DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Jan Zajac Founder, CEO at Sotrender.com December 2010 – Current (3 years 4 months)Warsaw / London Email: jan@sotrender.com Company: Sotrender Description: Founded in 2010. From 11 to 50 employees. Sotrender uses big data to help marketing and sales professionals in taking better decisions for social media. For years we’ve been passionate about 2 things: online research and social media. Now, basing on this passion, we provide you with high-end analytical solutions. We don’t limit ourselves only to statistics – we go two steps further to help you interpret them and implement the results into practice. Sotrender provides you with multiple solutions to analyze and optimize the performance in social media, especially on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as to check your results against the competition and execute the decisions into practice. Specialties: Social Media Measurement, Social Media Analysis, Social Media Optimalization, Internet Research, Online Dedicated Solutions, Consulting, Online Auditing, Data-Driven Optimalisation, Market Analysis, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube Web page: http://www.sotrender.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Eyal Y Co-Founder & CEO at Saverr Email: eyal@cartcrunch.com Company: Saverr - CartCrunch Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2011. CartCrunch is a shopping list price comparison app (iOS+Android) where prices are constantly updated by the crowd. We are building the worlds first brick and mortar supermarket pricing and consumer behavior database. CartCrunch (formerly Saverr) is a TechStars, Boston Fall 2012 Company. Specialties: Mobile Applications, Price Comparison, Consumer Data Web page: http://www.CartCrunch.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Guillaume Delatour President and US CEO Bluefox June 2013 – Current (10 months) San Francisco Bay & Sorroundings, USA Email: guillaumedelatour@bluefoxcontent.com Company: Bluefox Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2007. BlueFox is an independent company specialized in content for digital screens. Our core activity is to provide content for your screens, may they be videos, feeds or animated graphics. By keeping a close watch on evolutions in multimedia content, BlueFox has been able to develop new products. Today, BlueFox offers true added value through the large range of products available from all over the world. Although we can adapt to many types of broadcast technologies, we do not provide screens or softwares, and we are not a communication agency. However, we are used to working with different technical partners who are able to offer that service. Specialties: DOOH Content, DOOH Touchscreen Web page: http://www.bluefox.fr
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Johannis H Entrepreneur Email: jh@products-up.de Company: Products-up Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2010 Productsup is backed by industry experts who have dedicated years of research and development to bring you the most intuitive and intelligent cloud solution for product data management. Simplifying people's day-to-day business is our passion. Our solution helps clients globally! The company is based in Berlin with offices in San Francisco too. The platform's advanced technology features enable you to easily collect product data from all your various suppliers, to optimize and structure the data, and to distribute customized feeds to thousands of export and marketing channels - all from one central place. Online merchants, aggregators and agencies alike can take control of their individual product data needs and ultimately boost their performance in the dynamic, fast-growing e-commerce industry. Specialties: Computer Software, Cloud-based product data management, Data feed optimization, Google shopping / Google PLA, Automated &structured data feed imports, Visibility on online marketing channels, ROI management Web page: http://www.productsup.io/impressum
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Greg Tanaka CEO & Founder of Bay Sensors • Worked at @Synopsys, @Rambus Email: glt@baysensors.com Company: Bay Sensors Description: From 11 to 50 employees Backed by Silicon Valley's top VC firms (Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, Google Ventures, Foundation Capital, and more) Bay Sensors is a big-data startup disrupting the retail-analytics space with technology that provides detailed insight into the sales-funnel at physical retail locations. Our technology fuses data from multiple sensing modalities to provide retailers with the most comprehensive and accurate analytics in the industry. Web page: http://baysensors.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Olivier Duizabo Co-founder and CEO at Quividi August 2005 – Current (8 years 8 months)Paris and surroundings, France Marketing expert in high-tech services and products, with a strong insight on dynamics in the television, digital signage and retail marketing marketplaces. Expertises: Start-up management, business development, market research, technology assessment, partnerships, video analytics, digital signage, retail marketing, audience measurement, shopper insight. Email: olivier@quividi.com Company: Quividi Description: From 1 to 10 employees. Foundedn in 2006 Quividi provides software and hardware solutions embedding state-of-the-art anonymous video analytics technique, to measure audience and traffic in public places, such as hypermarkets, boutiques, malls and transport hubs. With real time counting, precise demographics and third party data integration (such as hand picks, sales data, global visitorship data), Quividi can help brands, retailers, marketing agencies and media owners evaluate and optimize their impact on their audience. Specialties: Audience measurement, retail metrics, in store analysis, brand performance, digital signage Web page: http://www.quividi.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Michele Casucci Founder and CEO at Certilogo S.p.A. January 2006 – Current (8 years 3 months) Email: michele.casucci@certilogo.com Company: Certilogo S.p.A Description: Founded in 2010. Certilogo is a technology and consumer services company providing the most advanced brand protection and product traceability solution. Certilogo S.p.A. is a privately held company headquartered in Milan, Italy. Top brands use Certilogo Codes to tag their products as authentic. Consumers from all over the world use the Certilogo Authenticator to check the authenticity of their purchase. Specialties: Web page: www.certilogo.com/
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
John Curlander President and CEO at Pindrop Inc January 2013 – Current (1 year 3 months)Boulder, CO Email: jcurl@PINDROPINC.COM Company: Pindrop Inc Description: From 1 to 10 employees. Founded in 2010. Location Enabled Shopper Services for Brick and Mortar Retailers. Pindrop offers a leading-edge platform of appkits, cloud services, and indoor location technologies that enable retailers to add unique in-store services to their own mobile apps, kiosks and web sites. Pindrop’s appkits are uniquely focused on the highest value services for retailers, including searchable store maps, personalized offers, in-store shopper positioning and navigation, and conversion of shopping lists into specific in-store products. Specialties: Web page: http://www.pindropinc.com/
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Dennis O' Malley CEO at ReadyPulse Email: dennis@readypulse.com Company: ReadyPulse Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2011 ReadyPulse is turning authorized user generated content into customer generated commerce. Our web based Commerce Platform, enables brands and retailers to leverage their very best photos, videos, and testimonials from their best customers in commerce experiences, resulting in double digit revenue increases. With ReadyPulse, you can:
Increase Brand Loyalty - Build and maintain relationships with your brand’s best customers as opt-in ambassadors (fans, influencers, advocates, customers and paid endorsers, i.e. sponsored athletes). Identify Top Influencing UGC - Pulse Score computes a score based on parameters set for influence effectiveness. Generate Quality, Relevant, and Authorized Content for Campaigns - Collect content from your best customers as opt-in ambassadors. Curate the Best Content Dynamically - Pinpoint and curate the best quality and relevant content for a specific context (e.g., product pages or checkout pages) or campaign. Display Content Where it Matters - Display the best content on your eCommerce site or in-store displays with configurable ReadyPulse Widgets and ReadyPulse hosted landing pages.
Specialties: Social Content Marketing, Social Media Analytics, Social Promotions, Brand Ambassador Program, Social Ads Web page: http://www.readypulse.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Rajat P Chief Product Officer at Bunchball - the Leader in Gamification, and author of NY Times best seller "Loyalty 3.0" Email: rajat@bunchball.com Company: Bunchball Description: From 51 to 200 employees. Founded in 2005 Bunchball is the pioneer and leader in gamification, the practice of applying game mechanics achievements, status, and rewards - to non-game experiences. We provide service, solutions and software that help businesses integrate these game mechanics into online experiences to dramatically increase participation and loyalty from customers and employees. Bunchball's industry-leading, cloud-based Nitro gamification engine makes it easy to develop, manage and optimize game mechanics and is used by over 100 customers including HP, Syfy, USA Network, Hearst, Meredith, NBC, Comcast, Warner Bros., Hasbro, Adobe, and many more. Based in Silicon Valley and founded in February 2005, Bunchball’s investors include Granite Ventures and Adobe Systems Incorporated. Specialties: Marketing, behavior economics, game mechanics, gamify, technology, platform, gamification, motivation, behavior, participation, adoption, CRM Gamification, social enterprise Web page: http://www.bunchball.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Chris N. Lead UI Engineer at Skytree Email: chris@skytree.net Company: Skytree Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Skytree® – The Machine Learning Company® is disrupting the Advanced Analytics market with a Machine Learning platform that gives organizations the power to discover deep analytic insights, predict future trends, make recommendations and reveal untapped markets and customers. Predictive Analytics is quickly becoming a must-have technology in the age of Big Data, and Skytree is at the forefront with enterprise-grade Machine Learning. Skytree's flagship product – Skytree Server – is the only general purpose scalable Machine Learning system on the market, built for the highest accuracy at unprecedented speed and scale. Specialties: Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Predictive Analytics, Reinforcement Learning, Artificial Intelligence Web page: http://www.skytree.net
Martin H. CEO Email: martin@skytree.net Company: Skytree Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Skytree® – The Machine Learning Company® is disrupting the Advanced Analytics market with a Machine Learning platform that gives organizations the power to discover deep analytic insights, predict future trends, make recommendations and reveal untapped markets and customers. Predictive Analytics is quickly becoming a must-have technology in the age of Big Data, and Skytree is at the forefront with enterprise-grade Machine Learning. Skytree's flagship product – Skytree Server – is the only general purpose scalable Machine Learning system on the market, built for the highest accuracy at unprecedented speed and scale. Web page: http://www.skytree.net
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Dipanshu Sharma Founder and CEO at xAD, Inc. August 2009 – Current (4 years 8 months) New York & Surroundings, USA Email: dipanshu.sharma@xad.com Company: xAD Description: From 51 to 200 employees. Founded in 2009 xAd helps brands harness the power of accurate location data to produce measurable results from mobile advertising. Through award-winning location technology that is precise, measurable and scalable, xAd's platform pinpoints target audiences by neighborhood, across the country and around the globe at pivotal moments during the consumers' path-to-purchase. xAd's platform drives results powered by search-enhanced targeting, ultimately yielding unparalleled performance. Founded in 2009, xAd is headquartered in New York City and has several offices both across the U.S. and internationally. xAd serves more than 1.5 million national and local advertisers, while managing more than 30 billion location-verified ad requests per month. Specialties: Mobile Location Advertising, Mobile Display Advertising, Performance-Based Advertising, Mobile Search Advertising Web page: http://www.xAd.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Krista Dow Senior Infrastructure & Data Analytics Associate -Retailigence Corporation June 2013 – Current (10 months) San Francisco Bays & Surroundings, USA Email: krista@retailigence.com Company: Retailigence Corporation Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2009 Retailigence is a hyperlocal marketing platform that utilizes brick-and-mortar inventory data obtained directly from retailers to turn online consumers into offline buyers. Serving both retailers and brands, Retailigence distributes local store inventory-based advertising via its own network of location-based application partners, mobile ad networks, mobile ad exchanges, search providers and social networks. Specialties: Location Based Shopping, Large Data Management, Mobile Shopping, Local inventory API Web page: http://retailigence.com
Jeremy G. CEO Retailigence. Starting & Growing B2B Software Businesses for 20 years Email: jeremy@retailigence.com Company: Retailigence Corporation Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2009 Retailigence is a hyperlocal marketing platform that utilizes brick-and-mortar inventory data obtained directly from retailers to turn online consumers into offline buyers. Serving both retailers and brands, Retailigence distributes local store inventory-based advertising via its own network of location-based application partners, mobile ad networks, mobile ad exchanges, search providers and social networks. Specialties: Location Based Shopping, Large Data Management, Mobile Shopping, Local inventory API Web page: http://retailigence.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Andy Chu (Mentor) Divisional Vice President & GM at Sears Holdings Corporation Andy Chu is the Divisional Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile and Community Experiences (MCE) at Sears Holdings. Andy leads the MCE product organizations and is responsible for the P&L of the Sears and Kmart mobile business. Sears Mobile was named 2011 Mobile Retailer of the Year by Mobile Commerce Daily. Prior to Sears, Andy spent over 11 years at Microsoft where he held a number of leadership roles in product, strategy, planning, and business development spanning Bing Mobile and Local, Windows Live Messenger Mobile and Hotmail Mobile, Windows Phone, cloud computing, low-cost PC in emerging markets and enterprise software businesses. Email: Andy.Chu@searshc.com Company: Sears Holding Corporation Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 2005 Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer with almost 2,500 full-line and specialty retail stores in the United States and Canada and the home of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through ShopYourWay.com. Sears Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as well as a leader in tools, lawn and garden, fitness equipment and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard, with a broad apparel offering, including such well-known labels as Lands' End, the Kardashian Kollection, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as Sofia by Sofia Vergara and The Country Living Home Collection. We are the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually, and have a long-established commitment to those who serve in the military through initiatives like the Heroes at Home program. We have been named the 2011 Mobile Retailer of the Year, Recipient of the 2013 ENERGY STAR速 " Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award" for Product Retailing and Energy Management and was named one of the Top 20 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. Sears Holdings Corporation operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation. Specialties: Shop Your Way, Kmart, Sears, Kenmore, DieHard, Craftsman Web page: http://www.searsholdings.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Kurt Kober (Mentor) Associate Director - Sales Technology -The Clorox Company September 2012 – Current (1 year 7 months) Oakland, CA Kurt Kober is the Associate Director of Sales Technology for The Clorox Company and co-founder of Red Clay, an enterprise crowd-sourcing platform. Kurt is a systems-thinking problem solver with a track record of transformational & incremental change in start-up, enterprise & university environments. Results include development of hundreds of new products worth >$100M in profitable sales across four companies in 10 years along with over $45M of institutional funding raised for private & public initiatives. Areas of interest for Kurt include technologies in the space of enterprise services that enable organizational communication, collaboration and mobility or consumer and shopper insights. Kurt received his MBA from The University of Wisconsin – Madison and is a former board member of the Walton Arts Center in Bentonville, Arkansas along with Volunteer Project Manager for The Taproot Foundation. Email: Kurt.Kober@clorox.com Company: The Clorox Company Description: From 5.001 to 10.000 employees. Founded in 1913 Clorox is a global company with leading brands that have become household names: our namesake bleach and cleaning products; Green Works® naturally derived cleaning products; Ayudín® and Poett® home care products; Pine-Sol® dilutable cleaner; Fresh Step® cat litter; Kingsford® charcoal; Hidden Valley® and K C Masterpiece® dressings and sauces; Brita® water filtration products; Glad® bags, wraps and containers; and Burt's Bees® natural personal care products. We manufacture products in more than two dozen countries and market them in more than 100 countries. Clorox trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLX. Specialties: R&D, Manufacturing, Category Analysis, Consumer Insights Web page: http://www.TheCloroxCompany.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
David Salisbury (Mentor) Director Global Marketing Center at Star Micronics Email: DSalisbury@starmicronics.com Company: Star Micronics Description: From 501 to 1.000 employees. Star Micronics Company, Ltd. is a Global manufacturer of precision electronic audio component products and printers. Extensive technical expertise, amassed from over 50 years of experience in precision technology, led to the creation of a wide array of high quality products. Star products are manufactured in facilities throughout the world, featuring the latest factory automation and computer integrated manufacturing systems. Its high total efficiency ensures high productivity and competitive prices on products that are sold worldwide and backed by an integrated sales and marketing network that stretches across the globe. Star audio products are used in applications such as automotive, wireless communications, medical instrumentation, testing equipment, alarms, computer peripherals, appliances, general industrial hardware and more. Star printer products are recognized to be leaders in markets such as Retail Point Of Sales, hospitality, Banking, ATM and other multiple unattended applications Specialties: POS printers, receipt printers, banking printers, prescription printers Web page: http://www.starmicronics.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Lina Yang (Mentor) Director, Futurist, Advanced Technology Lab at The Hershey Company Lina Yang is Director of Hershey’s Advance Tech Team. In this role, Lina tinkers with new technologies and seeks discoveries that will deliver growth, insights, and operational effectiveness to The Hershey Company. Prior to this position, Lina was Director of Global Trends & Strategic Foresight, where she anticipated opportunities and risks 5 to 10 years beyond today. Email: lyang@hersheys.com Company: The Hershey Company Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1984 The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. Headquartered in Hershey, Pa., The Hershey Company has operations throughout the world and more than 12,000 employees. With revenues of more than $5 billion, Hershey offers such iconic brands as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Kit Kat, Twizzlers and Ice Breakers as well as the smooth, creamy indulgence of Hershey’s Bliss. Hershey is a leader in the fast-growing dark and premium chocolate segment, with such brands as Hershey’s Special Dark and Hershey’s Extra Dark. In addition, Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Company, markets such premium chocolate offerings as Scharffen Berger, Dagoba and Starbucks Chocolate. For more than 100 years, The Hershey Company has been a leader in making a positive difference in the communities where we live, work and do business. The Milton Hershey School, established by the company’s founder in 1909, provides a nurturing environment, quality education, housing, and medical care at no cost to children in social and financial need. The School is administered by the Hershey Trust Company, Hershey’s largest shareholder, making the students of Milton Hershey School direct beneficiaries of Hershey’s success. Specialties: North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and sugar confectionery products. Web page: http://hersheys.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Jon Strande (Mentor) Sr. Manager, Advanced Technology Team at The Hershey Company December 2013 – Current (4 months) Hershey, PA (Responsible for discovery and creation of technology innovations. With more than 18 years technology and analytics experience, Jon is an expert designer of business improving solutions, interaction design, business analysis, and technology implementations. Jon generates innovative ideas grounded in an understanding of how & why people use technology and seeks to differentiate between nuances of possible and plausible. Email: jstrande@hersheys.com Company: The Hershey Company Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1984 The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. Headquartered in Hershey, Pa., The Hershey Company has operations throughout the world and more than 12,000 employees. With revenues of more than $5 billion, Hershey offers such iconic brands as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Kit Kat, Twizzlers and Ice Breakers as well as the smooth, creamy indulgence of Hershey’s Bliss. Hershey is a leader in the fast-growing dark and premium chocolate segment, with such brands as Hershey’s Special Dark and Hershey’s Extra Dark. In addition, Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Company, markets such premium chocolate offerings as Scharffen Berger, Dagoba and Starbucks Chocolate. For more than 100 years, The Hershey Company has been a leader in making a positive difference in the communities where we live, work and do business. The Milton Hershey School, established by the company’s founder in 1909, provides a nurturing environment, quality education, housing, and medical care at no cost to children in social and financial need. The School is administered by the Hershey Trust Company, Hershey’s largest shareholder, making the students of Milton Hershey School direct beneficiaries of Hershey’s success. Specialties: North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and sugar confectionery products. Web page: http://hersheys.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Deborah Weinswig (Mentor) Chief Customer Officer Profitect, Inc. October 2013 – Current (6 months) Waltham, MA Email: dweinswig@gmail.com Company: Profitect – Identify, Resolve & Measure Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2007 The Profitect software solution uses pattern analytics to identify revenue reducing activities, and integrated task management provides timely, detailed, and guided actions to resolve the issue. Improvements to the top and bottom line are continuously measured, ensuring sustainability across the business. Specialties: Loss prevention, Loss Reduction, Shrinkage, EBR, Retail industry, Fraud, Retail Operations, Compliance, Analytics, Fraud detection, Retail, Grocery, Loss Prevention technology, Innovation, BI, employee fraud, profit optimzation Web page: http://www.profitect.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
David Dorf (Mentor) Sr. Director of Technology Strategy Oracle Retail Febrero de 2006 – Actualidad (8 años 2 meses) Board Member -Association of Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) Febrero de 2013 – Actualidad (1 año 2 meses) Área Metropolitana de Washington D.C., Estados Unidos He focuses on the strategic planning and technology adoption for Oracle’s products, and in identifying emerging technologies for use in the retail industry. Before joining Oracle, David worked for 360Commerce, Circuit City, AMF Bowling, and Schlumberger’s Retail & Banking division developing Point-of-Sale systems using various technologies. Email: david.dorf@oracle.com Company: Oracle Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1977 With more than 380,000 customers—including 100 of the Fortune 100—and with deployments across a wide variety of industries in more than 145 countries around the globe, Oracle offers an optimized and fully integrated stack of business hardware and software systems. Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in your data center–from servers and storage, to database and middleware, through applications. Specialties: Enterprise, software, applications, database, middleware, fusion, business intelligence, Primavera, PeopleSoft, EPM, BEA, Hyperion, Retek, Utilities, On-Demand, server & storage systems, BPM, solutions for communications industry, ERP, CRM, CRM On Demand, JDE, Siebel Web page: http://www.oracle.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Ed Martin (Mentor) Chief Marketing Officer Zaycon Foods In addition to serving as President and CEO of Blue Clay Ventures, Mr. Martin serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Zaycon Foods and Chief Marketing Officer for Look To The Stars. He is also the founder of Nexus Capital, a private impact investment firm. Mr. Martin provides strategic direction as an Advisory Board member to the Global Management Challenge which is focused on market based simulation technologies driving the largest positive impact for business and the community Email: edwardgmartin3@gmail.com Company: Zaycon Foods Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Founded in 2009 Zaycon Foods is a privately owned company based in the state of Washington. The company was founded in 2009 to bring fresh meats and other products direct to consumers at wholesale prices. We combine the buying power of many families together, enabling us to negotiate huge savings on food purchases for your family. Specialties: Web page: http://www.zayconfoods.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Ahmad Ouri (Mentor) Chief Marketing Officer - responsible for overall marketing, communications and branding, based out of the Technicolor’s new North American headquarters in Hollywood, California. Ahmad joined IZ-ON Media in 2011 from parent company Technicolor. As President and CEO, Ahmad is positioning IZ-ON Media for continued leadership in the growing digital place-based media industry. From 2002-2009, Ahmad held a number of executive positions at Technicolor, including President of Technicolor Digital Cinema, Chief Technology Officer, President of Technicolor Content Services Division and Chief Marketing Officer. Previously, Ahmad was CEO of Philips Electronics Digital Video Server Division. Ahmad earned multiple degrees from the University of Utah, including a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, a B.S. in Mathematics, an M.B.A. and classwork completed for an M.S. in Engineering (Instrumentation). Email: Ahmad.Ouri@technicolor.com Company: Technicolor Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1915 Technicolor is home to industry-leading creative and technology professionals committed to the creation, management and delivery of entertainment content to consumers around the world. Propelled by a culture of innovation and underpinned by a dedicated research organization, the company’s thriving licensing business possesses an extensive intellectual property portfolio focused on imaging and sound technologies. Serving motion picture, television, and other media clients, the company is a leading provider of high-end visual effects, animation, and postproduction services. In support of network service providers and broadcasters globally, Technicolor ranks among the world leading suppliers of digital content delivery services and home access devices, including set-top-boxes and gateways. The company also remains a large physical media service provider, being one of the world’s largest film processors and independent manufacturers and distributors of DVDs and Blu-ray discs™ Specialties: Entertainment, Multimedia & Motion Pictures Services, Technology Web page: http://www.technicolor.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Sue Welch (Mentor) CEO- March 2003 – Current (11 aùos 1 mes) An established leader in designing technology for retailers and suppliers involved in global sourcing and private label initiatives. Ms. Welch's passion for all things retail is reflected in TradeStone's innovative approach to developing a Merchandise Lifecycle Management infrastructure to support collaboration among retailers and their partners as they design, source, produce and deliver exciting and differentiated merchandise collections to the store floor. In addition to leading TradeStone, Welch is a frequent speaker on global sourcing addressing such organizations as the World Trade Organization, the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, the ICC and the National Retail Federation. She has been celebrated for her innovation in the industry by such publications as Fortune and World Trade Magazine, in which she was named as one of the 50 most influential executives. Email: SWelch@tradestonesoftware.com Company: TradeStone Software Description: From 51 to 200 employees. Founded in 2003 TradeStone Software helps Retailers, Brand Manufacturers and Suppliers increase market share and improve margins by delivering Merchandise Lifecycle Management solutions that unify the design, sourcing, ordering and delivery of private label and branded goods. TradeStone Software is headquartered in Gloucester, Mass., with offices in Atlanta, New York City, Bangalore, Hong Kong and London. Specialties: Retail, PLM, Sourcing, Order Management, Supplier Management, Merchandise Lifecycle Management Web page: http://www.tradestonesoftware.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Michael Calbert (Mentor) Head of Retail Industry Team KKR Michael Calbert (Menlo Park) joined KKR in 2000 and is head of the Retail industry team within KKR’s Private Equity platform. Mr. Calbert serves on KKR’s regional Private Equity Investment Committees. He has been involved in the investments in Dollar General, Pets at Home, Shoppers Drug Mart, Toys ‘R’ Us, US Foods and Academy Sports+Outdoors and is currently on the board of directors of Dollar General, Pets at Home, Toys ‘R’ Us, US Foods and Academy Sports+Outdoors. Prior to KKR, Mr. Calbert served as Chief Financial Officer of Randall’s Food Markets, ultimately taking the company through an investment by KKR in June 1997. He also previously worked as a consultant with Arthur Andersen Worldwide, where his primary focus was on the retail/consumer industry. Email: mike@calbertcap.com Company: KKR Description: From 501 to 1.000 employees. Founded in 1976 Led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR & Co. (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) is a leading global investment firm with $62.3 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2012. With offices around the world, KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through its client relationships and capital markets platform. KKR is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KKR). Specialties: Private Equity, Asset Management, Capital Markets Web page: http://www.kkr.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Anne Marie Stephen (Mentor) Vice President Retail Sales and Customer Development - iInside, a WirelessWERX company January 2014 – Current (3 months)Orange County & Surroundings, California, USA Anne Marie Stephen is a passionate evangelist for innovation in retail technology and analytics. She is currently Vice President of Retail Sales and Customer Development for iInside, location based mobile technology, analytics and engagement for offline environments. She shares her experience bringing new technologies and data to retail as speaker for: The Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA), Citibank, M.I.T. RFID Expo and the Geoweb Summit. She is a regular contributor for Street Fight, founder of Smart Women in Retail Leadership and mentor for Plug and Play Brand and Retail Center of Innovation. Anne Marie is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Email: amstephen@iinside.com Company: iInside Description: From 51 to 200 employees. Actionable Indoor Analytics iInside helps clients improve sales and increase customer satisfaction. Our plug-and-play technology platform enables retailers to optimize store layouts, improve staffing and operations, maximize merchandising and partner marketing campaigns, and much more. • Understand your business in a way you never could before Measure and understand precise departmental conversion across your chain. Know what's working or not, exactly where, in real-time across the company. • Rich, Actionable Analytics Measure Shopper Intent, Interest and Behavior to optimize your Marketing, Merchandising, Labor, and Operations. • Plug-and-Play Technology The day we install your system you're collecting data. Reports are instantly accessible via your web-based dashboard and are encrypted and private. Specialties: Advanced Data Analytics, Mobile Integration, Location Based Solutions, Departmental Conversion Metrics, Business Intelligence, Shopper Behavior Analysis, Labor & Queue Efficiency, Indoor Positioning, Data as a Service (DaaS), Predictive analytics Web page: http://iinside.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Deborah McWhinney (Mentor) COO, Global Enterprise Payments Citi Deborah McWhinney joined Citi in April 2009 as head of the newly created Citi Personal Wealth Management (CPWM) organization. The CWPM business provides a broad range of investment services and has the unique ability to serve a variety of customer segments with varying levels of personal assets. Prior to joining Citi, she was president of Schwab Institutional, a division of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., where she helped independent investment advisors grow their businesses more quickly and profitably by building innovative products and services for the fastest growing segment of the financial services industry. Email: ddmcwhinney@gmail.com Company: CITI Group Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1812 Wherever people come together to imagine something, create something, build something, we're there to help make it real. For over 200 years. Around the world. Drawing on our global experience and 200-year history, Citi works tirelessly to provide consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with innovative banking solutions that are simple, creative and responsible. Our goal is to deliver products and services that exceed expectations and help customers confidently achieve their goals today and in the future. Specialties: Banking, Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Credit Cards, Private Equity, Capital Markets, Equity and Fixed Income Research, Transaction Services, Cash Management, Brokerage and Asset Management, Consumer Lending Web page: http://www.citigroup.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Janie Yu (Mentor) Sr. Associate Fung Capital USA Janie invests for Fung Capital, the strategic investment arm of the Fung family in Hong Kong which separately controls Li & Fung, a public company that sources, distributes and retails consumer products globally with over $20B in revenues and 35,000 employees in over 40 countries. Janie invests in B2B technology companies that enable omni-channel retailing and supply chain efficiency. Prior to joining Fung Capital, she was with Burt’s Bees, leading go-to-market strategies for global expansion. Before starting her business career, she was a journalist for BBC and PRI’s “The World”, reporting in China. Janie obtained her M.A. degree from Harvard University, where she received the prestigious Fung Fellowship, sponsored by the Victor and William Fung Foundation. Janie grew up in China and received her B.A. in journalism from Communications University of China, graduating with first-class honor. Email: jyu@fungcapitalusa.com Company: Fung Capital USA Description: Fung Capital is the private equity arm of the Fung family in Hong Kong which includes Li & Fung Ltd., a public company that sources, distributes and retails consumer products globally with over $21B in revenues and 40,000 employees in over 40 economies worldwide. By leveraging on the global business network and expertise of members within the Fung Group, we focus on servicing portfolio companies that can benefit from the following three core competencies: Supplier Network: With a network of over 15,000 factories worldwide, members of the Fung Group are experts in manufacturing and delivering best-quality products at the lowest price and in the fastest way. The Group has been doing this for more than 100 years, touching consumers everywhere, everyday. Customer Relationship: Customers of the Fung Group include Disney, Avon, Victoria’s Secret, J. Crew, Kohl’s, Walmart, to name a few. The deep relationships with the members of our Group give you access to global brands and retailers that can help build your business. Global Reach: When you are ready to expand internationally, Fung Capital, as a member of the Fung Group with more than 300 offices and 40 countries globally, is well positioned to service as one of your strategic partners. Web page: http://fungcapitalusa.com/
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Corinna Freedman (Mentor) Vice President Wedbush Securities Email: corinna.freedman@gmail.com Company: Wedbush Securities Description: From 501 to 1.000 employees. Founded in 1955 Financial roots dating back to 1925, Wedbush Securities is one of the largest securities firms and investment banks in the nation. We provide innovative financial solutions through our Private Client Services, Capital Markets, and Clearing & Execution divisions. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California with over 90 offices and more than 125 correspondent offices, our commitment to providing relentless, customized service is the foundation of our consistent growth. We deliver superior investment ideas and products through exceptional customer care, financial security, continuity and advanced technology. The colleagues of Wedbush are the resources through whom we provide the finest services available in the industry. Our formula for success continues to be our commitment to an entrepreneurial culture, core values, strong operational controls, disciplined financial management and consistent profitability to protect your long-term interests Specialties: Retail Brokerage, Wealth Management, Capital Markets, Investment Banking, Equity Research, Fixed Income, Public Finance, Clearing & Execution, Commercial Banking, Private Equity Web page: http://www.wedbush.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Marie Driscoll(Mentor) CFA - CEO and Chief Consultant Driscoll Advisors November 2011 – Current (2 years 5 months) NY An Investment Research professional whose core competencies include a broad and deep knowledge of global consumer markets, the ability to identify, analyze and articulate investment opportunities and team development. Experience: Competitive analysis, creating and managing research products
Consultant and Contributor to Academia, Non-Profit Endowments and Industry. Consultant to CohnReznick Retail Practice; developing content and thought leadership for market communication Author monthly column for the ICSC's Value Retail News Journal and the International Outlet Journal Columnist at The Robin Report Contributing Analyst for Beauty & The Bull Magazine Investment Advisor to Non-Profit Endowment Adjunct Professor LIM College Graduate Program, Luxury Brand Management in the Fashion Industry
Email: marietdriscoll@gmail.com Company: Driscoll Advisors Description: Specialties: Web page:
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Tom Chiu (Mentor) Board Director Sand Hill Angels Tom is the Board Director of Sand Hill Angels (Halo Report named top angel groups in U.S.) and founder of IPforAsia. He is an active angel investor with over 20 years industry experience. He has invested in more than 25 startups and Silicon Valley incubators (500Startups and Tandem Capital). His retail technology investments includes MovableInk, Retailigence, Proximiant, Bytelight and SiftShopping. Email: tom.chiu@gmail.com Company: Sand Hill Angels Description: From 11 to 50 employees. Sand Hill Angels is a group of successful Silicon Valley executives and accredited investors that are passionate about entrepreneurialism and the commercialization of disruptive new technologies. We focus on investments in the Internet, Information Technology, Clean Tech, Consumer, and Life Sciences businesses Specialties: Web page: http://www.sandhillangels.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Michelle Collins (Mentor) Associate Director Procter & Gamble Michelle Collins is the Associate Director of Brick & Click eCommerce and Seamless Innovation for Procter & Gamble. She has over a decade of experience in the CPG industry across multiple retailers and brands in North America. Michelle received her bachelor degree from Yale University and her MBA from Boston College. Areas of interest for Michelle include retail technologies aimed at creating and facilitating a Seamless experience for the shopper as well as new and innovative approaches to creating consumer insights. Email: collins.me.1@pg.com Company: Procter & Gamble Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1837 As the world's largest multinational consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G, NYSE: PG) is the 4th largest corporation in the world by market capitalization and is Fortune's 6th Most Admired Company. P&G serves approximately 4.8 billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Fairy®, Gain®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun®, Fusion®, Ace®, Febreze®, Ambi Pur®, SK-II®, and Vicks®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Specialties: Consumer Goods, Marketing, Advertising Web page: http://www.pg.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Bruce Williams xxx Email: bkny14@gmail.com Company: xxx Description: Specialties: Web page:
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Chris Finazzo (Mentor) Customer Strategy & Intelligence Macy's Christopher Finazzo has over 12 years experience in US & International retail & apparel sector. Currently, Mr. Finazzo manages Field & Store Strategy for Macy’s Department Stores, with a particular focus on customer insights. Prior to Macy’s, Mr. Finazzo served as Vice President of Retail, eCommerce and Corporate Strategy for Haute Hippie, an international designer-apparel brand, where he earned extensive experience in merchandising, marketing, operations, ecommerce and retail. Email: cfinazzo26@gmail.com Company: Macy’s Description: More than 10.001 employees. Macy’s, Inc. is one of the nation’s premier omnichannel retailers, with fiscal 2012 sales of $27.7 billion. The company operates the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s brands with about 840 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s; the macys.com and bloomingdales.com websites, and 13 Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement. Macy’s, Inc.’s diverse workforce includes approximately 175,700 employees. Prior to June 1, 2007, Macy’s, Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores, Inc. The company’s shares are traded under the symbol “M” on the New York Stock Exchange. Specialties: Retail Web page: http://www.macysinc.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Dan Rosen (Mentor) Founder & General Partner Commerce Ventures Email: dan@commercevc.com Company: Commerce Ventures Description: From 1 to 10 employees. Founded in 2012 Commerce Ventures is a new venture capital firm with a sector focus at the intersection of mobile, payments and retail technology. The firm will primarily invest in product-stage start-ups and add value through a network of strategic relationships in the retail, marketing, payments and mobile industries. Specialties: Venture Capital, Strategic Investment Web page: http://commercevc.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Josh Goldman (Mentor) General Partner Norwest Ventures Josh brings to Norwest Venture Partners more than 20 years of operational experience having been a repeat entrepreneur, CEO, board member and investor in many high-growth technology companies. As CEO or board member, Josh has generated more than $3.6 billion in realized exit valuations and has participated in three highly successful IPOs. Josh has spent his career seeking to combine his passion for breakthrough technology with an ability to create innovative and sustainable business models for high-growth companies. At NVP, Josh focuses on investments in consumer-facing Internet products and services including search, e-commerce, social networking and digital media. His current investments and board seats include ModCloth, Quirky, Lumosity, Gilt Groupe, Sojern, STELLAService and Casper Sleep Company Email: jgoldman@nvp.com Company: Norwest Venture Partners Description: From 51 to 200 employees. Founded in 1961 Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a multi-stage venture and growth equity investment firm that has partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 50 years. The firm manages over $3.7 billion in capital and has funded more than 500 companies since inception. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, NVP has subsidiaries in Mumbai and Bengaluru, India and Herzliya, Israel. NVP makes early to late stage venture and growth equity investments in U.S. and global companies across a wide range of sectors including: cloud and IT infrastructure, SaaS and enterprise software, Internet and consumer, services and healthcare. Notable investments include such companies as Actel, Adaptive Planning, Admeld (acquired by Google), Airespace (acquired by Cisco), Apigee, Brocade, Cast Iron (acquired by IBM), Cerent (acquired by Cisco), Corio (acquired by IBM), Cray Research, Cyan (NYSE: CYNI), Documentum (acquired by EMC), Extreme Networks, FireEye (Nasdaq: FEYE), Forte (acquired by Sun Microsystems), Jigsaw (acquired by Salesforce), Kace (acquired by Dell), LifeSize (acquired by Logitech), Lending Club, Lumosity, MobileIron, Omneon (acquired by Harmonic), PeopleSoft (acquired by Oracle), Persistent Systems (NSE: PERSISTEN.NS), Playdom (acquired by The Walt Disney Company), Polycom, Qumranet (acquired by Red Hat), Rackspace (NYSE:RAX), RetailMeNot (Nasdaq: SALE), ScaleIO (acquired by EMC), Siara Systems (acquired by Redback Networks), SideStep (acquired by Kayak), Spinnaker Networks (acquired by Network Appliance), SPSS (acquired by IBM), The 41st Parameter (acquired by Experian), Tivoli Systems (acquired by IBM), TSA (Nasdaq: ACIW), Turn, Verio (acquired by NTT) and Virtela (acquired by NTT Communications) Specialties: EARLY STAGE & LATE STAGE VENTURE: Cloud & IT Infrastructure, SaaS & Enterprise Software, Internet & Consumer, Svcs and Healthcare, GROWTH EQUITY: Technology, Information Svcs, Business Svcs, Financial Svcs, Consumer Products/Svcs and Healthcare. Web page: http://www.nvp.com
DUE DILLIGENCE - Plug and Play Retail Center - Social Media Outlets
Norihiro Kondo (Mentor) Group Manager Panasonic Nori Kondo is Group Manager of Panasonic R&D Company of America. He has over 13 years technology analysis and business development experience in several US B2B markets, including the retail sector. In this role, Nori is leading strategic business planning and business development activities working with retailers, partners and start-up companies. Email: norihiro.kondo@us.panasonic.com Company: Panasonic Description: More than 10.001 employees. Founded in 1918 Panasonic Corporation is one of the largest electronic product manufacturers in the world, comprised of over 634 companies. It manufactures and markets a wide range of products under the Panasonic brand to enhance and enrich lifestyles all around the globe. Specialties: Electronic product Web page: http://panasonic.net/