OUR MENTORS


Nancy Benovich Gilby

Nancy brings over 30+ years of software startup experience to her advisory role. She previously founded and/or led products for 13 successful startups with 8 exits so far using a unique integrated approach to company and market development, including raising 12 rounds of venture funding. Nancy led Asurion Mobile Applications as VP of Engineering, serving 100+ million users of her team’s mobile data cloud services. By the time she left, she led the team that supported Asurion mobile apps on every US carrier, every phone.  Nancy’s product development methodology has generated three case studies at the Harvard Business School. Her leadership in product strategy and development contributed to Firefly, the first online web community site, a spin-out of the MIT Media Laboratory, purchased by Microsoft; Wildfire, first voice-based personal, mobile, voice-based assistant, purchased by Orange; Component Software, as co-founder, was folded into Sun to become what is Java today; and On Technology, developers of the first group scheduling application, Meeting Maker as well as a successful public company, later purchased by Symantec. Nancy holds an M.S.E. and a B.S.E. Magna Cum Laude in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.


Tom Borg

Tom is founder and president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC. Since 1996 he has worked with CEOs, presidents and their leadership teams in over 1300 companies and organizations He works with his clients at the intersection of leadership, communication and culture. He does this through his consulting, mentoring, coaching, strategic work sessions, workshops, training and his assessment instruments.


Meri Dembrow

Meri Dembrow has been a small business consultant for over 20 years. She is currently a business consultant with the MI SBDC. Whether the business plan is for external purposes - to obtain financing, or internal purposes - to help the business develop and stick to a road map, Meri gives her clients a planned path to success by creating better business practices, increased profitability, and the attainment of company goals.  Meri received her MBA from Ross School of Business and her undergraduate degree in Maths from Purdue University, where she was also a field hockey All American.


Paul Henchey

Consultant to healthcare software companies with expertise in strategic product marketing, software product management, content marketing, software design and strategic product planning. Deep experience with healthcare analytics and business intelligence technologies. Management experience in both Fortune 20 companies and small start-ups. Successful track record in helping companies of all sizes launch new software products and grow new revenue streams. Paul is currently the President of New Enterprise Forum, an Ann Arbor-based non-profit organization whose vision is to link entrepreneurs with management expertise, joint venture partners, business services, capital, and other critical resources.


Gary Hessenaur

Gary Hessenaur, President and owner of Hessenaur Associates, C.P.A., P.C.. The firm provides a full range of accounting, tax, consulting and part time CFO services. The firm focuses on small to mid-size businesses with a specialty in start ups and technology businesses. Start up business clients have been funded through owner funds, grants, angel and VC investors. Gary is board member and business coach for the New Enterprise Forum, helps counsel businesses through various other business organizations and regular speaker at SPARK business start up programs. He is very well networked in the startup and financing community.


Bob Honeyman

Robert Honeyman has spent the past several years working as CFO for several start up entities, including Wave Aircraft Corporation, and Advanced Predictive Analytics, Inc. He has provided consulting advice, including financial modeling and business plan writing, for various individuals considering launching new businesses. From 1999 to 2010, Mr. Honeyman was Corporate Controller and then CFO for DataCore Software Corporation, a $30 million software developer located in Fort Lauderdale, FL. As Corporate Controller, he created the legal structure for DataCore¹s international presence, opening subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, and North America. As Vice President Finance, Mr. Honeyman negotiated receivables-based loan agreements that helped the company bridge and survive the tech crash of 2000-2003. As CFO, Mr. Honeyman was a member of the executive management with Board level responsibilities. Mr. Honeyman earned both a bachelor degree, with a concentration in Economics, and an MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.


David Maas

David Maas is recognized as a brand smart marketing leader and a street smart general manager with his 20-plus years at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency and five years at Federal-Mogul Motorparts. Presently, teaching as a mentor and learning as an intern, he is helping to position, build and grow early-stage businesses for rapid scale-up and equity financing in the startup communities around Detroit and Ann Arbor. David has won eight EFFIE Awards in recognition of business-building ideas that work in the marketplace and a team that works together. He has been an EFFIE judge and EFFIE moderator for both Round One and Final Round judging.


Kristine Nash-Wong

As the director of entrepreneurial services at the SPARK East Innovation Center in Ypsilanti, Kristine helps early stage startups accelerate their growth by providing strategic consulting and marketing services. A strategic planner with more than 25 years of marketing experience, Kristine specializes in helping technology companies gain and grow market share. She is passionate about helping mission-driven companies deliver scalable, sustainable solutions. Before joining SPARK, Kristine founded the consulting firm Health Sapience which provided specialized consultancy helping health service and technology providers successfully scale. In this role, Kristine honed her expertise in strategic planning, marketing communication, business development, and design services. Kristine’s previous experience in the Ann Arbor/ Ypsilanti SmartZone includes serving as marketing director for HealthMedia, an Ann Arbor-based healthcare startup that was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. She has also previously served as a judge for the Acceleration Michigan Innovation Competition and the Blue Ocean Strategy High School business competition.


Ravi Nigam

Ravi is the owner of the Law Offices of Ravi K. Nigam. He is a legal adviser and counselor for startups and small businesses assisting with company formation, business law, contracts, data privacy and security issues, immigration and business planning.


Clay Phillips

Clay Phillips is an experienced executive in the fields of open innovation, intelligence, business development, and strategy. Since 2014 he has been an innovation and growth strategy advisor for numerous startups, large companies and non-profits. He has worked with clients in the automotive, mobility, energy, IT, health care, materials, financial services, and specialty chemicals industries. Since 2018 he has served as the Mobility Technology Lead for the Michigan Small Business Development Center where he supports Michigan’s entrepreneur ecosystem and advises early-stage startups in the mobility sector. He has been an instructor for the NSF’s Midwest Innovation Corps program, mentor for GAMIC and TechStars-Detroit, and other mobility focused accelerator programs. He also serves as an Executive Advisor to SRI International.

Prior to 2014 Clay was an executive at General Motors R&D where he held leadership positions in corporate intelligence and strategy, alliance management, and innovation commercialization. He was a founding member and VP of GM’s corporate venture capital arm, GM Ventures, and led commercialization due diligence for the R&D Center’s open innovation and internal startup program. Earlier in his career he managed international product and portfolio planning and new business development initiatives.

Clay holds a BA from Trinity College and an MBA from Columbia University. In between degrees he served as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy. For fun, he plays guitar in a band, composes and records, and enjoys sailing whenever possible.

 


Arcadio (Kayo) Ramirez

Throughout his more than 20-year professional career, Arcadio Ramirez has been extensively involved with early stage companies. As an attorney with Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosti, he advised startup companies with financing, commercial, corporate governance and intellectual property issues. In financings alone, he directed projects exceeding $15M. From the practice of law, Arcadio transitioned into entrepreneurial ventures, organizing, securing financing, operating and selling two companies, including one of the first venture-funded transaction-based Internet sites, Do It Sports. Arcadio has also served on the management team and acted as a business consultant to numerous early-stage companies. In addition, Arcadio has been engaged as a management consultant by a number of Fortune 50 companies, including AT&T, Intel and Ford Motor Company. Engagements included new product development strategy, customer segmentation and restructuring, financial process re-engineering and private marketplace strategy projects. These projects saved/earned clients millions of dollars. Arcadio received his business education at the University of Michigan Business School. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School and his B.A. with highest honors from the University of Michigan. Arcadio resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has two children and is an internationally competitive triathlete.


Soosmita Sinha

Founder and President of the Health Law Institute (HLI), Geneva, Switzerland; Board member of the International Network for Health Workforce Educators (INHWE), Cyprus; Board member at New Enterprise Forum (NEF), Michigan, USA.

Soosmita’s professional experience spans public, private and non-profit sectors in different geographical locations – Nigeria, United States and the Switzerland (United Nations organizations in Geneva). She holds a Pharmacy degree from Ahmadu Bello University (Zaria, Nigeria) and a JD from University of Michigan, (Ann Arbor, USA) and is currently licensed as both a pharmacist and lawyer in Michigan, USA.

Her passion for advancing universal access to healthcare and advocating for health worker rights led her to found the Health Law Institute (HLI), Geneva, Switzerland in December 2018. She is also a board
member of the International Network for Health Workforce Educators (INHWE) to help inform about the need for legal awareness and literacy of health workers.

She has been a lifelong entrepreneur but her interest in scalable startup entrepreneurship started during her law school at the Entrepreneurship Clinic and later as coach for the New Enterprise Forum (NEF). She is currently a board member at NEF and has been privileged to coach several startups.

Creative interests go hand in hand with her more analytical endeavors and her current top three interests include painting, photography and dancing Argentine tango [Soosmita.com]


Linda Smith

A 1991 EMU accounting grad, Linda Smith has 35 plus years of personal entrepreneurial experience in farming, real estate and life science ventures.  

Linda co-founded Michigan Innovation Headquarters with her husband in 2015. Serial entrepreneurs, they launched MI-HQ, a collaborative business incubator accelerator campus which has grown to 170,000 sq. ft. of flex office, wet lab and manufacturing space as a start up venture. 

 

At 80 companies and growing, MI-HQ fosters Life sciences, Alternative Energy, Medical Device, Waste to Energy, Corporate Development and Micro Electronics together in a community environment.   MI-HQ was awarded Ann Arbor Spark Project of the Year in 2020. Over 25 years working with early stage companies has provided Linda with a unique insight into what makes a successful start up. She enjoys helping other entrepreneurs succeed.


Dan Stewart

Dan Stewart is a Detroit-based business development professional specializing in relationship building using a personal face-to-face approach, currently working as a Relationship Manager at Automation Alley. Prior to that, Dan ran a staffing firm as the Senior VP Operations. Having spent decades working in automotive engineering and manufacturing operations, Dan understands the
values that drive successful business development. He writes a frivolous blog, publishes a weekly newsletter, has numerous articles published in trade journals including SIA - The Staffing Stream, and has authored and published “Managing The MSP” - a book centered on the proposition of building successful relationships with Managed Service Providers in the contingent labor space. In addition to his extensive business development acumen, Dan is an accomplished public speaker.  Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwood University in Midland, MI.


Chao Sun

Chao’s financial expertise will be counted on to support CapStone Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries with setting strategic goals, directing operational activities for continued growth, evaluating investment opportunities and risk analysis, as well as portfolio management. Chao will also have responsibilities for entrepreneurial initiatives in Southeast Michigan, including developing strategic partnerships and alliances with local innovation hubs, universities, and venture groups.

Prior to joining CapStone, Chao was an organizational development consultant at Sensei Change Associates and the co-founder and chief financial officer of The Back Office Studio, a co-working space in Ypsilanti. As a first-generation immigrant, he came to the United States from China for his master’s degree in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development in 2010. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Chao is a part-time lecturer at the College of Business and gives back to the community through being the board member of the Neighborhood Theater Group and other efforts.