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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.