Keynote Speakers

Jay Abraham,
Founder & CEO,
The Abraham Group, Inc.

As the founder and CEO of The Abraham Group, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, Jay is recognized as one of the world’s most successful/impactful marketing strategists, business innovators, entrepreneurial advisors/mentors, and masters of "revenue and performance enhancement and acceleration." He has spent the last 25 years solving problems and significantly increasing the bottom lines of over 10,000 clients in more than 400 industries worldwide. And he's studied and solved almost every kind of sales/marketing/competitive-edge question, problem, challenge and opportunity.

Jay’s clients range from business royalty to small business owners who have profited greatly from Jay's expertise. 2,000 business books positively refer to him and his body of work. Jay grows businesses for a living – all over the world. He's helped companies in over 465 different industries, on five continents. Additionally, over 1,000 marketing consultants have been influenced by his work in over 30 countries internationally.

Forbes listed Jay as one of the top 5 executive coaches in the entire US. He is a Best Selling Author and popularized the phrase "Unique Selling Proposition" and is one of the leading experts on multiplying Relational Capital.

Jay Abraham
Founder & CEO,
The Abraham Group, Inc.

Timothy C. Draper,
Founder & Managing Director,
Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Timothy C. Draper is the Founder and a Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. His original suggestion to use "viral marketing" in web-based e-mail to geometrically spread an Internet product to its market was instrumental to the successes of Hotmail and YahooMail, and has been adopted as a standard marketing technique by hundreds of businesses. On behalf of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tim currently serves on the boards of DoAt, Glam, Prosper, and Miartech. DFJ's previous successes include: Skype (EBAY), Overture.com (YHOO), Baidu (BIDU), Parametric Technology (PMTC), Hotmail (MSFT), PLX Technologies (PLXT), Preview Travel (TVLY), Digidesign (AVID), and hundreds of others.

Tim launched the DFJ Global Network, an international network of early-stage venture capital funds with offices in over 30 cities around the globe. He founded or co-founded DFJ ePlanet (global), Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham (NYC), Zone Ventures (LA), Epic Ventures (Salt Lake City), Draper Atlantic (Reston), Draper Triangle (Pittsburg), Timberline Ventures (Portland), Polaris Fund (Anchorage), DFJ Frontier (Sacramento and Santa Barbara), DFJ Vina Capital (Vietnam), and DFJ DragonFund (Shanghai).

As an advocate for entrepreneurs and free markets, Tim is regularly featured as a keynote speaker in entrepreneurial conferences throughout the world, has been recognized as a leader in his field through numerous awards and honors, and has frequent TV, radio, and headline appearances. He was #52 on the list of the 100 most influential Harvard Alumni, and #7 on the Forbes Midas List. He was named Always-On #1 top venture capital deal maker for 2008. He was awarded the Commonwealth Club's Distinguished Citizen Award for achievements in green and sustainable energy. His blog is featured at www.theriskmaster.com.

Tim recently founded Draper University of Heroes, an immersive boarding school in San Mateo, California for students 18-24 years old, dedicated to encouraging proactive entrepreneurship. Tim is the course creator and Chairman of BizWorld, a 501c3 organization built around simulated teaching of entrepreneurship and business to children. He also serves on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean's Advisors.

Previously, Tim served on the California State Board of Education. In November of 2000, Tim launched a statewide cyber-initiative on school choice for the California General Election. He was a member of Singapore's International Economic Council and Ukraine's Orange Circle. He was on the Board of U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Timothy C. Draper
Founder & Managing Director,
Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Patrick McHenry,
United States Congressman,
2013 Crowdfunding Visionary Award Recipient

Patrick McHenry is serving his fifth term in the United States Congress where he represents the citizens of North Carolina’s 10th District. Congressman McHenry’s district comprises seven counties in western North Carolina, from the suburbs of Charlotte to Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In the 113th Congress, McHenry serves as a Deputy Republican Whip, helping to manage the legislative priorities of Congressional Republicans on the House floor. Congressman McHenry is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. In this role, the Congressman provides oversight of the Federal Reserve, Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Export-Import Bank. He is also a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Throughout his career, Congressman McHenry has been a vocal and effective advocate for the men and women who wear the uniform of our country. He received awards from the North Carolina Chapters of the American Legion and Marine Corps League for his extensive work in bringing a veterans’ health care clinic to his district after nearly two decades of delay. The National Guard presented Patrick McHenry with the Charles Dick Medal of Merit for his exceptional service to the North Carolina National Guard.

Patrick McHenry
United States Congressman,
2013 Crowdfunding Visionary Award Recipient

Speakers

Douglas S. Ellenoff,
Partner & Owner,
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Mr. Ellenoff and the rest of the corporate department distinguish themselves from many other transactional lawyers on the basis of their ability to be part of the establishment of new securities programs, like PIPEs, SPACs, Registered Directs, Reverse Mergers and CrowdFunding, where the Firm's professionals have played leadership roles within each of those industries, assisting in the creation, formation and strategies relating to those financings, as well as working closely with the regulatory agencies; including the SEC and FINRA; and the listing exchanges - AMEX and NASDAQ. Ellenoff Grossman & Schole has been heavily involved in CrowdFunding since its inception.

The Firm has sponsored conferences, webinars and has been invited to speak at different events on the topic. Mr. Ellenoff has met with the SEC several times to discuss many aspects of the new law, how the industry currently operates and how both the SEC and FINRA will register and regulate the portals.

Douglas S. Ellenoff
Partner & Owner,
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Paul Niederer,
CEO Australian Small Scale,
Offerings Board (ASSOB)

Paul is one of world's leading authorities on peer to peer investing and equity based crowdfunding investment. As CEO of ASSOB in Australia he is one of the few in the industry that have spent several years facilitating, and keeping compliant, actual equity raises to the tune of $140 million raised in exchange for equity. With the intense interest in the Crowdfunding provisions of the U.S. Jobs Act Paul is intimately involved in advising a number of parties in how to structure their funding portals and processes, and how ASSOB has maintained a fraud free existence through hundreds of raises.

He regularly presents seminars on Equity based Capital Raising for early stage and growth businesses and is a Council member of the CFIRA: Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates.

Paul Niederer
Chief Executive Officer,
Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB)

Devin D. Thorpe,
Champion of Social Good
Author/Writer for Forbes Magazine

Devin Thorpe thinks he is the luckiest person alive. After being "let go" from the best job he’d ever had—as the Chief Financial Officer of the multinational food and beverage company MonaVie—he and his wife ended up living in China for a year where he wrote Your Mark On The World and embarked on the career he'd always wanted yet hadn’t dared dream.

Today, Devin channels the idealism of his youth with the loving support of his wife, Gail. Their son Dayton is a PhD candidate in Physics at UC Berkeley (and Devin rarely misses an opportunity to mention that).

Devin D. Thorpe,
Champion of Social Good
Author/Writer for Forbes Magazine

Howard J. Leonhardt,
Founder, Chairman & CEO,
Leonhardt Ventures

Howard J. Leonhardt is a long time entrepreneur, inventor, politician and writer. To date, Leonhardt has founded a total of 21 companies and also holds 21 patents for products for treating cardiovascular and heart disease. In 1999 Leonhardt founded Bioheart, Inc., a leading company that specializes in the treatment of heart failure by applying adult muscle stem cells. Bioheart, Inc has received $40 million dollars in loans & grants and has raised an additional $105+ million dollars in capital.

Leonhardt also serves as state spokesperson on The JOBS ACT and Crowdfunding for StartupCalifornia, a unit of the White House initiated Startup America Partnership. Leonhardt is also currently running for governor for the state of California and is a strong candidate for the upcoming 2014 elections.

Howard J. Leonhardt
Founder, Chairman & CEO,
Leonhardt Ventures

Judy Robinett,
Partner,
Crowdfund Capital Advisors

Judy Robinett is a business thought-leader and funding guru with over thirty years of experience as an entrepreneur and corporate leader, including stints as CEO of public and private companies and management positions at Fortune 500 companies. She serves on the advisory board of Illuminate VC in Menlo Park, a top tier micro VC whose portfolio includes the highly successful company Xactly. She also serves on the board of Solstein Capital in San Francisco and is a member and mentor for Pipeline Foundation, which mentors high net worth women on active angel investing.

Ms. Robinett has worked with hundreds of startups as an advisor for funding strategy, plus served on many boards; she was previously a managing director of Golden Seeds, an angel investment firm empowering women entrepreneurs. The New York Times singled her out as a sterling example of the new breed of “connectors” who use their experience and networks to accelerate growth and enhance profitability. Globally, Judy Robinett is becoming known as a "super connector," making powerful introductions daily using her titanium digital rolodex to introduce one power leader to another. A sought-after speaker, she has given 300+ speeches worldwide on funding strategies, licensing, business ethics, transparency, board responsibilities and leadership. She is currently writing two business books for publication in late 2012/early 2013. Her greatest thrill in life is connecting people.

Judy Robinett
Partner,
Crowdfund Capital Advisors

Jed Cohen,
Founder & COO,
RocketHub.com

Jed is a Founder, and the Chief Operating Officer, of RocketHub.com, one of the world’s largest and most successful crowdfunding platforms. He regularly speaks at events across the nation, educating people on the fundamentals of running a successful crowdfunding campaign. In May 2012, Jed co-authored a whitepaper, entitled Regulation of Crowdfunding: Building On the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which has received acclaim from both the SEC and FINRA. However, Jed’s professional career began (at the age of eight) when he took to the stage as an actor and singer. During his twenty-year career as a performer, Jed toured both nationally and internationally as a boy soprano, made his Broadway debut (at the age of fifteen) in the Tony Award winning musical The Secret Garden, and is featured as “Rod McCalister” in the hit movies Home Alone and Home Alone II: Lost in New York.

Jed is a graduate of Harvard University where he earned his degree in Astronomy & Astrophysics. He completed original research identifying optical counterparts to gamma-ray bursts, and mapping NGC4258 in neutral-Hydrogen. He lives in New York City with his wife Kate, son Zeke, and little dog Sophie.

Jed Cohen
Founder & COO,
RocketHub.com

Sarah Hanks,
Chief Executive Officer,
CrowdCheck

Sara Hanks, co-founder and CEO of CrowdCheck, is an attorney with 30 years of experience working in the corporate and securities field. She recently stepped down as the General Counsel of the Congressional Oversight Panel, the overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was chaired by Professor Elizabeth Warren. Sara brings a wealth of legal expertise in securities and start-ups to the emerging crowdfunding marketplace. Her new company, CrowdCheck, is designed to protect against fraud by performing due diligence checks on entrepreneurs.

At the TARP oversight panel, Sara spent 18 months on Capitol Hill investigating the implementation and consequences of the TARP in depth. She examined the government’s intervention in the automotive companies, the execution of the banking “stress tests,” the rescue of AIG, and the international aspects of the financial crisis.

Sara has worked with the London law firm Norton Rose, as well as the D.C. office of Rogers & Wells. She later joined the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission and as Chief of the Office of International Corporate Finance led the team drafting the regulations that put into place a new generation of rules governing the capital-raising process and the way in which non-U.S. companies accessed the U.S. capital markets.

In 1990, Sara rejoined Rogers and Wells, which later became part of Clifford Chance, and in 2002, was elected to the first of three terms on the firm’s Partnership Council. During two of those terms, she served on the firm’s Audit Committee. While at Clifford Chance, she advised on capital markets transactions and corporate matters for companies in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Sara received her law degree from Oxford University and is a member of the New York and DC bars and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. When not working on corporate and securities matters, Sara is an aunt, Army wife, skier, cyclist, gardener and animal lover.

Sara Hanks
Chief Executive Officer,
CrowdCheck

Jonathan Sandlund,
Founder,
TheCrowdCafe

Jonathan Sandlund is founder of TheCrowdCafe, a leading provider of research and data on the global investment crowdfunding industry, and localinvestors.org, a social platform being developed to grow small business and startup communities.

A repeat entrepreneur, Jonathan built his first online community, tripledesignz.com, while in middle school. He went on to start Sandlund Investments LLC in college —providing fundamental research on micro-cap equities— before working in institutional investing and investment banking in New York. His disenchantment with the public markets, as well first-hand frustration with the inefficiencies and inequalities of the private markets, kickstarted his passion for investment crowdfunding.

Data-driven, an evangelist and idealist, Jonathan is thrilled to be part of a young and rapidly growing industry that, in time, is going to revolutionize the way we look at investing.

Jonathan Sandlund
Founder,
TheCrowdCafe

Howard Lindzon,
Co-founder & CEO,
StockTwits

Howard Lindzon is co-founder and CEO of StockTwits, a social network for traders and investors to share real-time ideas and information. StockTwits was recently named one of the top 10 most innovative companies in by FastCompany and one of the 50 best websites by Time magazine.

Mr. Lindzon has more than twenty years experience in the financial community acting in both an entrepreneurial and investing capacity. With a unique vision for starting and successfully managing innovative companies, he is the Managing Partner of Social Leverage, a holding company that invests in early stage web businesses. Howard continues to manage a hedge fund he started in 1998.

He created Wallstrip, and more than 400 original web video shows, which was purchased by CBS Corp. in 2007. He is an active angel with many success angel investments including: Rent.com, (purchased by Ebay in 2005 for $415 million), Golfnow.com (purchased by Comcast in June 2008), and Lifelock (lead investors include Bessemer Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers). Mr. Lindzon’s new media and internet business investments also include: Limos.com, Blogtalkradio.com, Buddy Media, Ticketfly, Assistly, Bit.ly and Tweetdeck.

Mr. Lindzon received an MBA at Arizona State University and an MIM from The American Graduate School of International Management.

Howard Lindzon
Co-founder & CEO,
StockTwits

Michael T. Moe,
Chairman, CEO, President & CIO,
GSV Capital Corp.

Mr. Michael T. Moe, CFA serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Global Silicon Valley Asset Management. Mr. Moe Founded GSV Capital Corp. and has been its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President since 2010. Mr. Moe is Founding Partner of ThinkEquity, LLC. He serves as Chief Investment Officer at GSV Capital Corp. He is Cofounder of GSV Advisors. He has more than 20 years of experience. Mr. Moe serves as a Co-Portfolio Manager at ThinkGrowth, ThinkGlobal and ThinkGreen funds. He is a Co-Founder of NeXtAdvisors, LLC. He has been Principal and Chief Investment Officer at NeXt Asset Management since 2010. He serves as president, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors of NeXt Capital. He serves as Chairman of ThinkEquity LLC. He has been a Director of ePals Corporation since July 30, 2010. He has been a Director of CUX, Inc. since September 2012. He serves as Member of Advisory Board of Tracky, Inc.

He is frequently cited in financial publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for his opinions on growth companies and the education industry, in addition to appearing regularly on financial programs including CNBC, Fox Business News and CNN. Additionally, Mr. Moe has been called one of the best stock pickers in the country by BusinessWeek magazine.

He has testified to Congress on the subjects of education technology, the new economy, and initial public offerings, and has also appeared before the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee. In 2007, Mr. Moe published his first book, Finding The Next Starbucks: How to Identify and Invest in the Hot Stocks of Tomorrow. In 1996, he published The Dawn of the Age of Knowledge. Following that, Mr. Moe published two additional white papers, The Book of Knowledge and The Knowledge Web. In 2006, Mr. Moe published the book, Finding the Next Starbucks. He served as a Director of Fullbridge Inc. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Mr. Moe earned his B.A. in Political Science and Economics at the University of Minnesota and was a Williams Scholar.

Michael T. Moe
Chairman, CEO, President & Chief Investment Officer,
GSV Capital Corp.

Karen Kerrigan,
President & CEO,
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

For nearly twenty years Karen Kerrigan's leadership, advocacy and training work has helped foster U.S. entrepreneurship and global small business growth. She is president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and is the group's chief advocate for its members.

Kerrigan regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on the key issues impacting entrepreneurs and the economy, and has been appointed to numerous federal advisory boards including the National Women's Business Council, the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialog, the U.S. Treasury's Taxpayer Advisory Panel, and the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements. Kerrigan has participated in two Presidential economic summits, and scores of events hosted by the White House, U.S. Small Business Administration and other federal government agencies and departments. She has written hundreds of Op-Eds and newspaper columns, and regularly appears on national television and talk radio programs.

She has been called America’s "entrepreneurial envoy" and "small business ambassador" for her extensive work overseas. Kerrigan is a founding member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, and regularly provides counsel to governments and business associations across the globe regarding entrepreneurial development, capacity building and policy formation and implementation. Kerrigan currently chairs the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), one of the core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy, which works to strengthen democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market oriented reform.

In 2012 and 2011 she was named a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer by Blackberry and Small Business Trends. In November of 2009 she was presented with the "Small Business Advocate of the Year" award by the NY Enterprise Report, Among other accolades, Inc. Magazine named Kerrigan to its small business "Best Friends in D.C." (2006) list as a "power broker and activist" with "serious clout" for entrepreneurs.; Fortune Small Business to its "Power 30" list (2000); and The Hill newspaper to its "most influential small business" list (2006) describing her as "the hardest working woman in show business". In 1995, National Journal named Ms. Kerrigan to its short list of "K Street" activists most likely to have an impact on Capitol Hill. Campaigns and Elections Magazine named her as one of its "Rising Stars in Politics" in its April 1996 issue.

Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO,
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Lou Kerner
Founder and Senior Partner,
The Social Internet Fund

Lou Kerner is the Founder and Senior Partner of The Social Internet Fund, which invests in the primary and secondary shares of rapidly growing social and mobile companies. Fund investments include Meetup, Scribd, Appia, Optim.al, IT Agility, and GameSalad.

Lou was previously Wall Street's first social media analyst, first on his blog, SecondShares, and then at Wedbush Securities, where he was the Managing Director of the Private Shares Group. It was on SecondShares, in March of 2010, that Lou published his original report on Facebook. The report, which predicted that the value of Facebook (then $16 billion) would rise to $100 billion, vaulted Lou in to the spotlight, and lead to his return to Wall Street.

Lou not only writes about Social Media, he was the first Wall Street analyst to live it, growing past 15,000 Twitter followers, and posting his research and expert conference calls on SlideShare.net where pieces often generated over 20,000 views. Lou is regularly quoted in Social Media stories in the WSJ, NY Times and dozens of other business publications. Lou is also a recurring guest on CNBC and other business related TV programs.

In 2007, Lou founded WildSites, a domain name aggregator that acquired more than 30,000 domain names, including CreditCheck.com for $3 million, which remains the 11th most expensive public market acquisition in industry history. WildSites continues to monetize its portfolio of domain names, generating significant returns for its investors.

From 2003-2006 Lou was President/Owner of Bolt.com, a leading social network which grew from 500,000 monthly uniques to over 20 million uniques in three years. At Bolt, Lou acquired numerous smaller youth sites, but his attempt to acquire the rapidly growing thefacebook, was rebuffed.

Prior to Bolt, Lou was the CEO of The .tv Corporation, an idealab company which licensed the top level domain (.tv) from the tiny island nation of Tuvalu. From 2000-2002, .tv grew to over 100 employees in Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong, and over $20 million in annual revenue, before being acquired by Verisign (Nasdaq:VRSN).

Prior to .tv, Lou had a distinguished career as an equity analyst following media companies for Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

Lou has a B.A. from U.C.L.A. and an MBA from The Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Lou Kerner
Founder and Senior Partner,
The Social Internet Fund

Philip H. Reicherz
Founder & Managing Partner,
Magnolia Ventures

Philip founded Magnolia Ventures in November 2009 and became its Managing Partner in January 2011. Magnolia Ventures is an opportunistic venture capital fund that looks to invest in top entrepreneurial teams with great concepts and a need for advisory services and capital. With their partner’s assistance, entrepreneurs’ ideas are turned into great companies with plans to revolutionize their industries. From January 2005 through January 2011, he was a Partner at SecondMarket, Inc. SecondMarket has streamlined the historically inefficient process for buying and selling alternative investments by connecting buyers directly with sellers and providing world-class market and operations expertise. Philip helped build out their network of more than 50,000 accredited individuals and institutions and assisted the firm complete billions of dollars in privately negotiated transactions. From 1995 through January 2005, he assisted “C” level executives and middle tiered institutions find liquidity in Restricted Securities of publicly traded companies at UBS, Credit Suisse, DLJ and CitiGroup. He received his B.S. from the University of Rhode Island. He was the Chairman of the SecondMarket’s Risk Management Committee and member of the UBS Financial Services Inc. / NFLPA Investment Advisor Committee. Currently, he is the Chairman of CrowdHut, LLC (crowdhut.net) - the first full-service crowdfunding solution provider.

Philip H. Reicherz
Founder & Managing Partner
Magnolia Ventures

Richard S. Seline
Principal
NextGen Advisors

Richard Celine is a global innovation and competitiveness expert. He has brought together technologists, inventors, investors and civic leaders to create synergistic relationships to stimulate sustainable national and global economic growth.

To these ends he has served on numerous boards, panels and initiatives in both government, education, research and business sectors. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce during the administration of GHW Bush, and White House Liaison to the Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations. His current activities are focused on connecting emerging young leaders to address empowerment, education, employment and entrepreneurship through mentoring, investing and partnering.

Richard S. Seline
Principal
NextGen Advisors

Carl Esposti
Publisher of Crowdsourcing.org,
CEO of Massolution

Carl is the Publisher of Crowdsourcing.org and CEO of Massolution, two of the leading properties in the crowdsourcing and crowdfunding arena. He is also the creator of the Crowdfunding Accreditation for Platform Standards program, for crowdfunding best practices and a thought leader in crowd-strategy and crowd-adoption models.

Over the past four years he has played a central role in pioneering and developing crowdsourcing and crowdfunding internationally, not only putting Crowdsourcing.org at the center of the nascent industry but also helping to develop standards, accountability and implementation models for crowdfunding.

He has a twenty year track record of delivering innovative programs for enterprises around the world, particularly in business process improvement, as a partner at Everest Group, prior to setting up Crowdsourcing.org and Massolution.

The hallmark of Carl’s work is his ability to perceive and fashion multi-party business relationships with strong mutual benefits. He is a consummate relationship builder and uses this skill to promote mutual interests in crowd industries.

Crowdsourcing.org, founded in 2010 is the leading information and communications website for the fast growing crowdsourcing and crowdfunding industries. Carl has grown it from inception to a six figure monthly audience and a position of respect in the industries.

Massolution is the only dedicated management advisory firm with crowd at the heart of its business. It advises at a Governmental level, in the banking and finance sector, and to enterprises on the use of crowd strategies in job creation, health service improvement, corporate R&D portfolios and enterprise process improvement.

Carl has also been an active campaigner for children’s rights.

Carl Esposti
Publisher of Crowdsourcing.org,
CEO of Massolution

Theresa A. Fette, MAcc, LL.M.
CEO
Provident Trust Group

Theresa brings unprecedented leadership, taxation experience and knowledge to Provident Trust Group. Licensed to practice law in Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri, Theresa's primary practice focus has been on the areas of Taxation, Trusts, Estate Planning, and Business Planning. She is nationally recognized for her expertise in Domestic and International income and estate tax planning for the high net worth individuals including tax planning for the sale of an appreciated asset.

Theresa was recently named as one of Fortune's 2012 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs. A forward thinker and natural motivator Theresa has designed and implemented a company culture of "Finding the Yes" which has become the "heartbeat of Provident." Theresa's extensive educational background and hands-on experience in special asset custody, tax and trust services adds an element to our executive team of lawyers and industry experts that no other self-directed retirement plan administrator can boast.

Theresa A. Fette
MAcc, LL.M.
CEO
Provident Trust Group

Dr. Ethan Mollick
Assistant Professor,
The Wharton School

Dr. Ethan Mollick the Edward B. and Shirley R. Shils Assistant Professor of Management at Wharton, where he studies innovation and entrepreneurship. His research includes papers on crowdfunding; the way in which communities of users come together to innovate; and the factors that drive the performance of entrepreneurial companies. Also, he co-authored a book on the intersection between video games and business that was named one of the American Library Association’s top ten business books of 2009. Ethan received a PhD and MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and his bachelor’s degree from Harvard, magna cum laude. He was a cofounder of a company, a management consultant, and he has worked with organizations ranging from DARPA to General Mills on topics of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Ethan Mollick
Assistant Professor
Magnolia Ventures

Panelists

Candace Klein,
Founder & CEO,
Bad Girl Ventures

Bad Girl Ventures (bgv.bz) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating and investing in woman-owned startup companies. In its first year of operations, BGV has received over 400 applicants, has educated over 250 businesses, has financed 26 women with $700,000, and has created 156 jobs across Ohio. SoMoLend (somolend.com) is a new technology platform that connects business borrowers seeking loans with lenders looking to make a return on investment.

Candace has six years of lobbying experience, with the Northern Kentucky Chamber and United Way and four years of legal experience. Candace continues to practice as an attorney with Ulmer & Berne LLP with a focus on corporate matters, business advocacy and government relations for startup companies and small business clients. Candace is also the chair of CFIRA, the crowdfunding industry task force that works directly with the SEC and FINRA to set industry standards.

Candace led the Communities Practice at Property Advisors, with the title of "Maven" and the job description, "run and think." She is actively committed to her neighborhood, Over the Rhine, where she lives and has based both of her businesses.

Candace is a 2008 graduate of Salmon P. Chase College of Law where she earned her J.D. She also received her bachelor degrees from Northern Kentucky University.

Candace Klein
Founder & CEO,
Bad Girl Ventures

Scott Purcell,
Founder,
Arctic Island, LLC

Mr. Purcell has considerable experience in both the securities and internet industries. In 1988 he founded a trust company that managed fixed income instruments for institutional investors, which he sold to a regional bank. Mr. Purcell also started a bond trading desk, a clearing firm for institutional investors, and published a book "The Guide to Fixed Income Investing". In 1994 he founded Epoch Networks, one of the world's first ISP's, and raised over $60 million in venture capital. As an initial Board member of the Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX), he often represented the nascent industry before Congress and the FCC. In 1999 Mr. Purcell founded OnAir Networks, raised over $40 million in venture capital and built the first music storage, streaming and downloading services for Sony and Universal. During this time he was retained by the Recording Industry Association of America to advise them on internet technology issues and copyright matters, and to represent the industry before Congress. Since selling OnAir in 2001, Mr. Purcell has started several ventures, including a search engine wholesale business, a family tree and journaling website, and a niche social network. In 2011 he founded the investment based crowdfunding platform Arctic Island.

Scott Purcell
Founder,
Arctic Island, LLC

D. Bruce Johnston,
President & COO,
CaptureTrackConvert

Bruce is a 30-year financial services career sales executive. Prior to co-founding CTC he held the position of President & CEO of Old Mutual Investment Partners, charged with the distribution of the firms affiliate manager mutual funds and separately managed accounts. He also held the same positions at Sentinel Investments and Gartmore Global Investors, the former asset management division of Nationwide Insurance.

He has been recognized as Institutional Investor’s Mutual Fund Marketer of The Year for his transformational distribution strategy and is often quoted in such well read industry publications as Ignites, FundFire, FA Magazine, and Advisor One on his opinion regarding distribution, branding and social media policy and strategy.

He has spent the past four years positioning CaptureTrackConvert as one of the few firms focused on delivering social media education, strategy and thought leadership for small business and financial advisors with the intent of improving their customer acquisition and retention metrics.

He is the author of several articles on social media and has authored the following white papers: "How Advisors are Leveraging Digital Marketing to Differentiate Themselves in a Crowded Marketplace"; "The ROI of Automated Marketing for Advisors"; co-authored with Huntington Bank "Introduction you Social Media: A Guide for Smaller Money Managers"; and most recently "Leveraging LinkedIn for Account Acquisition and Retention: 7 Steps to LinkedIn Success for Financial Advisors".

D. Bruce Johnston
President & COO,
CaptureTrackConvert

Chris Tyrell,
Managing Director,
Right Strategies

Mr. Tyrrell is the Managing Director at Right Strategies which is a venture and M&A consulting firm based in Princeton, New Jersey specializing in energy and technology businesses.He is also the Investor committee chair and CFIRA Board Member. Previously he was with Right Energies, Cadwalader, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. Right Energies is a regional energy services company (ESCO) focused on providing energy-efficiency and renewable energy technology to the warehousing, manufacturing and industrial sectors in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. He is also the founder of Right Internet and a volunteer for various non-profit organizations. He received his education at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Chris Tyrell
Managing Director,
Right Strategies

Mary E. Juetten,
Founder & CEO,
Traklight

Mary has over twenty-five years of varied leadership, management, and business and financial consulting experience including successful turnarounds in the public and private sectors. Mary is a recovering accountant, holding both a CA and CPA, and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and a JD from Arizona State University (ASU).

In 2010, during law school, Mary founded traklight.com, a site that provides inventors, creators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses with the software applications and tools to identify, secure, and manage their intellectual property. Mary also consults and mentors small start-ups in the areas of planning, business models, and intellectual property identification.

A native of Canada, Mary now lives in Phoenix with her husband and teenagers. In addition to volunteering as a mentor at ASU, Mary is active in locally with the Arizona Tech Council, Startup Arizona, and 85 Broads Phoenix and is a member of the UIA, CfIRA and the CfPA.

Mary E. Juetten
Founder & CEO,
Traklight

Victoria Silchenko, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO,
Metropole Capital Group

Dr. Victoria Silchenko is an economist turned entrepreneur who devotes much of her time to helping other entrepreneurs succeed. She is the founder & CEO of Metropole Capital Group which she launched in 2004 in Los Angeles, CA to provide strategic and capital formation advisory services to venture capital-backed startups and other emerging growth and innovative companies in a broad range of industries throughout the U.S. and Russia/BRIC.

Victoria strongly believes in ethical conduct of any business and actively supports solving market needs in the most intelligent, innovative and socially responsible way. She is also a writer and contributes to the Huffington Post and Los Angeles Business Journal on the subjects of entrepreneurship, venture capital, angel investing and crowdfunding.

Victoria is also the chair of Global LAVA group, a strategic interest group of the Los Angeles Venture Association , the oldest LA based non-profit that supports entrepreneurship and innovations.

Dr. Silchenko is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship and financing & growth strategies for early stage companies.

Victoria formerly held an analytical position at the Milken Institute, a leading Southern California economic "think - tank" managed by Michael Milken. Previously, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher directly with Dr. Arthur Laffer, (former economic advisor to President Reagan) at Laffer Investments, an economic research and consulting firm.

Dr. Silchenko holds degrees in Economics and Finance from the State University of Demidov (1997) and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (2000). Additionally, she completed her coursework in Financial Modeling, Business Valuation, and Business Strategies at the University of California San Diego, and she holds a Certificate in Recognition of Satisfying the Requirements for the Advanced Management and Business Program from San Diego State University.

Dr. Victoria Silchenko
Founder & CEO,
Metropole Capital Group

Ryan Feit,
CEO & Co-Founder,
SeedInvest

Ryan is the CEO and Co-Founder of SeedInvest, a revolutionary funding platform for startups and small businesses. Prior to the passage of the JOBS Act, Ryan supported The Startup Exemption, the nonprofit responsible for bringing the concept of Equity Crowdfunding to Washington, DC. Ryan co-founded the Crowdfunding Professional Association and currently serves as an Executive Board Member and the Chair of the Education and Training Committee. Ryan also serves as a Governing Board Member of the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates group and as Co-Chair of the Crowdfunding Portals Committee.

Prior to founding SeedInvest, Ryan worked at Carlson Capital, a $7 billion multi-strategy hedge fund, where he evaluated and recommended public equity investments. Prior to Carlson, Ryan worked as a Senior Associate at Wellspring Capital Management, a private equity fund with $3 billion under management, where he led small deal teams in conducting detailed due diligence, structured deals, raised hundreds of millions in financing and managed an array of portfolio companies. Prior to that, Ryan was an Investment Banking Analyst at Lehman Brothers where he structured and executed financings to support leveraged buyouts, refinancings, recapitalizations and acquisitions.

Ryan received an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ryan Feit
CEO & Co-Founder,
SeedInvest

Luan Cox,
Founder & CEO,
Crowdnetic

Luan has over 15 years of experience in building and leading global companies in the web-based financial data and applications industry and is the co-founder of Crowdnetic, a provider of innovative data and technologies to the crowdfunded and alternative investment industries.

She has served as the General Manager and Vice President of Interactive Data Managed Solutions - Americas (acquired by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus), Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for Stockpoint (acquired by ScreamingMedia and later MarketWatch, now part of IDC), Executive Director of Partner Solutions for Quote.com (acquired by IDC).

She is a founding member of the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA), a founding Council Member of the Crowdfunding Accreditation for Platform Standards (CAPS) and serves on Governing Board of the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA).

Luan Cox
Founder & CEO,
Crowdnetic

Sang Lee
CEO,
Return on Change

Sang Lee is the founder and CEO of Return on Change, the next generation’s investment crowdfunding platform aiming to connect investors with innovative and socially conscious startups. As a board member of CFIRA (Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates) and CfPA (Crowdfunding Professionals Association), Sang strives to educate innovative entrepreneurs about investment crowdfunding’s immense potential to provide high-impact startups with critical early stage capital as well as everyday investors with the opportunity to become involved in the most disruptive companies. Under his leadership, Return on Change has established itself as a thought leader within crowdfunding discourse, having been featured in numerous financial publications such as BetaBeat, Reuters, Ecopreneurist, Crains, among many others. Sang is also a contributor to Forbes, New York Enterprise Report, and Under30CEO.

Sang is also a recipient of the Under30CEO Award in New York, a nationwide campaign to search for the most promising young entrepreneurs, big innovators, leaders, and world changers.

You can follow him on Twitter @rocSang or Return on Change @rocSpeaks

Sang Lee
CEO,
Return on Change

Chance Barnett
CEO,
Crowdfunder

Chance Barnett is the Co-Founder and CEO of Crowdfunder, the social network and business crowdfunding platform for small businesses, social enterprises and startups.

Chance is a successful internet entrepreneur, investor and advisor who has started and bootstrapped several companies from inception to over $58,000,000 in revenues over the last 13 years. His unique skill set brings together both hands-on technical knowledge and high growth marketing/customer acquisition experience, as demonstrated by having built technology and grown businesses that have acquired over 40,000,000 email subscribers online.

Prior to founding crowdfunder in 2011, Chance’s left his most recent full time operational leadership role and became a hands-on investor and advisor for early stage growth companies, a Forbes Contributor on Startups and Crowdfunding, as well as a published best-selling Author & Speaker in the areas of Personal Development & Entrepreneurship.

In founding crowdfunder, Chance has played an early and significant role in JOBS Act legislation & regulation– engaged directly with top leadership across Congress, the White House and the SEC.

Chance is a graduate of University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Economics. He lives in Venice, California where he is an Advisor or Board Member to a select group of socially conscious businesses and early stage startups, and surfs when the waves are good.

Chance Barnett
CEO,
Crowdfunder

Todd H. Smith
Founder and CEO,
Blue Horizon

Todd is one of the top venture development consultants in the country. He has consulted to Growth Ventures ranging from high growth start-ups, "closely-held" middle market corporations to new business within Fortune 500 companies for nearly fifteen years. Todd's specialty is helping high growth start-ups and business units develop investment grade strategic business plans. He is passionate about working with entrepreneurs to develop business plans that obtain investment capital.

Mr. Smith has expertise in a variety of management disciplines including Business Plan Development, Financial Modeling, Capital Acquisition, Competitive Intelligence, Mergers & Acquisitions, Strategic Planning, International Rollout Plans, Grant Proposals, Valuations, and Business Brokerage. He has worked for companies such as IBM and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida. In his education and management training portfolio, Todd has a MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and a Master’s in International Management from Thunderbird. He obtained his BS in Financial Management/Real Estate Finance from Clemson University. His mentors include thought leaders in the areas of corporate finance, venture development finance, family business, strategy, entrepreneurial management, technology and global marketing.

Todd H. Smith
Founder and CEO
Blue Horizon

Cheryl Knopp
Head of Private Shares,
Liquidnet

Cheryl brings more than 16 years of financial services and legal experience to her role as head of Private Shares at Liquidnet. She is responsible for advancing the growth of this business which is helping private companies to efficiently source capital from leading institutional investors through Liquidnet’s global institutional trading network. In addition, Cheryl works closely with the company’s Corporate Strategy team identifying new business opportunities for the firm.

Prior to this, Cheryl held various roles as part of Liquidnet’s legal team where she advised on corporate matters, intellectual property, regulatory developments, technology and new business initiatives. Cheryl is an active member of the Liquidnet for Good Advisory Committee, the company’s corporate social engagement program.

Prior to joining Liquidnet in 2006, Cheryl served as Assistant General Counsel at Bloomberg, LP and at Kaplan, Inc. She is admitted to the State Bar of New York and holds her FINRA Series 7 and 24.

Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Cornell University and a J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School where she graduated magna cum laude.

Cheryl Knopp
Head of Private Shares,
Liquidnet

Brian R. Knight
Co-Founder & Director of Platform Services,
CrowdCheck

Brian R. Knight, Co-Founder and Director of Platform Services at CrowdCheck, has experience as both an attorney and an entrepreneur. Brian has served as an attorney in the private sector and for the Federal Government. He also started and ran Publius Incorporated, a business focused on improving constituent communications with elected officials. Brian brings his unique experience with both the legal and entrepreneurial worlds to CrowdCheck, allowing him to effectively address the needs of startups.

Prior to co-founding CrowdCheck, Brian worked out of the well-known Tech Ranch incubator in Austin, Texas on Publius. He merged Publius into Ballotbook Corp., where he served as General Counsel and Chief Operations Officer before leaving to work on CrowdCheck full time. Through this experience Brian fell in love with being an entrepreneur and gained firsthand insight into the challenges facing small businesses.

Prior to moving to Austin, Brian served in the General Counsel’s office of the Central Intelligence Agency and with a firm specializing in commercial litigation.

Brian has a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Brian is a husband, dog-father, fair-to-middlin barbeque cook, and member of the North Carolina Bar.

Brian R. Knight
Co-Founder & Director of Platform Services,
CrowdCheck

Scott E. McIntyre
Manager Business Incubation,
University of Toledo Research & Innovation

Scott E. McIntyre has been a thought leader on the Internet's impact in business and culture for nearly 20 years, and is a frequent speaker at Venture Capital and Angel Investor conferences on the subject of Crowdfunding.

Mr. McIntyre currently serves as Co-Chair of the Founding Executive Committee for Education & Training at the CfPA, developing both the framework and the content for educating its membership and the broader public on the essence and impact of Crowdfunding, specifically as it relates to student career development and job creation.

Mr. McIntyre is Managing Director of Phabriq Development (www.phabriq.com), a hybrid strategy and capital services firm taking CrowdSchools.org to market, bridging Higher Education to Main Street by implementing hands-on internship programs and enhancing entrepreneurship curriculum. Mr. McIntyre was recently appointed to Manager of Edison Technology Business Incubation at the University of Toledo where his collaborative co-work space designs are being built out for seed-stage startups associated with the incubator.

Scott E. McIntyre
Manager Business Incubation,
University of Toledo Research & Innovation

Joy Schoffler
Principal,
Leverage PR

Joy Schoffler has spent her career launching high performing startups—helping them raise capital and achieve growth through creative publicity strategies. She additionally teaches at a number of organizations including Startup America, Execsense and many other crowdfunding specific industry sites. An avid speaker and writer, Joy has spoken at events throughout the country on crowdfunding, is currently writing: "How to Stand Out From the Crowd While Crowdfunding". She also regularly writes for several outlets including Entrepreneur.com, MO.com, and The Glass Heel in addition to being featured in Inc. Magazine, Forbes and several other industry blogs.

As Principal of Leverage PR, Joy works with the leaders of the crowdfunding industry, investment firms, and high potential startups. Past and present clients include; Crowdfund Capital Advisors, EarlyShares, IPO Village, Growthink, and Social Dynamx in addition to a host of other high profile Inc. award winning firms. Her and her team secured thousands of high profile media placements over the years, which have helped her clients achieve extraordinary business results. She has helped early-stage companies raise more than $20 million, make the Inc. 500 list, secure Fortune 500 accounts, and experience tremendous growth all through creative publicity and marketing strategies.

Joy's number one passion in life is to help entrepreneurs and businesses succeed. Knowing what a large impact PR can make on businesses she developed the first of its kind publicity platform for crowdfunding and growth phase companies "Enhance My Visibility" which will be available in early 2013. EMV will allow companies to leverage the power of publicity to increase investor dollars, close new accounts, and grow their businesses.

Outside of the private sector, Joy served as a Finance and Public Affairs Officer in the US Army Reserves and Guard. She sits on the board for Athletes for Change, an organization of NFL players dedicated to helping foster kids, and on the PR committee for the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA), helping create messaging and form strategic relationships that will enhance CfPA's overall mission.

Joy Schoffler
Principal,
Leverage PR

Jeffrey Henderson
VP of Sales & Marketing,
Invested.in

Jeffrey Henderson is the VP of Sales & Marketing at Invested.in, a technology startup that specializes in Social Fundraising and Crowdfunding. Previous to joining Invested.in Jeff has helped build and sell multiple marketing and services based businesses, including DONE! SEO, Cuban Rollers, and Adept Marketing Concepts. Over the years Jeff has helped numerous household brands with online marketing campaigns, including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Pepperdine University, and Coca Cola.

Jeffrey Henderson
VP of Sales & Marketing,
Invested.in

Alon Goren
Founder & President,
Invested.in

Alon Goren is the founder and president of Invested.in, a local technology startup that specializes in Social Fundraising (Crowdfunding) technologies. Previous to founding Invested.in, Alon spent time at various banks, MySpace and IMDb. Alon holds a bachelors degree in Entrepreneurial Management from California State University at Channel Islands.

Alon Goren
Founder & President,
Invested.in

Jeremy Andrews
Founder & CEO,
Smart Money Entrepreneurs

Jeremy Andrews is the Founder and CEO of Smart Money Entrepreneurs. Jeremy has an extensive background in finance has worked with major institutional banks and hedgefunds including Tiger Management and Prudential Securities. Prior to founding Smart Money Entrepreneurs, he spent significant time consulting with entrepreneurs in the finance, fashion, entertainment industries. He was recruited to turn around a fledging a New York-based fashion venture in 2009, streamline operations, reduce expenses and improve cash flow.

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from the Zicklin School Of Business.

Jeremy Andrews
Founder & CEO,
Smart Money Entrepreneurs

Markus Lampinen
CEO,
Crowd Valley Inc.

Markus Lampinen has founded or been an early shareholder in 10 innovative growth companies in dynamic industries such as digital music licensing, distribution, venture capital, advertizing. He also holds advisory roles in various organizations, NGOs and high growth companies. Markus has personally successfully recruited over 120 people and overseen three M&A transactions.

Markus is a global investor and partner at the Grow VC group, where he has been pioneering new funding models in the US and Europe, as well as advising policy makers globally for a more effective market. He has also worked with actors in both the private and public sector, to improve the framework for new funding models, including crowdfunding, to support new innovation. He serves as a frequent public speaker on related themes.

Markus is an internationally awarded entrepreneur and part of the Sandbox Network, the foremost global community of extraordinary achievers.

Markus Lampinen
CEO,
Crowd Valley Inc.

Kalli Meisler
Business Development Manager
Social Media Monthly

Kalli Meisler is a Mentor through StartupChicks, and the Business Development Manager for the Social Media Monthly magazine. Kalli has over 10 years of digital and online marketing, sales, networking, and venture collaboration experience. Kalli trains on optimizing your social media presence, and the creation of permanent online links.

Kalli is also a stakeholder of the crowd funding platform www.MazelTov.com, and assists with the product procuring and placement on www.LastClick.com.

Kalli Meisler
Business Development Manager
Social Media Monthly

Richard Salute
Consultant,
CohnReznick

Richard Salute serves as a consultant for CohnReznick’s Capital Markets Practice. Based in the Jericho, New York office, he has more than 37 years of audit, accounting, and tax experience. As an authority on SEC matters, Rich has been the key accounting and finance professional in numerous initial public offerings and has represented clients that trade securities on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and other over-the-counter markets. Prior to joining CohnReznick, Rich spent 29 years at a global accounting firm managing complex audits for public and private companies. During his tenure, he was responsible for providing clients with strategic planning services as well as consulting on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and process evaluation.

Rich’s clients included large multinational companies and entrepreneurial start ups. In addition to his client responsibilities, he started three businesses for that firm: the Enterprise Group (New York Metropolitan area), the Technology Practice (New York office) and the Bankruptcy and Corporate Recovery Practice (nationwide). Rich is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Rich graduated from Adelphi University, cum laude, and later taught in Adelphi’s University Master of Business Administration program.

Richard Salute
Consultant,
CohnReznick

Jilliene Helman
Founder & CEO
Realty Mogul

Jilliene Helman is the Founder and CEO of Realty Mogul. Realty Mogul is crowdfunding for real estate, a marketplace for accredited investors to pool money online and buy shares of pre-vetted investment properties or loans secured by real estate. Previously she was a Vice President at Union Bank, where the majority of her time was spent in Wealth Management working with the broker-dealer, registered investment advisor, real estate lenders and wealth planners. Jilliene is a Certified Wealth Strategist and holds a Series 63. She has a degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University and brings real estate and finance experience to the team. Jilliene is incredibly excited to share real estate investing with a broader group of investors.

Jilliene Helman
Founder & CEO
Realty Mogul

Sydney Armani
Founder & CEO, Silicon Valley CrowdFund Ventures
Publisher, CrowdFundBeat.com

Sydney Armani is a long time silicon valley entrepreneur, with more than twenty years experience in Valley's community acting in both an entrepreneurial and investing capacity. Sydney's vision for starting and successfully managing innovative companies, like Hello 2 Net Internet and Mobile telephony services. Internet appliance Minitel a Videotex online a first generation of touch Screen tablets. His international experience in forging trade and International banking takes him around the world, from projects with OPIC Overseas Private Investment Corporation for free trade doing business engagement in Europe and UAE's Dubai. A creative person at heart, he's working on building CrowdFunding platform " Live Crowdfunding demo pitch contest building bridge for new generation of Startup's in the Crowdfunding industry.

Sydney is a brand marketing and publisher of CrowdFundBeat.com, an online daily crowdfunding news site in US and UK. He is also the organizer of the annual Silicon Valley Meets Crowdfunders conference in Palo Alto, CA.

Sydney Armani
Founder & CEO, Silicon Valley CrowdFund Ventures
Publisher, CrowdFundBeat.com

Alejandro Cremades
Chief Executive Officer
RockThePost

In 2010, Cremades founded with Tanya Prive, the investment crowdfunding platform for startups RockThePost. After one year of development they were able to launch the platform to the public on November 23, 2011. In less than a year, the platform was already mentioned by TIME as one of the best crowdfunding platforms in the world, as one of the top 10 digital tools for entrepreneurs by Forbes and as one of the hottest startups to watch by Business Insider. Cremades joined officially as CEO of Rock The Post on May 1, 2012. Prior to RockThePost, Cremades worked as a lawyer at King & Spalding where he was involved in one of the biggest investment arbitration cases in history with $113 billion at stake.

Alejandro Cremades
Chief Executive Officer
RockThePost

Alessandro M. Lerro
Founder,
Lerro&Partners

Alessandro is an Italian lawyer expert of new technologies and business creation. Founder of Lerro&Partners, he has been advising for years start up and small/medium sized companies dealing with information technology, healthcare, biotechnology and media.

He served as board member and C.E.O. in several companies involved in high technology industry and venture capital in Italy, Germany, Luxembourg and U.K..

Alessandro is often involved in merger and acquisition, venture capital and investment deals, mostly focused on small/medium businesses.

Appointed as Legal Expert of the Italian Environment Ministry from 1996 for 10 years, he joined a team working on sustainable economic innovation, taking care of regulatory documents; he also advised other public entities involved in the management of historical and cultural heritage and thereafter focused on government relations for new businesses.

Innovation enthusiatic and technology addicted, in 2005 he cofounded the first Italian stem cells bank and in 2011 the first Twitter network for Italian lawyers.

Lecturer in seminars and conferences with a focus on business creation, investment, international contracts, he is a regular author and blogger.

Alessandro M. Lerro
Founder,
Lerro&Partners

Event Organizers

Ruth Hedges,
Creator & Producer,
Crowdfunding Convention & Bootcamp

In 2012 Ruth Hedges created, produced and hosted the largest crowdfunding event of the year. Ms. Hedges is known worldwide as a leader, pioneer, educator and key player in the crowdfunding industry and also played a pivotal role alongside the members of Startup Exemption to help get the JOBS Act bills passed. Her journey continues as she strives towards making the 2nd Annual Global Crowdfunding Convention & Bootcamp yet another huge success and it's already well on pace to be even bigger and better than last year.

Ms. Hedges is the CEO of Unismart Capital Software Inc., which created the Funding Roadmap, the first and only standardized crowdfunding reporting system on the cloud and is also the creator of Crowdfundingroadmap and StartupsAcrossAmerica.com.

Ms. Hedges is also one of the founding board members who helped establish both the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CFPA) and the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA). She's now on the governance board of CFPA and is also a council member of the Crowdfunding Accreditation for Platform Standards (CAPS) program.

Over the years Ms. Hedges has also been heavily involved in philanthropy and has been widely recognized for her participation in the battle against hunger and famine. Her philanthropic services have been acknowledged by People magazine, the New York Times, LA Times & the Chronicle of Philanthropy just to name a few.

Ruth Hedges
Creator & Producer,
Crowdfunding Convention & Bootcamp

Dara Albright,
Founder,
NowStreet Media

Dara Albright, founder of NowStreet Media, is a thought provoker and frequent speaker on topics relating to market structure, private secondary transactions and crowdfunding. She is the author of the NowStreet Journal, a primary provider of analysis and insight into the private company marketplace as well as the legislation and innovation currently fueling it. Based on her original hypothesis that directly correlates advancements in mass communications with stock market growth, NowStreet highlights the promise of a modern economic paradigm materializing from the most ground-breaking period of mass media, financial innovation and legislative reform. Through NowStreet, Dara continues to pioneer a number of new-age financial products, services and event platforms designed to help issuers, investors and conventional financial service providers capitalize on market disruption and regulatory changes.

Prior to founding NowStreet, Dara has held a distinguished 21 year career in investment banking, investor relations and institutional equity sales. She has managed hundreds of deal and non-deal road shows as well as industry conferences for Wall Street’s elite. She has worked closely with both institutional and retail clients providing investment strategies, stock option liquidations and restricted transaction services. Dara has helped raise financing for companies across the globe in a variety of industries at various phases and rollouts.

Her work has included extensive IPO execution and counseling newly public companies in the after-market. Prior firms she worked for include: Unterberg Towbin, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Divine Capital and Citigate Dewe Rogerson.

Dara is a co-founder of the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA) and the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA). She is also a proud board member of iPeopleFINANCE, the only peer-to-peer lending platform aimed at helping veterans. She is a graduate of the George Washington University and holds securities industry Series 7, 24, 31 and 63 licenses.

Dara Albright,
Founder,
NowStreet Media

Testimonials from last years event:

Keynote Speakers

Jay Abraham,Founder & CEO,The Abraham Group, Inc.

Jay AbrahamFounder & CEO,The Abraham Group, Inc.

Timothy C. Draper,Founder & Managing Director,Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Timothy C. DraperFounder & Managing Director,Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Patrick McHenry,United States Congressman,2013 Crowdfunding Visionary Award Recipient

Patrick McHenryUnited States Congressman,2013 Crowdfunding Visionary Award Recipient

Speakers

Douglas S. Ellenoff,Partner & Owner,Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Douglas S. EllenoffPartner & Owner,Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Paul Niederer,CEO Australian Small Scale,Offerings Board (ASSOB)

Paul NiedererChief Executive Officer,Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB)

Devin D. Thorpe,Champion of Social GoodAuthor/Writer for Forbes Magazine

Devin D. Thorpe,Champion of Social GoodAuthor/Writer for Forbes Magazine

Howard J. Leonhardt,Founder, Chairman & CEO,Leonhardt Ventures

Howard J. LeonhardtFounder, Chairman & CEO,Leonhardt Ventures

Judy Robinett,Partner,Crowdfund Capital Advisors

Judy RobinettPartner,Crowdfund Capital Advisors

Jed Cohen,Founder & COO,RocketHub.com

Jed CohenFounder & COO,RocketHub.com

Sarah Hanks,Chief Executive Officer,CrowdCheck

Sara HanksChief Executive Officer,CrowdCheck

Jonathan Sandlund,Founder,TheCrowdCafe

Jonathan SandlundFounder,TheCrowdCafe

Howard Lindzon,Co-founder & CEO,StockTwits

Howard LindzonCo-founder & CEO,StockTwits

Michael T. Moe,Chairman, CEO, President & CIO,GSV Capital Corp.

Michael T. MoeChairman, CEO, President & Chief Investment Officer,GSV Capital Corp.

Karen Kerrigan,President & CEO,Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Karen KerriganPresident & CEO,Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Lou KernerFounder and Senior Partner,The Social Internet Fund

Lou KernerFounder and Senior Partner,The Social Internet Fund

Philip H. ReicherzFounder & Managing Partner,Magnolia Ventures

Philip H. ReicherzFounder & Managing PartnerMagnolia Ventures

Richard S. SelinePrincipalNextGen Advisors

Richard S. SelinePrincipalNextGen Advisors

Carl EspostiPublisher of Crowdsourcing.org,CEO of Massolution

Carl EspostiPublisher of Crowdsourcing.org,CEO of Massolution

Theresa A. Fette, MAcc, LL.M.CEOProvident Trust Group

Theresa A. FetteMAcc, LL.M.CEOProvident Trust Group

Dr. Ethan MollickAssistant Professor,The Wharton School

Dr. Ethan MollickAssistant ProfessorMagnolia Ventures

Panelists

Candace Klein,Founder & CEO,Bad Girl Ventures

Candace KleinFounder & CEO,Bad Girl Ventures

Scott Purcell,Founder,Arctic Island, LLC

Scott PurcellFounder,Arctic Island, LLC

D. Bruce Johnston,President & COO,CaptureTrackConvert

D. Bruce JohnstonPresident & COO,CaptureTrackConvert

Chris Tyrell,Managing Director,Right Strategies

Chris TyrellManaging Director,Right Strategies

Mary E. Juetten,Founder & CEO,Traklight

Mary E. JuettenFounder & CEO,Traklight

Victoria Silchenko, Ph.D.Founder & CEO,Metropole Capital Group

Dr. Victoria SilchenkoFounder & CEO,Metropole Capital Group

Ryan Feit,CEO & Co-Founder,SeedInvest

Ryan FeitCEO & Co-Founder,SeedInvest

Luan Cox,Founder & CEO,Crowdnetic

Luan CoxFounder & CEO,Crowdnetic

Sang LeeCEO,Return on Change

Sang LeeCEO,Return on Change

Chance BarnettCEO,Crowdfunder

Chance BarnettCEO,Crowdfunder

Todd H. SmithFounder and CEO,Blue Horizon

Todd H. SmithFounder and CEOBlue Horizon

Cheryl KnoppHead of Private Shares,Liquidnet

Cheryl KnoppHead of Private Shares,Liquidnet

Brian R. KnightCo-Founder & Director of Platform Services,CrowdCheck

Brian R. KnightCo-Founder & Director of Platform Services,CrowdCheck

Scott E. McIntyreManager Business Incubation,University of Toledo Research & Innovation

Scott E. McIntyreManager Business Incubation,University of Toledo Research & Innovation

Joy SchofflerPrincipal,Leverage PR

Joy SchofflerPrincipal,Leverage PR

Jeffrey HendersonVP of Sales & Marketing,Invested.in

Jeffrey HendersonVP of Sales & Marketing,Invested.in

Alon GorenFounder & President,Invested.in

Alon GorenFounder & President,Invested.in

Jeremy AndrewsFounder & CEO,Smart Money Entrepreneurs

Jeremy AndrewsFounder & CEO,Smart Money Entrepreneurs

Jay Abraham,
Founder & CEO,
The Abraham Group, Inc.

Jay Abraham
Founder & CEO,
The Abraham Group, Inc.

Timothy C. Draper,
Founder & Managing Director,
Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Timothy C. Draper
Founder & Managing Director,
Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Patrick McHenry,
United States Congressman,
2013 Crowdfunding Visionary Award Recipient

Patrick McHenry
United States Congressman,
2013 Crowdfunding Visionary Award Recipient

Douglas S. Ellenoff,
Partner & Owner,
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Douglas S. Ellenoff
Partner & Owner,
Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Paul Niederer,
CEO Australian Small Scale,
Offerings Board (ASSOB)

Paul Niederer
Chief Executive Officer,
Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB)

Devin D. Thorpe,
Champion of Social Good
Author/Writer for Forbes Magazine

Devin D. Thorpe,
Champion of Social Good
Author/Writer for Forbes Magazine

Howard J. Leonhardt,
Founder, Chairman & CEO,
Leonhardt Ventures

Howard J. Leonhardt
Founder, Chairman & CEO,
Leonhardt Ventures

Judy Robinett,
Partner,
Crowdfund Capital Advisors

Judy Robinett
Partner,
Crowdfund Capital Advisors

Jed Cohen,
Founder & COO,
RocketHub.com

Jed Cohen
Founder & COO,
RocketHub.com

Sarah Hanks,
Chief Executive Officer,
CrowdCheck

Sara Hanks
Chief Executive Officer,
CrowdCheck

Jonathan Sandlund,
Founder,
TheCrowdCafe

Jonathan Sandlund
Founder,
TheCrowdCafe

Howard Lindzon,
Co-founder & CEO,
StockTwits

Howard Lindzon
Co-founder & CEO,
StockTwits

Michael T. Moe,
Chairman, CEO, President & CIO,
GSV Capital Corp.

Michael T. Moe
Chairman, CEO, President & Chief Investment Officer,
GSV Capital Corp.

Karen Kerrigan,
President & CEO,
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO,
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Lou Kerner
Founder and Senior Partner,
The Social Internet Fund

Lou Kerner
Founder and Senior Partner,
The Social Internet Fund

Philip H. Reicherz
Founder & Managing Partner,
Magnolia Ventures

Philip H. Reicherz
Founder & Managing Partner
Magnolia Ventures

Richard S. Seline
Principal
NextGen Advisors

Richard S. Seline
Principal
NextGen Advisors

Carl Esposti
Publisher of Crowdsourcing.org,
CEO of Massolution

Carl Esposti
Publisher of Crowdsourcing.org,
CEO of Massolution

Theresa A. Fette, MAcc, LL.M.
CEO
Provident Trust Group

Theresa A. Fette
MAcc, LL.M.
CEO
Provident Trust Group

Dr. Ethan Mollick
Assistant Professor,
The Wharton School

Dr. Ethan Mollick
Assistant Professor
Magnolia Ventures

Candace Klein,
Founder & CEO,
Bad Girl Ventures

Candace Klein
Founder & CEO,
Bad Girl Ventures

Scott Purcell,
Founder,
Arctic Island, LLC

Scott Purcell
Founder,
Arctic Island, LLC

D. Bruce Johnston,
President & COO,
CaptureTrackConvert

D. Bruce Johnston
President & COO,
CaptureTrackConvert

Chris Tyrell,
Managing Director,
Right Strategies

Chris Tyrell
Managing Director,
Right Strategies

Mary E. Juetten,
Founder & CEO,
Traklight

Mary E. Juetten
Founder & CEO,
Traklight

Victoria Silchenko, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO,
Metropole Capital Group

Dr. Victoria Silchenko
Founder & CEO,
Metropole Capital Group

Ryan Feit,
CEO & Co-Founder,
SeedInvest

Ryan Feit
CEO & Co-Founder,
SeedInvest

Luan Cox,
Founder & CEO,
Crowdnetic

Luan Cox
Founder & CEO,
Crowdnetic

Sang Lee
CEO,
Return on Change

Sang Lee
CEO,
Return on Change

Chance Barnett
CEO,
Crowdfunder

Chance Barnett
CEO,
Crowdfunder

Todd H. Smith
Founder and CEO,
Blue Horizon

Todd H. Smith
Founder and CEO
Blue Horizon

Cheryl Knopp
Head of Private Shares,
Liquidnet

Cheryl Knopp
Head of Private Shares,
Liquidnet

Brian R. Knight
Co-Founder & Director of Platform Services,
CrowdCheck

Brian R. Knight
Co-Founder & Director of Platform Services,
CrowdCheck

Scott E. McIntyre
Manager Business Incubation,
University of Toledo Research & Innovation

Scott E. McIntyre
Manager Business Incubation,
University of Toledo Research & Innovation

Joy Schoffler
Principal,
Leverage PR

Joy Schoffler
Principal,
Leverage PR

Jeffrey Henderson
VP of Sales & Marketing,
Invested.in

Jeffrey Henderson
VP of Sales & Marketing,
Invested.in

Alon Goren
Founder & President,
Invested.in

Alon Goren
Founder & President,
Invested.in

Jeremy Andrews
Founder & CEO,
Smart Money Entrepreneurs

Jeremy Andrews
Founder & CEO,
Smart Money Entrepreneurs

Markus Lampinen
CEO,
Crowd Valley Inc.

Markus Lampinen
CEO,
Crowd Valley Inc.

Kalli Meisler
Business Development Manager
Social Media Monthly

Kalli Meisler
Business Development Manager
Social Media Monthly