31. Michael Hecht
After working with small businesses in New York City and directing business recovery services for Louisiana Economic Development, Michael Hecht has made his mark locally by running the steamship GNO, Inc. Greater New Orleans Inc. is a regional economic development alliance serving the 10-parish region of Southeast Louisiana and has been integral in bringing attention the digital media scene in New Orleans. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
32. Blake Haney
Blake Haney made a big impact on New Orleanians with the creation of Dirty Coast, a t-shirt shop that told ex-pats and refugees to “be a New Orleanian, wherever you are.” His work with Canary Collective and Humid Beings continues to shake things up on the web and on the bayou. He also mentors young entrepreneurs through The Idea Village. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
33. Terry Jones
Terry leads the Regional Innovation Organization (RIO) which supports and develops entrepreneurship in Greater Baton Rouge and is a member of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and is on the Board of Directors of SeNSE. Terry is also an integral part of the funding scene in Louisiana, having worked with Source Capital and Aurora Funds. Currently he’s the managing partner at Dean Capital in Baton Rouge. On LinkedIn.
34. Benjamin Reece
As a web developer turned filmmaker Ben saw great successes with his viral video series, Fifty People One Question. After making commercials for big brands like Coke, BMW and Salesforce through his company, Deltree, Ben decided he needed a better way to make money from creative films shared on the web. He founded Kin.io, a web start-up aimed to be the easiest way to sell videos online and participated in the first class of Launch Pad Ignition. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
35. Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery, a former attorney at Jones Walker, is a partner at VCE Capital Partners, LLC, a venture capital investment advisory firm with $36 million under management and offices in Shreveport, New Orleans and New York City. Mr. Montgomery runs the firm’s New Orleans office, is involved in the New Orleans BioInnovation Center and holds board positions at several local companies including NuMe Health. On LinkedIn.
36. Ross Hinkle
Ross is a former Lehman Brothers analyst and private equity mastermind. After working with funding ventures in New York, Ross decided he wanted to start one of his own. His company, Liveset, brings the full concert experience into your home with an interactive viewing experience. They’ve shown acts like Trombone Shorty, Ben Kweller, and The Civil Wars. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
37. Sean Simone
Sean is the managing partner and VP of sales for BluReach, LLC, a creative web development and online marketing firm based in Baton Rouge. Sean is also a co-founder and board member of SeNSE and active in the Baton Rouge entrepreneurial scene. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
38. Will Scott
Will took years of technical experience and entrepreneurial experiences and harnessed his knowledge into a successful search engine marketing and optimization firm, Search Influence. The rapidly growing firm recently upgraded to a new office on Oak Street in New Orleans and is always hiring local talent. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
39. Kirk Coco
In 2007, Kirk took his passion for brewing beer and turned it into the New Orleans Lager & Ale (NOLA) Brewing company with his business partner Peter Caddoo. Since then Kirk has participated in the Idea Village entrepreneurial assistance programs and used Rebirth Financial’s lending program to launch a new canning line at the Tchoupitoulas brewery. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
40. Stephen Loy
Since 2004 Stephen has been working his way up the ranks of the Louisiana Technology Park, where he is now the Executive Director. Outside of LATechPark Stephen is involved in the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, RIO, and the broader entrepreneurial world around the Silicon Bayou. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Support our sponsors:
- Launch Pad is the premier co-working space in New Orleans with a variety of options to meet your workspace needs. Follow @launchpad on twitter and check them out in the IP Building!
- VoteIt, recently featured in TechCrunch, is making group decisions easy with a groundbreaking new web platform. Sign up for their Beta and follow them on twitter: @LetsVoteIt!
- Flatstack is a development firm dually based in New Orleans and Kazan, Russia. The @Flatstack team works primarily in Ruby and if you can dream it up, they can build it for the web.
- The Idea Village is a non-profit organization that has been helping entrepreneurs succeed in New Orleans for over 10 years. Follow @IdeaVillage on twitter to see them in action!
- Baker Donelson provides top notch legal services across more than 30 practice areas including Business Technology, Intellectual Property, and Emerging Companies. With offices in New Orleans, Mandeville, and Baton Rouge they are the #1 source for entrepreneurial law. Follow them @Baker_Donelson.