GIST Entrepreneurs Journey To The US - 2014

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The GIST Initiative is a partnership led by the U.S. Department of State and CRDF Global.
The GIST Entrepreneurship Journey in Chicago is organized in collaboration with 1871
GIST
Entrepreneurship Journey
June 9-20, 2014 Chicago, IL & Washington, DC
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CONTENT
GIST Entrepreneurship Journey
June9-20, 2014Chicago, IL&Washington, DC
Table of Contents
23 Agenda............................................................................................4
Welcome Message U.S. Department of State................................................6
Welcome Message CRDF Global...................................................................7
GIST Initiative.................................................................................................8
1871....................................................................................................9
CRDF Global Entrepreneurship & Innovation...............................................10
GIST Entrepreneurs.....................................................................................12
Mentors, Speakers......................................................................................24
GIST Advisory Group....................................................................................31
CRDF Global GIST Team..............................................................................33
U.S. Department of State GIST Team............................................................35
1871 Team....................................................................................................36
GIST In the News.........................................................................................37
GIST Activities.............................................................................................39
GIST Partners..............................................................................................40
Notes................................................................................................41
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GIST CHICAGO JOURNEY AGENDA
GIST CHICAGO/DC JOURNEY AGENDA
Monday, June 9
9:00 - 9:30 1871 Orientation
9:30 - 11:00
Doing Business in the USA Muhammed Mekki, Founder of AstroLabs; Sebastian Villarreal, Founder of LendSquare; Aksh Gupta, Founder & CEO of Occasion
In this panel discussion, three entrepreneurs will talk about the key things they have learned about conducting business in the United States.
11:00 - 12:00 Worktime
12:00-1:00 Lunch with Karen Gordon, Founder & CEO of Lean Creative Labs
1:30 - 3:30
Business Model Canvas Karen Gordon, Founder & CEO of Lean Creative Labs
This is an interactive workshop for entrepreneurs to construct the Business Model Canvas and begin setting the strategy for the company.
3:30-5:00 Meetings with media or potential customers, funders and partners
Tuesday, June 10
9:00 - 10:30
Leadership with Chuck Templeton, Managing Director at Impact Engine and Founder, OpenTable
Chuck will share his journey as an entrepreneur and provide insights about leadership and building social ventures
10:30 - 12:00 Mentorship
1:30 - 5:00 Meetings with potential customers, funders and partners
5:00-7:00 Diaspora Roundtable - Entrepreneurs belonging to African, Asian and Middle Eastern Diaspora will meet with GIST Entrepreneurs to discuss their experience
Wednesday, June 11
9:00 - 10:30
Pitching Your Venture Carter Cast, Former CEO of Walmart.comand Venture Partner at Pritzker Group Venture Capital; Gabe Greenbaum, Vice President at Pritzker Group
Venture Capital
In this workshop Carter will share a format/structure for a pitch deck and talk about typical trip-up areas to watch out for.
1:30 - 3:00
Brand Positioning Danny Schuman President, Twist
Danny will discuss howto best identify the startups target audience and competitors while creating value
3:00-5:30 Meetings with potential customers, funders and partners
Thursday, June 12
10:00 - 1:00 Company Visit: Textura
5:00-8:00
GIST Chicago DEMO Day
5:00 5:15 Registration
5:15 5:30 Welcoming Remarks - Ovidiu Bujorean, Senior Manager, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, CRDF Global; Jonathan Margolis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Science, Space, and Health, U.S. Department of State; Howard A. Tullman, CEO, 1871
5:30 5:45 Keynote: The Entrepreneurship EcosystemPat Quinn, Governor, State of Illinois (TBC)
6:00 6:45 Panel Discussion - Position for Growth: Tech Startups FromEmerging Economies
6:45 7:15 Startup Pitches - 12 entrepreneurs pitch for 2 minutes
7:15 8:00 Reception & Startup Showcase - During the networking reception 12 entrepreneurs showcase their products and answer questions frominvestors,
seasoned entrepreneurs and other distinguished guests. Sponsored by Barnes & Thornburg LLP.
Monday, June 16
10:00-11:30
You Dont Want to Be At the Airport When Your Ship Comes In Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871
A rapid fre reviewof the six major trends at the intersection of social media and technology which are radically changing the ground rules and the ways in which
every business will reach and engage its customers fromnowon.
1:30 - 3:30
Founder Equity, Cap Tables and Dilution Bob Gillespie, Founder of InContext Solutions
We will look at various rounds of funding to understand howcapitalization tables change over time.
Tuesday, June 17
9:00 - 10:30
Intellectual Property, Trademarks and Copyrights Erin Fox, Partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP; Michael Carrillo, Partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP
The presentation will focus on IP for small businesses and start-up companies. We will discuss patents, trademarks, and copyrights. We will discuss different types of
patents and considerations for patents in the U.S. versus international markets.
10:30-12:00 Private sessions with IP lawyer
1:30 - 2:00 Departure to DC
Wednesday, June 18
7:30-9:00 Twitter Chat at the U.S. Department of State
9:00-11:00 Meetings at the U.S. Department of State
5:00-8:00
GIST Washington D.C. DEMO Day
4:00 4:30 Registration
4:30 4:45 Welcoming Remarks - John Hurley, Vice President, CRDF Global; Jonathan Margolis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Space, and Health, U.S.
Department of State
4:45 5:15 Keynote: The Entrepreneurship Journey (TBC)
5:15 6:00 Panel Discussion - Beyond the BRICs: Where Does The NewGeneration of Entrepreneurs Come From?
6:00 6:30 Startup Pitches - 11 entrepreneurs pitch for 2 minutes
6:30 7:30 Reception & Startup Showcase - During the networking reception 11 entrepreneurs showcase their products and answer questions frominvestors,
seasoned entrepreneurs and other distinguished guests.
Thursday, June 19
9:00 - 5:00 Meetings at the U.S. Department of State
Friday, June 20
12:00-6:30 The sightseeing tour of Washington D.C., Mount Vernon
Friday, June 13
10:00-1:00 Company Visit: Groupon
1:30-2:00 Worktime
2:00-3:30
Financial Modeling for Startups
Bob Gillespie, Founder of InContext Solutions
Bob will discuss ways to build startup fnancial models, including projections on revenue, expenses and proftability and exits.
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WELCOME MESSAGE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Welcome to the second Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST)
Entrepreneurship Journey. As President Obama said, We believe entrepreneurs can create
jobs that fortify relationships between countries, build global markets, and help fulll the
dreams of all who desire the freedom to make of their lives what they will.
The GIST Entrepreneurship Journey highlights alumni of the GIST initiative who create
high-impact science and technology startups. GIST implements a network of programs
and competitions worldwide to identify, train, and connect young science and technology
entrepreneurs and provide the mentorship, connections to investors, and market
exposure needed to succeed.
GIST operates at the intersection of science & technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship
WELCOME MESSAGE
CRDF GLOBAL
Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all of you and particularly to these very
special GIST transformers as they embark on this exciting GIST Entrepreneurship Journey.
Traveling to the U.S. from Jordan, Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda, Malaysia, Indonesia, and
Tunisia, these 12 innovators embody the spirit of entrepreneurship. They have overcome
obstacles great and small to develop and grow their technology startups. We are proud to
have supported these startups through the GIST Initiative, which provides valuable
opportunities for entrepreneurs to gain exposure to new ideas, concepts and the skills
necessary for entrepreneurial success.
To all the transformers, I wish you the best of luck as you market your startups and technologies! I would also like to thank
all who have supported the GIST Initiative and its work building entrepreneurial ecosystems in over 50 countries in the
Middle East, Central and South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Sincerely,
Cathleen A. Campbell
President and Chief Executive Ofcer
to empower individual innovators and to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems. GIST equips young men and women around
the world with the skills they need to be successful entrepreneurs and leaders who tum their ideas into new ventures that
transform their communities.
It is my pleasure to welcome this second inspirational and formative group who are using science and technology to address
major challenges in sectors ranging from agriculture to education to women empowerment.
Congratulations to all of the participants and best wishes on growing your ideas and startups into businesses that have strong
economic and societal impact.
Sincerely,
Judith G. Garber
Acting Assistant Secretary of State
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The GIST Entrepreneurship Journey in Chicago is organized in collaboration with 1871 The GIST Entrepreneurship Journey in Chicago is organized in collaboration with 1871
1871
Muhammad Saimum Hossain, Bangladesh Hind Hobeika, Lebanon
Founder, Instabeat
James Khoo, Malaysia
Founder, SecQMe
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240K+
GLOBAL COMMUNITY CAPITAL RAISED MENTOR NETWORK JOBS CREATED
$21M 400+ 800+
technology entrepreneurs.
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GIST TECH-I GIST BOOT CAMPS GIST TECHCONNECTS
Catherine Kiguru, Kenya
Co-founder, Ukall Ltd.
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Global competton to identfy and
support most promising technology
and science entrepreneurs
Two day in-country training
and mentoring events for
early stage startups.
Live interactve video broadcasts
linking startups with U.S. experts.
The Global Innovaton through Science and Technology (GIST) Initatve
forges links at the individual and insttutonal levels among technology
entrepreneurs, angel investors, and the marketplace to improve quality of
life through economic prosperity. The GIST Initatve builds entrepreneurial
ecosystems in over 54 countries in the Middle East, Central & South East Asia
and Sub-Saharan Africa, by identfying, coaching and funding promising
entrepreneurs through its compettons, start-up acceleraton services,
online social media platorm, and interactve mentorship programs. The GIST
Initatve is a partnership led by the U.S. Department of State and CRDF Global.
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Increasing Opportunities for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs
In the search for entrepreneurs with innovative technology ideas that can address a problem
affecting their country or region, the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST)
Initiative has implemented the GIST Tech-I Competition, which has attracted close to 200 teams
from the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South East Asia. Among them was CardioDiagnostics,
a Lebanese startup founded by Ziad Sankari. Ziad lost his father at the age of 17 to a heart attack,
which inspired him to create a medical device that monitors cardiac patients outside the hospital
around the clock. This idea earned him a top prize of the competition awarded at the Second Global
Entrepreneurship Summit on December 3-5, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. CardioDiagnostics has been
given a strong start for a global success with $20,000 in seed funding, hands-on training with
serial entrepreneurs and business mentors, global media exposure by MSNBC and Wired Magazine,
a trip to Silicon Valley and participation in the MIT Global Startup Workshop.
Transforming Technology
Transfer in Russia CRDF Global has trained more than 300 technology transfer managers and
assisted eight leading research universities with establishing technology transfer offices, which
significantly contributed to the establishment of the local innovation ecosystem. The Programs
include professional skills development seminars, workshops, academia and industry international
conferences, and site visits to the United States for technology transfer professionals. Similar
activities have strengthened the technology commercialization capabilities of more than 20 research
universities of the Russian Federation.
Accessing U.S. Markets
Since 2005, CRDF Global has implemented more than 20 U.S. travel programs for close to 90
participants. All of which represent universities, research institutes and technology companies
from Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan and collaborated with such prominent U.S. organizations
as MIT, Babson College, Garage Technology Ventures, Plug & Play Incubator, CleanTech Open and
others. Based on the scalable and highly customizable format of the Innovation U.S. travel programs
and existing cache of experience, best practices and partners, CRDF Global is able to design and
implement results-oriented and cost-effective programs that perfectly fit the objectives and needs
of a diverse range of partner organizations in emerging markets.
Building Institutional Capacity
Since 2005, CRDF Global has partnered with the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF), one of
the most successful IT-focused technology business incubators and consulting companies in the
Caucasus region, to implement its Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (STEP). With
co-funding from the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, EIF implemented more than
15 STEP activities including the Business Partnership Grant (BPG) program, Innovation Forums,
cluster seminars, business trainings for scientific community, legal and accounting seminars and
matchmaking events. Through its partnership with CRDF Global, EIF strengthened communication
channels between science and private sectors, gained broader access to the U.S. business
network and scaled up its outreach and programs to non-IT sectorsbecoming one of the focal
entrepreneurship-support organizations in Armenia and in the region.
Providing Access to Capital
The ecoFridge, a revolutionary refrigeration system used to transport perishable products, was
developed by a team of Ukrainian scientists with a U.S. business partner who participated in a CRDF
Global research and development grant competition. CRDF Global provided training and mentorship
to the team to prepare them to effectively pitch the ecoFridge at a venture forum in Los Angeles,
CA. As a result, the team obtained $2.2 million of follow-on capital investment to develop their
business, and EcoFridge is now being adopted by companies around the world who appreciate its
environmental benefits and cost efficiency.
CRDF GLOBALS IMPACT
CRDF GLOBALS IMPACT
Ziad Sankari, CardioDiagnostics
CRDF Global is a private, non-governmental organization committed to
promoting peace and prosperity through science and technology. Its innovation
and entrepreneurship-focused programs develop technology commercialization
capabilities and sustaining networks abroad. Domestically, CRDF Global helps to
create more viable investment, partnership and collaborative opportunities for
American businesses and scientists who gain access to top international research
and expertise.
Core Program Beliefs
Innovation. We believe strongly in the power of technology and innovation as drivers for
sustainable growth.
Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs transform innovation into enterprises that generate value
and create jobs. Our programs are designed with the individual in mind, as the nucleus and sole
purpose of our mission.
Strategic partnerships. We partner with like-minded local and regional organizations
and corporations to leverage our resources and capabilities to build capacity for greater impact and
avoid redundancy.
Innovation Ecosystem Development
CRDF Global believes in the bottom-up approach in building the local ecosystems and supports local
entrepreneurship initiatives by identifying leaders, existing programs and the gaps in the system.
Assisting with the formation of new technology commercialization offices and incubators
Strategic planning
Management training and educational outreach
Comprehensive programs designed to enhance entrepreneurship culture
Assisting with investment capital infrastructure development
Startup Support
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of all economies and the source of growth
and dynamism. CRDF Global offers a comprehensive suite of programs designed to nurture these
early-stage companies.
Identifying promising business opportunities, funders, partners and resources
Designing and executing acceleration programs
Comprehensive skill development training
Access to sources of funding
Technology Acceleration
CRDF Global promotes business growth by supporting students, researchers and technology
developers who believe that their product or service is viable commercially. Programs guide them
through the process of commercialization by honing their skills and helping them to grow and realize
their market potential.
Identifying intellectual property with commercial potential in universities and corporations
Hands-on training in technology transfer and intellectual property rights
Online technology commercialization courses
Technology valuation and market assessment
BUILDING ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS
INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS
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Incorporated company: Yes
Category: Real Estate
Expansion to other markets: MENA & Turkey
Previous afliated events: 1st place, 2013 GIST
Startup Boot Camp, Jordan
Hanan Khader
Founder
hanan@aqar-estate.com
@hkhader
Hanan was the technical Manager of the Microsoft
Department at Maktoob.com, which was acquired by Yahoo
in 2009. She is very active about motivating women and girls
in her country to stand for a new mission in their lives, and
to contribute in creating a brighter future for themselves
and their society. In 2013, she founded Aqar-Estate. Using
the freemium subscription model, Aqar-Estate.com helps
users buy and sell properties, nd suitable housing, and
discover the price of their property online. Today Aqar-Estate
has become the largest real estate marketplace in Jordan
and is among the top three in the MENA region. Hanan has
been selected by the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural
Affairs as a 2013 Emerging Leader in its TechWomen program.
She is one of top three Jordanian women in technology.
Aqar-Estate
@aqarestate
aqar-estate.com
JORDAN
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
Category: Enterprise Solutions
Expansion to other markets: East African Region
Previous afliated events: Best Female Entrepreneur,
2013 GIST Regional Startup Boot Camp, Tanzania
Catherine Kiguru
Chief Innovator
kate@ukall.co.ke
@kiguruc
Ukall Limited is a boutique Information
Communications Technology (ICT) Company with
a focus on business process automation. Akida is
mobile to web platform that addresses the challenges
of staff attendance verication and communication
in small to large organizations that employ mobile
workforces or deploy staff in various locations such as
Security Companies, Marketing Firms and Facilities
Management. Akida incorporates staff attendance
through facial verication, GPS and time logging. It
allows reporting and an effective and affordable way of
communicating through its reporting and alerts feature.
In addition to founding Akida, Catherine is also a core
team member of Akirachix, an organisation formed to
encourage female participation in the male dominated
ICT arena.
Akida
ukall.co.ke
KENYA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
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Category: Education
Expansion to other markets: East African Countries
Previous afliated events: 2nd Place, 2013 GIST
Tech-I Competition, Malaysia
Christopher Asego
Director of Operations and
Co-founder
Chris@enezaeducation.com
@sikriiii
In Kenya, more than 65% of students abandon school after
failing primary school. Having grown up in Kibera, the second
largest slum in Sub-Saharan African, Christophers passion in
innovation and technology stems from seeing, rst hand, the
impact of access to quality education in eradicating poverty.
He decided to dedicate himself to helping poor disadvantaged
students who lack educational resources by using mobile
phones to provide educational material. Together with Co-
Founders Toni and Kago, Eneza Education Limited seeks
to educate 50 million students in rural Africa by leveraging
simple, low-cost technology. Christopher started an impact
group of 30 students in a slum, and by mentoring two of his
team members, the impact group has grown to over 180,000
students. Revenue comes from student tools with parental
support providing pay-as-you-go hosting, testing, and VIP
tools.
Eneza Education
@EnezaEducation
enezaeducation.com
KENYA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
Category: Health
Expansion to other markets: USA & UK
Previous afliated events: Seminalist, 2011 & 2013
GIST Tech-I Competition
Anwar Almojarkesh
CEO & Founder
almojarkesh@braci.co
@AnwarMojarkesh
Many people in the world suffer from hearing impairment,
which causes a variety of problems in their lives. Braci
was made to solve these problems. It was designed and
manufactured to help users detect emergency situations and
sounds. It is a wireless and unique smartphone application
that can recognize a multitude of sounds from our daily lives.
The smart ear recognizes these sounds, and shows a picture
representing what it detects. It detects re and theft alarms
in the market and it gives users the ability to record their own
doorbell and baby crying sounds. Braci can be connected to
smart watches and mobile devices, which enable an efcient
and fast way to be notied of all situations. This product is
affordable and easy to use.
Braci Inc.
@BraciInc
braci.co
JORDAN
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
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Category: Recruitment and Jobs
Expansion to other markets: Middle East & USA
Previous afliated events: Best Female Entrepreneur
Award, 2013 GIST-Tech I Competition, Malaysia
Nermin Fawzi Sad
CO-Founder & CEO
nermeen@handasiyat.net
Nermin was ranked 47th in the 2014 100 Most Powerful Arab
Women for her achievements and impact on the region and
understands the needs and struggles of the modern Arab
woman. Her startup, Handasiyat, aims to bypass social rules
and solve the decit of local engineers through a customized
online platform. This platform supports Arab female
engineers and encourages them to use their qualications in
the market and allows them to work on their own terms. It
also aims to solve employment complexity in crisis areas in
the Arab world. Because Hadasiyat is one of the-few Arabic
businesses available to embark upon creating an-online
platform catering for this type of business, they benet from
having few direct competitors. The startup now comprises of
three full time employees on the management team.
Handasiyat
@Handasiyat
handasiyat.net
JORDAN
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
Category: Financial Services
Expansion to other markets: Sub Saharan Africa,
Asia, Middle East & South America
Previous afliated events: Honorable Mention Award,
2013 GIST Tech-I Competition, Malaysia
Alex Mwaura Muriu
CEO
alex@muriu.me
@hellomuriu
Seventy percent of employment in Africa comes from
agriculture, yet there are still continent-wide food shortages.
Farmers across the region are having trouble expanding
their businesses due to a lack of funding. Farmspace Africa
was created to ll this void and help boost the agricultural
industry in Africa. It is a mobile application where urban
middle to upper class individuals, investment groups,
and other investors can provide crowd source loans and
investments to small agricultural businesses and farmers.
The mobile and web platform allows the service to be widely
accesible by farmers and investors alike, while its crowd
funding nature is also intended to dilute risk. Alex, 27, hopes
this brand of micronance will propel Africas economies into
a future of prospertity.
Farmspace Africa
@farmspaceafrica
farmspaceafrica.com
KENYA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
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Category: Gaming
Expansion to other markets: Africa
Previous afliated events: 4
th
place at GIST Startup
Bootcamp, Tanzania
Okalany Daniel
Founder
daniel@kolastudios.com
@dokalanyi
Africa has a rich tradition of games that have been played
for generations in various societies across the continent,
however few of these games exist on the mobile platform.
Kola Studios creates and promotes mobile games based on
physical games that come from the African tradition such
as Matatu, originating in Uganda, and Karata, originating in
Kenya. Matatu is its most popular game, a two player card
game that has logged over 50,000 downloads and counting.
Revenue is generated through integrated ads Kola Studios
has four apps on the Google play store.
Kola Studios
@kolastudios
kolastudios.com
UGANDA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
Category: Recruitment and Jobs
Expansion to other markets: Latin America, Asia,
Africa, Middle East, & North America
Previous afliated events: Seminalist, 2013 GIST
Adnan Zafar Khawaja
Founder & CEO
adnan@ideacentricity.biz
@adnanzkh
Adnan is deeply passionate about creating signicant social
change. He created IdeaCentricity after being inspired by
conversations with a variety of low skilled workers expressing
the difculties of nding enough work to make ends meet.
Adnan is now the Founder & CEO of IdeaCentricity Odd
Jobbers, a convenient low-skilled labor marketplace. Workers
are alerted about opportunities over their mobile devices
based on proximity to the service request point, individual
skill set, and prior service ratings. Workers respond with
bids and are informed once users accept their service offers.
Laborers are routinely screened against certain performance
benchmarks and are provided trainings and tips to improve
their service ratings.
IdeaCentricity
ideacentricity.biz
PAKISTAN
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
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Category: Enterprise Solution
Expansion to other markets: MENA, Europe and
North America
Nizar Ben Neji
Founder and CEO
nizar.benneji@smarter-plus-plus.com
@Nizar_BN
Nizar has more than eight years of experience in the IT
industry as a computer engineer. Starting from the concept of
smarter consumers need smarter ways of communication, he
founded Smarter++, an IT company specialized in delivering
innovative B2C marketing solutions. It already offers two
products: QR++ codes and SmartCatalog. QR++ Service offers
wider data storage capacity for audio, video, images, and
texts without internet access. This product is ideal for storing
readable data and multimedia items used for marketing and
business-to-consumer relationships. SmartCatalog is an
interactive PDF catalogue allowing customers to build their
own without the need for computer skills or a computer
designer. The goal is to help businesses have more customers
and drive more sales.
Smarter++
smarter-plus-plus.com
TUNISIA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
Category: Enterprise Solution
Expansion to other markets: Asia
Previous afliated events: Participant, 2012 GIST Startup
Bootcamp, Malaysia & People Choice Award recipient,
2013 GIST Tech-I Competition, Malaysia
Alvin Chai
Co-founder
alvin@netizentesting.com
@Alvin_Chai
After working as a barrister and then at a website
optimization startup, Alvin recruited his high school friend
and co-founded Netizen Testing Private Limited. It strives to
reduce the amount of time and investment required to test
website usability and eliminate the need for consultant-run
focus groups. By crowd sourcing their testers, Netizen Testing
Private Limited provides quick and affordable on-demand
testing solutions and research services to their clients. They
offer to website owners a series of videos depicting ordinary
users sharing their thoughts aloud while using the website.
As clients watch and listen to user response and behaviors
they can identify exactly when and why visitors leave the
website. Clients also receive written summaries of the
testers critiques.
Netizen Testing Limited
@NetizenTesting
netizentesting.com
MALAYSIA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
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Category: Social Network and Collaboration
Startup Boot Camp, Indonesia
Frans Setio Yuwono
Founder & CEO
fransing899@gmail.com
@fransing
Frans Yuwono has 10+ experience in IT and a passion for
communities. The idea came during his tenure as President
of the Surabaya Rotary Club where he attempted to improve
community public relations, member management, sharing
and collaborations by leveraging innovative technology.
Wakuwakuw is a social media community platform that
empowers communities with personalized webpages,
channel collaboration, event planning, newsletter and
fundraising. Ultimately, it is a platform to simplify community
organizers to manage their community and bring more
members and audiences. Under his management, the club
was elected as the best Rotary Club in the World by Rotary
International in 2012 (in the 10-25 members category),
competing against 12,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide. It
was awarded a prestigious President Citation by Rotary
International.
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
Wakuwakuw
@ wakuwakuw
wakuwakuw.com
INDONESIA
Category: Travel and Transportation
Previous afliated events: 1st Place, 2012 GIST Tech-I
Competition, UAE
Natali Ardianto
Co-founder & CTO
natali@tiket.com
@nataliardianto
Natali supports his full-time career as an entrepreneur
with 20 years of programming experience and three
successful internet startups. Tiket.com is an online travel
and entertainment gateway based in Indonesia where you
can buy ight, train, hotel, concert events and movie tickets
all in one convenient place. Their number one product is
ight booking and ticketing. They are ranked third in train
ticket transactions and have 14 methods of solving payment
problems due to Indonesias lack of a convergent payment
method. Tiket.com has become a worldwide success. Along
with winning the 2012 GIST Tech-I Competition, Tiket.com
also won rst place at the BUBU Awards in 2013, Teklom
Indigo Fellowship Award in 2012, and the ASEAN ICT Awards
that same year. Natalis site has been featured in Marketing
Magazine, Bloomberg, and Businessweek, among others.
Tiket.com
@tiket
tiket.com
INDONESIA
GIST ENTREPRENEURS
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MENTORS, SPEAKERS
Carter Cast, Clinical Associate Professor of Management, Kellogg
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/carter-cast/b/188/704
Carter received his early training in the restaurant division of PepsiCo, Inc. Carter then served as vice president
of product marketing and marketing communications at Electronic Arts, launching products like SimCity
3000and The Sims. He left to become a member of the start-up teamfor Blue Nile Inc., a Kleiner-Perkins and
Trinity Ventures backed company, the leading online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, selling in excess of
$250 million after seven years in existence. He served as the senior vice president of marketing, merchandizing,
creative and site from2002-2005 at Walmart. In 2011, Carter joined the faculty of Northwestern Universitys
Kellogg School of Management, where he is a professor teaching entrepreneurship and marketing.
MENTORS, SPEAKERS
Kurt Brasch, Patent Licensing Manager, Google
www.linkedin.com/in/kurtbrasch
Having moved to Google fromMotorola Mobility (MMI) in October, 2012, Kurt is focused on patent licensing
and also leads patent transaction strategy. His work has included the development of Googles cross licensing
strategy and he led the Google-Cisco license negotiations that successfully closed in January, 2014. Before
joining Motorolas mobile device business in 2008, Mr. Brasch created and led a start-up consulting firmfocused
on training technical managers. Before that, he was with Motorolas government business for 18 years with
experience in product marketing, international logistics, sales and finance. He holds a bachelors degree in
finance fromArizona State University and a masters in business administration fromNorthern Illinois University.
Mike Bilder, General Manager, Jellyvision Studios / You Dont Know Jack
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mike-bilder/0/729/1ba
Mike has over 15 years of game development experience ranging frommobile and social titles (Facebook) to
multimillion dollar console products (Xbox, Playstation, Wii) and emerging platforms (Amazons Fire TV). He
is currently the General Manager of Jackbox Games, Inc, creators of YOU DONT KNOWJACK, Word Puttz,
Fibbage, and many other award winning social, mobile, and console titles. Prior to Jackbox Games, Mike was the
Studio Head at Midway Games in Chicago and a Software Engineer at Motorola.
Daniela Bolzmann, Co-Founder & CMO of WeDelliver.us
www.linkedin.com/in/dbolzmann
As Co-Founder and CMO at WeDeliver, Daniela Bolzmann uses her powers to help local businesses of Chicago
growtheir sales and connect with the local community through delivery. She serves on the council for Ms.Tech,
a group dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs gain access to the resources they need most.
Joe Born, CEO, Hale Devices
www.linkedin.com/in/joeborn
Joe has decades of experience with designing, sourcing and marketing. He has brought our $300 Million worth of
consumer electronics to market, including the SkipDr. Joe is also founder of Neuros Technology, which became
a pioneer in developing open source set-top boxes for Internet television and other video and audio hardware
devices. He is an expert in hardware design, manufacturing and supply-chain management. Joe holds dozens of
patents and has brought a host of CE accessories and devices to market with hundreds of millions of dollars in
sales. Joe is passionate advocate of the power of open source and crowd-sourcing innovations and is active in
the open source community. His current venture, Hale Devices, is an Android auto accessory using the worlds
first universal speaker dock for Android with a remote.
Sean Chou, Chief Technology Officer, Fieldglass, Inc.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chousy
Sean was the first employee at Fieldglass, an award-winning cloud solution company. He has worked there
for 14 years and is currently responsible for the overall development and delivery of Fieldglass solutions
and professional services, overseeing the product development, hosting, implementation, customer care and
marketing departments. His development teamwas an early pioneer in cloud technology, with a number of
innovations that have helped define the industry. Sean has helped to build Fieldglass into the leading VMS,
receiving numerous awards and recognition fromorganizations including The Stevie Awards and the Chicago
Innovation Awards.
Erin Fox, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg
http://www.btlaw.com/erin-j-fox/
Erin is also a member of Barnes & Thornburgs Intellectual Property Department. She oversees U.S. and foreign
patent prosecution and coordinates with foreign associates to best protect her clients rights globally. She has
drafted and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in the mechanical, electro-mechanical, business method,
software and design arts. Erin was recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in 2014 for her work in
the Intellectual Property practice area. She is the committee chair for the Intellectual Property LawAssociation
of Chicago (IPLAC) CLE Committee and is active in the Chicago Bar Association, including the Alliance for
Women. Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Before entering the legal field, Erin worked as a software engineer
for a large global consulting firmand a small software firmin Chicago.
Bob Gillespie, CEO, Networking Research Group, Inc.
www.linkedin.com/pub/bob-gillespie/9/29b/3b5
Bob has over 20 years experience in consulting, technology, leadership and operations. A serial entrepreneur,
he believes the ability to build great teams is the most important factor of success. He regularly holds sessions
on Entrepreneurial Finance, Financial Modeling and Startups as part of the mentoring programs at the 1871
accelerator. He has spoken at the Business Marketing Association, the Society for Information Management, The
University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University, DePaul University, The Accelerator
Conference for Entrepreneurship and the Seed11 Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Conference among
others. He has also been interviewed on NBC-5 Chicago, CBS-2 Chicago, BBC-Discovery, CNBC and Crains
Chicago Business.
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MENTORS, SPEAKERS
Samuel Guren, Owner, Guren Capital Management, LLC
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/sam-guren/4/290/b8
Samuel started in the venture capital/private equity business in 1975, with Continental Illinois Venture
Corporation (CIVC). In 1981, Mr. Guren was recruited by WilliamBlair to co-found and manage WilliamBlair
Venture Partners. He grewthe business to six professionals during three funds. Robert Baird recruited Mr.
Guren in 1996 to manage the Baird Capital funds. From2007 to 2011, he was the Managing Director of the Hyde
Park Angels, an angel network affiliated with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Guren is a
recipient of the Stanley C. Golder Medal which acknowledges individuals who have made profound and lasting
contributions to the private equity industry in Illinois.
MENTORS, SPEAKERS
Bryan Jurewicz, Founder, GradeBeam
www.linkedin.com/in/bryanjurewicz
Bryan is a visionary entrepreneur, successful CEO and executive advisor to early stage businesses. Among
his achievements, he built the GradeBeam.comB2B Construction Communication Network, which connects
500,000+ contractors across North America. He led the company frominitial concept through a successful
acquisition and transitioned GradeBeam.cominto a division of Textura which subsequently went public (NYSE:
TXTR). Mr. Jurewicz is nowfocused on helping companies execute strategies to accelerate growth, secure
funding and achieve shareholder value.
Corbett Kull, Co-Founder, 640 Labs
www.linkedin.com/in/corbettkull
Prior to founding 640 Labs, Corbett ran worldwide sales and business development for PacketVideo. While at
PacketVideo, he ran a sales organization of 20 people and was responsible for revenues of $70mper year. His
teamwas responsible for sales to Verizon, AT&T, Cisco, Orange, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, and Hewlett Packard.
Corbett started his career at Motorola working on signal processing software for satellite communications. He
earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering fromRose-Hulman Institute of Technology and his MBA in Marketing
fromthe Stuart School of Business at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Eric Lunt, Co-founder & CTO, BrightTag
http://about.me/elunt
Eric currently serves as CTO of BrightTag, a global leader in real-time cloud-based marketing technologies based
in Chicago. Prior to joining BrightTag, he was co-founder and CTO of FeedBurner, which Google acquired in 2007.
After the acquisition, he remained at Google in a senior technology role for two years. Prior to FeedBurner, Eric
co-founded and served as CTO at Spyonit.com(acquired by 724 Solutions), served as lead technical architect at
Digital Knowledge Assets, and helped to lead the application architecture teamin Accentures next generation
technology group known as Project Eagle. In addition to his work at BrightTag, Eric is a senior technology
advisor to Twitter and was recognized as one of Crains Tech 25 for his contributions to drive technology growth
in Chicago.
Karen Gordon, Founder & CEO, Lean Creative labs
http://linkd.in/gordonkaren
Karen has been an advisor for over 14 years at i.c. Stars, project-based learning and full-immersion teaching to
provide an opportunity for participants to develop skills in business and digital technology. In 2013, she founded
Lean Creative Labs, which provides workshops and consulting services that enable individuals and teams to
knowingly and consistently increase their economic contributions. They do this by developing an individuals
and/or teams creative and innovative mindset and skills. She is also a mentor and advisor at 1871, Chicagos
epicenter for digital startups. Karen has a BBA in Marketing fromGeorge Washington University and has
attended NewYork Universitys Masters programin Interactive Telecommunications.
Gabe Greenbaum, Vice President, Pritzker Group Venture Capital
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-heinen/13/948/757
Gabe joined Pritzker Group Venture Capital in 2012. He has been involved in the financing, strategy and
operations of various technology, energy/clean-technology and business service companies over the past 13
years. Previously, Gabe worked as an investor with OCA Ventures, where he focused on early stage consumer
IT, B2B, and SaaS investments. Prior to that, he was a consultant with AlixPartners, working on large scale
operational and financial restructurings. Gabe co-founded StudentSpace LLC, a profitable, Chicago-based lead
generation and brokerage group focused on the student housing market and, more recently, Storeplacer, an
agile e-commerce Platformas a Service business. He is a founding member of the non-profit board of Chicago
Professionals for Youth (CPY) and is a member of Indego Africa.
Paul Heinen, SVP, Vornado Realty Trust
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-heinen/13/948/757
Vornado owns and manages over 100 million square feet of properties. Paul oversees office leasing for Vornado
properties in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Previously, Paul was Head of Asset Management at The
John Buck Company for over 13 years, Vice President of Real Estate Services for Cain Brothers & Company, Inc.,
and Vice President of Development for the Koll Company.
Aksh Gupta, Founder & CEO, Occasion
http://www.linkedin.com/in/akshgupta
Aksh believes that there is no e-commerce, its just commerce. There is no e-marketing, its just marketing.
Technology is nowa fundamental part of everything we do. He has been building tech tools for the small
business and co-founded Ocassion, an application that lets merchants accept bookings on their websites in under
5 minutes. Businesses simply create listings and add themto their websites. By pasting just two lines of code,
merchants can enable their customers to book online. Occasion is online booking made simple.
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MENTORS, SPEAKERS
MENTORS, SPEAKERS
Muhammed Mekki, Founding Partner, AstroLabs
https://ae.linkedin.com/in/mmekki
Muhammed caught the entrepreneurial bug while studying for his MBA at Stanford University and working
with the founding teamof a venture-backed Silicon Valley tech startup. As an Iraqi-American, he has always
been interested in bridging between the US and the Middle East to encourage a mutually beneficial exchange of
people and ideas. In 2011, Muhammed co-founded Namshi with Louis and served as Managing Director fromits
inception until 2013. He developed deep expertise in operations, managing a teamof over 40 professionals in
logistics, production, and customer service. Muhammed is a former McKinsey consultant, serving clients across
the GCC, and was featured in Gulf Business among Arabias most powerful 30 Under 30.
Julian Miller, Co-founder, Learnmetrics
https://www.linkedin.com/in/millerjulian
Julian is a former high school teacher and department head turned technologist. After leaving the classroom,
he spent a fewyears as a teaching artist and curriculumconsultant before going to work for companies like
HP, SunTime Media, Canon Camera, Barnes and Noble and more. Julian is obsessed with creating experience
as a means to take branding beyond the page. He is nowthe co-founder of Learnmetrics, a big data analytics
company for education to increase the capacity and opportunities for student success. His areas of expertise
include education & edtech, front-end web development and design.
Jamie Migdal, CEO & Founder, FetchFind
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiedamatomigdal
Jamie Migdal is a serial entrepreneur with 18 years of experience as a Founder/CEO. Having successfully
built three companies within the pet industry space, she is considered an expert across all aspects of the pet
services industry, including business development, client services, marketing, and management. Her fourth and
current startup, FetchFind, is a digital company dedicated to further professionalizing the pet care industry
via technology and education. Jamie is committed to participating in the business community, particularly as it
relates to supporting fellowentrepreneurs.
Shachar Schiff, Founder, Bad Testing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shacharschiff
After spending 14 years delivering dynamic, results-oriented testing solutions for marketing, Internet and
Broadcast Media industries, Shachar founded BAD TESTING, a company that helps you manage risks associated
with technology changes. It optimizes the performance of all processes fromstart to finish and delivers
immediate and impactful contributions clients. His first job was as a systems operator at AOL. He has also played
an active role frominception to delivery on projects for companies like Cadillac, Cherokee Casinos, Chicago
Bears, Kelloggs, Levi Strauss & Co., NewYork Times, Philip Morris, Professional Golfers Association of America
(PGA), and Procter & Gamble Co.
Andy Sabin, Ph.D., Founder& Managing Member, Ear Machine
www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-sabin/18/365/853
Andy is the Founder and Managing Member at Ear Machine. Ear Machine works to improve the user experience
of hearing assistance devices via smart phones and tablets. It is funded by the National Institutes of Health to
use big data to help people personalize the sound of their hearing aids. Prior to founding Ear Machine, Andy
completed a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders fromNorthwestern University. Andy has also
worked extensively in music production.
Sonal Mane, Startup Portfolio Manager, Microsoft & Microsoft Ventures
http://sonalmane.com/about/
Sonal is a Startup Portfolio Manager at Microsoft based in Chicago, IL working with incubators like TechStars
Chicago and Catapult, places like 1871 and TechNexus, and other major Chicago-area institutions like Built In
Chicago. She is involved in US- and region-wide startup efforts like Silicon Prairie News, CIW, TechCocktail
and SxSWand manages Microsofts partnerships across Midwest and Heartland. Sonal has over eight years of
experience in product management leading cross-organization initiatives across Windows, Office and Bing while
managing multidisciplinary fast-paced teams.
Dan Ratner, Co-founder & Executive Chairman, Public Good Software
http://danratner.com/speaking/
Dan is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Public Good Software. Prior to PGS he was Director of
Development, helping to build the technology teamfor President Obamas 2012 re-election campaign. Before
the campaign, Dan served as Co-Founder and COO/CTO at Sittercity, the nations largest service dedicated to
helping parents find quality childcare online. In addition to his startup and campaign work, Dan is on the boards
of Open Books, a Chicago literacy organization, and FulcrumPoint NewMusic Project. When not working, he
loves to write and has published two non-fiction books on nano-technology and is working on an upcoming
novel.
Simeon Schnapper, CEO and co-founder, Youtopia
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeonschnapper
Simeon is an actor and producer known for his movies Dot and Neo Ned. He co-founded Youtopia, a student
engagement platformthat provides instant access to plug-and-play gamification tools (points, badges, and
leaderboards) that incentivizes students to become more engaged in their school and their community. This
venture started as a fake startup to make a movie about creating a company. After winning a fewstartup
competitions, the venture became a reality with the goal of bringing and documenting its growth all the way to
becoming an IPO.
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MENTORS, SPEAKERS
H.R.H. Prince Saud Bin Khalid Al-Faisal, Deputy Governor for Investment Affairs
HRH Prince Saud K Al-Faisal heads the Investment Affairs department, which is responsible for managing the
investment environment and competitiveness agenda of Saudi Arabia. He has been the President of the National
Competitiveness Center since 2010 and is on the board of Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON), King
Faisal Foundation, the Global Federation of Competitive Councils, and several other government commissions
and regional investment councils. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst with Saudi Aramco.
Nolan Bushnell, Founder, Atari Corporation, Chuck E. Cheese Pizza and Brainrush
Nolan Bushnell is best known as the founder of Atari Corporation and Chuck E. Cheeses Pizza Time Theater.
Nolan is passionate about enhancing and improving the educational process by integrating the latest in brain
science, and truly enjoys motivating and inspiring others with his views on entrepreneurship, creativity,
innovation and education. Currently, he is devoting his talents to fixing education with his newcompany,
Brainrush, which uses video game metrics to addict learners to academic subjects; his beta software is teaching
academic subjects with over 90%retention.
Rashid Al Ballaa, CEO, National Net Ventures (N2V)
Rashid Al Ballaa is the founder of N2V, one of the largest internet holding companies in the MENA region that
invests capital in web ventures and offers essential infrastructure services to help accelerate their growth. He
is also a board member of National Technology Group (NTG), the regions largest ICT conglomerate and key
provider of financial technology and services. Before N2V, Rashid spearheaded regional business development
efforts of Mubasher, the first e-trading solution in the MENA region and founded Direct Broker for Financial
Services (DBFS).
GIST ADVISORY GROUP
Dr. Pat Dinneen, Managing Director, Siguler Guff & Company
Dr. Pat Dinneen has focused on emerging markets for most of her 36-year career with responsibilities in due
diligence, selection and monitoring of funds and co-investments, performance benchmarking, research, and
client advisory work. In her current position at Siguler Guff & Company, which she began in 2004, Dr. Dineen
manages their $2 billion BRIC private equity investments. Prior to that, she worked with Cambridge Associates,
British Telecommunications (BT), and Hughes Communication, expanding expand their business ventures into
emerging European and Asian markets.
Sebastian Villarreal, Founder, LendSquare
www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianvillarreal
LendSquare provides small businesses with an alternative path for financing. Instead of going to a traditional
bank, small businesses can use LendSquare to borrowfromcustomers, suppliers, and members of their extended
social network. Through LendSquare, small businesses find financing at an appropriate interest rate, individuals
invest transparently and profitably, and community bonds are strengthened. LendSquares lending platform
is aimed at existing small businesses that need funds to grow. LendSquare uses local knowledge to create
investment opportunities that are overlooked by traditional banking services.
Chuck Templeton, Managing Director, Impact Engine and Founder, OpenTable
www.linkedin.com/in/ctemp
Chuck is passionate about early stage and emerging companies, and is focused on using business principles
to find solutions to the worlds most pressing problems. He took his first big step as an entrepreneur in San
Francisco when he founded OpenTable, which went public on the NASDAQ in May of 2009 (OPEN). While
CEO, he recruited and hired the first management team, obtained and allocated company resources, led the
business and product strategy, and carefully crafted a highly dedicated culture. OpenTable is the global leader in
restaurant reservations with customers in all 50 states and more than a dozen countries.
JimSpinello, President & CEO, Birdsong Ventures
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jim-spinello/0/17a/b0b
Birdsong Ventures is a collective of Entrepreneurs, Angels, Advisors, Mentors, Marketers and Activists
focused on introducing brands to disruptive technology and investing in seed stage companies specifically in
the consumer internet, SoLoMo and second screen digital entertainment verticals. Our members have lived in
the trenches of the corporate brand and entrepreneurial communities for years. With that experience weve
refined the art of delivering innovative results to our partners with a focus on relevance as the key to return on
investment.
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CRDF GLOBAL GIST TEAM
NATALIA PIPIA
Associate Director, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, CRDF Global - @NataliaPIpia
www.linkedin.com/in/nataliapipia
Natalia Pipia develops and oversees Entrepreneurship & Innovation Programs at CRDF Global. She expands and
generates newopportunities with the private sector, foundations, and international organizations that share
CRDF Globals mission of advancing technology entrepreneurship in emerging economies. A critical part of her
current position is developing vision and outreach strategies as well as overseeing a portfolio of programs that
source and provide support to tech companies. She executes several programs, including GIST and VentureOut
Initiative, that support hundreds of early stage entrepreneurs in the Middle East, Africa, Eurasia, South East
Asia, and the Caribbean regions by providing education, technical skills, seed funding, and U.S. market access to
entrepreneurs. Natalia advises on policy and programs that promote all aspects of entrepreneurial ecosystem
building. She holds a M.A. in International Relations fromthe Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.
YURITZI ACOSTA
Associate Program Manager, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, CRDF Global
www.linkedin.com/in/yuritziacosta/
Yuritzi Acosta has over five years of experience in international programmanagement. For the last three years,
she has been actively engaged in implementing programs focused on entrepreneurship support and working
with a diverse group of entrepreneurs and startups fromall over the world. She has helped develop a network
of entrepreneurs, angel and venture investors, incubators, business accelerators, universities and other
stakeholders to support these aspiring entrepreneurs. She has coordinated a number of programs funded by
local and international agencies, and has lived in countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
OVIDIU BUJOREAN
Senior Manager, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, CRDF Global @ovidiubujorean
www.linkedin.com/in/bujorean
Ovidiu Bujorean built a network of global partnerships with likeminded organizations such as MIT Enterprise
Forum, Startup Malaysia, TOBB/ Tepav, Infodev and Microsoft as well as attracted the support of globally
recognized entrepreneurs and investors such as Jeff Hoffman cofounder and former CEO of Priceline, Nolan
Bushnell Co-founder of Atari and Ali Sabanc, Chairman of Pegasus Airlines. He was Senior Associate at Rudyard
Partners, a private equity firmfocused on investing in consumer technologies. Ovidiu founded LEADERS, an
organization that impacted the lives of 10K+ young leaders and entrepreneurs in Romania and Southern-Eastern
Europe. Ovidiu is a graduate of MIT Sloan (MBA) and Harvard Kennedy School (MPA).
June9-20, 2014Chicago, IL&Washington, DC The GIST Initiative is a partnership led by the U.S. Department of State and CRDF Global.
Ali Ismail Sabanci, Chairman and Director, Pegasus Airlines
Ali I. Sabanci has built a successful career in international finance. In 2004, he joined Esas Holding Corporation
and advanced to his current position at Pegasus Airlines when it was purchased by Esas. He is a board member
of Esass partner companies Izair Corporation and Air Berlin as well as a member of TYD, TSIAD, ISO and TAIK.
Since 2009, Ali has also been a director of Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG and AFMUluslararasi Film
Produksiyon A.I.
Dr. Roger Wyse, Managing Director & General Partner, Burrill & Company
Dr. Roger Wyse has led the development of agriculture, nutraceuticals, health and wellness, and industrial
biotechnology projects at Burrill & Company, a leading life sciences company that manages $1 billion in
venture capital. Dr. Wyse is on the board of 11 private companies and has over 30 years of experience as an
internationally-recognized scientist and dean at two major research universities. He speaks globally about
biotechnology applications and policy in food, agricultural and bio-clean tech, and the use of venture capital as a
component of an open innovation strategy for emerging economies.
Jeff Hoffman, Co-Founder & Former CEO, Priceline.com, Founder, ColorJar
Jeff Hoffman is an accomplished entrepreneur and innovator in the fields of Internet, e-commerce, and
entertainment. Since launching his first software company while still in university, Jeff has founded, grown, and
exited a series of successful startup companies throughout his career. He dedicates significant time to mentoring
other entrepreneurs. Jeff he has presented in over 40 countries worldwide and can be seen on Fox News, CNN,
NBC, and other major media outlets.
GIST ADVISORY GROUP
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE GIST TEAM
DR. ANNA QUIDER
GIST & Innovation Program Manager, U.S. Department of State
Dr. Anna Quider works to improve local and global communities through international cooperation by
supporting U.S. Department of State policies and programming at the intersection of science, innovation, and
diplomacy, including the GIST Initiative. Previously, Dr. Quider developed strategies to address local, national,
and international issues spanning education, science, innovation, and foreign affairs for the Office of Rep.
Russ Carnahan, U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Quider is an astrophysicist who regularly engages broad
audiences on topics including astronomy, professional development, and policy.
MS. KATHRYN PHARR
Science, Technology & Innovation Program Manager, U.S. Department of State
Ms. Kathryn Pharr, PMP, manages programs that enhance the impact of science, technology, and innovation
to solve global and local challenges, including the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST)
initiative. Previously, Ms. Pharr used her chemistry masters degree to help a start-up sustainable natural care
company receive a worldwide exclusive patent fromthe U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has also worked
with USAID in Egypt, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Indonesia.
DR. SARA KLUCKING
Global Engagement Team Lead, U.S. Department of State
Sara Klucking came to the U.S. Department of State fromthe Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security where she managed a diverse S&T portfolio of risk analytics, simulation
modeling, and health security projects aimed at supporting science based decision making in health security
and counterterrorismprograminvestments in DHS and the broader homeland security enterprise. Her federal
service began through an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship and included a year serving in the
U.S. House of Representatives as a Brookings Institution Legis Congressional Fellow.
DR. JONATHAN MARGOLIS
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Space and Health in the Department of States Bureau
of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)
Jonathan Margolis currently oversees policies and programs in the areas of international science and
technology cooperation, space and advanced technologies, and international health and biodefense at
OES. He has had a distinguished career at the State Department working in a number of divisions. He has
also conducted courses at American University and the Foreign Service Institute on environmental policy,
negotiations, and international organizations.
CRDF GLOBAL GIST TEAM
FIDAN KARIMOVA
www.linkedin.com/in/fidankarimova
Fidan Karimova joined GIST in October 2012, focusing on GISTs media and communications efforts, as well as
implementing the GIST TechConnect live video broadcasts. Since she joined the team, GISTs social network
has seen a two-fold increase, from80K to 190K+ followers, and the live broadcasts have reached over 6,500
viewers around the globe. She has traveled extensively, including living abroad in China, Italy, and Spain and
working for the summer at the UN in Azerbaijan. Fidan has a degree in International Business and Environmental
Management and enjoys combining those two fields of interest in her work.
AMANDA GANT
www.linkedin.com/in/amandalynngant
Amanda Gant joined GIST in March 2012, working with international partners to organize startup boot camps
and virtual mentorship programs. Amanda has long had the entrepreneurship bug, selling bracelets on the beach
of her hometown since middle school, an experience that inspired her to study international development with
the hope of empowering others to realize their dreams by starting their businesses. Amanda supports her local
community by organizing the annual Glover Park Day, which showcases local area businesses and non-profits;
she also leads service-oriented ecotourismtrips to Nicaragua to promote travel and cultural exchange.
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Young entrepreneurs from NUST have made the nation proud
Pakistans Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani extended his congratulations to entrepreneurs from Pakistans National University of Science and Technology. He commended the Sahara and
Saltech teams for making it to the victory stand at an international business plan competition, titled Global Innovation through Science & Technology (GIST) -- Battle of Ideas World Cup
2011.
Read more at tiny.cc/NUST
GIST Entrepreneurs Inspire Female Small Business Owner
in Washington, DC
Mehrunisa Qayyum writes in her Small Business blog post Small Business Tips to Fight Holiday Stress, that she was encouraged by the GIST Transformers
she met at a leadership seminar held at the World Bank in Washington, DC during the US Entrepreneurship Journey. Confronted by holiday pressures as the founder of a new Middle East affairs consultancy,
she related to the insights of GIST speaker Jim Bagnola and GIST entrepreneurs in seeking innovative ways to successfully promote and build their start-ups in the crowded marketplace.
Read more at tiny.cc/duelow
Indonesian Minister: We need four million entrepreneurs
They hosted a recent conference and business plan competition to inspire, educate and cajole young people into taking the plunge. Theres a real craving for this kind of knowledge here, according to
Ovidiu Bujorean, program manager for Global Innovation through Science and Technology, the US-based agency that ran the event. Energy, drive, optimism the people Ive seen here are the ones who
can take the Indonesian economy into the new global economy of knowledge, ideas and prosperity. [Disclosure: I spoke, judged and put together a panel discussion at this event, implemented by CRDF
Global and funded by the US State Department.]
Read more at tiny.cc/GISTinFORBES
Road Trip! Founders Of YouTube, LinkedIn and Others Tackle
Brain Drain in Malaysia
Malaysia has a very young population, 65% of which is under 35, as well as the need to create jobs quickly. Hwang says entrepreneurship can create alternatives to other activities. In many cases the
government is responding to demand by the people, she says, like in Indonesia, where a grassroots movement began. The government recognized entrepreneurship to be a good cause to engage young
talent and create alternatives to other activities.She observes that the U.S. government has been promoting entrepreneurship in Muslim-dominated countries with this goal. The GIST initiative is a
partner of StartupMalaysia.org
Read more at tiny.cc/BRAINDRAIN
GIST IN THE NEWS
GIST IN THE NEWS
1871 Team
Kristin Barrett, VP, 1871
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbarrett
As a vice president at 1871, one of the largest technology incubators in the United States, Kristin helps to
manage programming and operations. Prior to 1871, Kristin ran operations for Excelerate Labs (nowTechstars
Chicago), a top-ranked technology startup accelerator, building educational programming and mentorship
relationships. Kristin also worked with startups and early-stage investments through Hyde Park Angels. Kristin
started in entrepreneurship while working on newventures and corporate strategy for Redbox. She also worked
in management consulting with A.T. Kearney, touching a variety of industries including pharmacy, logistics, and
agricultural goods. She is on the board of Northwestern Student Holdings. In her free time, Kristin is working on
her fluency in Spanish.
TomAlexander, COO, 1871
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomalexander19
As the COO of 1871, one of the largest technology incubators in the United States, Toms role includes
operations, business development, and external relations with government and media. Previously, Tom
served as deputy communications director for Chicago Mayor RahmEmanuel. Tomhas also served as a senior
communications director at the University of Chicago, a policy and communications projects director in the
Office of the Governor of Illinois, and a senior disaster analyst for the U.S. Small Business Administration
in Washington, DC. He founded a small sports newspaper and has worked as a reporter, editor and adjunct
professor of journalism.
Howard A. Tullman, CEO, 1871
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/howard-tullman/1/927/346
Howard has over 45 years of start-up, management, IPO and turn-around experience. He is the CEO of 1871,
one of the largest technology incubators in the United States, and the General Managing Partner of G2T3V,
LLC and of Chicago High Tech Investment Partners. He is a member of Mayor Emanuels Chicago NEXT and
Cultural Affairs Councils and of Governor Quinns Illinois Innovation and Arts Councils; a member of President
Preckwinkles NewMedia Council; an adjunct professor at Kellogg; and an advisor to many start-ups. Howard
is the former Chairman and CEO of Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy. Over the last 45 years, he has
successfully founded more than a dozen high-tech companies.
38
39
JORDAN
MOROCCO
ALGERIA
SENEGAL
INDONESIA
MALAYSIA
TANZANIA
TURKEY
BANGLADESH
BOOT CAMP
ARMENIA
AFGHANISTAN
ALGERIA
AZERBAIJAN
BANGLADESH
BRAZIL
COLOMBIA
ECUADOR
EGYPT
GEORGIA
GHANA
GUATEMALA
INDIA
JORDAN
KUWAIT
LEBANON
MALAYSIA
MEXICO
NIGERIA
OMAN
PAKISTAN
QATAR
SAUDI ARABIA
SENEGAL
STOCKHOLM
TUNISIA
TURKEY
USA
VENEZUELA
TECH CONNECT
TURKEY
UAE
MALAYSIA
GIST @ GES
GIST ACTIVITIES
Lebanon turns to apps to avoid growing
violence linked to Syria
Mohammad Taha, Lebanese entrepreneur and the second place winner of GIST Tech-I 2012 competition, featured for his mobile app, ma2too3a. The
crowd-sourced map app takes real-time information from its users about protests, traffic, roadblocks and classes and then feeds into the map.
Ma2too3a has been downloaded over 80,000 times.
Read more at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7fa6c9e8-13de-11e3-9289-00144feabdc0.html
SecQme joins the fight against crime in Malaysia
Meet the Coolest Next-Generation Science Entrepreneurs in MENA
At the second Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Istanbul recently, we at Wamda were tremendously inspired by the contestants in the Global Innovation through Science & Technology (GIST) Competition,
who came from all over the Middle East and North Africa to showcase their carefully-honed scientific ideas that could transform our societies.
Read more at tiny.cc/WAMDA
Heart Attack Monitor Wins US Startup Contest for Middle East
Most Middle East entrepreneurs can only dream of a startup oasis such as Californias Silicon Valley that is filled with angel investors and venture capitalists. But
a few entrepreneurs have begun receiving funding from a more unlikely source - the U.S. government. One of those entrepreneurs, Ziad Sankari, was just 17 when
he lost his father to a heart attack. Today, the Lebanese engineer is building a startup based on a medical device that can monitor cardiac patients outside the
hospital around the clock. His startup idea won a first place prize of $20,000 in the final rounds of the U.S.-sponsored GIST Tech-I Competition held in Istanbul
last December. That funding from the U.S. State Department may help Sankari and his colleague, Najwa Sahmarani, develop a business plan for their Cardio
Diagnostics startup. The competition also provided business mentoring by flying in experts from MIT and Silicon Valley. GISTech was our shortcut towards better connections and visibility and provided
us, indeed, with some cash and unmatchable opportunities to visit Silicon Valley and possibly find a collaborator there, Sankari said.
Read more at tiny.cc/msnGIST
One of the GIST Initiative ventures, SecQme from Malaysia, highlighted in a BBC news article about crime prevention in the country.
SecQme is the first mobile safety app made for Android and iPhone that allows users to ensure others are aware of their whereabouts
whenever theyre feeling unsafe.

Read more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23750925
GIST IN THE NEWS
GIST IN THE NEWS
40
41
THREE IDEAS I HAD NOT
THOUGHT OF BEFORE:
WEBSITES I HAVE TO CHECK OUT: TOP FIVE PEOPLE TO
FOLLOW UP WITH:
THINGS I FEEL INSPIRED TO
DO AFTER U.S. JOURNEY:
MOST INTERESTING IDEA I HAD:
FAVORITE QUOTES:
PRESENTATIONS I MUST
CHECK ON LATER:
PEOPLE I WANT TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER:
@
@
@
@
@
@
NOTES
GIST PARTNERS
REGIONAL
EGYPT PAKISTAN
TURKEY KENYA TANZANIA
Global Entrepreneurship Program Indonesi a
INDONESIA
SENEGAL
BANGLADESH TUNISIA ALGERIA BAHRAIN NIGERIA
MEDIA PARTNER
JORDAN MALAYSIA
42
43
NOTES
44
JOIN THE GIST NETWORK
http://tiny.cc/JoinGIST
FOLLOW US TO RECEIVE NEWS ON NEW EVENTS
HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE GIST INITIATIVE
GIST CRDF Global
1776 Wilson Blvd, 3rd Floor
Arlington, VA 22209
www.crdf.org; www.gistinitiative.org
@GISTinitiative
facebook.com/GISTinitiative
tiny.cc/LinkedInGIST
thegistinitiative.wordpress.com

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