Our next group of 40 Under 40 honorees shows that it takes a few prior lives to become an entrepreneur.
Jenny Abramson
LiveSafe
Jenny Abramson, who slyly tells us she’s “under 40,” runs LiveSafe, an Arlington company founded in 2013. Its safety technology combines a smartphone app with a cloud-based “Command Dashboard.” It allows users, who are mostly college students, to communicate directly and discreetly with law enforcement about safety issues and crime. She draws inspiration from the LiveSafe team, who now works with schools, including Virginia Tech, Georgetown and USC, in over 20 states. Jenny, who’s worked for other early-stage companies, The Washington Post, DC Public Schools and Teach for America, says the Detroit Pistons is one of its newest customers. LiveSafe has raised $6.5M and recently added Barry Diller to its board.
Five things you didn’t know about Jenny:
Her bucket list includes going to a Super Bowl.
One of the craziest things she’s ever done is climb to Everest Base Camp as a teen.
One of her Halloween costumes was Wonder Woman with her invisible jet. (We can’t say if she wore this as an adult or as a child.)
Her favorite food is cheap, sugary candy like Swedish Fish and candy corn.
She’s one of the few people born and raised in DC who still lives here.
Mike Baird
Avizia
Mike Baird, 38, runs Avizia, a telemedicine company launched in 2013, whose products connect patients to doctors in real time to share video and data. The company, which has raised $5M and generated over $10M in revenue in 2014, has over 300 customers, made up of hospital systems, nursing homes, schools and workplace clinics in 34 countries. Avizia, which has 50 employees, recently acquired Emerge.MD, which will allow the Aviza cloud platform to integrate with electronic medical records systems, share and archive images and patient data, and hosts an e-visit platform for patients to see their doctor anytime through a web browser.
Five things you didn’t know about Mike:
He has five kids and an amazing wife.
He loves all things consumer electronics and loves wandering the streets of Tokyo or Singapore and seeing devices long before they hit the US.
He takes up a new hobby every year, including surfing, snowboarding, photography, sailing, backpacking and scuba.
Someday he’d like to run for the Virginia Senate.
He needs three more states and two continents to finish his 50/50 and 7/7 goal.
Dan (pronounced “Don”) Berger
Social Tables
Dan Berger, 33 (and a Scorpio), launched Social Tables exactly four years ago. The company’s events and meeting software is used by over 3,000 customers in 30 countries to sell, plan, execute and collaborate on events. Social Tables has 75 employees, has raised nearly $10M, and just added a collection of event furniture from AFR Event Furnishings. It’s the first time a third-party vendor has their items in Social Tables’ cloud-based software. Dan has had two prior lives: one as web developer and the other as congressional aide.
Five things you didn’t know about Dan:
He’s adopted.
He’s an immigrant from Israel; when he came to the US at 9, he didn’t speak a word of English.
He has a Simian crease.
He’s traveled to 40 countries.
He ran an online video game team and considers it the best leadership development he’s ever experienced.
