About SmarterLeap

At SmarterLeap, our core leadership team believes that innovation is key to launching a successful start-up. Our primary focus is to help individuals build great companies based on the invaluable ideas you can only access here.

Meet the People Behind SmarterLeap:

Founder

Jeff Frutkin
Jeff Frutkin is the founder of SmarterLeap, Inc. Jeff is an entrepreneurial and dynamic marketing executive with 12 years of experience leading top performing organizations with national and global marketing presence. Jeff has held senior marketing and general management positions in a number of leading financial services companies, including HSBC and most recently, Advanta Bank Corp.

Jeff earned his Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).

Advisory Board

Lori Whelan
Lori Whelan is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Papa Gino's and D'Angelo. As the CFO, Lori oversees both Papa Gino's and D'Angelo Finance Department, as well as leads strategic business initiatives and oversees all purchasing decisions. She has more than 13 years experience in financial and business strategy success.

Lori earned her Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).

Justin Ishbia
Justin Ishbia is the Managing Partner of Shore Capital Partners, a Chicago-based lower middle market private equity firm that specializes in partnering with companies that have between $5 and $50 million of revenue. Prior to Shore, Justin worked as an investment professional at Valor Equity Partners, a $300 million Chicago-based private equity firm. Prior to joining Valor, Justin was an attorney in the private equity group of Kirkland and Ellis, a Chicago-based law firm.

Justin received his Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University Law School and a B.A., from Michigan State University.

Teri Gidwitz
Teri Gidwitz is an independent consultant who provides eBusiness and general management expertise to various clients across a range of industries. Her projects include web site redesign and enhancement, social network marketing planning, strategy and execution, and overall business strategy and planning. Prior to working as a consultant, Teri spent eight years with HSBC, where she served as Vice President/Director of eBusiness.

Teri earned her Masters in Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Meredith Hein
Meredith Hein is a Product Marketing Executive with extensive experience developing products for and marketing to small business owners. Her experience includes roles as Vice President of Marketing for Advanta, one of the largest issuers of credit cards to small business and Strategic Marketing Executive at Bank of America where she led Small Business Marketing.

She has an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana.

Brian Stone
Brian Stone is Vice President of Product Management and Sales for Nanosolar. Brian Stone is responsible for the company's product management and its sales in the United States. Prior to Nanosolar, Stone spent three years at SunPower and PowerLight Corporation as Vice President of Marketing. Prior to SunPower, Stone worked at Siebel Systems, Inc. for 6 years in several general manager and product marketing positions. Brian also spent one year as an executive-in-residence at Mohr Davidow Ventures during his transition from enterprise software into clean technology.

Brian earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dave Griffith
Dave Griffith is the Principal and Co-founder of Wlaz-Griffith, LLC. The firm provides consulting services on credit risk management and direct marketing strategy both domestically and internationally. Prior to Wlaz-Griffith, Dave spent eight years with Advanta Bank Corp., where he served as Senior Vice President of Credit and Marketing Analysis. Dave has over 19 years of experience in financial and business strategy.

Dave earned an MBA from Temple University and a B.A. from Bloomsburg University

Mike Paquin
Mike Paquin is a senior executive with extensive direct marketing, business development, and product management experience across multiple consumer industries. His experience includes roles as Chief Marketing Officer for Advanta Bank, one of the largest issuers of credit cards to small business, Group Marketing Director at HSBC, and Vice President of Marketing at Metris Companies, a direct marketer of consumer lending products.

Mike has an MBA from the Kelley School of Business (Indiana University) and a B.S. from Bethel College.