Casey Cowell was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Chicago receiving an A.B. degree in Economics. In 1976, at the age of 23, he co-founded U.S. Robotics, Inc. He served as Chairman and CEO throughout the company’s history culminating in its merger into 3COM Corporation in 1997, the second largest merger ever in High Tech at that time. Initially a $200 post-college start-up, U.S. Robotics, Inc. became the world’s largest manufacturer of modems and related products that connected computers to the global telephone network. USR was the leading player in every major form factor globally. Its technologies and products included desktop modems, internal PC cards, OEM products for PC manufacturers and massive rack-mount systems connecting online providers including America Online, Prodigy and IBM Global Networks. In addition to a broad array of other products and technologies, USR also brought to market the Palm Pilot, the first highly successful handheld organizer. Cowell has received numerous industry honors including being named one of the 25 Top Managers in the world by Business Week in 1995 and Executive of the Year in 1996 by Crain’s Chicago Business. Today Cowell is an active investor, advisor and board member in a broad range of companies with an emphasis on start-ups and early stage companies in the areas of technology, the internet, social media and healthcare. Cowell has long-standing family ties to the Traverse City area. In 1991 his family moved from the Chicago area to Elk Rapids (near Traverse City) to raise their pre-school age children in a smaller- community environment. He is a long-time supporter of the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Traverse City based Munson Healthcare Network, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and is active in many civic and philanthropic organizations and activities.

Rod Trump is the founder and chairman of High Point Golf Club but worked as a caddy at Caves Valley early in his career.

Rod successfully started, built, and sold two companies in distinctly different industries - both to publicly traded companies, all prior to age 40. In each instance, he identified an opportunity and leveraged innovative technology to disrupt the marketplace. His first company, Integrated Group Benefits, combined employee benefits and payroll into a streamlined, single source platform, creating significant administrative and financial efficiencies. The second venture, Converge, was a well-timed entrant into the enterprise social software space. Enterprise-level companies and colleges and universities utilized the technology to connect, communicate and collaborate.

Now Rod has embarked on what he calls, “his life’s work.” Long passionate about the great game of golf, he has partnered with renowned golf architect Tom Doak, whose resume includes having designed seven of the Top 100 ranked golf courses in the world, bringing back to life Tom’s first design, High Pointe, as a national golf club in the Traverse City, Michigan area. The revival of High Pointe has captured national attention and demand among golfers near and far has been tremendous. The reclamation project has been covered by The Golf Channel, Golf Magazine, Golfweek, Forbes, Links Magazine, The Golfers Journal, Golfwrx.com, Detroit Business Magazine, and many other outlets.

Rod is active in charitable endeavors throughout his community and the great game of golf. He is a founding donor for the West Palm Golf Park; involved in the formation of The Scotty Foundation, Pine Tree Golf Club’s Charitable Foundation; and plans for High Pointe to partner with the Western Golf Association’s Evans Scholar program. He has also established the High Pointe Golf Club FORE Foundation to support veterans and children in his communities. “FORE,” spelled like the well-known golf term, stands for Friends of Rod & Eileen, in honor of his deceased parents.

Hoyt was a stand-out collegiate golfer at Lynn University and played competitively on various professional tours. He co-founded Modern Golf in 2011, a Canadian club fitting company, then became CEO of True Spec Golf in 2014, a brand agnostic club fitting company. In 2017, Hoyt assumed the role of President and CEO of Miura Golf. Soon after, Howard Milstein acquired True Spec and GOLF and consolidated his golf investments into a holding company, 8AM Golf, where Hoyt became President. His role includes creating, communicating, and implementing 8AM’s vision, mission and direction. Hoyt has created synergies and efficiencies throughout 8AM and pursues the highest quality everywhere.

Tom Hammer is a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in its People practice, where he provides guidance and coaching to portfolio startup founders and leaders on a host of topics around talent management, organizational design, and company scaling. Prior to a16z, he held various positions at Bird, Riot Games, and P&G. He holds an MBA/MA and BSBA from Ohio State University, and has served for the last few years on the Board of Directors for Goodwill of the San Francisco Bay. While currently residing in San Francisco with his wife and young daughter, he grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago, where he caddied at Wynstone Golf Club for a decade.