Faculty & Staff

Professor Hochberg’s research and teaching interests are focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the financing of entrepreneurial activity. Her research focuses on the venture capital industry, accelerators, networks and corporate governance and compensation policies. In addition to her doctorate in finance from Stanford, she holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and an A.M. in Economics from Stanford University. Her research has been published in top tier journals, including Science Magazine, the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Accounting Research, and the Journal of Financial Economics, and has been presented at numerous universities and governmental bodies around the world. She is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Banking and Finance and the Journal of Empirical Finance, and previously served as an Associate Editor at the Review of Finance.

Prof. Hochberg serves as the Head of the Entrepreneurship Initiative at Rice University and as Academic Director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

She holds a Research Affiliate position with MIT’s Sloan School of Management and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prof. Hochberg is also Managing Director of the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project, which publishes the annual ranking of accelerator programs in the U.S.

Prior to her appointment at Rice, Prof. Hochberg was previously on the (tenure track) faculty at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University, and was a visiting faculty member at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She is currently a visiting faculty member at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Previously, she was employed in the technology industry in both larger and startup companies. She serves on the advisory board and board of directors for a number of early stage startups. In 2015, she was named one of the world’s 40 under 40 best business school professors by Poets and Quants. In 2016, she was awarded the Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship.

For more information on the Rice University Entrepreneurship Initiative, visit entreprenuership.rice.edu.

Teaching Interests: 

• Entrepreneurship
• Innovation
• Financing of entrepreneurial activity

Research Interests: 

• Venture Capital
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Organizational Networks
• Ecosystems

Kyle Judah is the Executive Director at Lilie, where he also teaches Financing the Startup Venture, Founders’ Dilemmas and E-Lab New Enterprises courses. Kyle works on building on new programming outside the classroom, with a focus on research commercialization and experiential opportunities for all students in the Fall, Spring and Summer

Kyle has experience as a serial founder, non-profit creator, turn around operator, and investor. After his founding experience, Kyle helped run MIT’s Center for Entrepreneurship, scaling the Delta-V summer accelerator before leading work at the MIT Innovation Initiative supporting research commercialization and new venture capital models. He then continued these efforts after being hired as the first Executive Director of Entrepreneurship at CU Boulder’s College of Engineering & Applied Science, running the Catalyze CU accelerator and launching the Entrepreneurship Minor for the College. Kyle currently sits on the Innovation Advisory Board for Honda’s global Research Institutes.

With his vast background in a variety of innovation, leadership, and higher-education roles, Kyle is dedicated to creating systems and processes to help develop new ideas, programs and technologies, and translate them into real world impact – helping students launch startups in and out of the classroom.

Kyle earned his BA in Sports Marketing from University of Massachusetts, and holds and MBA from the Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

Hesam Panahi is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship and human-centered design. He is also the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie).

Prior to Rice, Panahi was a clinical assistant professor at University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business, where he taught courses in management information systems, computer science, industrial design, and entrepreneurship. While at the University of Houston, Hesam also founded RED Labs, the University of Houston’s startup accelerator and technology entrepreneurship program. He holds a Ph.D. and Bachelors of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the University of Houston.

Teaching Interests: 

– Entrepreneurship
– Human-centered design

Book time with Tony!

Tony is the Head of Early Stage Ventures at Lilie, where he drives the growth of emerging startups and cultivates a culture of innovation by leading programs such as Launchpad, the Rice Experiment Fund, and the Venture Development Workshop series.

Previously, Tony was Managing Director of Nucleate Austin and Regional Managing Director for Nucleate Texas, organizations dedicated to democratizing startup development for graduate trainees in the life sciences. In these roles, he championed equitable, open-access training for aspiring student entrepreneurs. Tony now chairs Nucleate’s Alumni Advisory Council, offering strategic guidance to empower the next generation of life-science innovators.

Tony’s hands-on startup experience includes his time as a research associate and business development specialist at SAMDI Tech Inc. (a Charles River company) in Chicago, IL, prior to its acquisition. Additionally, Tony spent time as a consultant with Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs, advising pre- and post-revenue start-ups from across Texas.

Tony holds a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Business Administration from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.

Book time with Caroline!

Caroline Arzoo is the Head of Venture Acceleration and Commercialization at Rice University’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie), where she leads programs that transform cutting-edge research into high-impact ventures. She oversees initiatives such as the Summer Venture Studio and Innovation Fellows, focusing on identifying and accelerating deep tech and science-based startups from across the Rice ecosystem. Caroline is passionate about creating immersive, experiential pathways for both faculty and student founders—connecting them to mentorship, strategic funding, and the broader Texas and U.S. innovation networks.

Prior to joining Lilie, Caroline served as Director of Partnerships and Business Development at OmniSync, a VC-backed and federally funded AI startup supporting innovators navigating SBIR/STTR funding and commercialization. She led strategic partnerships, developed go-to-market and customer success strategies for two early-stage products, achieving widespread product and client growth, and helping create pathways for startups to secure funding from a variety of sources.

In addition to her operational roles, Caroline has actively supported early-stage teams through programs such as Nucleate, Plug and Play, Founder Institute, and the University of California system—offering guidance on SBIR strategy, customer discovery, pitching, and fundraising. She began her career as a Venture Analyst at Untapped Ventures, working closely with startups in a Future of Work accelerator on product-market fit and investment readiness.

Caroline holds a B.A. in Communication and Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, along with a Certificate in the Technology Management Program. Her work is driven by a mission to build robust innovation ecosystems and empower the next generation of science-driven entrepreneurs.

Schedule a meeting with me!

Book time with Maddie!

Maddie is Lilie’s Program Coordinator, helping to support the Liu Idea Lab’s co-curricular programs and events throughout the academic year. Maddie also helps oversee Lilie’s space in the Cambridge Office Building, working with student clubs, programs and other campus organizers to help them feel welcome in using Lilie as a host for meetings and events. Maddie is an alum of the University of Colorado Boulder, with experience at their Sleep Study Lab before helping run large scale events.

Book time with Cherise!

Cherise is an artist, a strategist, and a media producer helping purpose-driven organizations tell their story and connect with their community. Throughout her 20 year career, her passion for spotlighting emerging leaders and building campfires of common purpose has always been her driving force.

Prior to her position with Lilie, Cherise served as the Director for Marketing for DivInc, a nonprofit startup accelerator for women and BIPOC founders. She has worked at at a myriad of nonprofits and community organizations throughout the country, including Louisiana Public Health Institute in New Orleans, National Academies of Sciences in Washington D.C., and Lakewood Church here in Houston. In additional to her nonprofit work, Cherise is an accomplished writer and media producer with pieces published by Houston Press, Bustle, and Huffington Post.

Cherise holds a B.A. in public policy and business from the University of Miami and is currently a M.A. candidate in Arts Leadership at the University of Houston.

Book time with Nick!

Nick started his career as freelance orchestral musician in NYC and quickly found his way to the education space. He opened a high school for musically gifted students and joined a quickly expanding tech start-up before getting his MBA. After a brief stent as a consultant at McKinsey, he’s excited to be back in the world of education and to create amazing opportunities for students.

Rafael Serrillos Barboza is Lilie’s Faculty Success Manager, supporting the Liu Idea Lab’s faculty in delivering innovative and impactful courses. He works closely with over 20 faculty members, offering guidance on course preparation, system navigation, and course management to ensure their success. Prior to joining Lilie, Rafael gained valuable experience working with Amerigo Education in Chicago and the Global Initiatives Office at the University of Houston. He is passionate about fostering student success and helping new faculty seamlessly transition into their teaching roles at Rice.

Book time with Sophie!

Sophie Randolph is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. She serves as Summer Program Manager and is a Residential Associate at Baker. But this isn’t Sophie’s first Rice rodeo! Sophie first joined the Rice community in the full-time MBA class of 2022.

In her student era at Rice, Sophie founded her own startup, Green Room, participated in Techstars, and raised a pre-seed round for the business. Sophie ran Green Room for three years before making the hard decision to wind things down. Before business school, Sophie spent 4 years working at an early stage startup and grew from her role as Executive Assistant to Director of Customer Success.

Sophie brings together the best of experience gained flying by the seat of her pants in the fast-paced startup world, and the knowledge she gained in the classroom. She leverages these skills and her boundless enthusiasm to build systems and experiences that empower students to explore what innovation and entrepreneurship means in their lives.

Sophie holds a B.A. in African American Studies from Harvard University and an MBA from Rice University

Al Danto is the managing partner of the Danto Burks Group which advises the owners of privately held companies in developing and completing exit strategies, valuations and due diligence representation. He is also a partner in Danto Langerud investments which makes investments and actively manages businesses in a variety of industries. Al has over 25 years’ experience with startup and entrepreneurial companies as well as expertise in the acquisition and divestiture of business interests. He started Structured Graphics at the age of 24 and grew the company through a series of acquisitions into one of the southwest’s largest printing and document management businesses. The company was acquired in 2000 by a Private Equity Group. After exiting the company he went on to fund and launch several enterprises, including Universal Worker, an international health care recruitment firm and Arcemus which was sold to publicly traded Iron Mountain. Al has served as lead representative on a wide range of business acquisitions and has proven experience working with lenders, private equity groups and individual purchasers. He has served on a variety of boards, including the alumni board of the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University and the Entrepreneurs Organization. Al is an Accredited Valuation Analyst received his undergraduate degree in business administration and mathematics from Central Michigan University and an MBA from Rice University.

Teaching Interests: 

-Enterprise acquisition
-New enterprise
-Entrepreneurship

Adrienne Garland, the CEO of She Leads Media, has established a global platform and community for women leaders and entrepreneurs, fostering genuine connections and collaboration both in-person and online. Recognized as a champion for women worldwide, she emphasizes the importance of empowering women to utilize powerful language in media interactions for enhanced visibility. With over 20 years of corporate career experience and an MBA from New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business, Adrienne brings deep expertise in Marketing, Public Relations, and Business Development across startups and Fortune 1000 brands in the Media, Entertainment, and Technology industries.

Aziz Gilani is a Managing Partner at Mercury, where he focuses on investments in enterprise SaaS, Cloud and data science startups. Aziz currently serves on the boards of Mercury portfolio companies Datical, GameSalad, Graylog, Koupon Media (observer), Label Insight (observer), ShareThis (observer) and Trendkite (observer). Aziz’s previous investments at Mercury have included BlackLocus (acq. by The Home Depot), Infochimps (acq. by CSC), Modest (acq. by PayPal), and Phurnace Software (acq. by BMC Software).

Prior to joining Mercury, Aziz was a Senior Engagement Leader with Infosys Consulting, an early executive at ABB Performance Services, a Senior Consultant at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, and an Analyst at Lotus Development Corp. Aziz received his BBA from the University of Texas where he was a TILF Scholar, and his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where he was an FC Austin Scholar.

In addition, Aziz is a graduate of the Kauffman Fellows Program through the Center for Venture Education, where he completed industry-defining field work on Seed Accelerators.  Aziz is a recognized expert in Seed Accelerators, and has been quoted in several national publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, ReadWriteWeb, TechCocktail, and The Business Journals.

Outside of Mercury, Aziz serves in advisory roles for The Black Founders Matter Fund and SXSW Interactive. He is also a Lecturer at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business where he teaches entrepreneurial finance.

Aziz received the 2021 National Venture Capital Association Service Award for his work with public policy makers. In 2022 Aziz was appointed to the National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Teaching Interests:

• Financing start-up ventures
• Foundations of entrepreneurship: strategy & funding

Blair Garrou is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Mercury, where he focuses on investments in enterprise SaaS and cloud computing startups. Blair currently serves on the boards of Mercury portfolio companies Apto, Koupon Media, Label Insight, LISNR, ShareThis, TrackX, and Trendkite. Blair’s previous investments at Mercury have included Alert Logic (acq. by Welsh Carson), BlackLocus (acq. by The Home Depot), Dònde (acq. by Mobify), Infochimps (acq. by CSC), Patient I/O (acq. by athenahealth), and Phurnace Software (acq. by BMC Software).

Prior to co-founding Mercury, Blair was the CEO of Intermat, a leader in product information management software (acq. by IHS). Prior to Intermat, Blair was a Principal of Genesis Park, a Houston-based venture capital and private equity firm, where he focused on the firm’s software investments, including Intermat, FuelQuest (acq. by Saracen Energy), and SAT Corporation (acq. by Invensys). Prior to Genesis Park, Blair helped launch and was the Director of Operations for the Houston Technology Center (HTC), the largest technology incubator in the state of Texas, and he led the formation of the Houston Angel Network, one of the largest and most active angel investment organizations in the U.S. Previously, Blair was an investment banker with BMO Nesbitt Burns, and an auditor with Deloitte & Touche. He received a B.S. in Management with special attainments in Commerce from Washington & Lee University.

Blair is also a co-founder of Station Houston, the largest coworking accelerator in Houston, and SURGE Accelerator, a mentor-driven seed accelerator focused on entrepreneurs seeking to solve the world’s energy problems using software. Outside of Mercury, Blair serves in board and/or advisory roles for the Post Oak School, Rice Alliance, Texas Venture Capital Association, UTHealth, and YPO – Gulf States Chapter. Blair is an Adjunct Professor at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University where he teaches a course on venture capital.  Blair also was named to the Houston Business Journal’s inaugural “40 under 40.”

Teaching Interests:

• Entrepreneurship
• Foundations of entrepreneurship: strategy & funding

Remington Tonar is the Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Cart.com, a pre-IPO stage commerce and logistics unicorn that grew to over thousands of employees, hundreds of millions in revenue and a multibillion-dollar valuation in under four years. He also previously served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Revenue Officer.

Prior to launching Cart.com, he served as Managing Director of The Cannon, the Greater Houston Area’s largest startup incubator and coworking space, and spent several years in the corporate innovation consulting space in New York City advising multinational organizations and Fortune 500s across industries. He also previously managed a seed stage food and beverage venture fund and wrote on infrastructure innovation and smart cities as a Senior Contributor for Forbes.com. He serves as an advisor to a variety of companies from industrial biotech startup Cemvita to Fortune 500 engineering firm Fluor. He is a frequent speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship in university classrooms and at conferences such as SXSW, WebSummit, SpaceCom, Shoptalk, and the Defense Logistics and Support Summit.

Remington holds a Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen, Master’s degrees from New York University and Loyola University Chicago, and his Bachelor’s from Marquette University.

Carolyn Bao is a faculty member in Entrepreneurship at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, where she teaches in the MBA@Rice program.

In addition to teaching, Carolyn serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Edge Services and Solutions, a global provider of talent and technology solutions that help organizations improve operational efficiency while ensuring compliance. She previously held senior leadership roles including Vice President of Marketing at AppsFlyer Inc. and Moomoo Technology Inc. Over the course of more than 20 years, she has built multidisciplinary marketing expertise through leadership positions at innovative technology companies such as Meta, BrightEdge Technologies, Visa, and Yahoo.

Carolyn is passionate about developing the next generation of leaders by bringing real-world examples into the classroom. Since 2013, she has been invited as a guest lecturer at leading institutions including the Stanford LEAD Program, the University of Connecticut MBA program, Santa Clara University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University. In 2019, she also published a self-paced online product marketing course on the MarTechApe platform.

A firm believer in entrepreneurship, Carolyn actively advises early-stage ventures and has invested in startups such as Volta Charging and Lime.

She holds an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

Rassul Zarinfar has been working on/in Startups & Small Businesses for 25 years. Rassul founded Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company (Buffbrew) in 2011. A bootstrapped rocket ship, Buffbrew caught fire early, doubling & tripling revenues despite shoestring liquidity, feeding exponential growth with increasingly complex capital raises. Over 10 years of continuous growth, Buffbrew is the second-largest independent craft brewery in Houston and has ranked in the Texas Top Ten by volume for several years.

Rassul serves on the Board of Directors for Fresh Arts, an incredible Houston non-profit that empowers local artists & creatives to build sustainable careers and succeed in the Business of Art. He also serves as Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for Arts District Houston. Rassul received a BA in English from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Professor Schuler’s research and teaching interests focus on public policy, business-government relations, social responsibility, non-profits, and social entrepreneurship. He received his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Organization from the University of Minnesota. He has published research articles in top tier journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Business & Society.  Dr. Schuler is an Associate Editor at Business & Society and serves on the editorial board of Business Ethics Quarterly. He is also the outgoing chair of the Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management.

Dr. Schuler teaches the Social Entrepreneurship course for undergraduates. It is a project-based approach to understand the context of social innovations. Specifically, the projects focus on food insecurity innovations and interventions in the greater Houston area. Students analyze such interventions and make recommendations for improvements necessary to achieve greater social impact. This course received the Rice University award for Best Inquiry-Based Learning in 2018.  Dr. Schuler teaches a related MBA course on Social Enterprise that has more of a corporate social responsibility focus.

In parallel, Dr. Schuler conducts research on these interventions and has published a report, Challenges of Social Sector Systemic Collaborations: What’s Cookin’ in Houston’s Food Insecurity Space?, published in March 2019 on Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research’s website: https://kinder.rice.edu/research/challenges-social-sector-systemic-collaborations-whats-cookin-houstons-food-insecurity. This report is one of the centerpieces of the new Greater Houston Coalition on Social Determinants of Health, of which he is a member, that sets out to tackle food insecurity and related issues in the community.

Omar Abou-Sayed’s experience spans across the energy, chemicals, renewables, waste management, and water treatment industries. He has worked in a variety of engineering, business, and leadership roles within Super Major oil companies, blue chip management consulting and private equity firms, and venture-backed startups. Omar is the founder and former CEO of Advantek Waste Management Services LLC and the Executive Chairman of Vaulted Deep.

Jim is a General Partner at Fitz Gate Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. Jim is also a Lecturer at Princeton University’s Graduate School where he teaches a seminar series on venture capital and an Adjunct Professor at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business where he teaches a class on venture capital investing. Jim is also a member of the Princeton University Dean for Research’s Advisory Council, Princeton University’s Keller Center eLab Advisory Committee and a mentor to the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council. Jim was awarded the 2022 Clio Award from the Princeton University Graduate School in recognition of his seminar series on venture capital for graduate students.

Prior to co-founding Fitz Gate, Jim was the Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for an NYSE listed company which he grew through acquisition until its sale to another publicly traded company; a founding partner and member of the investment committee of private equity firm Main Street Capital (NYSE: MAIN); a private equity and M&A lawyer (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in NYC and London; Baker Botts in Houston) and an investment banker (Morgan Stanley in NYC). Jim is an honors graduate of Princeton University and received his law degree from New York University School of Law.

Joanna Nathan is the Manager of New Ventures at the Johnson & Johnson Center for Device Innovation at Texas Medical Center (CDI @ TMC). In this role, Joanna is responsible for sourcing and supporting external opportunities to accelerate breakthrough technologies at CDI. Prior to this role, Joanna was a Venture Fellow at Mercury Fund, a $300M venture capital fund focused on early-stage enterprise software. In this role, Joanna sourced investment opportunities in next-gen enterprise software, cloud biology, and intelligent manufacturing, and represented the fund on a working board for the City of Houston to grow the local innovation ecosystem. Previously, Joanna was Director of Product Development at Saranas, a cardiology medical device startup spun out of Texas Heart Institute.

Outside of CDI, Joanna is passionate about building Houston’s innovation ecosystem, leveraging her experiences to educate and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. In 2012, Joanna founded Enventure, a non-profit organization that provides education and experiential learning opportunities to over 2,000 aspiring entrepreneurs across Texas, where she currently serves on the board. Additionally, Joanna currently supports the National Institute of Health’s RADx initiative to speed innovation in COVID-19 testing

Joanna received her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Bioengineering and MBA at Rice University, where she served as the Jones School of Business Student Association President. She is an active alumna, serving as President-Elect of the board of the Rice Engineering Alumni Association.

Mark is a General Partner at Fitz Gate Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm whose returns are top quartile among all VC funds according to industry benchmarks. Mark also teaches venture capital investing at Princeton University’s Graduate School and at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. Mark is a member Princeton University’s Keller Center eLab Advisory Committee, a mentor to the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council, an Advisor to the Rice University Venture Capital Investment Competition, and a Mentor to the NSF I-Corps Hub Northeast Region. Mark was awarded the 2022 Clio Award from the Princeton University Graduate School in recognition of his seminar series on venture capital. Mark brings to Fitz Gate Ventures 20+ years of experience as a successful software entrepreneur, helping lead a company from start-up, through rapid growth, market dominance and ultimate strategic sale. Prior to Fitz Gate Mark was the head of Product, Marketing, Legal and Alliances and Board Secretary at Datacert, Inc., an enterprise software company (sold 2014) and Founder and CEO of Digicontract, Inc., a SaaS company (sold 2001). Mark received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1993 and a JD and MBA with honors from Tulane University in 1997.

Mark received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1993 and a JD and MBA with honors from Tulane University in 1997. Mark is an Adjunct Professor at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University where he teaches a course on venture capital, and he also leads a seminar series on venture capital at Princeton University’s Graduate School. Mark previously served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Council of Princeton University.

Nique Fajors’ summation of experience includes launching 85 retail and e-commerce products and services generating $2.1 billion over the last 15 years. He is a business thought leader who has been quoted in New York Times, Financial Times, and Business Week. His last start-up One Spear Entertainment launched the first mobile game titles for Shaquille O’Neal, Jet Li, and Muhammad Ali. He sold that company in 2017. Presently, he co-leads the US retail operations for Chromebook. Since stepping into the role Chromebook market share has increased nearly 3x. He holds a B.S.B.A. with honors from the Suffolk University Frank Sawyer School of Management and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

His academic pursuits include writing Cultural and Economic Revitalization – A Five Step Reference For Overcoming Black Failure in 1996. Creating and executive producing The Invisible Men, an educational video in 1993. In 2006 he co-authored a chapter for a graduate study text titled, Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy. He is the co-host of The Invisible Men podcast produced by AEI. Presently, he is an Adjunct Lecturer at Rice Business School and the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dell C. “D.C.” Toedt III (the last name is pronounced “Tate”) is a practicing attorney, a member of the Texas and California bars, and a professor of practice at the University of Houston Law Center.

Toedt was formerly a partner and an elected member of the management committee at Arnold, White & Durkee, one of the nation’s largest intellectual-property litigation boutique law firms, with 150 lawyers in six offices. During the dot-com boom he went in-house as vice president and general counsel of BindView Corporation, a publicly-traded software company based in Houston — as outside counsel, he had helped the founders to start the company — serving there until the company’s exit when it was acquired by Symantec Corporation.

In between college at UT Austin (math and physics, graduating with high honors) and law school (also UT; law review), Toedt served his ROTC scholarship payback time as a U.S. Navy nuclear engineering officer, including three years of sea duty in the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

Michael is a tech entrepreneur and startup investor. He currently helps startups and creators with their product and go-to-market strategy. He led efforts to recruit Mass Challenge and Greentown Labs to Houston. Before this, he was the managing director at Station Houston, the leading digital B2B hub in Houston. Prior to Station, he was recruited by MercuryFund to become the CEO of Graylog, a German-based software company, and relocated them to Houston for market and capital access. Michael’s large company experience came after selling his company to VMware where he held leadership roles in sales strategy and alliances as the company grew from $400 million to $2B. He started his career as a mobile network infrastructure salesperson in Asia.

Michael has an MBA in entrepreneurship from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and an English degree from Haverford College.

Elena Naids is a Staff Researcher and Strategist dedicated to helping teams adopt human-centered design principles, uncover the right problems to solve, and enhance user experiences. Her career spans industries such as energy, aerospace, and government. Elena has collaborated with organizations, including ExxonMobil and NASA, leveraging design thinking and research to address complex business challenges. Holding a Master of Science in Human-Computer Interaction from DePaul University and a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, she combines technical understanding, design expertise, and a strong sense of empathy in her work.

Zach Ellis, Jr. is the Founder and Managing Partner of South Loop Ventures, where he’s responsible for managing all elements of fund strategy, investment, operations, and portfolio management.

His previous experiences include Managing Director at Rev1 Ventures, corporate venture capital at PepsiCo; strategy consulting at Humana, and commercializing university research at The Ohio State University and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Zach is a member of Kauffman Fellows Class 30 and began his career as an active duty officer in the US Navy. He holds a BS from the United States Naval Academy, an MS in biotechnology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and an MBA from the Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business.

Diana Massaro is a 4X CMO with over 25 years of experience in global SaaS organizations. She has held various positions in product management, professional services, marketing, and two years as a CEO. She is passionate about delivering products that provide real customer value and effectively communicating them to the market. She is a charismatic and team-oriented leader. Diana has held leadership positions at Skyhigh Security, Armor Cloud Security, Datacert, and PROS. Diana holds an M.S. in Statistics from Stanford University and a B.A. in International Business from the American University of Paris.

Don Porr is an owner/partner at Diamond Fiberglass, an industrial fiberglass tank and vessel manufacturer, which he and his business partner purchased in 2003 through an equity raise and SBA loan. Since the purchase, Diamond has grown revenues by over five times by expanding product lines, improving quality and customer service, and streamlining production processes. In his years as a business owner and CEO, he has experienced a breadth of challenges and successes typical of an entrepreneur.

Prior to Diamond, Don worked for M.W. Kellogg (now KBR-Halliburton), FMC Technologies, Network International and British Petroleum. He advises on several local community boards (St. Joseph High School, Victoria County Sheriff’s Department).

Don earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tulsa University (’92) and a Rice MBA (’97). A founding member of the JGSEO, he now participates as a member of JGSEO’s successor, the Rice Alumni Entrepreneurs and Innovators group. Through this Alumni organization, Don is a 10-year member of a CEO Roundtable, advising other members and CEOs on startups, failures, business acquisitions and business harvests. Don enjoys entrepreneurship advising and investing, broadening his world perspective by traveling with his wife and family, cycling with friends, and tinkering on classic vehicles.

John S. Reale, Jr. (JR) is the Founder and Managing Director of Integrated Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm launched in 2017.

JR is the Founder of Station Houston, Inc. (Station), Houston’s hub for tech innovation and entrepreneurship. JR served as Station’s CEO from its inception through August 2018 where amongst their accomplishments, helped entrepreneurs launch and grow their start-ups as well as fostered a partnership between the City of Houston, Rice University and Station Houston to launch Houston’s midtown Innovation District which will launch in 2020.

JR serves on the Board of Houston Exponential (HX), a convening organization formed to grow Houston’s innovation economy where he Chaired the Innovation District Committee and helped launch the HX Venture Fund. Before its formation, JR Chaired Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Task Force for Innovation and Technology for the City of Houston; and served on the Greater Houston Partnership’s Innovation Advisory Board. JR is also a contributor to Forbes where he’s shared his insights on entrepreneurship ecosystem building.

JR currently serves a variety of civic, faith-based and start-up interests, including: the Investment Committee for the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund; the Advisory Board for the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship; past-President of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Houston chapter; Mentor and / or Advisor at start-up accelerators, such as: TMCx, OWL Spark and Red Labs; and Board of Advisors for the Cougar Venture Fund at the University of Houston. JR also co-founded the Mentoring Initiative at Cristo Rey Jesuit Preparatory in Houston (Viva Cristo Rey!).

JR received his B.S. from Babson College in Massachusetts.

Thomas Watkins is a thought leader, speaker and industry practitioner located in Houston TX. He is a life-long learner who has a passion for bringing greater clarity to the world. Thomas has made it his career’s focus to combine technology with design psychology in order to drive real world success. He collaborates with both business and non-profit visionaries to help bring brilliant ideas to life, by translating complexity into simplicity. His professional work has primarily included interface design, SaaS system architecture, usability research, and data visualization.

Adam Wulf is an entrepreneur and startup mentor/advisor specializing in bootstrapping consumer technology businesses and finding early product-customer fit. He is currently the solo entrepreneur of museapp.com, a whiteboard app for deep-thinking on Mac and iPad. Adam started his entrepreneurial journey as an undergrad at Rice when he co-founded his first company Jotlet and later sold it to Jive Software. Throughout his career, Adam has worked with or founded consumer technology startups. He has been a mentor with Rice Owlspark since its first cohort and has served as a mentor in the NSF I-Corps program and at Station Houston, a Houston technology incubator.

Adam volunteers with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, an initiative that teaches entrepreneurship to soon-to-be-released second-chance citizens and provides transitional housing and job placement. He currently serves on their advisory council.

Adam holds a bachelor’s in computer science from Rice University.