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Bottom-up Analysis of the Houston Ecosystem

Methodology

These people were found using Dr. Egan's Slack account under the team directory in the group Houstontech. They were then googled to find linked-in, twitter, or other sites which provide information on the people and their roles in the Houston entrepreneurship ecosystem. Most recent entry is from Joseph Marhee. https://houstontech.slack.com/messages/_random/team/

Table of Key People

Name Organization Type Tags
E.J. Thompson Softlayer - IBM Tech Consultant
Emily Keeton Station Houston / Flavour Workspace / Start-up #Sold #VIP #VC #1.13M
Gina Miller Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Gira Desai Aleberry Creative Tech Consultant
Apurva Sanghavi START Houston Workspace
Ari Diozon Tippit & Moo Advertising Marketing Consultant
Gaurav Khandelwal START Houston Workspace
Adam Presley PCSGroup Tech Consultant
Chris Gallo Softlayer - IBM Tech Consultant
Angela Shah Xconomy Journalist #VIP #Policychanger
Mohammad Azam AzamSharp Consulting Tech Consultant
Clayton Spivey Softlayer - IBM Tech Consultant
Unknown everbodyinhouston.com Funding Source #crowdfunding
Chris Black Softlayer - IBM Tech Consultant
Damien Franco DTF marketing Marketing Consultant
James Van Dyne Sugoi Software Tech Consultant
Hesam Panahi UH, 3DS Accelerator #VIP #Professor #UH
Grace Rodriguez WITHouston Policy Influencer #VIP #Policychanger
Jeff Reichman Startup America / January Advisors Accelerator / Strategy Consultant #VIP
Jenny Li Graylog Startup / Tech Consultant #SURGE
Jessica Fleenor Owlspark and Rice Alliance for technology and entrepreneurship Accelerator #Rice
Joe Martin Houston Business Journal Journalist #Policychanger
John Goodman Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Astrid Countee Prenovate Startup #Prefunding #Health
Gaurav Khandelwal ChaiOne Tech Consultant
Chris Gallo Rex Animal Health Startup #TechStars
Anderson Ta Open Factory Startup #Owlspark
Benjamin Lipson Sports Tradex Startup #VC #1.5M #Sold
Dane Witbeck Meshify Startup #VC #50k #SURGE
Danielle saadia Makeable Tech Startup #VC #2M
Jason Kaminsky BeautyNow Startup #AngelInvestor #500k
Jim Foreman coconnect / Blue Smoke / Venturi Outcomes Startup
Jonathan Hartman Sandbox Startup
Andrew Douglass Dark Water Creative Tech Consultant
Brian Dorton Iron Yard Training
Brady Morowitz SpaceJet Media Tech Consultant
Bryan Wood Reality Engineering Enterprises, LLC Tech Consultant
Chung Nguyen MC2 Architects Bystander
Chad Parks NASA Johnson Space Center Bystander
Erik Hitchcock MBA candidate at Rice Bystander #Rice
Jenny Gustafson Integrate Agency Tech Consultant
Jon Nordby Greater Houston Partnership Entrepreneur aids #VIP #Policychanger
Joseph Marhee Digital Ocean Tech Consultant
Josephine Tran Houston Technology Center Entrepreneur aids
John Rodney Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Justin Cordero Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Kaitlin O’Brien Houston Technology Center / Xela Coffee Roasters Entrepreneur aids / Startup
Kenton Gray iOffice Startup
Kerri Smith Owlspark & Rice Alliance Accelerator #VIP #Rice
Kevin Nguyen Applied Matter Tech Consultant
Khalid Adil Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Kim Evans Seremedi Startup
Kirk Coburn SURGE Ventures Venture Capital / Accelerator #VIP #VC
Kenny Loveall Towbee Startup #Red-Labs
Kyle Dixon Towbee Startup #Red-Labs
Ladd Hoffman Door Space/ Ideate Foundation Startup / Training
Lindsay Deneault Texas Medical Center, OwlSpark, Rice Alliance Accelerator #Rice
Luis Reyes McKinsey & Company Marketing Consultant
Matt Keas Iron Yard Training
Matthew Hager Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Michael Brumlow R1soft Startup
Melanie Jones Marketing Interface Startup / Marketing Consultant
Adrian Cantu Avanade Tech Consultant
Micah Thomas RaptorBird Robotics Startup Red-Labs
Michael Brown Incipire Startup
Michael Sklar Graylog Tech Consultant
Michele Price Radio show host Journalist #VIP #Policychanger
Yvonne Doung The Advisory Board Company Marketing Consultant
Mitchell Barron Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Edward Dodington No Affiliation Bystander
Nicholas Romero J-tronics, Kaasol Startup
Nir Leibovich GoCo Startup #VC #1.8M
Nash Kabbara Manna Systems Startup
Norris Kwan Poetic Systems Tech Consultant
Rakesh Agrawal Snapstream, Angel.co Entrepreneur aids / Startup #VIP
Rakshak Talwar RaptorBird Robotics Startup Red-Labs
Rich Winley Gnomad Startup
Rishi Sohoni 3DS Accelerator #UH
Robert De Los Santos Sky High Party Rentals, FireStartup, IndieHouston Entrepreneur aids / Startup
Rosylnn Velasquez The Black Sheep Agency Marketing Consultant
Sameer Soleja Molecule software Startup #VIP #VC #2.3M
Sarah Rigdon Braincheck Startup #Debtfinancing #745k
Sebastian Good Palladium Consulting Tech Consultant
Stephen White Qukku, Fair Haven Trading Company Startup
Aziz Gilani Mercury Fund Venture Capital #VIP #VC #Professor #Rice
Tim DeSilva Culture Pilot Marketing Consultant / Startup
Travis Potter SoftLayer, awkward situations web design Tech Consultant / Startup
Tri Nguyen Zodist, Sensibly, PixelRocket Tech Consultant / Startup
Daniel Buentillo Mioty Startup
Wes Gamble The Advisory Board Company Tech Consultant
Wesley Okeke Fruition Technology Labs Marketing Consultant
James Phelan White Space, Houston Professionals, Startup Grind Houston Entrepreneur aids / Startup #VIP
Yael Hochberg Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, seedranker Accelerator #VIP #Professor #Rice

Details on Key People

Gaurav Khandelwal Founder/CEO at ChaiOne and co-founder at START Houston. ChaiOne is a leading mobile agency focused on helping companies launch new products and services on mobile and online. START provides a professional and yet fun space for designers, developers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, employees or thought leaders to collaborate together in the Tech & Mobile space. (Co-Founded with Apurva Sanghavi) https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaione http://chaione.com/ http://www.starthouston.com/

Adam Presley GE Healthcare Software architect and Software Engineer at PCSGroup. PCSGroup provides IT Solutions and Web Services for local businesses. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adampresley http://www.pcsgrp.com/

Chris Gallo Developer Advocate at SoftLayer Technologies, an IBM Company specializing in cloud infrastructure. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophergallo www.softlayer.com

Amado Guloy CEO, Co-founder, and data scientist at Rex Animal Health. Rex Animal Health is an online company specializing in cloud population health and analytics for the animal health industry. Participated in 2015 Sprint Accelerator powered by Techstars. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amadoguloy http://rexanimalhealth.com/

Amy Evans Web Developer, no listed company or entrepreneurial experience. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyevans87

Anderson Ta Founder of Open Factory, a 3D printer making company, which was a start-up at Owl Spark Last Year. Previously worked at Rice as a research technician. Frequents MakerFaires domestically and internationally, worked in the 3D printing industry for the past 6 years. Lead the first 3D printer build workshops, reviewed 3d printers for magazines like MAKE. Believes 3D printing is just getting started, “As the initial hype fades away and we focus on bringing out what this technology is really good for, we'll start to see the "killer apps" of 3D printing emerge. I founded Open Factory to do just that!” Previously founded Matterfy a company which was established in Washington and was a precursor to Open Factory. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anderson-ta-4442307b http://openfactory.co/pages/about-us (No matterfy site) https://www.meshtomold.com/ https://twitter.com/openfactoryco

Andrew Douglass Creates websites and branding materials at Dark Water Creative a Houston creative agency which does graphic design, web development, and research/analysis. (very new agency) Also an application developer at University of Houston. Previously a Student Director of Operations at RED Labs. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ardouglass http://dou.glass/

Angela Shah Editor for Xconomy in Houston, writes about startups and entrepreneurship in Texas. Xconomy hosts entrepreneurship events: Private dinner series, healthcare summit, Houston 2035 conference, Innovative Cities series, and publishes articles about entrepreneurship. Previously wrote for NY Times, Forbes, Time. Large Twitter presence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelashah http://www.xconomy.com/author/ashah/ Twitter: @angelashah

Apurva Sanghavi Co-Founded Houston's first technology niche co-working space, START. START provides a professional and yet fun space for designers, developers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, employees or thought leaders to collaborate together in the Tech & Mobile space. (Co-Founded with Gaurav Khandelwal) Also employed as a branch manager at Internet mortgage branch of Network Funding, LP. https://www.linkedin.com/in/apurvasanghavi

Ari Diozon Copywriter at Tippit & Moo Advertising in Houston, TX. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aridiozon https://twitter.com/thearisays

Astrid Countee Co-founder at Prenovate, free-lance UX designer and software developer, DevOps Engineer (contractor) at HP. https://www.linkedin.com/in/astridcountee

Mohammad Azam Founder of AzamSharp Consulting, Senior Mobile Developer at blinds.com. Runs Youtube channel detailing how to write code has tens of thousands of views. Developed numerous apps and runs a consulting service to develop iOS applications. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-azam-5537993 https://www.youtube.com/user/azamsharp http://www.azamsharp.com/ http://www.blinds.com/

Benjamin Lipson Sport Tradex founder, raised $1.5M in three rounds of capital funding and reached $4M revenue run rate from 10,000 total users. Hired and managed 5 person team in the areas of technology, marketing, and operations. Won Rice University’s “Most Promising Company” at the 2014 Southwest Tech Venture Forum. Company was acquired by DraftDay Gaming Group, Inc. https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-lipson-6b818643 https://www.sportstradex.com/home

Brady Moritz CTO at SpaceJet Media in Houston, founded in 2011 as an internet marketing firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradymoritz

Brian Dorton Campus Director at The Iron Yard, a coding school for adults. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-dorton-37559a88 www.theironyard.com

Clayton Spivey Project Management Director at SoftLayer Technologies, an IBM Company specializing in cloud infrastructure. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayton-spivey-9aaa361

Bryan Wood Regional Manager at Reality Engineering Enterprises, LLC. a company devoted to helping creating interactive exhibits at trade shows. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-wood-0634646 http://www.realityengineering.com/

Chung Nguyen Co-founded MC2 Architects a firm in Houston, TX. http://www.mc2architects.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=60

Chad Parks IT Supervisor at NASA Johnson Space Center. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-parks-897bb946

Unknown http://everybodyinhouston.com/ crowdfunding organization

Chris Black Network Analyst at SoftLayer Technologies, an IBM Company specializing in cloud infrastructure. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-black-674620a5

Damien Franco Marketing Consultant at DTF marketing, a self named ‘modern marketing’ firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damienfranco

Dane Witbeck Co-Founder at Meshify a technology startup that integrates sensors, satellite data, and comprehensive analytics to make software which aids oil companies in tracking data from the field. Leader of Houston lean startup circle an organization designed to educate entrepreneurs on lean start-up management techniques. Participant in The Rice Alliance for technology and entrepreneurship and surge accelerator. http://www.surgeventures.com/ http://www.meetup.com/leanhouston/events/144686712/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-witbeck-688838a

Danielle Saadia Founder at Makeable Tech, a company devoted to researching and developing the latest STEM curriculums for children and adults. https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-saadia-68343753

E.J. Thompson Network engineer at SoftLayer Technologies, an IBM Company specializing in cloud infrastructure. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ej-thompson-a500183b

Emily Keeton Co-Founder and managing director at Station Houston an incubator to connect startups with accelerators, capital, coworking and mentorship. (not yet open) Previously co-founder and CEO at Flavour, an app for restaurant discovery, sold to Tasting Table, a leading digital property for food and drink enthusists. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-keeton-73188167

Erik Hitchcock MBA candidate at Jones school of business. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikmhitchcock

Gina Miller Executive Assistant at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginarmiller

Gira Desai Founding Partner at Aleberry Creative. Aleberry Creative is a Houston-based design firm focused on branding and design, they serve primarily the start-up community designing logos and websites. https://www.linkedin.com/in/giradesai

Grace Rodriguez No job at present, previously creative director for TED, founding member of Mayor’s Innovation & Technology Advisory Board, Co-Founder of Women in Tech: Houston(WITHouston), Co-founder of C2 create. http://gracerodriguez.com/about/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracerodriguez http://www.edforh.com/issues/technology/ http://withouston.org/ http://c2create.org/

Hesam Panahi Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Houston, lecturer at Rice University, 3DS organizer, Surge Accelerator participant, co-founder of Appology Labs. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hpanahi

James Van Dyne Sugoi Software founder, a software consulting company which designs apps and websites. https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-van-dyne-2002882 http://www.sugoisoft.com/

Jason Kaminsky Founder at Worthit.co, COO at BeautyNow, 2014 winner of 40 under 40 Houston Business Journal. Worthit.co is currently ‘on pause,’ BeautyNow is an app for making appointments at beauty salons and spas in real time. BeautyNow recieved an angel investment from John Paul DeJoria (from John Paul Mitchell). https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrkaminsky

Jeff Reichman Entrepreneur, runs January Advisors a consulting firm in Houston. Houston Chair of StartUp America, an organization committed to aiding entrepreneurs funded corporate sponsors and the Federal government. https://www.crowdfunder.com/user/17296 https://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/business/startup-america http://www.startupamericapartnership.org/

Jenny Li Marketing Manager at graylog, a machine data management systems company. Previously with Surge Ventures a fund investing in entrepreneurs solving energy problems through technology. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilynnej https://www.linkedin.com/company/2358533?trk=prof-exp-company-name

Jessica Fleenor Assistant Director for programs at Rice Alliance for technology and entrepreneurship and owlspark. Previously founded Medulla, a company devoted to branding, design, and event planning. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicafleenor http://alliance.rice.edu/ http://www.owlspark.com/

Jim Foreman Co-founder at Coconnect a company that builds custom apps for convention organizers. Also employee at Blue Smoke a digital agency for small businesses. CIO at Venturi Outcomes, a specialty building company. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimforeman

Joe Martin Covers technology, money, and law for the Houston Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/bio/22601/Joe+Martin https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemartin91

John Goodman Creative developer at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/pardontheprogress

John Reale Managing director at Arete Ventures and advisor at owlspark. http://www.owlspark.com/peoplewise-john-reale/ https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=ADEAAAI0EDYBm8kFUrmt2bl-xYc0mHIZ6HmMUqQ&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=wfTW&locale=en_US&srchid=3780625331449270090931&srchindex=1&srchtotal=41&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A3780625331449270090931%2CVSRPtargetId%3A36966454%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary%2CVSRPnm%3Atrue%2CauthType%3ANAME_SEARCH

Jonathan Hartman Co-founder and product manager at Sandbox Inc. a company that develops geospatial networks for users based on location. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanlhartman

Jenny Gustafson Public Relations and Social Media Account Executive at Integrate Agency a Houston based marketing and public relations firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyselbergustafson http://integrateagency.com/about-us/meet-the-team/jenny-gustafson/

Jon Nordby Director of talent attraction and marketing at Greater Houston Partnership. The Greater Houston Partnership is a business organization in Houston devoted to aiding in the growth of business, entrepreneurial or otherwise in Houston. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonordby https://www.houston.org/

Joseph Marhee Customer Success Engineer at Digital Ocean, a company that provides internet services including cloud computing and storage and leasing data centers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephmarhee https://www.digitalocean.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=brand_sem&utm_campaign=Brand_Protection&utm_term=digital%20ocean&adgroup=9971414725&matchtype=e&network=g&device=c&position=1t1

Josephine Tran Community Development Manager at Houston Technology Center. Josephine fosters an entrepreneurial community and collaboration in the Houston entrepreneurial scene. https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephinetran http://www.houstontech.org/

John Rodney Developer at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://poeticsystems.com/about

Justin Cordero Developer at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. Also a freelance developer. https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-cordero-6112b817

Kaitlin O’Brien Marketing Director of Houston Technology Center and Co-Founder at Xela Coffee Roasters, a start-up producing specialty coffee roasters in Houston, Texas. https://www.linkedin.com/in/obrienkaitlin http://www.houstontech.org/ http://xelaroasters.com/

Kenton Gray CTO at iOffice, leads a team of developers to create whatever software is needed by iOffice. iOffice is a company that develops software to unlock the full potential of another corporations workforce. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenton-gray-16572b31 http://www.iofficecorp.com/about-us/leadership-team/kenton-gray http://www.iofficecorp.com/

Kerri Smith Managing Director at OwlSpark Accelerator and Associate Managing Director at Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. OwlSpark is a three day start-up accelerator. Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship is a university initiative to drive the commercialization of technology. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrismith1 http://alliance.rice.edu/ http://www.owlspark.com/

Kevin Nguyen Employee at Applied Matter a company devoted to helping businesses drive traffic to their sites and engage customers. http://appliedmatter.com/ https://plus.google.com/103328061818318521835/about

Khalid Adil Web developer at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalidadil https://poeticsystems.com

Kim Evans Co-founder and CEO at Seremedi. Seremedi is a start-up in Houston that works with hospitals and physicians to improve outpatient care. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimbevans http://www.seremedi.com/#home

Kirk Coburn Founder and Managing Director of SURGE Ventures. Previously founded three successful start-ups, supports the Rice Alliance, and is a HALO investor in his spare time. SURGE ventures is an investment company for technology in the field of energy. His previous three companies included Chief Outsiders, a marketing firm, and the PGA TOUR network on Sirius XM. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkcoburn http://www.surgeventures.com/

Kenny Loveall Student at University of Houston and co-creator of Towbee a start-up founded in Red-Labs which will allow users to request assistance when their car breaks down. http://www.kennyloveall.com/pages/web_design.php https://www.linkedin.com/in/klloveall http://redlabs.uh.edu/meet/towbee/ http://towbee.com/

Kyle Dixon Student at University of Houston and co-creator of Towbee a start-up founded in Red-Labs which will allow users to request assistance when their car breaks down. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-dixon-38b06448 http://redlabs.uh.edu/meet/towbee/ http://towbee.com/

Ladd Hoffman Senior Engineer at Door Space, a company that develops education for adult education. Also director at ideate foundation, a non-profit research and development start-up. http://ideatefoundation.org/ https://www.doorspaceinc.com/

Lindsay Deneault Strategist at Texas Medical Center, an accelerator for health care start-ups. Lindsay previously worked at Rice OwlSpark and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaydeneault

Luis Reyes Product Manager at McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm that finds better business solutions for clients. http://www.mckinsey.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/luisreyes

Matt Keas Mentor and instructor at Iron Yard, a modern boot camp style code school. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-keas-46141421

Matthew Hager CEO at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewhager

Michael Brumlow Lead Software Engineer at R1Soft, a server backup manager. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-brumlow-5abaa88 http://www.r1soft.com/

Melanie Jones Marketing Technologist at Marketing Interface. Previously director of marketing at SURGE accelerator. https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieajones http://marketing-interface.com/

Adrian Cantu Senior software engineer at Avanade, an IT company with many different services. http://www.avanade.com/en/home https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-cantu-1112388a

Micah Thomas Lead developer at RaptorBird Robotics, a new droid company that develops drones and drone platforms. https://www.linkedin.com/in/micahthomas4 http://raptorbird.com/

Michael Brown Recently founded Incipire a technology company with unclear ambitions. Michael is currently president and CTO of Incipire and has a background in technology. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbrown77

Michael Sklar CEO at Graylog, a machine data management systems company. https://www.linkedin.com/in/msklar https://www.graylog.com/

Michele Price Business Guru and host of radio show, broadcaster, and producer. https://www.linkedin.com/in/micheleprice http://whoismicheleprice.com/

Yvonne Doung Front End designer at the advisory board company creating websites for clients. The Advisory Board Company is a consulting company with a wide variety of services. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonneduong https://www.advisory.com/

Mitchell Barron Developer at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://poeticsystems.com/about https://www.linkedin.com/in/mtchllbrrn

Edward Dodington Received Masters in architecture from Rice University. Edward (or Ned) is now a full time architect and part time creative entrepreneur working to develop new practices for biologically inclusive design. https://www.linkedin.com/in/neddodington http://archinect.com/people/cover/18908110/ned-dodington

Nicholas Romero Business Owner at J-tronics, a webdesign and IT consulting firm, Nicholas is also the technical co-founder of Kaasol, a company designed to make buying a home effortless. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncrmro https://www.linkedin.com/company/kaasol https://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/p?company=J-Tronics&trk=prof-exp-company-name

Nir Leibovich Currently the CEO and founder of GoCo.io Inc (recently received 1.8m in funding) a business solutions company and an angel investor. Formerly a serial entrepreneur Nir was co-founder at Trendfund, owner of a Checkers Burgers in Dallas, Co-founder and CEO at QuadEnergy, founder and director of MarketZero (later acquired by Zynga), Co-founder and CEO at Arpeggi (later acquired by Gene by Gene). https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirleibovich https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirleibovich https://www.goco.io/

Nash Kabbara CTO at Manna Systems a software consulting shop for businesses. Formerly founded and Exited ZipZoomAuto, a market platform for car dealerships, and ran marketing and management at Motors on Wheels. http://nashkabbara.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nkabbara http://www.zipzoomauto.com/ http://mannapc.com/

Norris Kwan Developer at Poetic Systems, a company devoted to developing websites, apps, and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/norriskwan

Rakesh Agrawal Start-up investor and founder of snapstream, a way of watching and recording television then extracting the useful clips from it. Essentially snapstream strives to make TV searchable. He has invested in over 60 start-ups and is a limited partner at two venture capital firms. Most of his investments occurred through angel.co. http://rake.sh/ http://www.snapstream.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/raaaaakesh https://angel.co/rakeshagrawal https://angel.co/

Rakshak Talwar Founder and CEO at RaptorBird Robotics, a new droid company that develops drones and drone platforms. RaptorBird was a product of RedLabs. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rakshak-talwar-71759053 http://raptorbird.com/

Rich Winley An entrepreneur that has a background in sales, Rich is a VP at GUI Global and a founder at Gnomad, an advertising network. He previously completed an IronYard course in South Carolina and founded No-Chains an app featured in Forbes but that ultimately appears to have failed. https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwinley http://gnomadnetwork.com/ http://www.blackenterprise.com/technology/rich-winley-no-chains-food-app/

Rishi Sohoni Construction Manager and organizer at 3DS, a startup accelerator from the University of Houston’s Bauer college of business. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsohoni http://www.bauer.uh.edu/3ds/about.php

Robert De Los Santos CEO of Sky High Party Rentals, a company that sells inflatable bounce houses for parties. Co-founder of FireStartup Web Technology, a company that helps small businesses in Houston gain a web presence. Co-founder at Indie Houston a website devoted to promoting art in Houston. http://www.skyhighpartyrentals.com/ http://www.firestartup.com/ http://indiehouston.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdelossantos

Roslynn Velasquez Community Outreach Officer at The black sheep agency, a marketing firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/roslynnfitch http://theblacksheepagency.com/the-flock/

Sameer Soleja Founder and CEO at Molecule Software as well as an Adjunct Professor at UH. Molecule software is a website that assists in commodity trading. http://www.molecule.io/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ssoleja

Sarah Rigdon Marketing director at Braincheck a website that allows you to check if you have a concussion based on initial baseline testing. http://braincheck.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahrigdon

Sebastian Good Owner of Palladium Consulting Inc. and Computer Software Consultant who specializes in high end custom scientific and economic software. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastiang http://www.palladiumconsulting.com/

Stephen White Founder of Qukku, a platform for video viewers and watchers to come together. Co-Founder and Director of Fair Haven Trading Company, a social enterprise devoted to reselling and marketing organic and fair trade products. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrwhite https://www.linkedin.com/company/fair-haven-trading-company http://www.qukku.com/

Aziz Gilani Mercury Fund investor and expert in Start-Up accelerators, also an adjunct Professor at Rice’s Jones School of Business, where he teaches a course on venture capital. https://www.linkedin.com/in/azizgilani http://mercuryfund.com/ http://mercuryfund.com/team/aziz-gilani/

Tim DeSilva Founder of Culture Pilot in 2003 it is now a successful marketing consulting firm. http://timdesilva.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdesilva http://culturepilot.is/

Travis Potter Customer Service Technician at SoftLayer Technologies, an IBM Company specializing in cloud infrastructure. Travis is also the owner and founder of awkward situations web design. www.softlayer.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-potter-4b822416

Tri Nguyen Co-Founder at Zodist, a subscription box service for vaping enthusiasts. CEO at Sensibly a medical innovation company. Director of Marketing at PixelRocket a creative solutions firm specializing in technology and design. https://www.linkedin.com/in/trisongz https://www.linkedin.com/company/3628804?trk=prof-exp-company-name http://www.zodist.com/ http://www.pixelrocketapps.com/

Daniel Buentillo Chief Engineer at Mioty a brand new start up with no published goals. https://angel.co/mioty-startup https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielbuentello

Wes Gamble Senior software engineer at The Advisory Board Company. The Advisory Board Company is a consulting company with a wide variety of services. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesgamble

Wesley Okeke CEO Business Strategist at Fruition Technology Labs a marketing consultant company. Former volunteer at OwlSpark. https://www.linkedin.com/in/fruitiontech

James Phelan Founder and CEO at White Space a platform for connecting work space with small businesses. Managing Director at Houston Professionals a networking organization in Houston. Partnership Director at Startup Grind Houston, an event series to educate and inspire local Houston entrepreneurs. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesphelan2 http://whitespacehou.com/

Yael Hochberg Ex-entrepreneur and current professor of entrepreneurship at Rice University currently studying the effects of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurs. Academic director of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. Created seedranker a website that ranks start-up accelerators around the nation. http://www.seedrankings.com/ http://yael-hochberg.com/

Important Institutions to Research