In the Fall of 2007, Gaines Kilpatrick and Leo Welder opened shop at Gaines’ house in the Austin neighborhood of Zilker Park and thus, Zilker Ventures was born. Zilker Ventures is a homegrown small business, and its founders have directly experienced many of the problems they aspire to solve for other small business owners. For example, Zilker Ventures’ first website, FaxCompare.com, was created because Gaines wasted an exorbitant amount of time selecting an online fax service for Zilker Ventures, only to find that the service he selected was incompatible with Zilker’s needs. Today, FaxCompare.com, an internet fax comparison website, helps almost 20,000 visitors per month avoid the same problem.
About the Founders
Leo Welder
Operations Office, Co-Founder
Leo Welder, co-founder and Operations Officer of Zilker Ventures, LLC, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in finance and Plan II in 2001 and has a Masters in Business Administration from the Acton School- an accelerated, case-based program focused on entrepreneurism. Before founding Zilker Ventures, Mr. Welder spent three years with LCG & Apogee Search, two entities that provide online marketing services and consultations. During his tenure, Mr. Welder helped the company grow from five to over forty employees and in his roles as Sr. Account Executive and Director of Business Development, was a major contributor to Apogee Search’s becoming one of the top 1000 fastest growing companies in the country. Over the course of his career, Mr. Welder has founded or been one of the first five employees in four startups.
Leo also is extremely involved in the Austin community through charity and civic organizations. Currently, Mr. Welder is the President of the Young Men’s Business League & Austin Sunshine Camps as well as a Board Member of the Hill Country Conservancy.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_LeoW
Gaines Kilpatrick
Strategies Office, Co-Founder
Gaines, co-founder and Strategies Officer of Zilker Ventures, LLC has been with the company since it’s creation in Q4 of 2007. In this role, Gaines is responsible for managing company resources, risk management and developing plans for growth.
Gaines has a background in commercial real estate. Prior to founding Zilker Ventures, LLC, Gaines and Leo initiated a lead generation project focused on the 1031 exchange space, but were forced to abandon the project due to adverse changes in the market. However, exploring this opportunity created the platform that eventually grew into Zilker Ventures, LLC. In his commercial real estate career, Gaines has closed transactions in eight different states and multiple product types with an aggregate value in excess of $545 million.
Gaines has a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a Business Foundations Certificate from the McCombs School of Business at UT.
Gaines holds the Texas state record for the Big Head Sea Robin, weighing in at 1 pound 2.24 ounces.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_GainesK
Team Zilker
April Autrey
Web Development Associate
April Autrey, Web Developer Associate of Zilker Ventures, LLC, graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2003 with a B.S. in Advertising and a minor in Business Foundations. April has been with Zilker Ventures since June 2008. Her primary duties include creating and maintaining web applications and infrastructure systems. In her free time, April likes to hang out with her husband and their bullies, play music and laugh.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_AprilA
Nick Middleton
Project Manager
Nick Middleton graduated in 2008 from The University of Texas at Austin with a major in sociology and a minor in business. He has been with Zilker Ventures since October of 2008. He has previously held positions at both market research and PR firms. Nick’s current focus at Zilker Ventures is affiliate management, advertising, and project management. In his spare time he plays rugby on a team for University of Texas alumni and enjoys Austin’s great live music scene.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_NickM
Jen Udan
Web Content/Social Media Specialist
Jen Udan works on developing content for websites operated by Zilker Ventures. She also manages outreach initiatives, including social marketing, blogs, email newsletter campaigns and press releases. She has been with Zilker Ventures since March 2008 and has enjoyed working for the best startup in the city of Austin. Jen graduated from The University of Texas with a B.A. in English and philosophy with a minor in rhetoric. She enjoys living in Austin, playing with her Miniature Schnauzers and writing, reading about writing and tweeting about everything.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_JenU
Koby Wong
SEM Manager
Koby Wong is a 2009 graduate from The University of Texas at Austin with majors in Finance and the Business Honors program. He has been with Zilker Ventures since March of 2008. His focus is in search engine marketing with an emphasis on SEO and conversion rate optimization. In his free time Koby enjoys playing poker, listening to music, and keeping up with the latest SEO and SEM news
http://www.twitter.com/CW_KobyW
Reece Freeman
Research Analyst, IT Specialist
Reece Freeman has been with Zilker Ventures since August 2010 and works primarily on research and quality control of Zilker Ventures’ research databases. He is also in charge of ChooseWhat.com’s quickly-growing community forums as User Liaison. Reece is in the process of earning an M.S. in Economics from Texas A&M. In his free time Reece enjoys watching and playing basketball, hiking around the Austin area and going to live music shows.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_ReeceF
John Nation
Research Analyst
John Nation has been with Zilker Ventures since August 2010 and works with the research team to develop and maintain databases. John holds a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Business Foundations from The University of Texas at Austin. In his spare time John enjoys going to concerts, watching movies, playing sports and zorbing.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_JohnN
Casey Jones
Research Analyst
Casey Jones graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B. A. in Economics and a B.S. in Mathematics in May 2010. He has been with Zilker Ventures, LLC, as a research analyst since August 2010. Casey is responsible for gathering and managing information for all review categories as well as managing new category launches. In his spare time Casey bike-jousts, crowd surfs, models underwear and gets into esoteric arguments with his best friends that annoy everyone else at the bar.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_CaseyJ
Juli Riggs
Office Manager
Juli Riggs graduated in 2007 from The University of Texas at Austin with a major in marketing. She has been with Zilker Ventures since February 2011. As office manager, Juli is responsible for keeping the office organized and running smoothly as well as providing administrative support for the company. She enjoys laughing, shopping, sipping cocktails and keeping up with celebrity gossip.
Jason Huie
Director of Development
Jason Huie, Director of Web Development at Zilker Ventures, LLC, graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2007 with a B.S. in Computer Science. Jason began his work with Zilker Ventures in October of 2010. His responsibilities include: managing a team of designers, developers, and contractors, creating and maintaining web applications and tending to the company’s technology infrastructure.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_JasonH
Lindsey Marino
Assistant SEO Analyst
Lindsey Marino joined Zilker Ventures in August 2010 as part of the SEO/SEM team. Lindsey graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Texas and an MACP in Counseling Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. Her current focus is promoting the websites managed by Zilker Ventures by increasing their visibility on top search engines. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys experiencing what Austin has to offer, kicking it with friends and Muay Thai kickboxing.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_LindseyM
Emilie Hudson
Executive Assistant
Emilie Hudson has been with Zilker Ventures since February 2011 and works as Leo Welder’s assistant. Emilie graduated in 2010 from The University of Texas with a degree in Psychology and a Business Foundations Certificate. She enjoys exploring Austin and reading.
Larry Bills
Director of Content
Larry Bills leads Zilker Ventures’ content, public relations, and social media initiatives. He has been with the company since late 2011. A Texan by birth, Larry holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX. Larry is also a novelist and spends his free time with his wife and two sons, listening to rock and roll, and geeking out on comic books and science fiction.
http://www.twitter.com/CW_LarryB
