UPDATE: We are extremely disappointed to inform you that the Atlantic Region Muster scheduled for Thursday, March 12th, has been postponed due to concerns over the Coronavirus. Safety of attendees at our events is uppermost in the minds of Bunker Labs and our host, MetLife, so a difficult decision was reached to postpone the event for now. As soon as we have a new date we will let you know.

If you are registered attendee, your registration and ticket purchase will automatically be rolled over once we’ve re-scheduled. If you’d like to request a refund, you should be able to do so through your Eventbrite registration.

Again, we share in your disappointment at the postponement and hope you will be able to join us once a new date has been determined. We are excited about our mission of supporting military-connected entrepreneurs and look forward to announcing a new date soon.

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This year’s program will bring together over 300 participants and partners for a full day of networking, breakouts, keynote speakers, veteran entrepreneurs pitching their businesses, and a Marketplace to showcase opportunities and products from veteran-owned small businesses and companies that support the veteran community.

Bunker Labs is a national network of entrepreneurs founded by military veterans to help other veterans and mil-spouses start and grow businesses. Bunker Labs’ Muster Across America Tour 2020 will travel to 6 cities across the country to showcase veteran entrepreneurs and energize local entrepreneurial ecosystems through large-scale events.

Speaker Spotlight

Thom Ruhe

Thom is President and CEO of NC IDEA. He is an entrepreneur, investor, mentor and works with entrepreneurs, governments, universities and NGOs around the world to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset needed to grow vibrant economies.

During his seven-year tenure at the Kauffman Foundation, he directed the Foundation’s programs addressing entrepreneurial education, mentoring, access to capital and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems. Thom also led Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation, a school dedicated to advancing community deployed experiential-based entrepreneurial education.

Thom has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Entrepreneurship, addressed the United Nations Assembly on Entrepreneurship, lectured at conferences around the world and serves on multiple boards including Innovation Fund America and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina.

D'Shawn Russell

D’Shawn Russell is a true southern belle. Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, she spent summers picking homegrown fresh fruit, swimming in the ocean during the day, and catching lightning bugs at night. As an adult, she held on tight to her sacred memories of attending church all day with her grandmother and then settling in to eat a satisfying meal made with love.

She began making candles that would honor the joys of southern living and provide a creative outlet for her sense of nostalgia. When she started giving them away as gifts, the response was so well received that she decided to take this newfound passion of hers and share it with more people. Thus, Southern Elegance Candle Company was born.

D'Shawn won the 2019 Bunker RDU pitch competition, participates in the monthly CEO Circle, is in 300+ retail locations, and recently completed the Goldman Sachs 10ksb program.

Robbie Allen

Robbie Allen is a serial entrepreneur, data enthusiast, UNC sports nut, and the founder of Startomatic (which will use technology and automation to make it easier for people to cut through the red tape of starting a business).

He is a Senior Advisor at Infinia ML, a team of machine learning experts focused on delivering business impact for enterprise organizations. Infinia ML helps companies use data to automate business processes and achieve new breakthroughs.

Previously, Robbie founded and led Automated Insights, whose natural language generation software helps automate content production for The Associated Press, Yahoo!, and many others. Automated Insights was successfully acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2015, and Robbie currently serves as the company’s Executive Chairman. Before starting Automated Insights, Robbie was a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco.

Robbie has authored or coauthored eight software books, owns six patents, and has spoken at a variety of conferences including the O’Reilly AI Conference, Strata, SXSW, and the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium. He holds two Master’s degrees from MIT and is completing his Ph.D. in computer science at UNCChapel Hill.

Agenda

Please check in by 8:45 AM

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM CHECK IN BREAKFAST & NETWORKING

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM OPENING SESSION

10:00 AM – 10: 15 AM BREAK

Session I - 10:15 AM – 11: 15 AM

CREATING AND SELLING A PRODUCT

DOING BUSINESS WITH LARGE COMPANIES

CULTURE INDEX

VETERAN ENTREPRENEUR SUCCESS STORIES

11:15 AM – 11:30 AM BREAK

Session II - 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

SCALING YOUR TEAM AND CULTURE LESSONS LEARNED

SALES PROCESS FOR GROWTH

HOW TO LEVERAGE THE ECOSYSTEM

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM LUNCH

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM AFTERNOON KEYNOTE SPEAKER

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM PITCH COMPETITION

3:30 PM – 3:45 PM BREAK

3:45 PM – 4:15 PM CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER

4:15 PM – 4:45 PM CLOSING CEREMONIES

4:45 PM – 7:00 PM MARKETPLACE & RECEPTION

Workshop Descriptions - Session I

CREATING AND SELLING A PRODUCT

Marjorie K Eastman - Panel Moderator, Bunker Labs RDU and Long Bow LLC

Stuart Scheller - Founder, The Perfect Ribbon Cameron Cruse - Co-Founder, COO, R. Riveter Philip Freeman - CEO & Founder, Murphy's Naturals

So, you want to create a product to sell. Where do you start?

First you gotta have a GREAT idea. Then you gotta figure out how to make it. And sell it! Sure, it is possible to go from idea to prototype in one day. But that’s not realistic for most makers. To do it right and have the most chance for success, it takes time to find the right idea and identify your target audience then determine how to manufacture a product and market it. And these entrepreneurs who have done it have you covered.

DOING BUSINESS WITH LARGE COMPANIES

Lynn Digirolamo - MetLife, AVP Contract Managment

Kathy Monroe - MteLife, Director IT Third Party Risk Management John Grotevant - MetLife, AVP Customer, Policy, Process, Risk & Control

Join this interactive discussion with MetLife Global Procurement and IT Risk leaders to learn what it takes to become a valued supplier to large companies. This session will provide an overview of key contracting and risk management concepts as well as lessons learned from contracting with and conducting risk assessments of small companies including high level “dos” and “don’ts” as you approach the contracting process with your company.

CULTURE INDEX

Sumeet Chahal - Bunker Labs Central Region REX and Culture Index consultant

Are you poised to hit your top and bottom line goals with the team you have in place? In this interactive workshop, Sumeet Chahal will provide practical feedback and rigorous analytics connecting people to performance. Topics covered include:

● What, and who, is holding you back from hitting your top and bottom line goals ● Gloves-off truth on your top performers, the people currently struggling and what to do about it

● Maximize impact, leverage and engagement with the people on your team

VETERAN SUCCESS STORIES

Emily McMahan, Common Mission Project, Director of Programs Sam Smith - Founder & CEO, Vision and Collective Hustle Pete Phipps - Owner, Arrow Barber Shops Jon Rennie - President & CEO, Peak Demand

This panel discussion will dive into the entrepreneur’s experiences, decisions, and lessons learned surrounding the launch and initial growth of their companies. More specifically, along the lines of: What propelled them to take the leap into entrepreneurship? What did they feel their greatest risks and challenges were and how they overcame them? What role, if any, did their military experience serve in their efforts to start their companies? And perhaps, why and how do military veterans make successful entrepreneurs?

Workshop Descriptions - Session II

SCALING YOUR TEAM AND CULTURE LESSONS LEARNED

Kent Keirsey - COO, First (co-founder Collective Health)

Kent is an Army Infantry officer turned entrepreneur. Kent co-founded two companies in the SF Bay Area: Always Endeavor and Collective Health. One turned into a hobby, the other is now valued at over $500M. He then moved to Durham, NC, and joined First. He served as their COO, helped them raise capital, built out the team and product, and eventually sold the company to RE/MAX this past December. He will share a few lessons learned and a lot of mistakes made along the way.

SALES PROCESS FOR GROWTH

Jason Smith - Bunker Labs ATL and CIGRIE Business Development Training and Consulting

For most startups, the sales process is a small thought, an afterthought, or no thought at all. However, those that succeed take the sales process seriously, and so should you. Here are some simple high-level thoughts of how to begin to design your sales process for success.

HOW TO LEVERAGE THE ECOSYSTEM?

Kathryn Bruner - Panel Moderator, Bunker Labs Wilmington and Intracostal Realty Erik Maltais - Bunker Labs Tampa and CEO, IMMERTEC Jim Roberts - Founder of Wilmington Angles for Local Entrepreneurs (WALE) and Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington (NEW)

Startup ecosystems are popping up all across the country and the world, with varying levels of success. When it comes to navigating the ecosystem, you can’t do it by yourself; you must collaborate as a symbiotic community with a shared set of common goals between people that are equally happy helping others, as they are at helping themselves. These ecosystem leaders have a blueprint with which to follow to propel your startup ecosystem, and hopefully, your own success in the process.

National Sponsors