The JumpStart TechLift Advisors Team brings together a group of professionals with over 50 years of entrepreneurial management experience running technology ventures, and another 50 plus years of experience running both small and large organizations. The fact that we have “been there, done that” in a specific technology area enables us to dig in and really help technology entrepreneurs be more successful in their technology venture.
Chris Mather
President, JumpStart TechLift Advisors
Chris joins the JumpStart team having served most recently as the driver behind NorTech’s successful proposal to the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Program to create TechLift and has led the program since its inception in 2007. Chris now leads the TechLift team with its transition to JumpStart management and under its new name JumpStart TechLift Advisors. In addition, Chris continues to be a JumpStart Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR), coaching multiple technology companies through the JumpStart funding process. He joined NorTech in 2004 and was responsible for multiple initiatives to drive Northeast Ohio’s success in the Electronics, Nanotechnology and Engineering Education areas. Before joining NorTech, Chris was President/CEO of Ion Optics, Inc., a Waltham, MA based maker of MEMS based infrared devices. While there, he raised $6.4 million in venture capital to fund the company’s growth toward a successful sale. Chris was President/CEO of APSCO Inc., Ohio’s largest electronic contract manufacturer, based in Perry, OH. He came to Northeast Ohio in 1996, as President of Gould Instrument Systems. Prior to coming to Ohio, Chris was General Manager of the SmartWare Division of American Power Conversion in West Kingston, RI. Earlier in his career, Chris spent 14 years in sales and marketing and management in the computer and test and measurement industries with Hewlett Packard Company (Agilent Technologies), Denmark based Bruel and Kjaer Instruments, and Analogic. He serves on the boards of the Cleveland Engineering Society, Case’s Institute for Management and Engineering (TiME) and a number of technology companies. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA. Read Chris' posts on the IdeaExchange blog.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, JumpStart TechLift Advisors
Information and Communication Technologies
Chuck is a member of the JumpStart TechLift Advisors team with nearly 20 years of executive, marketing and sales experience. Very recently, he was the CFO of eBlueprint and played a vital role in its acquisition by the largest blueprinter in the world. Prior to eBlueprint, Chuck ran his own business consulting firm for five years, assisting clients in healthcare and information technology formulate business plans and presentations, raise venture capital, optimize infrastructure and compensation, make appropriate staffing decisions and connect with outside resources. He founded and was the president of AxioMed Spine Corporation where he raised more than $3 million in Series A round venture capital. Chuck designed and managed a number of licensing and royalty agreements that AxioMed made with industry leaders, including Medtronic. In the 1990s, Chuck held a variety of marketing, product management and executive positions at AcroMed Corporation, which developed and sold spinal implants. During his tenure at AcroMed, the company sold to DePuy, Inc. for $325 million in cash. Chuck grew up in North Ridgeville and graduated from Kent State University in 1988 with a Bachelor's in Business Administration and Masters in Business Administration. He also is named as the co-inventor on four patents.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, JumpStart TechLift Advisors
Advanced Materials
Vinny Gupta joins JumpStart TechLift Advisors after 25 years as an executive and serial entrepreneur. Born in India, Vinny has lived and worked in Northeast Ohio for the past 32 years. He began his career as a product development engineer at Gould Inc and progressed to Director of Operations at their St. Louis aftermarket automotive facility. Vinny later joined Condec Corporation as general manager in Orrville, Ohio for their captive manufacturing of industrial castings and forgings. After a few years he acquired the operational assets by raising money with investors, vendors and parent corporation financing. As founder and President/CEO of the Orrville facility (Technocast Inc) he grew the business from $1 million to over $16 million in 12 years. Concurrently he also acquired a start-up specialty metal alloy casting company, Ancast Inc, and grew revenue to $5 million in approximately 10 years. In 1990 Vinny and his group bought the assets of Ohio Cast Products, a castings company in Canton, Ohio. As President/CEO he grew the business from $9 million to $26 million by 2004. The common threads for growth in these organizations were: business reengineering, deploying valuable human assets effectively and intelligently, new product introduction, implementation of innovative new technology (from U.S. and abroad), marketing to customer needs ahead of competitors, increase in value added components, and maintaining strict quality standards. His most recent acquisition was in home healthcare. Vinny was also the founding President of Ohio Cast Metals Association and has received the minority entrepreneur of the year award from City of Cleveland. He holds a Bachelors degree in Chemistry from Bombay University, a Bachelors degree in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technological University and a Masters degree in metallurgical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, JumpStart TechLift Advisors
Electronics
Kent Kristensen joins JumpStart TechLift Advisors after 20 years as a business development executive and serial entrepreneur. Born and educated in Denmark, Kent has lived and worked across the globe, settling in Northeast Ohio in 1994. Kent began his career as an electronic engineer and progressed to Operations Manager for RE Communications in Copenhagen, Denmark, a provider of broadband communications products. Kent later joined ABL of Montreal, Canada, a manufacturer and systems integrator of communications systems. At ABL, Kent was responsible for worldwide marketing, product standardization and business development, and later as VP of International Sales and Marketing he grew the business to nearly $24 million annually. He was instrumental in the company’s success leading it thru start-up, M&A, venture capital and Initial Public Offering (IPO). Kent was a founder and President/CEO of Mnet Corp. based in Solon, Ohio. The company was a highly successful, videoconferencing, telecommunications and information technology systems integration firm, reaching 30 employees and $7.5 million in annual sales. While leading Mnet, Kent contracted with investment bankers for the development of a Private Placement Memorandum raising venture capital, and eventually oversaw the sale of the company. Most recently, Kent has been a management consultant involved in a variety of business or economic development projects in the biotech, medical devices, alternative energy, commercial real estate, transportations, logistics, shipping, and marine industries. He is currently chairman of a $525 million private-public-partnership project chartered with the development of a new ferry border crossing between the U.S. and Canada across Lake Erie. Kent holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Syddansk University in Denmark and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, JumpStart TechLift Advisors
Advanced Energy
Dave Nestic joins JumpStart TechLift Advisors from a very successful technology-based business consulting practice focused on start-up and small business planning and execution. Dave fulfilled executive roles for clients, as well as advised in areas of technology commercialization, R&D proposal coordination, business analysis, strategic planning, marketing and sales planning, business development, investor presentations, and general management. He has over 20 years of experience with technology company formation, incubation and development, and technology economic development. Dave’s wide range of technology experience is well-suited to the diverse field of advanced and alternative energies. His experience base includes genetically altered organisms and fermentation, embedded communications in electrical distribution and gas lease field operation, underground and surface coal mining software and automation technology, emission abatement technology, and MEMS and nanotechnology development and applications. In addition to his consulting practice, Dave was also co-founder and VP of Business Development and Marketing for NetEnabled, Inc., an embedded communications and networking company and partner/owner and CEO of ChoiceArt, a framed art manufacturer and online retailer. He also gained valuable insight into government research funding as Director of an SBIR assistance center for the State of Ohio. In his most recent long-term client engagement spanning the past six years, Dave was instrumental in SBIR and government R&D proposal efforts for a defense and industrial R&D and manufacturing firm in Dublin, OH, which gained the company awards from NIH, USDA, DARPA and the Air Force and spawned the development of new technology initiatives in biosciences and sensor technologies. Dave currently serves on the executive committees of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the Youngstown Business Incubator and co-founded and chairs the Salem Area Enterprise Development Forum. Dave holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Ohio University and an MBA from Capital University.
This EIR position has been made possible with a grant from:
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, JumpStart TechLift Advisors
BioSciences
Donna comes to JumpStart TechLift Advisors with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry including more than six years clinical experience, work within large medical companies, and extensive entrepreneurial ventures in the medical device space. Donna worked as an OR nurse for six years before getting the entrepreneurial “bug.” This real-world experience has proven to be invaluable grounding and background in her diverse medical device ventures throughout the rest of her career. Donna served in marketing roles and as CEO/founder of medical device start-up companies in the neurology and cardiovascular areas. In these roles, Donna has raised over $25 million in venture capital and other funding for start-up companies, and has brought multiple organizations through medical device approval processes. Donna has also consulted and assisted a number of medical device start-ups, while working for consulting companies and venture capital firms, including Primus Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures and independently. Donna has worked within large medical device companies, holding executive marketing positions at Johnson & Johnson and Steris Corporation. Most recently, Donna was CEO of Cleveland NanoCrystals, a nanotechnology company spun out of Case Western Reserve University and supported by Case Technology Ventures. Donna is a Graduate RN from Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital School of Nursing and holds an MS in Business Policy from Columbia University.
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