Giants & Crowns

Sean Braacx is a startup product manager, accidental full stack developer, and dad of two rambunctious boys. He is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at StoryTap, a platform that works with brands like Canadian Tire, UCLA, and Remax to capture authentic video reviews and stories at scale.

Mars Mundy spent 18 months traveling abroad on his own before earning my Master's in Political Science at the University of Chicago. He then moved to Austin to attend law school at the University of Texas, where he focused on human rights and defended a Guantanamo detainee in front of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He wrote a novel while I was in law school, and then he founded CarServ after a series of frustrating experiences while trying to get his car repaired. He spent a year working in repair shops learning about the pain points in their business. He hired a small development shop to build an MVP, and was accepted into Techstars as a solo founder. He has have been building the team and the product ever since.

Ross Ingram is an award-winning technologist known for his work launching category-defining consumer products. At Sphero he helped ship over two-million robots around the world alongside the Star Wars and Disney brands. His contributions to advancing technology and STEM in the classroom have been recognized by leaders in the education industry, including President Barack Obama and the National Science Foundation. More recently he spent time at the Advanced Technologies & Projects (ATAP) lab focused on redefining the way Google builds, sells, and markets consumer phones and hardware. His work has been covered by countless media outlets such as the Wall St. Journal, Fast Company, CNET, AdWeek, and The Huffington Post. In work and in life Ross presents himself as an uncompromising renegade devoted to further advancing the relationship between people and machines. He is currently working on Maslo in LA.

David Heimann is a Co-Founder and CTO of Purple, a platform that helps journalists and influencers connect directly with their audience over text messaging. David is a constant learner who loves building products and helping people connect with the world around them. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife Katie and dog Obi.

AJ Glassberg co-founded Novele in 2015 with Lorenzo Zemella to address sustainable technology in urban environments with an initial focus on energy technology. Previously, AJ was on the founding team of Incroud, a social entertainment technology application which was acquired by Veriown Global in October 2017. AJ was also a co-founder of Decade, an entertainment technology company focused on musical artists online presence and technology. Their clients included Warner Music Group, Universal, Ticketmaster, Violator Management, and many major artists. AJ has over a decade of experience building high profile teams and boards and has served as an advisor to other start-ups and teams. AJ’s passion in life is skyscrapers and motorsports, having self managed and secured sponsorship from the largest Ferrari group in the United States along with other sponsors to race formula cars at the age of 19.

Abinash Tripathy is the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Helpshift, Inc., a SaaS company bridging the disconnect between conventional customer service channels, like email and phone support, and a growing consumer base with a strong preference for messaging. Tripathy has more than 20 years of experience in artificial intelligence, internet, mobile and enterprise software. Prior to founding Helpshift, he was the managing director at Yahoo as a part of the acquisition of Zimbra, a leading open source email platform. He has also created and run a number of early and growth stage companies and held several product and technology leadership roles at Openwave Systems. He began his career at Oracle.

Greg Besner is the Founder and CEO of CultureIQ and an adjunct professor at New York University Stern School of Business. CultureIQ provides software and services to more than 350 companies around the world helping them strengthen their organizational culture. Prior to launching CultureIQ, Greg was the Founder and CEO of Computershare Executive Services, formally known as Restricted Stock Systems (“RSS”). RSS delivers equity compensation software to more than 400 companies. During his tenure as CEO of RSS Greg was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in New Jersey and sold RSS to Computershare Limited.  Greg is also an investor and Board member for numerous companies. Of note, he was an active investor and consultant for Zappos.com until the company's sale to Amazon.com. Greg also serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations including the Willa’s Wish Foundation, Inc. and the Young Presidents’ Organization (“YPO”).  Greg earned his M.B.A from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and earned his B.A. from Rutgers University.

Nicole Centeno is a French Culinary Institute–trained chef and the founder and CEO of Splendid Spoon, the wellness brand combining the power of plants and the art of mindfulness in ready-to-eat meals delivered to your home. At Boston College, she studied diet therapies as treatment for illness and has taught cooking and nutrition courses at Columbia University. Nicole lives in Brooklyn, NY with her two sons, Grover and Caleb. She is also the author of Soup Cleanse Cookbook.

Nidhi Kapur is the Founder and CEO of Maiden Home, a direct-to-consumer furniture brand that was launched in 2016. After years working alongside the best minds in e-commerce, she was inspired to build her own disruptive concept, this time in the furniture space. Maiden Home is built on her vision for a better way in furniture: heritage quality and traditional craft for the modern lifestyle. The brand offers high-quality, handcrafted pieces at prices and lead times unheard of in custom furniture. Since its launch, Maiden Home has redefined the custom furniture category, achieving profitability in the first month of business and contributing to the revitalization of regional craftsmanship in North Carolina, where each piece is hand-made by local artisans. Before launching Maiden Home, Kapur was the Head of Business Development at Birchbox. Previously, she worked in Operations and Strategy roles at Google and McKinsey & Co.. She holds a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University.

Eunice Byun is the Co-Founder and CEO of e-commerce brand, Material. Eunice grew up in a family that believed the kitchen was the center of all activities – from eating, to celebrating, to playing, to catching up on the day’s events. Eunice's career started in finance at Goldman Sachs, which later led her to a position in new business development at Maidenform. Her diverse professional experience built the foundations for starting her own company. Prior to launching her buzzed about kitchenware brand, Eunice served as VP of Global Digital Marketing at Revlon and held numerous senior leadership positions in the beauty, shape wear and finance industries. So why leave that all behind to build a startup? Eunice believes that home cooking how the power to inspire community, connection and create beautiful memories. With Material, Eunice wants to provide the fundamental tools that at-home cooks can grab any day, for any meal and focus on the joy of cooking rather than striving for mastery.