Chairman of the Board:

Sergio Fernandez de Cordova
Founder of Fuel Outdoor

Started in 2003, Fuel Outdoor has grown into a multi-million dollar company with six offices in nine cities nationwide, and is now a portfolio company of Och-Ziff, a global institutional asset management firm with over $21 billion in capital. With more than 4,000 outdoor advertising locations, a growing portfolio of clients, and a very active philanthropic program. Sergio is more than just a sharp businessman; he’s a young entrepreneur with an incredible ability to turn opportunity to success seemingly overnight.

Today, as a shareholder and founder of Fuel, Sergio heads the Real Estate, Government Affairs, and Legal Divisions at the 3rd largest privately owned outdoor advertising company in the country. He manages all of Fuel’s real estate operations, as well as all legislative affairs and legal initiatives. Sergio continues to change the landscapes by bringing innovation and private public partnerships to new levels. He works with cities such as Miami, New York and Dallas; helping these cities to rewrite their sign ordinance in order to create new income streams to municipalities otherwise not being utilized.

Sergio continues to be lauded for his work at Fuel and outside. The New York Enterprise Report nominated Sergio for several awards: Sales and Marketing in 2006, Leadership in 2007 and Mergers and acquisitions in 2008. In 2007, Sergio was nominated as New York’s Best Up and Coming CEO by the NYC Executive Council and in 2008 as New York’s Best Up and Coming Executive. Sergio was selected as one of thirty-five top entrepreneurs and innovators in America under the age of 40, brought together by an organization called The Summit Series, at the White House to discuss the economy with Obama senior administration officials. In addition, he was also invited to attend the G8 Young Business Summit with four other Entrepreneurs from Entrepreneurs Organization in Italy this past July.

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Directors:

Divya Gugnani
CEO and Founder, Culinary Expert

Divya Gugnani acquired a taste for her future in culinary arts while building a career in finance. In addition to a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Divya holds a degree from the French Culinary Institute, where she discovered her inner chef. Divya started her business career at Goldman Sachs and then moved on to Investcorp International and Millennium Technology Ventures. Most recently, as a venture capitalist and Principal at FirstMark Capital, Divya provided companies with strategic and operational guidance to achieve their visions. Additionally, Divya has catered numerous events and worked in several restaurant kitchens while managing her corporate boardroom responsibilities. With the creation of Behind the Burner, Divya blends her long-time passion for culinary arts with her expertise in business ventures.

Divya currently advises several startups and established brands with board level roles. She appears on MSNBC: Your Business, NBC The Weekend in New York and NBC New York Nonstop. She also has been a guest on FOX & FRIENDS and has been featured in BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Deal, Crains, Hi!Blitz, Khabar, Eat.Drink.Better, among several other publications. She is also working on the launch of the online lifestyle media property What Not To Do 101.

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Stephen Messer
President of World Evolved, LCC & Co-Founder of LinkShare

Prior to World Evolved, Mr. Messer served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LinkShare until it was sold to Rakuten for $425mm in 2005. As one of the co-founders of LinkShare, he revolutionized the world of online marketing creating one of the first technology platforms to measure and manage advertising relationships. Under Mr. Messer’s leadership, LinkShare was recognized by Deloitte and Touche for two consecutive years as the number one fastest growing technology company in the New York region. In 2005, Mr. Messer was awarded the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the New York Region.

Mr. Messer holds a Juris Doctorate from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lafayette University in Pennsylvania.

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David Rose
Managing Principal at Rose Tech Ventures & Founder of Angelsoft

Described by BusinessWeek as a “world conquering entrepreneur” and by Crain’s New York Business as “the father of angel investing in New York”, David is one of the city’s most active early stage investors.

David is a split-screen legend to the world’s entrepreneurs. He’s been both a mentor to hundreds of startup hopefuls and, sometimes — to the talented and fortunate — a funder. His rapid-fire seminars on pitching to venture capitalists are celebrated and sought-after. He’s helped invest many millions of dollars in startups through New York Angels (companies like Peter Diamandis’ ZERO-G), meanwhile raising tens of millions for his own companies.

Fusing these interests under Rose Tech Ventures, Rose’s mission is to give future movers-and-shakers support and encouragement. His vision and passion for mentoring and supporting entrepreneurs are what drive the world of Rose Tech Ventures. David also connects entrepreneurs to tens of thousands of angel investors in 45 countries through Angelsoft, which helps start-ups and investors communicate more effectively.

Currently, David is shuttling between Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley, where he is the Finance & Entrepreneurship Track Chair of the NASA/Google-sponsored Singularity University.

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Charles Seely
Founder of Esos Ventures

Charles Seely is the Co-Founder & CEO of a Predictive Analytics company, and the Founder of Esos Ventures-an investor/advisor in early-stage companies. He was previously the top salesperson at TCS, a telco software company backed by Cisco & Nomura, and part of the key team that built the company from $5-30mm revenue prior to its sale for $150mm+. He founded Brandfever an online factory outlet in early 1999, building one of the leading European management teams and raising several million $ in debt/equity. He has 3 years financial restructuring experience as a board member of several private & public companies. He serves on the Advisory Boards of the Startup Exchange Fund (started by founders of 24/7 Media, Investors: Idealab), MetroLeap Media Inc-a leading provider of music and entertainment content whose flagship product MetroLyrics.com is one of the Top 5 music destinations worldwide-35 million+ unique users per month, Scanbuy-a leading global provider of mobile marketing solutions, and Actarus Funds-an angel investment fund. He also serves on the board of Slooh-World’s Leading Live consumer astronomy website, and is an advisor to the UK Government as a Dealmaker for the Global Entrepreneurs Programme.

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Kerry Bannigan
CEO of Nolcha

With an extensive background in marketing, events, and brand management Ms. Bannigan envisioned a much needed revolutionary advance of resources in the emerging/independent fashion industry.

By teaming up with her business partner, Arthur Mandel, Nolcha was launched in March 2007. Bannigan has grown Nolcha’s mission to help aspiring and talented designers with the launch of Nolcha.com – an online portal delivering daily fashion business, Nolcha Fashion Week: NYC, Independent Retail Week: NYC & Chicago.

Ms. Bannigan splits her time between New York and London working closely with designers, reputable industry companies and associates to continually grow the Nolcha brand on an international platform.

Ms. Bannigan began her career nine years ago with multiple internships in Public Relations and Marketing while completing her BA English and Communications at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.