Caryn is Techli’s Editor-in-Chief. She is a writer who loves sharing stories of innovation, no matter the location. She has her masters in mass communication from SIUE and has been in corporate marketing for 6+ years, working on campaigns for all kinds of products. When she’s not writing, you can find her hitting the trail as an avid runner and general sports enthusiast.

Josh Brown is an attorney specializing in franchise law for startups. He has worked with hundreds of entreprenuers to launch and grow franchises and other startups.

Gary Swart is the CEO of oDesk, the world’s largest online workplace—which has more than 4 million freelancers, and on which more than $1 billion of work has been done. Gary is a thought leader in entrepreneurship; how best to hire and manage teams; and the future of work, including online work. He is passionate about helping small businesses thrive, fueled by his extensive experience working with startups and small businesses that use oDesk, as well as by mentoring entrepreneurs and business school students. Gary has spoken at the Inc. Leadership Conference, The Economist’s Ideas Economy panel, South by Southwest, TechCrunch 50, TiECon, GigaOM’s Net:Work Conference in 2010 and 2011, and at Harvard Business School which teaches a case study on oDesk. His commentary has appeared in a variety of publications including Forbes, TechCrunch and The Washington Post. He has also appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including BBC, National Public Radio, and the Fox Business program “After the Bell.” Previously, he led SMB Sales for the Americas at IBM’s Rational Software Product Group, and also served as VP of Worldwide Sales at Intellibank, where he was responsible for leading the sales organization.

Patrick Riley currently oversees the Global Accelerator Network which is an affiliation of short-term mentorship-driven accelerators started by TechStars. He started his career working for W.L. Gore and Associates and moved into the leadership of the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. Patrick left the Red Cross to manage the west coast sales and operations for a venture backed healthcare technology company. Following his passion to support start-up companies around the world, Patrick moved into his current role at the Global Accelerator Network. Outside of work, he recently finished his MBA at the University of Colorado and enjoys spending time with his wife, bike riding, traveling, and skiing around Colorado.

Austin Allred is the founder of Grasswire, who moved from Utah to the Valley and lived in his car for 3 months until raising capital.

Alex Harris is the president of Alex Designs LLC. He graduated from FSU in 1998, then worked as Creative Director at eDiets.com from 2000-2011. In 2001, Alex Harris began doing conversion rate optimization and designing landing pages. The diet subscription website was a top 10 advertiser during this time and we created one of the first “Free Diet Profiles”. This profile came to be know as a conversion funnel. Alex managed all the creative for the conversion funnel. This included optimization of landing pages, emails, banners and affiliate programs.

MICHEAL J. BURT represents the new age leader: the Zebra and the Cheetah. Part coach, part entrepreneur, and all leader, Coach Burt is the go-to guy for entrepreneurs who want to become people of interest, salespeople who want to be superstars, and managers who want to be coaches. He is a former championship coach and the author of nine books. His radio show, Change Your Life Radio, can be heard globally on iheart.com (WLAC). Follow Coach Burt at www.coachburt.com. His client list ranges from small entrepreneurial firms to multi-billion dollar companies such as Dell, INC., State Farm Insurance, National Health Care, Vanderbilt University, TRICOR, FirstBank, and many others.

Alex Lawrence has been launching and growing successful companies for more than 20 years. His most recent partnership, Lendio, ranks #34 on the Inc. 500 list. He is also the Vice Provost of Innovation and Economic Development as well as the Interim Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics, both at Weber State University, where he teaches real-world strategies that are based on cutting edge, proven approaches used in todays business. He also is a regular contributor on Entrepreneurship for Forbes Magazine. and been featured on TechCrunch, 40 under 40 Top Entrepreneurs, V100 Top 100 Technology Entrepreneurs, E-50 Top 50 Social Entrepreneurs, WSU Entrepreneur Alumni of the Year.

Monica Selby is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Nibletz Media, Inc. She is a Mississippi native and got her start in the Memphis startup scene. A proud graduate of Ole Miss, Monica’s writing as been featured in publications like Under30CEO, Young Entrepreneur, and Fast Company. Now, as editor-in-chief, she is passionate about the potential of startups outside Silicon Valley. When she’s not working or parenting, you can find her with a book and a glass of wine (or two).

Joshua is the CEO and Founder of Chop Dawg, full service company lined up with leading designers and developers that take ideas from concept and turn them into reality. Chop Dawg helps create startups for inspiring entrepreneurs by providing them with a wide range of services including web and mobile development, branding and marketing strategies.

While most teenagers are busy getting their drivers license, he founded Chop Dawg at the ripe age of 16. Shortly after, at the age of 20, he went on to launch his second company, Subtle.