Rob Karp, a 20-year old senior at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, is the founder of MilesAhead, a luxury travel concierge.  At 14, Rob developed a passion for the travel industry and a drive for delivering a best-in-class customer experience. Initially, he began helping family and friends turn their frequent flyer miles into inexpensive plane tickets for family trips. What began as a hobby and one man operation throughout his high school years developed into MilesAhead. He took $600 he had earned refereeing soccer games as a high-school freshman to start the company. Currently, Rob’s company is run by more than 10 dedicated employees across the country, employing part-time college students and full-time “adults.” MilesAhead is on pace to generate revenues in excess of $1,000,000. Rob and his team have visited over 300 hotels since 2016, spanning from Italy to Bora Bora to Japan, and utilize their time off from school to travel the world and deliver that first-hand knowledge to their 500+ clients. Rob plans to grow MilesAhead after he graduates from college in May 2019 and follow his dream to create the world’s best travel advisor. Buckle up and hold on tight to this Espresso Shot ‘cause we’re about to take flight!

Rob Karp, a 20-year old senior at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, is the founder of MilesAhead, a luxury travel concierge.  At 14, Rob developed a passion for the travel industry and a drive for delivering a best-in-class customer experience. Initially, he began helping family and friends turn their frequent flyer miles into inexpensive plane tickets for family trips. What began as a hobby and one man operation throughout his high school years developed into MilesAhead. He took $600 he had earned refereeing soccer games as a high-school freshman to start the company. Currently, Rob’s company is run by more than 10 dedicated employees across the country, employing part-time college students and full-time “adults.” MilesAhead is on pace to generate revenues in excess of $1,000,000. Rob and his team have visited over 300 hotels since 2016, spanning from Italy to Bora Bora to Japan, and utilize their time off from school to travel the world and deliver that first-hand knowledge to their 500+ clients. Rob plans to grow MilesAhead after he graduates from college in May 2019 and follow his dream to create the world’s best travel advisor. Buckle up and hold on tight to this Espresso Shot ‘cause we’re about to take flight!

Mitch Purgason is a fashion blogger, entrepreneur, former college athlete, and designer from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the founder of Stitched By Mitch, a custom suit company that designs and creates custom suits of high quality and innovative design. In college, Mitch’s friends began asking him to style them, which is when he started Styled By Mitch, a personal-design business. This would later evolve into Stitched By Mitch. During his college career, Mitch used his tenacity and hustle to land an internship under Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban. Mitch has also worked on designing clothing for professional athletes like Doug Middleton, Brandon Chubb, DJ Reader, and Carlos Watkins, as well as college coaches such as Jason Capel, Wes Miller, and Jim Fox. Mitch received a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship and Management at Appalachian State University, where he also played on the basketball team.

Mitch Purgason is a fashion blogger, entrepreneur, former college athlete, and designer from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the founder of Stitched By Mitch, a custom suit company that designs and creates custom suits of high quality and innovative design. In college, Mitch’s friends began asking him to style them, which is when he started Styled By Mitch, a personal-design business. This would later evolve into Stitched By Mitch. During his college career, Mitch used his tenacity and hustle to land an internship under Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban. Mitch has also worked on designing clothing for professional athletes like Doug Middleton, Brandon Chubb, DJ Reader, and Carlos Watkins, as well as college coaches such as Jason Capel, Wes Miller, and Jim Fox. Mitch received a Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship and Management at Appalachian State University, where he also played on the basketball team.

Sharon Chang is Vice-President and Talent Agent in the Non-Scripted Television department at the global entertainment, sports and fashion agency, WME (a division of ENDEAVOR).  Chang joined WME in 2014 after the agency acquired the sports marketing and management company, IMG, and is based out of NYC.  She is responsible for representing, managing and developing network, cable, regional and digital entertainment, news and sports host talent, anchors, correspondents, contributors and lifestyle personalities.  Chang is also responsible for representing non-scripted talent and production companies in syndicated and network broadcast entertainment and cable series programming. Through the years, she has recruited, developed and managed top-tier talent in sports, news and entertainment.  Prior to joining IMG, Chang spent 12-years at CBS Sports where she launched and built her career in broadcasting starting in 1984 after graduating from Vassar College. Her experience at CBS spanned across the areas of talent relations, production and programming. Chang is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

Sharon Chang is Vice-President and Talent Agent in the Non-Scripted Television department at the global entertainment, sports and fashion agency, WME (a division of ENDEAVOR).  Chang joined WME in 2014 after the agency acquired the sports marketing and management company, IMG, and is based out of NYC.  She is responsible for representing, managing and developing network, cable, regional and digital entertainment, news and sports host talent, anchors, correspondents, contributors and lifestyle personalities.  Chang is also responsible for representing non-scripted talent and production companies in syndicated and network broadcast entertainment and cable series programming. Through the years, she has recruited, developed and managed top-tier talent in sports, news and entertainment.  Prior to joining IMG, Chang spent 12-years at CBS Sports where she launched and built her career in broadcasting starting in 1984 after graduating from Vassar College. Her experience at CBS spanned across the areas of talent relations, production and programming. Chang is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

David Clinch, Co-Founder of Storyful, is revolutionizing the news industry by utilizing social media to gather user-generated content and tell compelling stories. Storyful provides media organizations worldwide with with verified socially sourced content, and is the first and only news agency designed specifically for the social media age. Upon founding storyful in 2010, around the time of the Arab Spring, David saw the opportunity to feel the pulse of those individuals closer to the story, and utilize their content in journalism. As Head of Global Strategic Partnerships, he helps news companies develop strategies for growth and battle misinformation in the digital age. Before co-founding Storyful, David worked on the CNN International Desk in Atlanta, Georgia and pioneered the use of social media for international news gathering at CNN. A graduate of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland with a Bachelor’s degree in French, David shares with Java Junkies how he found his way to the journalism field, and then continued to revolutionize it.

David Clinch, Co-Founder of Storyful, is revolutionizing the news industry by utilizing social media to gather user-generated content and tell compelling stories. Storyful provides media organizations worldwide with with verified socially sourced content, and is the first and only news agency designed specifically for the social media age. Upon founding storyful in 2010, around the time of the Arab Spring, David saw the opportunity to feel the pulse of those individuals closer to the story, and utilize their content in journalism. As Head of Global Strategic Partnerships, he helps news companies develop strategies for growth and battle misinformation in the digital age. Before co-founding Storyful, David worked on the CNN International Desk in Atlanta, Georgia and pioneered the use of social media for international news gathering at CNN. A graduate of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland with a Bachelor’s degree in French, David shares with Java Junkies how he found his way to the journalism field, and then continued to revolutionize it.

Craig Vachon is the founder and managing partner of Chowdahead Growth Fund, a seed investment firm based in California. Vachon has dedicated the last 12 years to investing in companies whose mission is to make the world a better place, profitably. One of the first companies Chowdahead invested in almost a decade ago is AnchorFree, a company providing technology for consumers to access an unfettered, but safer and more secure Internet.  This was years before any whiff of problems with Facebook or Google selling consumers data as a revenue generator. Before becoming passionate about the intersection of venture capital and entrepreneurship, Craig was fascinated with the world of telecommunications specifically with digital devices which can be traced back to the ‘90s, when he worked in Japan for companies including Dentsu, Sony, McCaw and AT&T. While he took on roles as a numbers guy, analyzing data in many of his jobs, Vachon actually studied communications at Emerson College as both an undergrad and graduate student.

Craig Vachon is the founder and managing partner of Chowdahead Growth Fund, a seed investment firm based in California. Vachon has dedicated the last 12 years to investing in companies whose mission is to make the world a better place, profitably. One of the first companies Chowdahead invested in almost a decade ago is AnchorFree, a company providing technology for consumers to access an unfettered, but safer and more secure Internet.  This was years before any whiff of problems with Facebook or Google selling consumers data as a revenue generator. Before becoming passionate about the intersection of venture capital and entrepreneurship, Craig was fascinated with the world of telecommunications specifically with digital devices which can be traced back to the ‘90s, when he worked in Japan for companies including Dentsu, Sony, McCaw and AT&T. While he took on roles as a numbers guy, analyzing data in many of his jobs, Vachon actually studied communications at Emerson College as both an undergrad and graduate student.