Michael Kassan, Founder and CEO of MediaLink, on Seizing Opportunities

Chris Rondeau is the CEO of Planet Fitness, one of the largest fitness franchises in the world built on instilling a judgment-free zone environment. Chris started at the company in 1992, working the front desk at the first location. He eventually became Chief Operating Officer in 2003 and Chief Executive Officer in 2013. Under his leadership, Chris took the company public, doubled the number of Planet Fitness locations to 2300, and grew the number of members to 16.2 million.

Kendra Scott is the founder, executive chairman, and chief creative officer of Kendra Scott, an accessories brand built on “Family, Fashion, and Philanthropy.” She founded the eponymous brand in 2002, following the birth of her son. The company now has over 100 stores and 850 specialty boutiques, and its wholesale partners include Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's. In 2021, Kendra Scott donated 30,000 pieces of jewelry to more than 75 organizations.

Prerna Gupta is the Founder and CEO of Mysterious, a social media platform developed in partnership with CAA which curates short form music video NFTs. The company is currently supported by high-profile celebrities including Lebron James, Mariah Carey, and Steph Curry. Prerna previously co-founded successful mobile entertainment applications such as Smule and Hooked, which grew to a reach of over one billion people. With Mysterious, Prerna brings an innovative way to interact with audio-visual content through the rise of technologies like web 3 and blockchain. Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Ne-Yo is one of Mysterious’ many celebrity investors. In addition to releasing two albums at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, Ne-Yo was a judge on NBC’s World of Dance and currently stars as Sage Odom on the television series, Step Up.

Ryan Steelberg is the Co-Founder and President of Veritone, Inc., a NASDAQ publicly traded company leading in enterprise AI software, services, and solutions. Ryan founded multiple companies with his brother, Chad; Their first company, Adforce, was founded in 1995 and acquired by CMGi in 1999 quickly after its IPO. He then served as President and CEO of Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc. and Head of Broadcast at Google Inc. He also was Co-Founder and President of dMarc Broadcasting, an advertising company that was acquired by Google and integrated into their Google Ads platform.

Dan Doctoroff is the Chairman and Founder of Target ALS, a nonprofit medical research foundation focused on finding treatment for ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Dan was previously New York City’s longest-serving Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding and the former CEO and President of Bloomberg LP. He led NYC2012, New York City’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and most recently founded Sidewalk Labs in 2015, a Google subsidiary that uses and innovates technologies to improve urban infrastructure.

Dave Finocchio is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Bleacher Report, a digital media company centered around all sports culture and content. Dave connected millions of sports fans with curated content on Bleacher Report’s social media platforms using innovative digital media consumption strategies. In 2012,  Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting for $215 million. After stepping away from Bleacher Report in 2019,  Dave, with digital media veteran Anna Robertson, co-founded The Cool Down in 2021. The company focuses on engaging in further conversations on climate change and climate tech to create actionable change.

Meredith Berkman and Dorian Furhman are founders of Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe). The company was founded by three concerned moms as a grassroots response to the youth vaping epidemic. Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes has become an influential advocacy and education nonprofit run and powered by passionate volunteers across the country, the national parent voice fighting the predatory behavior of Big Tobacco.

Nell Diamond is the Founder and CEO of Hill House Home, a digital-first lifestyle brand offering bedding, bath, baby, accessories and apparel, including their widely beloved Nap DressⓇ. Hill House Home is a digital-first lifestyle brand that brings beauty and joy to everyday rituals. With its design-centric approach, Hill House Home offers impeccable quality, and timeless, feminine styles through quality products designed to enhance and celebrate life.

Benny Buller is founder of Velo3D. Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. The company unlocks true design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy, and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. Previous to Velo3D Buller was at Khosla Ventures,, Solyndra, Inc., and First Solar.

Christopher Plowman is the CEO of Insight Timer. Insight Timer is one of the world’s top meditation apps with the largest collection of free guided meditations (they have over 130,000 titles!) Insight Timer is the home to millions of meditators pushing a movement to calm your mind, reduce anxiety, manage stress, sleep deeply and improve happiness.