D.J. Smith is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at The Glimpse Group. The Glimpse Group is a holding company for a portfolio of startups focused on the virtual and augmented reality industries.  At Glimpse, D.J.’s responsibilities include overseeing the production of all VR and AR content as well leading the effort to locate new subsidiary companies.  In addition, D.J. is co-organizer of The New York Virtual Reality which is currently the 2nd largest VR meetup in the world with 4500 members.

Paul founded Graphite Financial, as an internal service for (nearly 50%) of Venture Capital’s ("ffVC") portfolio of early-stage technology companies since 2008. In 2016, while continuing to serve ffVC's portfolio, Paul oversaw Graphite Financial's transition to operating as an independent company to serve the broader startup community.

He is an expert in helping startups and other young ventures with strategy, financial modeling, fully outsourced or augmented bookkeeping & accounting, tax, compliance and interim CFO work.

Chris Errico is Co-Chair of the firm's US Startup Program and member of the Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies practice at Dentons. Chris is actively engaged in a diverse corporate practice, working with a wide range of fast-growing technology, software, digital media and life science companies at every stage of their development.

Chris regularly counsels emerging growth companies on transactional matters, including venture capital, seed/angel financings; public and private offerings; asset and stock acquisitions; debt financings and mergers and acquisitions. Chris also advises his clients on a daily basis regarding complex securities matters, corporate governance matters, joint ventures, strategic transactions, and general legal issues.

Susan Lindner believes that incredible connections change the world. As the CEO and Founder of Emerging Media, an award-winning PR • Marketing • Branding • Social Media agency, she develops breakthrough strategies that connect our clients to the right media, communities, influencers, and prospects. Susan gives back to the entrepreneurial community as a mentor to young domestic and international startups at VentureOut, and as a judge at premier competitions like NY Tech Week, The Mashies and many more.

Stella serves as Senior Executive at one of the largest media groups in the world and has helped win several new businesses and new global clients for MDC’s client portfolio. Stella is a subject matter expert on the role of Digital Media in Advertising, Digital Operations and the future of the Internet.

She has experience working in global operations and business technology integration issues and has worked extensively with companies such as E*Trade and Fox to engage in a more data and technology-driven marketing approach. Stella is now based in NYC and as a self-identified polymath is exploring among other things the future of media through technological innovation.

A lifelong learner, I'm passionate about creating systems&processes that make learning more effective, impactful and easier. I am lucky that I get to do that every day with our company, Aquinas. Working with rockstars in technology, learning science, and psychology, I have the privilege of seeing our team innovate solutions that address real needs in the corporate learning market.
I believe immersive technologies like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will change the way we experience new ideas and revolutionize learning. At the same time, new means of connecting workers to learning make learning reinforcement a powerful tool for training and workforce development. Advances in AI mean personalization of learning is poised to take entirely new directions.

Matt Listro brings extensive experience in business development and sales. Prior to founding Harbinger, he helped build the business development and strategy team at Crowdtap, a venture-backed brand content platform that’s consistently recognized by Inc., Fortune, and others as one of the fastest growing firms in America. Matt brought on and managed partnerships with 50+ top brands including GE, J&J, P&G, Sony Pictures, and Kraft.
Prior to Crowdtap, he managed business development initiatives for MAXIMUS, a publicly-traded program management and consulting firm, helping MAXIMUS expand into Europe. Matt also teaches at General Assembly. He graduated from Brown University and Columbia Business School with Dean’s Honors.

Brett joined the VentureOut team in January 2014 as the Director of Business Development responsible for developing the pipeline of programs sponsor and partner outreach and startup due diligence. Prior to VentureOutBrett spent time in consulting, finance, and sales within a number of startups and small institutions. While not at work you can find him playing guitar, checking out local music or cheering on his beloved Knicks. He earned his Bachelor's of Science in Management at Tulane University where he studied Finance and Music and is proud to call New Orleans a second home.

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Edwin is the Director of Growth at Ladder.io, a growth technology and services agency that uses proprietary technology and data-driven strategy to increase your ROI.

Edwin grows businesses with impactful analysis + tech-infused creativity, as an ROI-Driven Growth Strategy Architect and Director, Transforming Performance Marketing Into Systemized Solutions/Processes.

Jacob Loewenstein leads AR/VR business development and product strategy at Samsung Next, Samsung’s software and services innovation arm. He received his MBA at MIT Sloan, where he co-founded VR/AR@MIT, which is dedicated to fostering VR/AR/MR innovation. Additionally, he was a founding Co-Organizer of the Reality, Virtually Hackathon at the MIT Media Lab, the biggest VR/AR hackathon. Prior to MIT, he worked in revenue strategy and business development at BuzzFeed and as a internal management consultant at Bridgewater Associates. He received his BA, Cum Laude, from Princeton University, where he studied the intersection of Media Theory and Public Policy.

Jacob is based in New York and has previously lectured on VR and AR at AWE, AR in Action at NYU/MIT, Illuminate Global at Harvard, and Hacking Arts at the MIT Media Lab. He has also lectured on digital media at Princeton.

Michelle is an Associate at Indicator Ventures, an early-stage venture fund focused on opportunities across the digital landscape. She is also the founder of Deaverage.org a platform that aims to increase access to the outdoors through sales of whimsical t-shirts that raise money for non-profits and through a blog that demystifies long-distance backpacking.

Prior to working at Indicator Ventures, she worked as a Management Consultant at AT Kearney for 4 years. Michelle received her Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and Bachelor's in Environmental Economics & Policy from University of California, Berkeley.

Lexie Kier is a Principal Strategist and Founder of AOK Group, a growth consultancy for startups. She advises bold brands and startups on fundraising, customer insights, branding and marketing and often takes on interim leadership roles to help with periods of intense change, entry into new markets, and expansion.

Previously, Lexie founded Cuurio, an index of startups and innovation platform helping bold brands find clarity, context, and connection. ​Cuurio helped a growing number of innovative brands and agencies (including Warner Brother, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, and J. Walter Thompson) to create vibrant native mobile partnerships that activated consumers in new channels.

Caroline obtained her Barrister-at-Law degree from the Honorable Society of King’s Inns in Dublin, got admitted to practice at the Bar of Ireland, and is a member of AILA and the Irish American Bar Association of New York.

Caroline is experienced in employment-based, family-based, and investment-based immigration. As part of our EB-5 practice, she has worked with investors in both direct investment and Regional Center petitions, and has counseled individual EB-5 investors on Source of Funds requirements. Caroline has experience with corporate clients and startups seeking E, H and L nonimmigrant visas, as well as a range of extraordinary ability individuals, including entrepreneurs and entertainers. She has broad experience working with Irish individuals on J-1 Intern and Trainee visas.

Having worked for Media Assembly, a modern media agency that is growing very fast, for nearly five years, Melissa is now an Executive Associate and has expertise in social media.

Jessica Peltz is the Investment Director at kbs+ Venturesfocusing on sourcing deal flow and making investment recommendations for early stage tech startups looking to transform the media and advertising industry. She is a frequent speaker within the NYC startup communityand specializes in helping connect marketers with emerging technology. Jessica’s cutting edge collaborations were often featured in the trades such as MashableAdageMobile Marketerand Mediapost. Jessica has a BA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Businesswith a double concentration in Marketing and International Relations.

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Having gained her skills by participating in many clubs and institutes, Bridget started her career in 2010 and has been around for nearly nine years. NBCUniversal Media, where she currently works, is an Internet-based leader, where she is a program specialist. In addition to social media, he has many skills and knowledge, and is currently a co-chair of STF.

Nora graduated from Yale University with a degree in history and completed an MBA program at Harvard. She has a lot of knowledge about social media, but she has excellent skills in teaching and also has excellent writing skills. She is currently working on Corporate Investments and Partnerships at NBCUniversal Media.

Urs is the Managing Partner of BDMI. He is also a founding member who joined BDMI as Chief Financial Officer in 2006 from the Corporate Controlling and Strategy group at Bertelsmann where he was “chief of staff” to the CEO and worked on strategic projects for all of the media company’s divisions including TV, radio, music, books, magazines and services. Urs has led investments in CrowdTwist, Mojiva (acquired by Pubmatic), Skimlinks, StyleHaul (acquired by RTL) and Zergnet. He is actively pursuing new investments in online video and next-generation publishing. Urs speaks at digital media conferences around the globe and is an active supporter of the arts and various philanthropic organizations. Urs was a Ph.D. Candidate at the Handelshochschule Leipzig and holds a Dlpl.Kfm degree in finance and strategy from the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. He also earned an M.B.A. in finance from Tulane University. Urs was named a 2014 Power Player in Digital Media by AlwaysOn and was on the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Urs is a weekend biker, a lifelong gamer and a self-proclaimed computer nerd who can bust out any motherboard, fire up a soldering iron and crank it up to 11.

Experienced leader, strategist, and problem solver with over eight years of experience working in the intersection of social impact, economic development, and public private partnerships. Collaborative, results driven, and well versed in leading high performing cross functional teams.

Masters degree in public policy and management from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Undergraduate degree in philosophy from Haverford College. Fluent in Spanish and Japanese.

Specialties & Skills: Public policy, community and economic development, strategy, human centered design, social impact, quantitative and qualitative analysis, international development. Program design and management, program monitoring and evaluation, organizational management, client relationship management, stakeholder management, project and partnership implementation.

Brock joined Scout Ventures in 2017. As an Associate he focuses on early-stage investments in frontier technologies and software companies.
Prior to joining Scout, he worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Corporate Finance division advising startups pursing growth stage investments within the consumer, fintech and digital sectors.
Brock graduated from Boston College in 2015 prior to joining Lazard as an investment banking analyst where he worked on mergers and acquisitions in the consumer space.

Eric Wollberg is the Business Development at Gnowbe

Prior to Gnowbe, Eric was Director of Business Development at VentureOut, Eric sourced the world-class startups that populate our programs. Additionally, he helped develop and run our accelerators, so that our participants have a flawless and fruitful experience.

Eric was also an Israel Government Fellow, working at the Israel Innovation Authority. There he helped bring companies totaling $1.5 trillion in market capitalization to engage with Israeli startups. Eric studied innovation economics at Sogang University and graduated with a degree in economics from New York State’s Public Honors College at Geneseo.

John’s mission is to align the future of work with the future of education, and he was featured on Forbes to talk about how acceleration at places like Studio Project and Techstars represents a new kind of educational model.

He is also a veteran of the startup community and ready to talk all things entrepreneurship: in the past, he founded a company accepted to one of the world's top accelerators, closed term sheets, helped launch and manage the Techstars NYC program. He has engineered connections resulting in LP investments for venture capital funds (including the Techstars Venture Fund, $150mm), the creation of a Techstars company, angel investment for a mentor's new venture, and sourced co-founder relationships, c-suite hires, and first hires.

Heather has strong expertise in content strategy and Acquisition that she developed during her time at CBS, Verizon and throughout her life. 
Heather is currently working cross-functionally across Verizon’s business team in product, operations NBA innovation and marketing to drive content implementation and general strategy. 

Aaron is a partner at Quiet Ventures, who design useful products worth talking about and build apps for fellow founders who are almost ready to quit their day jobs.

Aaron has a lot of experience and has built: a slackbot to make teams more fulfilled at work; an SMS-based laundry startup that sends you puppy pictures; Founders Friday, a weekly meetup and community; the NYC Salon, a bi-weekly "TED, with friends"; and The Annual "Friends Rent a Ski Mountain" event, where 125+ friends rent a mountain in Upstate NY.

Alex Trotta is Vice President of Fintech Acceleration at Citi Bank. His goal is bringing Citi FinTech's mantra of Open Innovation to the world and in doing so, inviting cutting-edge technologies into a Fortune 50 company that is poised to evolve with the new technological climate. Citi's mission is to serve as a trusted partner to our clients by responsibly providing financial services that enable growth and economic progress.

Alex enjoys working with technology companies to help them better articulate the problem that they are solving and the target market they are solving it for. His ability to easily work with different types of people, from multiple backgrounds, and across various industries has allowed him to provide value in sales, strategy, marketing, and operations.

Amy Chen develops and leads innovation programs focusing on emerging technologies. She connects industry executives with university faculty and students to experiment, prototype and launch startups with technologies like extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and 5G wireless. The multi-year sponsorships and partnerships that she leads relate to tangible outcomes: technology adoption, startup formation, job creation, and hiring.

At NYC Media Lab, Amy funds and supports early-stage entrepreneurs who are building scalable ventures. She manages the Combine accelerator program which has a track record of employing the lean startup methodology for finding product-market fit.

Jump into the Light is America's first Virtual Reality Cinema and Playlab (https://jumpintothelight.com). We are located in Lower East Side Manhattan. Besides running a successful arcade open to the public, we also focus on education and healthcare initiatives as well. We have a small team of developers working on creating custom content and are beginning to attract big name cooperate clients for our work.

Samantha G. Wolfe is an innovative strategist with a passion for Virtual and Augmented Reality. Sam works with VR and AR companies to strengthen their brand positioning and establish targeted marketing strategies to accelerate company growth. Always on top of the most innovative immersive media trends, she also partners with agencies and brands to make the never-been-done-before a reality.

Sam started her career in television. Sam has managed B2C and B2B Marketing and Branding campaigns for Showtime Networks, Food Network, Cooking Channel, TV Guide, Rovi (now TiVo), and RLTV. Her team's branding and marketing efforts have been recognized with a North American Effie Award and a European Transform Award.