NXT ASCENT - Key Persons
Adam is a consumer goods entrepreneur with a track record of operating brands sold across multiple channels of distribution including direct to consumer and retail platforms. Prior to starting the NXT Ascent venture studio, Adam owned & exited consumer goods brands within the sporting goods & wellness industries.
This experience led him to help create NXT Ascent's true studio approach to repeatable development of scaled, profitable consumer innovation. He has systematized the approach and provides the pattern that each brand should follow from ideation > validation > creation > deployment > scale.
Adam attended University of Wisconsin, where he was a 4 year letterman in Tennis while majoring in Advertising/PR. He lives in Chicago with his wife & daughter.
Since exiting the global marketing intelligence firm he founded out of business school, now known as Numerator, Jim has continued to be a devoted entrepreneur and early stage investor and advisor in dozens of companies. Through his journey, he has developed significant pattern recognition, learnings, and understandings on what is takes to succeed in early stage business. As a founding partner in NXT Ascent, it is Jim's daily goal to steer the businesses under NXT Ascent's umbrella to the highest probability of significant success.
Jim is a graduate of Northwestern and Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He resides with his family in Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Brand Leader
- Operating Partner
Mike is an experienced brand leader and operator. Early in his career, Mike handled brand management responsibilities in an entrepreneurial setting at Pivotal 5. Post MBA, he worked on the global home cleaning brand, Mr. Muscle, at SC Johnson and ran both the State Fair brand and the frozen foods business of the $1B+ Jimmy Dean brand at Tyson Foods. Mike was hired by Hometown Food Company, a private equity rollup of legacy brands, to lead the Hungry Jack brand and operate the Pillsbury baking business.
In 2020, Mike joined NXT Ascent as a Brand Operating Partner, and he is currently the CEO of the Adoorn brand. Mike loves brand marketing and is passionate about entrepreneurship.
He received both his BBA and his MBA with a certificate in entrepreneurship from UW-Madison. Mike lives in Glenview, IL with his wife and 2 children.