Kurt prefers the title Chief Servant – lead with love and alongside everyone on the team. Since starting his first company at 14, Kurt has led teams in social, location and mobile across six continents.

He was on the front lines at NAVTEQ, helping define the spatial and location-based industries. During his tenure leading competitive strategy and business affairs at Navteq, they grew annual revenue from $80 million to more than $1.4 billion, including an $880 million IPO in 2004 and 2008 $8.1 billion sale to Nokia. In addition, he also led global skunkworks teams and is the lead inventor on fundamental patents covering all check-in services and mobile advertising – 16 U.S. and international patents.

Three years after the sale to Nokia, Kurt joined the team at Vitrue where he served as Director of Emerging Technology before being promoted to Director of Corporate Development only 6 months later, leading their acquisition, partnerships, and growth strategy, through the sale of the company to Oracle.

Kurt then served as CEO and co-founder at Sideqik – one of the first influencer marketing platforms. Sideqik is continuing to build Atlanta’s digital marketing hub. Kurt assembled the initial team and oversaw the first three years of operations, including raising $1M capital raise from Bee Partners, Rincon Venture Partners, and a group of prominent angel investors as well as the company becoming the platform of record for marketing teams in eSports, gaming, and nutrition industries. Customers included top brands such as CBS Interactive, BenQ, Harmonix, HyperX, Hansgrohe, KontrolFreek, Supply.com, MuscleTech, and dozens of others.

He leads our advising and board memberships, where he is an advisor to several disruptive technology companies. Kurt is an active mentor at Georgia Tech’s Flashpoint startup accelerator and TiE Atlanta. Outside of work, you’ll find Kurt and Valerie spending time in the great outdoors and working with several non-profits and ministries in the Atlanta area.

Read more of Kurt’s story on his website at KurtUhlir.com.