Clayton McWhorter
Chairman, Entrepreneur Center
Chairman, Clayton Associates

Mr. McWhorter serves as Chairman of Clayton Associates, LLC, which he founded in January 1996 to provide venture capital to start-up companies. In 2008, McWhorter founded PharmMD, served as chairman, and currently serves on its board. Previously, in 1996, McWhorter created LifeTrust America, Inc., a developer and operator of assisted living communities, and served as its Chairman until its sale in November 2004. Mr. McWhorter also participated in the formation of HealthTrust, Inc., in September 1987, and served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer until the HealthTrust merger with Columbia/HCA in April 1995. From April 1995 to May 1996, Mr. McWhorter served as Chairman of the Board of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation and remained a board member until May 2000. McWhorter attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, pre-pharmacy, and earned his BS degree in pharmacy from Samford University.

Michael Burcham
President and CEO, Entrepreneur Center

Michael has extensive experience in healthcare innovation, entrepreneurship, and startup venture coaching. He served as President of ParadigmHealth, a provider and integrator of care and disease management services for health plans and employers, from 2001-2007. He also founded and served as President of Theraphysics, a venture-backed specialty healthcare firm managing rehabilitation services, from 1992-2000. He is founder and Director of the Accelerator Summer Business Institute, a 4-week intensive immersion program designed to challenge undergraduate students to develop their own personal brands and business skills. At the Owen Graduate School of Management, Michael teaches healthcare innovation and strategy. He is passionate about helping the creative class transform their ideas into real businesses, and looks to the Entrepreneur Center as an opportunity to revolutionize Nashville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and creative venture development on a large scale. Michael received his PhD in Healthcare Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2003.

Alan Bentley, Assistant Vice Chancellor
Vanderbilt University Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Alan Bentley joined Vanderbilt, CTTC in June 2011 and is responsible for directing all aspects of the office, focusing on faculty service and transactional efficiency. Prior to Vanderbilt, Alan served for five years as the Director of Commercialization for Cleveland Clinic Innovations, that health care center’s technology commercialization function. Before the Cleveland Clinic, he served as the Associate Director of the University of Virginia’s Patent Foundation.

Alan received his masters degree in physics from the University of Virginia, and separate bachelors degrees in electrical engineering and in physics from Carnegie Mellon University. Alan is a registered patent agent and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of University Technology Managers.Jim

Mike Cain
Managing Partner, LBMC

Mike Cain, a Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist, has diversified experience with a variety of industries including healthcare, manufacturing, distribution, construction, real estate, services, restaurants and others. He frequently consults on business matters with closely held businesses and their owners, and has served as a consultant and expert witness for legal counsel with regard to financial issues. In addition, he has been active in establishing the Sarbanes-Oxley internal audit practice at LBMC. His previous experience includes practicing with the Nashville office of KPMG, LLP. Mike is a magna cum laude graduate of Murray State University, with an area of concentration in accounting. He also holds a Certificate of Educational Achievement in Business Valuation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, as well as the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Chris Calton
Director, Avondale Partners

Chris is a Director in the Investment Banking department at Avondale Partners, a full-service investment bank in Nashville, where he focuses on companies in the Healthcare Services, Healthcare IT and Medical Technology industries. Prior to joining Avondale, Chris worked in the M&A Advisory practice at Thomas Weisel Partners in both New York and San Francisco. In 1999, he worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, a $5 billion hedge fund, focusing on private equity investments. From 1995 to 1998, Chris worked at Robertson Stephens & Company in San Francisco. A Nashville native, Chris received a BA in Asian Studies from Washington & Lee University in 1993 and a MBA from Columbia University in 2000. Chris and his wife, Amy, an attorney at Healthways, Inc., have one child, Julia. In addition to the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, Chris serves on the Board of Alumni at The Baylor School in Chattanooga, TN and is also involved with the baseball program at Vanderbilt University.

Jeff Cornwall
Director, Center of Entrepreneurship at Belmont University

Dr. Jeff Cornwall has a tremendous passion for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial development; not only has he authored or co-authored six books about the subject, but he also maintains a blog called, “The Entrepreneurial Mind.” Along with these, he is currently a consultant for a variety of start-ups as well as the Jack C. Massey Chair of Entrepreneurship at Belmont University, which was recently named one of the Top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs in the country by The Princeton Review. In addition to his academic career, he has spent many years in the private sector as an entrepreneur. Jeff received his DBA and MBA from the University of Kentucky.

Townes Duncan
CEO, Solidus General Partner LLC

Townes Duncan has been the Managing Partner of Solidus Company since its formation in 1997. He has been an active investor in Tennessee since 1985 and has focused his efforts on seed and early-stage companies for that entire period. Prior to the formation of Solidus, from 1993 to 1997, Townes served as Chairman and CEO of Comptronix Corporation. Townes began working as an active venture capital investor with Massey Burch Investment Group in 1985. Prior to this, he was a Partner in the securities law practice at Bass, Berry and Sims. Townes is an active participant in community and charitable organizations such as KIPP Academy Nashville, Nashville Downtown Rotary, Leadership Nashville, Christ Episcopal Church, and the Society of International Business Fellows. Townes earned his B.A. in Political Science at Vanderbilt University in 1975, and his J.D. summa cum laude from Washington & Lee University in 1978. He is married with four children and five grandchildren.

Tod Fetherling
President, Nashville Technology Council

Tod is currently serving as the President and CEO of the Nashville Technology Council, where he has used his entrepreneurial background to drive growth, increasing membership by 16% in the first year to more than 385 companies and upwards of 23,000 Middle Tennessee workers. Previously, he was Chief Product Officer of ConnectivHealth, which delivers digital content solutions regarding health information in order to improve community health. Prior to ConnectivHealth, he also served as the Vice President of Business Development at First Consulting Group (FCG), the CEO of Galaxy.com, LLC, Senior Manager at Interactive Branding, and Director of Interactive Marketing at HCA. He received his Bachelor’s degree in marketing from The University of Tennessee.

Robert Frist
Co-founder and CEO, Healthstream Inc

Robert Frist co-founded and has been Chief Executive Officer and President of Healthstream Inc. since 1990 and 2001, respectively. Mr. Frist has been Chairman and a Member of the Board of Directors at Healthstream Inc., since 1990. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business with concentrations in finance, economics, and marketing from Trinity University. Over the last 18 years, Mr. Frist has introduced innovative learning and research solutions to the nation’s hospitals and healthcare organizations, positioning HealthStream as a leader in healthcare education and research. In addition to his leadership role at HealthStream, Mr. Frist is an avid supporter of science education, as demonstrated by his long-time support as a board member at Nashville’s Adventure Science Center. His commitment to healthcare education also extends to his active participation as a board member for the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation.

Joe Galante
Chairman of Sony Music Nashville (Ret.),
EC Entrepreneur-in-Residence Digital Media and Entertainment

His impact was immediate; RCA became the #1 country label in 1982 and held onto the top spot for an unprecedented 11 consecutive years. In 1990, Galante moved to New York when he was named president of RCA Records Label - U.S. He successfully tackled the seemingly insurmountable challenge of streamlining the label’s vast roster while restructuring the label so that it became more artist-oriented and focused on creating a lasting catalog. He returned to Nashville in 1994, when he was named chairman of RLG/Nashville.

After restructuring the RCA and BNA labels under the RCA Label Group (RLG) umbrella. In 2001, Arista Nashville emerged as the year’s #1 country promotion label for the first of seven times in eight years. Throughout this time, RLG’s three-label country powerhouse continued to develop its artists and set new benchmarks for the industry – a feat that was on clear display when RLG became the first label group since the inception of SoundScan to have three country albums reach #1 (and debut at #1) on Billboard’s pop sales chart in a calendar year.

In the spring of 2006, Galante oversaw yet another chapter in the evolution of the Nashville music industry as the former Sony Nashville was welcomed into the RCA Label Group along with the Christian label group, Provident, collectively becoming Sony BMG Nashville under Galante’s leadership. Adopting the new name and a fourth label imprint, Columbia Nashville, the roster expanded. At the beginning of 2009, Sony BMG Nashville became Sony Music Nashville. In April of 2010, after 39 years within the same label family, Galante announced his decision to step down from his post as chairman of Sony Music Nashville.


John R. Ingram
Chairman of the Ingram Industries Board of Directors

John R. Ingram was named Chairman of the Ingram Industries Inc. Board of Directors in April, 2008, having served as Vice Chairman of the Board since 1999. He is also Chairman of Ingram Content Group which includes Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc. and Ingram Digital.

Mr. Ingram is a graduate of Princeton University, where he received his bachelor of arts degree in English in 1984. In 1986 he received his master of business administration degree from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Mr. Ingram joined Ingram Industries Inc. in 1986, serving as the Assistant Treasurer and also as President of Tennessee Book Company (now a subsidiary of Ingram Content Group) early in his career.

He later served as President of Ingram Book Company, Vice President of Purchasing for Ingram Micro Europe, and Director of Purchasing for Ingram Micro Inc.. He has been a member of the Ingram Micro Inc. Board of Directors since 1996.

Mr. Ingram is active as a volunteer in a number of educational and charitable organizations. He is a member of the Board of Trust of Vanderbilt University and the boards of Montgomery Bell Academy and The Harpeth Hall School in Nashville. He was named by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean as Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Green Ribbon Committee on Environmental Sustainability in 2008-2009. In addition Mr. Ingram is Chairman of the capital campaigns for Vanderbilt Athletics and Currey Ingram Academy.

Mr. Ingram is married with four children.

Matt Kisber
President and CEO, Silicon Ranch

Matt Kisber is the President and CEO of Silicon Ranch Corporation a company formed for the purpose of developing and operating utility-scale solar facilities. Silicon Ranch Corporation is an innovative new business model for the solar industry, which combines strong corporate management and financial expertise, extensive knowledge of the solar and clean energy industry and a commitment to positively impacting underserved communities. Previously, Kisber served as the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD). Appointed January 18, 2003 through January 15, 2011, under Commissioner Kisber’s leadership at ECD, more than 50 corporate headquarters located in Tennessee, including Nissan North America, International Paper, Louisiana Pacific, Clarcor, Service Master, Asurion and others. Prior to joining the Bredesen Cabinet, Kisber served 10 consecutive terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, including as chairman of the powerful House Finance, Ways and Means committee. In the private sector, Kisber was vice president of Business Development for First Tennessee Bank. Kisber serves on the board of directors of the Adventure Science Center and Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Kisber also serves as “Of Counsel” to Lattimore Black Morgan and Cain, PC certified public accountants and business advisors, assisting their clients with economic development opportunities.

Liza Massey
President and CEO, Nashville Technology Council

In September 2011, Ms. Massey became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nashville Technology Council. She joins the NTC at a very exciting time, with member engagement and
workforce development dominating her agenda. Ms. Massey brings her passion for top notch customer service and servant leadership style to the Council. With a commitment to higher education, Ms. Massey continues to serve as an Assistant Professor for the University of Maryland, University College, where she teaches courses in information systems management.

Prior to joining NTC, Ms. Massey founded and led The CIO Collaborative, a management consulting firm serving the public sector. She also served as a Senior Fellow with the Center for Digital Government. Ms. Massey is a former award-winning Columnist for Public CIO Magazine and served as an adjunct professor in the Executive MBA program at University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 2005 – 2010. During this time, Ms. Massey was appointed to the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government – Leadership for a Networked World Research Group.

During her public sector career, Ms. Massey served as an IT executive for the City of Los Angeles, where in 2004, she was recognized by Government Technology in the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers of Public Sector Innovation. Prior to that, Ms. Massey served as San Francisco’s Executive Director of the Department of Telecommunications & Information Services. Under her direction, the Department took a leadership role in improving government services through technology initiatives. As a result, San Francisco was listed in Civic.com’s Civic 50 Winners for using “technology — and the Internet in particular — to improve the way government does business.”

Ms. Massey and her husband, Rod, a software executive, have 4 children and reside in
Franklin.

Rob McCabe
Chairman, Pinnacle Financial Partners

Rob McCabe began his banking career with the former Park National Bank of Knoxville, Tennessee 1976 to 1984 where he held various positions, including senior vice president, until the acquisition of Park National by First American National Bank in 1985. Mr. McCabe was named an executive vice president of the retail bank of First American National Bank of Nashville, until 1987 when he was promoted to president and chief operating officer of the First American Bank of Knoxville. In 1991, Mr. McCabe was selected as president of First American’s Corporate Banking division, and shortly thereafter, as president of its General Banking division. He is also a director of SSC Services of Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. McCabe has been active in various civic organizations within his community. He is a member of the World President’s Organization, Chief Executives Organization, serves as president-elect for The Ensworth School and as chairman of Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art. In addition, Mr. McCabe also serves on the board of the Nashville Downtown Partnership.

Mark Montgomery
Founder, FLO and EIR, Claritas Capital

Mark Montgomery is a pioneer in the e-commerce and business to consumer marketing space. Over the past 15 years, he has worked with hundreds of entertainment and corporate clients, launching his first B2C ecommerce play in early 1996. In 1999, he co-founded echo, a company focused on building communities around entertainment brands. In 2007, echo was acquired by Barry Diller’s IAC/Ticketmaster. A winner of multiple "Best in Business" awards, and is a past "Entrepreneur of the Year”, Mark is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist in the US and Europe for corporate functions as well as conferences on a variety of topics. He recently founded FLO {thinkery}, is active as an early stage investor, and maintains the EIR role for Claritas Capital, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.  He also holds several board seats in the profit and not-for-profit space and maintains a small list of consulting clients focused on overall strategy, business development, branding, and technology initiatives.

More info at findyourFLO.com and hellomarko.com

Christopher Rand
Co-founder, TriStar Technology Ventures

Prior to co-founding TriStar Technology Ventures, Mr. Rand was the Manager of New Venture Development in Vanderbilt’s Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development. That responsibility included licensing Vanderbilt intellectual property, assisting in the formation of new start-up companies and working with existing start-ups. He is active in Nashville’s entrepreneurial community and serves on the Boards of the Nashville Capital Network, the Nashville Technology Council in addition to the Entrepreneur Center. He is also active in the national technology transfer association (AUTM) and frequently leads educational sessions on topics such as intellectual property valuation and the interaction between venture firms and technology transfer offices.

Linda Rebrovick
CEO, Consensus Point

Linda Rebrovick is currently serving as the CEO of Consensus Point, a leading provider of enterprise prediction market and collective intelligence solutions. Linda’s sales and marketing career began with IBM in the late 70s to the mid-90s, and continued with KPMG and Dell in the past decade. Her positions have included Area Vice President, Dell Healthcare Sales; Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, BearingPoint; National Managing Partner, Healthcare Consulting, KPMG, LLP; and Business Unit Executive, IBM. She earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Auburn University and has been recognized as one of Auburn University’s top 400 women graduates in the past 100 years. 

Ralph Schulz
President, Nashville Chamber of Commerce

With more than 30 years’ experience in non-profit management, marketing and fundraising, Ralph Schulz was named leader of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in November 2006. Prior to joining the Chamber, Schulz served seven years as president & CEO of Adventure Science Center-Nashville. Schulz’ foray in non-profit management began with Junior Achievement Inc. (Nashville chapter) in 1974. He spent a total of 20 years in leadership roles with Junior Achievement, heading chapters in Jackson, Miss., Dallas, Texas and New York City. A passionate public servant with a history of community leadership around education and tourism issues, Schulz is a founding board member of Alliance for Public Education. In 2003, Schulz chaired Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell’s Working Group on Tourism. He later served as board chairman of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau (2005-2006) and has been an integral part of the leadership of the Music City Center Coalition, responsible for building broad- based community support for the development of a new downtown convention center. He currently serves on the board of Leadership Music and is a member of the Country Music Association’s Blue Ribbon Committee. Schulz is a graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Mike Shmerling
Chairman, Choice Food Group, XMi Holdings

Michael D. Shmerling, is Chairman of Choice Food Group, Inc., a Nashville, TN-based manufacturing and food distribution enterprise employing nearly 300 people in the Nashville area. He is also Chairman of XMi Holdings, Inc., a locally owned management / consulting company. He currently serves on the boards of Abe’s Garden, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the United Way of Middle Tennessee, Nashville Chamber of Commerce, The Hermitage, Tennessee Performing Arts Foundation, Renasant Bank (“NASD – RNST”), and Healthstream, Inc. (“NASD – HSTM”)

Turney Stevens
Dean, Lipscomb College of Business

Turney Stevens was named the Dean of the College of Business at Lipscomb in 2008. Stevens joined the Lipscomb faculty as executive-in-residence and assistant professor of business in December of 2007, after retiring from 35 years as an active member of Nashville’s business community in banking, publishing, and printing. His career as an investment banker began in 1972 at Tennessee Securities here in Nashville. He also served for a number of years as president of Rodgers Capital Corporation, a Nashville-based investment banking firm, before founding a commercial printing company, formed from the acquisition of Williams Printing Co. In 2001, he co-founded the Harpeth Companies, a diversified investment banking and consulting company. Stevens earned his bachelor’s in political science from Lipscomb in 1972. He went on to earn an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 1981.

Jack Waddey
Co-founder, Waddey & Patterson

I.C. (Jack) Waddey, Jr. is a co-founder of Nashville’s leading intellectual property law firm, Waddey & Patterson, P.C. He serves as the ADR director for Ocean-Tomo, as a panel member of the International Institute of Conflict Prevention and Resolution, and was the founding President of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators. In addition to being an advisor to major corporate and research institutional clients on all matters relating to intellectual property, Mr. Waddey has over 35 years of experience advising start ups, particularly those founded on technology advances. As a registered patent attorney, Mr. Waddey has helped inventors protect their individual inventions, and help companies develop strategies for the growth and protection of their intellectual property to carve out major market shares in particular industries. Mr. Waddey received his undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University and his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Leigh Walton
Lawyer, Bass, Berry & Sims

Leigh Walton joined Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in May of 1979, and was named a Member of the firm in 1984. Ms. Walton co-chairs the firm’s Healthcare Practice Area and is also active in corporate and securities law matters. Her work with public companies includes securities, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters. Ms. Walton was a lecturer at Vanderbilt University Law School from 1980-1987. She is a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and serves as co-chair of the Transactions Affinity Group of the American Health Lawyers Association Business Law and Governance Practice Group. Ms. Walton received a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she was a member of Order of the Coif and the National Moot Court Team.

Matt Wiltshire
Director of Mayor's Office of Economic Development

Matt joined Metro Nashville Government in May 2011 and works for the Nashville Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development to stimulate local economic activity through focusing and coordinating government resources. He works with the Mayor and others to develop plans and incentives for attracting and retaining businesses; serves as a liaison between new and existing businesses and the city’s permitting and regulatory processes; acts as a source of business information and referrals in the Nashville area, administers the Nashville Foreign Trade Zone, facilitates and/or issues the city’s permits for film, special events, and parades; and works to support and enhance tourism. Prior to working with Metro Nashville, Matt was an investment manager with NEST-TN, a TNInvestco, to identify and evaluate venture capital investment opportunities for small businesses in Tennessee and worked as a Director at Avondale Partners from 2005-2011.

Leslie Wisner-Lynch
President and CEO, Tennessee Technology Development Corporation

Dr. Wisner-Lynch currently serves as the Interim President & CEO of TTDC. She has served as a member of the TTDC Board of Directors since 2007, where she held the office of second vice-chair. She also serves as the executive director of the BioTN Foundation, a not-for-profit designed to serve as a leading resource for improving life sciences education and business growth in Tennessee, through leadership in STEM education, workforce training and economic development initiatives. She previously served as the Director of Applied Research for BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc., in Franklin, Tenn., where she provided clinical and scientific expertise for products under development and in commercialization for use in craniomaxillofacial and skeletal regeneration. Dr. Wisner-Lynch holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Lamar University, a D.D.S. from the Medical College of Virginia and a D.M.Sc from Harvard Medical School.

Steve Wood
Lawyer, Baker, Donelson, et al

Steve Wood is a member of both the Mergers & Acquisitions and Health Law departments at Baker Donelson and a member of the firm’s new Drug, Device, and Life Sciences team. Mr. Wood maintains a broad business and corporate transactional practice, often advising technology companies and traditional enterprises that have technology-related business matters, both within and outside the health care arena. In representing clients, Mr. Wood draws upon significant real-world business experience in addition to his 18 years as a lawyer, including five years as a law professor at Vanderbilt Law School. He had a career in banking and commercial real estate finance prior to law school and later founded and spent a decade running a successful financial services software business, including two years as division executive of the NYSE firm that ultimately acquired his company. He has also served as an advisor and business consultant to several technology-related start-ups.

Caroline Young
President, Nashville Health Care Council

Caroline Young is the president of the Nashville Health Care Council, an industry association of nearly 200 member organizations. In this capacity she works with executives to foster the growth of Nashville’s health care industry and to further position Nashville as the nation’s health care industry capital. Caroline joined the Council in 2004, serving as the organization’s vice president and the founding executive director of the Council’s Leadership Health Care initiative, a 500+ member group dedicated to nurturing the talents of Nashville’s next generation of health care industry leaders. Prior to joining the Council, Caroline was a member of the Health Care practice of the Ingram Group, a public affairs and government relations firm. She was also founding executive director of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association and the director of Communications and Advertising for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD).