Boardroom Media (CEO News)
At CEO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Illinois based CEO’ operating in the Consumer space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected].
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
James Paris
CEO of Avant
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About Avant, Avant: Avant is an online lending platform that offers alternatives to its clients with safe financial products.
Todd Siwak
Chief Executive Officer of Ferrara Candy
Todd Siwak is CEO of the Ferrara Candy Company. Prior to joining Ferrara, he was an operating partner at Catterton Partners, one of the largest consumer-focused private equity groups in the United States. He brings to Ferrara a wealth of leadership experience in sales, marketing, operations, and management, with a specific focus on the consumer packaged-goods industry. Todd’s career has been defined by his entrepreneurial spirit, which has led him to build several companies that have experienced quick and dramatic growth. Before joining Catterton, Todd was co-founder of TRG Accessories, an international manufacturer and distributor of travel gear and accessories (global licensee for Swiss Army, Timberland, Callaway Golf); Verimetrix, a developer, manufacturer, and supplier of diagnostic medical equipment; and Mindseye Group, a boutique private equity firm with a focus on consumer and health care companies. He began his career as Executive Vice President of Paramount Headwear, where, under his sales leadership, the company quadrupled in size and became the largest headwear manufacturer in North America. In 2002, Todd was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He holds a J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and a B.S. in economics from the University of Missouri- Columbia.
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About Ferrara Candy: Ferrara Candy is virtual tours of the making of Lemonheads, Red Hots, Gummies, Jawbusters, Boston Baked Beans and Atomic Fireballs.
Don Thompson
Founder and CEO of Cleveland Avenue
As President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD), Don Thompson leads the world’s largest foodservice company. McDonald’s serves 70 million customers everyday in more than 100 countries and employs 1.8 million people across the globe in corporate and restaurant positions. During his 23 years at McDonald’s, Thompson has helped drive business results and global strategic innovation across the organization. Since joining as an electrical engineer in 1990, he has held a variety of key leadership positions within the company including Regional Vice President, Division President and Chief Operating Officer. Between 2006 and 2010, Thompson served as President of McDonald’s USA, the company’s largest business segment. Most recently as President and COO of McDonald’s Corporation, Thompson and his leadership team established three global growth priorities in support of the McDonald’s Plan to Win: to optimize the menu, modernize the customer experience and broaden restaurant accessibility. In July 2012, Thompson became President and CEO and is leading the company on its mission to become “our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink.” A true advocate of collaboration and believer in the strength of the McDonald’s three legged stool, Thompson and his leadership team work closely with the 5,000 independent owner/operators, corporate staff and restaurant employees around the world as well as countless McDonald’s suppliers. A leader in the business community, Don serves on the Board of Directors for McDonald’s Corporation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Purdue University. Thompson also serves as a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, The Economic Club, World Business Chicago and the Brazier Foundation. Thompson has been recognized for his leadership and passion by the Illinois Holocaust Museum (2012 Humanitarian Award), the Executive Leadership Council (2010 Corporate Award), the Trumpet Foundation (2008 Corporate Executive Award), and Black Enterprise (2007 Corporate Executive of the Year). Thompson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an honorary Doctorate in Science degree from Excelsior College. Thompson resides in the Chicagoland area with his wife and two children.
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About Cleveland Avenue: Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based venture fund and accelerator that invests in food, beverage, and tech businesses.
Donald Thompson
CEO and Founder of Cleveland Avenue
Don celebrates people and drives results. His 25-year ascension through the ranks of McDonald’s Corporation to become its President and CEO is one of the most respected career trajectories in corporate America. An electrical engineer by education and trade, Don approached his leadership of the world’s largest restaurant chain in a strategically methodical manner, while still embracing the warmth and enthusiasm of the dynamic teams around the world. He’s a heart leader with a head for serious business, as evidenced by his achievements such as developing the global platforms for the company’s beverages, sustainability and digital initiatives. In 2015, Don left McDonald’s to form Cleveland Avenue, LLC, bringing together his vast restaurant expertise and engineering experience with his passion for innovation, digital trends and startup concepts. Don leads the CA team in bringing creative and consumer-focused restaurant, food and beverage ideas to reality. Don is committed to mentoring others, fueled by his foundation in faith, family and community. Not to be outdone by the culinary geniuses he regularly encounters, Don occasionally dons a chef’s hat of his own, and enjoys cooking for family and friends.
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About Cleveland Avenue: Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based venture fund and accelerator that invests in food, beverage, and tech businesses.
Michael Winnick
Founder, CEO of dscout
Michael leads dscout working closely with our team to reshape the in-context research landscape. Prior to starting dscout, Michael served as Managing Partner at gravitytank, where he worked across all aspects of the firm’s business, from strategy to BD, producing exponential growth. Michael is an expert in consumer electronics and digital service, and has deep passion for developing high performance teams.
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About dscout, gravitytank, Jump Satori, LeadAide: dscout helps companies better understand the experiences people have with their products and brands in everyday life.
Jong-Wook Shin
Founder, President and CEO of iiRcade
Results-driven, customer and consumer-focused executive with vision, dedication and drive to succeed. Visionary leader with strong entrepreneurship and innovation experiences as a founding CEO of an award-winning startup and vice president of innovations at LG Electronics. Winner of 2018 CES Innovation Award and Startup of the Year finalist recognitions at CES, IFA, Smart Kitchen Summit, Startup Conference. Recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious ‘Outstanding Top 45 Asian American in Business’ award in 2010 and Sony Mobile Presidential Award in 2011. 22+ years of experiences in the consumer electronics and mobile industry, leading organizations and creating innovative products with amazing experiences at Motorola, Sony Mobile, Intel, LG and HOPii. 16+ years of experiences in product management, product planning, product strategy, portfolio management, business strategies and business management. 18+ years of team management experiences and 8+ years of executive leadership experiences. 12+ years of strong experiences in disruptive innovations and entrepreneurship with startup experiences, new experience products and disruptive innovations creation accomplishments. Comprehensive knowledge and experiences in managing products from concept to launch and beyond. Strong business and technical skills. A dynamic self-starter with proven ability to resolve complex challenges in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Extensive experiences in customer and vendor management, and managing projects in both matrix organizations and startup environment. Excellent leadership skills from various executive leadership experiences. Kellogg MBA. Excellent people skills and highly persuasive negotiator. Strong communication and presentation skills. Great team player who is very dependable, very hard working and always makes a difference. Committed to professional excellence and success.
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About iiRcade: Bringing Arcade Gaming to the 21st Century
Mark Lawrence
Founder & CEO of SpotHero
Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug early, Mark started his first business in the 2nd grade. Through his career, he quickly realized his passion for innovation, both in technology and in everyday living. This drive ultimately led Mark to parking, where he found an entire industry ripe for innovation.Prior to his professional experience, Mark graduated with BS in Finance from Bradley University.
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About SpotHero: Leading & only independent consumer marketplace for parking in North America.
Charlie Mills
Chief Executive Officer of Medline Industries
Charlie joined Medline in 1986 where he started as a sales representative. Since then he has held various positions within the company including sales management, vice president of marketing and vice president of manufacturing. In 1997, he was named CEO. Prior to joining Medline, Charlie was a sales rep with IBM. He received his B.S. degree in Engineering and his MBA from Cornell University.
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About Medline Industries: Medline Industries, Inc., based in Mundelein, Illinois,
Gary Cohen
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cova
Gary leads Cova’s charge into the legal cannabis space by guiding the vision, strategic development, ‘go to market’ plans and culture. Before joining Cova, Gary was a principal in over a dozen tech start-ups in the mobile communications industry ranging from small VC funded companies to Fortune 100 firms, including Onavo, which was later acquired by Facebook. In those companies he led sales, marketing, business analytics and market expansions. He has also held a multitude of leadership roles with Verizon and AT&T. Gary holds a Degree in Finance with a Masters in Marketing from the University of Colorado. In his spare time Gary enjoys skiing, mountain biking, outdoor sports, travel and comfort food.
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About Cova, EZLinks Golf: Cova offers POS solution in the cannabis industry and helps retailers simplify compliance, reduce costs, and increase revenue.
Haven Allen
CEO and Co-Founder of mHUB
Haven Allen, chief executive officer and co-founder, is an entrepreneur and technology strategist who most recently concentrated on growing the manufacturing industry and strengthening its community throughout Chicagoland. As an economic development strategist at World Business Chicago, he directed the Advisory Council for Chicagoland Manufacturing through which he established and led the implementation of an economic development agenda to support growth and job creation in the manufacturing sector. During his graduate education, Haven served as a Mayoral Fellow at the City of Chicago. As a fellow he provided research and analysis on policy initiatives dealing with infrastructure, electricity markets and municipal marketing. In order to give back to his country, Haven joined the Peace Corps and served as a community economic development volunteer in Panama where he worked to strengthen the management and leadership capacities of rural cooperatives and local organizations in order to increase economic opportunities. In addition, Haven was a small business owner in the production and publishing industry. Haven has a Master of Public Policy and a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Science, Technology and Public Policy from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of Illinois at Chicago.
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About mHUB, mHUB, mHUB, mHUB Accelerator Incubation LLC: mHUB is a hardtech innovation and manufacturing entrepreneurial center.
Orazio Buzza
Founder & CEO of Fooda
Orazio Buzza is a Co-Founder at Fooda, Inc. He served as President & Chief Operating Officer of Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), from May 2005 until August 2010. From October 2003 to May 2005, he was the CFO and COO of InnerWorkings, Inc. (Nasdaq: INWK). From July 2001 to September 2003, Orazio was Vice President of Finance and Operations at Bus Bank, an online provider of charter bus services. He received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Supply Chain Management from the University of Illinois, and he is also a CPA.
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About Fooda: Fooda is a food technology platform that connects restaurants to people while at work.
Luke Saunders
Founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge
Luke Saunders is the founder and CEO of Farmer’s Fridge.
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About Farmer’s Fridge, Food Foundry: Farmer’s Fridge provides an automated smart fridge that serves salads, bowls, snacks, and more.
Ravin Gandhi
Co-Founder & CEO of GMM Nonstick Coatings
Ravin Gandhi is the CEO and Co-Founder of GMM Nonstick Coatings, one of the largest nonstick coatings companies in the world. Ravin also moonlights as a VC investor, and makes frequent media appearances to discuss entrepreneurship and the global economy in outlets such as CNBC, Forbes, BBC, Bloomberg, NY Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
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About GMM Nonstick Coatings: GMM Nonstick Coatings to the cookware, bakeware, and electrical appliance industries.
Mia Saini
CEO and Co-Founder of Oars + Alps
Mia Saini is CEO and Co-Founder at Oars + Alps.
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About Oars + Alps: Oars + Alps provides skincare products for men made from natural, toxin-free ingredients.
T. Patrick Walsh
Founder & CEO of Greenlight Planet
T. Patrick Walsh is the Founder and CEO at Greenlight Planet.
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About Greenlight Planet: Greenlight sells, installs and finances solar home systems for the 1.8 billion off-grid and under-electrified consumers in Africa and Asia.
Ryan Close
Founder and CEO of Bartesian
Ryan Close is the CEO & Founder of Bartesian.
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About Bartesian: Bartesian offers a capsule-based machine that enables individuals to make homemade cocktails.
Joseph Lacher, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Kemper Corporation
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About Kemper Corporation: Kemper Corporation is a financial organization providing insurance and consumer finance solutions for individuals and small businesses.
Sridhar Deivasigamani
Founder & CEO of Intellihot
Sridhar (Sri) Deivasigamani didn’t set out to create the first on-demand hot water heater. But, after returning home from a 30-hour flight only to find his basement completely flooded from a broken water heater, he knew a worthy challenge when he saw it. After mopping up the basement, the robotics engineer immediately started troubleshooting his water heater. By sunrise, he had the idea for what would become the first on-demand, tankless commercial water heater.Today, Intellihot boasts several large-scale clients including Levi’s® Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, 340 on the Park, Chicago’s second tallest residential building, and Hilton Hotels. The success of Intellihot continues to flourish, with revenue growing in excess of 100 percent year-over-year. The company now employs 50 people in both Galesburg and Peoria, and continues to secure key partnerships nationwide.Prior to founding Intellihot, Sri spent ten years at Caterpillar as a mechanical engineer with a focus on marine engines and control systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Manipal Institute of Technology, India and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University. Sri envisions a future of extraordinary efficiency, where not a watt of energy or drop of water is wasted. In his spare time, he likes to work on motorcycles and robotic lawnmowers.
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About Intellihot: Intellihot manufactures tankless water heater systems for residential and commercial applications.
Cary Chessick
CEO & Co-Founder of Rewards21
Cary Chessick is chief revenue officer at Goodbay Technologies.
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About Goodbay Technologies, Rewards21: Rewards21 is an easy and convenient rewards program that gives cashback and reward points for dining at favorite restaurants.
John Contreras
CEO & Co-Founder of MoveSpring
John Contreras is the Co-Founder and CEO at MoveSpring.
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About MoveSpring: MoveSpring is a fun, simple, highly engaging health platform enabling employers to educate and motivate employees toward better health.
Daniel Roberts
Founder & CEO of Scout
Daniel Roberts is the Founder & CEO at Scout
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About Scout: Scout is a home security system that combines hardware designs and easy-to-use controls.
Rob Conley
Founder and CEO of Spice Jungle
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About Spice Jungle: Spice Jungle offers bulk spices, herbs and culinary ingredients direct to consumers online.
Lenny Lebovich
CEO, Founder of PRE Brands
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About PRE Brands: PRE Brands is a food processing company that specializes in providing grass-fed and finished beef products.
Rochelle Gorey
Co-Founder & CEO of SpringFour
Under Rochelle’s leadership, SpringFour became a Certified B Corporation, of which only 2,200 such organizations exist worldwide, won the 2015 Promontory Financial Group’s Empowerment Award for Financial Innovation, was a finalist for Google for Entrepreneur’s program for Women Founders and was selected for the WiSTEM program at 1871, Chicago’s Center for Technology and Entrepreneurship and was chosen as the Top Venture for the Points of Light Civic Accelerator Spring 2017 program. SpringFour was one of six fintech companies chosen for the BMO Harris/1871 Fintech Partnership Program and in 2017 was a finalist for the BAI Global Innovation Award for its work with U.S. Bank, Chicago’s Fifty on Fire Award and the Midwest Women in Tech’s Fintech Award. In 2018, SpringFour was named by FinXTEch/Bank Director as a finalist for the Most Innovative Solution of the Year for its work with U.S. Bank. Ms. Gorey has more than 20 years of experience in public policy, government relations, homeownership and asset building fields through her consulting and employment. She has a bachelor’s degree from James Madison College of Michigan State University and a Masters in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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About SpringFour: SpringFour’s technology platform connects consumers to local financial health resources, tools and products. SpringFour is a B2B solution.
John Fellowes
President & CEO of Fellowes
Since the founding of Fellowes, Inc. in 1917, John Fellowes has become the fourth generation of leadership in the family business. Through his experience managing the Business Machines division John built a solid background in product development and marketing strategy. John’s significant contributions produced successful media campaigns and product launches. In 2007, John was recognized for these contributions at the Chicago Innovation Awards. John has worked in all aspects of the business. He began his full time career in sales, later becoming a Marketing Manager, Director of Marketing, and finally Vice President of Business Machines before becoming President in 2012. In 2014, John Fellowes assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer. John Fellowes holds a B.S. in Business Systems from Taylor University
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About Fellowes: Fellowes is a global manufacturer and marketer of office products industry, designs, and manufactures innovative products.
John Renaldi
CEO and Co-founder of Jiobit
CEO & Co-Founder Jiobit.
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About Jiobit: Jiobit is an electronics company that manufactures the world’s smallest and longest self learning location tracking technology.
Eric Hillerbrand
CEO of talk3
Eric Hillerbrand has been an early innovator Web 3.0 and semantic technologies and their application to marketing and business sysetms He has experiences ranging from building semantic solutions for cross-enterprise marketing programs, knowledge engineering, complex systems-based semantic systems, machine learning and evolutionary computation and ontology extraction and merging. Hillerbrand was VP of Social Commerce at Sears Holdings where he oversaw development of the social commerce program including personalized commerce and social community development. He was responsible for architecting the core social commerce platform and overseeing business operations and change management initiatives. Hillerbrand was SVP of Technology for McGraw Software and managed a large next-generation battlefield project using semantic technologies and complex and chaotic systems. Hillerbrand was CEO of Nimble Media a personalized marketing services company. He was a founder and CTO of Enleague Systems—a Coca-Cola Innovations company which used semantic technologies for marketing process management. He a founder and CEO of HealthExchange which developed a personalized health management and marketing platform using semantic technologies which was sold to Claimsnet in 1991. Hillerbrand was Senior Research Scientist at Delphi Health and Science Institiute. He was on the faculty in psychology at University of Missouri—Columbia. His research work includes knowledge representation, semantic modeling of cognitive processes, and artificial intelligence-based systems for simulating cognition. Over the course of his career he was worked with Deere, Co., the Coca-Cola Company, Ontario Health Systems, US Army Hillerbrand holds a PhD. from the University of Iowa in psychology in 1987. He earned a BA in World Order Studies from Colgate University in 1981.
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About talk3: Talk3 is a tech start-up that works to bring intelligence to the multi-channel experience by offering engaging.
Mark Locascio
Founder & CEO of MiracleCord
Mark Locascio serves as the Founder and CEO of MiracleCord. Mr. Locascio is a highly accomplished entrepreneur, with more than 30 years’ experience serving in senior executive, director and advisory positions throughout his career. He is an innovator whose leadership, expertise, and acute business acumen have served as the foundation for his many business achievements.
After experiencing the loss of a close family member to Leukemia, Mr. Locascio founded MiracleCord in an effort to help other families facing life-threatening diseases and conditions.
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About MiracleCord: MiracleCord is a biotechnology company that provides cord blood and cord tissue banking services to families.
Barnabas Helmy
President, CEO & Co-Founder of SmashToast
President, CEO & Co-Founder at SmashToast, Inc.
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About SmashToast: Control your home from your phone.
Blake Myers
CEO of Universal Manufacturing Corp
Blake Myers is a well established business owner in Westchester, Illinois. He partners in ownership of Universal Manufacturing Corp, located in Illinois, and is acting as the current CEO. The company was founded in 2013 and operated primarily out of Illinois, New York, as well as Florida. Universal Manufacturing Corp provides a collaborative service to assist new inventors through the multilayered process from conception to shelf. Blake is married and has two beautiful children. He spent the past 15 years with a proven track record of success in the new product industry in sales as well as services. He also spent several years as a successful mortgage broker before joining Universal Manufacturing Corp. He went to college for economics at Illinois State University. But his first focus in junior college was in fact, art. Universal Manufacturing Corp combines both aspects of his education in an intricate and elegant manner. It was only natural that years later, Blake would decide to open his own business, not only because of his education but because Blake Myers has a tremendous drive and ambition. He has been successful, but he appreciates the success of others. Blake has built Universal Manufacturing Corp’s structure with a foundation for all who are involved in this business to succeed as well. Blake takes great satisfaction in his business strategies as well as the way he has organizes and structures his company. His most satisfying day came when he produced his first product in his own business.
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About Universal Manufacturing Corp: Universal Manufacturing Corp. is a offers high quality custom manufacturing services in Illinois.
John H. Schwan
Chairman And CEO of CTI Industries
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About : Development, production, distribution and sale of unique, innovative flexible film products for commercial and for consumer markets.
Dave O’Connor
Chief Executive Officer of Move Matcher
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About Move Matcher: Move Matcher is the smartest, fastest and easiest way to book a trusted mover, and we want to hear from you.
Parker Schmitt
CEO of NetThunder
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About NetThunder: NetThunder is an on-premise private cloud solution that is easy to setup and includes services that keep companies running.
Kent Mages
CEO of Pixeldom
Kent Mages is CEO at Pixeldom.
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About Pixeldom: Pixeldom enables users to hold meaningful discussions about any topic and be rewarded for their contributions.
Kara Scanlin
CEO of Lystr
Chicago Booth MBA graduating top 5% of my class, NCAA DI All-American, relentlessly resourceful, results-driven entrepreneur, co-founder @Lystr
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About Lystr: Lystr is a connected home device that creates your grocery list for you
Michelle Smyth
Founder, CEO of Pay Your Selfie
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About Pay Your Selfie: Pay Your Selfie is a mobile research company that generates insights from selfie surveys.
George V. Bayly
CEO of Ivex Packaging Corporation
George V. Bayly is CEO at Ivex Packaging Corporation.
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About Ivex Packaging Corporation: Ivex is a vertically integrated specialty packaging company.
Bobby Boyd
Founder / CEO / Software Engineer of Anarchist
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About Anarchist: We’re building hardware and software products that make it easier to create and collaborate in virtual reality and augmented reality.
