Neil Senturia, the creator and host, has more than 25 years of diverse entrepreneurial endeavors. His wide range of experiences includes starting two software companies, serving as CEO of a third, developing real estate, and writing for popular television sit-coms.

Currently, he is the CEO of Blackbird Ventures , which invests in real estate development and emerging technology companies

In 2003-2004, Neil was the CEO of Soflinx Corporation, a software and systems integration company providing monitoring and control solutions through wireless sensor and device networks (WSN). The company was funded by In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the CIA, and was sold to Lockheed Martin in 2004. Before joining Soflinx he was the founding
CEO of Mohomine, a software company focused on the management of unstructured data. Founded in January 2000, Mohomine was sold in March 2003 to Irvine based Kofax Image Products. Prior to Mohomine, Mr. Senturia was the co-founder and CEO of Atcom/Info, the pioneer in internet and e-mail kiosks and high speed internet access in hotel rooms. The company was sold in September 1999 in a deal valued at more than $80 million and is currently owned by Cisco Systems, Inc.

From 1985-1995, Neil focused on real estate development of office, condominiums and hotels in Los Angeles and San Diego and built more than 1.8 million square feet of commercial and residential space. From 1980-1985, he was an executive in the financial services industry and worked in real estate syndication. Prior to that, he was a television and screen writer and wrote for shows such as M*A*S*H, Alice, and Tony Randall among others.

Neil is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at San Diego State University where he teaches new venture creation and has served on the board of directors of SDSU’s Entrepreneurial Management Center. Currently, he also co-teaches an entrepreneurship class at the University of San Diego. He is a member of San Diego Social Venture Partners and UCSD Chancellors’ Associates.

Honors and awards include:

• Winner, 1997 Microsoft Retail Application Developer Award
• Winner, 1998 Microsoft Retail Application Developer Award
• Winner, 1998 Arnie Karush Award from the San Diego Software and Internet Council
• Winner, 1998 UCSD CONNECT Most Innovative Product Award

Neil graduated from Tufts University with a B.A. degree in English and received a masters’ degree in cinema from New York University. He was a Fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and served in the U.S. Army from which he received an honorable discharge. He is married to Barbara Bry, and the couple has four children between the ages of 20 and 24.

Barbara Bry, the chief operating officer of Blackbird Ventures, has been on the founding team of two companies and three nonprofit organizations. Barbara was a co-founder of Atcom, the leader in developing internet kiosks and high speed internet access in hotel rooms. The company was sold in 1999 in a transaction valued at $80 million and is now owned by Cisco. In addition, Barbara was on the founding management team of Proflowers.com, which completed a successful initial public offering in December 2003 as Provide Commerce (PRVD)

Barbara is also the founder of UCSD Athena, San Diego’s premier organization for women technology executives and entrepreneurs. She spent 10 years at the University of California, San Diego where she was the first associate director of CONNECT, which has received international recognition for its efforts in linking technology entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success. Most recently, she served as the founding editor and CEO of Voice of San Diego, an innovative news and information Web site which has been featured nationally for its leadership in community based journalism.

In the community, Barbara is a member of San Diego Rotary Club 33, the San Diego Women’s Foundation and San Diego Social Venture Partners. She was a member of the Business Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and has taught entrepreneurship classes at the University of San Diego and UC San Diego Extension.

Barbara’s early career was as a business and political writer for the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times. She has a B.A. degree in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and a masters’ degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. She is married to entrepreneur Neil Senturia, and the couple has four children between the ages of 20 and 24.