Highs and Lows on Startup Road

Entrepreneur Panel: Highs and Lows on Startup Road

Several founders who received NEF coaching in past years will rejoin us to share inside stories of their journeys down the path of entrepreneurship. They will share their initial visions for their companies and how those have grown or evolved over the years of interacting with their customers and investors.

Moderator

Paul Henchey is a Board Member at New Enterprise Forum where he has assisted scores of early-stage startup founders in growing their businesses. Paul has for decades been a consultant to healthcare software companies, providing expertise in strategic product marketing, software product management, content marketing, software design and strategic product planning. He has deep knowledge of healthcare analytics and business intelligence technologies and extensive management experience in both Fortune 20 companies and small start-ups.

Panelists

Fares Ksebati is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and internationally recognized swimmer and coach. He is the CEO of MySwimPro, Founder of World Swim Day, and a 3x U.S. Masters Swimming National Champion. Fares has been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30, Men’s Health, Sports Illustrated and the New York Times. He is the author of two books, a keynote speaker and YouTube creator, and has spoken at TEDx and business summits around the world sharing his perspective on business and entrepreneurship.

Mike Gutow, co-inventor and co-founder of Legacy Shave, the World’s First universal patented shave brush and dispenser all in one..  After pitching Legacy Shave on ABC’s Shark Tank, Mark Cuban stood up in applause and said “By far this was the best pitch ever on Shark Tank.”  Winner of multiple awards including “Best New Product - ECRM retail buyers show,” Legacy Shave also took home the Global Innovation Award from the International home and houseware show in Chicago. 

Brenda Jones currently serves as the CEO of Ulendo Technologies, an early stage company specializing in software that supercharges the performance of advanced manufacturing machines. Previous to this, she led the successful exit of Kinetica Labs, Inc., a University of Michigan spinout. Brenda’ s contributions to the entrepreneurial ecosystem include her work as a mentor/speaker at the Ross School of Business and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Ann Arbor SPARK. Ms. Jones earned a bachelor’s at Yale University and an MBA at the University of Michigan.

Kimberly Gamez is an accomplished leader and visionary in tech innovation. With expertise in strategy development, user experience, and creative design, she’s leveraged customer feedback, data, and analytics to drive transformative solutions throughout her career. In 2017 Kim founded Mi Padrino, the all-in-one quinceanera and wedding planning app for the Hispanic community. Kim’s success in the startup space has been recognized by industry-leading publications such as the Today Show, CNN and Forbes, and has successfully led three companies to acquisition. Mi Padrino was acquired by Queenly in 2022.  Kim currently is a business consultant and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Showcase Presentation

Decimal Code is an automated CPT coding startup focused on solutions in the procedural space. The patented machine learning natural language processing algorithm was invented by Dr. Mike Burns and John Vandervest at Michigan Medicine, where the technology has been in development for five years and received $1.6M in grant funding. Decimal Code has piloted its prior authorization and anesthesia CPT coding modules at Michigan Medicine and will launch to market later this year.

Joey Panella, co-founder and CEO, has worked as a Venture Analyst for the University of Michigan’s Innovation Partnerships, helping to launch startups out of the research institution and performing diligence for the $20M Accelerate Blue Fund. Joey received his BBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and is currently a full-time MBA student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Networking

Come join us in person to enjoy food and drink and conversation with members of the local startup community.

Remote Viewing

Portions of this meeting will also be available for viewing online via Zoom.  For remote viewing, select an Online Ticket when registering via Eventbrite.

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