Our 1st TIGER Tale of 2026
7775 Walton Pkwy, Suite 100, New Albany, OH 43054
Wednesday 1/7/26, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Be ready to interact with our featured entrepreneur, J.D. Davids, our interviewer, Jamie McKee, and your fellow participants.
Please arrive at 11:00 am. Eat. Mingle. Make new friends.
After 28+ years building companies, raising capital, achieving successful exits and navigating multiple innovation cycles in California, Jeff (J.D.) Davids made the decision to return to the Midwest where he started out. What he discovered surprised him.
In this interview-style TIGER Tale, J.D. shares real-world observations from a career spent inside startups, venture capital ecosystems, and growth companies—contrasting what works on the coasts with what’s already quietly working here at home. Rather than theory or tactics, this conversation focuses on lived experience: why the Midwest has far more untapped potential than most people realize, why great companies
often go unnoticed, and why storytelling—not hype—plays a critical role in attracting talent, capital, and opportunity.
This session is designed to be both educational and entertaining, offering practical insight through stories that resonate more deeply than any slide deck ever could.
Come curious. Leave with a clearer perspective on what’s possible.
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Jeff (J.D.) Davids is a founder and seasoned entrepreneur with more than 28 years of experience building venture-backed startups in California, where he raised over $100 million in venture and corporate funding. He has served on the leadership teams of eight VC-backed companies as CEO, COO, or CFO, resulting in six successful exits and over $1 billion in completed corporate finance transactions.
J.D. is the founder of DealMaker Academy, which has trained more than 3,500 entrepreneurs nationwide. Graduates of the program have gone on to raise over $260 million in funding. Now based in the Heartland, J.D. focuses on strengthening regional venture ecosystems through education, events, and data-driven reporting. He leads the Ohio Venture Pipeline, a semi-annual report and event series that tracks and promotes venture-style investment activity across Ohio. Since 2022, the Ohio Venture Pipeline has built a proprietary data lake cataloging more than 920 deals totaling $5.9 billion in capital raised.
J.D. also authors investment and industry research reports for Ohio Life Sciences, Illinois Bio (iBIO), and BioForward Wisconsin. A U.S. Marine veteran, J.D. has received Congressional recognition for his work training veterans who are entrepreneurs. J.D. is a graduate of The Ohio State University.
Websites:
https://www.jddavids.com/
https://www.ohioventurepipeline.com/
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J.D. will be interviewed by Jamie McKee, a founder and executive operator with experience building, scaling, and exiting technology-driven companies across industrial, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing sectors.
Jamie is currently the CEO of Galvanix, where he leads the development and commercialization of clean, domestic critical-metals production technologies designed to strengthen U.S. supply-chain resilience.
Previously, Jamie served as CEO of StormImpact, guiding the company through a critical growth phase by building core business infrastructure, advancing business development, and professionalizing internal operations. Under Jamie’s leadership, StormImpact achieved meaningful commercial traction and enterprise value growth, culminating in a successful acquisition in April 2025.
Jamie’s leadership experience spans business strategy, operations, finance, compliance, and organizational development, with a strong emphasis on building scalable systems, international business structure, and aligning teams around execution. He has worked closely with investors, customers, and strategic partners to translate technical capability into commercial outcomes.
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Like all TIGER Events, this TIGER Tale is FREE.
Timeline:
11:00 am – Coffee, Snacks, & Socializing
11:15 am – Lunch & More Socializing
11:50 am – Introduce yourself to our crowd (your “15 Seconds of Fame”)
12:05 pm – Hand-off to Jamie and J.D.
1:00 pm – Wrap & Resume Socializing
