Momentum

Rick Devos: Momentum Founder; Rick is an entrepreneur and the founder of a myriad of companies working to create conversations and bring simple solutions to seemingly large cultural problems in the tradition of West Michigan’s lean process philosophy. He is especially interested in exploring crowd-sourcing and decentralizing ideas. Momentum joins the list of his other successful Pomegranate Studios projects, including ArtPrize, 5X5 Night, Spout.com and TheCommon.org.; Twitter

Amanda Chocko: Momentum Program Director; Amanda is the Program Director for Momentum where she is responsible for marketing, recruitment, event planning, program development and execution. Prior to working with Momentum she was the Director of Entrepreneurial Development at Lakeshore Advantage where she managed their technology business incubator, The Lakeshore Business Garden. Amanda has over 15 years of entrepreneurial, business management and event planning experience. She is a certified small business advisor and has played a key role in helping to cultivate the West Michigan startup community.; LinkedInTwitter

Mike Morin: Momentum Team Director; Mike is a serial entrepreneur with experience leading both tech and physical product start-ups. Currently, Mike serves as SVP of Business Development for Mediaguide, a technology-centric media monitoring company in Philadelphia. He is also President of SeeSpotRun.; Linkedin

John Balbach: John Balbach, MI-SBTDC; John has over 15 years of diverse business experience. He has worked in bank financing, management for early-stage technology ventures, large corporations, public-private partnerships, and the nonprofit sector.; linkedin

Shawn Crowley: Vice President, Atomic Object; Shawn Crowley is the Vice President of Atomic Object. Shawn enjoys being engaged in the coordination of design and agile development teams, product management, project management, estimation, budgeting, release planning and generally helping clients understand the power and value of an agile process.; linkedinfull bio

Carl Erickson: President & Co Founder, Atomic Object; Carl went from GVSU Professor to entrepreneur through agile software development.; linkedinfull bio

Patrick Foley: ISV Architect Evangelist at Microsoft Corporation; Patrick Foley is an ISV Architect Evangelist for Microsoft, which means he helps software companies succeed building on top of the Microsoft platform. Prior to joining Microsoft five years ago, Patrick was an independent consultant for fourteen years, helping design and build solutions for startups and established businesses in several industries, including real estate, finance, and nonprofit. Patrick also cohosts the weekly “Startup Success Podcast” with Bob Walsh.; linkedin

John Malnor: Vice President, Growth Initiatives, Steelcase; John has led teams in product development, new brand creation, repositioning existing brands and national sales forces in North America and China.; linkedin

Mike Marsiglia: Vice President, Atomic Object; Mike is committed to helping people identify the correct solution for their technical needs and targeting the most cost-effective way to ship that solution.; linkedinfull bio

Mari Martin: President, Performance Strategies Group; Mari has her radar up when it comes to team dynamics. She is skilled at helping those who need to work together accelerate the communication, collaboration and teambuilding process.; linkedin

Kevin McCurren: President at Intervention Insights and member of The Grand Angels; Kevin has 10+ years of entrepreneurial experience. His specialties include new business start-ups, small business acquisitions, management turnarounds, and new ventures.; linkedin

Garrick Pohl: Co-founder & CEO, Crayon Interface; Garrick develops practical applications based on emerging technologies and innovative business models.; linkedin

Aaron Schaap: Founder and CEO of Downstream; Aaron Schaap is founder of Downstream (Momentum Alumni), and has a broad range of startup experience. He is a highly accomplished and award-winning developer, with expertise in information architecture, interface design, accessibility and web standards deployment.; linkedinTwitter

Jody Vanderwel: President, The Grand Angels; Jody leads the Grand Angels, a band of angel investors committed to investing financial, intellectual and networking capital in the success of growing companies to enhance the economic development of West Michigan.; linkedin

Grant Carmichael: Owner, User Experience Designer ThinkXD; Grant is an interaction designer with a passion to define user experiences that 'make it easy for end users to be happy'. He is a visual thinker who thrives in a collaborative team setting and approaches interface design projects with an outside-in perspective to help ensure alignment of the end user experience with business goals, technical opportunities and brand strategy.; BlogTwitterLinkedin

Marc Weiser: Managing Director, RPM Ventures; Marc Weiser is a Founder and Managing Director of RPM Ventures, a seed and early stage IT and Physical Sciences venture fund. RPM focuses on investing in spinouts from Midwest Universities and companies supplying services and solutions to the Midwest industrial base. For RPM, he is currently involved with the boards of BountyJobs, Glyde, Mojo Motors, OpenLane, RiverGlass ShareThis,, TetraVitae, and Xtime.; Twitterlinkedin

Jason Pliml: Director of Sales & Business Development for Blue Medora; Jason Pliml is an entrepreneur, business consultant, and seasoned investor. He was previously the owner of MockDraftCentral.com, a fantasy sports company grown from infancy to acquisition, with the help of the Grand Angels. Jason currently serves as director of sales and business development for Blue Medora (http://bluemedora.com). Jason provides a range of knowledge including technology, sales & marketing, cash flow planning, and lean startup concepts.; Linkedin

John Green: Founding Partner, Locus Development; John Green is a founding partner of Locus Development, a commercial Real Estate and Asset Management Firm established in 2008. The company’s most noteworthy projects include “Thirty-Eight”, a $26 million mixed-use development; Hopson Flats, a 148-bed mixed-use student housing project; 925 Cherry development in the East Hills neighborhood which includes Brewery Vivant, a neighborhood microbrewery and pub. John is also chairman of the board of Founders Brewing Company and is responsible for the strategic direction of the company. He played an integral role in the recent expansion and growth of the brewery. Since 2007, Founders has increased production from 5,000 barrels a year to 50,000 making this one of the fastest growing breweries in the state and country. Founders was also ranked the 2nd best brewery in the world by Ratebeer.com.

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