STARTUP advisors

A.T. enjoys spending time playing sports with his wife and three boys.

A.T. Gimbel is a partner with Atlanta Ventures, focused on helping entrepreneurs find community, content, and capital to successfully grow their business.  Previously, A.T. led product and go-to-market functions for the Healthcare division of LexisNexis, as well as leading roles in corporate strategy and mergers & acquisitions. Prior to that, he was in consulting with Bain & Company serving clients across multiple industries with a focus on growth strategy, process improvement, and customer loyalty. He has also worked for several startup companies in sales and operations roles.

Aaron is a proud father of three who loves spending time with family, cooking and watching Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech sports.

Aaron is the Founding General Partner of Dogwood Ventures. He saw the opportunity to create a new founder-centric venture firm in Atlanta based on his experience starting Endeavor Atlanta, the southeast affiliate of the global Endeavor entrepreneur network. While leading Endeavor, Aaron and his team had the privilege of partnering with many outlier founders and their companies, including OneTrust, Flock Safety, SalesLoft, Finquery (formerly LeaseQuery) and Fleetio among many others. He also brings significant B2B software experience to Dogwood through various leadership roles at Dayforce (formerly Ceridian), Symphony AI (formerly Aldata) and Manhattan Associates. He’s worn most hats in the software world including sales, product, implementation and customer success. The seed for starting a fund was planted years ago while Aaron was a Venture Fellow at IDEA Fund Partners during his MBA. Aaron earned his MBA from UNC Kenan-Flager as a Dean’s Scholar and his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech. He’s the proud father of Thomas, Charlotte and Oscar and copilot in life with his wife Erin. He loves cooking, golfing, playing guitar with his band the Rusty Cars, and watching anything with a score.

Aditya has 15+ yrs experience as product strategy leader and helping startups scale through GTM, product-market fit, and data-driven growth, with a focus on AI, deep-tech, and financial services.

Aditya holds an MBA from Duke University and a Master’s in Computer Engineering from UMass Dartmouth. He is passionate about helping founders navigate the zero-to-one journey and enabling enterprise startups to scale through product-led growth, strategic focus, and data-driven execution. Originally from India, he has lived in Alpharetta for the past 15 years with his wife, Tara, and their daughter. Outside of work, Aditya is an avid tennis player and a golf enthusiast.

Alex de Aranzeta, MA JD is a startup advisor, founder coach, and responsible AI podcast host with a deep background in civil rights enforcement and compliance, now guiding early-stage and venture-backed startups in scaling culture and operations while navigating responsible AI.

Alex de Aranzeta, MA, JD is a startup advisor, founder coach, and AI podcast host specializing in storytelling, culture, and strategy for early-stage and venture-backed startups. Prior to tech, Alex held key roles in government, higher ed, and enterprise, guiding over 250 workforces in equity and compliance. With nearly a decade of experience in civil rights compliance and regulatory enforcement, Alex has led over 300 investigations, trained thousands of professionals, contributed to policy and regulation, and built an award-winning Language Access Program. Alex’s work now focuses on operationalizing ethical practices in AI, advising leaders on communication, and strategy. As the former founder of Laurl.ai, a compliance-tech SaaS, and operator within a genAI startup, she combines her expertise in policy and equity with practical insights from the tech industry to help startups scale effectively across teams and products. She’s also a trusted voice on the intersection of AI, society, and culture, hosting “The Culture of Machines” podcast with top technologists and ethicists, and has spoken on equity, policy, and communication at Kapor Center, U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, World Congress of Bioethics, and the Women in Product Conference.

Originally from Jamaica, and after living and working in the Northeast for many years, Allison is excited to now call Atlanta home. When she's not enjoying family time with her husband and two precocious pre-teens she loves reading, spending time in nature (especially at/on the water), traveling and finding great food spots. Allison is passionate about leveraging her experience to work with people and companies that are leveraging innovation to equitably solve the world's problems.

With a career spanning over 20+ years, Allison's journey has centered around leveraging innovation to drive diversification and growth. She has significantly contributed to the growth of multi-million-dollar companies and run a multi-billion dollar business at a Fortune 20 company. Her deep understanding of how global brands drive innovation is a valuable asset she enjoys sharing with founders as they navigate moving to scale. She also acts as board director and advisor for start-ups, private and public companies. Her specialties include guiding founders in developing success strategies to scale, the power of storytelling, leading curious and collaborative teams, and navigating complex change.

Amanda is passionate about creating and building, both in her professional and personal life. When she’s not helping startups, she is always creating and building something new, whether renovating her home, testing her woodworking skills, learning to garden, and exploring new creative arts. She loves to read, travel, and sing “Rocky Top” for her TN Vols!

Amanda is a results-driven digital product leader with a proven track record of building and launching successful products that deliver positive financial results. Combining strategic vision in product management, marketing, and customer experience with strong operational execution, she consistently achieves outstanding results. She is passionate about building products from 0 to 1 and engaging with users to deliver products that truly delight. Amanda has successfully led cross-functional teams in diverse environments, from small fintech startups to large enterprise organizations.

With my 20+ years of experience in software development, serving as a CEO of software development shop and CTO of startups, I specialise on helping non-tech startup founders build their MVPs fast and on low budget.

Arthur is an engineering and product leader with experience building AI and machine learning powered consumer and business software.

Arthur was previously CTO of SkinIO, helping to build intuitive skin cancer screening software using computer vision technology. He is an academic at heart - earning his undergraduate and doctorate degrees from Georgia Tech and Emory, respectively. Arthur grew up in Virginia outside of Washington DC, but has called Atlanta his home for over a decade and currently lives in Grant Park with his wife Megan and their cat Harper.

Currently, Bahadir is the Founder and COO of Cognira, located in Atlanta Tech Village. Baha brings together expertise in building scalable, data-driven technology solutions to retail problems.

Bahadir has a proven track record of designing, configuring, customizing, implementing and delivering complex enterprise class planning, forecasting and replenishment software for Fortune 100 Retailers. Prior to Cognira he has served leadership roles in multiple organizations in retail technology; Director of Product Strategy at Manhattan Associates, Senior Managing Consultant at IBM, Director of Program Management at Predictix (now Infor)

Benjamin is a volunteer for the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, for which he has managed a Google Grant since 2010. He usually is found drinking iced coffee, even in cold months.

Benjamin is the President & CEO of Relevance Advisors with expertise in Digital Marketing. He helps companies drive traffic to their websites, measure results, and optimize performance.

Brandon is a leader and business professional with a robust background in financial consulting, transaction advisory, and business development. Brandon is passionate about collaborating with founders, mentoring business professionals, and engaging in community initiatives. In his free time, Brandon enjoys cooking, traveling, and sporting events (Go Braves!).

With over a decade of experience, Brandon has served pre-revenue to multi-billion-dollar revenue clients and executive teams in the following industries: technology, manufacturing, logistics, not-for-profits, governmental, real estate, professional services, and more. He has a proven track record of helping clients navigate complex financial challenges, optimize their resources/processes, and enhance their overall financial performance for operations and future transactions. Brandon is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He also helps co-teach a course called “Launching the Venture” for full time Vanderbilt MBA students, reviewing and advising on 100+ startup pitches and decks. Brandon earned his MBA from Vanderbilt University and his undergraduate and Master of Accounting degrees from Rhodes College.

Brennen enjoys being back in Atlanta, spending time with family, following his beloved fighting Irish of Notre Dame, and enjoying a good Kentucky bourbon.

Brennen is the Chief Revenue Officer at Axes.ai a Fintech providing solutions to the global gaming industry and has 25 years of experience scaling tech centric businesses. Having scaled his start-up from 1 employee to a global leader with thousands of employees and a $2B acquisition.

Brian is a seasoned Engineering, Product, and Operations Executive with experience scaling small teams into fast-growth startup organizations.

Brian has lived in Atlanta most of his life. After graduating from Georgia Tech he was lucky enough to get on board with two early stage high growth startups (Vitrue and Salesloft). He has two beautiful children (Harrison & Amelia) with his wife April.

Originally from Cameroon, Africa, Brice has settled in Atlanta after living in DE, TX, and MA. He believes in Atlanta becoming the new Silicon Valley :). He is also a big fan of Formula 1

Brice is the founder of Reserved, LLC, and has over 18 years of experience in IT, with 14 years at PwC in IT Consulting. Brice is passionate about Data but has also dabbled with Web Development. He has helped multiple startups go from ideation to live as a part-time CTO. Brice has been certified in the top 3 major Cloud providers: Google Cloud Platform (2 certifications), Amazon Web Services (2), and Microsoft Azure (1)

Originally from Columbus, Ohio and a former Division I athlete, Britt Hunter is a dynamic leader with experience across athletics, education, and Big Tech. Having lived in seven U.S. cities, Britt brings a wide lens to every space—and leads with purpose, energy, and deep engagement. You can find her either recording her podcast or playing with her rescue pup!

Brittany “Britt” Hunter is a dynamic speaker, leadership coach, and former top ranked athlete who empowers future leaders and changemakers through candid storytelling, engaging workshops, and executive coaching. After a devastating sports injury ended her basketball career at Duke and UConn, Britt pivoted to mentoring where she spent 7 years working in public education in Harlem as a Dean, Vice Principal, and 4th grade teacher. Before transitioning to the corporate world at Microsoft Britt earned an MBA from Vanderbilt. Now, she leverages her unique journey—marked by resilience, humor, and an unwavering commitment to leadership—to inspire others through Executive Coaching.

Cameron is originally from Massachusetts and moved to Atlanta to be with a girl (now they’re married). When he was a kid he didn’t accessorize with the normal safety blanket or teddy bear; he was a super-nerd carrying around a 14-gauge electrical wire with alligator clips on either end. Learning to code as a kid and getting “Hello World!” to pop up on the screen has given him an insatiable curiosity about how (and why) the world works and how to make it better. On the weekends you can find him doing home improvement projects or trying to convince his wife he needs to buy more expensive tools to complete them.

Cameron Abt is the CEO of Atlas Bay VR, a B2B proptech startup providing visualization tools to real estate clients. He is passionate about operational efficiency, continuous improvement, and building stuff. As a broadly trained engineer turned CEO he has a unique startup perspective, focusing on streamlining production and removing operational friction instead of growth at all costs. Under his leadership, Atlas Bay VR has grown from a 2-person operation in a 1-bedroom apartment to a corner suite at the Atlanta Tech Village. With his first 7 years of full-time entrepreneurship under his belt, Cameron is excited to pay it forward to newcomers looking for where and how to start.

Chris is an early stage Real Estate & PropTech investor and advisor. His wife and 2 kids relocated to Chastain Park from the SF Bay Area in 2020. Chris loves sports (golf, tennis, cycling), the outdoors, and jamming with founders on startups, Real Estate, Proptech, and Logistics.

Chris is currently an early stage investor & advisor at On Deck. Chris scaled 3 startups to successful exits in proptech, logistics, and consumer spaces. He has deep expertise in Real Estate, PropTech and Logistics. Chris has taken companies from 0 to 1 and has helped founders with initial GTM strategies, hiring, contracts, new business lines, along with channel/distribution partnerships. He’s been fortunate to work closely with Proctor & Gamble, Greystar, Brookfield, Amazon, The Home Depot, UPS and more.

Christa is a seasoned marketing leader that bring an infectious enthusiasm to guide Founders and CEOs through the changes required to compete in dynamic markets. She is deeply passionate about bringing the rigor of CX product development to marketing, shaping valuable customer experiences that live at the intersection of storytelling and data-driven marketing. Christa is an Atlanta transplant who continues to be impressed by the unique soul of this city and community. Her greatest joy is spending time discovering new spaces and places with her husband, two kids and wildly adorable puppy.

Christa Patrylak is a Fractional Marketing Leader whose career is defined by transforming iconic consumer brands and fast-moving tech startups into success stories—like HBO, Paramount, Ubisoft Games, SoulCycle and SoftBank-Backed Compass. She currently partners with B2B and B2C subscription startups and digital product companies to marry their mission with margin. Christa focuses on transforming growth strategies, shifting businesses away from a growth at all costs mindset to customer-focused growth that prioritizes lifetime value.

Christine has been a part of the Atlanta technology scene for three decades where she has helped create, grow and scale many B2B software companies. She lives in NW Atlanta with her family and rescue critters and has a love of volunteering with animal rescue organizations. Christine’s home away from home is Truist Park where you can often find her (emphatically) cheering on the Braves.

With an education and early career rooted in technology and software development, Christine has a passion for creating, growing and scaling B2B technology and SaaS companies with a unique focus on client and delivery operations. Throughout her career, she has worked in many different industries including Healthcare, Security, Financial, Intelligent Power and Non-Profit and has held positions as a SaaS executive in development, product and client service areas of the business. Christine has been a key part of 5 various stage startups across Atlanta and has helped several founder based SaaS companies grow, scale and sell. She has a background working with PE and has been part of 10 different M&A events over the past few years. Additionally, Christine has worked as a professional and executive mentor, board advisor and female entrepreneur coach. Currently, she is the Founder and Managing Partner of Service@Scale where she helps fast growing SaaS companies create, grow and scale their product and client operations.

Cindy is a seasoned Revenue Operations leader with expertise in scaling hypergrowth SaaS businesses from $10M to $200M+ ARR. When she’s not optimizing go-to-market strategies or building high-performing teams, she enjoys cheering on her son at soccer games, listening to music, and going to the beach.

Cindy is a Revenue Operations leader who has helped startups like SalesLoft and Highspot scale to unicorn status. Her superpower is building high-performing teams that thrive in fast-paced environments. She excels at aligning Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success teams to create seamless go-to-market strategies, designing and implementing GTM systems to drive revenue growth and operational efficiency. Her expertise includes designing data-driven processes, forecasting models, and enablement programs that empower teams to perform at their best. Passionate about creating scalable foundations, Cindy helps organizations optimize their customer journey, ensuring sustainable growth and exceptional customer experiences.

Corean believes life is happening now–not someday, how we show up matters, and play is a superpower. When she’s not helping to build better leaders and businesses, she is making people laugh on the improv stage and helping people eliminate end-of-life regrets through her Remember to Live podcast.

Corean is an executive leader and strategist with 20+ years of experience scaling advertising, marketing, and operations teams at hypergrowth organizations. As a founder and Executive Coach specializing in speaker development and thought leadership, she helps companies build high-performing cultures and develop authentic, impactful leadership. Drawing from both corporate leadership and play-based innovation, she brings a unique perspective to organizational transformation. Based in Atlanta, she's usually found sipping matcha and sharing belly laughs with good people.

Formally trained in sales at Xerox, I transitioned into the medical device industry, where I successfully commercialized 14 medical devices across various classifications, before ultimately moving into economic development

David Hartnett is the founder and principal of the Teaghlach Group. He combined his passion for business with his commitment to family. As the former chief economic development officer at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, he led efforts to attract, retain, and grow companies across key industries. This resulted in more than 1,000 companies relocating and tens of thousands new high-skill / high-wage jobs. The key clusters they concentrate on AgeTech, CleanTech (battery tech., Solar, BioMass, E.V.’s, & smart cities technology), FinTech, Cyber, MarTech, Life Sciences (global & digital health, MedTech, biopharma), Supply Chain & Advanced Manufacturing 4.0, Creative Industries (film/T.V., music, gaming/esports, post-production, AR/VR). His career has enabled him to work with companies of all sizes, from startups to global headquarters, and he has consistently been dedicated to creating a meaningful impact. He has also been deeply involved in community service, co-founding organizations like Venture Atlanta™ ($17 billion in exits), FinTech Atlanta™ (the nation's first consortium of FinTech CEOs, which led to the founding of the FinTech Academy), and the Atlanta Science Festival™ (the largest citywide STEM festival in the US). Before joining the Chamber, Hartnett was the president and CEO of Maco Pharma (formerly United Pharma), a privately held U.S. medical device company headquartered in Lille, France. Before joining Maco Pharma, Hartnett served as CEO of SteriFx™ Corp., a specialty chemical company contracted by the Department of Defense (DARPA). Before joining SteriFx, he was the executive vice president of Given Imaging, an Israeli start-up with its corporate headquarters in Yokneam, Israel. Under his leadership, the company commercialized the “PillCam®” video capsule. He helped raise $30 million through a private placement memorandum before the company went public in 2001 (GIVN-NASDAQ), which Medtronic now owns. Hartnett served as Vice President of Marketing at ERBE Electro-surgery N.A., the world's largest manufacturer of electrosurgical systems. He has also held various senior sales and marketing roles for Karl Storz Lithotripsy, Genzyme (formerly Deknatel), STERIS (formerly AMSCO), and XEROX. COMMUNITY / CORPORATE SERVICE: - Carter Center, Board of Councilors - Grady Health Foundation, Director - Georgia Music Accord, Director -Georgia Lifescience Institute, Founding Board member -Gunderson Technology Advisory Council EMERITUS ROLES: -Venture Atlanta™ Coalition, Co-Founder - Science ATL/Atlanta Science Festival™, Founding Chairman - Technology Association of Georgia, Director - Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), Director - Innovation Crescent Regional Partnership, Chairman - Institute for Healthcare Information Technology (iHIT), Co-Founder - Southeastern Life Science (formally Southeastern Medical Device Assoc.), President He was raised on Coronado Island, California, but now resides in Atlanta, where he enjoys life with his wife, four sons and their families.

David is a 35-year sales veteran with success both as a quota carrying rep and sales leader in companies like BellSouth and CareerBuilder. An engineer by education, David sought after and discovered the secrets to his success by exploring behavioral psychology and understanding the science of human decision making. In 2012, he founded MasterMessaging to help clients increase their revenue by mastering the ability to elevate their value.

I have a passion and track record integrating customer-centric analysis and design for ease of use with product management/marketing and delivery. My leadership focus is on enabling organizations to capture, represent, and integrate the user perspective of a problem or goal, resulting in highly effective, efficient and satisfying market solutions.

David Rubini is a Senior Manager of Online Product Management at The Home Depot, where he leads initiatives responsible for several high consideration/complexity online customer journeys on homedepot.com. He is currently focusing on the role of visualization technologies and generative AI on the shopping experience. With more than three decades of experience in product management and user experience design, David specializes in creating solutions at the intersection of design, business, and technology. Previously, he held senior product management roles at Intuit, Digital Insight, NCR, as well as at several early/mid-stage startups (VerticalOne, Brickstream). David holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University. He brings a unique perspective in integrating customer-centric design with product strategy, focusing on delivering effective market solutions that enhance user satisfaction.

Deb is a fractional CFO for Creative Planning providing strategic financial management and guidance to businesses ensuring well-informed board decisions and enhancing overall business performance and sustainability.

Deb has more than three decades of experience in various financial roles in the business services, technology, CPG and manufacturing industries and has contributed her financial, operational and strategy skills to a variety of organizations. Prior to joining Creative Planning, Deb served as a founding partner of an expert collective designed to help companies close the gap between data and value, where she was involved in financial planning and analysis, cost management, profitability analysis, and data and analytics assessments.

Chief Revenue Officer for Boldr, a purpose-driven, people-focused outsourcing company recognized among the 2023 & 2024 Inc. His wealth of experience in Sales, Success, and Support enables clients to capture, grow & retain revenues. Greg is passionate about defining, organizing & driving strategic enterprise transformations.

Known for his ability to drive strategic change and build high-performing teams that boost revenue, minimize churn, and foster individual and team growth. He thrives on navigating new industries, cultivating passionate teams, and developing scalable strategies that align around the customer and employee journey.

Hanna is a seasoned B2B marketing leader who is passionate about helping startups get their story in front of the right audiences.

Hanna is a VP of Marketing, with deep expertise in product marketing, GTM strategy, and growth. She currently leads marketing at Observable, a series-B company that is focused on helping teams gain insights from their data.

Hernando moved to Atlanta in the late Spring 2022 after living in New York for the prior two years and Europe the last 11 years. He enjoys working with founders and gives back as a mentor at several accelerators. He and his wife look forward to exploring more of Atlanta in 2023.

Hernando Bunuan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Z2Sixty Ventures, a US venture capital firm focused on pre-seed to Series A investments in four markets: Climate Tech/Smart Cities, Fintech, Digital Health, and Edtech. He has over 20 years experience advising and investing across the technology landscape in the US and Europe. As a former senior technology banker with experience in major M&A and IPO exits, he originated, executed and advised on over 35 landmark deals worth over $45 billion. Hernando has an MBA from Chicago Booth and Bachelor’s from Washington University.

Hunter is an accomplished Engineering leader who has led teams from 1's to 100s to success. Hunter has focused on using culture and process to speed product delivery, unlock new revenue sources, and speed successful adoption of AI.

15+ years of experience in technology has led to leadership in areas such as Engineering and Product. Previous experience leading teams at startups (Silverpop, SalesLoft, Calendly, Sendoso) and enterprise (IBM). He has experience in almost every facet of the startup experience, having worn hats including Sales, Marketing, Success, and Support in addition to core responsibilities of Engineering and Product.

Jacey is a community builder with a desire to cultivate empowered groups of people. She uses her positive energy and supportive attitude to build up and train those around her.

She’s currently doing this as the VP of Marketing & Community at Atlanta Ventures. They empower entrepreneurs to start, grow, and learn and co-found companies with driven founders in a collaborative environment, fund founders, and equip entrepreneurs. With 10+ years of industry experience, she’s started or launched marketing initiatives for over 18 companies. She also runs Pitch Practice, a meetup for Atlanta entrepreneurs to practice their 30-second, 3-minute or 5+ min. investor pitch. They meet Fridays at 1pm at Atlanta Tech Village.

Jake is a father of two and married to his college sweetheart, Erin. Outside of work, Jake is passionate about spending time with his family and all things fly fishing, whether that’s stalking trout through the North GA mountains or poling through flats for bonefish.

Jake Hadden co-founded and managed DigitalCrafts, a top-rated software development bootcamp, for 6 years before exiting to Perdoceo (NASDAQ: PRDO) in 2021. Jake continues to manage and oversee all DigitalCrafts operations. Prior to DigitalCrafts, Jake worked for the world’s largest manufacturing of modular carpet, Interface, as head of their internal innovation pipeline (think “Shark Tank”). In this role, Jake reported directly to the Chief Innovations Officer and gained working experience in Europe, Asia and Australia. Prior to Interface, Jake worked as a Management Consultant at Accenture and a Sales Rep in various roles after graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in Banking and Finance.

James is an Atlanta native who enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter and 3 rescue dogs. He also enjoys running, an occasional backpacking trip and rooting for all of our Atlanta sports teams. He is passionate about serving others.

James is a Managing Director at EY and has over 30 years of experience working with a variety of business. He assists organization in thinking through their most strategic issues, developing solutions and connecting with other people with the right experiences. He loves growing revenues, solving problems, and building strong client relationships.

Jane is a 6x founder, advisor, and investor in fast-growing tech companies. When she’s not around the ATL startup community, she is serving as the sous chef to her alpha cook husband or watching the Atlanta Braves, ACC Basketball, and Scottish Rugby.

Jane founded and served in the C-suite for companies in healthcare, software and e-commerce raising $100+ million and achieving exits via IPO or trade sale. Prior to her entrepreneurial career, she raised two venture capital funds and established a 50-person business angel network, all focused on early-stage technology companies. She currently serves as the Chief Growth Officer at Corps Team, a nationwide search and staffing firm that works with startups to the Fortune 500. Most recently, Jane was the Assistant Director and an Entrepreneur in Residence at the ATDC. She is also serves on the Boards of the Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust and Radyus Research.

Former software founder with a (VC backed) exit. Currently building Vic - Valor's AI backend and doing technical diligence on AI Startups

I started my first software company in high school. Build it to 75 people and sold it when I came to the US. Since then worked in marketing automation and have been with Valor Ventures since the beginning (2016). At Valor I run the back office (I am a registered advisor) - and I am constantly expanding the capabilities of Vic our AI back end that connects with Salesforce and a few other systems. We recently passed 30 millions tokens processed in a single month. The motto in my old company was 'Never stop developing' and I am still completely behind tha

Jeff Goldblatt has been involved with startups of many shapes/sizes (including: VC-funded, Angel-funded, Bootstrapped… successes, failures, and that subjective gray area between) for ~20 years and has served as Advisor/Mentor/Coach to 100+ young founders. Originally from Framingham, MA, he has an MBA from Emory University and a PhD from The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.

As creator of the original “Rejection Hotline” – a satirical phone service that grew into a 7-figure VIRAL *P.A.C.A.S.M. company (*Products As Content As Social Marketing) with 300+ “Humor Hotlines” engaging millions of fans – Jeff became a nationally-recognized expert on VIRALITY (in Products/Content/Marketing). He feels awkward writing in the 3rd-person, so he will now switch to 1st-person (and so will I). #BeReal – Like MOST entrepreneurs, I put “CEO” on my first business card. Also like most entrepreneurs, I once believed in The Tooth Fairy. In BOTH cases, it took YEARS to realize I WAS WRONG. My #IamNOTaCEO epiphany was undoubtedly the catalyst for my first startup success. – [3 months after replacing myself as CEO of my own company, we raised $1 MILLION in funding; 9 months later we were a PROFITABLE 7-figure company – after YEARS struggling as a solo founder wearing all the hats)] – And it began my fascination (obsession?!) with #SelfAwareness and the MANY related problems that young founders are OFTEN blind to (until YEARS LATER – often lamenting: “I Wish I Knew THEN, What I Know NOW!”) Full-Disclosure: Yes, I’ve occasionally been called a “Negative Nancy” – but I believe “Realistic Rick” is much more accurate AND much more helpful to young/future founders because… “Negative / Pessimistic (BAD?)” vs. “Positive / Optimistic (GOOD?)” creates a Dangerous False Dichotomy! [Spoiler Alert] “Objective / Realistic (GAME-CHANGER!)”

Jermaine is an avid reader, loves working out and roots for LSU and the Saints during football season.

Jermaine is the Founder and CEO of CCAW Automotive Group, a bootstrapped B2C ecommerce company in the automotive space. Jermaine is a leader with experience in building scalable teams, systems and processes. He has experience leading growth initiatives across functions that include Customer Service, Operations, Accounting/Finance and Engineering.

Jim counsels clients on the protection, licensing, and enforcement of intellectual property rights and has extensive experience in patent litigation and prosecution. Jim also regularly counsels clients on technology development and licensing agreements, with an emphasis on software products, and counsels clients on corporate deals requiring the analysis of intellectual property assets and technology. Jim represents clients in a variety of industries, including computer software and hardware, computer networks, wireless communication systems, telecommunications devices, semiconductor chips, medical devices, and industrial manufacturing machinery. Jim is actively involved in the Atlanta Startup Community. He represents numerous startup companies, and has given lectures on various intellectual property topics to numerous organizations including NASA's Langley Research Center, ATDC, Flashpoint, AUTM, IEEE, Morehouse School of Medicine's Tech Talks, Startup Weekend, Startup Chicks, and numerous student groups at Georgia Tech. Jim holds both a bachelors and masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and is experienced in hardware and software design. Jim is a frequent lecturer on intellectual property topics and is an adjunct instructor at Georgia Tech. Jim was recognized by Best Lawyers since 2014 and has also been recognized as a "Super Lawyer" and as a "Rising Star" in the field of intellectual property law by Law & Politics and Atlanta Magazine.

Joey is reasonably good at a lot of different things. He is also a mediocre farmer and lead singer of a very good British rock band.

I have 30 years of leadership across a wide range of areas. I've been an intrapreneur, growing a business from $200K/month to over $2M/month, a team leader for a $4B+ integration effort, a compensation consultant, general strategist, salesperson, restaurant manager, Techstars mentor, and even a singing waiter! Now, I get really fired up about the entrepreneurial community here in ATL.

Aspiring startup founder and current program management professional who enjoys new technology, fitness, traveling, and live music.

JT is a Google Pixel camera architect who believes Atlanta can become the next Silicon Valley and enjoys talking technology impacts on society. JT's previous experiences includes design work on startups, contract manufacturing, and defense. He receive a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and hold advanced degrees.

Josh is a brand builder and growth marketing leader with a mission to bring light into the world by helping early-stage companies build brand equity, grow sales, and spread their ideas to the communities they serve.

Josh has deep roots in the Atlanta startup scene and has helped launch, accelerate, and grow multiple early-stage companies including Patientco, Juvare, Relatient, Savista, Spring Health, NanoLumens, and more. He currently serves as a Fractional CMO to companies such as ATV member, Copient Health.

Kaitlin lives in Reynoldstown with her two German Shepherd rescues and adventurous partner. She balances her time between caring for pets through Leashes & Litterboxes, outdoor adventures on her e-gravel bike and backcountry hikes, and developing PawKitBook, inspired by her passion for helping pet lovers plan for life’s surprises.

Kaitlin’s background is in clinical research, tech, and service operations. She joined Florence Healthcare, an Atlanta-based SaaS startup, as one of fewer than 10 employees and played a key role in scaling the company to 250 employees. Over five years, she built the first compliance, regulatory, and data protection programs, coached executives for audit readiness, and provided regulatory and operational consults to academic medical centers and pharmaceutical companies. Kaitlin is known for translating regulatory jargon into startup-friendly language, simplifying complexity, and building scalable systems that align with rapid growth. She holds an MBA in Operations Management from Emory University and certifications as a Clinical Research Coordinator, a Six Sigma Green Belt, and in Pragmatic Management.

Kim is a journalist turned serial entrepreneur who loves working with early-stage founders who are passionate about the problem they’re solving.

Kim is an experienced Founder and CEO who bootstrapped and successfully exited her startup, Social News Desk (SND). As a former journalist, Kim saw a problem in her own industry and solved it by creating a SaaS company which would go on to become the worldwide leader in social media management technology for newsrooms and journalists. Kim recently exited her role at Social News Desk after having led the company to $5M ARR and a successful acquisition by Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC).

Landon helps early-stage startups establish foundational growth, marketing, and operations. It’s all fun and games until a Series B.

Landon has led growth, marketing, and ops at Plastiq (Forbes FinTech 50), Fancred (Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Brilliant Companies), and is an advisor to MaxRewards (Techstars ’19) and Poppy (Techstars ’20). He’s the Head of Marketing at Rocketplace, a digital assets management platform.

Lauren Patrick is on a mission to change the world for the better, one startup and one story at a time.

Lauren Patrick is the Head of Marketing at Infinite Giving, a fintech platform for nonprofits headquartered in the Atlanta Tech Village. With 15+ years of marketing experience ranging from growth-stage startups to billion-dollar enterprises, Lauren is a true believer in the power of storytelling to help companies scale. She's served as a Village Advisor since 2018 and teaches the Social Media, Influencer, and Advocacy workshop for the It Takes A Village program.

Lisa is a serial CMO, CRO and entrepreneur who loves working with early-stage founders and teams ready for accelerated growth.

Lisa helps tech founders turn vision into velocity—fast. A former startup commercial lead and award-winning product founder, she now serves as CMO of a global firm, leading strategic transformation across brand, digital, and demand. Lisa specializes in zero-fluff strategic planning, ROI-obsessed execution, and customer acquisition engines that scale. Whether you're chasing product-market fit or Series A traction, she brings sharp focus, bold ideas, and battle-tested growth playbooks to the table.

Margaret works with individuals and organizations to build solid foundations that serve as a springboard and accelerant to achieving their definition of great success. She coaches founders on how to focus on three key areas: People, Process, and Performance.

Margaret is a seasoned GTM leader who spent 12 years building, scaling, and leading high growth sales organizations from teams of 2 to 115. She grew the sales development team 3X at Salesloft in 2015 and led the North American sales organization of 100+ account executives and account managers for Mindbody. Today she helps startups build scalable foundations that enable teams and future sales hires to consistently deliver high caliber customer interactions and performance. She also empowers founders to confidently transition away from the tactical day to day, freeing them up to focus on the strategic direction of their company.

Melanie Crissey is a startup advisor and fractional product marketing manager with a focus on technical products, including AI, dev tools, and analytics.

With 14+ years of experience at startups from early-stage to Series D, Melanie Crissey has seen what it looks like to collect the first dollar of revenue and what challenges teams face at scale. Passionate, curious, and detail-oriented, she makes customer experience the center of the strategy for taking new products to market. In 2024, she started an independent practice under the name Technically, Marketing. Today she provides fractional product marketing support and playbooks for technical founders.

International Business Development

As an international business development and consulting professional with more than 25 years in the public and private sectors, Michael brings a wide range of experience to our team. He has had major successes growing export markets, establishing overseas offices, and attracting foreign investment for economic development organizations in the US. He has set up and managed international distribution networks for biotechnology and manufacturing companies. A graduate of the University of Maryland in International Affairs and Chinese Studies, he also has an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Native English-speaker, fluent in Spanish.

Simply put, I’ve been a techie in cybersecurity for over two decades and would like to help others by making cybersecurity simple.

Michael was forged in tech as a software engineer. Then, he set out to make a difference and joined the FBI as a Special Agent. Michael was with the FBI for 14 years, mainly investigating cyber nation-state and criminal bad actors. He later decided to venture back into the private sector. He held leadership positions with several cybersecurity startups and is now a director with one of the premier cybersecurity companies in the world, Palo Alto Networks. He runs their global attribution program. He’s also a board member and advisor to several influential organizations. Plus, he is the founder of the cybersecurity awareness organization decodingCyber. He is partial to cheesecake and bourbon, but not together… well, come to think of it, it might be a killer combo.

Michael is an Atlanta native, a Georgia Tech grad, and is constantly looking for the best Asian restaurant on Buford Highway.

Michael started his professional career over 10 years ago working in engineering & data analytics at Walt Disney World. Since then, he has held several technical and managerial roles across a wide range of companies, from big 4 consulting to technology startups (including several based out of the ATV!). He has always had a passion for sports – though his playing career never advanced past little league – and has performed research with medical professionals on predicting injuries in professional athletes. Outside of work, he enjoys running, playing tennis and spending time with his five little nieces and nephew.

Mike is a musician, Braves fan and father of 3 daughters. His wife and he are avid cyclists and like to tour the U.S. in their RV.

Mike is a serial entrepreneur in B2B SaaS healthcare technology/patient experience. He founded Dialog Medical - the leading provider of Informed Consent systems - and sold it to Standard Register (NYSE: SR) in July 2011. He founded Clockwise.MD -the leading virtual queue for healthcare - and sold it to Warburg Pincus/DocuTAP in April 2017. He is currently founder and CEO of Copient Health.

Mike is passionate about cooking, fitness, college football (Go Auburn), and March Madness. He’s the only person we’ve ever met who once sold billion-dollar jet fighter aircraft for a living!

Mike is founder of Allegro Consulting , a business growth specialty advisory firm. He’s been helping metro-Atlanta private business owners and start-up founders build and execute growth strategies for 18 years. His focus is on strategy creation and sales process.  Prior to Allegro he was an international sales campaign leader and program manager for aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed. Disciplined adherence to sound business practices and utilizing a replicable sales process are his passions.

Nandu currently serves as President of the Atlanta CTO Club.

Nandu is a lifelong technologist with over 30 years of professional experience leading software engineering, DevOps, IT, and cybersecurity in organizations of all sizes. He loves to build, and he's interested in just about everything (seriously, ask him to tell you the story).

Neelima is an Atlanta-based product strategist who thrives on untangling complexity for fast-growing companies. When not helping B2B Saas organizations scale, she's chasing her two kids or exploring hiking trails. She believes in building businesses that move quickly but with intention.

Neelima Ramaraju is the Founder of The Other NPR, where she advises early-stage startups and nonprofits on product and go-to-market strategy. Most recently, she led product and global customer success at Return Rabbit, where she scaled a B2B SaaS platform, implemented product-led growth, and helped drive a successful acquisition. Neelima has worn many hats—interim CEO, startup turnaround leader, and builder of high-performing cross-functional teams. Her earlier career includes building a global impact division at LLamasoft, working in tech for social good with partners like UNICEF and USAID, and managing complex supply chains in 20+ countries. She holds dual master’s degrees in Business and Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a BS from Georgia Tech. She’s also a board member of ShowMe50, advocating for gender equity in corporate leadership.

Nick is a product developer with a strong technical background focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence who specializes in finding product market fit and growth.

Nick Hasty is a technologist and entrepreneur who has created products used by billions. He is the founder and CEO of Luz Labs, whose product Linda is a voice-powered AI assistant and automatic podcast creation app designed to turn seniors into podcasters. He was the founding engineer of GIPHY, which was acquired by Meta in 2020. While at GIPHY, he worked on both product and engineering and led the company's AI initiatives. Before that, he worked with arts+cultural organizations such as Rhizome.org and the Alan Lomax archives. Nick has been a tech and product lead for over 15 years and has consulted for dozens of early stage startups.

I arrived in the US with a backpack and $267 in cash after traveling around the world. I love mountain biking and follow an unglamorous Premier League soccer team.

My experience spans 25 years of leadership in technology and nonprofits. I have co-founded, run, and exited multiple technology start-ups in telco, music, and education. I’ve overseen award-winning social innovation projects that have brought new opportunities to thousands of kids. My belief: give people access to opportunities, and they will thrive.

Former It Takes a Village startup founder and current product management professional who enjoys all things health and fitness, playing the piano, and traveling.

Rich is a Senior Technical Product Manager for Amazon covering Alexa and Fire TV products. Rich’s previous experiences include the founding of a health and fitness technology startup, product management in the cybersecurity and audio entertainment industries, business operations and corporate finance at Intel, and software engineering and technology research at Vanguard. He’s also an It Take a Village alumnus and former Board Member for the Startup Runway Foundation, which is a non-profit that connects early-stage investors to underrepresented startup founders. He received a B.S. in computer engineering technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, Simon Business School.

Richard is a proud father of four, homeschool dad, community builder and seasoned technology procurement leader.

After relocating from Colorado in 2021, my family and I quickly fell in love with the metro Atlanta community and have been deeply committed to planting roots here ever since. I'm a proud dad of four, a hands-on homeschool teacher, and a purpose-driven community builder—at home and in the workplace. I thrive on helping people and companies succeed against the odds. That same passion fuels my career in technology procurement, where I’ve built a reputation by shifting from "why" to "why not"—partnering early with business and product teams to drive innovation and speed, rather than relying on outdated, reactive procurement playbooks.

Ryan is a seasoned go-to-market strategist and revenue leader with expertise in helping startups scale through effective sales, marketing, and customer success alignment.

Ryan Mack is a growth strategist with over 15 years of experience leading revenue operations across SaaS, digital marketing, and technology companies. He has held executive roles, including CEO, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Head of Product, and Head of Strategy, driving companies from early-stage growth to successful exits. Most recently, as the former CEO of Peer (a GTM agency), he bootstrapped and scaled the firm to $7.5M in revenue, doubling its growth annually. Ryan specializes in go-to-market strategy, revenue growth, and sales & marketing alignment, working with startups to refine their messaging, optimize customer acquisition, and build scalable revenue models.

3-time SaaS startup scaler experienced in setting technology vision and leading engineering teams to ensure successful product growth.

30+ years of experience in the IT ecosystem in roles ranging from consulting, IT, and SaaS software development across multiple startup (Tactics, Servidyne, Silverpop, and Salesloft) and enterprise organizations (Southern Company, IBM).

Dr. Shade' Reid (she/her) is UK-born, Atlanta raised with strong British Jamaican roots. She loves basketball and played collegiate basketball on scholarship at UNC-Wilmington. She is a wife, mom, lover of all food and cultures, world traveler, hanging with friends and family, and helping with her husband's basketball coaching business.

Shade' is a seasoned Healthcare provider/Nurse Practitioner, healthcare consultant, nurse entrepreneur, innovator, program manager, and emerging capital entrepreneur. She is the founder of HealthCares Group, a mobile simulation center implementing e-gaming, VR, AR, and hologram technology clinical education for healthcare providers, but had to pivot and is now offering her expertise as a consultant, advisor, and Fractional Chief Clinical Officer for health tech startups seeking clinical expertise. She is also now the co-founder of Frontline HLTH Innovation, a startup school and venture studio focused on building groundbreaking health tech startups led by nursing and allied health professionals. Her previous work in healthcare spanned behavioral health, childhood development, neurological disorders, maternal health, and emergency services. She has over a decade in healthcare and 5+ years of experience in the tech industry and startup ecosystem. She is passionate about supporting underrepresented startup founders, building equitable, sustainable communities, and democratizing fundraising.

Taylor is a dad of two school aged kiddos who keep him and his wife very busy. He is passionate about soccer and still loves to play as much as possible. He respects the hustle and energy of founders and loves to help them where he can.

Taylor was the product and engineering focused cofounder of a vertical saas company based in Alpharetta (Hotel Effectiveness, hotel labor management). He and his cofounder bootstrapped the company until a first round in 2018 and then had a successful exit in 2022. Taylor built the product from the beginning and evolved it into an award winning industry leader. He helped grow the team from 2 to 60 and went through all of the ups and downs along the way.

Originally from Belgium, Thibault is building the future of automated garment care through robotics as Presso’s Co-Founder & CTO.

Coming from a manufacturing background, Thibault brings both the technological vision and the financial savviness needed to bring Presso to reality. He assembled a team and is leading them with precision to build the technology that is fundamentally changing how we approach garment care.

Tim is a technical founder of numerous startups, including SalesLoft, Showcase IDX, and Spaceship. He also apparently likes the letter "S" a lot.

Tim is the former Managing Director of Techstars Atlanta, a co-founder of SalesLoft, a former Entrepreneur in Residence at Georgia Tech's ATDC, CTO and CEO of several startups, and founded and sold his first company in his 20s. He currently serves as co-chair of the Techstars Atlanta board and is working on a new startup in stealth mode.

Trellis is an Atlanta native, mom, breast cancer survivor and patient advocate. Whether in her corporate roles or her role as founder/CEO she is passionate about increasing representation, equity, and inclusion in the technology industry. She is a proud ITAV alumni and winner of the pitch competition for Cohort 5. Her goal is to help founders scale their leadership, shift their mindsets and grow their business.

Trellis has over 25 years of experience as a global talent executive and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Talent Development at Pax8, a cloud commerce marketplace for the SMB/MSP market. In her role she focuses on building and scaling the function along with our goal to develop passionate leaders and teams while fostering a healthy, high-performing, people-first culture. Trellis is a 3x founder/CEO and her diverse background spans early-stage to enterprise companies in Technology, Consumer Packaged Goods, Hospital & Healthcare IT, and Banking. She is also deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, championing these values as both a professional and personal mission. In addition to her corporate experience, her 9-year entrepreneurial journey (founder/CEO of human capital and AI/ML digital health companies) sharpened her skills as a leader, strategist and mentor/advisor.

Ugochi believes that understanding personal finance is a powerful advantage for founders, giving them the clarity and confidence to pursue their vision without sacrificing their wellbeing. When she’s not working, she can be found visiting new restaurants or planning her next adventure.

Ugochi is a Financial Coach and Consultant dedicated to helping people build strong money management skills. With years of experience coaching clients from various backgrounds, Ugochi helps individuals understand their spending behavior, manage cash flow, tackle debt, and create practical money management systems that support growth and peace of mind. She also partners with nonprofits, corporations, and universities to design financial wellness programs. Known for making money talks fun, practical, and approachable, Ugochi helps clients reduce money stress and build lasting financial confidence. She holds an MBA from Georgetown University.

Wayt is a life-long ATLien, is the father of 5 kids, and spends time on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

Wayt is a startup lawyer who loves helping early-stage SaaS and software entrepreneurs. He’s been a software entrepreneur and an angel investor, and is known for keeping the legal stuff as simple as possible.

Weaver is a growth marketer and former VC partner who helps startups scale through clear strategy, deep technical expertise, and ROI-focused marketing systems.

Weaver has built and scaled go-to-market systems inside fast-growing startups (QGenda), Fortune 500 firms (NCR), and venture capital portfolios (Rule1). Today, he leads Dodeka Digital, a marketing agency that acts as an embedded growth team for B2B companies. His work spans paid acquisition, website strategy, and analytics—always with a focus on measurable business outcomes. Prior to Dodeka, he served as a VC partner and led marketing for high-growth SaaS companies.

Yusuf is an experienced leader, in-house attorney, angel investor, non-profit board member, amateur race car driver, and basement guitarist. Yusuf, his wife, and two children live in Alpharetta.

Yusuf was most recently Deputy General Counsel at Tesla, Inc., where he spent seven years building one of its legal teams from one person to 29. Prior to that, he handled virtually every type of legal issue facing his employer while working for a poultry company in North Georgia. He began his career with the federal government where he trained as a trial lawyer. Yusuf invests in purpose driven technology companies that use modern tools to solve old problems. In 2022, he was named to The 100 Influential Georgia Muslims by the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta.