Kwame Boler
Co-Founder & CEO
Spritz

Born and raised in Newark, NJ, Kwame was always an entrepreneur at heart. From selling chocolate bars to purchasing his first computer to moonlighting several businesses while working full-time as a computer engineer—Kwame is incredibly driven, diligent, and disciplined. Kwame first achieved international recognition as the CEO and co-founder of neu—a managed marketplace that connected Airbnb Hosts with home cleaners. Their solution was unique as they combined technology with a sophisticated supply chain to provide sheets, towels, toiletries, and cleaning supplies to streamline service best. After years of growth and success, neu was accepted into the Seattle Techstars Accelerator in 2020, and after a pandemic speed bump, they later raised their first venture round. However, this experience enabled him and his team to realize how broken the status quo is for housekeepers and that the cleaning industry was ripe for disruption.

Leveraging current technology and their learnings from neu, they saw a pathway to significantly increase impact and reduce efforts by building a software solution that simplified operating a cleaning business. Falling in love with the problem and not the product, in 2022, they pivoted and rebranded to Spritz—a back-office, business-in-a-box built to help professional home cleaners automate and grow their business. Spritz simplifies scheduling, pricing, payments, and admin for house cleaners, maximizing profits and making booking and payment easy for clients. Kwame continues to lead the Spritz team as its CEO and is a recognized serial entrepreneur, international speaker, advocate, and husband. Through Spritz, he and his phenomenal team aim to bring cleaning into the 21st century to make managing a cleaning business as painless as possible.

Connect with Kwame on LinkedIn.

Dara Chike-Obi
Co-Founder and President
Griö

Dara Chike-Obi is the co-founder and inventor of Griö, an advanced infant feeding system designed to support oral feeding skills, enhance brain development, and complement the breastfeeding journey. In less than a year since coming to market, Griö has launched 3 outpatient clinical user trials, became an Impact1 startup supported by Stanford’s Center for Biodesign, and is set to launch inpatient clinical user trials in Q1 2024. Griö is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of new families from hospital to home while making a mark in the $500B Mother and Child healthcare space.

Before devoting her work full-time to Griö, Dara served as a corporate oil and gas attorney at several multi-national energy companies. Her responsibilities included A&D and the management of the firm’s largest energy-producing assets. Dara and her work for Griö have been featured in Austin Women Magazine, Babygaga, the Moms Choice Awards, and in podcasts like Story of a Brand and Professionally Offensive.

In addition to running Griö, Dara is the mother to two young boys and a wife. She’s a fitness enthusiast, a yogi, and has an adventurous spirit for travel.

Connect with Dara on LinkedIn.

Harold Hughes
Founder & CEO
Bandwagon

Harold Hughes is the founder & CEO of Bandwagon, a South Carolina-based live experience technology company. Under his leadership, Bandwagon raised over $3.5M in venture capital and successfully acquired IdealSeat, Inc. in 2020. Their customers include Fortune 50 brands, entertainers, and professional and collegiate athletes. As a first-generation American, Harold prioritized education, receiving two Bachelor’s degrees (Economics and Political Science) from Clemson University and later received his MBA from Clemson while he led business development at a Fortune 1000 company based in Greenville, South Carolina. As a web3 builder and community leader, Harold published "A Kids Book About Blockchain" to help educate people "from 6 to 60" about the revolutionary technology that Bandwagon specializes in.

Harold is also an active angel investor, primarily investing in women, people of color, and Black founder-led companies. Most notably, he has invested in Partake Foods, the Jay-Z-backed CPG company making allergy-friendly snacks, and companies like Goodr, Chipper, Athletic Greens, Republic, Stix, and the National Cycling League.

Connect with Harold on LinkedIn.

Justin Woodward
Co-Founder, Owner
Media Indie Exchange

Co-founder, Creative Director and owner of the independent game studio, Interabang Entertainment. Co-Founder of the Media Indie Exchange (The MIX). Founder of Non-profit Black Voices in Gaming and Lead Advisor on the Black Game Dev Fund. Master’s degree in Game Production and Management. Bachelor's in Game Art and Design. Extremely determined, motivated, Game Producer and entrepreneur with talent, training and knowledge in game production and management. Passionate about expanding and adding value to the independent development culture through collaboration and foundation building and creating sustainable development programs. Experience in sales, business marketing, and management on various projects.

Constantly evolving communication skills to expand current knowledge of traditional and breakthrough game development and business practices. Currently building expertise in leadership and knowledge of game marketing and entrepreneurship in order to build value and support to the game industry. Speaker at such events as GDC, Digital Taipei, Casual Connect and PAX Prime. Specialties: Certified in Agile as a Scrum Master. Experience managing development projects large and small. Delegating tasks and working with a team. Negotiating and communicating with clients. Managing and working with teams on development projects. Quickly learning innovative skills necessary to evolve with the current trends and standards.

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn.

Brandon Middleton-
Pratt
Of Counsel
Wilson Sonsini

Brandon J. Middleton-Pratt is Of Counsel in the Austin office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he specializes in representing emerging companies, mergers & acquisitions, private equity transactions, and venture capital financings. Brandon also provides strategic business advice and counsel to entrepreneurs and start-ups on a broad range of issues, including on company formation, capitalization structure, equity compensation arrangements for founders and employees, negotiations with investors and acquirers, and other issues relevant to start-ups and high-growth companies. Brandon has represented clients across a wide range of industries, including software (including SaaS), life sciences, energy and clean technology, fintech and financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, digital media and entertainment, consumer products, and other emerging technologies.

Brandon has also worked on numerous pro bono matters and has received the John Wilson Award twice, an annual award given to individual attorneys who have shown remarkable dedication to the firm’s pro bono clients. Additionally, Brandon currently serves as a board member for DivInc, an Austin-based nonprofit.

Connect with Brandon on LinkedIn.

About Our Host, Wilson Sonsini

Since the firm's inception in the early days of Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini has been privileged to help lay the groundwork for some of the world's most innovative technology, life sciences, and growth companies. As the nation's leading law firm representing venture-backed companies, we have counseled thousands of entrepreneurs starting new businesses, advising on the formation of companies, equity structures, negotiations with investors, intellectual property rights, and other issues vital to their success.

We offer an array of free resources to help start-ups, founders, entrepreneurs, and VCs build the next generation of emerging technologies. Our aim is to accelerate entrepreneurship for everyone, everywhere. Explore our comprehensive Knowledge Bank with 200+ FAQs on topics ranging from formation to exit, industry alerts, and much more at: https://ecp.wsgr.com

Connect with Wilson Sonsini on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.

Resource

Click here to view PDF "Legal Landmines Every Startup Should Avoid."