We believe that a better connected entrepreneurial community is a stronger and more effective one. We are committed to creating a cohesive & abundant entrepreneurial ecosystem that will put Orlando on the map as a top location for founders to start, grow and reinvest.We do this by connecting, cultivating and celebrating Orlando Entrepreneurs through our alliance, resource center, events calendar, and podcast. Are you an Orlando based entrepreneur, investor, or entrepreneurial advocate? Join us.
On our Podcast Show our host, Josh Wilson, interviews and highlights Orlando’s favorite startups, business leaders, investors, and those who support and lift up the entrepreneurial community. Learn about their journey and gain insights from their successes and set-backs.
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Orlando Entrepreneurs was founded by David Brim in mid 2017. David Brim is a serial entrepreneur and marketing strategist turned investor. He has significant experience in software ventures, marketing, online monetization, and finance. He is the Chief Strategy Officer (founding partner) of Orlando Opportunity Fund as well as Stableworth, a real estate investment and development company.
A graduate of the University of Central Florida, where he majored in marketing, David is the only two-time winner of the school’s Joust Business Plan Competition. Brim has founded numerous businesses in Central Florida across industries such as marketing, technology (SaaS & online directories), real estate, and e- commerce (like his Artifact Inspired Fashion business). Some of David’s ventures were accepted and graduated from the UCF Business Incubator Program. His marketing agency Brand Advance, founded in 2009, was bootstrapped to over $2.5M in sales. One of his tech startups, GroupTable, reached 10,000 users before exit.
In addition to his passion for advising, consulting and investing in startups, David is an active real estate investor and investment real estate specialist. He blogs at Filled to the Brim and is the author of Land More Customers through Online Marketing, a book that reached # 13 on the Amazon Best Seller list within its category during 2014 and was also utilized in Entrepreneurial Marketing classes at the University of Central Florida. Brim is an entrepreneur mentor at the Blackstone LaunchPad at UCF, and a member of the National Economic Gardening strategic research team and Orlando based GrowFL team, where he has helped over 1,000 second stage company entrepreneurs grow their business. He has helped coach / judge numerous Orlando business competitions and mentors many startups in the area. Through his 10+ years in entrepreneurship within Central Florida, he has leveraged many local entrepreneurial resources and helped others to do the same. Through these experiences he found that there was no central location to help entrepreneurs find the right resources they need at the right time. He created Orlando Entrepreneurs to fill that void as a Network & Resource Center with the mission to connect, cultivate, and celebrate Central Florida entrepreneurs.
Greg Rollett is an Emmy Award-winning producer, bestselling author and media expert who works with experts, thought leaders and entrepreneurs all over the world. He is the Series Show Host for “Credible Conversations” presented to you by Orlando Entrepreneurs. He utilizes the power of new media, direct response and personality-driven marketing to attract more clients and to create more freedom in the businesses and lives of his clients.
Rollett is the founder of Ambitious.com, a leading online education platform for entrepreneurs and is the host of the online TV show, The Ambitious Life. Rollett has also hosted numerous TV shows including the reality show Ambitious Adventures, where Rollett traveled the country in search of today’s best young entrepreneurs making a significant impact in their community.
He has co-authored bestselling books with Jack Canfield, Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, James Malinchak, Robert Allen, Ryan Lee and many other leading experts from around the world.
Josh Wilson is a serial entrepreneur and the host of the Orlando Entrepreneurs Podcast. On this show we interview and highlight Orlando’s favorite startups, business leaders, investors, and those who support and lift up the entrepreneurial community. If you would like to be a guest on the show or would like to have a conversation about the show please contact him: Josh@OrlandoEntrepreneurs.org“I really didn’t have a choice,” Josh confides, regarding entrepreneurship as a necessity. “Being an entrepreneur speaks to who I am. It’s the way I take charge and connect directly with what matters most in my life.” Hustle has never been a question for Josh. Selling scrap plywood from his dad’s job site to other kids for their skateboard ramps or even candy to classmates after school, young Josh delighted in the art of business. And growing up, he’s never been one to take a predictable route when he could instead zigzag. He wrestled alligators for a nature park, brokered millions of dollars in deals as a real estate broker, fought fires as a firefighter, built entrepreneur centers, worked in a venture capital fund, built a consultancy, founded an online health and fitness company, and is a serial podcaster. Some successes and even more failures discouraged him but he is unwilling to give up finding just the right fuel for his fire. Throughout the many pivots in his professional life, Josh knew that he could always depend on his perseverance to carry him through. Inspired, he realized that his business wasn’t a simple product or service but inspiration itself! In addition to hosting the Orlando Entrepreneurs Podcast, Josh also hosts a nationally focused entrepreneurship Podcast called Bet the Jockey.
Christina is a natural leader for mindfulness and wellness within the Orlando community. She has a prodigious reputation for intuitive customer satisfaction and developing respectful partnerships. With a marketing and public relations background, Christina spends her time brainstorming on new techniques and strategies to stay on top of the rapidly changing trends within social media and digital marketing.
A graduate from the University of Central Florida, Christina received her degree in Human Communications and Mass Communications. She regularly pursues her passion for music as a violinist. Christina continues pursuing her journey as a leader in mindfulness and health by recently graduating with her 300 hour registered yoga and leadership instructor certification.
Kim Johnson is an innovator and entrepreneur. She is the Founder of M&K Consulting Partners and has the honor of working alongside business owners to identify and solve critical issues. Throughout her career, she has managed multi-million dollar businesses and has produced outstanding results for over a decade. She considers herself to be a teacher by nature, which fuels her desire to develop and raise leaders to think critically, activate boldness, and transcend perceived limitations. She intentionally spends quality time with each client to understand their goals and guide them to sustainable success. Kim hosts many events throughout the year to promote inspiration, motivation, and access to the right resources/tools for local Entrepreneurs. She is also a Central FL Real Estate Advisor, leading a team of agents in the field.
A graduate from Florida State University, where she majored in Finance, Kim was the youngest student to become President of her Sorority. She held many leadership positions across campus, spent time interning with the Seminole Athletics Dept and was an advocate for community involvement. After graduating, Kim relocated to Orlando FL in 2008 to pursue her career. After having two children and nearly a decade in big box retail, she started her own business and has been an advocate and resource to help others do the same.
We are fortunate to receive insight and support from many leaders within our entrepreneurial community.
Danya Shea is your go-to community builder and on-call Chief Marketing Technologist. As a digital native she stays on top of rapidly changing trends in consumer behavior and expectations. Driven by financial objectives, data-driven decisions and high-impact collaborations, she is guided by a deep understanding of the new rules of the new economy to accelerate business growth. Shea’s leadership and teaching on empathy in business and modern business design has earned her recognition by the Orlando Business Journal as one of twelve 2016 Economic Game Changers, Women Who Means Business and a 2015 Top 40 Under 40. As a thought leader, she has appeared on FOX35, PBS, NEWS13 and in the Orlando Sentinel. Glenny has worked with key collaborators to bring important entrepreneurial programs to the Orlando area. Examples of programs she’s co-launched in Orlando are 1 Million Cups, Global Entrepreneurship Week, BIG Exchange and Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. She previously served as the Co-Creator and Director of WeVenture, a program funded by the Florida Institute of Technology, focused on accelerating women owned businesses across in Central Florida. More recently she served as the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) & Blackstone LaunchPad at the University of Central Florida.
Carol Ann’s professional experience is primarily in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. She has worked extensively with universities, federal laboratories, entrepreneurs and small-mid sized technology companies. Her focus has been primarily on the business aspects…market analysis, commercialization strategies, business planning, capital acquisition, strategic partnerships. Since 2002 she has been a site manager for the UCF Business Incubator in the Central Florida Research Park. It is one of eight incubator sites that are part of the UCF Incubation Program. The UCF Business Incubation Program is part of the Office of Research & Commercialization. As Site Manager, she works daily with 45-50 clients who are all early stage technology companies that have been accepted into the Incubation Program to receive comprehensive help starting and growing their businesses. The incubation program provides them office & lab space as well as coaching, lots of connections, and visibility….basically anything they can possibly provide them to help them grow quickly, be successful and becoming a thriving company in the community creating high value jobs. Specialties: technology commercialization, partnership development, information research & analysis, business coaching, business development, entrepreneurship.
Senior Executive with a blend of extensive finance, operations, sales, and customer relationship management qualifications – a reputation for achieving results through identifying new opportunities, building management teams, moving products to market, and driving revenue to achieve corporate objectives.
Focus: Capital Raising VC, Angel, IPO / Public Markets / High Growth Companies / Strategic and Operational Planning / Financial Planning & Analysis / Public Company SEC Reporting / Mergers & Acquisitions / Due Diligence / Business Operations / Strategic Market Planning / Technology & Internet Technology Assessments / Product Launch / Revenue Management & Recognition/Systems Implementations / Process Improvement / Lean Management Social Media Marketing / Ecommerce / Internet Marketing / Mobile / Technology & Software Development / Hardware / Content Management / Non-profits
Rupert Meghnot started his first business at 20, and is still going strong. Originally a poli sci major, he has an M.B.A. from Rollins, and patents in consumer electronics, motion simulation and virtual reality. He taught at UCF (Entertainment Technology at Rosen College) and Full Sail (Project Management in their Game Design Masters program), the former students of which are now managing $2+ billion in game IP. Having consulted 350+ high-tech startups in the areas of project management, product development, strategic & market planning, and capital acquisition, he’s now incubating game startups via Burnout Game Ventures, LLC. Called a “venturator”, BGV is more than an incubator/accelerator/publisher. They provide startup Clients with all the people, resources, processes and motivation to create quality products fast. With more than 450 people in their Talent Pool, 95 of whom are working on 9 projects for six startups, they have 38 game releases scheduled over the next 24 months, and have already begun ROI payments to investors. His goal is to help make Orlando the “engine” of the $110 billion game industry, creating 50 companies and 500 high paying, high-tech jobs in the process. In addition to his role at Burnout Game Ventures, Rupert is also a mentor for entrepreneurs at Starter Studio and through his “meal with a mentor” initiative. He was previously a co-organizer of Orlando’s 1 Million Cups, a program to foster entrepreneurship in local communities developed by the Kaufman Foundation. During this role he was tasked with identifying, reviewing, mentoring and selecting startups for presentation at their weekly “Guppy Tank”. During this position he also focused on raising the awareness of the 1 Million Cups event and brand, to attract entrepreneurs, investors and service providers to each event.
My primary expertise is in advising and directing new venture business, technology, and product development. I have strong technical, communication, organizational, and business skills with technical expertise in optics, photonics, optical networks, acoustics, electronics, communications, and medical devices. I have authored or coauthored numerous business plans and investor presentations that have resulted in over $200M in institutional venture capital funding. I have hands-on experience as both a CEO and CTO during a new ventures’ formative stage. I was a key player in a number of corporate technology spin-outs while I was at Milcom Technologies, a venture capital backed corporate technology commercialization firm in Orlando, Florida. Prior to joining Milcom, I founded and was President of Photonic Systems Incorporated (PSI) in Melbourne, Florida. This firm specialized in the development of optical information processing technology products for both government and commercial customers. I secured venture capital funding for the firm and was responsible for the firm’s technical leadership position in its field, which resulted in the award of over $7 Million of government research and development contracts which he managed. Before founding PSI, I worked as a Group Leader at Harris Corporation and as a Member of the Technical Staff at Texas Instruments. I am a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of UTEK Corporation. I was previously an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Central Florida Technology Incubator. I am a member of AUTM, IEEE, SPIE, and OSA. I ams the coeditor of a book, the author of 3 book chapters and some 50 publications, and was the organizer of numerous national and international conferences in the field of optical information processing. I earned an A.B. in Physics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Duke University. Specialties: My firm, AlphaLaunch, is a leading consulting group providing technology startup launch services. We are technology entrepreneurs with business experience. We are focused on providing your startup or early-stage technology business with the tools it needs to get noticed and funded
Ron Stocknopf Ben-Zeev is the founder, president, and CEO of World Housing Solution Inc., a company that focuses on building sustainable structures for the United States military. Along with Ben-Zeev’s entrepreneurial endeavors, he is also very active in the Central Florida community. He organizes local TEDx events, is an adjunct professor (and served as entrepreneur in residence) at Rollins College, and is the founder of several entrepreneurial groups, such as 1 Million Cups and Startup Weekend. Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. Before graduating from the Wharton School in 1986, he lived and worked in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central America, and Europe. Ben-Zeev is fluent in four languages, and uses his entrepreneurial skills to grow and build his businesses by building relationships around the world.