AB Profiles - Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center

×

Andres Barrios

Andres is an entrepreneur and angel investor with more than 9 years of experience in the startup scene. He recently sold his tech company to a major telecommunications player and in early 2017 he joined Mountain Nazca as a Managing Partner. Andres has ventured in industries such as real estate, transportation and mobility, health and tech since 2008.During this time he has been active as an Angel investor investing in more than 10 companies.

Before jumping into the entrepreneurial scene he worked in the private equity and investment banking industry for more than 8 years. Andres has a bachelors degree in Civil Engineer from Universidad Iberoamericana and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

×

Brian Cruver

Brian is an entrepreneur, investor, author, and is currently the Founder & Executive Chairman of AlertMedia, a company he started in 2013. AlertMedia is now the world’s leading provider of emergency communication software, used by over 2,500 enterprise companies in 130+ countries to keep employees safe from threats to their health and safety. Before AlertMedia, Brian co-founded Xenex, where he and his team developed a germ-killing robot, now used in over 700 hospitals around the world, preventing infections and saving thousands of lives each year. He is also an investor and adviser to dozens of early stage startups through his investment firm, Marketdriver Ventures. Brian’s focus on starting companies with a positive impact stems, in part, from his experience working at Enron, where he was part of mass layoffs when the energy giant went bankrupt in 2001. He turned his Enron experience and the lessons learned into a best-selling book and later a movie. Brian is a graduate of the University of Southern California and received his MBA from the University of Texas.

×

William Cunningham

Dr. Cunningham served as Dean of the College and Graduate School of Business (1983-85), President of The University of Texas at Austin (1985-1992), and Chancellor of The University of Texas System (1992-2000). Dr. Cunningham serves on a number of public corporate boards including Southwest Airlines, Lincoln Financial, John Hancock Mutual Funds, LIN TV, and Resolute Energy Corporation. His current research interests focus on corporate governance and marketing strategy.

×

Felipe Delgado

Felipe is Co-founder and CFO of Merama. Based in Mexico City and Sao Paolo, Merama builds and grows the largest e-commerce brands in Latin America. While at UT Austin, he received the Walter B. Smith Scholarship and was Vice President for Latin Economics and Business Association (LEBA). Felipe is also a partner and board member at Beetmann, a qualified supplier in the Mexican Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) and a renewable energy plant developer where h was previously CEO and CFO and managed all M&A and structured transactions. Previously he was in Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan and serving as financial consultant to startups in LatAm.

×

Connie Easley

Check back soon for more information…

×

Ed Easley

Check back soon for more information…

×

Billy Freed

Billy is a lifelong entrepreneur, turned investor, who resides in San Antonio. A fourth generation Texan and Dallasite, following graduation from UT in 1981 he joined a family business, Chair King Furniture, bringing that retail concept to the San Antonio and Austin markets. In 1984, he co-founded Travis Telecom, initially the private telephone and cable operator in Dobie Center, and subsequently a long-distance telephone provider in the Austin, San Antonio and Midland-Odessa. In 1989, he co-founded Call Home America, the country’s largest provider of inbound 1-800 telephone services to parents of college students.

Since 1994, he has been a principal in Nueces Partners, a diversified investment partnership with interests in consumer products, energy service, technology, and telecommunications, as well as a substantial real estate portfolio. He’s been a licensed Texas real estate broker since 1986. He also leads a family ranching operation in Bexar and Medina Counties.

A longtime supporter of Entrepreneurial Education, he taught the first Entrepreneurship and Venture Creation course, as an upper division business elective, ever offered at Trinity University, from 1996-2008. Since 2018, he has served as the Investor-in-Residence at Trinity University, in support of both the University and its Entrepreneurship Department.

In 2023, Mr. Freed endowed the Freed Family Pitch Competition, formally DisrupTexas, through the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center (HKEC). He also serves on the advisory board for HKEC, a co-curricular student center within McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

He has served on numerous boards of private companies, bank and non-profit organizations. He is currently the Board Chair of the San Antonio Zoo, and recently completed a term as the Chair of the Texas Cavaliers Charitable Foundation.

×

Frank E. Gordon

Frank serves as the Managing Partner at Crofton Capital, L.P. in Nashville, Tennessee. He served as Vice President of Development and Managed Care of MediSphere Health Partners and has been a Director at Sy.Med Development, Inc. Frank served as Director of Provider Relations at HealthWise of America from 1993 to 1996 and served in this capacity through the acquisition of HealthWise by United HealthCare. He has also held various marketing and development positions with Hospital Corporation of America, Surgical Care Affiliates and Geriatric Medical Care. Frank also serves as a Director of Nashville Capital Network and has been a Director of HealthStream, Inc. since 2002. He serves as a Member of the Investment Committee of NCN Angel Fund I, NCN Angel Fund II, Tennessee Angel Fund and NCN Partners Fund. Frank earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas in Austin and a Master’s in Business Administration from Georgia State University.

×

Dave Heitzer

David Heitzer has over 30 years of experience in the Process and Energy industries. Since 2009, he has served as a lead consultant responsible for BP Energy Retail Company’s overall business origination of large, energy-intensive commercial and industrial clients in major North American electricity markets. Throughout his career, Mr. Heitzer strived to develop unique market offerings in order to creatively optimize solutions for his customers’ evolving needs.

Prior to his contract with BP Energy, Mr. Heitzer was Vice President, Commercial and Industrial for Reliant Energy (NRG Energy) with overall responsibility for electricity supply to these complex business sectors. Earlier in his career, Mr. Heitzer held positions with Air Products and Chemicals, The Parsons Corporation, and IT Corporation. Mr. Heitzer holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware in Newark DE, and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin, TX. He is a Professional Engineer licensed in the State of California and proudly serves on two University of Delaware Advisory Boards, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship, a personal passion.

Outside of his professional responsibilities, Mr. Heitzer maintains additional investments in real estate, high tech, and retail.

×

Eddie King

Eddie King lives in Dallas, TX. He is the founder and CEO of King Architectural Metals which provides material, production and design solutions to metal fabrication industries ranging from decorative staircases and furniture to elevators and light structural applications. Since its inception in 1990, King Metals has grown from a single location in Dallas to a nationwide organization with facilities in California, Texas, Georgia, and Maryland including manufacturing & distribution relationships on 4 continents. Mr. King is also active in real estate development/management.

Mr. King received his BBA in Marketing from The University of Texas at Austin in 1989. He is actively involved in the University of Texas at Austin Alumni Association, American Red Cross Clara Barton Society, YMCA, PHASA Wildlife Conservation Trust, Dallas Safari Club and Young Presidents’ Association. He serves on the boards of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Education Foundation and Journey To Dream Foundation. When not working, he is an avid hunter, conservationist, philanthropist, soccer coach and proud father.

×

Stephen Maeker

Mr. Maeker has extensive director/senior director level experience in franchising with franchising industry leaders Mobil Oil, TGIFriday’s, Jack in the Box and Papa Murphy’s Take N Bake Pizza. He is a nationally published & award winning franchise consultant with industry leader FranChoice. He is a co-author of international best seller <i>Franchising Freedom</i>. He and his wife Christy are also top performing multi-unit franchisees in Sola Salon Studios, one of the 160+ franchisors that he represents. Mr. Maeker has two grown children, Sydney and Barnes, and a French Bulldog named Harold. He and Christy are both elders at Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church in Katy, Texas.

×

Libby Mathai

Check back soon for more information…

×

Thomas Mathai

Thomas Mathai resides in Plano, TX, and serves as the Vice President of Continuous Improvement for the Lakeside Book Company, a portfolio company of Atlas Holdings. With over 20 years of experience in Operations, Thomas has worked with notable organizations such as Valspar Coatings, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, and General Dynamics.

In 2021, Thomas and his wife, Libby, collaborated with the UT Southwestern Medical Foundation to establish the Thomas and Libby Mathai Scholarship for Women in STEM Fund. This scholarship aims to provide financial support to young women pursuing studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) by offering a summer internship through UT Southwestern’s esteemed STARS Program.

Recently, the Mathais extended their philanthropic efforts by funding a scholarship at the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center. Their goal is to fully endow this scholarship in the upcoming year.

Outside of work, Thomas enjoys staying active through workouts, including in oil painting, exploring new destinations, and reading. He also contributes to the community as a board member of the Plano YMCA and actively participates in church and Campus Crusade activities. Thomas and Libby have two sons. Noah studies Biomedical Engineering at UT Austin ’25 and Micah is in High School ’25.

×

Scott Plantowsky

BBA in Finance from UT Austin (1985)
Plantowsky’s Furniture: Vice President and General Manager (Houston, 1986-1993)
BindView Development: SVP, CFO & Director (Houston, 1993-2001)
- Network and systems management software
- Led company through IPO in 1997 and secondary in 1998
- Company acquired by Symantec
rsrfinance – Founder & Manageing Partner (2019)

×

Jay Steinfeld

As founder and CEO of Global Custom Commerce (GCC), Jay was an early mover in e-Commerce. In 1993 he bootstrapped his website, built for just $1500 and operated from his garage, into the world’s #1 online window coverings store, Blinds.com. In January 2014, GCC merged with The Home Depot, when he continued to lead GCC as its CEO and joined the Home Depot Online Leadership Team, driving and integrating GCC’s platform into Home Depot’s interconnected retail strategy.

Jay earned his BBA in Accounting with honors at UT (1976). After working as a CPA at KPMG and VP of Finance at Meineke Mufflers, Inc., in 1987 he and his wife started a small brick and mortar retail store selling custom window coverings. They sold their store in 2001 to go online exclusively.

GCC has been recognized multiple times as The Best Place to Work in Houston, Top 5 Workplaces in Texas, one of the 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in America, the American Marketing Association Marketer of the Year, and many others. Jay is an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and has earned a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Houston Technology Center.

Jay is currently on the Innovation Board of The XPRIZE, whose mission is to bring about “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity”, an Entrepreneur in Residence at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, serves on the Advisory Council at The University of Texas’ Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center, is on multiple start-up boards, and supports numerous charities.

Jay still sings enthusiastically in his barbershop quarter, formed on campus in 1972 with three fellow UT students, called The 40 Acre 4.

×

Matt Thomas

Matthew Thomas is an entrepreneur who has spent most of his career working in Austin-based start-ups with a particular focus on Education Technology and Software-as-a-Service. Most recently he co-founded AcademicWorks, which provides cloud-based software to help colleges, universities, and community foundations manage their scholarship processes while increasing donor engagement. That’s a fancy way of saying that AcademicWorks encourages the virtuous cycle of giving by ensuring that scholarship dollars are used to help kids pay for college while recognizing donors for their impact and contribution so that they will in turn be inclined to help more students.

In April 2017, AcademicWorks was acquired by Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB).

Prior to AcademicWorks, Matthew had the privilege of serving in several capacities, including the executive management team, at Austin-based PeopleAdmin, which was sold to Summit Partners in 2008.

Outside of entrepreneurial endeavors, you’ll usually find Matthew running around Lady Bird Lake or fighting his way through a marathon with Nutella to make up for the homebrew he just finished. You’ll also likely see him at an Entreprenuers’ Organization event, which is always filled with fantastic and inspiring people.

×

Quoc V. Tran, COO, MBA

Quoc is the COO for Mia Labs, Inc. where he is focused on scaling a startup that handles sales automation for car dealerships.

Previously, Quoc has worked as an entrepreneur for a variety of startups. His first startup was a no-code mobile-app creation platform that grew to 100m MAU and at one point powered 11% of all apps on the iOS App Store. He was previously the CFO for FarBridge, Inc, a startup that built immersive experiences in VR. Before that, he was VP of Operations for SURVIVR, which enabled police trainees to learn life-or-death skills within the safety of a virtual reality environment.

You can connect with Quoc on LinkedIn here.

×

Michael Tucci

After 20 years in retail and merchandising executive leadership, Michael Tucci founded Rebel Capital, a growth investment company, in 2016. His previous roles include CEO and managing partner of Rag & Bone, president of North America Group and North America Retail for Coach, Inc., and executive vice president at Gap. Michael began his career at Macy’s, where he became president of specialty store division, Aeropostale. Michael is an advisor for Allbirds, a direct-to-consumer shoe brand and past director of The Fresh Market. He is the chief of corporate development and a board member of the STEER for Student Athletes, a committee member of Trinity College’s The Future of Athletics Campaign. He lives in Rye, New York with his wife Kim and they have four children, including Ellis Tucci, a finance major in McCombs.

Shaping our

VISION

MEET OUR ADVISORS

Andres Barrios

Brian Cruver

William Cunningham

Felipe Delgado

Connie Easley

Ed Easley

Billy Freed

Frank Gordon

Dave Heitzer

Eddie King

Stephen Maeker

Libby Mathai

Thomas Mathai

Scott Plantowsky

Jay Steinfeld

Matt Thomas

Quoc Tran

Michael Tucci

Andres Barrios

Brian Cruver

William Cunningham

Felipe Delgado

Connie Easley

Ed Easley

Billy Freed

Frank E. Gordon

Dave Heitzer

Eddie King

Stephen Maeker

Libby Mathai

Thomas Mathai

Scott Plantowsky

Jay Steinfeld

Matt Thomas

Quoc V. Tran, COO, MBA

Michael Tucci