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Here are the Investor speakers from our Sold-Out Phoenix Angel and Venture Conference, sponsored by The Chandler Innovation Center, SocialRadius, The Soho Loft. This event was in AZ on Thursday, December 6, 2012.

Rick Gibson Angel Investor Hot Ventures Read the full profile for Rick here!

Rick Gibson has had a 38-year career building businesses. He founded and co-founded several successful technology companies and has advised over (75) others. He is 60-years old. Since 2000, Rick has served as Managing Director of HOTventures, a "mentor capital fund" for the Southwest U.S., which invests in and advises fast-growth companies, in a range of domains as diverse as Ballistic Armor to Agriculture, including Information Technology, Health Sciences, GreenTech and Media. As an investor and entrepreneurial activist, he’s totally immersed in early-stage growth companies...finding them and making them great. Rick’s been involved with several companies that have had liquidity events. Rick has also served as an expert witness regarding technology business cases.

Rick has been an investor, advisor or board member in: Avisere, Beamz, The Book Patch, Bourque Industries, CopperKey, DarkPulse, DueBook, EquiSight, Flypaper, Funding Universe (now Lendio), LabTrack, LifeBot, Medipacs, MedSphere, MDS VetInfo, Mobile Authentication Corp (MAC), MojoVideo, MSDx, NuvoMed, Octopi, Real Time Companies, Sokikom, StrongWatch, World Wide Wheat and Zero Waste Wines. He has been a limited partner in Solstice Capital II (one of the largest venture capital funds in Arizona) and is an early shareholder in Bill Gross’ Idealab and a partner in Elite Desert Ventures. In Tucson, for many years Rick served on the Executive Board and still the Screening Committee of the Desert Angels, and is on the board and is Mentor-Emeritus for UA’s Arizona Center for Innovation (AZCI). For several years, was Adjunct Instructor and then Practitioner Faculty for UA’s Eller School Entrepreneurship Program, and also served on UA’s MBA Advisory Council.

In Phoenix, Rick was on the board of Arizona State University's Technopolis and was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, an instructor for both the LaunchPad and LaunchPrep entrepreneurship programs, and a mentor for ASU TechBA, coaching companies from Mexico. He is on the Executive Committee, Selection Panel and chair of the Angel Investor committee for the Invest Southwest Capital Conference. He is an advisor to an ASU team in NSF’s I-CORPS program and The Green Chamber: Greater Phoenix. He was creator of "Entrepreneur's Resource Guide" for bizAZ magazine and a member of the Philanthropic Development Council of the Banner Alzheimer's Foundation. Rick participates as a director/mentor for the Tallwave ‘Labs’ accelerator program and continues as a judge for the AZ Commerce Dept’s ‘Arizona Innovation Challenge’.

In Flagstaff, Rick is on the Executive Board and is Treasurer of the NACET incubator (Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies) and is also a mentor.

Elsewhere, Rick has been a judge for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, and on the Angel Capital Association’s National Collaboration Committee. He was a guest instructor for the Power of Angel Investing seminar for Angel Capital Association Summit. He is a judge for the Arizona Innovation Challenge. Rick often pinch-hits as the Mentor for the FundingPost workshops.

Rick was an early shareholder in Bill Gross' Idealab and founded one of its first companies, E-Ticket Inc, which merged with the Nederlander Organization's RealTime Syndication Network to become FeatureCast Inc. Rick served as Vice-Chairman. FeatureCast secured the online license for and executive-produced: Fox's America's Most Wanted, Teen Magazine and National Enquirer. Rick participated in strategic planning with the ten original Idealab CEOs. Idealab is known for its creation and investment of several well-known technology companies including: Overture (acquired by Yahoo), United Online (was NetZero and Juno), Aptera, Internet Brands, CitySearch, Energy Innovations, eSolar, Desktop Factory, Picasa, Tickets.com, eToys and Evolution Robotics. [See http://idealab.com]. 1998-2000, Rick was an advisor to the board of directors of Petersen Publishing, producers of 100+ magazines including Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Teen.

Rick co-founded GNP Development Corp and in 1986 they sold it to Lotus Development Corp for $10 million. In 1991, they co-founded Knowledge Adventure Inc, which in 1996 they sold to Cendant for $100 million. Knowledge Adventure became the world's largest children's CD-ROM edutainment software company (almost $400 million in annual revenues), owned by Vivendi-Universal, known for its 'JumpStart' (20 million units sold) and ‘Blaster’ series. 1986 through 1991, Rick consulted to several software companies including Ashton-Tate, Que Software/Macmillan and SPSS Inc, and arranged sales of technology to Symantec, Microlytics and Paramount Publishing. Rick directed a division of Ashton-Tate and was Chairman of 4-5-6 WORLD, a direct marketer of Lotus products. Earlier, Rick directed national sales and or marketing and helped start or re-start: Fisher Corp, KLH, Ultralinear and Androbot Inc (the personal robot start-up by Nolan Bushnell, who founded Atari and Chuck E Cheese). Rick began his career as one of the first store managers for The GAP Inc, which now has about 3,200 stores worldwide including Old Navy and Banana Republic.

Dan Roberts, Tallwave

Michael Wolf General Partner Lobodos Ventures Read the full profile for Michael here!

Mr. Wolf is a 26 year software veteran with EDS, Capex, Computer Associates, VIASOFT, and Vitrix. As a co-founder of VIASOFT, he helped drive the company from initial startup, to one of Arizona’s most successful software IPO’s. As General Partner of Lobodos Ventures, he has invested in numerous local startups, while mentoring and advising hundreds of young entrepreneurs. He has been a founding Board member for such organizations as the Arizona Software Association, Arizona Technology Council, Arizona Angels, Arizona Interactive Marketing Association (AZIMA), and the MIT Enterprise Forum. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Quantitative Systems from Arizona State University, where he supports their Venture Catalyst Program and is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the W.P. Carey School of Business, Department of Information Systems.

Curtis Gunn Chairman Desert Angels Read the full profile for Curtis here!

Curtis Gunn is Chairman of the Desert Angels, an angel investment group of over 80 accredited investors in Tucson, Az that review presentations from early stage startup companies looking for potential funding. Prior to this role, Curtis traveled the world competing as a professional cyclist riding for both US and Australian-based Professional Cycling teams. Previous to his life as a professional athlete, he was an entrepreneur founding and operating companies based in retail, Internet, healthcare and real estate. As an angel investor, Curtis has invested in over 30 different companies across a broad base of industries, technologies, and geographies.

John Waters, Angel Investor

Patrick Armstrong Analyst Canal Partners Read the full profile for Patrick here!

Patrick Armstrong is an Analyst for Canal Partners. In this role Mr. Armstrong is responsible for evaluating potential investments, performing industry and financial analysis, due diligence, and providing additional support for internal operations and portfolio companies.

In addition to his role with Canal Partners, Mr. Armstrong is Vice President and Co-Founder of JDA Investments (US), Inc., which was formed in 2008 to manage his family’s partnership. Prior to his role at JDA Investments, Mr. Armstrong founded and operated Armstrong IT Services, in 2005. Armstrong IT Services acted as an Information Technology consultant for several small and medium-sized companies with focuses on health-care, digital media, accounting, education, and IT Services. Prior to that, Mr. Armstrong was a Support Specialist at Sungard Availability Systems. He began his career in the Information Technology Services department at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Mr. Armstrong works with both of his family’s foundations – the Armstrong Family Foundation and the Kiita Foundation - is a member of the Arizona Technology Investors Forum, and is a member of Social Venture Partners of Arizona, serving as Chair of the Fast Pitch Steering Committee and as the Vice-Chair of Finance on the Board of Directors. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors for SEEDspot, an incubator for innovative social enterprises in downtown Phoenix and, along with his wife, Amy Armstrong, founded and serves on the Board of Directors for Next Generation Philanthropists, a 501(c)3 organization that provides programs and experiences that promote lifelong engagement and philanthropy.

Mr. Armstrong earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Additionally, he received a certificate from the Venture Capital Executive Program at the University of California at Berkeley and is a Microsoft Certified Professional. He has 2 children and resides in Phoenix, AZ.

Peter Allison Founder and Managing Director Biogenesis Investment Group Read the full profile for Peter here!

Mr. Allison is the Chairman, C.E.O and Founded IDM Technologies, LLC and IDM LabTrack™ Inc. and IDM AgriTrack™. In 1998, he founded and continues to serve as managing director of Biogenesis Investment Group, LLC, a venture healthcare investment company in biotechnology and medical devices.

Mr. Allison has over 30 years of experience in business management, venture capital and debt equity placement. His background covers a broad spectrum including real estate investment with over 1 million square feet of commercial units, shopping centers, warehouses, apartment buildings and office buildings. He is also active in oil and gas technology and production with Petexas, founded in 1993.

A frequent college speaker and lecturer, Mr. Allison has served on multiple boards including the University of Washington School of Public Health within the UW School of Medicine, Gonzaga University and currently the Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio).

He is a graduate of the University of Washington (B.A in Economics) and Seattle University (Juris Doctor).

Mary Jutetten, Traklight

Anthony Edwards, CF Offerings7