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Some of our Mentors..

Josep Ballesté is founder and CEO of Marco Polo trade & marketing, and DDD (dream, Decide, DO), a consulting company based at ESADECreapolis and specialised in developing Open Innovation projects for FMCG market leaders. He has extensive experience in international markets and internationalization processes in Russia, Hong Kong, Israel, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, USA and Canada. Josep previously worked in the finance consulting division for Accenture in the Chicago office and was a senior manager in Proficapital, a venture capital  fund related to private banking and some catalan family offices.

Alan Barrell has spent almost 30 years in senior executive positions in technology based industries and has become one of Cambridge’s most articulate promoters of entrepreneurship. He was a founder shareholder in Library House Ltd, and is now Entrepreneur in Residence at the University’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning and Visiting Professor of Enterprise at the University of Bedfordshire School of Graduate Business Studies. Alan is a member of Cambridge Angels and Sophia Business Angels ( France ) and advises numerous early stage companies internationally.

Jan Brinckmann holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the Technische Universitat Berlin, he has worked as researcher at Stanford University and served as a professor at Johnson School of Business, Cornell, followed by Loyola University, Chicago. He is the founder of two companies in the fields of consulting and design and currently resides in Barcelona acting as Professor of Entrepreneurship for ESADE Business School.

Alex Collart is currently advisor to VC fund CAN TMT (telecoms media tech) due to begin operations in Q3 2010, he also advises Intec Telecom Systems (quoted on LSE) and the eLearning business of Grupo DeAgostini. Past roles include time with McKinsey & Co, founding two tech based start-up companies (Nestoria & Globalnet) and the Valoris consultancy as well as leading the business unit at Grupo Planeta for e-commerce and Direct Response TV.

Keith Cornell is a UK Chartered Director with experience on two public Boards and more than a dozen private Boards over the past 25 years. He currently serves as SVP, International for Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) and works with 4 companies in a non-executive capacity. From 1995-2002, Mr. Cornell was on the Executive teams of O2, Vodafone, and AirTouch after leaving the strategic consultancy, Marakon Associates, where he worked from 1989-95. He received his MBA from Carnegie-Mellon and a BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, California. Keith is a fellow of CEO Collaborative Forum and has been active in the Institute of Directors since 2001.

Dave Darsch, Strategic Business Advisor and founding patner of CEO Collaborative Forum (www.ceo-cf.com), Europe’s leading forum for CEOs of high growth companies, he has more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and managing executive of technology companies. With a strong trans-Atlantic and pan-European focus, Dave has active clients in both the US and Europe. He mentors entrepreneurs and helps them develop business plans that accelerate revenue growth and/or external infusion of capital. Presently he sits on the board of 5 companies and is a member of 2 US based Angel funds. He has been a guest lecturer at INSEAD, LBS, Chicago Booth, IESE and ESADE.

Paul Fox is currently Professor at LaSalle Business Engineering School (Information Systems, eBusiness, Creativity and Innovation, Entrepreneurship) at university and MBA level while pursuing a Ph.D. at ESADE, Barcelona, Spain. He has 7 years’ experience in accounting/finance management positions for startups and a multinational, and 3 years’ experience at DiamondCluster as a strategy consultant specialized in creating new Internet and communications ventures for established companies.

David Frodsham has more than 20 years experience in the telecoms and technology field. He is a coach for high growth company forum CEO CF, current Chairman of Nativ, and a published author on seed finance. His executive roles include CEO of Argogroup, Board member of Insignia Solutions and COO of Pheonix Technologies. He has studied at both INSEAD and King’s College, London.

Ignasi Guitart owns and runs two companies focused on market consultancy and publishing, each for more than ten years. He also set up an online auction company in 2000 and previously worked in the pharma industry with Palmer Research as well as occupying various managerial positions at Caprabo, Decathlon and Inmobiliaria Colonial. Ignasi trained in civil law at UB & Pompeu Fabra, gained his MBA from ESADE and now lectures as a professor of marketing.

Blair MacLaren is trained in UK Corporate Law including M&As, IPOs and VC investments and spent 7 years with Scotland’s premier law firm Burness. Since 2006, he has been Investment Director for Active Venture Partners, a Barcelona based early stage VC fund, his role includes active management of their portfolio companies.

David Masó is a serial entrepreneur who has launched a number of start-ups based on the Internet and disruptive mobile technologies. He founded FuturLink, a company providing Mobile Marketing platforms empowering the creation of new interactive communication channels, loyalty programs and transactional services at the point of sale with customers in more than 65 countries around the world. Now he is in the process of launching Qporama, a digital couponing platform providing services to both consumers and retailers using mobile, Internet and IP-TV. He holds a degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business and ESADE.

Francisco Pestana has more than 10 years professional experience in marketing and commercial innovation representing FMCG leaders (Gallina Blanca) and top level strategy consultants (Deloitte, Valoris & Accenture). He is the director and founder of Advisium Group, Barcelona, with relevant market experience in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, USA, Mexico & Central America. Francisco obtained his international MBA from IESE.

Arturo Quintero has been with Moravia (a leading provider of translation, localisation and testing services) since 1992, and together with Ms. Janku has been the entrepreneurial driving force behind the company’s growth. Mr. Quintero has been an active member of the industry for many years, is a frequent speaker and writer, and has had direct involvement in many industry initiatives and events. He is also dedicated to promoting the translation and localization industry at large, and often speaks and lectures on the topic of global strategies and management.

Joan Riera holds a degree in Management and an MBA from ESADE and the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He has international experience within the banking sector, consultancy and large multinationals. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded the Spanish real estate IT company newhabitiat.com and his own consulting firm Equium. He is also one of the founders and previous CEO of ESADE Creapolis, currently he is launching a new venture called Active Development and remains a Professor of Entrepreneurship at ESADE Executive Education.

Alfonso Urien is currently representing fundraising, investment and development activities for clients at corporate and growth companies. He has experience as Investment Director for VC fund Entrinnova, involved in the €2 million series A raise for Spanish peer 2 peer lender Comunitae. He has an MBA from IESE Business School and is an active member in Keiretsu Forum, Spain.

Luis Vives is Assistant Professor of the Business Policy Department at ESADE Business School. Prior to his joining ESADE, Luis was Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on the management of the firm’s corporate scope, the processes, paths and positions of firm internationalization, the design and development of business models, and the co-evolution of the corporations with their institutional environment.

Fernando Zallo is the current Director of ESADE BAN and CEO at Network Communications S.L., in the past he successfully founded and ran the fashion and apparel company Antonio Miro for a period of 11 years, successfully exiting to El Corté Ingles.

Watch this space!!! Further collaboration is anticipated from the founders at CEO Collaborative Forum, as well as other successful entrepreneurs, angels and academics.

The Event Committee

The committee is formed by the f3fundit team and experienced members of Barcelona’s entrepreneurship community, namely:

Maroon Analytics (Daniel & Byron Haigh) is an international advisory firm offering strategy, finance and incubation services specialised on growth companies and growth sectors. Daniel has experience in consultancy, education and sociology; his work includes time at Salomon Smith Barney and Grupo Banco Santander, while he is currently involved with several clean-tech and mobile industry projects in Spain. Byron is an entrepreneur in internet and mobile entertainment with experience working in several internet startups, including Iconmedialab, Aspiro and Airborne Entertainment. He sits on the board of two mobile companies and currently assists online companies in raising capital, buyouts and IPOs.

Josep Cervera is International Director of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce with a strong interest in cross border commerce, trade and development together with a longstanding passion for entrepreneurship and innovation. Josep also acts as co-ordinator for MIT in Spain.

Edgar Jorda is the Business Development Manager for the open and cross innovation centre, ESADE Creapolis; he has experience working in both EU and US markets on key accounts for Samsung as well as leading the development of an online entreprise. He has further professional experience in the Spanish market consulting on business development.

The f3fundit team

Jacek Grebski holds an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona as well as a Bachelors Degree from the Tulane University A.B. Freeman School. Jacek has extensive experience in strategy formulation and implementation in web based and SME company level from his time at Survival Guide Media LLC, a New York based publishing company that was later sold to Time Out. His experience also extends to portfolio management with the City of New York.

Will Morgan holds an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona  as well as a BA Honors from the University of Leeds. He was recently the CFO of cleantech growth company Air Water Treatment before joining f3fundit as director, he is an advisor to ESADE Business School executive education and has prior experience in venture capital, investment management and consultancy.

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