The ROI Influencers Power List 2020: Technology

By
Robert F. Russo
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Jim Barrood
Consultant/adviser
The former head of the New Jersey Tech Council is still a visible presence in the tech scene, serving on numerous boards and advising a number of companies and organizations.

Mario Casabona
Founder
Casabona Ventures and TechLaunch
He lists himself as an angel investor, entrepreneur, business adviser and connector. You can also call him a veteran of the tech scene in the state, one eager to help the sector grow.

Kathleen Coviello
Executive vice president – technology, life science and entrepreneurship
New Jersey Economic Development Authority
Coviello has been responsible for deploying over $2 billion in financing investments and incentives to support high-tech, biotech and clean tech entrepreneurial businesses in the state. She also is a founding member of New Jersey chapter of investment fund Golden Seeds.

Carley Graham Garcia
Executive director
Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The former Google executive is working to bridge the divide between the second-largest university in the state, Montclair State University, and the vibrant business and entrepreneurial community in Montclair and North Jersey.

Jim Gunton/Steve Socolof
Founder and managing partner/managing partner
Tech Council Ventures
The duo is responsible for finding early-stage tech entrepreneurs and helping them develop leading-edge businesses that drive superior returns for investors.

Donald Katz
Executive chairman
Audible
He’s at the top of any tech list in the state after successfully building Audible into the leading voice company in the country and helping to launch Newark Venture Partners — where he is helping to find the next Audibles and help them flourish.

Rob Keve and Mike Bryzek
Co-founders
Flow Commerce
Keye and Bryzek have a shared vision to create a next-generation solution for cross-border e-commerce. They are headquartered in Hoboken.

Mark Kolb
Entrepreneur-in-residence
Tech Council Ventures
Kolb is an entrepreneur focused on the health care industry, a sector in which he has started and run a handful of companies. He has served on a number of corporate and nonprofit boards.

Eric Levine
Shareholder and executive vice president
Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper
He is the co-chair of Lindabury’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice Group and a thought leader in the sector. In other words, the type of lawyer all companies need to find.

 

Aaron Price
CEO
New Jersey Tech Council
The founder and creator of Propelify is now the head of the state’s top tech organization. His aim to bring the tech community together to create an ecosystem that will help New Jersey return to its roots as a top tech center in the country.

Judith Sheft
Executive director
New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology
Sheft, who spent nearly two decades at NJIT, began her new role with the newly created CSIT in January. Comprised of representatives from the public and private sectors, as well as academia, the commission is tasked with leading the way in promoting the state as a home for academic and technological research, development, and commercialization.

Donald Sebastian/Simon Nynens
President/CEO
New Jersey Innovation Institute
They are the dynamic duo that leads the way at NJII. Nynens, the former chairman of Wayside Technology Group and the chair of the New Jersey Tech Council, has been at NJII since 2018, when he was brought in to help lead the Enterprise Development Center (now known as VentureLink), which is the oldest and largest tech incubator in the state. Sebastian has long been the face of NJII, leading its efforts to become one of the innovation centers in the state.

Monica Smith
CEO
Marketsmith Inc.
One of the top female executives runs one of the fastest-growing marketing tech companies in the state. Smith uses data-driven analytics to help her clients gain an edge in digital marketing.

Chris Sugden
Managing partner
Edison Partners
Some consider Sugden the leading financial technology investor on the East Coast. He currently serves as director of six Edison portfolio companies. He has led 32 financings, including 20 new investments, and has served as director of 21 companies.

Esther Surden
Editor
NJ Tech Weekly
We love to honor those in our industry, and, when it comes to reporting on the New Jersey tech scene, there’s no one better than Esther Surden. When she’s at your event — and it feels as if she’s at all of them — you know you have a winner.

Stephen Welby
Executive director and chief operating officer
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
He’s the head of one of the most important tech associations in the world — one the state is lucky to have located in Piscataway. An industry icon, he is also a key figure on the speaking circuit.

Marcus Weldon
President
Bell Labs
Weldon is helping Bell Labs lead the way in 5G technology. And, while Bell Labs may not have the same cachet as it once did, it still is producing groundbreaking technology and innovation. It is a place the state needs to better market.

Andrew Zwicker
Assemblyman (D-Monmouth Junction)
State of New Jersey
Zwicker makes the list for two reasons: His work at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and his efforts in the Assembly, where he takes the lead on all things STEM in the state.

Click below to see who landed in the Top 30 spots on the ROI Influencers Power List 2020:

Here’s the most powerful people in 13 industries:

And to read how a political scientist made the call on who was named No. 1 on the list, click here.