Bill will guide you through an exciting day of thought-provoking “Fireside Chats” and discussion. Learn more about emerging trends in artificial intelligence, defense technology, venture capital, and media — as well as hear a few actionable investment ideas (and maybe talk some politics)! You can view Bill’s bio by clicking on the link image below.

Sol Bier is the founding partner of Factorial Funds, a venture capital firm focused on AI and technology investments. He leads all aspects of Factorial’s growth. Sol also has extensive operating experience and a deep appreciation for technical founders. Sol was previously on the early founding engineering team at Cruise Automation (Y-Combinator W14). Cruise was acquired by GM for $1B in 2016, and scaled from a small 8 person startup to a 3,000 person company. Cruise was last valued at $36B. Sol holds 7 patents in AI, machine learning and robotics, and holds a B.S in Physics from USC.

John has over a decade of experience investing in and leading national security oriented technology companies. John is presently the CEO of HawkEye 360, the leading developer of space-based radio frequency (RF) collection, mapping, and analytic capabilities. He is also a Venture Partner at Shield Capital, a leading investor in defense tech companies. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Allied Minds where he led the formation, financing, and management of HawkEye 360, along with other Allied Minds companies such as BridgeSat, Federated Wireless, and Percipient Networks (WatchGuard acquired). A former Airborne Ranger-qualified U.S. Army infantry officer, John is a graduate of the US Military Academy, Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Brian is the Chief Investment Officer of Monimus Capital Management, a long/short investment firm based in New Jersey. Monimus has an opportunistic, value-oriented investment strategy and a distinct approach to short selling. Prior to Monimus, he was a Managing Partner at Raging Capital Management. Brian also served on the board of directors of MRV Communications until it was acquired in 2017. Prior to Raging Capital, Brian worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and he holds a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University.

Ken Kurson served as the editor in chief of the "New York Observer" from 2013 to 2017. During his tenure, Kurson increased monthly unique readers to over 6 million. Kurson was named 2014’s Journalist of the Year by "Algemeiner" magazine. At the "Observer," Kurson personally broke dozens of stories, including unearthing audio of Hillary Clinton proposing to rig the 2006 Palestinian Elections, a campaign by Samsung to undermine activist investor Elliott Management that resulted in Congressional inquiry, and the revelation that a boy investor who had supposedly earned $72 million made up the entire story. Kurson has appeared on television and radio hundreds of times worldwide. Prior to the "Observer," Kurson was chief operating officer for the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee. Kurson authored four books and co-authored with former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani the No. 1 best-selling book "Leadership." Kurson wrote the money coverage for "Esquire" magazine for 17 years, including his story in 2013 about bitcoin, which was an early mention of the currency in the mainstream media and the very first mention of ripple in the mainstream media.