Innovation & Job News

An invitation-only D.C. networking group for CEOs, marketers, bankers and VCs introduced its 17th class Tuesday.

The latest group to join the MindShare organization includes fifty-seven first-time CEOs from companies in the D.C. region, including those in education, online retail, and social networking industries, among others.

According to Elizabeth Shea, CEO of Speakerbox Communications and current MindShare board member, MindShare was started in 1997 to connect D.C.-area CEOs from growing high-tech companies. The organization provides mentorship, fosters teamwork, and ultimately, she said, helps the CEOs build sustainable companies. Membership is by invitation only.

Mary MacPherson, formerly of Netpreneur, MCI, and Blackboard, now owns a consulting company and is part of MindShare’s board. “We look for first-time CEOs who understand what it is to be a part of the network, to be a part of that ecosystem,” she said.

“These CEOs are at a later stage than start-ups,” explained April Young, co-founder and current co-chair of MindShare. “The board members are here to help the CEOs, and the CEOs will help each other.”

The incoming group will meet eight times over the course of the year. If they attend six of the eight sessions, they are considered graduates of the program and obtain access to MindShare’s 660-person alumni network.

As the new class exchanged business cards and bonded , the word of the evening was “network.”

Dhruva Rajendra, chief shark at LearnShark and a member of the incoming class said that getting into Acceleprise and then receiving the invitation to MindShare have helped him and his cofounders, “resist the siren’s call of [Silicon] Valley. We hope this will help our network grow.”

Zubair Talib, president of YaSabe, an online platform and aggregator for services catering to the Latino community, explained that he is desperate for help. “I’m struggling with recruiting,” he said. “I really need developers.”

In addition to meeting their classmates and learning a little bit more about what was in store for them over the next eight months, attendees listened to Ted Leonsis, owner of both the Wizards and the Capitals franchises, co-CEO of Groupon and a well-seasoned entrepreneur, impart a little wisdom.

“Do well by doing good,” Leonsis said. “This is a fantastic franchise you’ve hooked up with. You get to meet people that will fund your companies, if that’s what you want.”

Leonsis mentioned Revolution Growth, the VC fund he invests in with Steve Case and Donn Davis. “We believe that D.C. has some of the best entrepreneurs,” he explained. “Our fund has half a billion dollars to invest in a dozen deals over the next five years.”

Here is the complete list of MindShare’s 2013 inductees:
•    David Adelman, ReelGenie
•    Bill Anderson, Oculis Labs
•    Ara Bagdasarian, Omnilert LLC
•    Mark Barrett, Crelate
•    Jay Bass, Payment Partners, Inc.
•    Robert Bohorad, Okapi Technology Solutions
•    Andrew Bolt, SphynKx Therapeutics LLC
•    John Bracken, Speek
•    Eric Burnquist, ThinkingStorm
•    Jeff Butler, Privia Health
•    Mike Corkery, Deltek
•    William Desrosiers, MEBA Global Reach, LC.
•    Chris Duffus, LEAF College Savings, LLC
•    Gail Embt, Kinergy™ Health
•    Kenan Fang, Mobomo
•    Derek Gabbard, Lookingglass Cyber Solutions
•    Dahna Goldstein, PhilanTech, Inc.
•    Sean Griffey, Industry Dive
•    Larry Harding, High Street Partners
•    Doug Howard, VBrick
•    Antonio Jackson, Uncovercare, Inc.
•    Jamey Jeff, Remarkable Hire
•    Charles Johnson, Cyber IQ
•    Keith Kelly, Mortgage Harmony Company
•    Nadeem Khan, Vidizmo
•    E.A. Koester, Capital Swift
•    Nick Lavezzo, FoundationDB
•    Dawn Li, Data and Analytic Solutions, Inc.
•    Raj Malik, Infusd
•    Josh Marks, masFlight
•    David Marra, 25K Digital, Inc
•    Sean McElrath, Hallway
•    Mark McGovern, Mobile System 7
•    James McKenna, Trupath
•    Patrick Mish, M-Edge Accessories
•    Charles Moore, LightPath
•    Todd Moore, TMSOFT LLC
•    Byron Morgan, Vinylmint
•    Mark Norris, Ekahau
•    Dr. Ade Oni, Pathevo®-STEM
•    Gaige Paulsen, ClueTrust
•    Michael Pratt, SpydrSafe Mobile Security, Inc.
•    T.J. Radtke, Acertiv
•    Dhruva Rajendra, LearnShark
•    Steven Rao, Telematch, Inc.
•    Mohamed Reda, Allied Soft
•    Emily York Richards, SADE Wellness
•    Jeff Ross, Treater
•    Juan Pablo Segura, 1eq Inc.
•    Patrick Smith, Power Supply
•    Zubair Talib, YaSabe
•    Nicholas Tolsen, COR
•    Yiannis Velissarakos, PersonSpot
•    Pranav Vora, Hugh & Crye
•    Micha Weinblatt, Betterific
•    Rob Wenger, Higher Logic
•    Laura Lee Williams, Laura Lee Designs
•    Tammy Wincup, EverFi
•    Gerald Young, Mobile-TeleMed