Resources
Our startup community relies on a host of experts. Our advisors and mentors offer a wide-range of support. We can help you fast track growth and raising capital.
Mentors

Erin Cigich



Amy Entress



Dr. Richard Munassi MD MBA



Hal Perdew



Kurling Robinson





Kim Richmond



Anand Pallegar



Sarasota Tech CEO
Erin Cigich
Erin Cigich is the CEO of Perform[cb], premier global performance marketing marketplace
Perform[cb] has experienced tremendous revenue growth and received numerous awards. The company has made Florida Trend magazines “Best Florida Companies to Work For” list seven straight years. Perform[cb] has also been awarded mThink’s Blue Ribbon panel “Best CPA Network” in the world four consecutive years.
Erin has previously held titles of President, Vice President of Marketing and Director of Sales & Account Management. Erin joined Perform[cb] as the 10th employee when it was a bootstrapped start-up. Erin moved the company to its own proprietary software, hired a CTO and scaled the development team from 0 to 30. She executed a successful sale of the company and completed two subsequent acquisitions.
Erin is a Florida native serves on the board of directors for the Sarasota Economic Development Corporation. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Florida with a BS in Advertising and donates her time to the local Girls Inc and AMI Kids. Erin has been a guest speaker at University of Florida’s Becoming a Woman of Influence event and a guest lecturer at both USF and UF.



Serial Entrepreneur, Navy Veteran
Amy Entress
Amy was born and raised in West Virginia and has resided in Tampa since 2009. Previously, she served as a naval officer after graduating from Miami University of Ohio. Amy has broad-ranging experience raising capital through investor pitches and fundraising drives.
Amy’s entrepreneurial journey began while on active duty in Hawaii. She owned and operated a sole proprietorship that provided equipment and training related to research and recovery in extreme conditions. She co-founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to explore and preserve undersea environments. She served as the Chief Financial Officer. Amy earned her Master of Business Administration from the University of Tampa. She promptly co-founded the next two companies focused on project management and food processing after finishing the program.
Amy works for Veterans Florida, a nonprofit created by the state of Florida to help military veterans transition to civilian life make Florida their home through career services, entrepreneurship, agriculture educational programs, and access to resources.



Founder, Director
Dr. Richard Munassi MD MBA
Dr. Munassi is the co-founder of Blackfin Technology Partners and Blackfin Venture Partners, Director at the Tampa Bay Wave Accelerator program, and an advisor for multiple national and regional entrepreneurship programs, including MassChallenge, Guidewell/Florida Blue, NSF I-Corps and more.
He also sits on the advisory board for SXSW Pitch, is an executive in residence at the University of Florida’s UF Innovate program and is part of the NASA iTech team (specializing in helping identify commercial technologies for utilization in the space program).
Dr. Munassi has coached dozens of companies across multiple verticals, and specializes in CEO coaching, high level strategic planning, growth and scaling, marketing and messaging, and investor relations.



Serial Entrepreneur, President, Navy Veteran
Hal Perdew
Hal Perdew is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Patriot Self Storage. The company opened in 2006, having raising $100 million to develop self-storage facilities in high-growth markets. Patriot Self Storage developed, built, operated and sold two self-storage facilities in Southwest Florida.
Hal was a partner at The DuMont Project, a leading consulting firm in the direct marketing and advertising space. The company has grown into one of the premiere direct marketing consultant companies in the U.S. He is a former director of both ZipKord Solutions and EZ Prints, Inc. ZipKord Solutions is a leading importer and distributor of mobile accessories that grew from $1 million in revenue to over $17 million annually. EZ Prints, Inc. is a privately held venture-backed light manufacturing company.
Hal holds a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Studies from UCLA.



Founder, Entrepreneur, Visionary
Kurling Robinson
Kurling is a co-founder, musician and startup visionary with over 25 years of expertise in software development and entrepreneurship. Kurling has been co-founder of several companies, including NetZero and Internet Productions.
Kurling’s unique path was woven by the arts (Getty), automotive (Toyota), technology (NetZero), energy (IFS) and the drive to help his fellow man. Through a formative internship at Toyota, he was exposed to their unique approach to continuous improvement. With his first startup at age 19, he learned very early that information and responsibility go hand and hand.
Leveraging the University of Southern California, where he studied Computer Science, Robinson has facilitated many successful companies. He is most proud of his work with the Code For America project, bringing the Family Assessment Form (FAF) to the cloud. FAF allows governments to analyze big data on how individual states/provinces are dealing with teen pregnancy, suicide and other social issues, providing insight into applying successes in other states to “help children, families, and make the world a better place.”
Robinson was selected as one of the top mentors for SCORE nationally. With the incubator through USC Viterbi, he acted as an advisor and served on the board for several companies that were funded. He is a Venture Consultant at the USC Blackstone Launchpad. In collaboration with key partners like Apple, Blackstone, Google and Universities, he is leading a team to create the Fōkcus platform, which uses machine learning to quickly assess entrepreneurs and match them with screened, certified business mentors.





Marketer, Entrepreneur, Educator
Kim Richmond
Ms. Richmond is a senior marketing executive with extensive marketing and branding experience. She was Executive Vice President, Marketing at FAO Inc. and helped to successfully reposition and relaunch the brand after sale of the company. Ms. Richmond has held senior positions at Zany Brainy, The Right Start, Charming Shoppes, Sears and Kraft Foods.
Ms. Richmond is principal at richmondmarketing+communications. Her specialty is multi-channel and digital marketing and branding. She is a full-time faculty member at State College of Florida and is the Program Manager of the Entrepreneurship Program. Ms. Richmond is a recognized authority in sales and marketing and is the author of two books: The Power of Selling and Brand You. She is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events.
Ms. Richmond holds an MBA from Loyola Chicago and Bachelor of Arts from Northern Illinois University.



Serial Entrepreneur, Founder
Anand Pallegar
In the late nineties, Anand founded Atlas, a tiny, web-based company. Atlas progressively snowballed into ATLARGE, an Experiential Marketing Agency. He has guided the firm toward dozens of prestigious awards.
Today, Anand leads a portfolio of successful companies and ventures driven by his personal life philosophy: Wherever we are, whatever we do, we have a duty to serve our community. This mantra is the heartbeat of DreamLarge, the first registered Benefit Corporation in the Gulf Coast of Florida with a people-over-profit mindset.
Most recently, Anand founded Atlas Networks, which partners with businesses to identify cost-saving approaches to streamline their cloud investments.
Anand has been recognized by Florida Trend as one of 50 Floridians Who Will Change the World, Young Professional of the Year, Top 40 under 40, 25 People to Watch, and Emerging CEO of the Year.
Advisors



Clinton E. Day, MBA



Steven Edwards



Mark Ingram



Holly Rolls, Ph.D.



Jon Stewart, MBA



Rich Swier Jr.



Mike Lahiff



Joseph Nadolski



Mitchell Lomazov



Matt Harper





Kim Richmond



LCDR Rolanda Findlay, MSC, PhD



Justin Duplain



Robert Blacklidge, MBA



Allison Shapira



More Coming Soon!



LT Rique Sanchez, MBA



Advisor
Clinton E. Day, MBA
Clint Day is an entrepreneurship adjunct professor, writer and speaker. He serves as an advisor to National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship. Clint also mentors active military and veterans in the field. Clint founded three companies in Florida and Georgia and began teaching and mentoring after selling his last business. He is professionally qualified by the AACSB business school association and has earned a MBA and five certifications in entrepreneurship. Clint founded the entrepreneurship program at the State College of Florida and wrote the Bar Charts Entrepreneurship Quick Study Guide found in most college bookstores, and edits a popular blog titled, “Current in Entrepreneurship.” The blog, clintoneday.com helps entrepreneurs stay connected to the latest news in entrepreneurship.



Speaker
Steven Edwards
Steven Edwards is a Veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division. He has been in sales in leadership for over 15 years across multiple verticals and products. In 2019 he started Premier Virtual, a platform to conduct virtual events. Steve is the winner of the 2020 FL Veterans Expo pitch competition and his platform has quickly risen in the rankings as a top virtual event platform.



Advisor, Class Moderator
Mark Ingram
Mark Ingram represents private companies and entrepreneurs in a variety of business law matters, including commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions and private offerings, employment matters, intellectual property licensing, business formations, and dispute resolution support.
Mark has extensive experience in the music entertainment industry, including the representation of artists, publishers and producers. Mark’s well-rounded background, which includes prior experience in business immigration as well as commercial litigation and arbitration matters, influences his common-sense and practical approach to clients’ transactional legal needs.
His representative experience includes clients and deals involving the energy, aerospace, software, telecommunications, and life science industries.



Advisor
Holly Rolls, Ph.D.
Specializations:
- Developing ecotourism and sustainable tourism business strategies
- Creating citizen science campaigns
- Writing successful grant proposals
- Managing human resources in a highly seasonal business
Holly is the founder of Happy Paddler Kayak Tours & EcoVentures. Opened in 2013, the company is an outdoor adventure company based in Sarasota. Happy Paddler has won two Small Business of the Year awards and has earned a five-star reputation on popular travel review forums.
Holly has been awarded several grants to fund the development of sustainability and stewardship initiatives, including the 2020 Sarasota Bay Sustainability Guide. Additionally, she has served as project lead for several citizen science programs. These programs give paddlers an opportunity to contribute to scientific research, such as wildlife monitoring and ocean pollution studies.
Holly is a Key West-born native of Florida. She grew up with a deep appreciation for the ocean and the responsible use of its resources. Holly earned her doctoral degree in Marine Science from the University of South Florida in 2014. She has built an extensive background in marine research and environmental awareness. Holly’s focus continues to be on promoting positive choices in marine resource use that ultimately guide us toward a healthier and happier future.



Advisor
Jon Stewart, MBA
Jon is an Adjunct Instructor at USF Sarasota-Manatee College of Business. He teaches entrepreneurship and marketing classes. Prior to joining USFSM he was adjunct instructor for Ringling College of Art and Design.
Jon retired from Norfolk State University, where he worked for 30 years teaching marketing and management courses. During that time he served 12 years as Internship and Placement Director for the NSU School of Business. From 1982-1997 he was a partner at JMJ Associates, a marketing research firm.
Jon formerly served as a US Naval Officer and was an Manager for the Xerox Corporation’s Indianapolis Sales Office. He earned his MBA from Indiana State University and his undergraduate degree from Indiana University.
Jon has been a certified SCORE mentor since 2005.



Advisor
Rich Swier Jr.
Rich is a serial entrepreneur based in Sarasota, Florida.
Rich was founder of Offrs.com (recently acquired by Constellation Software) and founder of the HuB, his previous ventures include Sarasota Online and Backsoft.
In 1996 Rich graduated from the University of Florida as a mathematician and computer scientist. He soon developed the core architecture used for broadband internet service in over 60 cities. At the age of 24, Rich sold his first venture (Sarasota Online) to Comcast. He became the first employee of a new division which is now called Xfinity. In 1997, Rich led a team of engineers that launched the first cable modem. In 1998, Rich started a new venture called Backsoft that built software to connect Fortune 500 companies to the web. In 2000, Backsoft was acquired by SAP, the 2nd largest software company in the world.
Rich is also an author and speaker. His focus including broadband development, predictive analytics and building startup ecosystems. Rich has numerous industry awards and accolades in his work with startups. He continues to promote entrepreneurship in schools and communities.
In 2000, Rich launched the first angel fund and private-sector incubator in the State of Florida. That fund has since launched multiple successful ventures including Clinipace, Movo Mobile (acquired by Neighborhood America), BioLucid (acquired by ShareCare), DealersUnited.com and over 20 other companies. In 2009, Rich expanded his incubator into becoming the first coworking space in Florida.



Speaker
Mike Lahiff
Mike Lahiff is a co-founder and CEO of ZeroEyes. He was previously a Director of Digital Program Management at Comcast where he led a team of project managers across multiple digital product teams. Before joining Comcast, Mike managed a search fund targeting business acquisitions with revenues between $10 – $30 million.
Prior to civilian life, Mike served in the US Navy for over 10 years, first in the aviation community and then as a Navy SEAL. He has led teams ranging from aircrew life support personnel on aircraft carriers to small Special Operations teams in rural Afghanistan.
Mike holds a MBA with a concentration in Private Equity & Venture Capital from The Wharton Business School and a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Columbia College.



Speaker
Joseph Nadolski
Co-Founder and President at Pursetto, Joseph is a military veteran who helps companies develop and focus their strategy.
Joe’s experience includes:
- Being Founder/CEO of a technology innovator that commercialized university technology for waste water treatment plants. he helped to save operating expenses and to build a company that would be an acquisition target.
- Being a military aid to the Deputy Director for Analysis at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He helped to run the analytic, production and dissemination operations for the “CNN of the Armed Forces”.
- Commanded a Military Intelligence Battalion and ran a $500 million global news gathering, analysis, reporting and distribution enterprise
- Joseph has earned an MBA and PMP, LEAN Six Sigma Green Belt, LEAN and OSHA certifications.



Class Moderator
Mitchell Lomazov
Mitchell is the Executive Director of Finance at EXCELLence Performance in Sarasota, Florida. EXCELLence is a team comprised of highly skilled business and life coaches. His team provides world-class leadership, personal growth, and communication skills training.
Mitchell provides Fractional CFO work. He excels in creating financial visions and business strategies to optimize efficiency and profits. Mitchell leads a team of handpicked finance experts in taxation, investing, and so much more.
Mitchell intertwines psychology and personal development with financial concepts.



Director
Matt Harper
Matt has been advising and mentoring entrepreneurs for the last six years. He has experience with turnarounds, non-profits, traditional small-medium sized businesses and venture startups. He was the founding program director of a veteran business incubator in San Diego and to date, these companies have raised over $2.5M in debt and equity, companies include Vigilance Risk Solutions, Family Proud, Trident Coffee, Drone Quote and SkillMil.
He is on the Board of Advisors for the Veteran Business Project and was on the Board of Directors of Kids’ Turn San Diego, a San Diego non-profit. Matt is a speaker on leadership and management, crisis leadership, entrepreneurship and veterans’ issues. Most recently he was featured on the Manage This Podcast.
Matt is originally from San Francisco and is a retired U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer.
Email:HarperM@SCF.edu





Marketer, Entrepreneur, Educator
Kim Richmond
Ms. Richmond is a senior marketing executive with extensive marketing and branding experience. She was Executive Vice President, Marketing at FAO Inc. and helped to successfully reposition and relaunch the brand after sale of the company. Ms. Richmond has held senior positions at Zany Brainy, The Right Start, Charming Shoppes, Sears and Kraft Foods.
Ms. Richmond is principal at richmondmarketing+communications. Her specialty is multi-channel and digital marketing and branding. She is a full-time faculty member at State College of Florida and is the Program Manager of the Entrepreneurship Program. Ms. Richmond is a recognized authority in sales and marketing and is the author of two books: The Power of Selling and Brand You. She is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events.
Ms. Richmond holds an MBA from Loyola Chicago and Bachelor of Arts from Northern Illinois University.



Program Coordinator
LCDR Rolanda Findlay, MSC, PhD
LCDR Findlay joins us as a SkillBridge volunteer from the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Headquarters. She earned a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Virginia Tech.



Web/UI/UX, Digital Marketing, USMC Veteran
Justin Duplain
A utilitarian at heart, Justin finds solutions that make things work and work better. He is a technologist passionate about the intersection of science, computing, and humanity. He is an all-around techie and talented digital designer. Justin has been a lead designer on several projects. He is an expert at design software and digital media.
Justin has developed and transitioned several websites for small to medium organizations. He has experience with process development, mobile-first web development, user interfaces, Content Management Systems (CMS), payment forms, SEO plans, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and database management.
Justin is a Marine Corps veteran and has a BFA in graphic design and an MA in digital journalism. He has been with State College of Florida since 2014.



Class Moderator
Robert Blacklidge, MBA
Robert Blacklidge is the Director of Entrepreneurship at Domi Station. Domi is a non-profit startup incubator and coworking space in Tallahassee, FL. Robert is an educator, mentor, speaker, and ecosystem builder.
Robert’s work building the Lakeland Ecosystem has had and continues to have a significant impact locally and beyond. Robert worked to bring several international programs to the Lakeland community. These include 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, and Techstars Startup Weekend. Additionally, he facilitated CO.STARTERS, a 40,000 square foot entrepreneurial center. Lakeland has garnished national recognition and was Highlighted in Inc. Magazine as one of the best cities to start a company.
Implementing these current efforts is built on his past experience creating and running hackathons including Office Depots, IEEE, Code Tampa, Startup Bus, and Biz Sprint. Robert volunteers running programs for several organizations to include Action Zone a veteran-focused business accelerator and Techstars Startup Week and Weekend.



Class Moderator
Allison Shapira
Allison is a former opera singer turned entrepreneur, author, speaker, and educator. She is the founder of Global Public Speaking LLC and has since grown the company from a solo business to a global team of 10 people, with clients ranging from Bank of America to Belvedere Vodka. Allison and her team and works with emerging and established leaders to help them speak clearly, concisely, and confidently. She shares strategies to help people speak with impact every day – at work or in their community.
In addition to being a keynote speaker and CEO, Allison teaches The Arts of Communication at the Harvard Kennedy School and recently published Speak with Impact: How to Command the Room and Influence Others, a Washington Post best-seller. Allison is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and professional member of the National Speakers Association and has spoken or led trainings in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Allison was a finalist for 2017 Woman Business Owner of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners, San Diego Chapter.
Allison is also a singer/songwriter and uses music as a way to help others find their voice and their courage to speak. She speaks fluent Italian and Hebrew and can ask for directions in 10 languages but can only understand the responses in 4 of them.



More Coming Soon!
We are always looking for community participants. If you wish to serve in an advisory, volunteer or internship roll, contact a team member!



Program Coordinator
LT Rique Sanchez, MBA
Lieutenant Rique Sanchez joins as a SkillBridge volunteer from from Carrier Strike Group Fifteen in San Diego, CA. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and has also earned his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Business Management.
Lieutenant Sanchez has served over 10 years in the Navy both as a pilot and admissions counselor for the U.S. Naval Academy and has led cross functional teams both stateside and abroad.