Video interview with Bjoern Herrmann. Bjoern is the 26 year-old founder of the Startup Genome. One year ago he & his team set out to find a scalable way to accelerate businesses across the world. After releasing two research reports on success & failure of startups that were downloaded 25,000 times he most recently released the first software product that is best described as a virtual mentor for now more than 13,000 software businesses. The published research has been adopted by more than 50 universities globally -including Stanford and Berkeley. Harvard Business School Professor Thomas Eisenmann called the findings an important contribution. You can try the product at Startup Compass Genome and learn more about the research at their blog. Before, Bjoern founded and led 4 for and nonprofit ventures in Germany, Bangladesh & the US. He also worked as an executive in Russia for one year for a mid sized marketing company. His personal passion or “leitmotif” is: unleashing human potential. His higher purpose is to strive to maximize the capitalization of every single individual. You can find Bjoern on Twitter @bjoernlasse
Small business
Cassie Phillipps, FailCon: Failure is the Best Way to Learn How to Succeed
Video interview with Cassandra Phillipps, Executive Producer FailCon. Cassandra has been a startup event producer for over three years, producing and managing numerous conferences, including FailCon http://thefailcon.com/, SF MusicTech Summit, Inside Social Apps, Unleashed Conference, Startup Seminars, and many more. She works with clients to insure each has a high-quality and profitable event, connecting them with the best partners, sponsors, and speakers for their topics. Before moving to the start-up industry, she served as a stage manager at various theaters around the country, including the American Conservatory Theater, Chicago Court, Marin Theater Company, and Aurora. Cassandra has a B.A in Human Development from the University of Chicago. You can find Cassandra on her blog & on Twitter @webwallflower
Nnena Ukuku, Black Founders: Diversity is Not Just About Gender & Race
Nnena Ukuku is one of 4 CoFounders of Black Founders. Black Founders exists to equip and connect African American Technology Entrepreneurs. BF started at the end of March 2011 and has gained a following across the nation. The Founders of Black Founders are Monique Woodward, Chris Bennett, Hadiyah Mujhad and Nnena Ukuku. Nnena Ukuku is a local attorney who works with early stage start up companies. She is passionate about her clients and also seeing entrepreneurs thrive. You can find Nnena on Twitter @nukuku & Black Founders @blackfounders