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 San Francisco based CEO’ operating in the Online Portals 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.

Chai Mishra
CEO & Founder of The Essential
Follow Chai Mishra:
About The Essential: The Essential creates an altogether new grocery store for a new era.
John Daniels
Co-Founder, CEO of NavTrac
John Daniels joined NavTrac as Co-Founder, CEO in 2017.
Follow John Daniels:
About NavTrac: Next Gen Yard Management System (YMS)
Joanne Calabrese
CEO of Soko
Joanne Calabrese is a seasoned retailer, wholesaler, and merchant who is wildly passionate about driving businesses alongside amazing people. She’s led teams at several Fortune 500 companies, including VP roles at Gap Inc. and DFS, and also served as President of The Body Shop, Americas Region, and Head of the Americas for Fossil Group. Joanne joined SOKO in 2018 to operationalize and expand the business. SOKO is a vertically integrated manufacturing platform and ethical lifestyle brand working at the intersection of technology, fashion and social impact to bring beautiful artisan handcrafted jewelry to a global market. SOKO believes the future of ethical business is about leveraging mobile technology and supply chain innovation to create a next-generation business model that is both kinder and more competitive. SOKO is generating measurable social benefits in the lives of artisans and the communities in which they live.
Follow Joanne Calabrese:
About Soko: SOKO is a manufacturing platform built using mobile technology to connect independent, distributed artisans to the global marketplace.
Chris Folayan
Founder & CEO of MallforAfrica
Chris is well established successful serial entrepreneur, mentor, and speaker with over 20 years of C level roles experience in marketing, technology, startups, and corporate companies. Born and raised in Nigeria, Chris founded his first venture at age 7 recycled tires with a group of friends which he ran for 2.5 years prior to attending boarding school in Nigeria. He migrated to the U.S to attend college where he decided to teach himself various programming, design and software languages which he used as a foundation to catapult himself into various high level roles in fortune 500 companies, while pursuing a BA degree in marketing. After graduating from San Jose State University, he founded and sold several companies globally, while establishing new companies in Africa, USA, Middle East and Asia. Before Chris founded his current venture, the award-winning Mall for Africa and Mall for the World platform, Chris was the Founder and CEO of OCFX Inc a globally recognized silicon valley based, award winning software agency serving and consulting clients such as SONY, LSI, Cisco, HP, EPSON, TYCO, Accenture, CapitalOne, EMC and many others in over 60 countries. Chris has a learn as you grow, out of the box thinking philosophy that drives strategy and business growth. Chris is also the founder of the Africa Made Product Standards (AMPS) goods standards, which he founded to help companies in Africa develop a standard of quality products and ethics for doing business in Europe and USA. Chris is also the board chairman for the African Diaspora Network which is the largest network of African diaspora in the USA, and a member of the US Nigeria Council. He also serves on several boards and mentors various CEO’s in companies based in Africa.
Follow Chris Folayan:
About MallforAfrica: MallforAfrica is an online mall that enables Africans to find and purchase items from international retailers.

Fred Helou
Founder & CEO of Vagaro
Follow Fred Helou:
About Vagaro: Vagaro is an online platform that allows its users to find salons and spas in their local area and make appointments online.

Abdur Chowdhury
Co-Founder and CEO of Aura Frames
Abdur Chowdhury was the co-founder of Summize which he sold to Twitter in 2008. He then became Twitter’s Chief Scientist. A few years ago, he left and started a new company called Pushd, which is backed by a couple of million in seed funding from various angels, as well as Betaworks. On September 4, 2014 Pushd, Inc. released an Emoji based mobile app called Steven.
Follow Abdur Chowdhury:
About Aura Frames: Aura Frames is a smart picture frame designed to fill their home with beautiful photos of their family and friends.

Momchil Filev
Co Founder & CEO of BestReviews
Follow Momchil Filev:
About BestReviews: BestReviews is a review website that publishes in-depth reviews of consumer products.

Lynn Perkins
Founder and CEO of UrbanSitter
As a startup veteran, Lynn has more than 15 years of experience building and growing consumer Internet businesses. Prior to founding UrbanSitter, Lynn served as founder and CEO of Xuny.com and VP of Business Development at Bridgepath.com. At Gap Inc., LaSalle Partners, and Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Lynn gained extensive business and transaction experience. Lynn is passionate about connecting people with each other. Uniting babysitters and parents is her latest quest. Previous accomplishments include introducing three couples who are now married, matching apartment-seeking friends with roommates in rent-controlled units, and numerous job placements. Lynn is a graduate of Stanford University. She and her husband enjoy exploring San Francisco with their three adventurous boys.
Follow Lynn Perkins:
About UrbanSitter: UrbanSitter is an online hub connecting families with babysitters through social networks.

Gary Bolles
CEO, President, Co-Founder & Board Member of eParachute
Gary A. Bolles is the co-founder of eParachute, creating software and courseware based on the work of “What Color Is Your Parachute?”, the world’s most popular career manual, with more than 10 million copies in print. He is also a partner in Charrette, serving consulting producer for clients including Google, TED, Dropbox, Yahoo, Singularity University, London Business School, L’Oreal, and Red Bull. He is the co-founder of SoCap (SocialCapitalMarkets.net), the conference for “impact” entrepreneurs and investors; Silicon Valley Meets the U.N.; DGREE: The Future of Higher Education; and the co-producer of “Closing the Gap,” a conference focused on solutions for a more inclusive economy. He writes and lectures frequently on the future of work and learning.
Follow Gary Bolles:
About eParachute: eParachute provides online courses on job hunting for career changers and jobseekers in the U.S. and around the world.
Phil Plante
CEO & Co-Founder of Newsphere
Follow Phil Plante:
About East Sac Academy, Newsphere: Newsphere builds a connection with students through creativity, communication, technology, and online platform.

Melike Abacioglu Gunes
Co-Founder, CEO of PhysioHealth
Melike Abacioglu Gunes is the Co-Founder/CEO of PhysioHealth. She has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration at Harvard School of Business and earned her degree in B. S Chemicla Engineering at Stanford University.
Follow Melike Abacioglu Gunes:
About PhysioHealth: PhysioHealth is an enterprise health and wellness management platform that rewards employees for living healthy.

Topher White
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rainforest Connection
2012, founded Rainforest Connection, a start-up that converts recycled cell phones into solar-powered listening devices to monitor and protect remote areas of the rainforest. Now an established NGO, Rainforest Connection has helped stop illegal logging and poaching operations in Sumatra, and the system is being expanded to three more rainforest reserves in Indonesia, the Amazon and Africa. For Rainforest Connection, has fashioned a simple device made of discarded cell phones and solar panels that detects and sends alerts when it picks up the sound of chainsaws in protected rainforests, allowing for intervention in real time. National Geographic Emerging Explorer.
Follow Topher White:
About Rainforest Connection: Rainforest Connection is a non-profit technology startup that generates real-time data on deforestation activity in tropical rainforests.

Tümay Asena
CEO and Co-Founder of Nokta
Tümay Asena is the CEO of Point Internet Technologies. He specializes in business development and media operations. Asena is a graduate of UC Berkeley.
Follow Tümay Asena:
About Nokta: Nokta is a digital media company that provides web-based solutions for individuals to discover and share content on web and mobile.

Andrew Warner
Founder, Startup CEO of Mixergy
Andrew Warner is the Founder, Startup CEO of Mixergy.
Follow Andrew Warner:
About Mixergy: Mixergy is an online platform that provides education for startups and entrepreneurs.

Akmal Paiziev
CEO & Co-founder of Workly.io
Follow Akmal Paiziev:
About Workly.io: Workly is the time & attendance solution for small and medium businesses.

Jens Birnbaum
Founder & CEO of Otixo, Inc.
Follow Jens Birnbaum:
About Otixo, Inc.: All your team collaboration and cloud management in one place
Bianca Caban
CEO of SheWorx
Bianca Cabán is Director of Partnerships and Business Development at Republic, a fintech platform that runs investment campaigns for tech startups and blockchain projects to raise capital from retail investors. Before Republic, she worked on Wall Street for 5 years, including at Credit Suisse, BlackRock, and Atlas Merchant Capital, where she conducted business in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Bianca also established a consultancy, Taino Capital, where she worked with various entities on new fund infrastructure and strategy, business development, as well as the tax and economic incentives in Puerto Rico. Through Taino, she advised and launched economic revitalization projects in real estate, medical cannabis, and the entrepreneurship accelerator space. She is a mentor for the Stanford Latino Entrepreneur Leaders Program, and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers and Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle. Bianca earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Harvard College.
Follow Bianca Caban:
About SheWorx: The global collective of ambitious female entrepreneurs redefining leadership.
Christian Spletzer
Founder & CEO of Clockwork Recruiting
Christian drives Clockwork’s strategic product and market initiatives based on his firsthand experience as an executive recruiter. Before founding Clockwork in 2010, he worked at CTPartners, a top 10 global executive search firm, where he worked as both a recruiter and within operations and IT.
Follow Christian Spletzer:
About Clockwork Recruiting: Clockwork is an online application that is transforming how executive recruiters and their clients work together on search projects.
Liz Curtis
Founder & CEO of Table + Teaspoon
Follow Liz Curtis:
About Table + Teaspoon: Rent. Host. Return. Complete table setting rental kits ordered online, delivered nationwide.

Douglas Scott
Co-Founder & CEO of simplifund
Follow Douglas Scott:
About simplifund: Simplifying alternative investments. A data-driven diversification tool for wealth advisers.