In 2016 Ryan Gnesin took a giant leap into the unknown. He left a lucrative, 11-year career at Glencore to move to the States and pursue an unexpected business venture: retail arbitrage of name-brand shoes on Amazon. From there, he and cofounder, James Stein, scaled the business to +$15m revenue—in just one year.

Brett Marz is the co-founder of BAMKO, a more than $200 million dollar company that designs, manufactures, and delivers award-winning branded merchandise for some of the world’s biggest brands.

A seven-time startup veteran and CEO and founder of Tech Ranch, a venture accelerator for companies around the world, Kevin Koym is a recognized pioneer in the startup community whose influence has been felt by over 6,500 entrepreneurs from 42+ countries.

John has consistently achieved success with more than three decades of professional experience in 5 different industries serving roles in Marketing, Sales, Consulting, Advisory & Management. His extensive experience, utilizing his interpersonal, relationship development skills, & exceptional product knowledge ability has consistently served his clients and employers well.

Aimy Steadman is a Co-Founder and COO at Future Proof Brands LLC, creators of the World’s Tastiest Portable Party Punch™ and disruptor in the beverage alcohol market that provides innovative solutions that drive incremental profit in high-growth categories. A “double-Longhorn,” Steadman earned both her B.S. in Advertising and M.B.A. in entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin.

Bonnie Kuhl is the founder of Archer & Olive, a shop and lifestyle brand for creators. With a background in graphic design and a passion for helping other creators bring their ideas to life, through community and an eye for what customers need, she’s grown Archer & Olive to a 7-figure company within 1 year!

Frank Barbella is a passionate Entrepreneur focused in the areas of Risk Management Advisory and Insurance Brokerage. His proven business acumen, acquisition experience, active leadership roles in industry association boards, coupled with his support of civic organizations makes Frank uniquely qualified to advise organizations on all aspects of leadership, organic growth, perpetuation, as well as mergers and acquisition.

Jason Crawford is a founder multiple times over. Looking for a more holistic, nature-centric approach to health and wellness that would bring balance to both mind and body, Sovereignty was created to fill a need that was largely ignored by traditional Western medicine and conventional CBD-based products.

Dr. Chodavadia spent most of his life here in Texas, aside from the years he attended college in Pennsylvania. He earned his DDS from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Dental work offers the opportunity to talk to people all day while improving their smiles and their lives.