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 10 below:
Sia Karamalegos
Sia is a web developer who learned Fortran 90 in college, and then didn’t pick up programming again until the advent of MOOCs. After casually playing with Python and JavaScript, she completed a beginner code-immersion bootcamp in New Orleans, Tech Talent South, and then became a teacher there. She is now the founder and CEO of Clio + Calliope, which provides full-stack web development services to both start-ups and established businesses. On Twitter. On LinkedIn.
Sidney Torres
Sidney Torres is a big name in New Orleans entrepreneurship who is known for several ventures, including his locally-based trash companies, renovating houses throughout the city, owning a hotel, and even recently creating The Cover, a $100 million resort in the Bahamas. Last year he began working on his reality show called The Deed, focused on flipping houses in New Orleans. On Twitter.
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 LA Tech Park, Stephen is involved in the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, RIO, and the broader entrepreneurial world around the Silicon Bayou. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Steven Toups
Steven is the CEO of Cleargistix, a company that maximizes profits by delivering a flexible, customizable and cost effective solution to the offshore and onshore oil and gas services industry. The company is based in Madisonville and was featured at the Silicon Bayou Startup Showcase in 2017. On LinkedIn.
Stirling Barrett
Visual artist and entrepreneur Stirling is the founder and creative director of KREWE, a New Orleans based and culturally inspired independent eyewear company that celebrates individual style with modern, iconic frames. Prior to KREWE, he ran his own photography company for a decade. On LinkedIn.
Tim Williamson
Tim is co-founder and former President and of The Idea Village, a nonprofit with a mission to create economic and social change in New Orleans through innovation and entrepreneurship. He is now the President of the digital media company NOLA Media Group, which runs the Times-Picayune and Nola.com. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Tom Cox
Tom is the co-founder, President, and CEO of Golfballs.com, the first online retail business started in Louisiana that was recently ranked the fourth most popular online golf retailer in the country. He launched the company in Lafayette in 1995 and more recently has be named to the Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies for several years in a row. On LinkedIn.
Victoria Adams Phipps
As the director of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, Victoria is responsible for the strategy and execution of the entire event, producing and managing curated experiences through dynamic content delivery, partnerships, brand alignments, interactive demos, and social opportunities for the ecosystem. On LinkedIn.
Wan Kim
For the last five years, Wan has been the CEO of Smoothie King, a New Orleans area company that has stores in over 30 states, the Caymans, Singapore and the Republic of Korea. In 2015, the company was ranked the #1 smoothie franchise on Entrepreneur’s 36th annual Franchise 500 list – marking the 21st year the brand has occupied the number one spot and #86 overall. On LinkedIn.
Wendy Dolan
Through her role as founder and CEO of GetOnlineNOLA, Wendy is bringing websites to businesses that need them in a way that they can afford. She is also on the Board of Directors of Women in Technology, and is a founding member of the New Orleans chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. On Twitter. On LinkedIn.