Roy Spence
Co-Founder and Chairman,
GSD&M
Roy Spence is Co-Founder and Chairman of GSD&M, a national and leading marketing communications and advertising company.

He is also now Co-Founder and CEO of The Purpose Institute, a consulting firm whose purpose is to help people and organizations discover and live their purpose. Along with Haley Rushing, Roy co-authored the Wall Street Journal bestselling book, It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose.
Under Roy's leadership, his agency has helped grow some of the world's most successful brands like "Don't Mess with Texas", Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, DreamWorks, the PGA TOUR, BMW, the U.S. Air Force, LLBean and the Clinton Global Initiative. Roy has been a trusted advisor to legendary leaders including Sam Walton and Southwest Airlines founder, Herb Kelleher. His council has also been sought by U.S. presidents and leaders in the State Department and Department of Defense.
Roy has been named Ad Man of the Year and Idea Man of the Century.

Roy has been married 33 years and has three children--Courtney, Ashley and Shay. He is a member of the board of directors of the Conscious Capitalism Institute, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation and is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas.

And finally, Roy's passion is entrepreneurship. He deeply believes that entrepreneurship is the Miracle of America. His mantra is "Don't Do Mild" in work or life; follow your dreams, follow your passion and follow your purpose.



Kip Tindell
Chairman & CEO,
The Container Store
Kip Tindell has been at the helm of The Container Store since it first opened its doors in Dallas in 1978 - creating the first ever store devoted solely to storage and organization products. The company has locations from coast to coast, a thriving Web site and 2011 fiscal year sales projected to approach $650 million. But for Tindell, the goal never has been growth for growth's sake. Rather, it's to adhere to a fundamental set of corporate values centered around an employee-first culture, strict merchandising and superior customer service. Success has been the natural and inevitable result. Tindell continues to embody the unique corporate culture he created, and has nurtured a fierce employee loyalty that has landed the company on FORTUNE magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" 13 years in a row.

Tindell is actively involved in the community dedicating time and resources to the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and Dallas' Save the Cathedral campaign. Tindell also serves on the board of Whole Foods Market (WFMI), the National Retail Federation's executive board and chairs the National Retail Federation's Foundation. He is a leader and passionately involved in Conscious Capitalism, Inc., a community of like-minded business, thought and academic leaders working to facilitate knowledge sharing and networking, in service of advancing the broader Conscious Capitalism Movement.



David Gardner
Co-founder & Chief Rule Breaker,
The Motley Fool
One of the country's most respected and trusted sources on investing, David Gardner co-founded The Motley Fool with his brother, Tom, in 1993. As Chief Rule Breaker, David wears many hats including innovator, stock picker, author, lecturer, and media personality. David graduated as a Morehead Scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1988, and wrote for Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street newsletter before starting The Motley Fool. He has received the University's prestigious "Distinguished Young Alumni Award." Since 1999, David has been a member of the NYSE's Individual Investors Advisory Committee. Since 2004, David has served on the Board of Governors of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Among his many accomplishments at The Motley Fool, David is perhaps most proud of his conception and development of Motley Fool CAPS.



Clayton Christopher
Co-Founder & CEO,
Deep Eddy Vodka
Clayton Christopher, the founder and former CEO of Sweet Leaf Tea, is busier than ever with his new venture: Deep Eddy Vodka.

Clayton took a $10,000 investment when he was 25 and turned it into Sweet Leaf, which was bought by Nestle last year for a hefty sum. He went a long way from brewing his tea with Wal-Mart pillow cases in 50-gallon crawfish pots.

Now the dynamic entrepreneur and avid sailor is making waves in the liquor industry with Deep Eddy Vodka, another company becoming the epitome of Austin business.

Come hear Clayton's inspiring and amazing stories of entrepreneurship and get to know him like never before at April's Face 2 Face event.



Brett Hurt
Founder, CEO & President,
Bazaarvoice
Brett Hurt is a serial Internet entrepreneur at the helm of one of America's fastest-growing companies: Bazaarvoice.

As the founder, CEO and president, Brett took this dynamic Web startup public this year after it grew to power customer reviews on thousands of retailers' websites - 50 billion user-generated reviews and counting.

Brett's commitment to the ultimate corporate culture makes Bazaarvoice a perennial winner of the Best Places to Work contest, and he's not shy about sharing the ingredients to his secret sauce.



Tim League
Founder & CEO,
The Alamo Drafthouse
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema was recently named "the best theater ever" by Time Magazine, and the chain is growing coast-to-coast. Hear founder and CEO Tim League share his exciting story of leaving the oil fields at a young age to turn a love for movies into a career. It was a long, sometimes ugly road that put him on a path to success. In addition to the theaters, Alamo Drafthouse is emerging as a mini-movie empire and has spawned Drafthouse Films, Fantastic Fest, BadassDigest.com, Rolling Roadshow Tour and a collectible art boutique called Mondo.



Jose A. Zaglul
President,
EARTH University
Jose A. Zaglul is the president of EARTH University, an international nonprofit in Costa Rica that trains people to be civic and entrepreneurial leaders. Since EARTH opened in 1990, it has reached out to the poor in rural communities throughout Latin America. Zaglul and his team offers them an education, instills values, and spurs entrepreneurial thinking with a strong social and environmental focus so they can return to their countries and communities as agents of change.



Brian Sharples
Co-founder & CEO,
HomeAway
Sharples co-founded HomeAway with Carl Shepherd in February 2005. Since then, he has raised nearly $405 million in private funding and acquired 17 websites, to create the world's leading online marketplace of vacation rentals.

Sharples is the former president and chief executive officer of IntelliQuest Information Group, a supplier of marketing data and research to Fortune 500 technology companies. While there, he pioneered the development of subscription-based statistical research services and electronic survey systems. He also completed two successful public offerings and the subsequent sale of Intelliquest.

An expert in technology brand strategy, Sharples has counseled several leading companies, including Apple, Microsoft and Dell. He also created the IntelliQuest Brand Tech Forum Conference, which became an industry-leading symposium, and served as a consultant at Bain & Company early in his career.

He earned a bachelor's degree in math and economics from Colby College and a master's degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Sharples serves on the Board of Directors for KAYAK, WhaleShark Media, Austin Habitat for Humanity and KLRU.



Matt Chasen
Founder & CEO,
uShip
As CEO, Matt leads uShip's executive team in the company's mission to create the most efficient marketplace for shipping that has ever existed.

The idea for uShip was hatched in 2002 when Matt moved from Seattle to Austin in a half-full rented moving truck and has since grown into a global online transport marketplace. In 2010, Matt was a finalist for Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in Central Texas, and in 2011 earned top honors in the Austin Under40 business and entrepreneur category. Prior to founding uShip, Matt spent five years in business development and engineering roles at The Boeing Company in Seattle, Wash. He helped assess the technical and financial viability of new ventures including broadband in-flight Internet access and a theater ballistic missile defense system. Matt also led the avionics integration effort for the F-22 fighter aircraft and evaluated research proposals for NASA.

Matt attended the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his MBA in May 2004. During business school, while turning the uShip idea into reality, Matt interned for the Austin office of Hunt Ventures where he evaluated new investment proposals. In addition to his MBA, Matt has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. uShip is currently in their second season of filming A&E's Shipping Wars which airs Tuesdays at 9/8c.



Bert Jacobs
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Optimist,
The Life is good Company
Bert Jacobs is co-founder and Chief Executive Optimist of The Life is good Co. in Boston. This private business spreads positive vibes through its colorful collection of apparel and accessories and through its social mission to help kids overcome poverty, violence and illness. In 1994, with just $78 in the bank, Bert and his brother John officially launched Life is good. Today, Life is good products are sold by over 4,500 retailers nationwide - proving that "optimism can take you anywhere." Bert has appeared on CNN's Tips from the Top, CNBC's Business Nation, and The Donny Deutsch Show. Life is good has been featured on ABC News Nightline, NBC's The Today Show, in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Inc Magazine, and Body + Soul, among others.



John Paul DeJoria
Paul Mitchell Systems and Patron tequila
John Paul DeJoria's rags-to-riches tale is one of the most inspiring in America. This Austinite parlayed a $700 startup, Paul Mitchell Systems, into a $900 million-a-year hair care heavyweight that has put him on Forbes magazine's list of global billionaires. He is an instrumental backer of exciting ventures such as the Circuit of Americas F1 track and Patron tequila, a brand he co-founded 20 years ago that created the "ultra-premium" market for what was once seen as a bottom-shelf spirit. A devoted father and husband, DeJoria devotes his time and resources to several noble efforts, including the landmine-ridding UK nonprofit MINESEEKER.



Walter Robb
Co-CEO,
Whole Foods
Walter Robb, Co-CEO, joined Whole Foods Market in 1991 operating the Mill Valley, CA store until he became president of the Northern Pacific Region in 1993 where he grew the region from two to 17 stores. He became Executive Vice-President of Operations in 2000, Chief Operating Officer in 2001 and Co-President in 2004. In 2010, Robb was named Co-CEO along with John Mackey and joined the Whole Foods Market Board of Directors at that time. An avid organic advocate, Robb is on the Advisory Board for the Organic Center for Education and Promotion. He is also on the Board of Regents for the University of the Pacific. Robb is on the Board of Directors for both the Whole Planet Foundation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. He serves as Chairman of the Board for the Whole Kids Foundation.