Marketing executive with over 25 years of experience in developing and leading teams to successfully define and implement marketing strategies that build brand, generate demand, and fuel growth. Expertise lies in global go-to-market planning, integrated marketing campaigns, marketing communications, strategic partnerships, and product marketing.
Jennifer Apy is an accomplished growth marketer with 30 years of success at fast-growing B2B, B2C software, SaaS and services companies, from Fortune 500 companies to startups. She excels at aligning sales, marketing, product, and development to drive revenue growth using traditional and digital marketing strategies.
Former roles:
DISCOVERY TOYS, VP of Marketing
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, VP of Product Marketing
ADOBE SYSTEMS, GTM Group Marketing Manager for Creative Cloud
INTUIT, Quickbooks Online, Director of Marketing
NBC UNIVERSAL GAMES (Knowledge Adventure), Sr. Dir of Marketing & Strategic Planning
MATTEL (The Learning Company), Group Brand Manager
Wrote “Growth Acceleration Guide™ Workbook” to help small businesses succeed. 1) Cultivate key market insights to guide effective marketing and customer-centric product development. 2) Infuse metrics-based marketing excellence into omnichannel, integrated demand-gen campaigns. 3) Drive results that help startups grow profitably; mentor teams to success. www.innovatestrategygroup.com/results-driven/
General Management: Build, Manage & Mentor High-Performance Teams, Business Development, Strategic Planning, New Market/Product Assessment, Partnerships & Alliances, P/L Planning & Budgeting, Inventory Management, Creative Services.
Product Marketing: ROI focused integrated, multi-channel demand generation programs (web/display/retargeting, channel, retail, direct), market research & analysis, collateral, product positioning & messaging, packaging, product line planning & sourcing.
Services/Subscriptions/SaaS Marketing/Sales: Customer acquisition/conversion/retention, marketing automation & account based management, funnel nurturing & lifecycle engagement, lead scoring, B2B and B2B2C outreach, metrics analysis.
Digital Marketing, Brand-building & Sales: Communications & messaging strategy, cross-channel customer intent/behavior-based digital advertising, Ecommerce, SEM & PPC advertising, SEO optimization & growth, email automation, public relations & social media, influencer marketing, branding & licensing, sales enablement, content marketing, corporate brand identify development
Products: SAAS Online subscriptions, Software, Consumer Hardgoods, Educational toys & games, Publishing.
Specialty Knowledge: Institutional sales (K12, Higher Ed). Library media-tech, maker & coding competitions, assessment tools & testing, homeschooling, healthcare education.
Joey guides our companies with Entrepreneurship and Strategy expertise.
I am an entrepreneur and business strategist who revels in working with driven, creative people.
I am led both to existing, agile companies looking to leverage their present resources into new revenue possibilities or into adjacent spaces, and also to promising innovators who are interested in taking their early and untested concepts to market. In particular, I get excited about entering markets with high-value and high-margin innovative products.
My process is marked by speed, creativity, and short bursts of intensity. In addition to those already connected to a new project, I might involve several other entrepreneurs that specialize in other aspects to jump-start brainstorming.
My history is varied, and I find I use these experiences on a nearly daily basis to screen the “marketable” from the merely “interesting”. From my background in engineering, I revel in the possible, and how to change answers from “no” to “not that way, but how about if we do this?” From my background in communications, design, and marketing, I have insight into what will sell, and what particular audiences want to see and what they’ll pay. And from my background in law, I’m aware of the bottom line and the risks inherent in any venture (along with how to minimize them).
My efforts have been instrumental in helping to develop a high-growth national company from which I have had a successful, sizable exit, along with a number of early-stage concepts before and after roll-out. Two of the companies in which I participated in early stages have been recognized on the Inc 500 list: Vendormate (#25 in 2010) and BroadSource (#385 in 2007).
Specialties: Among my specialties, I assist in helping to distill creative ideas into viable and marketable concepts, researching and targeting audiences from initial stages to later growth, developing business plans, constructing marketing campaigns and plans, managing operations staff and product development teams, and planning for scale.
Josh Sullivan, Ph.D., is an American investor, serial entrepreneur, startup mentor, best-selling author and beginner surfer.
Josh is the Managing Director of alani capital, investing in visionary entrepreneurs and diverse founders in early-stage startups for angel, pre-seed and seed rounds.
Previously, Josh was the co-founder and former CEO of Modzy, the enterprise AI platform to deploy and scale production machine learning. He founded and led the worldwide AI practice at Booz Allen, as EVP and Partner. He also led large technical programs in the National Security & Intelligence business.
Josh authored best-selling AI book “Mathematical Corporation” with comment from Mark Fields, CEO Ford and Larry Bossidy, CEO Honeywell, and he is the co-author of the celebrated “Field Guide to Data Science”, now in the second edition. Early in his career, Josh co-founded a software & services startup and scaled the small business to a successful exit. Josh started his career in US Intelligence Community as an engineer.
He is a frequent conference speaker with numerous articles in the Atlantic, CNBC, WSJ, HBR, and TechCrunch. Josh is a former corporate advisory board member MIT CSAIL, Purdue University, and the University of Maryland, and former Member of Center for New American Security (CNAS) Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security.
Paolo founded Honolulu and New York based e-commerce agency Hidden Gears in 2012 and has over 17 years of experience in digital marketing and web development. He began his digital career with software and hardware startups and transitioned into creating custom Shopify e-commerce and digital marketing strategies for DTC companies nationwide.
After earning an MBA from Cornell University, Paulette Jencks has spent years growing revenue for start-ups in the parent-focused space. At Kidstir, an ecommerce children’s cooking company, she grew the subscriber base significantly in the first 6 months of launch. At Weldon, a parent coaching and wellness start-up, she created and executed the go-to-market strategy for enterprise clients uncovering the largest revenue driver of the business. Paulette is able to put all the juggled pieces of a growing business together to focus on the most important areas to drive focused growth.
Prior to working with start-ups, Paulette spent years in healthcare consulting working across big pharma, specialty pharma and insurance companies. Her projects were focused across digital marketing, change management and strategy. Her success is contributed to the deep relationships she builds with clients to understand their needs and work together to achieve common goals.
Paulette has a passion for female entrepreneurship and enjoys being a part of Luminary and HeyMama communities to continue to support women in their careers.
Founder of Hawaii’s angel investor network, the Hawaii Angels. Co-author of Angel Investing: Matching Startup Funds with Startup Companies. Award-winning author on business negotiation and conflict management, has over 20 years of experience in coaching companies in valuation and other negotiations.
Steve Markowitz is a Honolulu-based impact investor and former public company CEO. His areas of expertise are healthtech and consumer internet. Steve co-founded and led pioneering loyalty marketer MyPoints.com, taking it public on Nasdaq (peak market cap $2.5 billion). He is an entrepreneur turned hands-on investor, serving as vice chairman of Blue Startups alumnus iFirst Medical Technologies and chairman of LifeDNA and BeeStripe, all based in Honolulu. Steve has been honored by his alma mater UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business with the coveted Richard H. Holton Teaching Fellowship, recognizing his well-received lectures in the Entrepreneurship and New Venture Finance courses. He is also a Japanese speaker and globalist who shares in Blue Startups’ vision of Hawai‘i as the ultimate East Meets West locale.
Adam guides our companies with software development expertise.
Adam is a senior iOS engineer who’s created apps for both startups and Fortune 500 firms. He’s an MIT-trained technologist with a 17 year track record of successfully delivering digital products. His career has taken him around the world from Paris to Hawaii as a startup founder, product manager, and engineer.
Alan Schlissel is managing partner of Schlissel & Associates, with more than 15 years of experience in consulting and advising small to large businesses in the areas of tax planning, tax minimization and tax return preparation. He has significant tax experience relating to manufacturing, real estate development and construction, hospitality and distribution industries, as well as individuals.
Alan guides our companies with strategic and e-commerce expertise.
Alan is experienced senior executive in Internet, e-commerce, Online Payments, Emerging Markets (APAC), and Strategy. I also have deep experience in Product Management, rooted in a strong understanding of technology. I have balanced my career between business and technology, large enterprises and internet startups, and East and West cultures.
Alexandra Burbey is an investor with Sound Ventures and former Vice President at G Squared, a growth stage venture fund focused on investing in both primaries and secondaries across four main megatrends: Consumer Internet, SaaS, FinTech, and Mobility 2.0. Alexandra joined G Squared shortly after the closing of the firm’s 5th Fund, a vehicle of $1.4B in late 2020. At G Squared, Alexandra primarily focused on application software, with an emphasis in Consumer and Vertical Software. Highlights in her portfolio include Bombas, goop, Knowde, Lucid Software, PandaDoc, Sunbit, and Maisonette. Prior to G Squared, Alexandra spent several years in M&A at DBO Partners. Alexandra began her career, and first gained an interest in the venture capital industry, from the other side of the table as the founder and CEO of Acuity for Moms, an HR and EdTech platform designed to help moms re-enter the workforce after taking time off to raise children. In her free time, she enjoys exploring San Francisco’s many restaurants and cafes, heading up to Tahoe to ski, or taking a quick trip to the beach to kayak or surf.
Alexi Drouin is a startup mentor, angel investor, and technical founder. With 22+ years of experience, he’s bootstrapped online universities, launched viral marketing campaigns, and produced global conferences. He builds communities powered by AI, automation, and mentorship to help entrepreneurs scale and spotlight Hawaii’s tech ecosystem worldwide.
Passionate proponent of sustainable development, women’s economic empowerment and leadership. Co-leading global coalition to support UN SDG 5. Board member of FINCA International (microfinance provider serving 2 million clients in 23 countries), UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, Hawaii Green Growth, Institute for Climate & Peace. Best selling author (two Random House business books), yoga teacher, avid hiker/snowskiier and novice surfer.
MIT-trained biotech entrepreneur. Co-Founder Aria Pharmaceuticals (FKA twoXAR) – AI drug discovery company. Currently working on a new biotech company.
Venture Partner at Awaken Capital – we invest in early-stage, tech-enabled platform companies using innovation to address some of the world’s toughest challenges.
Entrepreneurship coach. Actively associated with MIT Bootcamps, MIT STEX25, Stanford StartX Med, University of Hawaii, Ka Maka ʻĪnana, and Blue Startups.
Industry & alumni community organizer.
Andy has over 10 years of professional experience in Big 4 accounting and consulting services for commercial, financial services, and life sciences industries. Currently, he is leading innovation for life sciences companies by supporting teams to integrate digital and design into projects. He started his career at the accounting department of a Hollywood talent agency in Los Angeles. He moved to Japan and worked at KPMG as an accounting advisor, where he gained deep accounting knowledge in US GAAP, IFRS, and JGAAP and skills in project management. After, he gained experience at EY as an auditor for a major Japanese bank. As the demand for innovation increased for Big 4 firms, he helped launch EY wavespace as a founding member gaining experience with digital and design.
Angel Yang is the founder of The Novus Group, a strategic business development and growth initiatives partner for founders, organizations, and growth-stage companies.
Her background spans enterprise sales, market development, GTM strategy, and partnership development across financial services, technology, hospitality, and founder ecosystems. She has worked across North America and Asia-Pacific with companies including Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv, and Expedia Group.
But more than anything, Angel is known for connecting strategy, relationships, and execution in ways that create real business traction.
Results driven entrepreneurial executive with 20+ years of experience. Diverse background managing commercially viable innovation in technology, product strategy, product management, operational planning and strategic partnerships.
Frequently invited speaker, consultant and advisor to startups with a passion for innovation strategy and execution.
At home with startups and fortune 500 companies.
International experience (lived and/or worked in NA, LATAM, EMEA & APAC).
Fluent in English, French, Hindi and Portuguese.
NextBank San Francisco Chapter Lead
Arjun is the Founder of Format One. He advises funds, startups, LPs and Fortune 100 companies. His core areas of support for startups include strategy, GTM, product, monetization, and fundraising. He is an active individual investor in startups and venture funds. He has invested early in companies including but not limited to Lyft, RapidAPI, Branch, Flexport, Virta Health, Ashby, Truebill, Anduril, Ethic, Notion, Elroy Air and many more. Prior to founding Format One, Arjun was In Residence at Expa, a Partner at 500 Startups (actively investing and responsible for fundraising for the firm), Founder & CEO of ReTargeter (acquired by Sellpoints in 2015), head of business development @ Yahoo! Real Estate and an investment banker with Jefferies Broadview. He was also the Chairman of the Board of the Saint Francis Foundation (a $100M+ Cambridge Associates managed foundation) and sat on it’s investment and grants committees. Arjun has spoken about entrepreneurship internationally (Europe, Asia, and the Middle East), and was recognized at the: White House, United Nations (UN), and the Global Summit for Entrepreneurship, for his successes and commitment to a values-centered organization. He also holds a BSc, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science / Entrepreneurship & Technology from UC Berkeley.
Arleen Fernando is the Founder of Haumea Technologies, a digital transformation consultancy based in Honolulu specializing in mission-driven organizations and cultural institutions. With 25+ years spanning Microsoft (MSTV, Xbox), HP (Sprout, Omen Command Center, Veneer Design System), and FCH Enterprises (Zippy’s restaurant chain), Arleen brings a rare combination of technical depth and strategic leadership as a UX designer, full-stack engineer (React, React Native, Python), and product manager.
As a founder, Arleen has led comprehensive digital transformations—most recently delivering the Shangri La Museum’s complete website conversion from WordPress to React with modern integrations in 12 weeks, and orchestrating Zippy’s omnichannel dining experience delivering six products in 13 months.
An early adopter of AI-assisted development, Arleen leverages an extensive toolkit including Claude, Claude Code, Builder.io, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, Lovable, VS Code, Bolt.new, Replit, Figma, and Pitch to accelerate product development and enhance team productivity. This hands-on expertise with AI tools positions her to guide startup founders on integrating AI into their workflows and product strategies.
Ashley Lukens, PhD is an independent philanthropic and development advisor in Hawaii and Oregon. She has worked in and with the impact sector in Hawaii since 2006 as the founder of the Hawaii Food Policy Council, owner of Baby Awearness, the Director of the RISE Program at Kupu, and the Director of Hawaii Center for Food Safety, and today as the Executive Director of the Frost Family Foundation. Her work with the Hawaii Center for Food Safety earned national recognition, resulting in a cascade of new pesticide regulations. She has a degree in Women Studies and Economics from Vassar College and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she examined culturally appropriate strategies for food system transformation. Currently Ashley’s passion project is a women’s learning circle, Project Thesis. Ashley is a proud cancer thriver and her commitment to holistic health and well-being knits her personal and professional life together.
I’m passionate about bringing technology closer to how people think and feel, translating emerging technologies into emotional and functional experiences that improve people’s lives. I have over 20 years of experience shaping and launching 0-1 consumer projects in collaboration with hardware/software engineering and product management. I brought to market engaging products leveraging AR, ML, real-time video, service design, hardware, and a solid user-centered process. I am recognized as a creative thought leader, considering cultural, business, and technological shifts to propose and influence product and strategic thinking at the leadership level. I held leadership positions at Meta Reality Labs, IDEO, DDB, eBay, and various startups. I hold over ten patents and have published work in several books and magazines. Since 2015, I have been a mentor to Italian startups through the Turin Chamber of Commerce program for entrepreneurs.
After 10 years of President’s Clubs, top performer awards, sales leadership, and several successful acquisitions, I’m adding consulting and training to my list of adventures. Couldn’t be happier to have shifted my attention to nimble and practical solutions that make sense for clients and end clients. Living in Hawai`i isn’t the worst part of the gig either, and while I do spend a lot of my time in the air, I love calling the islands my home. I look forward to discussing your business challenges or celebrating your wins with you!
Bernice guides our companies with Entrepreneurship expertise.
Bernice Parsons is Co-Founder and President of Vertaccount, a leading provider of outsourced accounting services. Founded in 2010, Vertaccount has offices in Honolulu, Manila, Sydney and Los Angeles and provides global accounting support to several business across a broad range of industry verticals. Bernice is a seasoned entrepreneur with more than 15 years managing start ups and the back office operations of mature enterprises. Prior to founding Vertaccount, also co-founded MontPac Outsourcing, GetAsia.com and Localvibe.com. Bernice holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ateneo de Manila University.
Blaine Kahoʻonei is a native Hawaiian entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He has a 20+ year career working in technology startups holding a variety of individual and leadership roles, most notably at a then pre-IPO now a successful global enterprise software company, Salesforce. In his spare time, Blaine volunteers as a lead mentor at Blue Startups Hawaiʻi; consults with tech and non-tech businesses on growth strategies implementing practices taken from experiences the high growth, fast paced tech industry; and continues to empower the local Hawaiʻi Community with career awareness, insights, and guidance on opportunities through the technology industry.
Brent Freeman is a serial entrepreneur who’s passionate about using business to generate both profits & social impact. While at USC, he launched a commodities trading firm with offices in Dubai & LA where the goal was to make as much money as fast as possible. After doing exactly this, he quickly realized that money alone does not bring happiness. So in 2009, he dedicated his life to using for-profit businesses to create real social impact in the world and founded Roozt.com with a vision of connecting the millennial online shopper with fashion forward, socially conscious brands.
As one of the pioneering advertisers on Facebook, Roozt grew into an industry leading, seven figure revenue platform with a community of over 250k people that donated a meal to Americans in need for every member who joined. Roozt was a “2011 Forbes Name You Need To Know” and was featured on the The Today Show, INC.com, Mashable, Huffington Post, NBC, & ABC.
In 2014, Brent founded Stealth Venture Labs with the vision of creating a turnkey, digital marketing team-for-hire that helps subscription brands find product market fit, push through growth plateaus & integrate social good into their business models. In the last 7 years, Stealth has generated over $750M in recurring revenue for its brand partners and manages over $20M+ per month in media spend for brands like Hello Fresh, Factor_75, MUD\WTR, Crocs and many more. As a 100% remote organization since 2014, Stealth attracts some of the best digital marketing talent from orgs like Facebook, Thrive Market, JustFab, Retention Science, & Uber and has let everyone work from home before it was en-vogue!
In 2018, Brent launched the Stealth Impact Lab as a 501c3 non-profit org that provides $5000 grants to inner-city teenage entrepreneurs in the US from disadvantaged backgrounds. Brent has written for Entrepreneur and Inc and speaks all over the US on topics like social entrepreneurship, including a TEDx on social enterprise. Brent lives in Lake Tahoe full time and in Italy 2-3 months per year where is a co-founder in a business called NonnaLive that live streams pasta making classes with real Italian grandmothers from a little village outside of Rome. For every class we teach, we donate a meal to a family in need.
In 2020, Brent was appointed a Knighthood (Cavaliere) and invited to become a member of the Royal House of Savoy by Prince Emanuele Filiberto of the Italian Royal Family, House of Savoy, in recognition of Brent’s 15+ year dedication to social enterprise using for profit businesses to create social impact.
Brent has helped local and global companies in developing effective branding and marketing strategies for twenty-five years.
Brent began his marketing career in Hawai‘i working with clients that have included American Savings Bank, the University of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Pacific Health and Prince Resorts Hawaii. He later moved to San Francisco, where he led account management teams for such clients as The Walt Disney Company, Hewlett-Packard, and VISA. He also served as VP, Global Brand at OUTRIGGER Resorts & Hotels, managing the branding and marketing for over 30 properties in 5 countries.
Brent founded Aidia Marketing, a branding and strategic marketing firm that provides “”marketing expertise on-demand”” through: fractional CMO services, 1:1 coaching, private workshops and brand strategy development. Client industries include: financial institutions, healthcare, hospitality, tourism, retirement communities, commercial printers, employer services, restaurants and non-profits.
With extensive experience spanning diverse environments from startups to big tech, I’ve developed a profound understanding of the software engineering landscape. At Meta, I’ve led partner-facing engineering teams focused on building thriving developer ecosystems in media and gaming. My journey reflects a commitment to driving collaboration and innovation in the software industry.
A growth marketing veteran, serial entrepreneur, and angel investor, Brian has been helping companies of all sizes/stages* grow (harder, better, faster, stronger!) since 2005. In 2015, Brian founded Growth Wizards, a full-service marketing agency. He’s also an angel investor through Rabben Hood Ventures.
Bryan guides our companies with accounting and finance expertise.
Bryan is an accounting and finance professional with experience in accounting, financial planning and analysis, financial due diligence, acquisition integration, and internal and external financial reporting. He currently works at Kong Basile Consulting (KBC) as a Senior Manager where he focuses on accounting and finance needs for tech start ups primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to KBC, he worked in the audit practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the Life Science and Venture Capital group in San Jose, CA.
For more than 25 years, Buddy has been funding, building, and advising a panoply of early stage technology companies ranging from: consumer facing services like OpenTable, TicketsNow, Trulia, Quizlet, HotelTonight, and Mystery Science; to FinTech / InsureTech platforms like Hippo Insurance and Lively HSA; to enterprise solutions like Cloudera, Box, and SentinelOne; as well as hardware and deep tech businesses like Skydio, R-Zero Systems, Level Home and SpinLaunch. Buddy has been involved in the launch of dozens of ventures across the technology spectrum.
Prior to Lobby Capital, Buddy founded and ran the Perkins Coie’s Emerging Company and Venture Capital Practice, managed Orthogonal Ventures, an early stage investment fund, and co-managed a late stage venture investment fund, Hut8 Ventures.
Buddy has also been an operator and innovator in the robotics, computer vision and aerospace domains. He was the co-founder of solar-powered atmospheric satellite company, Titan Aerospace, which was acquired by Google in 2014, and an early advisor to SpinLaunch.
Buddy holds a BS with a concentration in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a JD from the University of Illinois, where he teaches a course on entrepreneurship.
Burt Lum is the State of Hawaii’s State Digital Equity Coordinator in the Hawaii Broadband & Digital Equity Office dedicated to digital equity and ensuring that all Hawaii residents have access to robust, resilient, and affordable connectivity to the global broadband Internet. A few of the key projects Burt oversees is the development of the statewide digital equity plan, digital equity grants, the FCC Affordable Connectivity Program, the establishment and management of the Broadband Hui, indigenous broadband networks and the creation of Hawaii’s digital economy study. In 2022, Burt was recognized by the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society as the Digital Equity Champion of the Year.
He was previously the Executive Director of Hawaii Open Data, a non-profit dedicated to advancing the principles of open data/knowledge in Hawaii, including policy work and community collaborations. He has more than 30 years in Hawaii’s technology and telecommunications sector and is a frequent speaker and panelist on the topic of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
At the City and County of Honolulu, he has worked with the City Council on their Digital Initiative including establishing Honolulu as a Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities. Past engagements include founding member of the Innovation Center at HMSA, Senior Product Manager at Hawaiian Telcom, CEO/President of Hawaii data center startup and Sr.Marketing Manager at the Maui High Performance Computing Center.
Carlos guides early stage companies with customer discovery, developing value propositions, technoeconomic modeling, grant writing, and storytelling / pitch development.
Carlos is a Ph.D. chemist from the University of Southern California who co-founded a clean-tech start-up seeking to scale and commercialize his research project improving carbon fiber recycling technologies. He is ready to leverage his experience as an Activate Fellow and NSF SBIR/STTR review panelist to help any early stage start-up seeking to bring form to your potentially revolutionary ideas, craft stories to excite others to join your effort, and help you hit the ground running.
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