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.
Todd Bobzien
Pioneer Ventures Group
Todd Bobzien is a Chief Financial Officer with over 25 years of finance and accounting experience and has been working with start-ups for more than 10 years. He obtained his MBA in Finance from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and his bachelor's in accounting from Indiana University-Bloomington. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Finance | Business Planning | Operations | Accounting Oversight
Adam Brown Marrow
Adam Brown is the award-winning creative director and founder of Marrow, a brand strategy and design firm for startups and challenger brands. A frequent speaker, podcast guest, and Section4 brand strategy teaching assistant, he cultivates a reputation as a provocative/influential voice among design 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 Breakthrough Solutions, LLC
David Hasler is the Vice President of Strategy for G4S Retail Solutions and the Founder and President of Breakthrough Solutions Consulting, LLC (BSC) – a successful consulting firm focused on helping growing businesses tell their economic story and providing c-suite level support in both finance and strategy. David actively presents at the University of Kentucky and helps startups prepare for pitch competitions.
David has held finance and strategy leadership roles in prominent companies such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and Limited Brands. 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 considered.
Finance | Retail | Consumer Products | Pitch Coaching 
Chelsea Kirk Commonwealth Coaching
Chelsea Kirk is the Founder & CEO of Commonwealth Coaching, a consulting company providing expertise for challenges in business operations such as sales efficiency, customer retention, employee compensation packages, and employee skill development workshops. She also serves as the Director of Client Success for GreekTrack, a membership management SaaS platform.
Chelsea earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and completed her Master's Degree in Psychology at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She then worked in Sales for a rapidly growing SaaS startup in Seattle, Washington for six years. During that time, she had the opportunity to sell to companies as small as a handful of employees, as large as several thousand, and everything in between. When she returned to Kentucky, she joined GreekTrack as the first non-technical employee and doubled the company's revenue in her first 12 months onboard.
Sales | Customer Onboarding | Account Management | Customer Success 
Tony Schmidt
GreekTrack
Tony Schmidt, a University of Kentucky computer science graduate, pitched his startup at Awesome Inc.'s first 5 Across pitch competition in 2010. After winning in the finals, he continued the entrepreneurial path through a business degree from CASE Western Reserve before landing a program manager position at Microsoft on their Dynamics CRM team while growing his startup at night. After five years in Seattle, he returned home to Kentucky to focus full-time on his B2B business, GreekTrack, a membership management SaaS platform. He also serves as a corporate innovation coach on Awesome Inc.'s Venture Labs team and volunteers as a 5 Across pitch competition judge from time to time.
SaaS | Bootstrapping | B2B | Databases | Software Development