Speakers

• 

  Karen Gryga

  Karen Griffith Gryga is a Managing Partner at DreamIt Ventures where she oversees the Philadelphia cycles and leads fundraising efforts for DreamIt Fund II. She is the co-founder of Liberty Venture Partners, a Philadelphia based venture fund established in 1997 with $150M under management; FashInvest, a media and events initiative known internationally, focused on emerging growth entrepreneurs within Branded Goods, Fashion, Fashion Tech and Retail; and co-founder and CEO of Lipstick Wisdom, a community website for mothers of children with neurological differences.

• 

  Jameel Farruk

  Jameel leads Brolik’s team efforts towards fostering new client relationships while keeping current clients happy as Brolik's Director of Client Relations. Jameel comes from a strong background in media sales and brand development, having worked with some of the world’s largest brands including Airbus, Eli Lilly, Heinz and Verizon.

  @jfarruk
• 

  Mike Krupit

  Mike is the founder and operator of Trajectify, coaching entrepreneurs of startups and small businesses to cross the chasm – getting them beyond traction to help scale and grow. He is also the co-founder of IntroNet, an application that makes it easy for people to make and track introductions to others in their professional and personal networks. Mike has a passion for growing companies - a veteran of seven previous startups and a mentor and advisor to many more.

  Notably, Mike held senior management positions for online pioneer CDNOW. Appointed CEO when the company was sold to media giant, Bertelsmann AG, he transitioned and stabilized the business in a new environment and challenging economy. Under Mike's guidance, CDNOW became one of the most advanced companies doing business on the Internet, with industry-leading levels of customer satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

  @mkrupit
• 

  Will Crowder

  William Crowder is Managing Director at DreamIt Ventures where he works closely with DreamIt’s NYC and Philadelphia cycles, overseeing the DreamIt Access track. He is responsible for the operation of DreamIt Access; a partnership between DreamIt Ventures and Comcast to increase the number of minority-led startups. Outside of DreamIt, William leads the investing activities of the Comcast Ventures Opportunity Fund, a $20M seed stage venture fund; and is the Founder and Managing Director of Growth Strategy Advisors, a boutique strategic advisory and business development company that launched in 2008.

  @williamcrowder
• 

  Jeff Bodle

  Jeffrey P. Bodle is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Business and Finance Practice and its Emerging Business and Technology Practice. Mr. Bodle is a corporate and securities lawyer whose practice focuses on representing emerging businesses and other high-growth private and public companies throughout every stage of their lifecycle.

  He also represents seed and venture capital investors, private equity investors, institutional investors, and strategic investors in investment and portfolio company transactions.

  He also concentrates his practice on a variety of complex transactional matters, including IPOs and other public and private offerings of equity and debt securities, mergers and acquisitions and corporate partnering, joint venture, and other strategic transactions.

  @jeffbodle