Piranha Tank
Moderator: Gregory Kammerer
Piranhas: Gil Beyda | Stephan A. Leccese | Katherine O’Neill
Jump into the Piranha Tank for a fun and existing session. You’ve seen the TV show with those wimpy mammals. Now, experience the Piranha Tank, where take no prisoners, self-made investors will hear brief presentations from up to six companies from various industries seeking start-up or growth capital. The Piranhas will consider new and existing companies looking to grab their share of the America dream. The Piranhas will vote on each presentation and may ask the audience for help. The worst presenters may be eaten alive! The best will receive acknowledgement, an award, and maybe millions of dollars…who knows?
Gregory Kammerer
MLG Capital
Vice President of Capital Markets
Gregory Kammerer is a seasoned professional within the private equity and venture capital community. Throughout his career, Mr. Kammerer has worked with a number of start-ups across a variety of verticals: Healthcare IT, Medical Device, Social Media, Digital Media, SAAS, Telecom and Education. Mr. Kammerer has developed his niche with assisting Founders and CEOs developing strategic relationships, identifying new sources of revenue, raising capital and advising on future growth initiatives.
Mr. Kammerer is currently the Vice President of Capital Markets of MLG Capital, a Midwest based Private Equity Real Estate Firm focused on small and mid-cap investments throughout the United States; and the Co-Founder of two education based start-ups which are focused on the college admissions process and internship placements for college students, respectively.
Mr. Kammerer is a former Division I athlete, a short sprinter for Monmouth University, where he graduated Cum Laude and presented his Honors Thesis on the topic of “Revising Copyright Law for the Digital Age.” Mr. Kammerer is also a brother of Sigma Tau Gamma.
Gil Beyda
Genacast Ventures
Founder & Managing Partner
Gil Beyda is the Founder & Managing Partner of Genacast Ventures, a seed fund formed in partnership with Comcast Ventures to invest in technology-centric, Internet start-ups. Gil has invested in Invite Media (acquired by Google), Demdex (acquired by Adobe), DoubleVerify, Packlate, Divide (acquired by Google), Mortar Data, LeadiD, YieldMo, Rocketrip, ZeroFox, RevMetrix, Overlap and STAQ.
Gil is a seasoned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. Gil launched his first company Mind Games in 1982 to develop games for the original Apple II. Gil then started a software consulting firm with Fortune 100 clients in the U.S., Asia and Europe. In 1995, Gil helped pioneer Internet advertising by founding Real Media, the first online ad network and ad server company. After Real Media was acquired in 2001, Gil pioneered the next wave of online advertising as CTO of TACODA, the first behavioral targeting, ad network. Following AOL’s acquisition of TACODA in 2007, Gil founded Genacast Ventures.
Genacast Ventures Boilerplate
Genacast Ventures (www.genacast.com) invests in Internet technology entrepreneurs with a vision and passion for forging new markets or disrupt old ones. Established in 2008 as a partnership between serial entrepreneur Gil Beyda (Real Media and Tacoda) and Comcast Ventures, Genacast’s commitment to helping exceptional entrepreneurs build great companies is already experiencing success with its first investment Invite Media being acquired by Google (Public, NASDAQ:GOOG), its second investment Demdex being acquired by Adobe (Public, NASDAQ:ADBE) and its fourth investment Divide being acquired by Google. Current portfolio companies include DoubleVerify (advertising), Mortar Data (big data), LeadiD (lead generation), YieldMo (mobile advertising), Rocketrip (corporate travel), ZeroFox (security), RevMetrix (retail analytics), Overlap (scheduling) and STAQ (advertising). Genacast invests up to $1M in 4-6 seed-stage start-ups each year.
Stephan A. Leccese
TechCXO
Managing Partner
Stephan A. Leccese serves as the Managing Partner for the New York Office of TechCXO – a leading professional services firm that provides fractional and interim C-Suite-level strategic and functional consulting services for technology companies.
Mr. Leccese has over 20 years of wide-ranging experience working with technology growth companies. Mr. Leccese is a Certified Public Accountant in NYS, has served previously as advisor, consultant, CFO and senior financial executive of various technology companies. Mr. Leccese has expertise in accounting, corporate finance, corporate strategy and transaction execution – including capital raising and M&A advisory.
Mr. Leccese has worked with a number of growth companies to refine their business plans, improve their positioning with investors, execute their strategic priorities and assist with their financing needs. Mr. Leccese raised ~$2 billion of capital and provided advisory services on transactions valued in excess of $3 billion.
Mr. Leccese currently serves as senior advisor to a number of start-up companies, is active in community service and devotes his time to a number of organizations and efforts.
Previously, Mr. Leccese was a:
- founding partner of an independent financial advisory and consulting firm focused on technology growth companies
- founding member and served as the CFO/SVP of Corporate Development of a security technology startup
- Managing Director of an independent, nationally recognized investment banking and asset management firm focused on emerging growth companies
- senior accountant at one of the world’s leading professional services organizations
Katherine O’Neill
JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network
Executive Director
Katherine O’Neill is the Executive Director for JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network, a member led angel investor group that invests in early stage companies in Mid-Atlantic region. She is an investor in early stage growth companies. She currently serves on the Board of the Angel Capital Association. The ACA is the national organization representing angel investor groups in North America. Katherine represents the ACA at both national and international events. She is quoted in regional publications and the Wall Street Journal as a source for information on early stage investing.
Katherine is a member of the NJ Economic Development Authority Edison Fund Advisory Board, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of SEPA Advisory Board, NJ Technology CFO Advisory Board, Princeton University MIRTHE Investment Focus Group and Rutgers Innovation Park Advisory Board. In recent years she has spoken at and judged business plan competitions both regionally and nationally at events such as IMPACT, Astia, Microsoft BizSpark NYC competition, Tri State Donald W. Reynolds Cup, Princeton University Jumpstart Innovation Forum, Temple University BOSS bowl and Start Up Weekend Princeton. She is a mentor at regional accelerators Princeton University E-Labs and TechLaunch. In 2015, she was honored as one of NJBIZ’s 50 Best Women in NJ Business
Katherine is a seasoned financial executive and investor in early stage enterprises with extensive experience in start up and entrepreneurial operations as well as operational experiences in a diverse range of businesses. She has particular expertise developing technology-based business as well as strategic business plans. She has extensive multi-national experience and financial operation management and expertise in healthcare, biotech, pharmaceuticals, information systems, e-commerce and social media. She is the president of O’Neill Associates and consults with growth companies.
In addition to her entrepreneurial activities, she was a senior executive in corporate finance in both a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company the now GlaxoSmithKline and Fortune 500 chemical company FMC. Katherine has served on many non-profit boards focusing on education and women in business. Katherine is also currently active with the Forum of Executive Women and the New Jersey Technology Council. Katherine earned BA in Economics from the University of Maryland Munich, Germany and College Park MD and a MA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.