Maine Entrepreneurs Archives - Page 2 of 7

John Burns of Maine Venture Fund

May 11, 202005/11/20

John is passionate about contributing to a resilient and sustainable Maine economy by supporting innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable corporate growth that contributes to opportunities for Maine people and an economy that works for all and preserves our history while embracing change.

Over 30 years of institutional investing experience, analyzing industries and companies, managing municipal, corporate, and international bond portfolios, and for the last many years serving as Maine Venture Fund (“MVF”) Managing Director, executing and overseeing the full range of venture capital investment activities. I have a passion for working with teams, entrepreneurs, building companies, Maine, and Maine’s economic well-being.

MVF highlights:
• Able to quadruple the amount of capital contributed to (invested in) the fund; capital that is then used to capitalize and grow promising companies;
• Successfully managing a portfolio of early stage equity and near equity investments in small Maine companies;
• Responsible for bringing capital to over 60 Maine companies;
• A dozen positive “exit” events, returning capital to the Fund to enable future investments.

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Business in Maine, Maine Entrepreneurs

Angel Investor Bill Ryan

April 27, 202004/27/20

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William J. Ryan, Jr. began his professional career as an attorney, practicing corporate law in Portland before embarking on his career in the sports business. Bill has worked as a sports marketing executive, owned the Oxford Plains Speedway and founded the Maine Red Claws. His current focus is on angel investing, principally in companies based in Maine. In addition to his business interests, he currently serves on the board of the Portland Museum of Art.

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Business in Maine, Maine Entrepreneurs

Chris Lynch of Legacy Properties

April 13, 202004/13/20

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Chris Lynch is the President, Founder and owner of Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty. From its inception in 2006, Chris has grown the company from its six founding brokers to more than 80 Maine and New Hampshire based real estate agents and 5 offices serving Coastal Communities from Rye, NH to Jonesport, ME. In recent years he has expanded to the Western Lakes and Mountains in addition to our ability to serve the New Hampshire Seacoast. In this time of great transition, Chris is leading his company in new ways.

After 17 years on Wall Street, Chris gave up his role as a Managing Director, Principle and Global Head of the Investment Grade Bond Department at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. Prior to that he held positions in Investment Banking and Debt Capital Markets at Kidder Peabody, Credit Suisse and Solomon Smith Barney. During this time, he had the opportunity to live in New York City, Brooklyn NY, London England and New Canaan CT. Chris had a vision to change the way luxury property was bought and sold in Maine and developed a model which is more friendly to the majority of buyers and led him to found the company in the midst of the last downturn. That experience has helped him lead in these times.

A graduate of Bates College (ME) and Andover High School (MA), Chris has a passion for the coast of Maine. Chris and his wife Laura have resided in Cape Elizabeth for 18-years and have 4 children: Andrew (26). Jake (25), Emily (23) and Alexandra (18).

Chris serves on the Finance Committee at Maine Medical Center, and is active with several charitable organizations in Maine. He has also served on the Board for the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors for Maine Listings, the Kieve-Wavus Education Foundation, and the Board of Assessment Review for the Town of Cape Elizabeth.

In his free time, Chris enjoys golf, boating in Casco Bay, skiing at Sugarloaf and paddle tennis.

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Business in Maine, Maine Entrepreneurs

Rob Simopoulos and Andrew Rinaldi of Defendify

April 6, 202004/06/20

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Rob Simopoulos is the Co-Founder of Defendify, the all-in-one cybersecurity platform that makes cybersecurity possible for Small Business. Rob is a lifelong entrepreneur, as passionate about small business as he is about cybersecurity. In his 20+ years in the security industry, he has received awards, accolades, and recognition from a variety of trusted industry experts and publications. Rob and the Defendify team are based in Portland, Maine, and are on a mission to simplify cybersecurity and help secure small businesses and channel providers from evolving threats. You can reach Rob at [email protected]

Andrew Rinaldi is the Co-Founder of Defendify. He has over 20 years of experience in business, marketing, digital, and strategic leadership. At Defendify, his passion for entrepreneurship has fueled a mission to protect Small Business from evolving cybersecurity threats. Andrew has long been a champion for business health, transparency, and efficiency, having implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)—at Defendify and in previous businesses—successfully driving brand, culture, vision, traction, and growth.

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Business in Maine, Maine Entrepreneurstech

Lou Simms of Maine Technology Institute

March 16, 202003/16/20

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Taking some downtime away from the office during the coronavirus outbreak and thinking about your next startup? Well you came to the right place. Learn how to apply to MTI from Lou Simms, who serves as a Senior Investment Officer at Maine Technology Institute. Lou joined MTI in 2015 and truly relishes the opportunities to work with Maine’s aspiring entrepreneurs – dedicated to supporting the growth of Maine’s innovation economy on a daily basis.

Lou joined MTI after finishing his Master’s work at the University of New Hampshire’s Sustainability Institute and Organic Dairy Research Farm – and Lou has prior experience running small businesses in Portland, ranging from rocking bowling alleys to financial literacy counseling.

Originally from Kentucky, Lou is inspired by the natural beauty and unique sense of community here in Southern Maine – and he can think of no better place for he & his wife to raise their young son!

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Business in Maine, Business Startup, Maine Business Talk, Maine EntrepreneursMaine Technology Institute

Adam Lee of Lee Auto Malls

February 17, 202002/17/20

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Adam Lee has been with Lee Auto Mall for 32 years, serving as President and assuming the position of Chairman of the Board in June 2010 upon the passing of his father, Shep Lee. He currently serves on the Muskie Board of Visitors, the MPBN Board, and the Maine Conservation Voters Board.
Lee served as the Chairman of the Efficiency Maine Trust and Chair of the Maine Audubon Corporate Partners. He is the past chairman of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and a past member of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Historical Society, Maine Energy Council, Governor’s Advisory Council, Center for Cultural Exchange and the OSHER Map Library.
Over the last 20 years, Lee has worked hard in conjunction with various environmental groups to raise fuel economy standards across the nation. He’s proud of the successful accomplishment that will raise the national standards to 54.5 MPG’s by 2025.
Lee is a graduate of Vassar College and the recipient of environmental awards from the Natural Resources Council of Maine and the Maine League of Conservation Voters.
Adam Lee lives in Cumberland with his wife and 22year old twins, 2 horses, 2 cats, 2dogs, and anywhere from 6 to 8 chickens depending upon the fox.

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Maine Business Talk, Maine Entrepreneurs

Brian McLaughlin of Amplify Additive

February 10, 202002/10/20

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Brian R. McLaughlin is the President & CEO, and Founder, of Amplify Additive, a Additive Manufacturing service provider with a focus on Orthopedic Implant manufacturing. At his uniquely outfitted facility in Scarborough, ME, they 3D print Titanium using advanced equipment from GE Additive. The equipment is highly specialized and operates under vacuum at elevated temperatures to provide material properties that exceed industry standards at the highest quality. “By 3D printing Titanium with this Electron Beam Melting technology, we are able to produce implants that not only have never been able to be designed and manufactured before, but provide a better quality of care for patients.” Brian graduated from the University of Vermont in 1998 with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. He is passionate about Orthopedics and is fortunate to have found this career path where he is now helping lead the use of next generation technology for the design and manufacturing of life enabling technologies.

Brian resides in Yarmouth, ME with his wife Karen and 2 boys, Baden and Adam. Brian and family recently relocated back to Maine in 2017 after being in Connecticut for 9 years. Prior to that they lived in Portland where Karen and Brian met and started their family. “We are so happy to be back in Maine, we missed it when we lived in CT and visited as often as we could.” Brian is very active, with a passion for both skiing and soccer. As for soccer, he still loves to play weekly, and has volunteered as a coach over the past 10-12 years.

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Business Startup, Maine Entrepreneurs

Rachel Knight of Destination Occupation

January 27, 202001/27/20

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You won’t want to miss this story. Rachel Knight was hours from closing her three-year-old business. She set up a meeting with her biggest client to break the bad news – she was going to have to close Destination Occupation.

But the client had news for her – that wasn’t going to happen.

Three years later, not only is Destination Occupation, which helps employers grow their workforce by introducing them to potential employees they’d never meet otherwise, still in business – the company is growing and thriving.

Founder & CEO Rachel Knight is a Maine native. She graduated from Bangor High School in 1982, and has an undergraduate degree from UMaine Orono in International Studies. In her late 20s she started horseback riding and volunteering with a therapeutic horseback riding program for people with disabilities. From that experience, she set a career course on special education and got a master’s degree in Exceptionality (Special Education).

In 1996, Rachel received her master’s from the University of Southern Maine and taught content area subjects (History and English) to students with disabilities and logged many hours helping students explore options for post-secondary opportunities, a.k.a Transition Planning. It is from this experience that the idea of Destination Occupation was born. There are so many more opportunities and options for students than could ever be covered from high school field trips. So the idea of creating a library of videos for students “visit” a variety of businesses and educational programs from their high school felt like a deal changer, a “no brainer,” especially in a state as geographically challenged as Maine.

But the pivot, to find the pain point and figure out who the customer really was (hint: it’s not the school or the students) took years to determine.

Brought to you by the Maine Technology Institute.

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Business in Maine, Business Startup, Maine Entrepreneurs, Maine Women Entrepeneurs

Topher Mallory

December 30, 201912/30/19

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Topher Mallory has three roles: CEO of the iconic Maine retailer Mexicali Blues, co-founder of Split Rock, Maine’s first Organic Distillery, and owner of Royal Rose Simple Syrups, organic drink mixers. These businesses together represent more than 100 employees and many millions in sales revenue. Starting from a summer job selling skateboards, Topher has built this remarkable “only-in-Maine” career. Learn how, and why, in this compelling interview!

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Business in Maine, Maine Business Talk, Maine Entrepreneurs

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