Ignite Projects has a unique and highly successful model for portfolio management. Ignite Projects is led by its core team and supported by its advisors.
Management
Landon Pollack
Founder/Managing Partner
Landon Pollack is a veteran entrepreneur of 17 years, whose foundation for hard work was set after several years of training to play professional baseball. Pollack has been a founder or founding investor in eleven companies, and secured capital for numerous others. He started four businesses before turning 20, and earned his first million dollars by the age of 13, selling sports memorabilia by mail order. An unabashed entrepreneur, Pollack started a retail memorabilia and apparel store at 14, a personal training consultancy at 16, and an exotic animal store & mail order company at 18. In the subsequent years, his ventures have included health clubs, a beverage company, multi-media systems for health and wellness centers, robotically-controlled exercise equipment, consumer Internet businesses, and yoga studios.
Leveraging his diverse entrepreneurial experience, Pollack has served as a strategic entrepreneur, coach, and consultant to a variety of organizations, across all industries. All of Ignite's Projects' ventures were the product of Pollack's experience and creative vision.
Pollack is writing a book, Click, due to be published by the end of 2008. This book shows how, with networking, individuals will be able to accomplish their life goals.
Michael Harden
Chief Operating Officer
Michael Harden is a seasoned international executive and business leader with extensive experience in building successful businesses. Harden's previous experience includes founding and running Century Technology Services, Inc. and Cytivity Corporation, an Internet security company. He has been interviewed and quoted in numerous newspapers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times; appeared on many TV shows, such as CNN's Money Line; and is often interviewed on news radio programs. He testified before several Congressional Committees, advised Senators and Congressional Representatives on emerging technology issues, and consulted with business and government leaders around the world. Previous experience includes building and managing a 1,000 employee division of a Fortune 500 company. With 32 years of business experience, 14 of which are at the CEO/COO level, he has extensive marketing, operational, and financial expertise. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at three universities where he teaches graduate level strategic planning and entrepreneurship. He has attended the Executive Management Program at George Washington University, is a graduate of Virginia Tech, and holds a Masters Degree in Management from Central Michigan University.
Chris Raymond
Chief Strategy Officer
Chris Raymond is an innovator, proven entrepreneur, and skilled communicator in the web and creative services communities. Raymond developed one of the leading interactive community websites in the transformational lifestyle category, www.spirituality.com. As such, Raymond was a frequent media source on spirituality trends and meaning in the US including NPR, Real Simple, Boston Globe and The Christian Science Monitor.
Raymond also created one of the first consultancies dedicated to improving customer service in business, formed in association with Tom Peters. During her 25-year career in marketing, Raymond was president of her own regional advertising agency and also VP and management supervisor of FCB, one of the largest international advertising agencies in the world. She managed technology brand retail marketing for 3Com (Palm Pilot), Intuit (Quicken) and WebTV. Raymond is a graduate of the University of California (Berkeley) with a BA in International Relations, focusing on the Middle East.
Bill Overell
Chief Financial Officer (Consulting)
Bill Overell has extensive experience as a senior financial executive for high growth technology companies. Overell, serving as Consulting CFO for Ignite Venture Partners, is a four-time CFO with both public and private company experience. He formed OVERELL SOLUTIONS in 2000 and focused on providing CFO services. Prior to that he was CFO for PayMyBills.com, Software Technologies Corporation (now SeeBeyond, SBYN), Insurance Auto Auctions (IAAI), and Gamma Microwave, and was a financial executive at Spectra-Physics (SPY), and a Senior Consultant at Arthur Andersen & Company.
Overell has developed business models and planning & control systems and has closed over $100M of equity and debt financing and $300M of M&A transactions. Overell holds a BS from Purdue, a Stanford MBA, and is a graduate of the Stanford-NASDAQ Directors College. He is vice chairman of FEI's National Committee on Finance and IT. He is also an AICPA member and was on the AICPA's 2001 High Technology Expert Roundtable.
Demetrios Sapounas
Chief Information Officer
Demetrios Sapounas is an experienced technology leader with a domestic and international background. Sapounas's previous experience includes consulting engagements with companies ranging from financial services and venture capital to enterprise IT security and Government services. He founded and led Med2Web, an online medical claims processing and management company. Sapounas previously worked at AppNet, leading the technology group of the Interactive Division and the domestic and international operations. He has spent ten years at the Naval Surface Warfare Center managing system development programs and leading the development of new technologies. Before that, Sapounas spent a short period at EDS and taught at various universities. He has authored numerous publications and white papers, presented at conferences and symposia, plus participated on standards committees. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of early stage organizations. Sapounas holds a PhD in computer science and image processing from Cranfield University and an MBA from Ohio University.
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