Venture Investing in the Heartland: How the Midwest is Going from Rust Belt to Tech Belt

Ron has spent his career in a variety of entrepreneurial, leadership, and business development roles. He has been an angel investor and advisor to over a dozen technology startups. Ron was Co-Founder and CEO of TravelPerk, a VC-backed travel management platform that is now a “unicorn” company with thousands of employees and customers across the globe. Prior to TravelPerk, he started the B2B division of Booking.com and before that was a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Ron began his career at Lycos, one of the web’s pioneer search engine and web portals. Ron graduated from Babson College and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the author of the impact-focused Higher Purpose Venture Capital Blog.

Rebecca A. Fannin is a leading expert on global innovation, a top-selling author and media entrepreneur. She began her journalistic career in New York City and later Silicon Valley, where she followed the venture capital trail to become one of the first American journalists to write about China’s entrepreneurial boom, reporting from Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Inspired by the entrepreneurs she met and interviewed in China, Rebecca formed Silicon Dragon Ventures , a news, events and thought leadership platform. Rebecca’s career has taken her to the world’s leading hubs of tech innovation. She is a correspondent at CNBC.com, a Forbes columnist for 10 years, and her articles also have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Wired, Techonomy, Inc. and Red Herring, where she was international news editor during the dotcom boom.

Paul is the CEO and Co-General Partner of O’Leary Ventures. He has 30 years of experience as a fiduciary, asset manager, and investor across a broad spectrum of asset classes for institutional investors and high-net-worth family offices.

Daniel Walsh has a diverse work experience. Daniel is currently the CEO and Founder of VeroSkills since March 2021. Previously, they were the Co-Founder and President of TrueCoders, a remote coding bootcamp, from September 2017 to March 2021. At TrueCoders, they focused on training students to become software developers and helping them secure jobs in the industry. Before that, they served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Credntia from September 2016 to September 2017. Prior to that, they worked as a Sales and Marketing Specialist at MicroPulse Technologies, Inc. from May 2015 to September 2016. Daniel also had a role as a Marketing Consultant at Platypi from December 2014 to May 2015. Daniel started their career as the CEO of Zappend Inc. from July 2010 to December 2014, where they aimed to simplify the process of developing mobile applications for individuals with innovative ideas.
Daniel Walsh participated in a 6 Week Web Development bootcamp in 2007, focusing on Computer Programming. No degree name or specific end year is mentioned.