7 Questions with leaders of small and medium enterprises

Name: Michael Dutcher

Current title: CEO/co-founder

Current organisation: bspoketv

Prior to bspoketv, Mr. Dutcher was the Executive VP in charge of content acquisitions. Under his leadership WhereverTV negotiated distribution agreements with NBC/Universal, Scripps, A&E, and many more.
Prior to WhereverTV, Mr. Dutcher was founder/managing partner of Strategic Revolution a leading full-service digital marketing consultancy focused on leveraging social platforms to further client’s overall sales and marketing initiatives. Strategic Revolutions clients range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.
Mr. Dutcher was the COO/GM of Dim Mak while at Dim Mak Mr. Dutcher was responsible for forming a joint venture with Downtown Music/Universal Music, creating Dim Mak Music Publishing, Dim Mak Collection, Dim Mak Concert Promotions, Dim Mak Branding and Dim Mak Radio underwritten by Microsoft. While at Dim Mak Mr. Dutcher assisted major brands such as Diesel, BMP/Over America, 55DSL, KREW, Plantronics, Zune, ScanDisk, Microsoft and others on how to market successfully into the 18-34 year old demographic. Dim Mak Records is recognized as the worldwide leader in dance music with artists such as MSTRKRFT, Armand Van Helden, The Bloody Beetroots, Steve Aoki, Motor, Bloc Party, The Kills and more. Under Mr. Dutcher’s tenure Dim Mak grew from an independent record label into a fully integrated media/branding company.
Mr. Dutcher was a co-founder of MeTV Networks, Inc., an Over The Top (OTT) IPTV network, he worked with all of the major film companies, cable networks, and television networks. During his tenure Mr. Dutcher was involved with the creation of the IP distribution window for full length feature films that had a wide theatrical release and home television agreements. Further Mr. Dutcher created a methodology that allowed MeTV to be first to market with standard television channels such as E!, style, Ovation and the like to be delivered over OTT; exactly like cable or satellite providers. He has substantial experience in the acquisition and implementation of content into established and new entertainment distribution systems.

Name: Andrew Murphy

Current title: Founder and Director of Hydrogen and Energy Transition

Current organisation: RHC IMZADI Consulting

Andrew Murphy began his career in Clean Energy and Innovation at Shell where he acted as Platform Leader: Advanced Biofuel Options; Innovation Network Leader and Snr Hydrogen Technology Engineer.
After leaving Shell, Andrew joined Watts Water Technologies as Innovation Leader where he reorganised European Product Development, bringing a renewed focus to smart and connected devices.
Recognising a severe knowledge gap across industry in the domains of Hydrogen and Clean Energy, Andrew established RHC IMZADI - The Low Carbon Energy Consultancy.
Andrew currently acts as Board Advisor to companies in the Hydrogen and Clean Mobility sectors. He sits on the Advisory Board to a Green Hydrogen mega project; is fund advisor to a VC group investing in Hydrogen and the Energy Transition and is presently involved in establishing a national Hydrogen Association in the Asia Pacific region.

Name: Mona Purdy

Current title: Founder/Executive Director

Current organisation: Share Your Soles Foundation

While on a trip to Guatemala I signed up to run in a local running race in a remote area of the country. When I arrived at the start I realized I was the only woman, the only tall person, and the only runner wearing shoes. One of the six local youth was wearing mountain climbing boots. The others were shoeless. Running in the middle of the day in the sweltering heat was hard enough but knowing I was the only one wearing proper running shoes made me uneasy. Along the rough terrain little children were cheering us on. Some offer us water. It was a couple miles into our run I saw the group of little kids running alongside us. They were not wearing any shoes but they had applied tar to the soles of their feet to protect them in lieu of shoes. I asked one of my running mates why they do this. He said the parents just can’t afford shoes for them. At this moment I felt my calling. On my way home still shaken by these images I sat next to an orthopedic surgeon who told me if children had shoes he would not be coming down to treat their damaged limbs.
Sharing my experience with my own children was amazing. My youngest, Hannah was the first of my kids to react. She came down to the kitchen from her bedroom with two pairs of shoes to donate. I said Hannah you only have two pairs of shoes, she replied but they are getting small on me. You can take them with you when you go back and give them to the kids. We began contacting schools, churches and community organizations to engage them in our cause. We needed gently worn, new shoes. Share Your Soles was born, privately and quietly. Not associating with governments or any religion. After connecting with a major airline I was able to ship my first shipment of shoes to Guatemala. When I was leaving one of the orphanages the head nun asked me “when are you coming back”? I knew I had stumbled upon an idea that would help both the ones who shared shoes as well as those who received shoes. A win-win. I returned home to find boxes and bags of shoes by my door. We started researching other areas in Central America we could reach out to. AA continued to support transporting shoes along with me to various locations. It was maybe into my third year of collecting shoes and two policemen came up my driveway. Apparently neighbors had reported the activity going on at my home, I was served two warnings. One my house had become a nuisance and they claimed the home was an eyesore. The huge dumpster for unwanted shoes bothered people. It was that story that ran on the local front page of the newspaper that got me a donated warehouse to use. That location enabled me to host tons of volunteers weekly. That publicity got us yet another bigger better donated space to operate out of. Things were going great. My kids were becoming amazing people, the volunteers were dedicated and the need for shoes was growing. I had already become a non profit, charity and foundation. I had sponsors who thought it best if I committed to the cause so ten years in I gave up my hair salon and was 100% dedicated to the charity. I’m going into my 22 year this April. It’s been life changing for everyone involved. Shy of 5 million pairs of shoes have been hand delivered to over 40 locations around the world.

Name: Ron Katanick

Current title: Certified Business & Executive Coach, Associate Instructor, Property Business Owner

Current organisation: FocalPoint Coaching & Training Excellence

Retail Industry Product development Leader for over 25 years. Transitioned from corporate to small business owner, coach, trainer and educator.

Name: Jitin Masand

Current title: Founder & MD

Current organisation: Okie Ventures

This is to share that Okie Ventures forayed into the Consumer Electronics Business in July 2020 with LED TV's and has successfully grown from presence in 1 state to currently 8 states with a Team of 100+ people. We have models available in all sizes from 24 inch to 75 inch. The TV's are High Quality HD & 4K LED TV's with superior sound, exhilarating picture quality and Bezel less designs. We have renowned actress Ms. Kajal Aggarwal as our Brand Ambassador. In addition to product quality, our strength is an experienced Team, Superior service and extensive reach in remote areas of India.
On the Gaming Business, we have built our own platform in house from scratch and within a short period of 4 months, we have successfully scaled up to 20+ skill based games, now available on our platform. Quite a few games are exclusive like Dahi Handi, Hole in the Wall etc and are based on a unique concept of 'Desi Sports League' unmatched by any in the gaming Industry. We were recently awarded the 'Startup of the Year 2020' by Business Connect.

Name: Nicola Kleinmann

Current title: Co-Founder

Current organisation: Your People Associates Ltd

HR and Talent professional with over 20 years experience working with SMEs, startups and scaleups shaping out their people strategy and finding great hires.

Name: Vinay Solanki

Current title: GM & Head - Digital Solutions

Current organisation: Napino Auto & Electronics Ltd

Vinay has 16+ years of experience in business development, strategy, partner management, sales and technology management within domains such as IoT, digital transformation, Wi-Fi, Fin-tech and Web. He is currently GM and Head Digital Solution at Napino. He has exposure to a variety of industries such as technology (Lenovo), telecom (Airtel), machine-to-machine (Aeris Communications) and investment banking (Goldman Sachs).
He holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and MS in CS from SUNY Binghamton USA. He is the founder of the world’s 3rd largest community IoT-NCR with 8000+ members. He is recognized as global top 20 thought leader in IoT and analytics by Thinkers 360. He is a TEDx speaker and member of NASSCOM, DoT TEC as well author on Your-Story, EFY, IoT Central and international media.

Name: Paul Visokey

Current title: President

Current organisation: Stony Hill Advisors

I founded Stony Hill Advisors, a merger and acquisition advisory firm that specializes in providing intermediary services for lower middle market companies and small business entrepreneurs across a wide variety of industries. My particular focus is Information Technology companies. Our professional services include mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, exit value planning, business valuations and transaction consulting.
My guiding principle is to make the most of what I do every day. As an advisor, I share this to inspire my clients. I also remind them of what Lewis Carroll wrote: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” Goal setting is critical to success.
I’ve spent my career choosing innovative, forward-thinking start-up organizations at their early stage and contributing to their success using my technical education and sales skills. Having garnered the vision of how to grow and adapt in a start-up with limited resources, in a new market, introducing the value proposition to new customers, I’ve been able to change industries and repeat the process. I now guide business owners in privately held companies through an exit value plan and ultimately a transition to new ownership. I'm also an Advisory Board member for a few companies.

Name: Daniel DeForest London

Current title: Rector (Episcopal Priest)

Current organisation: Christ Episcopal Church Eureka CA

I grew up in Los Altos CA, where I had a fun and mischievous childhood while attending evangelical churches with my family. When I was 12, we moved to Ithaca NY, where the long, cold winters gave this California kid a rude awakening. In upstate NY, I attended a school that was part of a charismatic church called Covenant Love Community; and I was soon baptized in the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. During this time, I began taking my schoolwork and my spirituality more seriously, thanks to excellent teachers (including my father); and I started falling in love with literature, thanks to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. During my sophomore year of high school, we moved back to California, where I graduated from The King’s Academy in Sunnyvale. I was accepted to and considered attending Billy Graham’s alma mater Wheaton College, but decided to remain in sunny California instead and attend “The Wheaton of the West Coast”: Westmont College in Santa Barbara. At Westmont, I double majored in English and Religious Studies, served as the Co-Director of an Urban Ministry Team, and worked as a radio DJ and then General Manager of the college radio station. I also participated in three off-campus programs: in San Francisco, southern Oregon, and the UK, all of which helped pop me out of my evangelical bubble and put me on “the Canterbury trail” which led to the Episcopal Church.
After being awarded the “Most Outstanding Religious Studies Student Award” and being told by the chaplain supervisor at SF General Hospital that I was called to be a minister, I decided to attend Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. During seminary, I worked as a café barista, bookseller and then manager at Borders bookstore while attending All Saints Episcopal Church, where I was confirmed by the Right Rev. Chester Talton on May 12, 2007. While finishing my Master’s degree, I served as the Director of Youth Ministries at Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel, which eventually sponsored me for ordination.
I then pursued a PhD in Christian Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union while interning at St. Clement’s in Berkeley and St. Alban’s in Albany CA (not NY). I met my wife, Ashley Bacchi, in 2011 at a Religious Studies conference in SF and we subsequently helped each other trudge through and eventually complete our doctorates. During that time, I launched and led a collaborative youth ministry in Marin county; taught courses in Ethics, World Religions, Bible and Spirituality; earned a Certificate of Anglican Studies from CDSP; and published a couple academic articles on prayer. I was ordained to the transitional diaconate by the Right Rev. J. Jon Bruno on June 8, 2013 and then to the priesthood by the Right Rev. Mary Glasspool on January 11, 2014 at St. John’s Cathedral in Los Angeles.
A couple years later, Ashley and I tied the knot at Grace Cathedral in SF, on the indoor prayer labyrinth, on May 20, 2016. I served as curate at Christ Episcopal Church in Sausalito CA and then as the Priest-in-Charge at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in San Rafael, where the average Sunday attendance tripled.
I love serving as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA, where I have been now for over three years; and, in the summer of 2020, I published my first book titled "Theodicy and Spirituality in the Fourth Gospel."

Name: H. Fai Poon

Current title: President

Current organisation: Quacell Biotechnology Company Limited

Dr. Poon is currently the President of Quacell Biotech Ltd. He previously worked for Hisun Biopharm, Merck (SAFC), Roskamp Institute in the USA. He completed his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry at University of Kentucky, and MBA from University of South Florida. He has years of experience in the field of biological therapeutics, analytical research, bioinformatics and proteomics. He has more than 10 years of cell culture experience with focus on biopharmaceutical products.
He published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, and contributes to more than 5 book chapters. He is currently the managing editor for biomedical and pharmacology journal ; associate Editor for Journal of Chemistry, Biochemistry; and Molecular Biology, Band Journal of Bioinformatics and Biometrics.

Name: Lasse Vinther

Current title: Founder, MD

Current organisation: Indsigt Pty Ltd

Been involved with building e-commerce ventures for almost a decade in South Africa for Rocket Internet / Naspers / Travelstart. Been building new ventures since 2019 in Fintech, Travel tech and Data science. Our Consultancy helps SMEs to become data driven.

Name: Julia Seraphine

Current title: Founder, CEO of The Julia Seraphine Agency

Current organisation: Julia Seraphine

My name is Julia Seraphine, and I am the Founder and CEO of The Julia Seraphine Agency. I am a 22 year old Entrepreneur and an expert in Social Media. In my free time I like to mentor young Entrepreneurs from all over the world, give Guest Lectures as a Social Media Expert, speak about Social Media in various media such as television, radio, and podcasts, and I work as the Director of Social Media at The Entrepreneurship Foundation. The Julia Seraphine Agency is a Digital Marketing Agency based in Connecticut that serves primarily small to mid-sized businesses. We specialize in Social Media optimization from the ground up, and help businesses establish their Social Media presence from scratch.