RAISE FORUM - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Principal at SpringTime Ventures

Allyson Plosko is currently a principal at SpringTime Ventures, an investment firm focused on Seed-stage companies in healthtech, fintech, logistics/supply chain, and marketplaces. Before that, she was senior director of Telosity, a fund launched by Vinaj Ventures to invest in Seed-stage companies improving adolescent and young adult mental well-being and was an integral part of building the Telosity network, deal flow, brand, and investment processes.

Barry Etra has over 30 years of business experience, having worked in Sales and Marketing, Operations, and General Management. Barry came to Atlanta as the COO of a plastics manufacturing plant. He has helped institutions and consumers raise hundreds of millions of dollars, often outside the obvious channels. Currently he runs the RAISE Forum as well as the Atlanta chapter of The Keiretsu Forum, the largest and most active angel investment forum in the world. Because of his involvement with RAISE, he is doing business development for Kickr Design, a prototyping group in the Southeast. Barry has a BA and an MBA from Columbia University; his MBA is in marketing and finance.

Charles Goetz joined Goizueta Business School in the fall of 2001. Before that he had over fifteen years of experience in developing, implementing and growing entrepreneurial ventures. Goetz has been responsible for starting and building nine ventures that employed over 1000 employees and delivered returns that often exceeded expectations. Goetz is still actively involved, investing in new businesses and sitting on a number of boards for private and not-for-profit businesses. He has written three books. Goetz is also responsible for the development of "Marketnomics," a mathematical model that quantifies perceived customer value by product features, resulting in product offerings with substantially greater value propositions at lower costs and higher demand.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director of the Emory Center for Alternative Investments

Klaas P. Baks PhD is the Executive Director of the Emory Center for Alternative Investments and an Associate Professor in the Practice of Finance at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. The Emory Center for Alternative Investments is a global leader in the alternative investments industry with an advisory board consisting of CEOs at investment firms with combined assets in excess of one trillion dollars.

Kristen McDermott Woodrum concentrates her practice in the area of healthcare law, including regulatory compliance and transactional matters. Well-versed in the nuances of healthcare law, Kristen anticipates potential issues and provides practical counsel while working with clients to structure complex transactions, including acquisitions, joint ventures, and other strategic affiliations. Kristen also advises clients on day-to-day operational and compliance matters, including fraud and abuse laws, such as the federal Stark law and Anti-Kickback statute, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Medicare/Medicaid billing and reimbursement, licensure and accreditation, third party payor issues, state fee-splitting, fraud and abuse, and corporate practice of medicine laws.

Russell Allen has a myriad of experience - making him perfect for RAISE. Previously President and CEO of Georgia Bio, he came from BioFlorida, the statewide trade association founded in 1997 to advance Florida's bioscience industry.

Steve Brett is a pioneer in digital marketing, website development and has 30-years of experience in marketing, advertising and sales. With Presentation TuneUps and Virtual Pitch Practice, he helps individuals and companies improve their personal communication skills in-person and on-line. Steve has worked with some of the best-known companies in the world, starting with a cell-phone company that became Verizon. He built the first web site for the Citizen Watch Company from his home; his team created the first online shoe store for The Sports Authority; helped grow a payroll company that exited to ADP; and worked fintech for the New York Stock Exchange. Steve holds a Masters at Teaching and a BA in Literature/Education from The New School in New York. He also taught advertising and marketing at Atlanta's prestigious Creative Circus.