Erdem Kiciman - often denies being the most interesting man in the world and few who know him would dare disagree. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and grew up some more in Boston where he finished MIT with a degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. A strong-willed competitive swimmer for 12 years, he once held his breath so long he suffered the loss of his speech for 15 seconds following. He was the Checkers Master of Harvard Square, a would-be character study for Roger Donaldson’s 2003 film, The Recruit, and a great roommate. Erdem relocated in 2004 to join a large Chicago-based hedge fund where he researched and invested in many great companies before starting his own in 2010.
Kale McNaney - a Buffalo, NY native and a briefly aspiring Mr. Buffalo, moved to Boston in 2001 to attend MIT. He finished his degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with an ambition to build a great company, even if he had to stand on the shoulders of every other great in history to do it. His teeth were cut in the startup world as Chief Technology Officer of Musicane, a platform for independent musicians to sell their own MP3's online. He briefly relocated to New Delhi to build an offshore development team before settling in sunny Santa Monica. Kale, never content to rest, multi-tasks even in his sleep, testing the effectiveness of his latest in a popular series of Ocean Sounds recordings.
Joey Hawilo - stomped ground at the University of Michigan, his setting for exploring entrepreneurship. He built the first University of Michigan focused social network, which enjoyed wild popularity, while Facebook still had the "the". After completing his degree in Economics, he was installed as President of medical devices company, Transdermal Delivery Systems. As he began leading the company to FDA approval, he was sucked into the SF Bay to join Zimbio.com. As Manager of Business Operations, he learned more about celebrity hairstyles and women's shoes than any self-respecting man should know. OpenChime was all the excuse he needed to return to his favorite city, Chicago.
Rob Meyer - was born a week late but he's been ahead of schedule ever since. He's turbocharged everything from his Huffy 6-speed to his Amiga 500, and was the only 8 year old in St. Louis running engine coolant over his overclocked AMD 29000. He stayed true to the mid-west with a degree in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and stays truer to the related stereotypes with underwater hockey, ultimate frisbee and WWII trivia. He's a man who brews his own beer and makes his own chainmail. In the mind of Rob Meyer, all that stands between now and glory is some elegant code and a motorcycle.
Hunter Hillenmeyer - grew up a rough-housing Nashville-native son of a local restaurant owner. He had 22 years along West End Avenue before he kicked off his 8 year professional career with the NFL. The Bears may have invented the middle linebacker but only Hunter could make it look easy, earning his MBA from Northwestern with one hand and sacking McNabb with the other. 382 tackles later, his career continues as the first-team academic, Vanderbilt double majored, "triple h" nicknamed, four-limbed, fifth born, sixth to join the OpenChime Team. An adroit card player, Hunter has ambitions for two worlds, the first ends with "...Series of Poker Champion" and the other begins with better-than-ever local commerce growing one square block at a time.
Courtney McWethy - a direct descendant of William Wallace and lady of Scotland, grew up on an unassuming apple orchard three hours outside of Chicago. Armed with a killer crocheting talent, and the knowledge to build the perfect rocket, she completed her degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Now, she's taking her career to new heights, figuratively speaking, as a key contributor to OpenChime's success. But literally speaking, if you happen to see an unmanned, OpenChime-branded aerial drone made entirely of yarn buzzing the Sears Tower, be assured, Courtney is responsible.
