MONTHLY CHANCE MEETINGS
Monday, April 3rd, 5 - 7 pm @ The Virginian Saloon ~ 750 West Broadway
Please register below
Sometimes all you need is the right connection and a little inspiration. Well, what are you waiting for? Find both at our free monthly networking event. You never know...
Theme—The Athlete Entrepreneur: Lessons from the Mountains
Grit, focus, determination, coachability...all of these qualities make for a superior athlete AND a successful entrepreneur. Our unique combination of mountain access, western spirit, and support for entrepreneurs has drawn and cultivated a notable crop of of athlete entrepreneurs in the Teton region. Join us on Monday, April 3rd from 5-7 pm at the Virginian Saloon for a conversation about how to apply lessons from our athletic lives to our professional lives. Panelists include former professional athletes turned entrepreneurs Mikey Franco, Founder of Franco Snowshapes, Keely Kelleher, Founder of Keely's Camp, and Sam Schwartz, Founder of Avant Delivery.
Learn a little more about our panelists...
Mikey Franco started teaching snowboarding in 1987 at Tussey Mountain, a small hill in PA. From there he began his path with the American Association of Snowboard Instructors. With a certification as a professional instructor, he was offered a job with
the Jackson Hole Snowboard School in 1990. Franco moved up the ranks, being one of the few instructors that was certified. In 1995, he took over the
job of running the school, managing a staff of 60 instructors, growing the school to become the premier snowboard school in the west. During
this time, he was on the AASI national team, a backcountry guide at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and guided in Alaska for Alaska Rendezvous Heli guides.
After a season-ending injury in 2010, Franco's snowboard shaping pursuit
began at the Igneous Ski Factory. In June of 2020, he built his own
workshop in Victor, Idaho—The Franco Snowshapes Factory. With the new space, Franco and team continue to make the most innovative, exclusive and stunning custom snowboards in the world. And with the new factory, there are have unlimited possibilities, including OEM manufacturing for smaller, independent brands and maybe even skis some day!
As a Big Sky, MT native, Keely Kelleher, found her passion for the outdoors and skiing early. She started ski racing at five years old and pursued it for 20 years, eight of which were on the U.S. Ski Team. Kelleher raced competitively on the World Cup speed circuit and won the 2010 National Super G title. After racing ended she returned to her roots of skiing big mountain terrain leading to a two-time win of the Red Bull Rahlves Banzai Big Mountain Skier Cross tour, was a featured athlete in two Warren Miller Films, and Sweetgrass productions, and is a professional skier today.
Post retirement from the U.S. Ski Team Keely earned her B.A. in Business Management at Westminster College in Utah and won the Opportunity Quest Business Plan competition to kick off Keely's Camp. In 2011, Kelleher founded the first ski racing camp for girls in North America, Keely’s Camp for Girls, based around the mission to empower, inspire, educate, and connect the next generation of girls in outdoor sports through female mentors, guides, and coaches. The camp has grown eleven times its initial size, has coached thousands of girls in skiing, mountaineering, whitewater kayaking, and mountain biking. Keely's Camp has been in operation for 12 years.
Outside of skiing you can find Keely enjoying the outdoors with her friends, her dog Olle, and family. She loves whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, kite surfing and climbing mountains!
Sam Schwartz is an entrepreneur and athlete. After 10 years as a professional big mountain skier he transitioned into entrepreneurship through his start up Avant Delivery, a tech enabled reusable packaging company. With a technical background in accounting Schwartz also works as an Investment Banking Associate at Yellowstone Capital Advisors.
Schwartz is dedicated to solving important societal problems and giving back to the community. He believes in using private business to drive lasting societal change and gives his personal time to help mentor underserved high school students in the mountains. In his spare time he dives deep into 100 mile ultra races, ski mountaineering, bow hunting, and cooking.
NEWS AND NOTES
MENTORING PROGRAM FLOURISHES
Silicon Couloir's TEAMS (Teton Entrepreneurs And Mentor Services) Program currently serves 19 Ventures, 52 mentors, and 8 Mentor Specialists, and averages around 60 hours of cumulative volunteered time per month via mentor meetings. 6 Ventures in the program are based in Teton Valley, Idaho.
We've welcomed 4 new ventures since January: Keely's Camp, Voices Jackson Hole, Teatonic Kombucha, and Mazzy Health. TEAMS continues to experience a high demand from local businesses with 7+ applicants in the pipeline. TEAMS has launched a nonprofit pilot program and encourages nonprofits based in the Teton Region who are seeking mentorship to apply.
TEAMS is also seeking experienced mentors to join our program. If you are interested, please click our "Mentor Application" on the TEAMS website to review requirements and to submit your application.
WELCOME TO NEW TRUSTEES
A warm welcome to two new Silicon Couloir Trustees. Thank you to Brian Garrett and Stephen Fronk for your generous commitment to supporting entrepreneurship in the Teton region.
Brian Garrett is originally from Michigan and has lived in San Francisco for more than 20 years. After studying business and earning his commercial/instrument pilot’s license, Brian worked with tenants at San Francisco International Airport. Brian also worked in architectural CAD software sales prior to real estate sales and is enthusiastic about architecture and design.
Brian is a founding partner at Side, Inc. And real estate brokerage which is venture backed with over $24B in sales in 17 States in 2022
Brian works tirelessly for his clients by being in constant communication with them and by ensuring that they are very well informed from the initial meeting through to close of escrow. In addition, Brian is committed to his clients’ needs and listens very carefully to ensure that he is able to achieve their desired goals. Brian’s repeat business is a testament to these traits and the earnestness he brings to his dealings with his clients.
Stephen Fronk focuses his practice on technology and intellectual property transactions. In particular, he has deep experience advising clients on digital media-related transactions and for many years has negotiated digital entertainment content distribution deals with leaders in the movie, television, music, publishing and consumer electronics industries. Representative clients include Amazon.com, Churchill Downs, eBay, Hulu, Microsoft, PayPal, Splunk, Salesforce.com, Shape Security, Twitch, Vital Proteins, and Vessel.
Stephen advises emerging and public companies, venture funds, entrepreneurs and individuals on a wide range of intellectual property-related issues, including copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret licensing, protection and enforcement, software and hardware development and distribution, and the establishment and operation of Internet-based businesses and services. He also routinely counsels clients on the intellectual property-related aspects of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs and strategic investments.
BEYOND EFFICIENCY IS HIRING
SC TEAMS company Beyond Efficiency is hiring a product manager to successfully launch BuildingGenius. BuildingGenius is a B2B SaaS platform that layers a community network over a knowledge base for building industry professionals.
Congratulations to the Beyond Efficiency team for making BuildingGenius a reality!
For full details, please visit the Silicon Couloir Career Board.
SILICON COULOIR TEAM ROCKED THE RIDE!
Congratulations to The Silicon Couloir Rock the Ride Team for raising over $2K for local stroke and cardiac patients through St. John's Health Foundation! Thank you to Liza Millet, LizAnn Eisen, Siri Cosper, Caitlin Iseler, and Carli Sapir for caring for others through community, camaraderie and connection!
ROCKY MOUNTAIN VENTURES CONFERENCE FEATURES SC ENTREPRENEURS
Three companies from the SC ecosystem —ILLA, happyly, and Highpoint Cider— have been selected to present at the Rocky Mountain Ventures Conference. The conference will be held on Thursday, April 6th at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Silicon Couloir is a proud sponsor of the conference. Details and registration HERE.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SILICON COULOIR
HAVE NEWS TO SHARE?
As always, please feel free to send news of your company's press, events, successes, and milestones to Gary@siliconcouloir.com and we'll do our best to feature them in our newsletters!
ARE YOU A COMMUNITY CARETAKER?
Silicon Couloir strengthens our Teton regional community by empowering the entrepreneurial ecosystem. More than just business development, we believe in enriching our community character and enhancing our mountain town culture. Help us support business pioneers in the Tetons by becoming a community caretaker!
To offer your time or talent, please email us at Gary@siliconcouloir.com.