Sponsorship

Gary Vaynerchuk is a New York Times bestselling author and American businessman who was born in Belarus and immigrated to the United States as a young child. Gary’s entrepreneurial instincts took over at a young age, when he owned a franchise of neighborhood lemonade stands and made $1,000 a weekend selling baseball cards. Much to his dismay, his father Sasha pulled Gary into the family business, a local liquor store called Shopper’s Discount Liquors. Before long, Gary recognized that consumers collected rare wines just like people collected baseball cards, and he was off to the races. Gary transformed himself into a wine expert, rebranded the store as Wine Library, launched a retail website in 1997, and by 2008 he had raised annual revenue from $4 million to $60 million. In 2006 Gary achieved one of his life-long goals when he was caricatured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in an article about online wine sales.

In February of 2006, Gary launched Wine Library TV, a daily video blog about wine. With the tag line “changing the wine world,” the show offered an unpretentious approach to an historically stuffy subject. As the audience grew and word spread of his informal and unorthodox approach to wine, Gary made numerous national television appearances as a wine expert, including spots on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The Today Show, Nightline, and Mad Money with Jim Cramer. In 2009, Gary was recognized as “Innovator of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast magazine, and as part of Decanter magazine’s prestigious “Power List” of the most influential figures in the industry. Wine Library TV garners 90,000 daily viewers and has now surpassed 800 episodes, featuring celebrity guests including hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, Travel Channel star Samantha Brown, Food Network host Ingrid Hoffmann, rock star Maynard James Keenan, Digg.com founder Kevin Rose, and esteemed wine critics Jancis Robinson and Daniel Rogov.

While developing the audience for Wine Library TV, Gary eschewed the traditional media tools he had relied on when building the retail store, turning instead to the social web. Gary joined the online conversation by becoming an active member of blogs and forums, and then proceeded to utilize web 2.0 tools such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with consumers online. The business world took note of Gary’s approach, and before long he was being invited to speak at conferences and corporations around the world.

Gary launched a second blog, garyvaynerchuk.com, where he dispenses business advice and comments on emerging technologies and cultural trends. As his following grew online, Gary became one of the first to reach Facebook’s friend limit and accumulated more than 800,000 followers on Twitter. Gary’s first business book, entitled Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on your Passion, was released in the Fall of 2009 and debuted as a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Gary proceeded to make tv appearances as a social media expert and business consultant on programs including CNN Your $$$$, Fox Business’s Your Money Your Questions, and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.

As Gary’s career as a speaker and writer continued to soar, companies of varying sizes approached him for consulting advice. The consulting role agreed with him, and in 2009 Gary and his brother AJ co-founded VaynerMedia, a boutique agency that works with personal brands, consumer brands, and startups. Gary is now also an angel investor in various startups, offering sweat equity to the projects he supports in addition to financial investments.

Gary’s ultimate goal is to one day own the New York Jets. Although his various businesses obviously play an enormous role in his life, he always puts his family first.

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Anat Lechner is a Clinical Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern. Professor Lechner earned her PhD in Organization Management from Rutgers University in 2000. She is also the recipient of the GE Teaching Excellence award.

Professor Lechner’s research focuses on how organizations can best structure to develop innovation capabilities and outcomes. Her research encompasses various areas including the effective leverage of multidisciplinary teams, leading adaptive change, and the development of workplace environments supportive of creativity and innovation.

Her current work looks at the complexities of managing high performance cross-functional teams, and the ways by which physical workplace environments enable organization members to cope with uncertainty, change, and the demand for increased innovativeness.

Professor Lechner is also involved in Management Consulting and Senior Executive Action Learning. A former Research Fellow at McKinsey & Co. and the founder of a boutique management consulting firm, her client list includes Fortune 500 firms in the Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Energy, Food, High Tech and Retail industries.

Professor Lechner’s teaching portfolio includes a great variety of organization management courses including Managing Change, Managing High Performing Teams, Managing Organizations, Collaboration, and Strategy in the undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA programs at the Stern School.

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Lawrence D. Lenihan Jr. is the Founder, CEO and Managing Director of FirstMark Capital. Prior to founding FirstMark, Larry founded Pequot Ventures in 1996. Larry is responsible for investments in the data and analytics and vertical applications and services sectors. He serves as a senior member of FirstMark Capital’s Investment Committee and has been directly involved in the formation of each private equity and venture capital fund established by the firm since its inception.

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Scott Galloway is a Clinical Associate Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business where he teaches brand strategy to 2nd year MBA students. Scott is also the founder of Firebrand Partners, an operational activist firm that, since 2005, has invested over $1 billion in U.S. consumer and media companies.

In 1997, he founded Red Envelope, considered the premier Internet-based branded consumer gift retailer (2007, $100mm revs.). In 1992, Scott founded Prophet, a brand strategy consultancy, which employs over 100 professionals in the United States, Europe and Asia, where he served as CEO (1992-2000) and Chairman (2000-2002). Scott was elected to the World Economic Forum’s “Global Leaders of Tomorrow”, which recognizes 100 individuals under the age of 40 “whose accomplishments have had impact on a global level.”

Scott serves on the board of directors of Eddie Bauer (Nasdaq: EBHI), The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), eco-America, and Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He received a B.A. from UCLA and an M.B.A. from UC Berkeley..

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Ellis Henican, a staff columnist for Newsday, joined FOX News Channel (FNC) as a political contributor in July of 1999. His opinion column appears in Newsday's front section every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Henican joined Newsday in 1985 as a general assignment reporter and was eventually assigned the subway column, leading the paper to a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Union Square train wreck. Henican's work has also been recognized with the Meyer Berger Award for distinguished writing about New York City, and the National Clarion Award for column writing. His articles have been published in various national magazines including The New Republic and Cosmopolitan. Henican is also a daily commentator on the Bloomberg Radio Network.

A native of Virginia, Henican received a Bachelor's degree from Hampshire College and a Master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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Kelly has been a healthy lifestyle enthusiast all of her life, growing up in a fitness-minded family. As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, Kelly continued eating many of the healthy and energizing foods that many of us abandon while in college and her habit of baking granola became something of a sensation amongst friends and classmates. Following graduation, Kelly continued to explore her interest in healthy living and athletics while working for Sports Illustrated during the Summer Olympics of 2000 and Winter Olympics of 2002. Following the Winter Olympics, at age 23, Kelly made a bold decision to bake and sell Bear Naked granola full-time and pursue a career in the natural foods industry.

Within five years, Bear Naked became the number one selling granola in the natural channel, and the brand extended into additional product lines including trail mix and cereals. Through a combination of superior product quality and innovative packaging with active lifestyle positioning, sales of Bear Naked products exceeded $50 million. In late 2007, Bear Naked was acquired by Kashi, a division of Kellogg’s Inc. Since the acquisition of Bear Naked, Kelly spends time consulting to start-up companies in the natural food space and pursuing her hobbies – namely traveling, cooking, and photography.

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Albert combines over 10 years of entrepreneurial experience with an in-depth technology background. As an entrepreneur, he has founded or co-founded five companies, including a management consulting firm (in Germany), a hosted data analytics company, a technology subsidiary for Telebanc (now E*Tradebank), an early stage investment firm, and most recently (with his wife), DailyLit, a service for reading books by email or RSS. Albert also served as the president of del.icio.us through the company's sale to Yahoo. His technology background goes back to winning the German national computer science competition at age 18. Albert graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in economics and computer science and holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology from MIT. He has managed technology projects for organizations as diverse as Tacoda (startup) and Telebanc (leading Internet bank).

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Fred Seibert

Fred Seibert makes original cartoons and television networks.

In 1998 former Hanna-Barbera Cartoons president Fred Seibert formed Frederator Studios, an independent television production company. He is the executive producer of six animated series on Nickelodeon's networks including The Fairly Oddparents, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, and Random! Cartoons and is developing animated feature films at Sony Pictures Animation and Paramount Pictures. He is the founder of Channel Frederator, Cartoon Central on the Internet, and the Creative Director of Next New Networks.

After a successful stint in radio and an award winning career as a record producer, Seibert segued into television as a director of promotions for The Movie Channel in 1980. In 1981 he was asked to help launch a new 24 hour music channel, MTV: Music Television. He took on the challenge and sought new ways to bond the network with viewers' imaginations. The result was the now famous mutating logo which is one of the most-recognized trademarks worldwide.

Seibert's decision to animate MTV's logo primarily in traditional cel animation was a conscious decision to avoid look-alike solutions and faddish designs. "I wanted us to be classic, not contemporary," he remarked years later. The results were Clio Awards for MTV and a special award from ASIFA, the international animation society, and recognition as one of eight "leaders of the new media" by Adweek magazine.

In 1983 Seibert and his producing partner Alan Goodman left MTV to form Fred/Alan Inc., the first consulting and advertising agency to introduce the concept of branding to the television industry producing for CBS, HBO, Showtime, TBS, A&E, Lifetime, WNET-TV, the Movie Channel, and MTV Networks.

In 1985, Fred/Alan's relationship with MTV Networks allowed them to preside over the remake of Nickelodeon, bringing the network from worst to first in the ratings within six months, through innovative on-air promotions, a new logo and new animation.

Later that year, Seibert and Goodman created and launched the immediately successful Nick-at-Nite for the company.

Fred/Alan specialized in youth and media services and products, for all of the MTV networks-MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick-at Nite, and Comedy Central. A separate company, Chauncey Street, was formed with Albie Hecht to produce television shows, series and specials, and together they created and produced the long running (21 years) Kids' Choice Awards for Nickelodeon. The partners received three CableACE awards.

In 1992 Seibert was named president of Hanna-Barbera. His mandate was to revitalize a studio famous for the creation of such legendary characters as The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo, and the Jetsons, but which hadn't created an original cartoon in decades.

In 1994, Hanna-Barbera, under Seibert's direction, launched the "Shorts" initiative. Animated shorts was the dominant format prior to the advent of television with the great classic characters from Mickey Mouse to Tom & Jerry making their introduction in this format. Acknowledged as the most creative period in the history of animation, Seibert sought to recreate the era with a mandate to find new talent and create new original cartoons. Literally hundreds of would-be directors pitched their cartoon ideas and the studio finally settled on 48 cartoons and signed over thirty directors.

In the fall of 1995 What A Cartoon!/World Premiere Toons debuted on the Cartoon Network with record breaking ratings in prime time. In 1996 the series garnered Hanna-Barbera's first ever Academy Award nomination (for Courage, the Cowardly Dog) and two prime time Emmy nominations. By 1997, the program could lay claim to having spawned four series based on original cartoons, including the hits The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, and Johnny Bravo. Today Frederator Studios is continuing its cartoon innovations at Nickelodeon with Oh Yeah! Cartoons! and Random! Cartoons, cartoon laboratories that have introduced six television series and three feature films.

In November 2005, Frederator Studios stepped ahead once again, creating the first cartoon network especially for portable digital devices. Channel Frederator, Cartoon Central on the Internet, quickly became the online animation network leader, as the founding network of the leading new media television company Next New Networks.

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Nancy Lublin is the CEO of DoSomething.org, a national not-for-profit organization that supports and celebrates young people trying to change the world.  One of its major goals it to create a culture of volunteer work among youth that will reach two million young people by 2011, through the web, television, and pop culture.  Under Nancy’s leadership, DoSomething.org has grown to one of the largest – and most financially sound --youth organizations in America, reaching over 11 million young people a year.

Before taking over the helm at DoSomething.org, Nancy founded Dress for Success in 1996 with a $5,000 inheritance from her immigrant great-grandfather.  She built Dress for Success New York into a vibrant organization that assisted women from all over greater New York. Within just four years, Dress for Success expanded to more than 70 cities in four countries and became a beloved brand with more than 100 employees worldwide.  Nancy was featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes, the Today Show and The New York Times, and appeared on the cover of Working Woman Magazine.  After six years, Nancy left Dress for Success, believing that founders should create organizations that are sustainable, and then move on.

Nancy received her BA from Brown University, an M.Litt. from Oxford University where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a law degree from NYU where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar.  She writes a column for Fast Company magazine and Huffington Post. Nancy is also an adjunct at NYU and Yale.  Nancy is also extremely proud to have been selected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum . She and her husband, entrepreneur Jason Diaz, have two children.  Her newest book, Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business, will be released this June by Portfolio, the business division of Penguin.  The book focuses on lessons from the not-for-profit sector that can be used in the for-profit world.

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Jeffrey Bussgang, a successful serial entrepreneur for ten years, is now a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm with more than $500 million under management. Before becoming a venture capitalist, he was the cofounder of Upromise, the largest private source of college funding contributions in the United States. He serves as an entrepreneur in residence at Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA with highest distinction. Bussgang writes a popular blog, www.SeeingBothSides.com, and lives in the Boston area with his wife and three children. Click here to see Jeff’s complete bio.

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Aaron Cohen has 12 years of Internet Media experience in consumer Internet as senior executive. He has completed 13 transactions involving the buying, selling or capitalizing of early-stage Internet media companies. He has founded or co-founded 4 startups, and served as CEO for two companies as a non-founder. In the aggregate, Aaron’s companies have generated nearly $100mm for shareholders.

Starting in March of 2009, Aaron became the CEO of anyClip.com, a Jerusalem and New York-based media and technology company giving consumers and developers access to iconic moments from a rich library of licensed movies.

Aaron became the CEO of MenuPages in February of 2008 As CEO, Aaron expanded relationships with MenuPages partners including CitySearch and Tribune Company, and completed a sale of the company to Wasserstein Media’s New York Magazine in July of 2008.

Before MenuPages, Aaron was the CEO of Bolt Media and lead the company for 3 and half years during which he boosted revenue by 100% and repositioned the company as a leading video-based community. During Aaron’s tenure at Bolt, unique visitors grew from 1mm to 6mm per month. The company’s advertisers included the leading youth marketers in virtually every advertising category such as Verizon Wireless, Coca Cola, Nike, and Wendy’s. Aaron sold the company to the GOFISH corporation (GOFH), a youth advertising network in August of 2007.

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As DoSomething.org’s CTO, George manages all online and mobile communication systems for DoSomething.org. Under his leadership, the organization has become an innovator in social media, mobile technologies and cause. During his 4 years at DoSomething.org, he oversaw the complete overhaul of the site (cms, architecture, skin, etc) in 2008, landing a People’s Choice Webby Award in the Youth category the following year.

He is a frequent speaker on not-for-profit tech issues at forums including the Google Grants Conference, U.N. Youth Summit, NonProfit Coordinating Committee NY, National Conference on Volunteering and Service, National Red Cross Conference for Volunteers, and as a guest lecturer at NYU and NYIT. George is also a featured contributor for the Huffington Post Impact section (HuffingtonPost.com/george-weiner).

Originally from Brooklyn, George holds a BA in from the University of Pennsylvania and also took classes at the Wharton School. In addition to his work at DoSomething.org, George has done consulting for various not-for-profits and companies to guide their online strategy and site development.

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