Neil Rubler is the founder and CEO of Vessel Technologies, a New York company that mass-produces small, prefabricated, solar-ready apartment buildings and sells them through the housing industry's first franchise model. After two decades running large multifamily real estate firms - Vantage Properties and then Candlebrook Properties, which oversaw more than $3 billion in assets across seven states - he left conventional development behind in 2017 to attack the so-called Missing Middle: people who earn too much for subsidized housing and too little for market rate. A Wharton MBA and magna cum laude Cornell graduate, Rubler treats housing like a manufactured product rather than a construction project, aiming to build higher-quality homes faster, cheaper, and more sustainably.
Thomas J. Galligan III is the longtime restaurant operator who ran Papa Gino's, the New England pizza institution, and its sister chain D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches. A PepsiCo and Morse Shoe veteran, he joined Papa Gino's in the mid-1990s, took the top job in 1996, pulled the chain out of a crushing debt load with a 1997 recapitalization, then turned a struggling pizzeria into an acquirer by buying D'Angelo from Pizza Hut for $55.5 million. In 2005 he co-founded Papa Gino's Holdings Corporation alongside Boston's Bunker Hill Capital, and he stayed at the helm as Chairman, President and CEO before serving as Executive Chairman until his retirement in 2014.
California Closets invented the custom closet category in 1978 and remains its most recognizable name. The company designs, manufactures, and installs personalized storage systems - walk-in closets, garages, home offices, pantries, and more - through a network of franchised and company-owned showrooms across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. A subsidiary of FirstService Brands since 1998, it pairs in-home and virtual design consultations with 3D modeling and local manufacturing to turn cluttered rooms into organized space.
Signarama is the world's largest sign and graphics franchise, founded in 1986 by Ray and Roy Titus and now operating hundreds of independently owned stores across more than a dozen countries. Part of the United Franchise Group, Signarama turns local sign shops into full-service visual-communications businesses producing everything from banners and channel letters to vehicle wraps, trade-show displays, and ADA-compliant braille signage. Its model packages equipment, training, and a recognized brand so first-time owners can serve other local businesses that need to be seen.
StretchLab is the original and largest one-on-one assisted stretching franchise, built on the simple bet that flexibility deserves its own studio. Trained specialists called Flexologists guide members through customized stretch sessions using techniques like PNF, supported by 3D body-scan technology (MAPS) and recovery tools such as NormaTec compression. Founded in Venice, California in 2015 and now owned by Xponential Fitness, StretchLab became the first assisted stretching brand to surpass 500 studios in North America.
Anthony Vidergauz is the former CEO of California Closets who turned a struggling $2 million acquisition into a $300 million-per-year national brand. A South African immigrant and trained lawyer who arrived in the US in 1986 with $5,000, he joined California Closets in 1987 as legal counsel, then acquired the company from Williams-Sonoma in 1994. Over the next 13 years, he transformed it through lifestyle marketing - including a magazine sold at Barnes & Noble - and franchise relationship-building, growing to over 100 locations across North America and six countries. After selling in 2007, he now runs The Paradise Group, a boutique consulting firm advising franchise businesses on strategy, culture, and leadership.
Bob Kearn is the President and CEO of COIT Cleaning and Restoration Services, a family-owned franchise business founded in 1950 by Lou Kearn near San Francisco's COIT Tower. Bob has led the company since 1982, growing it into one of the nation's largest specialty cleaning and restoration companies with operations across the United States, Canada, and Thailand. Under his leadership, COIT operates a multi-service franchise model covering carpet cleaning, drapery, upholstery, tile and grout, wood floors, air duct cleaning, water damage restoration, and mold remediation. He holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Colorado Boulder and has championed environmentally friendly cleaning practices including GreenEarth dry cleaning technology.
Yinon Weiss is a serial entrepreneur, decorated military veteran, and the Founder and CEO of Stress-Free Auto Care - a tech-enabled auto repair chain with 30+ locations across California and Texas. Before Stress-Free, he co-founded RallyPoint (the 'LinkedIn for the military') and CarDash (a transparent auto repair marketplace that went through Y Combinator S17 and was acquired). A UC Berkeley bioengineering grad with a Harvard MBA, Weiss served 10 years on active duty as a Marine Corps Scout/Sniper Platoon Commander and Army Special Forces officer, earning the Bronze Star before transitioning to Silicon Valley entrepreneurship.
Afficient Academy is a Silicon Valley ed-tech company that uses a patented AI learning system to help K-12 students master math and English at their own pace. Through a hybrid network of virtual programs and physical learning centers across California, Nevada, and beyond, the company says more than 90% of its students advance a full grade level in 2-5 months with A/A+ results.
Eugene Johnson is the founder and CEO of Revi, an AI-powered restaurant POS and revenue growth platform headquartered in San Francisco. Growing up in one of New York City's roughest neighborhoods, Johnson started his first business at 18, built a career in enterprise sales at Cisco Meraki, and pivoted to found Revi — a platform now serving 1M+ consumers and processing nearly $100M in transactions. He is also an Amazon bestselling author of 'The Mental Playbook' and a competitive chess player who ranks in the 85-90th percentile globally.
Walter Edmondson is the President and CEO of TeamLogic IT's Campbell, California franchise, which he founded in 2010 to deliver enterprise-grade managed IT services to small and mid-sized businesses across the Bay Area and beyond. A Santa Clara University electrical engineering alumnus, he spent over 25 years in the semiconductor industry at companies including National Semiconductor, Plus Logic, Seeq (acquired by LSI Logic for $106M), and Xilinx, where he served as Senior Director and helped build the operational and production engineering models that drove the company's high-volume FPGA success. Today he leads a practice that covers cybersecurity, cloud computing, backup and disaster recovery, and IT consulting for clients ranging from nonprofits to healthcare and financial services firms.
Aaron Sisto is the Co-Founder & CEO of Chronicle Studios, a content intelligence platform that uses proprietary agentic AI to help creators launch and scale global IP franchises. A PhD quantum chemist turned deep-tech investor turned entertainment entrepreneur, Sisto blends hard science and pop culture instincts in a company that raised an oversubscribed $11.6M seed round in 2025 backed by Patron and Point72 Ventures. Previously a partner at First Spark Ventures and Director of Engineering at Schmidt Futures, he co-founded Chronicle alongside entertainment veteran Chris deFaria, former president of DreamWorks Animation.