John Edwards Named 2008 Top 100 Venture Entrepreneur
vSpring Capital Releases its List of the 2008 Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs
v|100 fosters collaboration among entrepreneurs and showcases Utah’s most successful venture entrepreneurs.
SALT LAKE CITY – March 17, 2008 – vSpring Capital announced today the 2008 class of the vSpring Capital Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs, also known as the v|100.
Today vSpring Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Salt Lake City, announced this year’s list of v|100 winners.
The v|100 was created in 2004 by vSpring Capital as a tool to recognize outstanding entrepreneurs who have ties to the state of Utah. Members of the v|100 become part of a community of entrepreneurs that fosters collaboration and support among its members as they build and grow some of the most exciting companies. Each year, vSpring asks members of the Utah business community to nominate individuals who are most likely to lead a successful startup technology venture in the next five to seven years in a c-level executive role. Those nominees who garner the most votes from their peers in a nominee-only second step of the annual voting process are then elected into the v|100.
“The number of nominations submitted this year exceeds all previous years and we are pleased with the results that the v|100 voting process produces.” said Paul Ahlstrom, managing director of vSpring Capital. “New venture creation is critical to the growth of our economy, and the v|100 program consistently identifies individuals who are likely to generate successful ventures in the coming years. The quality of the v|100 recipients is an indication of the vibrancy of Utah’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and talent pool.” Ahlstrom said.
Last year the v|100 program formalized voting rules and added an audit committee consisting of David Jolley – Partner at Ernst & Young, Mark Bonham – Partner at Ray Quinney and Nebeker, and Professor Scott Schaefer at the University of Utah. “This committee has performed a critical function of overseeing the process and ensuring valid results.” said Dennis Wood, director of human capital at vSpring Capital. “The v|100 community is a select group of individuals who are handpicked by their peers in the region. We have learned to observe closely who makes this important list of entrepreneurs each year.” said Mark Bonham.
Facts about the v|100 Class of 2008
A complete list of members in the 2008 v|100 is enclosed below. Be advised that positions/companies noted were current as of the date of the compilation of the 2008 v|100 list of members. This year there was a tie in the voting, making a total of 101 winners. For additional information about the v|100 or vSpring Capital, please contact vSpring’s Dennis Wood at 801-942-8999(wk) or dennis@vspring.com.
Full Name, Company, Work Title, Website
Rick Alden, Skullcandy, CEO & Audio Guerrilla, www.skullcandy.com
Curt D. Allen, Agilix Labs, President & CEO, www.agilix.com
Paul Allen, FamilyLink.com, CEO, www.familylink.com
Dallin Anderson, Code Nutrition, President & CEO, www.codenutrition.com
Jeremy Andrus, Skullcandy, COO, www.skullcandy.com
Lindsay Atwood, LTA Enterprises, Managing Partner
Kirt Bailey, Celio Corp, President & CEO, www.celiocorp.com
Brad Baldwin, Rocky Mountain Voices, Co-Founder, www.rockymountainvoices.com
Bob Barnes, Zonder, CEO, www.zonder.com
Jeff Barson, Sendside Networks, Chief Evangelist/Dir. of Product Marketing, www.sendsidenetworks.com
Jay Bean, OrangeSoda, CEO, www.orangesoda.com
Brian Beutler, Alianza, CEO, www.alianza.com
Brent L Bishop, ContentWatch, Chairman of the Board, www.contentwatch.com
Brock Blake, FundingUniverse, CEO, www.fundinguniverse.com
William Borghetti, Sendside Networks, CEO, www.sendsidenetworks.com
David Bradford, Linking Universe, Chairman & CoFounder, www.linkinguniverse.com
Dr. Jack Brittain, U of U Tech Ventures, Vice President, www.techventures.utah.edu
Stead Burwell, Alliance Health Networks, CEO, www.alliancehealth.com
Greg Butterfield, Symantec Group, President/ Altiris Bus. Unit, www.symantec.com
Josh Carr, Sprout Marketing, Director of Interactive Marketing, www.sproutmarketing.com
David Carter, S5 Wireless Founder, www.s5w.com
Josh Coates, Mozy Inc. an EMC Company, Founder, www.mozy.com
Jonathan Coon, 1-800 CONTACTS, CEO, www.1800contacts.com
Troy D’Ambrosio, Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Ctr., Director, www.lassonde.utah.edu
Nicole Toomey Davis, GOED COE /Enclavix, Director COE / Pres & CEO, www.enclavix.com
Ed Donakey, LDS Church/ Family History Dept., Mgr. of Strategic Relationships, www.familysearch.org
Adam Edmunds, Allegiance, CEO, www.allegiance.com
John Edwards, Move Networks, President & CEO, www.movenetworks.com
James Endicott, Exact Wave, CEO, www.exactwave.com
Bjorn Espenes, Infopia, CEO, www.infopia.com
Christian Faulconer, Public Engines, COO, www.crimereports.com
Martin Frey, PowerCode, CEO, www.powercode.com
JD Gardner, Monarch Partners, Founder, www.monarchvc.com
Jeremy Hanks, Doba Cofounder, Chairman & President, www.doba.com
Richard D. Hanks, Mindshare Technologies, Chairman & President, www.mshare.net
Nathan Hatch, Center 7, President & CEO, www.center7.com
Matt Hawkins, Sirsi Dynix, COO, www.sirsidynix.com
Greg Heaps, Allegiance, COO, www.allegiance.com
Tim Hunt, MIR Foundation, President, www.lingotek.com
Josh James, Omniture, CEO, www.omniture.com
David Jenkins, DealerTrack, Director DMS Marketing, www.dealertrack.com
J.D. Jeppson, Allegiance, VP of Sales, www.allegiance.com
Scott Johnson, AtTask, CEO, www.attask.com
Steven G. Jones, Vilect, CEO, www.vilect.com
Kimberley Jones, Vérité, CEO, www.verite.com
Dr. Greg M. Jones, VisTrails, CEO, www.vistrails.org
Stan Kanarowski, USTAR, Managing Director, www.ustar.utah.gov
Jeff Kearl, Skullcandy, Chairman of the Board, www.skullcandy.com
Abraham Knell, AtTask, Co-Founder & Vice President Sales, www.attask.com
Kristen Knight, NuSkin Enterprises, Sr. Dir. Prod. Mktg. Global Personal Care, www.nuskin.com
Chris Knudsen, Sapha, VP of Business Development, www.podango.com
Fred Lampropoulos, Merit Medical, Chairman, President & CEO, www.merit.com
Andrew Laver, APL Capital Advisors, Principal, www.aplcapital.com
Bruce Law, Sprout Marketing, Founder & President, www.sproutmarketing.com
Christopher Lee, Heritage Makers, CEO, www.heritagemakers.com
Darren Lee, NextPage, CEO & President, www.nextpage.com
Scott C. Lemon, HumanXtensions, CTO, www.humanxtensions.com
Shawn J. Lindquist, Omniture, Chief Legal Officer, SVP & Secretary, www.omniture.com
Ty D. Mattingly, Primary Colors, Managing Director
Ned L. Maxfield, Utah Angel Network, CEO, www.utahangelnetwork.com
David B. McGinn, Agilix Labs, COO, www.agilix.com
Glen Mella, Control4, President & COO, www.control4.com
W. Tim Miller, Echelon Biosciences, President & CEO, www.echelon-inc.com
Clarke Miyasaki, Logoworks, VP of Business Development, www.logoworks.com
Ryan Money, DealUtah.com, CEO, www.dealutah.com
Mark Newman, HireVue, CEO, www.hirevue.com
Dr. Tom Ngo, NextPage, CTO, www.nextpage.com
Brent Nixon, Cymphonix, President, www.cymphonix.com
Jonathan Oliver, Exact Wave, CTO, www.exactwave.com
Warren Osborn, Seastone, Founder and CEO, www.seastone.com
John Pestana, Omniture, Cofounder / Director, www.omniture.com
Ben Peterson, Independant Consultant/Investor, www.sparknetworks.com
Erich Pletsch, Tier Four, President, www.tierfour.com
William Price, BYU Center for Entrepreneurship, Manager/ Director, www.byu.edu
Michael Proper, DirectPointe, President & CEO, www.directpointe.com
Amy Rees Anderson, MediConnect Global, CEO, www.mediconnect.net
Prof. John Richards, BYU e-Business Center, Managing Director, www.ebusiness.byu.edu
Larry D. Rigby, Larada Sciences, Chairman & CEO, www.laradasciences.com
Kevin Santiago, Cymphonix, CEO, www.cymphonix.com
D. Todd Shepherd, Studeo, CEO, www.studeo.com
Otto Silva, AtTask, Director of IT, www.attask.com
Eric Smith, Control4, CTO, www.control4.com
Cheryl Snapp Conner, Snapp Conner PR, Managing Partner, www.snappconner.com
James Lee Sorenson Jr., Sorenson Media, CEO, www.sorenson.com
Jesse Stay II, SocialOptimize.com, Partner, Founder, www.socialoptimize.com
Joshua Steimle, MWI, Founder & CEO, www.mwi.com
Jack W. Sunderlage, ContentWatch, President & CEO, www.contentwatch.com
Benoy Tamang, Sapha, CEO and Founder, www.sapha.com
Cydni Tetro, NextPage, Vice President, www.nextpage.com
Kimball Thomas, BilliardEx, CEO, www.billiardex.com
Kent Thomas, CFO Solutions, Founder & Managing Member, www.utahcfo.com
Devin Thorpe, USTAR, Managing Director, www.ustar.utah.gov
Will West, Control4, CEO, www.control4.com
Greg Whisenant, Public Engines, President & CEO, www.publicengines.com
Tyler Whitaker, TM Ventures, Founder, www.tylerwhitaker.com
Ethan Willis, Prosper, CEO/ Co-Founder, www.prospercorp.com
Dr. Phillip Windley, Kynetx, CTO, www.windley.com
Ken Woolley, Extra Space Storage, Senior Vice President, www.exactwave.com
Ralph Yarro, ThinkAtomic, Chairman/CEO, www.thinkatomic.com
Allan Young, SocialOptimize.com, Partner, www.socialoptimize.com
Richard Zinn, GeoAMP.com, Founder, Technologist, www.ballardzinn.com
About vSpring Capital
vSpring Capital (www.vspring.com) is an early-stage venture capital firm with $345 million under management. With offices in Utah and New Mexico, vSpring invests in information technology and life science companies that have the potential to transform their markets and create lasting value.