The Entrepreneurial Outlook Series (Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship)

As we begin the New Year, join the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at our annual Entrepreneurial Outlook series to discuss important emerging trends in select industries. In Retail and Food 2020, a panel of expert venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in the field of retail and food businesses will discuss the state of the industry in 2020 and where they see opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation within the field. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with panelists after the session. Breakfast will be provided, and space is limited.

This series is made possible with generous support from Loeb & Loeb and Capital One.

Featured speakers include:

• Thomas Jonas, CEO, Sustainable Bioproducts: Thomas Jonas is CEO of Sustainable Bioproducts, a company which has developed a fermentation process to produce lab-grown protein to serve as a replacement for animal-based meats. Previously, Thomas was most recently president of two business units of MeadWestvaco with annual sales over $700M and 15 operating plants across the globe. He has extensive experience operating global businesses in executive leadership positions at Rio Tinto, Alcan, and Pechiney. Thomas is a graduate of HEC Paris and served as an officer in the French Air Force.

• Rachel O'Connell, Director of Growth, Foxtrot: Rachel is Director of Growth at Foxtrot. She leads cross-functional initiatives that drive top-line growth and is responsible for expansion strategy including the identification, evaluation and analysis of new sites, markets and business opportunities. Prior to Foxtrot, Rachel was a Senior Associate at S2G Ventures, a food and ag-tech focused venture capital fund in Chicago. Prior to that role, she was an Investment Banking Analyst in the consumer group at Robert W. Baird in Chicago. Rachel graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Finance and International Business.

• Perteet Spencer, Vice President, CPG and Enterprise Sales, SPINS: Perteet is Vice President, CPG and Enterprise Sales at SPINS, a wellness focused insights firm. Prior to joining SPINS, Perteet held sales and marketing leadership roles at LEGO and General Mills. Outside of the office, Perteet shares her passion for food equity through her involvement in the Food Recovery Network, a non-profit focused on reducing hunger by eliminating food waste.

• Jason Starr, MBA '07, Founder, Managing Director, CompanyFirst: Jason is the founder of CompanyFirst, a venture capital firm focused on investing in and building emerging consumer brands and companies. Before CompanyFirst, Jason was the fund manager at CircleUp in San Francisco, through which he invested in dozens of consumer ventures. Prior to CircleUp, Jason spent over eight years at Winona Capital Management, a consumer-focused private equity firm in Chicago with over $300 million under management. Before Winona, Jason worked at venture capital firm Opus Capital in Silicon Valley and was a founder or early employee at several high-tech start-ups in Denver including BoldTech Systems, a “Deloitte Tech Fast 50” and “Inc. 500” company that was acquired by Perficient (NASDAQ PRFT). Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Jason spent over five years at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he was a project manager and software engineer. Jason graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA and holds a BSBA and MAS from the University of Denver.

• Leslie Truelove, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, Cleveland Avenue: A veteran of brand marketing, Leslie is responsible for driving the strategic marketing and sales efforts for Cleveland Avenue and our ventures, including digital marketing and consumer-focused campaigns. In her various roles over her career, she has been responsible for managing multi-million-dollar food and beverage businesses, developing new food and beverage platforms, developing national, ethnic and local market brand plans, as well as creating award winning brand content. Perhaps you’ve heard of one of the biggest initiatives in her career that made just a few headlines: All-Day Breakfast at McDonald’s!

• Moderated by Crissy Ritter, Assistant Director, Experiential Entrepreneurship and Venture Support, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Registration Link:  Please visit the full listing for event info and registration.

Event Contact:  Crissy Ritter

Member Perks:  This event is Free to CFBN members, but please register (link) to reserve your spot!

This event is presented by our Industry Partner, The Polsky Center.