vSpring Capital Releases Its List of the 2009 Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs ( v100 Fosters Collaborative Partnering and Mentoring Among Top Regional Entrepreneurs )
SALT LAKE CITY, UT, Mar 31, 2009 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — vSpring Capital announced today the 2009 class of the vSpring Capital Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs, also known as the v100.
The v100 was created in 2004 by vSpring Capital as a tool to identify and recognize entrepreneurs who are most likely to experience successful venture returns with ties to the state of Utah. Members of the v100 become part of an ongoing community of entrepreneurs that fosters collaboration and provides advantages in building and growing companies.
Each year, vSpring asks members of the Utah business community to nominate individuals who are most likely to lead a successful startup venture in the next five to seven years in the IT (information technology) or biotech industries. These nominees are then asked to vote amongst themselves based on the same criteria. Those nominees who garner the most votes from their peers in this second step of the annual voting process are then elected into the v100 and become members of this ongoing community of entrepreneurial leaders.
“This year over 10,000 members of the Utah business community were solicited, creating the most complete list of nominees possible,” said Dennis Wood, director of human capital at vSpring Capital.
“The v100 process is unique in that members are selected not by a committee or a panel of judges, but ultimately by their peers,” said Professor Scott Schaefer from the University of Utah and member of the audit committee who oversees the v100 selection process. “This gives the results a unique and compelling validity, while helping ensure the integrity of the v100.”
This year’s v100 announcement comes during one of the most difficult economic downturns in decades. “We are pleased that in this down economy, this year’s list supports the idea that entrepreneurial success can not only happen in spite of the economy, but sometimes because of the economy,” Wood stated. “These designees demonstrate that companies are achieving results in this environment.”
“Entrepreneurship is one of the key factors of production that will help strengthen the current financial environment through its ability to help generate economic development in the communities in which they are located,” stated Jon Walker, an analyst at vSpring Capital. “I firmly believe we are just starting to tap the vast entrepreneurial potential and resources that this state and region have to offer.”
Mr. David Checketts, Chairman of SCP Worldwide, will address the v100 community at an exclusive luncheon on May 7, 2009 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“Mr. Checketts is the ideal keynote speaker,” Walker stated. “We are glad to properly recognize the current and future accomplishments of the v100 inductees and current members at this event.”
vSpring Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in information technology and life science companies. With offices in Utah and New Mexico, the firm has over $390 million under management.
Facts about the v100 Class of 2009
A complete list of members in the 2009 v100 is enclosed below. Be advised that positions/companies noted were current as of the date of the compilation of the 2009 v100 list of members. This year there was a tie in the voting, making a total of 106 members. For additional information about the v100 or vSpring Capital, please contact vSpring’s Jon Walker at jon@vspring.com
Full Name Company Work Title Website Pete Abilla Schmula & Company Founder http://www.shmula.com Jayson Ahlstrom ClassTop President/COO http://www.classtop.com Rick Alden SkullCandy Founder/CEO http://www.skullcandy.com Nate Alder Klymit Founder/CEO http://www.klymit.com Paul Allen FamilyLink.com CEO http://corporate.familylink.com Curt Allen Agilix President/CEO http://www.agilix.com Dallin Anderson Code Genetics President/CEO http://www.codenutrition.com Amy Rees Mediconnect Anderson Global CEO http://www.mediconnect.net Jeremy Andrus SkullCandy President http://www.skullcandy.com Coleman Barney Infopia President/CEO http://www.infopia.com Don Basille FusionIO http://www.fusionio.com Jay Bean OrangeSoda CEO http://www.orangesoda.com Grant Logitech VP Digital Beckmann Video Bus. http://www.logitech.com Justin Bergener Schooltipline CEO http://www.schooltipline.com Brian Beutler Alianza CEO http://www.alianza.com Clay Blackham SnappConner PR Partner http://www.snappconner.com Brock Blake Funding Universe CEO http://www.fundinguniverse.com William Borghetti Sendside Networks CEO http://www.sendside.com David Boyce Oracle VP of Strategy of Retail Business Unit http://www.oracle.com David Bradford FusionIO CEO http://www.fusionio.com Jeff Brimhall Credibli CEO http://www.credibli.com Paul MarketSplash by Brockbank HP CEO http://www.marketsplash.com Craig Burton Gregory SageCreek Managing Butterfield Partners Partner http://www.sagecreekpartners.com Ryan Caldwell Entice Labs CEO http://www.enticelabs.com Scott BlueStar Home CoFounder/ Carman Health CEO http://www.bluestarhomehealth.com Don Cash Omniture VP Mid Market Sales http://www.omniture.com Nathaniel Mangia President/ L. Technologies Founder http://www.mangia.net Checketts Josh Coates Mozy Founder http://www.mozy.com Tom FamilySearch.org Application http://www.familysearch.org Creighton Architect Brian University of Cummings Utah TCO Director Ed Donakey LDS Church/ Mgr of Family History Strategic Dept. Relationships Adam Edmunds Allegiance President/CEO http://www.allegiance.com John Edwards Move Networks President/CEO http://www.movenetworks.com David Elkington InsideSales.com CEO http://www.insidesales.com James Endicott Exact Wave President/CEO http://www.exactwave.com Bjorn Espenes Infopia Chairman http://www.infopia.com Ildar Sterling CFOs Managing Fazulyanov Partner http://www.sterlingcfos.com Martin Frey Powercode Systems CEO http://www.powercode.com Stephen Fulling Kynetx Founder/CEO http://www.kynetx.com Jeremy 9Aisle CoFounder/ Hanks CEO http://www.9aisle.com Nathan C7 Data Centers President/ Hatch CEO http://www.c7dc.com Greg Heaps Allegiance COO http://www.allegiance.com Eliot Lumiport CoFounder/ Jacobsen COO http://www.lumiport.com Josh James Omniture CoFounder/ http://www.omniture.com CEO Steve Jones Alianza VP Bus. Dev. http://www.alianza.com Dr. Greg University of Associate Jones Utah Scientific Director Computing & Imaging Institute Stan Kanarowski Park City Angels Jeremy Kartchner SnappConner PR Partner http://www.snappconner.com Jeff Kearl SkullCandy Chairman of the Board http://www.skullcandy.com Maile Keone Alianza VP Marketing http://www.alianza.com & Client Services Kristen NuSkin Sr. Dir. Of Knight Enterprises Global Product Marketing http://www.nuskin.com Chris Doba SMB/9Aisle VP Sales Knudsen & Marketing http://www.smb.doba.com Ken Krogue Insidesales.com President/ CoFounder http://www.insidesales.com Bruce Law Sprout Marketing President http://www.sproutmarketing.com Darren Lee NextPage CEO http://www.nextpage.com Scott C. Lemon HumanXtensions CTO http://www.humanxtensions.com Dan Levine SkullCandy VP http://www.skullcandy.com Shawn Omniture Chief Legal Lindquist Officer http://www.omniture.com Lane Livingston Fibernet CFO http://www.fiber.net Kyle Love Direct Controls CEO http://www.directcontrols.com Drew Major Cisco Fellow http://www.cisco.com Ty D. Managing Mattingly Primay Colors Partner Ned Utah Business CEO http://www.utahbusinessaccelerator.com Maxfield Accelerator Dave McGinn Agilix COO/CFO http://www.agilix.com Glen Mella Control4 President/ http://www.control4.com COO John F. Omniture Exec. VP of http://www.omniture.com Mellor Bus Dev. & Corporate Strategy Derek Miner OrangeSoda.com CoFounder http://www.orangesoda.com Clarke Miyasaki SkullCandy VP Bus. Dev. http://www.skullcandy.com Ryan Money Franchise Foundry VP Bus Dev. http://www.franchisefoundry.com Mark Newman HireVue CEO http://www.hirevue.com Russell Page Fifty Studio COO http://www.fiftystudio.com Dr. Michael Paul LineaGen President/CEO http://www.Lineagen.com Ben Peterson HumanServicesHQ Co-Founder http://www.humanserviceshq.com Greg Aptus Advisors Managing http://www.aptusadvisors.com Peterson Partner David Politis President http://www.politis.com Politis Communications Michael Proper CentralPointe President/CEO Brad Rencher Omniture http://www.omniture.com Professor Allegiance/BYU CoFounder of http://www.allegiance.com Gary Allegiance & K. Rhoads Associate Director of Rollins Center of Entrepreneurship & Technology Kevin Santiago Cymphonix CEO http://www.cymphonix.com Todd Shepherd Studeo CEO http://www.studeo.com Allan Smart Voonami COO http://www.voonami.com Eric Smith Control4 CTO http://www.control4.com Cheryl SnappConner PR Managing http://www.snappconner.com Snapp Partner Conner James Lee Sorenson Sorenson Companies Chairman http://www.sorensoncompanies.com Steve Spencer Twelve Horses President/CTO http://www.twelvehorses.com Tim Stay Perfect Search President/CEO http://www.perfectsearchcorp.com Corporation Joshua Steimle MWI CEO http://www.mwi.com Thomas Stockham Joe Strom Alpine Capital Owner Investments Jack W. Sunderlage ContentWatch President/CEO http://www.contentwatch.com Benoy Tamang Sapha Founder http://www.sapha.com Cydni Tetro NextPage CMO http://www.nextpage.com William Glycosan Founder/ http://www.glycosan.com Tew, PhD BioSystems President/CEO Kent Thomas CFO Solutions Founder/ http://www.utahcfo.com Managing Member Brent Jive Thomson Communications CEO http://www.getjive.com Nicole Governors Office Director http://www.goed.utah.gov Toomey of Economic Dev. Davis Brad EarlyRun Walters Ventures CEO http://www.earlyrun.com Russ Warner ShipNomics VP Sales http://www.shipnomics.com & Marketing Will West Control4 CEO http://www.control4.com Greg Whisenant CrimeReports.com Founder/CEO http://www.crimereports.com Tyler Whitaker TM Ventures CTO & Founder http://www.tylerwhitaker.com Hal Mangia Widlansky Technologies CEO http://www.mangia.net Dr. Phillip Windley Kynetx CTO http://www.kynetx.com Gary S. Winterton OrangeSoda.com President http://www.orangesoda.com Ralph ThinkAtomic Founder/ http://www.thinkatomic.com Yarro III President/CEO MEDIA CONTACTS: Jon Walker Analyst vSpring Capital Email Contact David Anderson Administrative Partner vSpring Capital Email Contact
