E Track Luncheon- The Funded and the Financially Focused
TechColumbus and the TechStart team invite you to learn more about what it takes to transform personal passion into a successful business model that can lead to funding. Highlighting different companies that have been funded by TechColumbus & other angel investors and how raising capital elsewhere through personal funds, the 3Fs, and through sales – are separate, viable routes to success. You will also hear how funding alone won’t bring your innovative idea to market.
e-Track Luncheons – TechColumbus commercialization experts and technology leaders from successful businesses and IT organizations share their knowledge and experience. E-Track is a professional development series designed for entrepreneurs and start-ups with panel discussions and networking opportunities. Lunch is provided
Moderated by Rick Coplin: Rick Coplin, business development specialist, heads the Dublin TechColumbus satellite office, located in the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center (DEC). From this base of operation, Rick serves the tech entrepreneurial and startup communities of five counties including Franklin, Delaware, Marion, Union and Logan counties
TechColumbus member company employees and CareerTrack members may attend this event at discounted rates. Join the movement—click the links below to learn about the benefits
Click here to learn about the benefits for companies
Click here to learn about CareerTrack—for professional and student job seekers
Thanks to our sponsor:
Thanks to our media partner:
Speaker Details:
Brian M. Pitzer - President, CEO and founder of avitae caffeinated water
Greg Yoakam - President / CEO of KidsLinked.com
Ray Bohac - CEO of Call Copy
Brian M. Pitzer - President, CEO and founder of avitae caffeinated water
Brian founded Vitality Distributing, Inc. in 2007. For a little over 3 years, the company worked through the various R&D stages of the product including the marketing components of demographics, packaging, etc. Since avitae’s large scale launch in early 2010, the company has grown to service over 5000 locations throughout 10 states and distributed by over 23 of the country’s best distributors. The brand is now a featured item in such stalwarts as Whole Foods, Kroger, Speedway SuperAmerica, Walgreens, BP, and many more. Avitae is now easily the caffeinated water category leader and looks to expand on that success through 2011.
Prior to founding Vitality Distributing, Brian served as VP of Marketing & Business Development for tmg. Previously he was VP of Sales & Marketing for Kingston and the Vice President of DirectSource, a subsidiary corporation to Kingston. All three marketing companies were, at the time of Brian’s employment, included in the top 20 competitors in the industry.
Brian currently serves as 1st Vice President on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club and spends his free time with his wife Melissa and two daughters, Alycia and Payton, in their Marysville, Ohio home.
Greg Yoakam - President / CEO of KidsLinked.com
Greg understands what it takes to raise a family in today’s busy world and gladly shares his experience as a dad. He founded KidsLinked.com when his children were 2 and 4 years old, based on the realization of how busy a life can be for a parent and the need to organize it. He launched the website in June of 2008 and has quickly made KidsLinked.com into the destination website for parents across the US. The company has numerous partnerships with media companies across the United States.
Prior to launching KidsLinked, he was a successful, driven entrepreneur with experience creating multiple departments and two web services. Knowing that running a business would be in his future, he spent the last 15 years building his IT, Finance, Accounting, Marketing and sales background by starting at the ground level as an Financial Analyst at the Limited to ultimately the Director of Business Sales Strategy at Cardinal Health. This diverse experience included the building of ERP strategies, Customer Relationship Models (CRM) to accounting based activity models. He is an undergrad and MBA graduate of The Ohio State University. Greg lives in Columbus, OH with his wife, and two children.