Mainstage Speakers

David Cohen

CEO, Techstars

David Cohen is the Founder and CEO of Techstars, a pre-seed investor that provides access to capital, programming and connections to early-stage entrepreneurs. Since founding Techstars in 2006, the company has invested in more than 4,000 startups, including notable investments in over 20 unicorns such as Alloy, Chainalysis, Classpass, DataRobot, Digital Ocean, Outreach, Pillpack, Remitly, SalesLoft, SendGrid and Zipline.

David is a life-long entrepreneur. Prior to Techstars, he was the Founder and CEO of earFeeder which was later sold to SonicSwap. Before that, he was a co-founder of Pinpoint Technologies which was acquired by Zoll Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: ZOLL).

David is active with several non-profit organizations, including his work as a founding Board Member of Endeavor Colorado and as a co-founder and Advisory Board Member of the Techstars Foundation. He is also an Advisory Board Member of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado.

David is the co-author of “Do More Faster; Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup.”

Nicole Glaros

Former Chief Investment & Strategy Officer, Techstars

Serial Entrepreneur, Board Director and

“Mother of Dragons of Startups”

Nicole is an entrepreneur, executive, investor, board director, advisor, and passionate outdoor enthusiast. She co-founded her first tech startup while earning a master’s in sport psychology, sparking her lifelong passion for entrepreneurship, technology, and seed-stage investing. She later helped build CTEK, an incubator supporting tech startups in Colorado, and was instrumental in growing Techstars from one office in Boulder to a global powerhouse with 45 offices worldwide.

As the Chief Investment Strategy Officer at Techstars, Nicole raised over $100M, invested in 100+ startups, and supported the growth of companies with a collective market cap of over $77B. She also served on the boards of companies like Pana, Simple Energy, and GreatHorn, and was recognized as one of the most influential women in tech by Business Insider and Entrepreneur Magazine.

Currently, Nicole is the founder of Phos, investing in early-stage startups, and co-founder of ForDenverFC, aiming to bring women’s professional soccer to Colorado. She serves on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and several venture funds. Outside of work, she’s a dedicated mother, wife, adventurer, and philanthropist, always seeking ways to push her limits and give back to others.

Luke Mauritzen

Founder, Montana Instruments

Luke is a business leader, innovator, and engineer who has been involved in the Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST) supply chain for over 15 years. Beginning with his initial job out of school, Luke developed the first mobile and deployable cryogenic system to enable radar and signals intelligence processing for defense applications, an experience that led to the insight that cryogenics is a major bottleneck for materials and device characterization. To address this bottleneck, Luke founded Montana Instruments in 2010, which is credited with re-inventing cryogenics to accelerate progress in quantum materials research and the nascent QIST industry.

In November of 2022 Luke successfully closed the acquisition of Montana Instruments by Atlas Copco, a Swedish multinational public company.

In 2020, Luke was appointed to the President’s National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC). In addition, Luke serves on the Advisory Board of the MonArk Quantum Foundry and the Board of Directors of the National Quantum Literacy Network.

Nancy Paynter

Principle, Connecting Humans In Health LLC

Seasoned, passionate biopharmaceutical industry leader with demonstrated success in establishing cross-stakeholder collaboratives to advance innovation at the intersection of community translational health and digital technology. Focused on transforming evidence-to-practice solutions and ensuring that all patients receive care experiences that matter.

Phillip Britian

Board Chair, Scaling Montana

Philip Brittan grew up on a ranch east of Livingston MT, earned a degree in Computer Science from Harvard and became a serial entrepreneur, ultimately selling his company to Google and becoming the VP of Engineering for Google Workspace. Prior to Google, he worked for over 30 years as an entrepreneur, CEO, CTO, business leader, innovator, Board member, and adviser. He founded and managed 4 software start-ups, led the fastest growing business unit in Bloomberg, served as CTO and Global Head of Platform for Thomson Reuters, and had an earlier stint at Google heading up Google Finance. Philip is an innovator and an inventor on a number of software patents. He is a certified Financial Risk Manager, a PADI Rescue SCUBA Diver, and of course is Avy 1 certified. Philip loves writing, making music, and outdoor adventures. Philip is an advocate for startups, product innovation, and leadership and proudly serves as the Chairman of the Board of Scaling Montana.

Justin Angle

Founder/Host, “A New Angle,” MTPR/YPR

Justin Angle is an Associate Professor of Marketing and the Poe Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow at the University of Montana College of Business. He earned his Ph.D. and MBA from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and did his undergraduate studies at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His academic research focuses on how people express their identities through their consumption behaviors.

He is also the creator and host of the Edward R Murrow Award winning podcast, “Fireline” and hosts a weekly NPR show, “A New Angle” about cool people doing awesome things in and around Montana.

Jeff Reed

Microsoft Channel Development, Avnet

Jeff Reed brings over 30 years of experience in enterprise and OEM technology, specializing in software and hardware integration. As the leader of North American strategy and customer alliances for Microsoft embedded and IoT solutions at Avnet, Jeff has consistently delivered innovative solutions across industries. His major successes include Microsoft’s Outlook Web Access, Datatec’s AI platform, and Arrow Electronics’ IoT SaaS platform. In addition to his role at Avnet, Jeff serves on multiple boards and runs Reedfly Farm, where he is committed to conservation efforts in Montana’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Arian Lewis

Co-Founder & CEO, Kiln

Arian Lewis is the CEO and co-founder of Kiln, a company revolutionizing the coworking space with a focus on performance and lifestyle enhancement. Under his leadership since 2017, Kiln has created thriving coworking communities that provide resources, programs, and an innovative environment to accelerate the growth of startups. Prior to Kiln, Arian served as Director of Open Innovation at Barclays, where he launched Rise, a global fintech startup community. His career spans expertise in open innovation, corporate-startup collaboration, and creating coworking models that drive growth and co-creation in both physical and digital environments.

Scot Chisolm

CEO, Highland & Haskill Creek

Scott Chisholm is a dynamic multi-time founder and seasoned operator with a strong foundation in industrial engineering and lean six sigma. As the founder of Classy, a leading SaaS platform for nonprofits, Scott helped over 10,000 organizations raise billions annually, culminating in Classy’s acquisition by GoFundMe in 2022. This merger formed the largest giving platform globally, collectively raising over $30 billion. Scott is also the founder of Highland, a community for high-potential founders, and co-founder of ventures like Haskill Creek and Cannabis Counter. He is actively involved in nonprofit leadership, including work with Save Farmland and other charitable organizations.

Chris Neckar

Partner, Two Bear Capital

Cris Neckar is a partner at Two Bear Capital, investing in cybersecurity and the intersection of technology and life sciences. With a strong background in the information security industry, Cris spends his time tackling complex challenges related to data sovereignty, sharing, and security.

Previously, Cris served as the Chief Information Security Officer for Spring Labs, a pioneering technology company known for its decentralized tokenization platform.

Cris was also an original member of Google’s Chrome Security Team, where he contributed to advancements in the hardening of web browsers, attack mitigation technologies, automated and crowd-sourced vulnerability identification, and the discovery of malicious actions and campaigns.

Don't Have Your Tickets Yet? No Problem.

Tickets are still available for the Scaling Montana Summit 2024!

Whether you’re a startup founder, entrepreneur, or simply curious about Montana’s innovation landscape, you won’t want to miss this chance to network with industry leaders, participate in hands-on workshops, and hear from top speakers like David Cohen, CEO of Techstars.

Grab your tickets now and join us for an event packed with insights, inspiration, and opportunities to scale your business to the next level.

Summit 2024 Tickets

Full Access to all masterclass sessions & mainstage speakers
Learn and network with Montana’s best

Founder's Circle

Access Summit after-parties, investor lunches and more

Get exclusive access and special invitations to attend up to four in-person Scaling Montana events per year