The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of WRAL Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Who will receive the 15 “Full Steam Ahead Awards” from WRAL Tech Wire on Thursday night? Well, The Skinny can’t tell you that today.
But the finalists in each category can be, and this is an intriguing mix of veteran and young entrepreneurs as well as companies. The finalists represent the best of the Triangle and North Carolina, from the newest tech and applications to medical research.
We’re playing off a railroad theme as we celebrate North Carolina’s tech and life science industries as well as groups and organizations that support tech or utilize the latest in IT to transform their businesses.
Our panel of judges (entrepreneurs, executives, investors – i.e. people who really know the business) first nominated then narrowed the field in each of the following categories:
- Mogul – Top investor/owner
- Conductor – Board chairman
- Engineer – CEO
- Fireman – COO (operations)
- Brakeman – CFO (spending)
- Signalman – CIO/CTO (technology/information)
- Rookie – Top entrepreneur
- Steward – Mentor/advisor to startups
- Yardmaster – Developer/visionary driving regional development and/or a type of technology
- Inventor – Creator/mastermind
The finalists:
I. THE MOGUL
- Southern Capitol Ventures
- Jim Goodmon and Capitol Broadcasting
- IDEA Fund Partners/NC Idea
- Intersouth Partners/Dennis Dougherty and Mitch Mumma
II. THE CONDUCTOR
- Jim Goodnight, SAS
- Dennis Gillings, Quintiles
- Ping Fu, Geomagic
- David Jones, Peak 10
III. THE ENGINEER
- Michael Capps, Epic Games
- Joe Colopy, Bronto Software
- Steve Wiehe, SciQuest
- Scot Wingo, ChannelAdvisor
- Jud Bowman, Appia
- Joe Freddoso, MCNC
- Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat
IV. THE FIREMAN
- David Spitz, ChannelAdvisor
- Tommy Jacobson, MCNC
- Scott Frederick, Automated Insights
V. THE BRAKEMAN
- Charlie Peters, Red Hat
- John Kuntzweil, Cree
- Pat Moody, MCNC
- Toby Walter, Shoeboxed
VI. THE SIGNALMAN
- Jeff Stovall, City of Charlotte
- Gail Roper, City of Raleigh
- DeLisa Alexander, Red Hat
- Tim Sweeney, Epic
- Keith Collins, SAS
- Robert Hubbard, Reverb Nation
VII. THE ROOKIE/TOP ENTREPRENEUR
- Jud Bowman, Appia
- Aaron Houghton, iContact and BoostSuite
- Jesse Lipton, ShareFile
- Robbie Allen, Automated Insight
VIII. THE STEWARD/MENTOR
- Chris Heivly and Dave Neal, Triangle Startup Factory
- Tom Miller, N.C. State
- Joan Siefert Rose and Council for Entrepreneurial Development team
- John Austin, Joystick Labs
IX. THE YARDMASTER
- Pam Lewis, Venture AVL, Asheville
- Michael Goodmon, Capitol Broadcasting
- Charles Hamner, The Hamner Institutes
X. THE INVENTOR
- Joe DeSimone, UNC and NCSU, multiple ventures
- Cliff Bleszinski, Epic Games
- Aaron Houghton, iContact and BoostSuite
CORPORATE
The Corporate finalists:
I. The Express – Non-stop on way to success
- Argyle Social
- Appia
- Sharefile
- Bandwidth.com
II. The Turnaround – (The railroad turntable, turning engines around to run in opposite direction) – A rebuilt, refocused or restructured company
- Metabolon
- SciQuest
- Lenovo
III. The Golden Spike – A solid, grind-it-out day-to-day company
- Bronto
- ChannelAdvisor
- Red Hat
- SAS
IV. The Subway – A company emerging from stealth mode or relative obscurity
- Xanofi
- 519 Games
- Fitsistant
- Two Toasters
- Semprius
- BoostSuite
V. Riding The Third Rail – A company achieving success on a deadly “third rail” where other companies have tried and failed
- Bandwidth.com
- Netsertive
- MCNC
Don’t forget People’s Choice
We also will honor a “People’s Choice” award winner. You can vote once for one individual, and that person doesn’t have to be on the list of finalists or the initial candidates. Send your vote to me (rsmith@wral.com).
So who will the winners be?
Join us Thursday, May 24, at the Fullsteam Brewery in Durham and find out.
You need to register today. There’s no charge – but space is limited.
Finally, we also will have a “people’s choice” winner – someone nominated and selected by Tech Wire readers.
