Founders, Investors & Operators

Steve Zolman is the CEO of SafeStreets, a nationwide ADT Security Authorized Provider with 300 trained consultants covering more than 90 percent of the United States. Steve has enjoyed a successful career in the security industry. He founded Pinnacle Security in 1998 and later merged with a company called Homeland Protection. By 2013 Pinnacle had secured more than 500,000 homes and was purchased by Protection One.  Thereafter Steve served as CRO of EVO Alarm, a Top 10 ADT authorized dealership. In addition, Steve and his wife Annie are the founders of Tiny Hero, a charitable organization with a mission to help congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) families find the best care, a supportive community, and a hope-filled future.

Steve Price is the founder of Price Real Estate, a fully-integrated commercial real estate company with properties ranging from undeveloped “shovel ready” parcels of land to master-planned business parks. Founded in 2002, The Price Portfolio has grown to an institutional grade portfolio of master-planned developments and properties, strategically focused on distribution/warehouse, manufacturing, medical and lifescience, e-commerce, and emerging and related supply chain options.

Marc Chenn was the Co-founder and Chairman/CEO of SaltStack, a leading provider of cloud and security automation solutions. In October 2020, Marc led SaltStack through a successful acquisition by VMware. Marc was recognized as a top entrepreneur in the State of Utah and was named a Peak 100 Winner by the Utah Venture Entrepreneur Forum. 

Prior to SaltStack Marc worked with FinTech SaaS provider Compliance11 and prior to that Marc enjoyed a career in finance with Morgan Stanley in the investment management division.

Marc currently serves on the Board of Silicon Slopes and is passionate about sharing his journey as an entrepreneur, and enjoys advising other entrepreneurs and startups as a Board Member and Advisor. Marc holds an MBA in finance and an undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University where he was an All-American High Jumper.

Nick Greer is the co-founder and CEO of Built Protein Bar and Brands, which is on a mission to build the best tasting protein bar on the planet. Built has become a favorite on-the-go snack due to its exceptional nutritional profile, optimized BUILT Protein™, and a vast array of mouthwatering flavors. Prior to Built, Nick founded One on One Marketing, a technology and marketing company which was later acquired by a private equity company. Additionally, Nick co-founded Skipio, which provides sales automation software for local businesses to enhance their sales and retention activities. Nick and his wife, Deborah, also created the Five12 Foundation that feeds thousands of children in his community every week.

Cole Painter is the founder of New Primitive, a company that specializes in premium outdoor sauna and cold plunge kits. Prior to New Primitive, Cole had a successful career in the door-to-door sales industry.

Blake Modersitzki is a managing partner at Pelion Venture Partners. He has served on several public and privately held company boards. He was managing director of Novell Ventures and vice president of corporate development for Novell. Blake previously held global sales and marketing positions at WordPerfect. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics from BYU.

Dan Lofgren, founder, president and CEO of Cowboy Partners and its sister company Cowboy Properties, has been professionally involved in real estate development, construction and management since 1975 when he joined the Salt Lake City based Prowswood organization, where he was president from 1987 to 2001. As president of Prowswood Dan directed development and acquisition/rehab activities in the company’s primary markets of Utah and Southern California, as well as Colorado and Washington. In 2001 Dan founded Cowboy Partners and Cowboy Properties and was joined by most of the former Prowswood organization in a spin-off from Lend Lease Development, the former parent company of Prowswood. 

Under Dan's direction Cowboy Partners and Cowboy Properties have been involved in real estate development and/or management in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, California, and Utah. These projects include office, for-sale residential, mixed-use, luxury rental communities, mixed-income multifamily communities and affordable housing. Cowboy Partners has special emphasis on development and management of housing as a component of urban mixed-use development with particular focus on the inclusion of affordable housing in these communities. Dan is acknowledged as a pioneer in the development of mixed-income communities and mission-driven affordable housing.

Dan has been recognized by the Utah Apartment Association with its Lifetime Achievement Award and he is a former Builder of the Year as recognized by the Homebuilders Assoc. of Utah.

Roger is the President and CEO of Clifford Capital Partners, an independent investment management firm, providing separate account management to institutional and individual clients globally. Clifford builds portfolios of individual securities, primarily equities, based on their proprietary fundamental research with a mission is to build long-term wealth for their clients. Enjoy the episode!

John Richards is the CEO and Founder of Startup Ignition, an entrepreneur bootcamp that prepares entrepreneurs, founders, and teams to properly launch a company and take the right steps towards mitigating risk and increasing success. Prior to founding Startup Ignition, John founded and successfully exited multiple ventures and was an award-winning and highly-rated entrepreneurship professor at Brigham Young University. In addition to Startup Ignition, John is a managing partner at Startup Ignition Ventures, a pre-seed fund focused on early-stage ventures.

In 2008 – John S. Pennington Jr. co-founded a family of private equity funds that by the time of his retirement – grew to well over $28 billion of Assets Under Management (AUM). During his tenure and before obtaining partner emeritus status, he served on the board of directors, held signing authority on over 1,200 bank accounts as the deputy chief financial officer (DCFO), was president of over 100 corporations, was the Anti-Money Laundering Officer (AMLO) for all companywide feeder funds located in the Cayman Islands and oversaw all U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory requirements as chief compliance officer (CCO). In 2021 – he retired with the company listed on the NYSE. In 2004 and 2007 – John co-founded Bridge Loan Capital Fund I and II. In 1988 – John earned a degree from the University of Utah in economics. He and his wife, Jane, have three sons, two daughters-in-law with five grandchildren and have been married for over thirty-eight years.