Hofstra Veterans Venture Challenge

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Henry Bonner
CPO, Riskpulse

Henry Bonner is Chief Product Officer at Riskpulse, a Columbia Capital company.

As CPO, Henry is responsible for product vision and strategy execution and is focused on ensuring the value proposition is aligned with customer goals. Riskpulse deploys machine learning and big data technology to help shippers, carriers, distributors, and their customers increase their on-time performance, reduce unnecessary freight spending and avoid waste and unnecessary emissions caused by operational and natural, social or infrastructure-driven variability, with a particular focus on Fast Moving Consumer Goods and temperature sensitive cargoes. Prior to Riskpulse, Henry led technology businesses in the commodity technology space, most recently as President of the market leader in agricultural value chain management for domestic and international grain markets. Henry is also Advisor to Agxio, the World's first in-season artificial intelligence platform for progressive precision agriculture, field trials & smart agriculture. In addition, Henry is involved with mentoring programs at University of Connecticut and is currently working with the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at SUNY Albany.
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Aaron Foss
Founder, Nomorobo

Aaron Foss is an accomplished serial entrepreneur with 5 companies under his belt.

In 2011, he was a part of Techstars (NYC) with SideTour, a marketplace for unique experiences, which was acquired by Groupon in 2013. His current startup, Nomorobo, has stopped over 1 billion unwanted and illegal robocalls from reaching consumers since launching in 2013. Nomorobo was chosen as the winner of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Robocall Challenge and named “Best New Product” by CableLabs. Aaron has been featured in the New York Times, Wired, CNN, CNBC, and Fox News. He lives in Port Jefferson, NY.
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Kevin Hesselbirg
Entrepreneur in Residence

 Kevin Hesselbirg currently serves as board member and advisor to multiple private entities.

After more than 25 years leading growth oriented companies in a senior executive capacity, Kevin Hesselbirg currently serves as board member and advisor to multiple private entities ranging from start-ups to firms with more than $100M in annual revenues. Kevin, a three-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO), was first named CEO of OpenLink Financial after previously serving as OpenLink’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer. OpenLink Financial is a leading global software developer of financial and energy, trading and risk management solutions with more than $300M in revenue, 1200 employees, and offices in 9 countries. Thereafter, he became CEO of Primatics Financial, a leading SaaS provider of finance and risk solutions for the banking sector. Kevin was more recently the CEO of The Gemini Companies, a leading fund administrator serving more than 600 mutual, private, and hedge funds. As CEO, he led multiple transactions with various private equity firms eclipsing more than $2B in capital activity. Kevin began his career with the Private Owned and Emerging business group at Ernst & Young. Hesselbirg received a B.S. from Fordham University.
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Dan Kerning
President and CEO, WebHouse

Dan Kerning is founder, President and CEO of WebHouse, an information management and security company.

Dan Kerning is founder, President and CEO of WebHouse, an information management and security company based in Garden City, New York, with clients nationwide. He is also CEO and President of Cloudscann, which develops mobile, cloud-based applications that enable organizations to monitor and respond to critical situations, manage risks, enhance security, and reduce enterprise costs. As the company’s CEO, Dan oversees the company’s strategic direction, operations, and the principal functions of the company including product development, client service, marketing, sales, finance and administration. He also develops and oversees the company’s relationships with product and service partners, channel resellers, principal suppliers and professional and technical organizations. Dan began his career as a Naval Aviator and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After completing initial and specialized aircraft-type training, in which he was #1 in his class, Dan was assigned to fly the E-2 “Hawkeye,” the Navy’s all-weather, carrier-based tactical battle management airborne early warning, command and control aircraft. As a mission Commander, Dan led his aircraft crew in several conflicts including Desert Shield and Desert Storm, during which the United States and its coalition partners protected allies on the Arabian Peninsula and ultimately liberated Kuwait from its attack on and occupation of Kuwait. LCDR Kerning was subsequently assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, working as a department leader within the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System program office. During this assignment he helped develop intelligence exchange technologies and earned a specialty in Intelligence Operations. Following his Naval Service, Dan joined the Nassau County, New York government as a Network Communications Analyst, responsible for the design and operations of the County’s internetworking networks including all related services, hardware and software. He was also responsible for voice, data, and video systems design, maintenance, security and installation. Dan then took advantage of his information technology skills and experience when he moved to the private sector and established a successful technology reseller business. Seeing the need for complimentary technologies, Dan founded WebHouse and Cloudscann. Dan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics degree from SUNY Oneonta in 1985.
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Peter Kestenbaum
Entrepreneur in Residence

Peter Kestenbaum is Managing Partner of 1099Partners, a firm that consists of ex-senior executives that service the emerging market space.

Since exiting the workforce in 2006, Peter has worked with dozens of startups in the New York area, held similar Entrepreneur-in-Residence positions or adjunct roles at several universities including Montclair, Rutgers, and NJIT. He is Managing Partner of 1099Partners, a firm that consists of ex-senior executives that service the emerging market space. He currently advises, coaches or is an investor in eight local firms. Kestenbaum was an early employee (1983-1998) of Sun Microsystems and over 15 years held a variety of positions culminating as Field Marketing Director for North America. His Silicon Valley pedigree includes working directly for or with people such as Eric Schmidt (currently Chairman at Google) and Scott McNealy, founder of Sun Microsystems. During the “.COM” era he served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Agency.COM in New York as it transitioned from a startup and early silicon alley pioneer through its IPO. He also has held an advisor role to senior staff at IBM.
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Chris Lopinto
Founder, ExpertFlyer

Chris Lopinto is a serial entrepreneur, mentor and angel investor.

Since founding ExpertFlyer in 2004, he has been a pioneer in providing airline data transparency to consumers. Prior to ExpertFlyer, Chris founded, built, and then sold an IT consulting company in Long Island New York. Prior, he served as the Director of IT at ProductivityNet, a network management software startup. Chris is a co-founder of Started on LI, a Long Island based entrepreneur mentorship group, and has mentored various Startup Weekend events. He is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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Scott Matovich
President/CEO, Quanta-Karma Holdings, Inc

Scott Matovich is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience mainly focused in the field of medical and diagnostic imaging.

Mr. Matovich is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience mainly focused in field of Medical and Diagnostic Imaging. He founded Quantum Medical Imaging in 1999, which designed and manufactured radiographic systems for Hospitals, Orthopedic facilities and clinics and sold into approximately 100 Countries around the globe. Quantum also provided x-ray systems and specialized accessories to many of the world’s largest OEM’s, such as GE, Agfa, Siemens, Toshiba and Canon. Quantum Medical Imaging designed and manufactured its products on Long Island, NY and became the market leader within the USA, with annual customer revenue over $100M. Design innovation lead to many industry firsts, as the company developed high voltage x-ray generators, imbedded user software as well as a wide variety of x-ray positioning systems. Mr. Matovich sold the company to Carestream Health (formally Kodak) in 2011, after which he continued to run the business as President for 5 more years. Prior to starting Quantum, he held a variety of leadership roles including business development, sales & marketing, engineering and FDA compliance. Mr. Matovich holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business. Currently Mr. Matovich owns and manages a number of businesses focused on growth. He remains a strong advocate for business entrepreneurship and manufacturing within the USA.
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Judith Peterson
Chief Marketing Officer, Ultimus

Judith Peterson joined Ultimus (formerly Gemini) in 2017 as Chief Marketing Officer.

At Ultimus, Judith provides strategic direction, vision, and leadership for a team responsible for planning, developing, implementing, and supporting all communications and marketing strategies to build the company’s brand. Judith brings to Ultimus more than 25 years of marketing expertise in the financial services sector, having previously served in leadership positions at FIS, OpenLink, Broadridge, and a $500M Blackstone-funded Investment start-up. In addition, she is an adjunct instructor at the NYC Data Science Academy. Judith holds a Bachelor of General Studies degree from the University of Michigan and Strategic Marketing Management coursework completed from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
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Gary Podell
Attorney, Vintage Group, LLC

Over his 25 year career, Gary has been involved in real estate transactions in more than 20 states throughout the US.

Gary began his career as an attorney specializing in Real Estate Tax and Appraisal Litigation. After 7 years of practicing law for, he left his firm to form Vintage Real Estate Organization, a full service real estate company specializing in the acquisition and development and management of rent-regulated apartment buildings throughout the City of New York. Thereafter, through a series of strategic mergers and consolidations, the firm was renamed Vintage Group, LLC. As a principal, Gary has overseen the acquisition and redevelopment of over 3000 apartment units throughout the Greater New York area as well as being co-founding principal of Vintage Real Estate Services, a real estate management company specializing in condominium and cooperatives. Vintage Real Estate Services has currently 1500 residential apartment units under management In addition to his work at Vintage, Gary has been actively involved in the development of a unique portfolio of affordable housing projects. Along with his partners at Metropolitan Realty Group LLC, they have acquired and developed approximately 2000 residential apartment units with a market value that exceeds $500 Million Dollars. In addition to his significant NYC portfolio, Gary is also a founding partner of Audubon Communities, LLC, out of Atlanta, and has participated in the development of over 5000 residential units throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Ohio. Over his 25 year career, Gary has been involved in real estate transactions in more than 20 states throughout the US Supplementing an extensive career in real estate and finance, Gary is also one of the general partners and original founding members of a private equity fund known as ASM Capital, which specializes in the purchase and sale of distressed debt and creditor’s claims from corporate entities in bankruptcy. At its height, ASM had approximately $100 Million Dollars under management. He is also a co-founding principal of Churchill Credit Holdings, LLC, a NYC-based bridge and construction lender. Since 2014, Churchill has placed well over 1 Billion Dollars in real estate acquisition and construction financings Most Recently, Gary co-founded Legal Recovery Associates, a legal marketing firm specializing in helping attorneys to implement litigation strategies in the mass tort and class action space. Originally from Manhattan, Gary now resides in Brookville, Long Island with his two children, where he is extremely active in his community and with numerous philanthropic and charitable organizations.
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Barbara Roberts
Entrepreneur in Residence

Barbara B. Roberts is Entrepreneur in Residence at both Columbia Business School and Hofstra University. 

Barbara B. Roberts is Entrepreneur in Residence at both Columbia Business School and Hofstra University. She is also former NY Chair of Tiger 21 and a speaker and writer about all stages of entrepreneurship, family businesses and the economic progress of women. An economist by training, previously Barbara held senior positions on Wall Street and was the first woman to serve on Dean Witter's board of directors. Barbara also served as president and CEO at the stock photography company, FPG International, now part of Getty Images and at the museum audio tour company, Acoustiguide. Barbara has served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Small Business and Agricultural Advisory Committee and as a member of the Suffolk County NY Planning Commission. As an Entrepreneur in Residence for over ten years, she has helped to launch hundreds of start ups, is an active angel investor and serves on the boards of several private companies. Barbara is the author of four whitepapers about entrepreneurs: Life after an Exit, The Owner's Journey, Women's Entrepreneurial Journeys and Flightpaths. She is certified as a master business coach by the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara and trained in facilitation and mediation. Barbara has an Economics and Philosophy degree from Goucher College.
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Dave Rubenstein
Executive Partner, Salt Creek Capital

Dave Rubenstein is a seasoned executive with a 41 year successful track record in a global business environment.

Dave Rubenstein is a seasoned executive with a 41 year successful track record in a global business environment. He received his BA from Hofstra University and started his career as a recording engineer at A&R Recording Studio in NYC. After Dave’s training at the studio, Dave became the National Technical Manager for Agfa’s magnetic tape division followed by being National Sales Manager for Sony Magnetic Tape Products. Post Dave’s time at Sony he assumed the position of Executive Vice President of Technicolor Video Cassette and later as a result of an entrepreneurial endeavor to reinvent the high speed VHS duplication process, Dave joined Cinram International Inc. and advanced to becoming its CEO and trustee. Under Dave’s leadership, Cinram became the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of packaged entertainment media with 18,000 employees, and 23 facilities across North America and Europe serving Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, Lions Gate, MGM, Universal Home Video, Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music, EMI Music and many others. After 16 years at Cinram, Dave capped off his formal career as President of Sony DADC Americas, the division of Sony that manufactures CDs, DVDs, Blue-Ray and PlayStation discs for Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Sony PlayStation and Disney Home Entertainment. During Dave’s career he was the chairman of the Content Distribution Association, the most respected trade association in the package home media entertainment sector. Today Dave is an Executive Partner at Salt Creek Capital, a Bay area private equity firm.
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Thomas Sanzone
CEO, Black Knight Financial Services

Thomas Sanzone is CEO of Black Knight Financial Services, a technology, data and analytics
company.

Thomas Sanzone is CEO of Black Knight Financial Services, a technology, data and analytics company, where he is responsible for the overall management of its technology, data and analytics offerings. Mr. Sanzone has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, and he has served as chief information officer and chief administrative officer at some of the world's largest global financial institutions. Prior to joining Black Knight Financial Services, Mr. Sanzone was executive vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he led the firm's commercial financial services business. He also has served as chief accounting officer at Merrill Lynch, reporting to the CEO as part of the seven-person management committee running the firm. While at Merrill Lynch, he was responsible for global technology, operations and corporate services, representing a team of over 20,000 people. He helped steer the company through the financial crisis, which eventually led to the landmark merger with Bank of America. He also led the highly successful merger program, partnering with the future CEO of Bank of America. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Mr. Sanzone served as chief information officer and a member of the executive board at Credit Suisse. While at Credit Suisse, he also led the corporate sourcing program and ran all offshore locations, which contained functions from every area of the bank. Before joining Credit Suisse, he worked at Citigroup, serving as a chief information officer. He also worked at Salomon Brothers, where he started as a programmer analyst and rose through the ranks to become managing director and head of global application development. During his distinguished career, Mr. Sanzone has designed and run multiple programs that have achieved over $1 billion in bottom line savings while improving performance. He also has successfully led many large-scale IT transformation programs. Thomas Sanzone earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Hofstra University.
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Ron Yakuel
CEO, FragranceX.com

Ron Yakuel is the founder and CEO of FragranceX.com.

Founded in 2001, FragranceX.com is a fast-growing ecommerce company that distributes authentic brand name fragrances at discount prices to consumers and businesses worldwide. FragranceX.com was recognized three times in Inc magazine’s fastest growing privately held companies. Ron received a bachelors from Hofstra University and his MBA from Fordham University.
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