Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition
Judges
Cat Dizon
Co-Founder & COO, Active Capital
Cat Dizon is Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Active Capital, a venture firm based in San Antonio focused on leading seed rounds for B2B SaaS companies. She was Executive Director of Alamo Angels, the San Antonio based group of Angel Investors that invest in Texas based startups, and a founding member of the Beam Angel Network, an organization with the mission to advance women founders striving to scale their businesses in Texas.
Prior to her venture capital experience, Cat built her career operating businesses and creating incredible value delivering on both levels of strategy and execution. For 11 years, she worked at Rackspace where she was a Director of Corporate Strategy & Development leading in areas of Mergers & Acquisitions, Post-Merger Integration, Growth Businesses, and Staff Operations.
Cat proudly serves as the Chairman of Geekdom’s Board of Directors, is a Board Trustee for the Mind Science Foundation, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Girls Inc. of San Antonio. She is a military spouse, a mother of one, and a graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio earning a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice.
Dirk Elmendorf
Principal Developer at PorchPass and formerly Co-Founded Rackspace
Dirk Elmendorf moved to San Antonio to attend Trinity University. He graduated with a BA in Economics. After helping to start a very small computer consulting company, he stumbled onto the idea that would change his life. Along with two other Trinity students, Dirk co-founded Rackspace Managed Hosting in 1999. Rackspace (RXT) is currently a public company. Dirk left Rackspace in 2009 to get back to his start-up roots. In addition to advising several startups, Dirk is currently a Principal Developer at PorchPass. It is focused on facilitating and accelerating home ownership. He serves on a number of city and public committees and is very focused on Science and Math education. He is the past chair of the board for the Witte Museum and the chair of Tech Bloc.
Maggie Giust
Data Scientist
Since 2012, Maggie has worked as a data scientist growing teams and expanding capabilities. Beginning at Rackspace, she designed the career path and helped build their first team of data scientists. There, she applied data science to improve customers' experiences. She then moved to Capital Group/American Funds where she used machine learning to detect threats within their environment. While there, she educated other lines of business on how they could use machine learning methodologies to enhance their capabilities. Following her time at Capital Group, Maggie moved into consumer retail where she built machine learning recommender systems for H-E-B.
An educator at heart, Maggie was thrilled when she was approached by Trinity University to design and teach a data science course. Her diversified experience of teaching herself the skills needed for a data science career, practicing data science in various industries, and teaching data science at Trinity prepared her for the opportunity of her career…to develop a new 20-week data science bootcamp at Codeup. There, she wore multiple hats, designing the curriculum, teaching, and building out a team of instructors. Maggie holds a B.S. in Mathematics from UTSA and an M.S. in Data Analytics. Today, she spends her time working on her first data science book, nurturing her passion for painting, and raising her 2 daughters.
Ben Jones
Entrepreneur, Former Founder & CEO, Skipcart
Ben Jones is a serial entrepreneur who has a deep-rooted passion for the tech industry. He is currently spearheading the development of a Venture Capital studio focused on creating and investing in the next wave of world-class companies in San Antonio. As the former founder and CEO of Skipcart, he raised multiple funding rounds and achieved a successful exit to a Fortune 50 company.
In addition to his professional endeavors, Ben is dedicated to the San Antonio community and actively participates in various advisory and board positions, such as San Antonio Economic Development, UTSA's Stewardship Council, Musical Bridges, and Alamo Angels. Through his leadership roles, he is committed to nurturing the tech community in San Antonio and supporting the growth of local startups.
Originally from West Texas, Ben recently moved to San Antonio with his family and enjoys exploring our great community and the hill country. He is the proud father of three children.
