Meet The Team

Scott Mosley, Executive Director

Scott joined the StartingBlock Madison team as the Executive Director in December 2022. Scott was most recently Chief Operating Officer of CODAworx. He supported significant revenue expansion for the company by expanding its flagship event series and launching a marketplace for art that sells works from some nation’s premier public artists. Prior to that, Scott was Director of Investments for The Water Council, where he raised capital to support the growth of a water technology ecosystem that supports small companies from around the world. Scott has also served as Director of Capital at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Scott and his wife run a CSA for vegetables and cut flowers in the summer. 

Contact: ScottMosley@StartingBlockMadison.org (LI)

Leslie Weissburg, Director of Operations

Leslie joined the StartingBlock Madison team as the Operations Manager in June 2022. Leslie has been a serial entrepreneur and a resource and champion within the Madison startup community. Professionally, she enjoys creating and improving company culture. Outside of work, you can find her at the Madison Farmers Markets, cooking and all things outdoors, especially in the summer.

Contact: Leslie@StartingBlockMadison.org (LI)

Luke Fuszard, Interim Director of Business Development 

Prior to StartingBlock, Luke spent ten years in the tech startup space as a salesperson, manager, and channel developer. Originally from Green Bay, Luke is a seventh-generation Wisconsinite and a proud Packer season ticket holder.

Contact: Luke@StartingBlockMadison.org (LI)

Mark Richardson, Co-Chair

Mark is CEO and founder of GigBlender, a software tool that allows employers to incorporate their diversity values when finding and attracting talent. Mark is also President of Unfinished Business, which helps professionals prepare for, navigate, and accelerate career transition. Before stepping into entrepreneurship, Mark served as Vice President of Workforce Development at the Urban League, Division Administrator for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce’s Housing and Community Development program, and Deputy Secretary for Wisconsin Department of Tourism. (LI)

Laura Strong, Co-Chair

Laura is Clinical Development Director at Exact Sciences. She previously founded of Propagate Health, a problem-oriented innovation network built around a core of advisors & entrepreneurs from healthcare, life sciences, & technology and started and led a cancer drug development company that advanced a drug into a Phase I clinical trial in patients. Laura is also an Adjunct Professor at the UW-Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health. She has a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (LI)

Scott Forester, Treasurer

Scott is a “fractional CFO” through his company ThinkForward CFO providing services to start-ups and growing entrepreneurial companies in need of a CFO but not on a full time basis. Previously Scott was the CFO for Punchkick Interactive. Scott was also CFO for other entrepreneurial companies including Tiger Toys (creator of Furby) and has sold four of them to Hasbro, Heinz, Mondelez and Wipfli. He works at StartingBlock and has enjoyed getting to know the Madison entrepreneurial tech start-up community. Scott is a CPA and has a MS and BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois. Scott joined the StartingBlock Board in August 2019. (LI)

REMZI ARPACI-DUSSEAU is the Grace Wahba professor and Chair of the Computer Sciences Department at UW-Madison. He co-leads a research group with Professor Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau. Together, they have graduated 25 Ph.D. students and won numerous best-paper awards; many of their innovations are used by commercial systems. For their work, Andrea and Remzi received the 2018 ACM-SIGOPS Weiser award for “outstanding leadership, innovation, and impact in storage and computer systems research.” Remzi has won the SACM Professor-of-the-Year award six times, the Rosner “Excellent Educator” award, and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Andrea and Remzi’s operating systems book (www.ostep.org) is downloaded millions of times yearly and used at numerous institutions worldwide. He has also served as a technical advisor or consultant for numerous companies, including Samsung, Datos, Microsoft, and NetApp. Remzi joined the StartingBlock Board in August 2019. (LI)

KATHLEEN GALLAGHER is Executive Director of the Milwaukee Institute, a not-for-profit that helps forward-thinking Midwesterners learn, connect, and unlock the potential of advanced technologies and high-growth businesses to help our region thrive. She is also a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who covered technology, entrepreneurship and investments for over two decades for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (LI)

ED JAVIER is currently the Director of Entrepreneurship Programs for WEDC. Before this role, he had been working in the startup space for more than 15 years. He is an experienced executive that helped build and scale start-up companies such as Cars.com and HomeFinder.com; led technology SaaS product launches into new industries; and in 2015, as the General Manager pivoted and sold the leading real
estate website in the Philippines to Rocket Internet. Since moving to the Milwaukee area, Ed has been consulting local companies in Marketing and Sales Strategies, mentored startups and co-organized Milwaukee’s first Startup Week. Ed received a master’s degree in International Marketing from Depaul University-Kellstadt in Chicago and his BA in Economics from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. (LI)

SCOTT RESNICK is the Chief Operating Officer of Hardin Design & Development, a nationally recognized web application and product development firm. For the last 10 years, Scott has provided technical services to companies like Mercedes Benz, Coleman Campers, and Sony Interactive. Scott was a two-term member of the Madison City Council, and served on the Plan Commission and Economic Development Committee. Scott is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Scott is a member of StartingBlock’s Founding Team. (LI)

TROY VOSSELLER is the co-Founder of gener8tor (www.gener8tor.com) – a nationally ranked, concierge startup accelerator. Prior to launching gener8tor, Troy served as a Clinical Assistant Professor/Supervising Attorney at the UW Law School’s Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic and founded the T-shirt company Sconnie Naton (www.sconnie.com). Troy earned a BA, MBA, and JD, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Troy is a member of StartingBlock’s Founding Team. (LI)

KEITH WITEK is SVP Corporate Development, Strategy, and General Counsel at SiFive. Keith worked at Telsa (Associate General Counsel and Director of Business Development); Advanced Micro Devices; the Technology Transactions Group of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati; Motorola; and Gould Electronics. Keith is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a double major in Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He also has a law degree from the University of Texas. (LI)