2/9/2016 Meet the Business Plan Challenge judges | Miami Herald

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Meet the Business Plan Challenge judges

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COMMUNITY TRACK

Sheri Colas­Gervais is vice president of Economic Development

Our panels of judges for all three tracks include mentors, investors,executives and academic and community leaders, all with a passion forentrepreneurship

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and Urban Initiatives for the Beacon Council, Miami­Dade County’sofficial public­private economic development partnership. She servesto stimulate job creation with emphasis on small business growth inMiami­Dade, and new business investments and solutions in oururban communities. Colas­Gervais’ track record includes businessgrowth achievements in both the entrepreneurial and Fortune 500corporate sectors in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Jocelyn Cortez­Young is founder and CEO of Minerva CapitalGroup, a double bottom line impact investment firm focusing onemerging markets. Before founding Minerva, Cortez­Young’s careerincluded financial management roles with significant responsibility atCitibank, Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs. Cortez­Young is a member of the Alumni Board Council for Kellogg School ofManagement, serves as the Chapter Board Member for YoungPresidents’ Organization and Women's YPO Regional Officer for theAmericas and is a mentor for early­stage companies throughEndeavor Miami.

Kimberly Gramm is co­founder and associate vice president ofTech Runway at Florida Atlantic University, an entrepreneurshipprogram and accelerator for startups. To date, 14 launched companieshave raised $5 million­plus in startup funds and created 51 jobs. Shebegan at FAU as director of the Adams Center for Entrepreneurship inearly 2008, and in 2010 became the assistant dean of communityrelations at FAU’s College of Business. Her prior professionalexperience focused on business development, strategic marketing andglobal corporate strategy for Fortune 100 companies.

John Hall is executive director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 SmallBusinesses program at Miami Dade College. He has served as themanaging partner, president and/or CEO of five businesses, includinga venture capital fund and a publicly traded commercial bank. He wassuccessful in the turn­around of three troubled companies and servedon the strategic acquisitions team for successful mergers andacquisitions valued at over $300 million. Hall was inducted into theSouth Florida Business Hall of Fame by the Florida Council on

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Economic Education.

Melissa Krinzman is the managing partner of Krillion Ventures, a$50 million Miami­based early stage venture capital firm that activelyinvests in financial services, transportation, logistics, real estate andhealth startups. Krinzman is also the founder of Venture Architects, abusiness planning firm that has positioned early and growth stagecompanies for success in the capital­raising process since 1998.

Steven A. McKean specializes in starting and scaling technologycompanies. He is CEO of BILLSHARK, a mobile­first bill­negotiationservice. Before, he was founder of Acceller, a company he grew to 300employees before merging with Bridgevine in 2014; he is vicechairman of the combined company. He also co­founded Animusoftand advises early stage companies in team­building, culture, financingand marketing. He is on the boards of Miami Children's Hospital, theOrange Bowl Committee, YPO and the Zell Lurie EntrepreneurialInstitute.

Ivan Rapin­Smith currently leads Watsco Ventures, the startupincubator and corporate venture capital fund of Watsco Inc., a fortune1000 company headquartered in Coconut Grove. Before his currentrole, Rapin­Smith ran the startup accelerator program at the VentureHive. Before moving to Miami in 2011, Rapin­Smith co­founded andran Idealy, the first startup accelerator in Belgium, and before than heco­founded two technology startups.

Jacqueline Bueno Sousa is regional director of Florida SBDC(Small Business Development Center) at FIU. Before joining FIU,Sousa was a director with an international business­intelligence andstrategic­advisory firm, advising multinational companies withbusiness intelligence needs related to new market entries, regulatoryissues and competitive analysis. Previously, Sousa was a reporter oreditor with the Wall Street Journal, American Lawyer Media and theMiami Herald. She also launched and operated a regional mediacompany.

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Rob Strandberg is president and CEO of Enterprise DevelopmentCorp. of South Florida (EDC), a public­private partnership that assistsemerging science and technology companies. He oversees EDC’smentor program, a number of incubators, EDC conferences,administration of the New World Angels and other programs. He isexecutive director of Fusion Pointe in Naples and a board member ofseveral early­stage companies. He has been a CEO of tech companiesXytrans, PSC and DATAMAX and a director of Sawtek/Triquint,Merix/Via Systems and Quipp/ITW.

Mike Tomás is president and CEO of US Stem Cell Inc., a Sunrise­based biotech company focused on developing and commercializingstem cell therapies. Previously he spent nearly 20 years driving theevolution of IT and communications technology in the United Statesand Mexico in executive roles. An active investor, Tomás serves onboards of Rokk3r Labs, Easy Solutions and US Stem Cell (f/k/aBioheart). He chairs FIU's Pino Global Entrepreneurship Centerboard and serves on the boards of Career Source Florida, Miami DadeCollege's Idea Center and St. Thomas University’s Science andTechnology Institute.

Jimmy Athanasopoulos is the head of social responsibility for theLibra Group and chairman of the Hellenic Entrepreneurship Award,through which he has mentored and supported many startups. Beforejoining Libra, he held management positions at DNV, TycoHealthcare, TetraPak, FreeSeas and G. Bros. Matitime S.A.

FIU TRACK

Nico Berardi is managing director at Accelerated Growth Partners,an angel investor network based out of Miami. He has beencommissioned by Knight Foundation to bridge the funding gap thatMiami entrepreneurs face. In the first year, AGP has grown to 80­plusmembers and made 12 investments totaling $2.2 million. Berardi iscurrently completing his Kauffman Fellowship. Berardi was CEO —U.S. at TECHO until December 2013.

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Karlene C. Cousins is associate professor of information systemsand business analytics in the College of Business at the FloridaInternational University, where she teaches courses in technologyinnovation, information systems strategy and governance andhealthcare information law. As an attorney, entrepreneur, businessplanning and commercialization expert, she has worked withtechnology, healthcare companies and government agencies onregulatory, data privacy, intellectual property and commercializationissues.

Nina Nikolic is founder and CEO of Idea Capital, a financialconsultancy providing strategic advice, fund­raising, deal structuring,business model design and creative revenue strategy solutions. Shecurrently consults BigSur Partners, an investment management firmbased in Miami, and Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation. Shealso recently joined the Fort Lauderdale chapter of The FounderInstitute as a mentor. Before starting Idea Capital, she worked as afinancial analyst at JHS Capital.

Seema Pissaris is a professor at Florida International University’sCollege of Business. She is also an entrepreneur; she is co­founder andpartner of Jubilee Blinds in Fort Lauderdale, founder of Big TicketVideo in Toronto and founder and former CEO of Games Trader ofToronto, which went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Pissarishas a passion for social entrepreneurship and also consults for socialenterprise organizations.

Ricardo Weisz, an early­stage investor, is founder and president ofNorthvest, a consultant for the Small Business Development Center atFIU, president of the Miami Innovation Fund, and founder of InterimHealthcare of Miami. The former executive with The Walt Disney Co.launched operations in multiple countries. He has held a number ofboard positions, including Ogangi Corp., Consult A Doctor, NIP/TheWinner’s Circle and the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center atFlorida International University.

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK

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David M. Añón is vice president of marketing for eMerge Americas,overseeing global marketing and communications strategy. Beforejoining eMerge, he was vice president, general manager for WWE inLatin America, and was senior director of marketing for BlackBerry inLatin America. Additionally, Añón has held leadership roles such asvice president of marketing at The Beacon Council, director of globalmarketing at Brightstar Corp., and senior marketing communicationsmanager at Sony Latin America.

Anna Etienne helped to launch the first cohort of the GoldmanSachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at Miami Dade College,where she has been program manager for more than two years. Shehas managed the administration of the program that has connectedmore than 160 graduates from among South Florida’s local businessowners to valuable skills for growing their businesses. This isEtienne’s second year as a NFTE judge in the High School Track.

Elizabeth Oates is AVP of corporate strategy at Royal CaribbeanCruises, Ltd. Since joining the company in 2007, she has served inRevenue Management, Corporate & Capital Planning and Strategy.She also serves on Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)South Florida’s Advisory Board and on the board of the Chicago BoothAlumni Club of South Florida.

Cesar Quintero is an entrepreneur and author. After working forProcter & Gamble as a marketing manager for Latin America, hemoved to Miami to start a business and help others achieve a healthierlifestyle by founding Fit2Go, a healthy meal delivery service leveragingtechnology and logistics. He has since founded RawBar2Go, the firstlicensed food boat in Florida, and The Profit Recipe, a coaching firmfor restaurant owners to help them grow through delivery systems. Herecently published a book, The Profit Recipe.

Andrew R. Wilson is the consumer sales registered executive forBank of America Merrill Lynch for the Merrill Edge Platform,responsible for the licensed associates in Palm Beach, Broward andMiami Dade counties. He began his career in 1995 as a stockbroker in

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New York and has held several roles in the financial service industry.He joined Bank of America in 2011 after spending 10 years atJPMorgan Chase concentrating on building the investment platformacross multiple states. He is a board member of NFTE South Florida.

2/9/2016 2016 Business Plan Challenge opens for entries | Miami Herald

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2016 Business Plan Challenge opens for entries

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Entrepreneurs, it’s your time to shine

Find contest rules and everything you need to prepare your entry for our18th annual entrepreneurship contest

The deadline is March 28 for Community and FIU Tracks; April 4 for theHigh School Track

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BY NANCY DAHLBERGndahlberg@miamiherald.com

Emerging South Florida entrepreneurs, show us what you’ve got!

Today we launch our 18th Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge, ourannual celebration of South Florida innovation in one of the mostentrepreneurial regions in the nation. If you have a business idea oran operating startup that is under 2 years old, you can enter.

Sponsored by the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center at FloridaInternational University, our contest welcomes business plan entriesfrom any industry. There are three tracks — a Community Track, opento all South Floridians; an FIU Track, open to students and alumni ofthat university; and a High School Track, co­sponsored by theNetwork for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Don’t let the name of the contest scare you: We don’t want long,laboriously detailed business plans. That’s because today’s investorsin early­stage companies want to see a succinct presentation of yourconcept and how you plan to turn it into a success. So do we.

Your entry may be up to three pages, and you may attach oneadditional page for a photo, chart or diagram if you wish. Think of itas a meaty executive summary. Experts in all aspects ofentrepreneurship — serial entrepreneurs, executives, investors,advisors and academics (read their bios here onMiamiHerald.com/challenge) — will judge your short plan.

Judges will be looking at your product or service’s value to thecustomer, the market opportunity, business model, management teamand your marketing and financial strategies. Define the problem yourbusiness or business idea is solving, clearly explain your solution, andprovide tangible details as to why — and how — you can make it asuccess. See the contest rules here on MiamiHerald.com/challenge.

If you are entering the Community or FIU Tracks, your deadline is

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11:59 p.m. March 28. If you are entering the High School Track, youhave until 11:59 p.m. April 4. Entries should be sent tochallenge@MiamiHerald.com, fiuchallenge@MiamiHerald.com orhighschoolchallenge@MiamiHerald.com.

Need help? On March 7, we’ll host a free Business Plan Bootcamp,where veteran Challenge judge Melissa Krinzman, co­founder ofKrillion Ventures, and Mark Kingdon, angel investor with QuixoticVentures, will shed light on what should be in your business plan andshare tips on pitching to investors. We will also hear from a pastwinner — you don’t want to miss this event. Registerhere:businessplanbootcamp.bpt.me.

And think of MiamiHerald.com/challenge as your base throughoutthis contest, as we’ll be bringing you advice and answering yourquestions. You can email your questions tondahlberg@MiamiHerald.com (please put challenge in the subjectline). Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter.

The top six finalists in the Community and FIU Tracks will presenttheir 90­second elevator pitches for our popular weeklong videocontest in late April on MiamiHerald.com. We will also unveilsemifinalists and finalists to keep the suspense building. See lastyear’s videos here.

On May 8, in a special section of Business Monday, we will announceand profile the winners — the judge’s top three selections in each trackplus the People’s Pickwinners. DonorCommunity,PassTheNotes, MunchkinFun, AdMobilize, DeliverLean, Fitting Room Social, Raw Shorts andBaby Abuelita are just a few of the past winners in recent years — sothis year’s winners will be in good company. What do winners get?Valuable exposure in the Miami Herald (we profile the winners andcover their progress for years to come), mentorship, education andconnections. For instance, the top winner in Miami­Dade County willbe fast­tracked into the finals of the American EntrepreneurshipAward and compete for a prize up to $25,000. All finalists will receive

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a free pass to the eMerge Americasconference in April and assistancefrom the Small Business Development Center at FIU; our top threewinners in each track and People’s Pick winners will be honored at aMiami Herald luncheon in June and invited to FIU’s Hall of Famedinner in the fall. We will be rolling out more in­kind prizes in theweeks to come. Stay tuned to Miamiherald.com/challenge.

Today we look back on the entrepreneurial journeys of our 2015winners in the Community, FIU and High School Tracks. Some of ourbootstrapping startup winners are rolling along with sales; others arestill validating their concepts. Throughout the entry period, we’ll alsolook back at a few winners from the past 17 years.

May the best plans win. Good luck!