NextMe

NextMe is a modern virtual waiting room that makes it simple for the service industry to manage their waitlist and serve more guests. Eliminate long lines and create amazing first impressions, all while saving money on outdated technology.

CEO / Co-Founder

Vault Innovation Group

Vault Innovation Group is an agency focused on building and growing mobile and web businesses through innovation.  We pride ourselves in delivering the entire software development cycles from beginning to end.  This includes research/consulting, user experience design, visual design, branding, development, and post launch services.

Business Development Executive

Shatkin Arbor

Shatkin Arbor, Inc., a futures brokerage and clearing company, provides trading tools and professional services to novice traders and hedge funds in the United States. It provides CBOT on-site trading, execution, and support and training services. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. As of August 2008, Shatkin Arbor, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Macquarie Futures USA Inc.

Analyst

I’m the son of a South Korean immigrant and entrepreneur. My single-parent mother taught me the value of hard work and resilience by involving me in her small dry cleaning and salon business, where I learned the ropes behind the cash register.

My entrepreneurial journey began early. Teaming up with my brother James, we launched our first business offering dog walking services to our mom’s customers. What started as a way to help out quickly turned into a thriving venture, serving 50+ clients and helping our mom pay off school tuition.

In college, my passion for entrepreneurship deepened during my internship as an analyst at the Chicago Board of Trade. Working closely with business owners and entrepreneurs, I saw firsthand the challenges and rewards of running a business, which further fueled my drive.

Today, I’m the Co-Founder and CEO of NextMe, a modern virtual waiting room designed to help the service industry, manage their waitlists and retain more guests. Whether it’s a busy restaurant, a packed event, or a delayed doctor's appointment, NextMe makes the waiting experience seamless so businesses can focus on delighting their customers. Since launching, we’ve been featured in Forbes, The Eater, EventMB, Food & Wine Magazine, and the Chicago Tribune for our innovative approach.

I’m also passionate about giving back to the entrepreneurial community. I serve as a mentor at DePaul University’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center and at The Garage, Northwestern University’s hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation. Empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs to dream big and make their mark is something I care deeply about.

John Y.

New Era ADR

New Era ADR is simplified, pragmatic, 100-day dispute resolution. We’re a VC-backed (~$8M) technology company helping businesses and individuals save up to 90% on the time, costs, and pain of litigation. 

New Era is the long-needed digital alternative to our courts and legacy arbitration forums. Countless parties are switching to litigate on New Era instead of continuing to endure the gamesmanship, inefficiency (18-36+ months), and expense of litigating in legacy arenas.

This includes some of the most prestigious and well-known organizations in numerous industries, including: financial services, retail, sports, entertainment, real estate, automotive, staffing, higher education, and insurance. 

After all, in 99% of legal disputes, no one *wants* nor needs to be locked in the dispute for 2+ years, yet that's what our legacy systems allow. Instead, parties are forced to pay unnecessary settlements or never bring their claims in the first place simply to avoid the time and expense. That’s not right. 

On New Era, companies no longer have to pay nuisance settlements for meritless cases, and individuals with real grievances will have their cases heard and decided expediently.

Learn more at www.neweraadr.com

CEO & Founder

Various Startups

I'm an LP in multiple venture capital funds, each with different sector and stage focus and investment theses. I also make angel investments — both direct and via syndicates — in technology companies.

My angel investments are driven by my conviction in the founder(s), their vision, and their market. I have no specific sector or stage focus, and my investments cut across industries like: AI, emerging market e-commerce, web3, space tech, fintech, legaltech, nanotech, and biotech.

A few of the companies in my portfolio: X-Therma, Wayflyer, Mr. Yum, Arzooo, OpenAI (that one), LeafTrade, Lega.ai

Limited Partner + Angel Investor

The Economic Club of Chicago

I'm a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, and I also served as Vice-Chair then Chair of the Technology & Innovation Membership Subcommittee, the team responsible for vetting candidates for ECC membership from the technology industry.

Member; Former Chair, Technology & Innovation Membership Committee

Legal Services Corporation (LSC)

https://lsc.gov/about-lsc/leaders-council

LSC is a U.S. Senate-funded 501(c)3, and the single largest grantor of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the nation. LSC is headed by a bipartisan board of directors whose 11 members are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate.

I serve on the Leaders Council with a small but mighty group of business, civic, sports, and education leaders across the country who raise public awareness on the devastating role that seemingly minor legal problems play in a person’s cycle of poverty, the critical need for civil legal aid, and the importance of providing equal access to our justice system to low-income Americans.

Leaders Council

NextME

I serve as a board member and business advisor to this early stage tech company developing software that takes the pain out of waiting in lines for businesses and their customers. Customers experienced 20% average increase in revenue and 22% average increase in customers served.

Board Member

Civis Analytics

Civis is a fast-growing, VC-backed data science technology company born out of President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. I was one of the first 40 employees, served on the executive team, and helped lead and evolve the company through rapid growth (550%+ in my tenure) and over $60M in funding.  

As the company’s first in-house attorney, I also built, grew, and led the company's legal, cybersecurity, privacy, compliance, and incident response strategy...and the amazing team that makes it all happen. Together, we developed and implemented Civis's ever-evolving and ever-improving cybersecurity posture, and we built and fostered a culture that goes beyond laws and regulations — one in which ethics, integrity, and simply doing the right thing are central to everything we do.

My favorite part of my role is getting to learn from all of my incredibly innovative colleagues – at all levels and in all departments – who never fail to impress me. As a bonus, I get to serve as a business partner and advisor to my brilliantly eclectic colleagues and work alongside them to design and build cutting edge data products that power high-impact and large-scale solutions to humanitarian, governmental, political, and commercial problems.

General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

The Chicago Bar Association

I’m a founding member of a committee of lawyers and technologists helping to shape the legal, regulatory, and ethical landscape at the intersection of bleeding-edge technologies and the law.

Committee Description: Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, biometrics, and other technological developments promise to improve lives, help manage the supply chain, change the way we bank, and to fundamentally alter both the legal profession and the industries that we serve.  Along with opportunities, innovation presents unique legal, ethical, and regulatory challenges.  The Financial and Emerging Technologies Committee will examine these new technologies, explore how companies are implementing them to revolutionize myriad industries, and help shape the legal, ethical, and regulatory landscape that applies to this evolving area.

Founding Member, Financial & Emerging Technologies Committee

Illinois Legal Aid Online

Technology & Operations Monetization Committee | Former Board Member

Livevol Inc

Acquired by CBOE Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE). 

Livevol is a fast-growing technology company with offices in San Francisco and Chicago. It offers industry-leading financial data analytics, derivatives trading software and SaaS products, and development and consulting services. Clients include many Fortune 500 companies, large banks, large brokerage firms, hedge funds, all major securities exchanges, regulators, proprietary trading firms, and market makers. 

As General Counsel for the technology business, I served on the management team, advised our board on a wide range of governance initiatives, and managed and advised on business and legal matters including overall legal strategy, corporate governance, compliance issues, sales and marketing, inbound and outbound data/software/SaaS licensing strategy, financing, all contract drafting and negotiation, IT procurement, security and privacy, litigation, arbitration, employment matters, product development, IP strategy, and patent and trademark portfolio development. I was fortunate to be advised by terrific outside counsel from various firms, and I ran point on those relationships too.

SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Atlantic Intellectual Property, LLC

Atlantic IP is an intellectual property strategy consulting firm comprised of my two partners and me -- each of us holding leadership positions at our respective companies. We advised our clients on all technology and IP M&A, technology licensing, product development, IP asset management, and corporate IP strategy. Our clients included inventors, startups, and larger companies, primarily in technology industries including software, SaaS, hardware, media distribution, networking, and mobile device software and hardware. 

Sample Engagements:
• Advised startup technology company on SaaS licensing and negotiation, product development, IT procurement, and negotiations for professional services agreements. 
• Advised inventors of consumer goods and financial software on product development, licensing, patenting, trademarking, and marketing strategies

Partner

I love building and growing businesses. I'm currently CEO & Founder of New Era ADR, a VC-backed technology company saving precious time and money for individuals and businesses, bringing long-desired yet never-before-seen certainty and predictability to the legal dispute process, up to 90% reductions in time and cost, and revolutionizing how disputes are resolved in the U.S.

Before this, I served on executive teams of two VC-backed technology companies that I helped build and scale through rapid growth and one acquisition so far. Before that, I led market development in Asian markets for two companies. 

I also serve as a board member, advisor, and investor in cutting-edge companies and with local and national non-profits. My investments cut across a diverse set of technologies, some include e-commerce in emerging markets, fintech, Web3, cannabis tech, consumer tech, and nanotechnology. Along the way, I love learning about each of these new industries and helping founders and exec teams solve the challenges involved in building new companies.

taplio

The Battle

John Y.

Rich Lee

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