Please set all your appointments by 12 Noon, Thu 6/1/23.

We will end registrations then, so our Experts can plan their Friday schedules.

STEPS

1. Review our roster of Experts, below
2. Click on the link below the Expert’s name to schedule an appointment
3. Make individual appointments w/ the experts you need – just ONE – or, up to a maximum of SIX
4. You’ll receive an email & a calendar invitation – w/ a Zoom link for each appointment
5. Fri June 02: at time of each appointment, click on Zoom link to meet w/ your selected Expert

NOTES

1. For most of you, a personal computer will be the best means to access your Expert meetings via Zoom; no need to download software

2. Questions? Email Neil Collins at “neil@InnovateNewAlbany.org”

Schedule up to six 30-minute meeting(s) below:

Kaylee Willis | Porter Wright
Intellectual Property (Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights)

Kaylee is an intellectual property attorney who practices in the areas of patent, trademark, copyright, biotech and technology law. She works with clients on a wide variety of technologies, including food science, chemistry, biotechnology, medical devices, consumer products, product packaging, automotive technology and electrical appliance technology.

Kaylee drafts and prosecutes all stages of U.S. utility and design patent applications, as well as trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She also manages, prosecutes and enforces foreign and international patent and trademark portfolios. Kaylee also handles intellectual property licensing issues and other technology transactions.

In addition, Kaylee is experienced with enforcement of intellectual property rights, including litigation in patent, trademark and copyright infringement matters. She counsels clients on patentability opinions, infringement analyses and validity inquiries, and also handles cease and desist issues.

Great Questions for Kaylee:

• What is the difference between patents, copyrights and trademarks?How do I protect my IP?
• What is the process like to get a patent?
• What is the process like to get a trademark?
• How much does it cost, on average, to get and obtain a patent?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Kaylee.

Ryan Steele | Porter Wright
Startup & Emerging Business Law

At Porter Wright, Ryan Steele helps early stage entrepreneurs choose optimal business structures and complete the documentation needed to establish their business foundation, grow and expand, and ultimately exit on their own favorable terms.

Ryan also handles corporate contractual matters to bring mergers, acquisitions, financing, startup operations, and other general business transactions to fruition. Combining business operations knowledge with legal acumen, Ryan efficiently executes complex business contracts so that rapidly growing companies, business owners and early stage entrepreneurs can cost-effectively achieve their growth goals.

Ryan also brings great business savvy to his client relationships. Having managed an office of over 100 people, Ryan can apply his first-hand knowledge of everyday business functions including project management, employee management, and independent contracting, providing practical counsel to fast-growing entities so they can overcome challenges and achieve their business goals.

Great Questions for Ryan:

• Incorporating Your New Business – What forms are possible and the pros/cons of each
• Capital Tables – How to structure company ownership to ensure achieving my long term goals?
• Business Operating Agreements – What are these and when does my business need one?
• Liability – How do I protect myself and my business?
• Written Contracts – When and why should my business use them?
• Regulation & Red Tape – What docs must I file to comply with laws/rules for my industry?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Ryan.

Scott Longnecker | Huntington National Bank
Loans & Banking Services for Startups & Small Businesses

Scott Longnecker has over 20 years of experience in the finance and banking industry. His role as a Business Development Officer Sr has allowed him to develop a deep understanding of his client’s financial situations and to come up with solutions to help business customers like you reach your financial goals. Scott helps clients walk through the steps on how to obtain commercial loans, real estate loans, lines of credit, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, and more.

Great questions for Scott:

• What can I do about kinks in the supply chain?
• What’s going on with the labor market?
• What should I be doing to keep my good people?
• How can I find the right clients and suppliers right now?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Scott.

Shwetha Pai | Book + Street
Financial Forecasting, Valuation, Accounting

Shwetha is a seasoned executive who has worked in leadership roles in Strategy, Finance, and Operations in a variety of large multinational companies, such as JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, Citi, Eli Lilly, Alcoa, Reynolds Packaging, and Bon Secours Mercy Health.

Across her 20-year career, she has led various Finance, Operations, and Strategy functions, in large corporations as well as for startups and small businesses. She has led several billion-dollar M&A transactions, leveraged financing deals, and has built Finance and FP&A functions from the ground up for startups. In 2016 she started her entrepreneurial journey when she founded her startup, OrgAnalytix, a data analytics platform that leveraged network analytics and collaboration data to design optimal diversity & inclusion programs for large enterprises. She subsequently went on to work in another data analytics startup, Worklytics, as their Head of Finance, Operations, and Marketing.

Shwetha got her MBA from Columbia University and is involved as an Alumni leader for Columbia Business School. She is on the board of the Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio as well as Impact 100 and is passionate about entrepreneurship, strategic finance, and financial modeling.

Great questions for Shwetha:

• How do we start building out a financial model?
• How we forecast our revenue?
• What’s the best way to budget for the following year and make sure we stay on track?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Shwetha.

Lora Brown | Bookkeeping Simplified By Lora
Bookkeeper/Quickbooks Online Pro

Lora Brown has over 25 years experience with QuickBooks and Bookkeeping. She offers professional bookkeeping services anywhere in the United States. Her company is called Bookkeeping Simplified By Lora. She is also a QuickBooks Online Pro Advisor. Lora has a Bachelor of Science from Ohio University.

Bookkeeping Simplified By Lora’s mission is to partner with small business owners and take the stress off of their company by taking care of the financial aspects so they can focus on what is most important – growing their business! Building relationships with clients is extremely important in this industry. She will always have your financial health up to date and accurate.

Great questions for Lora:

• I don’t have time to keep track of my expenses; can you get/keep them organized?
• What range of services does a Bookkeeper provide?
• What’s the best QuickBooks Online (QBO) Subscription for my business?
• What great new features have been added to QBO?
• Can I convert my QuickBooks Desktop version to QBO?
• How do I manually upload bank transactions to QBO if the bank connection is not working?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Lora.

Johna Charles | Orbit Media Group
Digital Marketing

With ten years of consulting experience ranging from small businesses to enterprises, Johna has served on hundreds of marketing campaigns. Specializing in web development and marketing strategy. I handle the communication between the technical team and our clients.

Johna has extensive knowledge in web development and user experience design as well as campaign optimization.

Great questions for Johna:

• How to do I start an efficient marketing campaign?
• How much should I spend on marketing efforts?
• What is the best source of advertising for my business?
• What is involved in setting up a proper Meta campaign?
• What is the importance of proper UX/UI (user experience/user interface)?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Johna.

Satish Albert | E2 Infosystems
Custom Software & App Development

Satish Albert is Founder & CEO of E2 Infosystems. Satish offers a unique combination of experiences: enterprise software development and practical entrepreneurial a, the latter gained while bootstrapping and then selling his own successful SaaS startup. Satish has an advanced degree in computer science and deep experience leading development teams at premier tech companies including: AT&T, Lucent Technologies (Bell Labs), and Docomo Intertouch.

Satish launched E2 Infosystems to help emerging and scaling companies by engineering software solutions that meet their unique needs.

 

 

 

 

E2 Infosystems has developed software and mobile applications serving:

• SaaS startups
• Healthcare & Assisted Living businesses
• Travel, Manufacturing and Enterprise Legacy Systems

Great questions for Satish:

• How do I turn my idea into a software product or application?
• What factors influence the price of software or app development?
• What are the latest trends or best practices in software/nas/content/live/innovatena development?
• How can I make sure my software or app is built to grow as my business grows?
• What’s a realistic timeline & what milestones can I expect when developing my products?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Satish.

Tushar Kulkarni | Big Kitty Labs
Software Solutions to Meet Your Needs

Tushar has over 25 years of experience managing small to large-scale projects & teams
& delivering innovative tech solutions. Tushar founded Big Kitty Labs to pursue his passion for innovative tech solutions and bringing them to different domains. Under Tushar’s
leadership, Big Kitty Labs has successfully designed & delivered 200+ software systems in domains ranging from the government sector, healthcare, education, automative, aviation, agtech and sports.

Great questions for Tushar:

• What were the initial challenges one faces when starting their tech company, and how can one overcome them?
• How does one validate their tech idea or solution in the market before diving into development?
• What were the key steps that one can take to build a talented and cohesive tech team
• What strategies can one employ to market and promote your tech product or solution
• Can you share any lessons learned or mistakes made during the early stages of your tech venture?
• How does one navigate the competitive landscape and differentiate your tech product from existing solutions?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Tushar.

Manny Larcher | Stopwatch Creative
Growth Marketing & Branding

Manny Larcher is a first-generation American born in Columbus, Ohio, both of his parents are from St. Lucia. He serves as a Deal Flow associate with JumpStart Ventures, which combines capital, services, and connections to help entrepreneurs grow, researchers commercialize, and corporations innovate. As the co-founder and CEO of Stopwatch Creative, a boutique marketing/tech firm incubating platforms like CollaborateandElevate.com, which connects hundreds of businesses of all sizes with opportunities, Manny leads vision and growth.

Great questions for Manny:

• How can I maximize the efforts of my team?
• Are my marketing efforts really creating the action I want?
• Am I using the best and current tech stack or strategies for growth?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Manny.

Susan Fortner | BPR International
Public Relations & Marketing

Susan Fortner has 20+ years of experience in public relations and marketing. Her firm BPR International manages accounts throughout the country specializing in health care, talent, banking, and packaged and soft goods. In addition the firm is recognized as a broker/partner with QVC, HSN, and Evine shopping networks.

Fortner has won awards and sits on the accreditation board to advance candidates in the Accreditation in Public Relations process. In 2013 Susan received special honors for her work in crisis management.

Great questions for Susan:

• How can I promote my company on a limited budget?
• How do I set Marketing & PR budgets that are sufficient to drive results?
• What simple steps can I take to improve my social media visibility rapidly?
• Which charities, like-minded businesses, and complementary companies should I partner with?
• How do I create and execute events that will differentiate my business in a crowded market?
• How can I get my products featured on shopping channels like QVC and HSN?

Click here schedule 30 minutes with Susan.

Ed Porter | Blue Chip CRO
Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success

Ed Porter began his professional management career in 2001 and has since led teams from 5 to over 1,000 people with responsibilities for sales, customer experience, and marketing functions. Ed has worked for service, software, and distribution companies learning the foundations of delivering a powerful customer experience while driving value and effectiveness in the sales and development channels. He has participated, facilitated and chaired several executive groups centered on sales management, contact center management, and technology innovation. Ed has been a keynote speaker and guest speaker focused on several key sales strategies and customer management programs. He has been an investor and advisor to startups and will continue supporting startups in these capacities.

Ed is passionate about leadership and volunteers throughout several non-profit organizations supporting the advancement of leaders. Ed has helped re-launch the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP) Columbus Chapter in 2015 and has served as the chapter President since, growing the chapter to over 150 attendees. He helped launch the Cincinnati/Dayton chapter in 2019 as well as assists with programming and recruitment for events. Ed has also taken an active role as a mentor for #GirlsClub, an organization focused on the advancement and development of women sales leaders. He has mentored three wonderful women, two of which are now mentors in the program.

Great questions for Ed:

• What does a Chief Revenue Officer do?
• What’s the best technology to use to help accelerate sales?
• What does social selling mean?
• I have a sales problem, what can I do?
• What is customer success? Isn’t it just customer service?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Ed.

Tristan Ruml | TR Growth
B2B Business Development

Tristan Ruml has +10 years of B2B & B2C marketing and business development experience in US and European companies across several dozen industries.

He coaches sales teams, develops plays, and implements strategies to help clients build predictable pipelines and valuable networks of strategic partners.

Tristan has helped clients book meetings with executives in companies like JP Morgan, Marriott, and Walgreen’s for industries such as Security, Healthcare, Chemicals, Big Data and more.

Great questions for Tristan:

• What should I change about my assumptions in my outreach message?
• What should I try to crack the code on this vertical/niche/industry?
• This part of my process appears to be broken, what should I re-evaluate?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Tristan.

Sandy Murphy | Cxstomer
Contact Center & Customer Care Services

Sandy Murphy is the Founder and CEO of Cxstomer, an organization dedicated to helping companies build exceptional customer experiences that drive loyalty and profitability through phone, email, chat, and SMS support. Combining her passion for customer-centric support with her experience in the field, Sandy helps make customer care a key differentiator for businesses focused on rapid growth.

Great questions for Sandy:

• How do I improve online sales conversion and support by leveraging live chat?
• Is there a way to reduce operating costs while maintaining excellent customer support?
• Customer support is a cost center at my business. How do I turn it into a profit center?
• What can I do to improve customer satisfaction for my consumers?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Sandy.

Kevin Hammond | Ohio SBDC
Business Management Advice

Kevin Hammond has been a business management consultant for 13 years, mostly focused on small businesses and start-ups. Kevin has been on the SBDC team for almost ten years as a consultant. Prior to consulting, Kevin was in financial services at Chase Manhattan. Kevin has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Ohio Dominican University and an MBA from Capital University.

The Ohio SBDC is part of America’s SBDC national network comprised of over 1000 Centers across the U.S. including 28 in Ohio. The Ohio SBDC Network provides one-on-one advising, by Certified Business Advisors, at no cost and conduct no or low cost business training.

Great questions for Kevin:

• I have a business idea. What is my next step?
• How do I market my services and products?
• How can I take my business to the next level?
• How and where can I get money for my business?
• How do I keep track of my financial records and assure I’m tax compliant?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Kevin.

Megan Neff | Rev1 Ventures
Venture Development

Megan is a driven professional with a primary focus on guiding Life Sciences entrepreneurs and founding teams from concept to product-market fit, funding and capital plans, business growth strategy, and ultimately scale and exit.

Her experience and vigorous thinking, as well as her strategic development and execution expertise, have enabled success of internal and external stakeholders in the healthcare industry.

She holds a bachelor’s degree, Strategic Communications from The Ohio State University and is pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Ventures and Entrepreneurship from Ohio University.

Great questions for Megan:

• I have an idea for a high-growth startup; can Rev1 help me determine if it’s
  worth pursuing?
• I’ve launched a startup; can Rev1 help me get funding to grow it?
• What other resources does Rev1 offer to help entrepreneurs?
• How does an entrepreneur get started with Rev1?
• I see that Rev1 works in corporate innovation; how can I learn more?
• Can you help me with my Life Science product ideas?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Megan.

Roberta Winch | Ohio SBDC
Exporting Your Products/Services for Business Growth

Roberta Winch is a NASBITE Certified Global Business Professional with over 15 years of experience in international business. Her private sector experience includes the international luxury and aspirational fashion industries where her business travels took her throughout Asia and Central and South America. She has worked and resided in New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Tokyo, Japan and Brussels, Belgium. Her current role as the Ohio SBDC, CSCC Director, Export Assistance Network has allowed her to assist a variety of industries with a diverse range of exporting initiatives. Roberta holds a BA in International Studies from American University in Washington D.C. and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Great questions for Roberta:

• Can you help me set up a strategy & plan to start exporting?
• I don’t have a product! How can I export my services?
• Is it possible to “export” within the US?
• How can I finance and ensure I get paid for my exports?

Click here to schedule 30 minutes with Roberta.

Please note: If you register and then don’t attend, your time slot will go unfilled, potentially preventing other business owners from accessing the expert advice they need. If you can’t keep your appointment, please email Neil Collins at info@InnovateNewAlbany.org .