About Founders First

Aaron Houghton

Aaron Houghton believes it is possible for entrepreneurs to be healthy and happy while they build great companies that change the world. Since starting his first business at age 17, he’s built and launched more than eleven tech startups, scaling one from conception to 350 employees and $50M in annual subscription revenue. Aaron sold two companies to private buyers and one to a publicly traded company for $169M before his 30th birthday.

Aaron was selected as an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 and was listed to Inc Magazine's 30 Under 30 list in 2010. He’s shared his story and his thoughts on personal growth, digital marketing, and startup leadership with hundreds of audiences, including Harvard University, Entrepreneurs Organization, and StartupNation.

Looking back, Aaron can see his success came with the hidden costs of long term stress; including panic attacks, debilitating anxiety, and a cancer diagnosis in 2009. He had a habit, like many of us, of pushing himself to the absolute limit. He was trading sleep to hit deadlines, trading nutrition to save pennies, and enduring chronic stress year after year so he could chase his dreams.

Aaron knew there must be a better way. He spent five years studying how entrepreneurs manage stress, and personally tested techniques for achieving high performance while maintaining mental and physical health. Aaron then created the Founders First System (www.foundersfirstsystem.com), manifesting two decades of experience and years of research into a simple set of processes, disciplines, and metrics designed to improve the experience of founders and business leaders around the world.

Shelby Bowers

Shelby Bowers is a marketing expert with a focus in content creation and strategy. She has a Bachelor's in Marketing with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. Shelby became an entrepreneur in 2020, when the economic fallout from COVID prompted her to become a freelance marketing consultant. Shelby has experience in a variety of industries, spanning from food and beverage to sports retail to book publishing. Shelby is a voracious reader, an aspiring author, and a running enthusiast. She lives in San Diego, California with her family and her bulldog, Lenny Gus.

Chelsea Avery

Chelsea Avery is a social worker turned entrepreneur who knows our minds are the most powerful tool we have for creating our reality and experiencing life. She received her Master's Degree in Social Work from Portland State University and spent her early career in the nonprofit world. Chelsea began her entrepreneurial journey shortly after coaching her husband to become the youngest world champion of public speaking in history. They founded their communication consulting firm in 2012.

As someone who has lived with generalized anxiety disorder and depression since being diagnosed in her early teens, Chelsea deeply understands the cost of poor mental health and the effect it has on all facets of life. She is a transformational coach, speaker and writer. She lives in Littleton, Colorado with her husband and two children. 

Ian Thurbon

Ian is an information technology industry veteran with 30+ years of experience. He has founded, built, grown, reformatted, acquired and sold numerous businesses & business units throughout the technology industry. Whether operating a large company or a startup, Ian has learned that maintaining emotional and physical strength is not just a matter of convenience that yields performance benefits in work and in life, but is in fact an obligation we have to our companies, our teams, our families, and most of all to ourselves.

Daniel S. Holt

Dan Holt knows what it’s like to build something from the ground up. He got his start in public service, and has served in five presidential appointments across two White House administrations. He has led nationwide advocacy initiatives and directed White House teams in high-stakes environments across the U.S. and around the world, maintaining a continued focus on the importance of creative, resourceful and flexible management in raising organizational profiles and engaging key audiences. 

Dan had his first experience as an entrepreneur when he founded a communications consulting company in 2017, helping clients build innovative coalitions and grow their impact both domestically and abroad. He knows the challenges of finding solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems while trying to maintain a sustainable quality of life, and believes that most problems in business and in life can be solved by connecting the right people. 

Wendy Lea

Wendy Lea has a multi-faceted entrepreneurial background and is equally well-versed in helping large enterprises systematize innovation as she is in creating vibrant startup innovation ecosystems that grow city, regional, and state economies. Currently the CEO of Energize Colorado, Wendy leads a team of inspired innovators from Colorado’s private, public, nonprofit, and academic communities working to revive and invigorate Colorado’s economy by mobilizing relief—including mental health resources—for small businesses, nonprofits, and individuals recovering from the economic impact of COVID-19. Wendy is also an active mentor and advisor for tech accelerators. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Jorge Partidas

Jorge is a highly successful entrepreneur originally from Venezuela whose specialized interest is in uniting and connecting the Americas into a unified marketplace through new media, immigration investments, technology and franchising. He is Founder & CEO of Globofran, an Immigration Investments firm which specializes in sourcing and advising Latin Americans on purchasing businesses and investment opportunities in the United States for immigration purposes. Jorge is a past founder of multiple award-winning initiatives in the tech sector, has served on numerous corporate boards, is a frequent keynote speaker, co-founded the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) Venezuela Chapter and is an active EO member. He holds an Economics’ Degree from Caracas' UCAB University and is a sports enthusiast, having successfully completed 8 marathons and 2 Ironman races.

Erik Severinghaus

Erik has summited the highest peaks of the business world (selling four companies for hundreds of millions of dollars) and the physical world (successfully climbing Mt. Everest in 2018). He is proudest not of the trophies on his wall memorializing the accomplishments, but of the scars he has accumulated overcoming both the external obstacles and internal trap of self-doubt along the way. Erik will be releasing his first book on April 27, 2021. Scale Your Everest is a guidebook for mental health, resilience and entrepreneurship. Erik has an MBA from Kellogg School of Business and an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina. He lives with his wife and daughter in Chicago.

Rachel Downey

Rachel Downey is an EOS® Implementer and retreat facilitator with a passion for helping entrepreneurs find their way in business and in life. She founded Cleveland-based branding and wayfinding firm Guide Studio 24 years ago, growing it into a million+ self-run business which helps connect places (cities, institutions and facilities) with the people who live in, work in, and visit them. Having experienced the ups and downs of entrepreneurship first hand, Rachel now strives to use her expertise to help other founders find their way. She believes that entrepreneurial health is vital to every growing business, and that empowering leaders to find the balance between personal wellness and company wellbeing is critical to success. She is a long-time member of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), and a tenured Trainer in EO's Accelerator program, based on the tools of Scaling Up / The Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish. Her full-time gig is training leadership teams on EOS methodology to help them get more of what they want from their business. Rachel lives in Littleton, Colorado with her husband and teenage son, where they enjoy skiing, hiking, backpacking, and traveling.

David Mandell

David Mandell has been an entrepreneur thought leader for over 20 years, with a broad scope of leadership experience from marketing and business development to advising founder CEO’s and cultivating venture partnerships. A co-founder and Managing Director of Massive Inc, David is also a partner at Boulder based venture fund The Fund, Managing Director at VentureVoodoo Partners, and has served as a mentor with TechStars for 15 years. He is co-founder of Boulder based Founder Fights and serves on leadership boards for Blue Sky Bridge and Upsuite, among others. David’s passion is empowering startups through time-tested leadership strategies and creating venture relationships that create purpose-driven and sustainable social impact within communities.