2011 Silicon Bayou 100: 71-80

 71. John Besh

Chef John Besh has taken the culinary world by storm with his range of nine restaurants, seven of which are in New Orleans. Beyond his well-known role in the broader community, Besh has frequently been called on in recent years to discuss resiliency, innovation, and other topics in front of the entrepreneurial community.  Besh’s foundation specifically helps local entrepreneurs involved in urban farming by providing low-interest loans ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 (read more about that here). On Twitter.

72. Nicky Mast

Nicky grew up in Curacao and moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University. After completing a BSM in Information Systems, she went on to work as a Special Projects Manager for the Idea Village until May of 2011. Nicky is one of the two primary organizers of BarCampNOLA and has kept the exciting weekend event running for three years straight.  On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

73. Matt Shwery

Matt Shwery is a designer & front-end developer. Originally from Iowa, he’s now making pretty things out of the SquareFour headquarters in Uptown, New Orleans. Matt was an integral piece of the creation pie for NOLADEX and continues to update and maintain the site. He’s also been a major part of the design & front-end development of the web presence for many local start-ups.  On LinkedInOn Twitter.

74. Brent Nycum

Brent is a software developer and adjunct professor living in Shreveport with his wife Emily, daughter Ember, and their two dogs. He develops and designs for iPhone / iPad (iOS), Mac, Ruby on Rails and PHP. Brent recently started teaching iOS classes out of CoHabitat ShreveportOn LinkedInOn Twitter.

75. Ben Jacobson

Ben is the co-founder and former partner of Connecticut-based Old Harbor Outfitters and the current co-founder and CEO of Pollbob. The Pollbob team participated in the Idea Village accelerator last year and has completed two rounds of seed funding and angel investments. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

76. Paul Hoeper

Paul is a former member of the Receivables Exchange team who saw an opportunity and grabbed it quickly by starting InvoiceASAP. Their team brought national attention to the local start-up scene when they competed and snagged a finalist spot at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York this past spring. On LinkedInOn Twitter.

77. Shlok Vaidya

Shlok is the Director of Product Management at Neoplat. He has previously been employed as an Energy Security Analyst for a think tank where he examined global energy trends with a focus on infrastructure and the threat of supply disruption.  His writing on technology, terrorism, and resiliency has been published in various books and media outlets. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

78. David Crais

David Crais is a man of many job titles, fields of work, and ventures. Through his firm, Crais Management Group, he frequently serves as acting or interim CEO for various healthcare and technical companies. Outside of work, he’s usually busy with his involvement in a broad range of non-profit boards including those of local universities and organizations working to improve the City of New Orleans. On LinkedInOn Twitter.

79. Darrell Roth

Darrell started NOLA Branding Group in early 2011 and he remains President and Creative Director of the social media agency. The firm specializes in the creation and implementation of custom social media marketing campaigns for small businesses and startups. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.

80. Will Kethman

Will is a graduate of Tulane’s Biomedical Engineering program and is currently wrapping up his last year of medical school. As if starting a residency in general surgery isn’t time consuming enough, Will is also working heavily on his company, NOvate Medical Technologies and their primary product, SafeSnip. He was awarded a grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University won the $20,000 award from MTVu and NYSE Euronext for development of a socially conscious business. On LinkedInOn Twitter.

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