John Fein
Guest Lecturer at Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Overview
Work Experience
Founder and Managing Partner
2016 - Current
Firebrand Ventures invests in trusted relationships with exceptional founders. We combine a vast network, deep operational experience and startup hustle to invest in and support seed stage startups. Portfolio companies include: Dwolla, Automox, Replica, Super Dispatch, Skipper, Zohr, PathSpot, Local Crate, Sheets & Giggles, Fluent Forever, Crafty, PreFix and The Minte.
Firebrand Ventures combine a vast network and deep experience with startup hustle to invest in exceptional early stage software startups.
Guest Lecturer
2016
Guest lecturer on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and startup ecosystems.
Guest Lecturer
2016
Guest lecturer on entrepreneurship, venture capital, and startup ecosystems.
Advisor
2016 - 2019
The KCSF mission to strengthen Kansas City’s startup and entrepreneur ecosystem is done through the lens of “The Three C’s.” Initiatives we steward and support are those which result in collisions, co-learning, and community.
Executive Advisor
2015 - 2018
Techweek is a week long technology festival for entrepreneurs, tech visionaries and thought leaders to meet and enable the innovation ecosystem across the globe.
A technology conference and festival with a mission to celebrate and enable innovation ecosystems throughout North America.
Advisor
2016 - 2018
Blue Valley Schools’ Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) is a nationally recognized, innovative high school program. Students fast forward into their future and are fully immersed in a professional culture, solving real world problems, using industry standard tools and are mentored by actual employers, all while receiving high school and college credit. CAPS is an example of how business, community and public education can partner to produce personalized learning experiences that educate the workforce of tomorrow, especially in high skill, high demand jobs.
Managing Director, Techstars
2013 - 2016
The Sprint Accelerator powered by Techstars is a three-month, immersive, mentor-driven startup accelerator program for ten selected companies. Based in Kansas City, the program accelerates startup companies that have a strong mobile component. We look for amazing startups in all areas of mobile including commerce, gaming, advertising, enterprise, health, and connected devices.
Techstars is an accelerator that provides pre-seed investment and mentoring for various early stage startups.
Raised $108,919,999.00 from SVB Financial Group and Foundry Group.
Sr. Project Manager (Director level)
2005 - 2013
Manage multi-billion dollar large-scale programs for the $15B pharmacy benefit manager division of UnitedHealth Group.
Private foundation dedicated to improving health and health care.
Senior Project Manager (contract)
2004 - 2005
Managed mission-critical IT infrastructure projects for leading irrigation systems manuafcturer.
Hunter Industries is a manufacturer of irrigation equipment for the landscaping and golf course industries.
Director of Product Management
2000 - 2004
Responsible for end-to-end management of server-based video surveillance products