IN-RESIDENCE Program

The Skandalaris Center In-Residence program serves the Washington University in St. Louis community of students, faculty, staff and alumni by providing industry experience and insights to encourage development of new ventures. The goal of the IR program is to help teams learn from professionals with extensive industry experience and motivate the teams to take action on their ideas. The In-Residence program will feature a diverse collection of experts, including artists, designers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and executives that will share their experience and networks to exponentially expand opportunities for success.

Daphne Benzaquen (MBA '17)

Areas of Expertise: Branding/Design, Communications Strategy, Consumer Goods, Customer Acquisition, Marketing, Public Relations/Social Media

Daphne Benzaquen is an experienced marketing executive skilled in leading brands through transformative growth phases. At the helm of DAPH and EMERGE, she has mastered the art of building and nurturing brands that stand out in the competitive fashion market. Her strategic foresight is evidenced by successful market entries, engaging over 30 national retailers, and orchestrating high-profile PR exposures in Forbes and NPR. Daphne is passionate about leveraging consumer insights and digital innovation to develop marketing strategies that drive sustainable growth and vibrant community interactions.

Sam Cabral

Areas of Expertise: Sales, App Development, Customer Acquisition, Information Technology, Marketing, Engineering, Operations/Supply Chain

Samuel Cabral is a successful tech entrepreneur who cofounded and successfully exited his tech startup, Pluma. Pluma (now Skillsoft Coaching) is a digital platform offering executive-quality coaching that is personal, scalable, actionable, and measurable. Pluma partnered with Fortune 1000 clients and global enterprises including Adobe, Ernst & Young, Gap Inc., and S&P Global to support and develop their employees. Pluma worked with over 200 executive coaches serving clients from over 60 countries to deliver over 90,000 coaching sessions before being acquired. Upon acquistion, Sam joined Skillsoft as Vice President of Product to assist in the transition of the business.

Prior to starting Pluma, Sam worked in the tech industry as a product manager and software engineer for various startups. Sam holds an MBA with concentration in entrepreneurship from Nova Southeastern University.

Guy Friedman

Areas of Expertise: Healthcare

Guy Friedman is the CEO & Co-Founder of SteadyMD. SteadyMD powers high-quality telehealth experiences for digital healthcare companies, labs, pharmacies, large employers, and other healthcare innovators. Previously, Guy was the CEO at HigherNext, a virtual test administration and proctoring solution for higher education & the credentialing industry. HigherNext was acquired by ProctorU in 2013. Guy graduated with his BA & MA in Economics from Tufts University & MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Talia Goldfarb

Areas of Expertise: Branding/Design, Communications Strategy, Consumer Goods, Intellectual Property, Marketing, Customer Acquisition, Sales

Talia Goldfarb graduated from Williams College with a major in Psychology, and then
received her Masters in Social Work. After relocating to St. Louis, she worked as a school
social worker and therapist for children in foster care. Motherhood altered her
professional path, as it was her son’s sagging pants that led to the invention of Myself
Belts, a patented, one-handed, easy to fasten belt for children.

Talia was on ABC’s Shark Tank Season 6 and partnered with Daymond John. Myself
Belts have been featured in numerous magazines such as The Huffington Post, People Magazine, US Weekly, Woman’s Day, and Forbes.com. In 2022, after 20 years of leading Myself Belts, Talia sold the company and is now focusing on her consulting business, Entrepreneurial Insight LLC. Her solution-focused consultation blends her training as a therapist with her entrepreneurial experience and supports business owners by providing a space to be introspective and gain insight, problem-solve, and achieve clarity. Talia has offered support to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in St. Louis through work as an EIR at Arch Grants, as a mentor at WEPOWER, and by serving on the local Venture For America advisory board.

Vikram Lakhwara

Areas of Expertise: Venture Capital

Vikram Lakhwara has two decades of experience in the startup ecosystem as an investor, consultant, and business professional. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Vik is the co-founder of Green Cow Venture Capital (GCVC), a seed-stage fund investing in startups leveraging AI and robotics to solve problems in foundational industries. The fund has had two exits from ten investments, including Bear Flag Robotics which was acquired by John Deere for $250M. Prior to GCVC, Vik led business development and partnerships for the Startups & VC practice of technology and life sciences law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR). At WSGR, his responsibilities included working with the firm's startup clients on fundraising strategy and building their pitch, establishing partnerships with accelerators, angels, early- and growth-stage VCs, and acting as a deal flow catalyst. His first experience as a VC was as the first external hire of $100M SK Telecom Ventures. Vik played an integral role in each of the firm's 15 investments, resulting in exits to Apple, Autodesk, Uber, and Zynga amongst others. Immediately after graduating, he joined executive education consulting firm Reinventures. Vik graduated from Vassar with a degree in Economics.

Keisha Mabry Haymore

Areas of Expertise: Branding/Design, Communications Strategy, Customer Acquisition, Marketing, Public Relations/Social Media, Sales

Keisha Mabry Haymore is a marketing expert and certified Grow With Google Marketing Coach, where she has trained thousands of entrepreneurs on branding and marketing skills to grow and scale their businesses. With 10+ years of experience supporting founders in sales, marketing and branding, she specializes in helping businesses craft compelling brand stories and develop strategies to drive growth, awareness, conversion and loyalty. As an expert in residence, Keisha shares her expertise to empower founders with practical tools and insights to succeed in today’s competitive business landscape. She has been featured on NPR, The Daily Show, Essence, Fast Company and more and has delivered keynotes and workshops for top brands and businesses like Spotify, Mastercard, Facebook, SXSW, and others. Don't delay---book your session with her today!

Kim Moos

Areas of Expertise: Branding/Design, Communications Strategy, Consumer Goods, Customer Acquisition, Engineering, Human Resources, Information Technology, Innovation Commercialization, Intellectual Property, Marketing, Operations/Supply Chain, Public Relations/Social Media, Sales

Kim Moos is the founder of Cotton Cuts, an ecommerce subscription provider of designer crafting supplies. Kim has over 15 years of experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical world, holding roles of increasing responsibility in R&D, Business Development, Operations, Project Management, culminating as the Chief of Staff to the President and CEO at Mallinckrodt. Kim has launched over 12 new medical devices with over 20 patents and led acquisition teams in transactions over $10B in value. Cotton Cuts started eight years ago as a side project for Kim, growing from her basement to a full fledged company. Watching YouTube videos, she taught herself how to use Facebook, Instagram and everything about the subscription business model. Today, Cotton Cuts has over 5,000 monthly members in over 15 countries with over 15 new jobs created in St. Louis. Kim has served as a board member on the Entrepreneur's Organization (St. Louis) and Healthcare Businesswomen's Association. She is a certified Project Management Professional, Design for Six Sigma Black Belt and has a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University as well as an MBA from Boston University. She is the proud mother of two boys, Lincoln and Dominic, and calls St. Louis home.

Jerry Rosen (BFA '81)

Areas of Expertise: App Development, Branding/Design, Communications Strategy, Consumer Goods, Customer Acquisition, Innovation Commercilization, Intellectual Property, Marketing, Sales

Jerry Rosen is a WashU alumnus with a career spanning over 30 years, having morphed from advertising art director to serial entrepreneur. He has founded multiple marketing and technology-focused businesses as well as serving roles ranging from BOD Chair, CEO, CMO, CRO, and multiple director seats.

Rosen’s experience includes media, content creative, eCommerce, and SaaS software. Throughout his career, Rosen’s client list has included Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Wendy’s, MetLife, Roche/Genentech, Lufthansa, American Express, The Kennedy Space Center, Chicago White Sox, Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks, Fire and Frank Thomas’ Big Hurt Enterprises to name a few.

Rosen recently retired from Sachs Capital Group where he served as Chief Revenue Officer. He currently is the Executive Director of the Webster Groves, Shrewsbury, Rock Hill and Brentwood Area Chamber of Commerce. Rosen proudly is In Residence at Washington University’s Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship mentoring undergraduate and graduate students.

When he isn’t working, he enjoys cooking, painting, and weekend hikes with his wife Andrea, and their dog Skye.

Samantha Rudolph

Areas of Expertise: Consumer Goods, Operations/Supply Chain

Samantha Rudolph excels at designing innovative strategies for startups, nascent businesses and cutting-edge product launches. She co-founded Babyation; the company's first product, a breast pump, received a 2022 TIME Innovation Award.

Sam spent nine years as a serial entrepreneur within ESPN, spanning multiple departments, including production and Stats & Information, where she launched new departments and technologies.

Sam graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sam served as a mentor for the Stadia Ventures accelerator from 2016-2023, and she has been the Treasurer of the St. Louis Breastfeeding Coalition for several years. Sam is also a Certified Lactation Counselor.

Katie Silversmith (AB, MSW '12)

Areas of Expertise: Communications Strategy, Human Resources, Operations/Supply Chain, Sales, Customer Acquisition

Katie received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Social Work degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. After practicing clinical social work in nonprofit and private practice settings for 10 years, she co-founded and served as CEO of ThriveCo, a growing coworking space brand. After completing two expansions and scaling a virtual membership, Katie exited the company in the summer of 2021. In her latest venture, Build My Therapy Biz, she consults with private practice owners (therapists) and social impact startups around increasing their profitability, streamlining operations, scaling, sustainability, and exit planning.

Doug Spencer

Areas of Expertise: App Development, Branding/Design, Communications Strategy, Consumer Goods, Customer Acquisition, Marketing, Public Relations/Social Media, Sales

Doug is the co-founder and CEO of Bold Xchange, a gifting marketplace empowering busy leaders to send their teams more memorable gifts. Bold Xchange sources its gift items from underrepresented makers and creatives. Its early adopters include people leaders from several Fortune 500s such as CarMax, Capital One, and Centene. In 2020, Bold Xchange received an Arch Grant, relocating operations to St. Louis. In 2023, the company received an additional non-dilutive grant from Arch Grants as part of a larger pre-seed fundraise to accelerate innovation in the employee gifting industry. Doug is a graduate of Georgetown Law School and holds a degree in Business Management from Elon University.

Kaushik Srinivasan, JD, MBA

Areas of Expertise: Accounting, Biomedicine, App Development, Healthcare, Finance, Innovation Commercialization, Intellectual Property, Legal/Contracts

Kaushik Srinivasan, JD, MBA is an accomplished C-Suite executive, entrepreneur, and investor with deep experience in the healthcare industry. Leveraging his cross-functional expertise, he has been a change agent focused on helping pre-commercial and early-stage commercial health-technology companies transition and step-up development through a combination of business strategy, business execution and fundraising efforts.

He serves on the Advisory Boards of several healthcare entities focused on devices, diagnostics, and therapeutics and is a mentor with healthcare accelerators. As a mentor with Sling Health, Penn Health-Tech, and several independent companies in the United States and Canada, he advises entrepreneurs on product commercialization and launching healthcare startups.

Kaushik has a JD from Case Western Reserve University and earned his MBA at WashU. He also received a BS in Healthcare Management and Finance and a BA in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Brian Wolfe (JD '09)

Areas of Expertise: Customer Acquisition, eCommerce, Public Relations, Sales, Legal/Contracts, Commercialization, Fundraising (startups, venture capital firms)

Brian is a corporate partner at Kirkland & Ellis, where his practice focuses on private equity and venture capital transactions. Brian previously co-founded SearchWorks, a technology investment platform formed in 2017 to “buy and build” SAAS-related assets in the martech software space, which was acquired by Alpine Investors in 2018. Prior to law school, Brian was a member of the finance team at Amazon, and has also served as Deputy Superintendent and COO of the St. Louis Public Schools. Brian also currently serves as an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law and has extensive investment experience across the capital structure.

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