Venture Connect Speakers

Summit Leader

Mike Capps

Founder/CEO Diveplane Corporation

Dr. Michael Capps is a well-known technologist and CEO of Diveplane Corporation, which develops transformative technology that keeps the humanity in AI. Before co-founding Diveplane, Mike had a legendary career in the videogame industry as president of Epic Games, makers of blockbusters Fortnite and Gears of War. His tenure included a hundred game-of-the-year awards, dozens of conference keynotes, a lifetime achievement award, and a successful free-speech defense of videogames in the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s survived trending on Twitter, iPhone launch events with Steve Jobs, and raising two toddlers. Michael began his career with post-graduate degrees at UNC, MIT, and the Naval Postgraduate School; for his research in VR, he was one of 50 scientists featured in SIGGRAPH’s historical documentary on computer graphics. He has keynoted dozens of conferences, and remains a regular host of television series on the Discovery and Science Channels.  

Summit Leader

Melissa Smith

Managing Director, Head of Specialized Industries, Middle Market Banking, J.P. Morgan

Melissa Smith is the Head of Specialized Industries for JPMorgan’s Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries (MMBSI) business. She leads a team of national managers responsible for industry verticals including Agribusiness, Apparel, Beverage, Emerging Growth, Life Sciences, Media and Entertainment, Technology, and the Middle Market Financial Sponsors Group. The industry teams provide traditional banking services and investment banking solutions to mid-cap sized companies across the country.Melissa is also responsible for the Government, Healthcare, Higher Ed, and Not-for-Profit businesses within MMBSI and sits on the Management Committee for the Commercial Bank.

Prior to joining MMBSI, Melissa spent 3 years as the Northeast Group Head for Corporate Client Banking & Specialized Industries (CCBSI) where she also served on the Management Committee. Since joining CCBSI she has acted as the Regional Chair for the Northeast Market Leadership Teams and as Senior Sponsor for the CB Columbia recruiting team.

Melissa joined the firm in 1998 in Public Finance and has spent most of her career in the Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), most recently as the Head of EMEA Investment Grade Finance in London. As part of her role running the DCM business in Europe, Melissa was a co-chair of the Debt Underwriting Commitments Committee (DUCC), a member of the EMEA balance Sheet Committee, a senior sponsor of the ED Connect program in EMEA and a member of the Analyst and Associate Development Council.Prior to her London move, she spent 14 years in the Debt Capital Markets group in New York as the Head of the Consumer, Retail, Healthcare and Chemicals team.

Melissa received a BA in Political Science from American University and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. Since 2009, she has served on the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theatre.

Summit Leader

Bill Hawkins

Former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic

Mr. Hawkins is retired Chairman and CEO of Medtronic and currently a corporate director serving on public and private boards as well as non for profit boards. He was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering and is an AIMBE Fellow.

Mr. Hawkins currently serves as Lead Director and previously served as President and CEO of Immucor (a private equity backed company) from October 2011 to July 2015.  Prior to Immucor, Mr. Hawkins served as Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, one of the worlds’ largest and most innovative medical technology companies. Mr. Hawkins assumed the role of CEO in 2007 and became Chairman of the Board in 2008. He joined Medtronic in 2002 as SVP and President of Medtronic Vascular. He served in that role until June 2004. From 2004 until August 2007 he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Medtronic.

Prior to Medtronic, Mr. Hawkins served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Novoste Corp. Nasdaq (NOVT) and held senior leadership positions at American Home Products, Johnson & Johnson, Guidant Corp., and Eli Lilly & Co. He began his medical technology career with Carolina Medical Electronics in 1977. 

Mr. Hawkins received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and biomedical engineering from Duke in 1976, where he also conducted medical research in pathology. He then went on to earn an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, in 1982.

He is a Senior Advisor to EW Healthcare Partners, a leading private equity firm investing in life sciences. Mr. Hawkins serves as a Director of Avanos Health NYSE: AVNS. He is Chairman of the Board of Bioventus, and 4Tech; a cardiology startup in Ireland, and on the Board of Virtue Labs, Baebies, Cereius, AskBio, Cirtec Medical, Biogen (BIIB: NASDAQ) and Tissue Tech.  Mr. Hawkins is the past Chairman and Co-Founder of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (“MDIC”) and past-president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (“AMIBE”).  Mr. Hawkins was elected to the Duke University Board of Trustees in 2011 and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board. He is on the Executive Committee and the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.  Mr. Hawkins is Chair of the Board of the Duke University Health System.  He is a member of the NC Biotech board and serves on the Board of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation Society.

Mr. Hawkins also serves as a Member of the Advisory Boards at Arboretum Ventures, Hatteras Venture Partners, HealthQuest Ventures, and past member of A*STAR SERC Cluster Advisory Board in Singapore, and the Biomedical Research Council of Singapore.”

Summit Leader

Melissa Smith

Managing Director, Head of Specialized Industries, Middle Market Banking, J.P. Morgan

Melissa Smith is the Head of Specialized Industries for JPMorgan’s Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries (MMBSI) business. She leads a team of national managers responsible for industry verticals including Agribusiness, Apparel, Beverage, Emerging Growth, Life Sciences, Media and Entertainment, Technology, and the Middle Market Financial Sponsors Group. The industry teams provide traditional banking services and investment banking solutions to mid-cap sized companies across the country.Melissa is also responsible for the Government, Healthcare, Higher Ed, and Not-for-Profit businesses within MMBSI and sits on the Management Committee for the Commercial Bank.

Prior to joining MMBSI, Melissa spent 3 years as the Northeast Group Head for Corporate Client Banking & Specialized Industries (CCBSI) where she also served on the Management Committee. Since joining CCBSI she has acted as the Regional Chair for the Northeast Market Leadership Teams and as Senior Sponsor for the CB Columbia recruiting team.

Melissa joined the firm in 1998 in Public Finance and has spent most of her career in the Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), most recently as the Head of EMEA Investment Grade Finance in London. As part of her role running the DCM business in Europe, Melissa was a co-chair of the Debt Underwriting Commitments Committee (DUCC), a member of the EMEA balance Sheet Committee, a senior sponsor of the ED Connect program in EMEA and a member of the Analyst and Associate Development Council.Prior to her London move, she spent 14 years in the Debt Capital Markets group in New York as the Head of the Consumer, Retail, Healthcare and Chemicals team.

Melissa received a BA in Political Science from American University and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. Since 2009, she has served on the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theatre.