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In the Spotlight: How to dream it, code it and make it happen
In this webcast, panelists discuss how to build and scale a business, and share best practices on creating an innovative mindset. Learn more.
Find your passion — and a problem to solve
When our panelists started their respective entrepreneurial journeys, they all had one thing in common: a bold vision around using technology to solve a problem they were passionate about.
Neetu Seth, Founder and CEO of NITS Solutions, spoke about the importance of having a solution-oriented mindset: “There's always purpose in solving business problems for your clients,” she explained. To that end, in 2009, she built a data analytics tool that provided Fortune 500 automotive companies with better visibility into their dealership and car servicing operations. “Over time, that led to developing bigger [customer relationship management] (CRM) products and digital services.” Today, Neetu’s company remains fully self-funded, with operations in both the US and India.
Veronica Orvalho, Founder and CEO of Didimo, found her purpose during her tenure as a professor at leading universities in Spain and Portugal. During that period, her research into the use of digital avatars to help improve communication with children with severe autism sparked an epiphany: “I learned that when solving someone’s real-life problem, everything changes.” Today, Veronica’s company focuses on humanizing character creation across the video gaming industry by developing more realistic digital human avatars. The company now operates in Europe and the Americas, and successfully closed its latest round of venture capital (VC) funding at the end of 2022.
Leveraging their deep experience working with the US Department of Defense in various capacities, Lonye Ford (CEO) and Arlene Wube (President and COO) co-founded Arlo Solutions after recognizing the need to improve the assessment and validation process around new technologies and equipment for US military service members in the field (a process that previously took nearly 20 years). “We couldn’t change the whole ecosystem, so we asked: how can we streamline the timeline?” Lonye shared. The solution was developing a new fast-track authorization and operational security process. Now a leading provider of cybersecurity and other services with nearly 100 employees, the company is highly regarded across the US defense intelligence community.
After leaving a career in intelligence services, Christi Maherry founded LAWtrust in 2006 to follow her passion for fighting injustice and keeping her fellow South Africans safe: “The vision was to issue crypto-based digital identities for every citizen because South Africans’ identity documents were not being trusted by the rest of the world,” she explained. After selling LAWtrust, Christi created a foundation to tackle human trafficking and later invested in and became co-owner and CEO of Cyber Security Institute, which helps organizations with cyber resilience.