December FORGE Fireside - with Scott Cohen and Blake Johnson

Date and Time for this Past Event

Thursday, Dec 7, 2023 12:15pm - 1pm

Location

Details

Join FORGE Founding Executive Director Brian Ellerman every first Thursday for a lively conversation about people, programs, and ideas that advance our entrepreneurial ecosystem. On this month's edition, Brian chats with University of Arizona alumni and Byte Co-Founders Scott Cohen and Blake Johnson.

As profiled in FORBES magazine - "entrepreneurs Scott Cohen and Blake Johnson built this unicorn in record time in what some have called one of the greatest direct-to-consumer success stories of the century. Founded in 2017, Byte launched its products at the start of 2019, and they inked the billion-dollar all-cash deal with Dentsply less than two years later.

Scott Cohen is serial entrepreneur and investor with a demonstrated track record of building start up companies to growth stage, to exit. He has a passion for hiring great leadership teams to solve massive needs in large addressable markets and is skilled in start ups, executive leadership, D2C model, Software as a Service (SaaS), Marketing and Sales Strategy. In the Non Profit Sector, he serves on the Board of Directors of five organizations that span Health, Economic Empowerment, Education, and Poverty Alleviation. He has been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year

Blake Johnson is a Los Angeles based entrepreneur who has founded and successfully sold a variety of businesses throughout his career. Winner of the 2021 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the LABJ Nonprofit & Corporate Citizenship Awards Philanthropist of the Year Award, the current valuations for the 5 businesses he has conceptualized, founded, self-funded and sold exceed $1.15 billion. He has achieved such success by focusing on business fundamentals and forward-thinking endeavors. His thoughts on business, success, and the entrepreneurial mindset can be found at blakebjohnson.com, a thought-leadership website that he maintains.

This interview is pre-recorded, but all are welcome to join us for a live viewing downtown at the FORGE At Roy Place Hub featuring complimentary refreshments and a Q&A with FORGE Founding Executive Director Brian Ellerman about the influence of policy on entrepreneurship.

With questions about access or to request any disability-related accommodations in this event such as ASL interpreting, closed-captioning, wheelchair access, or electronic text, etc., please contact Holly McAnally at hollybrenna@arizona.edu