Team

Damion Hankejh has founded, invested in, and advised startup ventures for more than two decades.

Damion invented Internet customer service before IBM even coined the term eCommerce. Under his direction, Ingk Labs developed and deployed InstantService, the first carrier-class Internet telecommunications platform for live agent customer service. Oracle acquired InstantService in a $1 billion rollup.

His career began as a prodigal teenager in the research and development lab at HP, where he served as the company's youngest systems analyst. He later built bleeding edge telemedicine/robotics and enterprise software startups into profitable companies and completed acquisitions to industry leaders.

At Ingk Labs, he is focused on advising select startups with his partners and overseeing all engineering and technology architecture based on a common platform for the company's portfolio of Web-based service ventures.

Damion was honored as a Smithsonian Laureate for his work as founding CTO of Virtual Operating Room (now Swedish Medical), a pioneering research project at the nexus of medicine, robotics and networked technology which set the stage for the first fully accredited virtual operating rooms worldwide.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with an emphasis on Massively Parallel Computing Architectures, Machine Intelligence, and Physics.

@hankejh  |  LinkedIn  |  Crunchbase  |  angel.co

For more than 20 years, Craig Alberino has helped companies implement innovative strategies that produce transformative business success. His longstanding work with technology companies is focused on accelerating their growth from startup to market-leader status. Craig founded Ingk Labs in 1996 and launched InstantService, the first carrier-class Internet telecommunications platform for live-agent customer service, which was acquired by Oracle in 2011.

Craig has worked closely with angel and venture communities through his work with the New York New Media Association and its Venture Downtown and Angel Investor programs. For the last decade, he has advised top agencies within the Omnicom, WPP and Publicis holding companies such as Oglivy and Ketchum on digital leadership, helping shape business and marketing strategies for clients FedEx, Kinko's and Monster.com.

He began his career in management consulting in the early 1990s advising Fortune 500 companies on business strategy, intellectual property, and marketing. While at Accenture, Craig incubated startups for numerous corporations, helping them to harvest IP and find value through licensing and selling technology. His clients included Goldman Sachs, UBS, MCI, Digex, AT&T and the Associated Press. Early in his career, Craig built GE's first patent-record database and launched GE.com, one of the world's first commercial websites.

With concentrations in Marketing and Psychology, Craig holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from The University of Connecticut.

@craigalberino  |  LinkedIn  |  Crunchbase  |  angel.co

Lorenzo Thione was the founder of Powerset (now Microsoft Bing), a disruptive natural language search engine that gives consumers a more natural search platform over conventional keyword queries. Funded by notable Silicon Valley venture firms and angel investors, Powerset was acquired by Microsoft in 2008. Lorenzo then served as the principal program manager in charge of the Powerset division of Bing, Microsoft's decision engine for Web search.

Lorenzo continues to be an active angel investor and advisor to Silicon Valley and New York startups, including Ingk Labs entire portfolio and Dolores Labs, an innovative San Francisco startup maker of Crowdflower, a scalable platform for human-based computing and crowdsourcing.

Lorenzo is a founding board member of StartOut, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering and developing entrepreneurship within the LGBT community. A native of Milan, Lorenzo came to the U.S. at the age of 21 to complete his studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the only non-PhD member of Xerox PARC, where he initiated his research for Powerset. Lorenzo holds a M.S. in Computer Engineering, and has co-authored several publications on software engineering and computational linguistics.

@thione

Matt Levin is VP, Business Development for Payz responsible for strategic partnerships and growth initiatives, and additionally acts as consultant to Ingk Labs.

Prior to Payz & Ingk, Matt worked with Ericsson in South Africa, working in business development & strategic initiatives for mobile operators across the 44 countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

Previously, he was the first consulting hire with P:Cubed, a leading South African financial technology startup focusing on analytics and insight for the banking industry. Before relocating to South Africa, Matt worked in Mergers & Acquisitions for Borland Software, and ran Worldwide Sales Strategy & Operations for CodeGear, a Borland spin-off company, as part of the founding team.

Matt began his career as a management consultant in San Francisco with in the Financial Services Practice of BearingPoint (acquired by PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and with The Alexander Group Inc., a leading sales strategy & effectiveness management consultancy.

Matt has lived in the USA, Europe, and South Africa, and has extensive project experience across North & South America, Western Europe, East Asia & India, and Africa.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley, and spent most of 2008 riding a motorcycle solo across Africa from Cape Town to Morocco through 16 countries along the West coast of the continent.

@mblevin

Ashley's career has included manufacturing of components, electronics, entrepreneurial startups, and running a media practice, all coupled with over 10 years living and working in Europe, Asia and Central America. With a background in finance, she has landed in digital advertising due to her love of technology and ability to navigate and scale new channels to market.

She most recently led the iTV practice at Digitas New York and the Global Samsung.com business. Leveraging her legacy building scalable advertising solutions in emerging channels like Mobile and Video Games, Ashley has recently founded Furious Minds, a collective of talent to provide, consulting, advisory and monetization strategies for companies whose revenue streams are advertising related or live within the converged ecosystem of iTV. Furious Minds is intended to be a platform to lead by example to get more women in technology, on boards and funded. She lives in NYC and practices what she preaches; in her living room is an HDMI hub, connected to 5 OTT devices and her Samsung Smart TV, having cut the cord earlier this year.

Ashley holds a B.S. in Finance from the Stern School at NYU and MBA from RSM, The Netherlands.

@RedFuryNYC

Hagan Blount is an entrepreneur in residence at Ingk Labs where he provides strategic guidance and business development counsel to the company and its stable of portfolio ventures. He brings to bear more than a decade of experience in sales and marketing, private equity, and finance.

Hagan has been featured repeatedly in Mashable, Fast Company, Yahoo Finance, Portfolio, Business Insider, US News, Monster.com, and other media outlets for his marketing strategy and infographic resumes. His groundbreaking infographic CV has received more than 5-million views.

Blount has been tapped to lead specialized marketing and sales programs by SM4R, The Morris + King Company, Wandering Foodie and other companies. Previously Hagan worked in the telecommunications industry with a leading worldwide provider of wireless and broadcast. He is well known for his ability to assimilate and explain complex ideas in layman's terms.

Hagan holds a B.S. in Management with an emphasis on Finance/MIS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

@hagan

Jason Stone is a self-driven investor with a wide array of experience in the management consulting and investment advisory industries. He previously worked at Acquis Consulting Group, spending the majority of his time on site at The College Board, where he served as a full-time investment advisor to College Board's strategic initiatives fund.

Prior to Acquis, Jason worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he created innovative solutions for financial analyses aimed at improving Capital Asset valuations and contract offerings for the U.S. Department of Interior. Jason also spent time in London working for a green energy fund, specializing in private placements for solar, wind and hydro power initiatives.

Jason graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.A. in Financial Economics, concentration in Applied Econometrics, and a certificate in Management Studies.

At Ingk Labs, Jason's extensive finance and management background coupled with his highly focused academic concentrations have provided him with the essential tools to be an integral part of our team. During his time with Ingk, Jason has structured deals, devised financial models, and advised senior leadership on fund operations.

David Ecker previously worked in the Securities and Finance Practice at NERA Economic Consulting, a leading economic consulting firm. He conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses on various financial products in support of securities litigation for major international institutional clients. In addition, during his employment at NERA, David passed the CFA Level 1 exam on his first attempt.

Prior to his employment at NERA, he attended the University of Rochester, where he graduated cum laude with a double major in Economics and Mathematics.

At Ingk Labs, David uses the research and analytical skills acquired throughout his work experience to conduct due diligence, financial modeling, and monitoring the performance of Ingk's vast portfolio.

Matias is a senior at Columbia University double majoring in Economics and Hispanic Studies, who is graduating in May. He is currently taking his economics seminar with Professor Richard Clarida, the renowned economist who served two terms as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

Matias's studies at Columbia focus on the economic development of Latin America. His work experiences include a Transfer Pricing internship at PwC in Montevideo, Uruguay, as well as, an internship at Twin Capital Management, a hedge fund that specializes in merger arbitrage.

At Ingk Labs, Matias integrates his studies to conduct research on areas significant to Ingk's vast portfolio of companies. He plans to join the team full time after his graduation.

Richard Ouyang is a communications leader focused on fostering innovation in Fortune 1000 companies. With an extensive track record joining entrepreneurs with established brands, he currently leads digital strategy for Peppercom, a leading communications agency based in New York.

From managing eco-philanthropic efforts related to brand marketing for ABSOLUT Vodka, to directing corporate communications for the spinoff and NYSE listing of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, to repositioning the City of Las Vegas as a luxury destination, Richard has successfully aligned disparate marketing programs and partnerships to build powerful brand equity for his clients.

Previously Richard held various account-strategy roles at Ketchum and Interpublic, as well as programming and development positions with E! Entertainment. His clients have included T.G.I. Friday's, the City of Las Vegas, ABSOLUT Vodka, Best Buy, FedEx, Baccarat, and other iconic brands.

Richard holds a B.S. in Finance from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah.

@richardouyang

Lewis is a Managing Partner at Metamorphic Ventures, a NYC based seed fund focused on B2B technology ventures in digital media and transaction processing services.

Lewis has over 15 years of experience founding, investing in and advising start-up ventures. Prior to founding Metamorphic Ventures, Lewis was the founder and CEO of Worldly Information Network (WIN), a publisher of digital financial information to both the retail and institutional markets founded in partnership with AOL. Lewis successfully raised angel and venture capital, grew WIN into a profitable company and completed several acquisitions before its sale; but more importantly, he experienced all the ups and downs that every start-up goes through. Lewis graduated from San Diego State University with a BA in English & Political Science and later received his JD and Masters in Intellectual Property Law from the UNH School of Law. During the interim, Lewis was an accomplished athlete, competing in Ironman triathlons, marathons and ultra-marathons worldwide while writing free lance articles on the events as well as doing computer work to pay the bills.

Lewis is a member of the bar of the State of New York as well as the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Lewis is also a trustee of the UNH School of Law, an internationally recognized leader in intellectual property education.

Jessica Hardwick is a 17-year Internet and digital media veteran specializing in the development and execution of innovative strategies for interactive media and marketing, with an emphasis on content-driven consumer Internet, Web 2.0 and mobile properties. Known for her creative insight and extensive hands-on experience, Jessica founded and led two novel Internet startups over the past decade, SwapThing and geek2chic.com.

Most recently, Jessica was the head of online marketing for Webs.com, where she led integrated online marketing and revenue optimization programs. Her work at Webs.com was pivotal to the company's recent acquisition by Vistaprint. As the founder and CEO of SwapThing, she launched a revolutionary online cashless commerce platform for the trade and barter of any combination of items and services between consumers and small businesses. In building SwapThing from the ground up, Jessica incorporated grass roots marketing strategies that successfully generated more than three million listed items and 180,000 registered users for the service. Additionally, she developed one of the first systems to match advertising to content as the founder and CEO of geek2chic.com, an innovative online community offering interest-based e-commerce opportunities around entertainment, sports, and technology. Jessica also has held various management positions at SGI, E.piphany, Chordiant, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

She received her B.C.S. in Economics from Santa Clara University.

Peter Dickstein is a seasoned entrepreneurial CEO, CFO and Advisor with a 25 year record of operating, capitalizing, building and realizing enterprise value for venture-funded companies in the medical device, technology and cleantech industries. Peter has advised, structured, negotiated and closed numerous equity, debt, corporate strategic and non-dilutive financings as well as M&A transactions for entrepreneurial technology companies.

Leveraging his deep experience, expertise and network, Peter engages with investors, boards and CEOs of private entrepreneurial technology companies seeking to access stage-appropriate and situation-specific capital as well as corporate strategic partners. His approach is dictated by the needs and goals of the entrepreneurial company. Peter works with an ever-evolving, diverse and dynamic universe of funding sources that include corporations with strategic interests and non-traditional sources of equity, debt and non-dilutive capital.

As a technology entrepreneur himself, Peter understands how emerging companies work and can benefit tremendously by accessing the right amount of capital from the right sources at the right time. Peter is a a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. in Economics and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Scott Neslund is a 23-year media and marketing executive with a substantial background in agency management. He is noted for his work as a leader of media agencies in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has successfully engineered corporate turnaround initiatives, in addition to leading media and marketing, integrated digital, and large-scale sales revenue programs.

Currently president at Moxie Interactive in New York City, Scott previously served in various executive roles at digital media and marketing services agencies. As CEO at Red Bricks Media, CEO at Mindshare North America, and president at StarLink MediaVest Group, he led client-side strategy, search marketing, analytics, Web development, mobile and social marketing programs.His international expertise includes the launch of Starcom Canada, a spin-out from Leo Burnett's media department services. He previously served in various executive positions at Leo Burnett, including vice president and international media director in Toronto and Tokyo. He was also a media director in the Milan office for Leo Burnett, and a media supervisor in Chicago.Scott received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a B.A. in Communications and Marketing from Indiana University at Bloomington.

@scottneslund

Co-founder and longtime CEO of the celebrated research and media firm Jupiter Research, Gene DeRose is a well-known entrepreneur and technology industry tastemaker. He spent 12 years building Jupiter Communications / Media Metrix into a $100 million public company with the help of hundreds of brilliant, passionate colleagues.

He is an active investor, board member, chairman or advisor to a half dozen Internet companies and non-profit organizations. His current ventures include Skymarker, a seed-funded mobile software startup, and WANT!, a new mobile app that allows users to playfully express themselves by capturing, sharing and remembering things they want. He also serves as chairman at Opengate, a non-profit organization which, through its facilities and services, is devoted to providing lifelong residency care and day programs for developmentally disabled adults.

Gene co-founded House Party in 2005 with colleague Parker Reilly, a well-known alternative marketing specialist, to use Web-based tools and an online presence to generate a powerful viral impact for clients and partners. Each House Party event mobilizes thousands of real-world, in-home parties occurring on the same day around a theme, topic, or media event.

He holds a B.A. in English Literature and History from The University of Virginia.

@genederose