Vinnie Lauria co-founded Lefora (acquired by CrowdGather, Inc.), a forum hosting service for over 100,000 communities on the web. Vinnie also started the SiliconValley NewTech meetup in 2006, critiquing and reviewing hundreds of startups. Vinnie has spent the past year mentoring startups in Singapore and across Southeast Asia, working with i/o ventures, the Founder Institute, and JFDI. In 2013, Vinnie was chosen from a pool of over 2,500 Founders Institute’ mentors as the highest rated startup mentor in Asia. Vinnie has organized Silicon Valley themed events in Asia, including SuperHappyDevHouse.sg. Earlier in his career, Vinnie spent four years within IBM, helping to shape how they were approaching social software for the enterprise. Vinnie has spent considerable time traveling across Asia and lives full-time in Singapore, managing and mentoring the portfolio companies