Ryan Ferrero, CEO and Executive Chairman
Ryan has worn the hat of Founder of successful companies for over 20 years, as well as helping early stage entrepreneurs navigate the business landscape. He is the Entrepreneur in Residence at iconic ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, winning class by Office of Economic Development for 2013 Colorado Entrepreneurs, Founder of the Beertooth Tasting Society. His board seats include the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado; BoulderPreneurs; Hero Brands; Outer Spice; and Mame’s Burritos. He is a past director for Verus Bank of Commerce, United Way, Rotary and Chrysler/Jeep Marketing. He has a B.A. in Psycho-Social-Economic Behavior from the University of Colorado. He is a proud Dad of three with a wonderful wife that has supported his love for the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Loves to get out to ski, snowboard, golf, run and occasionally watch the waves roll in.
Tate Behning, Founding Partner and VP of Ops
Tate is an entrepreneur, event producer, business strategist and new, proud father. Prior to joining Ignyte, he was the President of the Van Heyst Group where he was developing global thought-leadership platforms and events for clients such as Cisco Systems, Humana, HP, TIME Magazine, the Department of Defense and Forbes. He is a founding partner of BeerTooth, co-founder of Startup Phenomenon and Principal at Volo Advisors. Tate and his wife – a professional Latin dancer and actress – also started a live Latin dance entertainment company, producing numerous sold-out shows. Tate earned his MBA at the University of Colorado and – in true Boulder fashion – spent 4 years competing internationally as a professional triathlete. He continues to frequently be found in and around the trails of Boulder County on two wheels or in running shoes.
Doyle Albee, President of Metzger Albee Public Relations; Ignyte Communications
From Coors to Metzger Albee, Doyle has worked with leading companies and clients to build a strong track record of success in public relations, marketing communications and digital marketing with experience in a number of industries, including consumer packaged goods, cable and telecommunications, healthcare and technology. He spent 10 years with Coors Brewing Company (now MillerCoors) in both public relations and marketing positions and has worked for Sterling-Rice Group, hard disk drive manufacturer Maxtor and founded and managed his own public relations firm, which he merged with Metzger Associates in 2005. In 2003, he was named to the Denver Business Journal’s prestigious “Forty Under 40” list and has won a handful of PR and marketing awards. He also is typically found on either a mountain or road bike, watching football or hockey or spending time with his two college-aged kids. He earned a degree in Mass Communications with a minor in German from the University of Denver.
Connor Ventura, Intern Extraordinaire and Student President; BoulderPreneurs
Connor is Ignyte’s real go-getter. A senior at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business, Connor develops and executes on lean marketing strategies, dives deep into research and ninja-kicks various portfolio company’s social media. He also focuses on the craft beer scene and takes lead on many BeerTooth initiatives. Prior to joining Ignyte, Connor helped launch a large music festival in New Jersey that now has 10,000+ attendees. Connor spends his free time in the backcountry snowboarding and fly fishing as well as brewing up unique craft beers.
Henry Wright, Agile and MVP Advisor; Mentorship Chair, BoulderPreneurs
Henry has been expanding companies and propelling startups to growth for 12 years. He is a Sage Advisor with Rocky Mountain Innosphere, a Mentor with Fort Collins Startup Week, a IoT Moderator at the Inaugural Longmont Startup Week and a Founding Member for the Colorado Capital Consortium. He sits on the Advisory Board for Startup Colorado and KidsTek.org which brings Technology Education, Literacy and Life Skills programs to K-12 students in Colorado’s highest-need schools. He is a past Strategic Advisor in Product Strategy for IoT/Digital Solutions at GE Global Research, Executive Team Member Vocollect Inc., and Director for Boulder based SpectraLink Inc. He holds an Executive MBA from the University of Colorado and a BA in Sociology from Union College. Henry resides in Niwot, Colorado with his lovely wife and teenage son. He loves to ski, bike and explore.
Andrew Keller, Ignyte Brand Strategy & Advisor
As the Global Marketing Director for Facebook, Andrew explores new ways for brands and agencies to leverage Facebook and mobile ad formats. Joining iconic ad agency CP+B in 1998, he has played a lead role in the US launch of the MINI, the turnaround of Burger King, and the Domino’s brand rally. During his time as creative director and chief creative officer, Andrew’s contributions to the creative vision of the agency have played a major role in CP+B being named Agency of the Year fifteen times in the trade press, Interactive Agency of the Year three times at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, and Agency of the Decade by Advertising Age. In October 2010, Andrew was promoted to Chief Executive Officer.
Peter Burns, Ignyte Advisory Board Chairman
Peter Burns accepted the role of President/CEO at Justin’s – Boulder Colorado’s much celebrated nut butter company – in January of 2014. Prior to arriving at Justin’s Burns held the position of President at Celestial Seasonings for more than 5 years. In May of 2011 he accepted the additional position and responsibilities as Chief Sales Officer – Hain Celestial USA. As Celestial’s President Burns typically performed the duties held by a CEO, and as CSO he focused on sales growth and volume forecasting for the most prestigious of the Hain Celestial Brands in the most dominant retailers across the USA. Before joining Celestial Seasonings, Burns was the Senior Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Jones Soda Co. and the Vice President of Sales at IZZE Beverage Company. At IZZE, Burns developed a long-term strategic plan and achieved $20 million in sales in less than two years. He also held senior executive positions at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation and The Hershey Company.
Bradford W. Fayfield
Bradford Fayfield is the founder and owner of Colorado-based Storm Mountain Media, publishers of the FREESKIER and SNOWBOARD magazine brands, and parent company of Storm Studio, an agency and production division that provides solutions to clients like Coors, Under Armour, Red Bull, Vail Resorts and K2. A serial entrepreneur, Fayfield founded Storm Mountain Media in 1997 from a ski-town condo. Today, the company has become one of the largest snow-media businesses in the world, reaching more than two million snow-sports enthusiasts every month through its magazines, websites, social-media channels and events. He proudly serves on the boards of MPA – the Association of Magazine Media, Banner Engineering Corporation, PopSockets, Storm Mountain Media and Ignyte Lab. Fayfield holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a master’s degree from Northwestern University. He is a former member of the US Ski Team.
Erik Rebich
Erik Rebich is a corporate attorney, early stage investor and entrepreneur based in Niwot, Colorado. He currently is the CEO and Owner of Hanalei Equity, LLC. Erik spent 5 years as Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of Crocs Inc., helping develop them from a fledgling startup to a major player in the footwear industry. During his time at Crocs Erik oversaw a variety of management areas including all legal, IP and corporate development. He also was an integral member of the management team that increased revenue from $1M to over $850M during that time and took the company public in 2006. Prior to Crocs, Erik served as Corporate Counsel for several technology companies including Flextronics, Multilayer Technology, Inc.(Multek) and The Dii Group. Erik – a Boulder, Colorado native – enjoys playing a variety of sports in his free time, including skiing, golf and beach volleyball. He attended undergraduate at Arizona State University and the University of Colorado, ultimately earning his JD from the University of San Diego.
Terrance W. Hefty
Terry grew up near Madison, Wisconsin and earned a BBA and MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He moved to Steamboat Springs in 1972 where he pursued numerous business activities that included active investments, rentals, retail store ownership, building construction, minor developments, event origination and management [Steamboat Vintage Auto Races], consulting and financial management. Having some involvement in angel investing and financial management on the east slope, the family moved to the Boulder area in 1986. Terry expanded his financial interests to portfolio management and founded Peak Asset Management, LLC in 1994. Peak has now grown to 5 partners and nearly $400mm under management. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Colorado. He is also a founder and Treasurer of the Colorado Grand, a world recognized, charitable [$4.5mm raised over 26 years] Tour for exceptional pre-1960 sports and racing cars. Additional hobbies are travel and 3 grandkids.
Trapp Lewis
Trapp Lewis is managing director of Palmetto Ventures, an independent boutique private equity firm specialising in early-stage investments and acceleration for Internet and Digital Media businesses. Trapp has over 15 years of international operational experience as a senior executive at industry leading firms including Yahoo! and Alibaba Group. Trapp holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising management & marketing from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in business management from the University of Montana. He has worked and lived in the United States, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, China and Thailand.
John Maggio
John has been leading and advising Natural Products companies for 25 years. Early in his entrepreneurial days, he founded Boulder Chips (NASDAQ:SNAK) alongside his brother and later sold it to Inventure Foods. He currently advises and consults for companies such as Justin’s, Jackson’s Honest, THANASI Foods, AccelFoods, New Frontier Foods, Good Day Chocolate and Mame’s. John lives in Boulder with his wife and four children.