The 2017 Silicon Bayou 100 is the annual list of the 100 most influential and active people in tech and entrepreneurship in Louisiana over the last year. The list is compiled by the community through an anonymous nomination process.
Over the next two weeks we will be sharing the bios of each of the 100 in alphabetical order. View the full Silicon Bayou 100 here and meet group 4 below:
David Bode
David is the director of the Commercialization Team at the New Orleans BioInnovation Center where he provides business assistance to life science and biotechnology companies in the area. He also focuses on educational programming around entrepreneurship. In his spare time, David is a saxophonist and composer that regularly plays with local bands and orchestras.
Doug Walner
In 2017, Doug joined five-year old tech company Align Today as CEO. The company provides cloud-based business planning software based in Tennessee, although he is working from New Orleans. Doug is a serial entrepreneur, mentor, and was formerly an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at The Idea Village. On LinkedIn.
Dustin Puryear
Dustin provides managed IT to businesses in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas through his company Puryear IT. He is the current CEO and founder of the company which provides high-quality management of their desktops, servers, network and security, going beyond other companies. On Twitter. On LinkedIn.
Felipe Massa
Felipe has helped advance the entrepreneurship program at Loyola since he came on board in 2012. He has worked on the development of an entrepreneurship curriculum that connects students at the undergraduate level and at the graduate level with community projects integrating Idea Village, Propeller, and LSBDC programs directly into the student experience. He has also been a judge at Startup Weekend and PitchNOLA. On LinkedIn.
Gant Laborde
Gant is the Chief Technology Strategist for Infinite Red focusing on software design, as well as consulting, public speaking, and volunteering at non-profits. He has worked with Tech Talent South and Rails Girls instructing others how to code. On LinkedIn.
Gary Solomon, Jr.
As founder the Solomon Group, Gary uses his expertise on emerging trends and new technologies to fuel the entertainment and video production company. Recently, he was named to Inc. Magazine’s “30 Under 30: World’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs” list. On LinkedIn.
Gerard Ramos
Gerard is well-versed in product design and development, application architecture, e-commerce, internet marketing and mobile and web development. He is the founder of Revelry Labs, a group of software and product engineers based in New Orleans, LA focused on web, mobile and enterprise software development. Prior to that, he started Unawkward, a social network for meeting new people around local experiences. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Golden Richard
Golden runs the Information Assurance program within the Computer Science department at UNO. His former students have also founded their own local companies including 504ensics Labs. He is also active within the local technology community by teaching computer forensics skills to local and state law enforcement, giving lectures on information security and computer forensics to a wide range of professional audiences, and helping to grow the NolaSec community. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Haley Burns
As Founder and Executive Director of Fund 17, Haley works to help create a new economic system of opportunity in New Orleans. The organization is dedicated to combating opportunity inequality in the 17 wards of the city by providing micro-entrepreneurs with financial tools for self-empowerment. On LinkedIn.
Harold Callais
Harold is the managing director and chief investment officer at Callais Capital Management based in Thibodaux. He has made multiple investments in Louisiana, specifically in New Orleans based technology start-ups. Harold has sourced, negotiated and closed on financing deals for more than 25 companies in the last 2 years, for more than a total of 110 million. On LinkedIn.