Advisors in Residence

Our Advisors in Residence offer expert advice to Launch Blue cohort startups.

Advisors In Residence are subject matter experts assisting in coaching and advising startup founders in key areas related to the growth and development of their business. Our advisors are passionate about startups, lending their time and experience in support of the entrepreneurs in our program.

Adam Taylor Brown Marrow

Adam Taylor Brown the brand strategy and design consultant behind Marrow. He's won a couple dozen ADDY™ Awards including Best of Show, Best Design, Best Copywriting, Judge's Choice, Audience Choice, and Public Service Excellence. In addition to his consultancy practice, Adam works with Section4 as a teaching assistant and Thought Partner. He’s taught under Scott Galloway (NYU), Julie Channing (AllBirds), April Dunford (positioning expert), and Jonah Berger (Wharton). He serves on the Lexington American Advertising Federation board; judges the American Advertising Awards; mentors startup founders as an Advisor-in-Residence with Launch Blue; sits on the BCTC Graphic Design Program board; and is a founder of the No™ designer collective. A frequent guest speaker, Adam has cultivated a reputation as a provocative and influential voice among design, brand, and business leaders.

 Brand Strategy | Design | Market Research | Advertising

Bob Farinelli
Smart Farm Systems Inc.

Bob Farinelli is an entrepreneur and inventor who holds 23 patents in the field of automation, signal distribution and control systems. Bob was President and Co-Founder of Elan Home Systems, and worked there for over 20 years to create a world leader in smart home solutions. With a successful exit Bob pivoted that experience to start Smart Farm Systems Inc. Smart Farm provides precision irrigation automation and control solutions for large scale flood and furrow irrigated farms. Previously Bob worked on the first video game consoles and first satellite receiver systems sold to consumers. Bob holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY and a Master of Science in High Technology Management from National University in San Diego, CA.

R&D | Consumer Product Development | Engineering Processes | IP |  Business Development

David Hasler is the CEO of Jester FEC, a company that develops and operates indoor theme parks. He is also the Founder and President of Breakthrough Solutions Consulting, LLC, a successful consulting firm focused on helping growing businesses tell their economic story, as well as providing C-suite level support in both finance and strategy. David regularly coaches teams through pitch competitions like 5 Across.

David has held finance and strategy leadership roles in prominent companies such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and Limited Brands. David has also been on various for-profit and not-for-profit boards during his career. David's unique blend of "get it done" finance accomplishments and C-suite level exposure/work experience can help clients see problems from a new perspective and potentially find solutions they may not have previously considered.

Finance  | Retail | Consumer Products | Pitch Coaching

Christopher Etesse Fusion Cyber Inc.

Christopher Etesse is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Fusion Cyber Inc., a cybersecurity and education services company dedicated to training a diverse group of professionals to excel in a multitude of available positions in the United States. He is also a Founding Team Member of Blackboard Inc., a learning management platform. During his time there, he helped to grow international services tenfold and facilitated an investment with Microsoft which garnered a 25x return.

He worked as the Chief Product Officer at Presidium. During his time there, he expanded the technology infrastructure by more than tenfold, tripled their revenue, and grew their K12 partnership enrollees by more than fivefold. He then became the CEO of FlatWorld Inc. where he completed a 3-year restructuring, relocated the company, and increased the revenue sevenfold. Christopher holds both a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s Degree in American History from the University of Kentucky. 

SaaS | Learning Management Systems | Cloud Technologies

Chris Houghtaling RaiseLink

Chris Houghtaling, CEO and co-founder of RaiseLink, is a startup mentor for The Venture Mentoring Team, FAU’s Adam’s Center of Innovation Veterans Program, and is a member of the Alan B. Levan Center of Innovation at NSU’s Programming and Selection Committee.  He was active in the European startup ecosystem living in Vienna, Austria, and started VisioneersPartners, an international sales strategy consulting and coaching firm to Global Fortune 200 clients. He was involved in the European Council and World Bank’s Pioneers of the Balkans, worked with scores of international accelerators/incubators and event organizers, CMO of DealMatrix, venture capital including expanding the European Super Angels Club across Europe, corporate innovation teams, consulted with Innovation consulting companies, and was on several advisory boards. Chris returned to the USA in 2018, lives in Florida with his wife and three daughters.

Chris started in the corporate world (pharmaceuticals, technology, and travel & tourism), is a recognized sales and strategy leader, team turnaround specialists, and builder teams and organizations. He holds a joint MBA in International Business from the University of South Carolina and the Executive Academy at the Business and Economics University of Vienna, Austria, a BA in Marketing from the University of Kentucky, and served in the Kentucky Army National Guard.

Pitching | Sales | Leadership | Strategy | International

Sam Razor

 Hippo Manager

Sam Razor is a software entrepreneur who is passionate about building products for the best customer experience and using data for the greater good. He is the founder of BlueCat Game Studio, a video game development company headquartered in Lexington, KY that is focusing on using AI to create immersive experiences for users.  Sam is the former CEO and co-founder of Hippo Manager Software, a cloud-based veterinary practice management software system headquartered in Lexington, KY.  Hippo Manager is a practice management software system that manages the medical records of more than five million pets and processes transactions of more than $500 million annually, serving thousands of veterinarians in twenty-two countries.  Hippo Manager was part of a strategic acquisition in 2021.  

 

Sam is a proud alumni of both the University of Kentucky, where he received a Bachelor of Political Science, and Eastern Kentucky University, where he received a Master of Public Administration.  He and his lovely wife, Sarah, live in Lexington with their two daughters and their slightly overweight rescue dog, George.

Manager | Software | Leadership | Experience | Science