At 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds, Russell Okung strikes a commanding presence on the offensive line of the Seattle Seahawks. And the 28-year-old shows leadership in the Seattle community as the co-founder of non-profit startup Greater.
Now, we’re thrilled to announce that Okung — the All-Pro and Super Bowl-winning offensive tackle for the Seahawks—will join us as a speaker at this year’s Startup Day.
Tickets are still available for this one-of-a-kind entrepreneurial bootcamp, taking place Friday, Feb. 12 at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Go here to purchase tickets.
Okung will share lessons from the gridiron, including the importance of teamwork in building successful organizations.
GeekWire readers in recent weeks have probably stumbled across Okung’s non-football work. We profiled his non-profit — Greater — an ambitious effort to mentor at-risk youth and use technology to open doors for teenagers who might otherwise get left behind. And last month we published a guest post by Okung who had some interesting thoughts in response to an essay by venture capitalist Paul Graham about income inequality.
Okung was born to Nigerian parents who immigrated to the U.S. just before his birth, and his father was murdered while working at a gas station when he was five. A Houston native, Okung attended Oklahoma State University, majoring in business. He was drafted 6th by the Seahawks in the 2010 draft, the first draft choice of General Manager John Schneider and Head Coach Pete Carroll.
He’s currently studying for an MBA degree from the University of Miami.
We’re excited to have Okung join us as a speaker. And I know entrepreneurs and business leaders will enjoy hearing his perspective — not only as the blocker for “Beast Mode” and protector of Russell Wilson — but also his thoughts on striving for success when odds are stacked against you. (A true startup trait!)
In addition to Okung, we’ve got a full day of great speakers lined up for this year’s Startup Day event.Wireless pioneer John Stanton will join GeekWire chairman and PicMonkey CEO Jonathan Sposato on stage for a discussion about entrepreneurship and leadership.
LiquidPlanner CEO Liz Pearce will kick off the day with a talk titled “7 Things I’ve Learned Building a Lean Startup” and Limeade co-founder and CEO Henry Albrecht will delve into the art of startup sales. Other speakers include Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader; Point Inside CEO Josh Marti; and Glamhive co-founder Stephanie Sprangers.
We’re also excited to bring back the Demo Zone where 25 startups will get the opportunity to present their ideas to the Startup Day audience, as well as receive one-on-one advice from top angel investors and venture capitalists. Three of those startups will be chosen to pitch after lunch to our VC and angel investor panel, which includes Steven Sinofksy of Andreessen Horowitz; Greg Gottesman of Madrona and Pioneer Square Labs; and angel investors Andy Liu and Heather Redman.
A big thanks to the City of Bellevue for serving as the title sponsor of this year’s Startup Day event. We hope you can join us for this inspirational event.
