2011 Mentors
We match each company with a "been-there, done-that" mentor to help guide the company through the program, providing advice and support (or a kick in the pants when needed), opening doors and making introductions. The mentor is a dedicated resource for the course of the program -- and often afterwards. They spend a significant amount of time with the DreamIt companies and are a core part of the experience.
Alex Miller
Vice-President, eCommerce & eMarketing, QVC
Alex is the Vice President of eCommerce & eMarketing for QVC. His team is accountable for developing and driving QVC’s eCommerce and eMarketing strategies by collaborating with key stakeholders to expand their reach and impact on the business, and to drive innovation that enhances the customer experience across all of QVC’s eCommerce platforms. Alex previously held positions as the Director of eMarketing, Director of Programming, Director of Internet Content, Community & Multichannel, Director of Home Merchandising, and Manager of Internet Content & Metrics. He has over 10 years of Internet retail experience. Alex's prior experience includes being the Director of Product Development at iGrandparents.com, National Account Manager for Business Services division of AT&T and Sales & Marketing Specialist for Ernst & Young LLP. He also has his MBA from Villanova University.
Alex is the Vice President of eCommerce & eMarketing for QVC. His team is accountable for developing and driving QVC’s eCommerce and eMarketing strategies by collaborating with key stakeholders to expand their reach and impact on the business, and to drive innovation that enhances the customer experience across all of QVC’s eCommerce platforms. Alex previously held positions as the Director of eMarketing, Director of Programming, Director of Internet Content, Community & Multichannel, Director of Home Merchandising, and Manager of Internet Content & Metrics. He has over 10 years of Internet retail experience. Alex's prior experience includes being the Director of Product Development at iGrandparents.com, National Account Manager for Business Services division of AT&T and Sales & Marketing Specialist for Ernst & Young LLP. He also has his MBA from Villanova University.
Anil Podduturi Vice-President, Product Strategy, NBC Universal
Anil is a seasoned digital media executive, with over 10 years of experience spanning product strategy and product management at a combination of large media and technology companies and startups. He is currently VP, Product Strategy at NBCUniversal, where he is responsible for organizing product strategy and overseeing the product management and design functions for NBC’s Local Media Division. Previously, he held strategic and operational roles at MTV Networks; at Daylife, a startup providing enterprise publishing services; and at Microsoft, where he managed several consumer content and technology businesses at MSN. Anil holds bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley.
Anil is a seasoned digital media executive, with over 10 years of experience spanning product strategy and product management at a combination of large media and technology companies and startups. He is currently VP, Product Strategy at NBCUniversal, where he is responsible for organizing product strategy and overseeing the product management and design functions for NBC’s Local Media Division. Previously, he held strategic and operational roles at MTV Networks; at Daylife, a startup providing enterprise publishing services; and at Microsoft, where he managed several consumer content and technology businesses at MSN. Anil holds bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley.
Bob Moul
GM
Philadelphia tech CEO / entrepreneur with 30 years of experience ranging from startups to Fortune 50 companies. CEO at Boomi (acquired by Dell). President at SCT (acquired by SunGard). Advisor at Provost Systems (acquired by Edison Learning). Senior management at EDS. Board of directors at Bluenog Software. Active advocate for driving tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Philadelphia. Advisor for numerous startups. Mentor at DreamIt Ventures. Advisory boards at Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures (Temple University), Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and the Philadelphia Alliance of Capital and Technology. Began career out of high school in the mailroom at EDS. Master's degree in technology management from University of Maryland, University College. 2007 alumnus of DC-based Mindshare (an invitation-only startup CEO forum) and a 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia tech CEO / entrepreneur with 30 years of experience ranging from startups to Fortune 50 companies. CEO at Boomi (acquired by Dell). President at SCT (acquired by SunGard). Advisor at Provost Systems (acquired by Edison Learning). Senior management at EDS. Board of directors at Bluenog Software. Active advocate for driving tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Philadelphia. Advisor for numerous startups. Mentor at DreamIt Ventures. Advisory boards at Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures (Temple University), Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and the Philadelphia Alliance of Capital and Technology. Began career out of high school in the mailroom at EDS. Master's degree in technology management from University of Maryland, University College. 2007 alumnus of DC-based Mindshare (an invitation-only startup CEO forum) and a 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in Philadelphia.
Chris Stanchak Tech Guru
Chris is the Founder and CEO of TicketLeap. The company provides a social event ticketing and marketing platform for events and organizers. The solution is ideal for events or venue managers who want to maximize sales, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance the customer experience.
Chris and TicketLeap received several awards:
Chris earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, with honors, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with dual concentrations in management and marketing. He lives in Center City Philadelphia and is an active member of the tech entrepreneurship community in Philadelphia.
Chris is the Founder and CEO of TicketLeap. The company provides a social event ticketing and marketing platform for events and organizers. The solution is ideal for events or venue managers who want to maximize sales, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance the customer experience.
Chris and TicketLeap received several awards:
- 2011 - Inc. 500
- 2011 - Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist
- 2009-2010 - #7 in the Philadelphia Business Journal's Philadelphia 100
- 2009 - Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 under 40
- 2009 - Philadelphia Business Journal's Best Places to Work in Philadelphia
Chris earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, with honors, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, with dual concentrations in management and marketing. He lives in Center City Philadelphia and is an active member of the tech entrepreneurship community in Philadelphia.
Matthew Milner Entrepreneur in Residence, Hearst Digital Media
Matt is a start-up executive with corporate experience at the intersection of Media & Technology. He likes making ideas come alive, loves starting companies, and thinks it's terrific when bigger companies buy them. Hearst acquired his last one.
Currently, he's Entrepreneur-In-Residence for Hearst Digital Media. He's also a writer of romantic comedies, and a lover of music, dogs and scotch.
Matt is a start-up executive with corporate experience at the intersection of Media & Technology. He likes making ideas come alive, loves starting companies, and thinks it's terrific when bigger companies buy them. Hearst acquired his last one.
Currently, he's Entrepreneur-In-Residence for Hearst Digital Media. He's also a writer of romantic comedies, and a lover of music, dogs and scotch.
David Pinski
Group Leader, Discover Services, ING Direct.
David Pinski is an innovative technology leader that has conceived, designed, developed and launched new products and business lines for companies from startups to the Global 100. His current position is with ING Direct where he heads up Discovery Services, the Architecture and R&D functions at the bank. Currently, he is focusing on new mobile and payment systems such as NFC (Near Field Communications). Prior to ING Direct, he worked for other banks, commercial software companies, and startups. He is a Philadelphia native, and a board member of the Narberth Library and on the Citizen’s Technology Advisory Board of Lower Merion School District. He received a BA in Political Science from Case Western Reserve University.
Group Leader, Discover Services, ING Direct.
David Pinski is an innovative technology leader that has conceived, designed, developed and launched new products and business lines for companies from startups to the Global 100. His current position is with ING Direct where he heads up Discovery Services, the Architecture and R&D functions at the bank. Currently, he is focusing on new mobile and payment systems such as NFC (Near Field Communications). Prior to ING Direct, he worked for other banks, commercial software companies, and startups. He is a Philadelphia native, and a board member of the Narberth Library and on the Citizen’s Technology Advisory Board of Lower Merion School District. He received a BA in Political Science from Case Western Reserve University.
Ellen Thompson Senior Executive / General Manager - Operations, Technology, Strategy, Media.
Ellen has over 20 years of experience conceptualizing, growing and managing technology-based start-up companies.
Ellen is the CEO and Co-Founder of 4 Walls, Inc. which has helped its clients use social media and other Internet marketing tools to attract and retain customers since 2002. 4 Walls has been a Finalist, Best Management Team, in the “Bennies,” a Philadelphia area award for emerging businesses, on the Philadelphia 100 list of fastest growing companies in the Philadelphia region 5 times and honored as one of Philadelphia's best places to work by both the Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) and Philadelphia Magazine. 4 Walls was also recognized as a “Social Media Star” by PBJ for its Respage social media services product for apartment owners.
Ellen was previously the Founder & CEO of Know It All, another award-winning company which was Ben Franklin Technology Partners and acquired by Kenexa (KNXA) in 2000.
Ellen has a B. S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ellen has been honored as one of Pennsylvania's Best Women in Business and has appeared on the Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 under 40 list. She lives in Penn Valley, PA with her husband Larry Portnoff and twelve year old son Jackson Portnoff. In her spare time, she likes to play tennis and figure skate.
Ellen has over 20 years of experience conceptualizing, growing and managing technology-based start-up companies.
Ellen is the CEO and Co-Founder of 4 Walls, Inc. which has helped its clients use social media and other Internet marketing tools to attract and retain customers since 2002. 4 Walls has been a Finalist, Best Management Team, in the “Bennies,” a Philadelphia area award for emerging businesses, on the Philadelphia 100 list of fastest growing companies in the Philadelphia region 5 times and honored as one of Philadelphia's best places to work by both the Philadelphia Business Journal (PBJ) and Philadelphia Magazine. 4 Walls was also recognized as a “Social Media Star” by PBJ for its Respage social media services product for apartment owners.
Ellen was previously the Founder & CEO of Know It All, another award-winning company which was Ben Franklin Technology Partners and acquired by Kenexa (KNXA) in 2000.
Ellen has a B. S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ellen has been honored as one of Pennsylvania's Best Women in Business and has appeared on the Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 under 40 list. She lives in Penn Valley, PA with her husband Larry Portnoff and twelve year old son Jackson Portnoff. In her spare time, she likes to play tennis and figure skate.
Gabriel Weinberg Founder, DuckDuckGo. Active Angel Investor
Gabriel Weinberg is the founder of DuckDuckGo, a search engine. Before that he co-founded NamesDatabase, which was acquired in 2006. Gabriel is also an active angel investor.
Gabriel Weinberg is the founder of DuckDuckGo, a search engine. Before that he co-founded NamesDatabase, which was acquired in 2006. Gabriel is also an active angel investor.
Greg Battle
Greg is an accomplished, entrepreneurial executive with over 15 years of progressive experience in formulating financial and internet strategy and vision, securing angel and venture funding, and architecting growth trajectories and infrastructures for early-stage start-ups. Recognized as intelligent, resourceful professional and tireless researcher with proven ability to identify and develop effective solutions. Insightful leader and staff advocate skilled in role modeling, building well-rounded cross-functional teams, defining performance metrics, and establishing standard of excellence.
Greg is an accomplished, entrepreneurial executive with over 15 years of progressive experience in formulating financial and internet strategy and vision, securing angel and venture funding, and architecting growth trajectories and infrastructures for early-stage start-ups. Recognized as intelligent, resourceful professional and tireless researcher with proven ability to identify and develop effective solutions. Insightful leader and staff advocate skilled in role modeling, building well-rounded cross-functional teams, defining performance metrics, and establishing standard of excellence.
Jed Weissberg
Jed has more than fifteen years of experience building successful consumer-facing online services. He has created and held senior-level positions in successful start-ups and have worked within and with large media organizations, including Nickelodeon, Scholastic and The New York Times. Current clients include: General Mills, Woman On The Net (wowowow.com) and numerous start-ups.
Jed has more than fifteen years of experience building successful consumer-facing online services. He has created and held senior-level positions in successful start-ups and have worked within and with large media organizations, including Nickelodeon, Scholastic and The New York Times. Current clients include: General Mills, Woman On The Net (wowowow.com) and numerous start-ups.
John DellaVolpe
Founder and CEO of SocialSphere, Inc. -- an insight-based strategy firm located in Cambridge and Washington. Director of Polling at Harvard Institute of Politics (Kennedy School of Government).
John's specialities include, but are not limited to:
Millennial generation expert; Public opinion polling; Social media analytics and strategy; Public diplomacy
Founder and CEO of SocialSphere, Inc. -- an insight-based strategy firm located in Cambridge and Washington. Director of Polling at Harvard Institute of Politics (Kennedy School of Government).
John's specialities include, but are not limited to:
Millennial generation expert; Public opinion polling; Social media analytics and strategy; Public diplomacy
Laurie Racine
Senior Strategic Officer adept at defining and implementing the mission, objectives and roadmaps for profit and non-profit corporations in media, education and healthcare.
A seasoned entrepreneur, strategist and change agent, Laurie is addicted to start-up culture. She has launched or secured funding for a variety of cutting edge nonprofit and for-profit enterprises. Laurie founded dotSUB, the video translation platform that is well known for powering TED’s open translation project and was a principal at Eyespot, an early leader in video remix technology. As a funder, Laurie managed a private portfolio endowed by the founders of Red Hat, and launched transformative early stage enterprises including Lulu Press, Creative Commons and ibiblio. In addition to her history as an entrepreneur and dealmaker, Laurie previously held leadership roles on several boards: co-founder and chair of Public Knowledge, chair of Teachers Without Borders, and president of DocArts, the corporation that produces the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. She was a senior fellow at the Norman Lear Center of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications and executive director of the Health Sector Management Program at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Currently, Laurie is a director on both for and non-profit boards including Creative Commons, the Tribeca Film Institute, Wizehive and CQ. She also serves on the advisory board of Road Trip Nation, Notehall and Open Road Media. Laurie received a B.A. from New York University and conducted graduate work in human genetics at University of California, Berkeley.
Senior Strategic Officer adept at defining and implementing the mission, objectives and roadmaps for profit and non-profit corporations in media, education and healthcare.
A seasoned entrepreneur, strategist and change agent, Laurie is addicted to start-up culture. She has launched or secured funding for a variety of cutting edge nonprofit and for-profit enterprises. Laurie founded dotSUB, the video translation platform that is well known for powering TED’s open translation project and was a principal at Eyespot, an early leader in video remix technology. As a funder, Laurie managed a private portfolio endowed by the founders of Red Hat, and launched transformative early stage enterprises including Lulu Press, Creative Commons and ibiblio. In addition to her history as an entrepreneur and dealmaker, Laurie previously held leadership roles on several boards: co-founder and chair of Public Knowledge, chair of Teachers Without Borders, and president of DocArts, the corporation that produces the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. She was a senior fellow at the Norman Lear Center of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications and executive director of the Health Sector Management Program at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Currently, Laurie is a director on both for and non-profit boards including Creative Commons, the Tribeca Film Institute, Wizehive and CQ. She also serves on the advisory board of Road Trip Nation, Notehall and Open Road Media. Laurie received a B.A. from New York University and conducted graduate work in human genetics at University of California, Berkeley.
Paul Wright
Paul is the founder and managing member of Beyond Frequency, LLC. He has over 15 years experience with financial analysis, financial modeling, project management and valuation across technology, media, communications and business intelligence industries As well as approximately 15 years management experience with global public companies and early-stage developments
Paul is the founder and managing member of Beyond Frequency, LLC. He has over 15 years experience with financial analysis, financial modeling, project management and valuation across technology, media, communications and business intelligence industries As well as approximately 15 years management experience with global public companies and early-stage developments
Randall Hounsell
Randall Hounsell is a Digital Media executive with expertise in video, search, and e-commerce. Currently he is VP and GM of StreamSage at Comcast. StreamSage is a wholly owned subsidiary that develops and manages software platforms to enable search, discovery, and monetization of Comcast’s video content across devices (web, mobile, TV). Today their platforms power search for 20 MM+ set-top boxes and 15 MM+ monthly unique online users. Randall oversees all aspects of the company, including Product Management, Engineering, Research, Finance and Operations.
Previously at Comcast, Randall was Sr. Director, Search and Online Commerce, where he managed all search, advertising, and e-commerce for Comcast.net. He built this business from the ground up and turned it into a major profit center for the company. He also architected a number of strategic deals, including the acquisition of StreamSage and Comcast’s search and advertising deal with Google. He started with Comcast running business development for Comcast's Internet business, where he co-led the launch of Comcast.net and assessed a number of new business opportunities. Early in his career, he worked in Corporate Planning for Circuit City Stores, where he led the planning and analysis for global initiatives, such as exiting the Appliances business and expanding the company into new markets. Randall graduated with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina, where he was awarded the Honors Prize in Economics.
Randall Hounsell is a Digital Media executive with expertise in video, search, and e-commerce. Currently he is VP and GM of StreamSage at Comcast. StreamSage is a wholly owned subsidiary that develops and manages software platforms to enable search, discovery, and monetization of Comcast’s video content across devices (web, mobile, TV). Today their platforms power search for 20 MM+ set-top boxes and 15 MM+ monthly unique online users. Randall oversees all aspects of the company, including Product Management, Engineering, Research, Finance and Operations.
Previously at Comcast, Randall was Sr. Director, Search and Online Commerce, where he managed all search, advertising, and e-commerce for Comcast.net. He built this business from the ground up and turned it into a major profit center for the company. He also architected a number of strategic deals, including the acquisition of StreamSage and Comcast’s search and advertising deal with Google. He started with Comcast running business development for Comcast's Internet business, where he co-led the launch of Comcast.net and assessed a number of new business opportunities. Early in his career, he worked in Corporate Planning for Circuit City Stores, where he led the planning and analysis for global initiatives, such as exiting the Appliances business and expanding the company into new markets. Randall graduated with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina, where he was awarded the Honors Prize in Economics.
Tom Janofsky VP of Engineering, Monetate
Tom Janofsky is the VP of Engineering at Monetate, the leading independent provider of testing, targeting, and personalization for websites. At Monetate he enjoys working on web and data problems at scale. He is an active participant in the Philadelphia area technology and startup community. Prior to Monetate he started and ran a software consulting business.
Tom Janofsky is the VP of Engineering at Monetate, the leading independent provider of testing, targeting, and personalization for websites. At Monetate he enjoys working on web and data problems at scale. He is an active participant in the Philadelphia area technology and startup community. Prior to Monetate he started and ran a software consulting business.
