, where he remained to lead the firm's internet & e-commerce investment banking franchise.

Michael serves as Director of CallCopy, a call performance management and analytics software company; The Neat Company, a scanning business productivity tool and Sonicbids, an eCommerce platform for emerging musicians. He was previously Director of TrueCommerce (acquired by HighJump Software) and CorrectNet (acquired by Netik).

Michael is active in regional venture, entrepreneurial and technology organizations. He is Co-President of Wharton Private Equity Partners, the private equity organization serving over 2,000 Wharton alumni. He serves on the IT investment advisory committee for Ben Franklin Technology Partners and is Director on Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association. He guest lectures at The Wharton School and was past Co-Chair of the Wharton Private Equity Conference.

He holds a BA in Economics, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA, with honors, from The Wharton School. He resides in Villanova, PA with his wife and two children.

Matt Lattman

Director of Research and Strategy, LivingSocial

Matt leads the research and strategy teams at LivingSocial, with responsibility over market launches and developing the customer offer strategy. Prior to LivingSocial, Matt was a Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group, focusing on the technology and automotive sectors. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar, and also received his BS/BSE through Penn’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. Matt lives in Washington, DC and is an avid runner, recently completing his first marathon.

John Saroff

Vice-President, Digital Factory and Sales Production, Vente-Privee USA

John Saroff is Vice-President, Digital Factory and Sales Production for vente-privee USA. In this role, he is responsible for leading the creative development and physical production of each of vente-privee USA’s sale events. He is delighted to be on the launch team of this unique joint venture of two of the world’s great companies - American Express and Vente-Privee.com.

John joined vente-privee USA from Google where he was Head of TV Ads, Strategic Partnerships, leading the structure and execution of business development transactions for the company with partners like NBC-Universal and DIRECTV. Earlier in his career, John was a director of business development at NBC-Universal and a corporate attorney at the New York firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore.

In 2011, John was named one of the forty most influential media executives under the age of 40 by industry publication Multichannel News. He serves on the Board of Visitors of Columbia Law School, the Board of Directors of both Career Gear and the International Radio and Television Society and is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. John obtained a joint degree in Law and Business from Columbia University where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma academic honor society. Perhaps most importantly, he is a very proud graduate of Haverford College.

Anand Sanwal

Co-founder and CEO, CB Insights

Anand Sanwal is the CEO/co-founder of CB Insights, a National Science Foundation-backed data-as-a-service company that provides info on high-growth private companies and their investors and acquirers. With the support of the NSF, CB Insights has also developed Mosaic, a technology that assesses the health of private companies by mining public information for signals of strength or weakness. Mosaic is used by lending, sales and procurement organizations to help them make better decisions about the private companies they do business with or are contemplating doing business with. Prior to CB Insights, Anand led the $50M Innovation Fund at American Express and authored the book “Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management”. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a degree in Finance/Accounting from the Wharton School.

Greg Alvo

Founder & CEO, OrderGroove

Greg Alvo is the Founder and CEO of OrderGroove, responsible for setting the overall strategic direction for the company and overseeing day-to-day operations. OrderGroove powers Subscription Commerce programs for leading online brands and retailers like L'Oreal, Teavana, Jockey and Johnson and Johnson, allowing customers to subscribe to frequently purchased items as well as launch monthly discovery clubs. Greg founded OrderGroove in 2008 with the vision of improving customer lifetime value and retention through Subscription Commerce.

Prior to OrderGroove, Greg held a variety of sales roles at Liquidation.com, a $500million B2B overstock eCommerce marketplace, where he was responsible for signing partnerships with some of the largest retailers, manufacturers and distributors in the world to handle their excess inventory through Liquidation.com’s marketplace. In 2006, Liquidation.com went public on the NASDAQ during a successful IPO (LQDT).

Greg is a proud native of Miami, Florida, and graduated from George Washington University with a degree in Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management. Prior to attending GWU, Greg founded Voteq, a computer consulting firm which he grew to over 100 clients nationwide. Greg now lives in New York City where he enjoys the fast paced environment, weeknight delivery and never missing a dull moment with his New York Jets on Sundays.

Phin Barnes

Principal, First Round Capital

Before joining First Round Capital, Phin founded ResponDesign, an independent videogame company that developed and published Yourself!Fitness, the first fitness game for Xbox and PlayStation2. While managing the marketing and distribution of Yourself!Fitness from 2003-2006, Phin secured retail partnerships with Nordstrom and Best Buy as well as promotional partnerships with Proctor & Gamble and McDonald’s.

One of the earliest employees at AND 1 Basketball, Phin spent six years helping to grow the company from revenues of $15 million to over $225 million. While at AND 1 Phin led product direction, managed relationships with national retail accounts and created the initial concept for the signature AND 1 marketing property—the AND 1 Mix Tape.

Phin also has consulted with several companies, including MTV Networks, where he focused on non-traditional games and the growth of the MTV Games division beginning in 2006.

Phin earned his MBA with honors from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a double major in Operations and Information Management and Finance. He earned his BA in Economics and Sociology from Haverford College in 1998 and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society.

Rob Lafave

Co-founder and CEO, Foodzie

Rob is the Co-Founder and CEO of Foodzie, an online marketplace of artisan producers that provides consumers with curated culinary experiences via monthly tasting boxes. Rob is a self-described tech geek, designer, foodie, entrepreneur, and urban farmer who's fascinated with the convergence of food and technology. Rob has been recognized as a top tech entrepreneur by BusinessWeek, was named to Inc Magazine's Top 30 Under 30, and Food & Wine Magazine's Top 40 Under 40.

Matthew Smith

Director, New Products, Shutterstock

Matthew is currently the Director of New Products at Shutterstock. Previously he was a Senior Product Manager at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), the world’s leading expert nextwork. He is a business and strategy expert with a focus on product management, with over ten years of experience building media and technology companies. He approaches all challenges from the same angle: understand the long-term strategy, understand the value, and break things down to simple ideas.

Todd Smith

Co-Founder, Stunner of the Month

Todd Smith is Co-Founder of Stunner of the Month, a monthly sunglasses subscription service. Launched in 2009, StunMo is the brain-child of four friends who began shipping from the attic of one of the founder’s mothers. Today, the San Francisco based start-up delivers rare, unbranded eyewear to subscribers nationwide, as well as internationally to more than 15 countries. In addition, Stunner of the Month's ever-growing digital community plays a central role in the online retailers success, keeping followers engaged between shipments.

Smith, the self-proclaimed jet-setter, foodie, and vintage store enthusiast, embodies the Stunner brand, viewing it as part of a lifestyle. A Pittsburgh native, he moved to San Francisco after graduating from George Washington University with a B.S. in Mathematics. Todd admits his degree is not entirely necessary to "stun", though it came in handy when developing StunMo's unique algorithm to determine which shades consumers receive. When Todd is not “stunnin” he enjoys giving food tours of the Bay Area and coaching youth basketball.

Danielle Sacks

Senior Writer, Fast Company Magazine (Moderator)

Danielle Sacks is an award-winning senior writer at Fast Company magazine who chronicles some of the most provocative people and trends in business. Over the past eight years at the magazine she has written five cover stories, including profiles on The Tipping Point's Malcolm Gladwell, controversial environmentalist Adam Werbach, and soul-searching ad man Alex Bogusky. Sacks has also profiled some of the most powerful people in industries like green design and sustainability, including William McDonough and Whole Foods' John Mackey. In 2006 Sacks was awarded the New York Press Club Nelly Bly Award and was published in Fast Company’s Greatest Hits: Ten Years of the Most Innovative Ideas in Business. She has also written for Details, Men's Vogue and Dealmaker, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Jeff Bennett

CEO, Swap.com

Jeff Bennett has been a leader in the digital economy through his work as an entrepreneur, executive and adviser. As an entrepreneur Jeff has been involved with many emerging companies. Currently, Jeff is the CEO of Swap.com, a Boston based company that has established a leadership position with this new form of social commerce. Prior to joining Swap.com, Jeff founded and served as President and COO of NameMedia, Inc., an online media and commerce company that owns one of the largest domain portfolios in the world. Jeff started my work on the Internet as an executive at Lycos where he served as Vice President of eCommerce and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development. Jeff earned his B.S. Degree, cum laude, with a concentration in Marketing and Management from Bentley University.

Kim Gaskins

Director of Content Development, Latitude Research

Kim Gaskins is the Director of Content Development for Latitude, a research consultancy that helps clients create engaging content, software and technology that harness the possibilities of the Web. She consults on thought leadership projects for Latitude’s partners and clients, including The New York Times and MTV Networks. Kim oversees study design, content creation, marketing, and strategic partnerships for Latitude’s own ongoing series of innovation studies, the Latitude 42s, which explore how the Web will continue to transform a variety of life experiences. Recently, she designed and led The New Sharing Economy study, which has been featured in publications like The New York Times, Huffington Post, and GOOD Magazine. Kim is also a contributor to Shareable Magazine and ReadWriteWeb.

Apu Gupta

Co-Founder & CEO, Storably

Apu Gupta is the Co-Founder & CEO of Storably, a community for people with spare space to connect with people who need spare space.

Along with his Co-Founder, Josh Kowitt, Apu started Storably to make the lives of city dwellers easier. Storably enables neighbors to be neighborly. Storably helps folks who need parking and storage spaces to find them from people who have unused or underused spaces nearby. In the process, Storably puts extra cash in people's pockets while getting renters a great deal on storage and parking. True to form, Storably was formed in an unused basement, and now actively rents out spare spaces in its offices to Philadelphians in need of inexpensive local storage.

Prior to Storably, Apu worked in retail and technology. Apu built the second largest drugstore chain in India as the COO & CMO of MedPlus Health Services, served on the interim management team of Peracon, a provider of software for the commercial real estate industry, and was in sales and marketing roles at WebEx Communications from their Series A financing through their IPO. Apu has an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

Campbell McKellar

Founder & CEO, Loosecubes

Campbell McKellar is the Founder & CEO of Loosecubes, a global workspace sharing community and resource for today’s workforce.

In 2009, while working remotely for a private commercial real estate owner/operator in New York City, Campbell became aware of the growing need for affordable productive workspace for mobile workers. She realized there were a lot of other people just like her—independents, entrepreneurs, and business travelers—freed by technology to work anywhere, but lacking a great place to work.

Campbell founded Loosecubes to connect professionals with spare desks to other professionals who need workspace. Her vision for the company grew out of her personal experience—as a traveler attempting to execute a Skype conference call in a Starbucks, as an independent worker in need of flexible workspace in New York City, and as an entrepreneur who realized that isolation is a business killer (while interaction is a business booster).

Campbell is a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford Graduate School of Business, as well as a former real estate investment banker with Goldman Sachs. She is the descendent of a long line of teachers and is always happy to provide others with a little advice (solicited or not).

These days, Campbell spends her time at the Loosecubes Headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, and coworking with other Loosecubers in beautiful work environments around the world.

James G. Reinhart

CEO & Chief Knitwit, thredUP

James is a serial entrepreneur and recent graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School where he was both a Bill George Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership and an HBS Goldsmith Fellow. Prior to HBS/HKS, while working in the Bay Area, he helped build one of the nation's premier public schools, Pacific Collegiate School - recently named the #3 school in America by US News & World Report. He is a product of New Jersey public schools and Boston College.