GROWCO 2010, Grow Your Company Conference, an Inc. event

	Tom Adams CEO, Rosetta Stone Tom Adams has changed the way the world learns languages by ensuring learners rediscover the joy of the languages-learning journey. Under Adam’s innovative leadership, Rosetta Stone has grown into one of the world’s leading language-learning solution providers, offering more than 30 different languages to millions of people in more than 150 countries. In recognition of his accomplishments, he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008. A native of Sweden, he grew up in France and England and is fluent in French, Swedish and English. He has a working knowledge of Spanish and is currently in the process of learning Russian and the basics of Chinese.
	Kirk Aubry Partner, The CEO Project Kirk has experience helping big and small companies grow. He started, ran, and sold his own fast-growing strategy and marketing consulting business. He successfully led a team that transformed Fortune 150 Textron, resulting in the company more than tripling in value. He steered a billion dollar global automotive supplier back to profitability as its Chief Operating Officer under the ownership of multiple private equity firms. He has worked with companies from the Inc. 500 to the Fortune 500. He has written a number of articles and is the author of the soon-to-be-published The Emperor’s Tailor—A Story of Transformation.
	Norm Brodsky Founder of CitiStorage, Perfect Courier, and U.S. Document Security; Inc. Street Smarts columnist; & co-author of The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up Norm Brodsky had already launched seven successful businesses—including a three-time Inc. 500 company—by the time he began writing the Street Smarts column in Inc. with Bo Burlingham in 1995. The column has proved to be enormously popular with readers of the magazine and was twice a finalist for a National Magazine Award. In 2008, it received a gold Azbee award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. With the success of the column came numerous speaking invitations. Brodsky now lectures widely and has become a frequent guest on MSNBC.
	Bo Burlingham Editor-at-large, Inc., and author of Small Giants Bo Burlingham is an editor-at-large of Inc. and the author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big. He has also written two books with Jack Stack, the co-founder and CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. and the pioneer of open-book management. One of the books, The Great Game of Business, has sold more than 300,000 copies. The other, A Stake in the Outcome, has been called “the first management classic of the new millennium.” Burlingham co-authors with Norm Brodsky the popular monthly column in Inc. called Street Smarts. Burlingham recently published The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up with Norm Brodsky.
	Warren Church VP, brand strategy, Deskey Warren brings the experience of many disciplines to his role, a journey with a distinctly left brain / right brain path. With a Master’s degree in Microeconomic Theory, he worked at Price Waterhouse before moving on to stints in architecture, advertising and design. Today, Warren draws on these multidisciplinary skills to lead brand innovation for Deskey’s largest clients. He is referred to as “King Thinker” at Procter & Gamble and is a frequent leader of facilitated innovation sessions for Xavier University’s Leadership Center.
	George Cloutier founder of American Management Services, co-chairman of Partner America™, and author of Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing George has been christened the “Turnaround Ace” by BusinessWeek, he is the author of Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing: No-Nonsense Rules from the Ultimate Contrarian and Small-Business Guru in which he shares his tough love and contrarian message for entrepreneurs and small business owners that has made him a sought after speaker and business media commentator. Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing is a multi-best-seller having hit The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, and CEO-READ best-seller lists.
	George Foreman Author, Knockout Entrepreneur George Foreman, once boxing's heavyweight champion of the world, is best known today as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. By the time Foreman retired from boxing (again) in 1999, he was well on his way to a second career as a businessman. Foreman’s entrepreneurial portfolio boasts the George Foreman Grill, George Foreman's Knockout Cleaner, a line of clothing with Casual Male, fitness videos, Elgin watches, and much more. Foreman is also the author of more than 10 books including his most recent, Knockout Entrepreneur, where he shares his success secrets with aspiring and current entrepreneurs.
	Jason Fried President and founder, 37signals 37signals is a Web interface design and usability consultancy based in Chicago. Jason spearheaded the concept, design, and development of Basecamp, 37signals's web-based project management tool for designers, freelancers, and creative services firms. He is also the coauthor of Defensive Design for the Web. Jason and 37signals have worked on projects for Microsoft, Qwest, Monster.com, Clear Channel, Panera Bread, Shure, Meetup, Kinja, and others. Jason has presented at the AIGA Risk/Reward conference in San Francisco, Active8 in Seattle, South by Southwest in Austin, Reboot 6 in Copenhagen, HOW Design Conference in New Orleans, AIGA Exhibit A show in Minneapolis, and various universities.
	Nick Friedman President and co-founder, College Hunks Hauling Junk Nick Friedman is president and co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk, the largest and fastest-growing US-Based Junk Removal Franchise Opportunity. He was recently named Top 30 Entrepreneurs in America Under 30 by Inc., Top 35 Entrepreneurs Under 35 by Bisnow.com, and is an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Finalist. He is an active Board Member of the Entrepreneur's Organization, a global organization comprised of founders of high-growth companies.
	Lexy Funk Co-founder and CEO, Brooklyn Industries Artist turned entrepreneur Lexy Funk is the co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn Industries, a business that has grown in 12 years from making messenger bags out of used billboard vinyl to a full men’s and women’s lifestyle clothing and accessories retailer. The visionary entrepreneur has grown the retail company organically to include 12 stores in three states and a successful e-commerce website. Funk is determined to build a global retailer that fills a void in the clothing market with artistic clothing for urban dwellers. She has used her instinct, intelligence and sheer determination to navigate every aspect of the business, from merchandising and finance, to design and photography.
	Michael E. Gerber Author, The Most Successful Small Business in the World: The Ten Principles Michael E. Gerber is the founder of E-Myth Worldwide the coaching, training, and education firm he founded in 1977 to transform the development of small businesses worldwide. Now approaching its 31st year, E-Myth Worldwide has achieved stunning results by helping to grow more than 60,000 business clients in 145 countries. As the author of eight E-Myth books, including the bestseller The E-Myth Revisited, Gerber has established his revolutionary perspective as the gold standard for small business development, becoming what Inc. called "the world's #1 small business guru" and one of BusinessWeek's bestselling authors over the past two decades.
	Gail Goodman CEO, Constant Contact A small business expert and visionary, Gail has revolutionized the way that small businesses and organizations can effectively and affordably communicate with their customers, clients, and members. Since taking leadership of Constant Contact in April 1999, she has led the company to more than 300,000 customers worldwide. Gail was named "Executive of the Year" at the 2009 American Business Awards, and was the 2008 New England Regional winner of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Constant Contact was named "Best Overall Company" at the 2009 American Business Awards and ranked 153 on Deloitte’s 2009 Technology Fast 500.
	Jeff Krawitz Professor, New York University & Columbia University, and Principle, Customer Manufacturing Group As Professor of Marketing at NYU and Columbia University, Jeff works with some of the top business students in the world exploring leading edge concepts in strategic marketing and sales management. As a Principle at Customer Manufacturing Group (CMG), a sales-marketing consultancy focused on marketing processes, he encounters companies that need things fixed now to return to profitable growth. This unusual combination – leading theory with practical business crisis management – allows Jeff to bring a unique perspective as he talks with you about developing and managing the sales process in a growing business. Prior to forming Customer Manufacturing Group, Jeff spent seventeen years with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a leading semiconductor manufacturer.
	Ben Lerer Co-founder and CEO, Thrillist Ben Lerer directs Thrillist's business development, advertising sales and marketing efforts. Lerer launched the first Thrillist email newsletter back in 2005 with college buddy Adam Rich to address the lack of funny, actionable information available to guys in New York City. He brings to the job a business acumen that has overseen the expansion of Thrillist from a small list of 600 friends and family to a national media service that satisfies nearly a million subscribers daily. Thrillist serves up information to 14 major US cities. Lerer is the head of a profitable and growing media business of 36 employees nationwide.
	Amanda Matusak Director, brand strategy, Deskey "I was always going to be a vet when I grew up. Then I met Chemistry. I changed my major to sociology and have been studying humans ever since." Drawing upon her education in human behavior, Amanda has applied her Sociology expertise to Deskey clients such as Crest, Pepto-Bismol, Prilosec OTC, Johnson & Johnson, Always, Vicks, Bush Brothers and others. Although satirical at times, her unique perspectives on consumers, generational studies and human behavior offers clients actionable insight into consumers which help to propel their brands to new levels.
	Jim McCann Founder and CEO, 1-800-FLOWERS.com Jim McCann is a highly successful entrepreneur whose vision and energy have helped grow 1-800-FLOWERS.com, the company he founded in 1976, into the world’s leading florist and gift company. McCann’s focus on customer relationships and his willingness to embrace new technologies and business channels helped change the way flowers and other gifts are marketed for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and special occasions. In addition to being the first company to have its 800-telephone number as its name – a marketing insight that helped solidify the brand in consumer’s minds - McCann was a pioneer in online retailing seizing the enormous reach of the Internet as early as 1991.
	Steve Mercil President and CEO, RAIN Source Capital Steve Mercil is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of RAIN Source Capital, an organization that builds capacity for private equity investments by forming and managing a network of local, statewide, and multi-state angel funds. Under Mercil’s leadership, RAIN Source Capital has expanded from its predecessor organization, Minnesota Investment Network Corporation, into a regional and national organization recognized for its expertise in leveraging the power of angel investors. Mercil is a principle in the InvestAmerica NW, LLC, the General Partner of Invest Northwest, LP, which is a venture capital fund focused on middle market and later-stage companies located in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington. Mercil is on the Board of Directors of the Angel Capital Association and the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds. He is a pioneer in bringing angel investment opportunities, which have historically been clustered on the coasts, to the Central states and to the often-ignored rural areas of those states. He is currently spearheading efforts to set up regional investment networks of angel investors throughout the United States. He has a master’s degree in statistics and measurements and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Dakota.
	Eric Ryan Co-founder and chief brand architect, Method Eric makes soap. Really nice smelling soap that's non-toxic and good for the planet. Soap that's really beautiful, too. He started Method in 2001 with his high school buddy Adam and has since built Method into a $100 million brand — a brand that was ranked the 7th fastest growing company in America by Inc. in 2006. Today, Method has over 100 planet friendly cleaning products that can be found in stores across America, Canada and the UK. He's been named an eco-leader by Vanity Fair, a Food & Wine Tastemaker, an eco-revolutionary by Time Magazine, and PETA's Person of the Year.
	Jim Schleckser CEO and managing partner, The CEO Project With 25 years of leadership in technology businesses, mergers and acquisitions, engineering, and sales and marketing, he brings experience in managing organizations in both public and private environments across many functional areas. Jim has built, acquired and led several companies, including businesses with operating business units with multiple sites across many countries. One of these international groups grew by over 300% under his leadership. Most recently, Jim was responsible for the $250 million telecommunications business of Spirent PLC, a FTSE traded firm.
	Tom Searcy Founder, Hunt Big Sales When Tom Searcy is a trusted authority on large account sales, and founder of Hunt Big Sales, a fast growth sales consultancy and thought leadership organization. Searcy’s primary expertise is working directly with companies and sales teams throughout their big sales “hunts,” helping them to compete and win disproportionately large sales in highly competitive markets. His philosophy and process, both of which are documented in his 2008 book Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Deals and Transform Your Company (with co-author Barbara Weaver Smith), have resulted in nearly $3 billion in new sales for the company and its clients. Before entering the national stage, Searcy headed four corporations, each of which he was able to take from annual revenues of less than $15 million to over $100 million—all before the age of 40. Since then, Searcy has helped more than 100 companies grow exponentially with his proven process for fast growth and company-wide transformation. Searcy is also the author of RFPs Suck! and he writes regularly at the Hunting Big Sales blog.
	Amy Simmons Founder, Amy's Ice Creams, and co-founder, Phil's Ice House When the ice cream shop Amy worked in was sold to a publicly traded real estate company, she decided to start her own company where she could focus on the quality, community, and customer service. Amy's Ice Creams has grown to 14 stores in three cities by focusing on "making people's days”. In 2003, Amy also founded Choose Austin First, an alliance of locally owned businesses dedicated to fostering and promoting the city's unique lifestyle and sense of community. She and her husband's newest venture, Phil's Ice House, also thrives on the concept of being a gathering and giving place for the community.
	Lisa Sparks Regional development director, Constant Contact Lisa is a marketing expert with nine years of experience developing and implementing marketing communications solutions for small and medium sized businesses. A small business owner herself, Lisa uses her expertise to teach small organizations in South Florida how to use technology to maximize the power of relationship marketing. She is experienced in providing guidance, instruction, and comprehensive planning advice for the development, growth, and expansion of new and existing businesses. In 2007, Lisa won the Florida State Star Award as the top small business analyst in Florida.
	Paul Spiegelman CEO and founder, Beryl and author, Why Is Everyone Smiling? Paul co-founded Beryl with his two brothers in 1985. As CEO, he oversees strategic planning and business development for the nation's thought-leading company in healthcare customer interactions and relationship management. He is responsible for setting the vision for the company, building a strong management team, and promoting the unique culture for the 350-plus co-workers. This culture has resulted in Beryl being chosen as the #2 Best Medium Company to Work For in America, and earned Paul the honor of being named a finalist for the 2007 and 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He also is the executive director of The Beryl Institute, the company's thought-leadership entity. While continuing to lead Beryl, Paul has been named CEO of the Small Giants Community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting companies that choose to be great instead of big. This role is a natural extension of his first book, Why is Everyone Smiling? The Secret Behind Passion, Productivity and Profit.
	Bill Strickland President and CEO, Manchester Bidwell Corporation For 30 years, Bill Strickland has transformed thousands of lives, restored our faith in ethical leadership, and reshaped the business of social change. His organization is an extraordinary jobs training center and community arts program where he and his staff work with corporations, community leaders, and schools to give disadvantaged kids and adults the opportunities they need to build a better future. Bill is also the recipient of the MacArthur Genius award, author of Make the Impossible Possible, a recipient of The White House's "Coming Up Taller" Award, and the founder of the Grammy-winning MCG Jazz, the most successful jazz subscription series in America.
	CJ Wilson Founder of Global Alliance and Florida Equity Partners Since 1980, CJ Wilson has been a central banker (Federal Reserve), commercial banker (JP Morgan), investment banker (Merrill Lynch), merchant banker (Global Alliance), and venture banker (Florida Equity Partners) based in US, Tokyo and Hong Kong. He is a M&A advisor and venture finance specialist, and previously managing partner of Global Ventures Management investment fund for early stage companies. CJ is an active board member of the Gold Coast Venture Capital Association and early stage investor. He is quoted often and advises on global strategies for growing companies.
	Dave Yewman & Andy Craig Co-owners, Elevator Speech Executives who can't clearly explain what they do and why anyone should care in the first 30 seconds miss out — on sales, on funding, on alliances ... on business. Dave and Andy have built a company around helping people develop their own elevator speech. Elevator Speech uses video to help businesses develop clear, concise, compelling elevator speeches. We present "the company story" organized in a way that makes it useful across your business — from the receptionist to the boardroom; from sales reps to engineers.