Since graduating from college, Steve Banjamin has had three careers and is now inventing his fourth. From 1982 to 1988 he worked in the Air Freight industry, as Vice President Strategic Planning for Burlington Air Express. The best part of that job was designing a hub and spoke system, and buying the cargo airplanes needed to support that system. Much of that original design is still in place including several of the airplanes Steve purchased more than 15 years ago. In 1988 Steve and his wife, Sheri, started The Benjamin Group Inc., a public relations agency working with high technology companies. Initially the company started in Silicon Valley, but eventually spread to Orange County, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon as well. By the time the firm was sold in July 1999 it employed 115 people. Steve moved out of the company in July 2002 after the purchase agreement was complete. Steve's wife still remains with purchasing company (Weber Shandwick) as the head of their technology practice. In 1992, concurrent with being CFO of Benjamin Group, Steve got into the Customer Loyalty consulting business in partnership with Burke Inc., a Cincinnati-based market research firm. Steve was able to develop and manage significant relationships with key high tech companies like Sun Microsystems and Applied Materials. Starting in July 2002 Steve decided he wanted to work less and spend more time with his children (Megan 14.5 and Cody 12.5). He's been busy doing the things most dads wish they could do but often don't have time for. In addition to spending time with his kids, Steve is a trustee for Hillbrook School (a k through 8 school), and is helping the school raise $6.0 million to rebuild the campus. Steve Benjamin holds a Bachelors and Masters of Engineering as well as an MBA from Cornell University.
<p>Rick Berenson is the Managing Director of Venzyme. Rick has been leading organizations and developing practical, breakthrough strategy for more than twenty years. He has been CEO or COO at 9 startups, brought in by the investors on an interim basis to effect a new strategic direction. </p> <p>Rick began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a member of technical staff where he helped launch internal ventures. He then spent several years at software startups in the Boston area before joining McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. Subsequently, Rick has been CEO of ActivBiotics (early stage biotech), Banton Precision Wood Products (consumer products manufacturer), NewSphere (knowledge management software), Student.Com, Inc. (new media), and TVGrid (technology for the entertainment industry). He has also served as COO at ChannelHealth.Com (healthcare information and services), Morpace Pharma Group (medical market research), and AltiComm (telecom). Rick has been president of Alliance Management Consultants-US and, most recently, a senior partner at Monadnock Associates. </p> <p>Rick Berenson received a JD-MBA from Harvard Business and Law Schools in 1984 and is a graduate of Harvard College.</p>
<p>Lauren Berger is called "The Intern Queen" after completing 15 internships during her 4 years at college. Berger is CEO of Intern Queen Inc., an internship destination site where employers find interns and students connect with internships - all with the personal touch of "The Intern Queen". Lauren was just named #5 on BusinessWeek's Annual "Top 25 Entrepreneurs 25 and Under" List. Her website currently gets approximately 25,000 unique visitors each month. The site also features Lauren's Blog: I AM INTERN - providing internship advice for employers, students, parents, and professors. She has recently placed students with The Academy Awards, NBC Universal, Nielsen Business Media, Clear Channel, and many more.</p> <p>Lauren Berger graduated from The University of Central Florida (Orlando) in 2006.</p>
Andrew Berger has extensive experience in intellectual property litigation, licensing and commercial litigation. His clients include publishers, content creators, illustrators, filmmakers, including a 2010 Academy Award winner, advertising agencies, software developers and new media companies. He helps his clients enforce their rights when others have infringed his clients' intellectual property without permission. Andrew also assists his clients to monetize their intellectual property through licensing, joint ventures, sales and related transactions.
Further, Andrew he has extensive commercial trial experience. His clients in complex commercial litigation have included a Latin American government, the Women's Professional Tennis Association and a Channel Islands investment company. Andrew has also been teaching trial practice at Hofstra Law School for the past 15 years.
Andrew serves as a co-chair of the Copyright Subcommittee of the IP Litigation Committee of the Litigation Section of the ABA. He is also a member of the Federal Courts Committee of the New York City Bar having completed a three-year term on the Copyright Committee. Andrew also serves a mediator in the federal and state courts.
Andrew is a graduate of Cornell University and Cornell Law School.
Theresa Bergeron is the Founder and President of Thermohair, Inc. Thermohair produces goods - specifically socks - that are knitted with mohair (the fleece of angora goats). The company is located in South Mountain, Ontario - an hour's drive south of Ottawa. Theresa Bergeron holds a bachelor's degree in Life Sciences and a Master's degree in Human Nutrition.
Scott Bernstein is President of Centre Environmental Partners, a private equity firm focused on acquiring companies operating in the environmental services sector. He is also the Managing Partner of Bedford Capital, a broad-based investment and advisory firm with interests in the entertainment, leisure and real estate industries.
Bernstein has been a successful CEO and senior executive of some well known companies, including Six Flags Entertainment, Trilegiant Corp. (formerly, Cendant's Membership and Consumer Services division), and Time Warner Enterprises. He spent the early part of his career as a mergers and acquisition lawyer with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton and Garrison, one of the top law firms in the country, where he represented public and private companies in their acquisition, divestiture and financing activities.
During this interview, he shares many experiences from his professional background - many specific to his tenure within the Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. He also shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship, business planning, risk, work-life balanace and leadership.
Scott Bernstein received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. He has also received a degree in law from Fordham University.
David Berry, MD, PhD is a Principal at Flagship Ventures. He joined Flagship in 2005 while completing his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. David was previously awarded a Ph.D. through the MIT Biological Engineering Division, where he studied the biological effects of complex sugars with advisors Professor Ram Sasisekharan and Professor Robert Langer. David also did his undergraduate work at MIT, graduating in 2000 Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, with a degree in brain and cognitive sciences.
He was named as a member of the MIT Corporation - its Board of Trustees - in 2006. David's work has led to 11 peer-reviewed publications, over 20 patents and applications, as well as over twenty-five awards and honors including the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize in 2005 for invention and innovation. David was also named as the Innovator of the Year by Technology Review in its 2007 TR35 list of world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.
At Flagship, David focuses on investing in and founding early stage life science and cleantech ventures and works closely with portfolio companies BG Medicine, T2 Biosystems, Epitome Biosystems and LS9.
Skip Besthoff is a General Partner at Castile Ventures.
Besthoff has an investment focus in software-as-a-service, Internet commerce, and digital media. He led Castile's investment in Enquisite and serves on its board of directors. Castile Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that provides backing and strategic guidance to help exceptional entrepreneurs build successful technology businesses.
Prior to Castile, Besthoff was a principal at Rho Ventures. Prior to Rho, he spent seven years in a variety of strategic and technology consulting roles service emerging technology companies and Fortune 500 clients. Besthoff had a five-year tenure with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where as a manager he led large-scale systems development and integration projects.
Skip Besthoff received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and his MBA from Cornell University.
Jon Beyer is co-founder and CIO of TerraCycle.
Prior to the founding of TerraCycle, Jon worked with Professor Bill Arbaugh and Professor Jeffrey Hollingsworth of the University of Maryland and as a software engineer for Raytheon-Solipsys. He also has years of experience working as a freelance software engineer, with projects ranging from custom CRM solutions to tools for analyzing census data.
Jon Bayer graduated from Princeton University in 2005 where he majored in Computer Science with a focus in computer graphics.
Arindam Bhattacharya is a partner and managing director in BCG's New Delhi office and coleader of the firm's Global Advantage practice area. He is a core group member of the Industrial Goods and Operations practice areas and a coauthor of Globality: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything.
Before joining the firm, Bhattacharya worked in the New Delhi and London offices of A.T. Kearney. He also worked for the Tata Economic Consultancy Service and Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, U.K.
Bhattacharya earned his PhD and master's degree in manufacturing and engineering from the University of Warwick, a BA in engineering from IIT in Kharagpur, India, and an MBA from the IIM in Ahmedabad, India.
Jessica Bibliowicz is president and CEO of National Financial Partners, a New York City-based independent financial services distribution system. She signed on as CEO when the company was formed with $125 million of capital from Apollo Management LP, a leveraged buyout firm.
Jessica is a graduate of Cornell University and the daughter of Sanford I. Weill, chairman and CEO of Citigroup. She lives with her husband and two children in Metro NY.
Rodrigo Bicalho is an Associate Professor of Dairy Production Medicine in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.