SEPTEMBER 9 - 13
BOSTON, MA & VIRTUAL
INTRODUCING OUR TRACK MENTORS FOR:
Leveling-Up the
Startup Boston Week Content
These movers and shakers are supporting the Startup Boston Week Programming Team and the startup community. This group of incredible folks is supporting our team by helping us create high-quality sessions with influential speakers during SBW2024. It truly takes a community to create a conference designated to supporting, educating and celebrating the startup community.
Meet the SBW2024 Track Mentors
Anuj is the author of Growth Hacking for Dummies (Wiley & Sons).
He currently consultings with startups, from seed to Series B stages, to help them grow fast. He teaches a class on how to grow businesses at Northeastern University in Boston and works with Techstars, Boston as an EIR to help startups. He also mentors early teams at Harvard Innovation Lab and First Round Fast Track, among other places, helping them overcome early challenges.
Before this, Anuj led a team at The Predictive Index, where he was responsible for the site that successfully launched the talent optimization category. He also worked at GrowthHackers as the Director of Engagement and Analytics, where he grew it into the biggest growth community for growth and a revenue generating business, working with Sean Ellis,the godfather of growth hacking.
Sales and Marketing Track Mentor
Anuj Adhiya
Author
Growth Hacking for Dummies
Brian Denenberg is the creator of the Agile Sales Method ™, Co-Founder of Sales Hunters Inc and an Adjunct Professor at the Brandeis University Heller School of Business – Our Generation Speaks program.
He has been part of multiple founding teams, a 6 time founder and has over 25 years of senior sales experience. He has held sales leadership roles at early-stage companies that were acquired by Thomson Reuters, Hewlett Packard, Business Week, Quadient, and Yellow Media.
He has extensive experience building direct, channel, and inside sales teams. In addition to working with over 100 early stage companies, he has advised over 50 multinational companies on their regional or global channel sales strategies. This has included working directly with partners of major IT vendors to better plan their Go-To-Market strategies.
Sales and Marketing Track Mentor
Brian Denenberg
Founder
Agile Sales Method
Daniel Acheampong is a co-founder and General Partner at Visible Hands, an early-stage investment firm with a virtual-first accelerator on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders. At the earliest stages of company-building, we provide meaningful funding, personalized support, and social capital, helping our founders build exceptional technology startups.
He received a dual Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School and Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to graduate school, Daniel was an associate at Summit Partners. Previously, he was a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs.
Investor Track Mentor
Daniel Acheampong
General Partner
Visible Hands
David has held operating roles at 6 internet/mobile startups that raised $150m and acquired for $750m, and he has invested in 100 companies as an angel investor. He was previously the CEO of Gradifi (E*TRADE), EIR at Harvard Business School, and Director of the Babson Summer Venture Program.
David played product and marketing roles at 5 other Boston-based startups. He led PayPal Boston, co-founded the Start Tank innovation space, and held roles at Tripadvisor (IAC), m-Qube (Verisign), edocs (Siebel), SnapMyLife (Exclaim Mobility), and Goldman Sachs.
As a leader in the entrepreneurship community, he evangelizes startups, talent, and the Boston tech ecosystem. Awards include The Boston Globe's Tech Power Players 50, Boston Business Journal's Power 50: Most Influential Bostonians, BostInno’s 50 on Fire: Education Winner / Investment Winner / Tech Finalist, Finalist for NEVY Angel of the Year and Startup Boston Community Builder of the Year.
Investor Track Mentor
David Chang
GM, Expert Network
Hunt Club
Stuti Bhargava is a pioneer in Customer Success, boasting a two-decade journey marked by impactful leadership. With a niche in fostering global startups, Stuti excels in building teams that redefine customer experiences. As Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO) at OneSpan, a leading public cybersecurity company, she shapes end-to-end journeys, amplifying the customer voice. Stuti's insights resonate beyond her role — a sought-after speaker and startup advisor, she's a catalyst for excellence. Her recent EMBA from MIT Sloan underscores her commitment to growth.
Stuti's imprint shines through her tenure at BitSight, ImmersiveLabs and Actifio, where she pioneered Customer Success functions. Her 20+ years of tech experience span startups to public sectors. Beyond her achievements, Stuti's zest for exploration finds expression in global travels with her family, capturing diverse cultures and cuisines. Stuti Bhargava's legacy is one of leadership, unwavering commitment, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Customer Success and Support Track Mentor
Stuti Bhargava
Chief Customer Officer
OneSpan
Sean MacPherson is a customer success leader passionate about helping businesses succeed. He has over ten years of experience in sales, customer service, and team management and a proven track record of success in driving growth and retention.
Sean is currently the Director of Customer Success at Fleetio and is responsible for building and managing a team of customer success professionals. He is also a Track and Field Coach and enjoys mentoring and developing others.
Customer Success and Support Track Mentor
Sean MacPherson
Director of Customer Success
Fleetio
Raj is presently GM, Sales Enablement Platform at AWS. He was previously at Snap, Inc., who in 2021 acquired his startup Demand Sage, a sales enablement platform for small businesses.
In 2009, Raj cofounded Localytics, a leading mobile analytics and messaging platform. Over 8-1/2 years as CEO, the company grew to $25M in ARR profitability. Localytics was acquired in 2020.
Before this, Raj worked as a management consultant with Bain & Company and Adventis, where his projects included developing the iPhone business model and building Disney Mobile Japan.
Product and Design Track Mentor
Raj Aggarwal
GM of GenAI
Amazon Web Services
Jordyn Bonds is the Director of Product Strategy at thoughtbot, where she helps clients of all shapes and sizes bring new software products to market. Prior to that, Jordyn as the co-founder of two startups and was the first head of product at two others. She spent the first decade of her career as a front-end engineer.
Product and Design Track Mentor
Jordyn Bonds
Director of Product Strategy
thoughtbot
Dr. Chaim Letwin’s primary research interests focus on the processes through which entrepreneurs obtain capital through various funding mechanisms and how these processes differ based on personal attributes of the entrepreneur and biases that funders hold. His recent work includes an analysis of implicit funder bias and how such bias can benefit female entrepreneurs in crowdfunding.
Chaim has also applied his interest in crowdfunding to the classroom and co-created one of the first live crowdfunding classes in the nation. He currently holds the Carol Sawyer Parks Endowed Chair for Entrepreneurial Studies and is the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Academic Programs for Entrepreneurship.
Student Track Mentor
Chaim Letwin
Carol Sawyer Parks Endowed Chair, Associate Chair, Entrepreneurship, Associate Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship
Suffolk University
Diana oversees all operational, people, and culture aspects of Indico Data, a venture-back AI start-up headquartered in Boston. She is passionate about building values driven cultures that scale and under her leadership, the company has won various Best Place to Work and culture awards. She helped found Indico Data out of Babson College where she studied technology, design and entrepreneurship. Along with her co-founders she was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Enterprise Technology in 2022. In her free time she enjoys advising, mentoring and angel investing in early stage start ups.
Student Track Mentor
Diana Yuan
SVP of People & Operations, Co-Founder
Indico Data
Christine Ferrusi Ross is a Product Marketing Director at Akamai, where she leads go-to-market messaging for the Application Security portfolio, including Akamai Account Protector and Akamai Bot Manager. Prior to Akamai, she worked with blockchain and security startups on product/market fit and positioning. She also spent many years as an industry analyst helping organizations buy and manage emerging technologies and services.
Startup Curious Track Mentor
Christine Ferrusi Ross
Director, Product Marketing
Akamai Technologies
Ben is a lawyer with 20+ years of experience helping entrepreneurs launch and grow businesses, and helping investors raise and deploy capital. He has been an active member of the Boston startup ecosystem throughout his career and is a huge fan and supporter of Startup Boston Week.
Ben serves as outside general counsel for many of his clients, advising company management on legal issues ranging from day-to-day matters to large strategic initiatives. He also coordinates and supervises the work of experts in other practice areas when appropriate. He has extensive experience working with entrepreneurs and startups, often getting involved when a business is still in its early stages and helping guide the founders through the formative early stages of their company’s development. As counsel to investors and financial institutions, Ben helps structure and negotiate debt and equity financing transactions, including venture capital, growth capital, asset-based loans and distressed debt workouts.
Startup Curious Track Mentor
Benjamin Hron
Partner
Nelson Mullins
Sanjeev has been a software engineer at startups for 20+ years. He's had the good fortune to work with & learn from many talented colleagues, including at Boston companies such as Endeca, BitSight and Ellevation Education.
Engineering Track Mentor
Sanjeev Banerji
Head of Engineering
Waymark Care
Passionate about increasing diversity in STEM through mentorship, allyship, and intentional inclusive culture practices.
Data Track Mentor
Marc Light
Senior Principal Data Scientist
Analog Devices
Innovation-driven and quality-focused Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with a strong foundation in data-driven decision-making and a commitment to servant leadership. A proven track record of leading technical teams and shaping strategic visions in dynamic environments. Proficient in modern DevSecOps techniques, cloud-native development, building tools and platforms, and creating empowering engineering cultures.
Engineering Track Mentor
Jane Allard
Chief Technology Officer
GSK
Christina leads Rapid7's strategic people initiatives, focusing on the entire employee lifecycle. She has a leading approach to human resources and a strong commitment to recruiting stellar talent, corporate culture, and acquisition integration. Prior to joining Rapid7, Christina was the founder of People Innovations, a consulting firm focused on the creation of innovative people strategies. Her other previous positions include chief people officer at @stake (a professional services security firm she helped build that was eventually acquired by Symantec), and VP of people strategy at Sapient Corporation. She holds a B.A. in psychology from George Washington University and a M.S. in organizational administration from Boston University.
People Ops Track Mentor
Christina Luconi
Chief People Officer
Rapid7
Joyce Sidopoulos is Co-Founder and Chief of Operations at MassRobotics, the largest independent robotics hub accelerating robotics innovation and adoption. Prior experience includes 14 years of civil service with the USN’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center as Chief Scientist for Acoustic Prediction Systems, Systems & Test Engineer, and Sonar Systems Analyst. She also held senior Business Development roles and Engineering & Technical Resource Manager roles at General Dynamics and defense contractors. Joyce has served on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for AFCEA, Lexington Concord Chapter for over 20 years and has held positions including President and Chairman of the Board and served on the AFCEA International Board 2019-2021. She is currently a board member at Vecna Robotics and holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Founder Track Mentor
Joyce Sidopoulos
Founder
MassRobotics
Jinesh Patel is a 2x Founder with several patents to his name. Currently, Jinesh serves as the CoFounder and CEO at UptimeHealth, where he is spearheading groundbreaking technology to automate medical device and compliance management for healthcare providers. His work with UptimeHealth has landed him on the 2021 Forbes Next 1000 list. Prior to UptimeHealth, Jinesh designed and invented medical devices, and served as the Clinical Engineering Manager for the largest health system in Austin, TX.
Today, Jinesh is regarded as the leading expert in asset management technology and compliance automation for the outpatient and ambulatory markets. He has a deep understanding of regulatory compliance, finance, and best practices for medical equipment management. Jinesh holds his MBA and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Founder Track Mentor
Jinesh Patel
Founder
UptimeHealth