It's not easy being a food innovator. There's no road map for reinventing an industry.

Thats why weve teamed up with Force Brands: FoodForce | BevForceto celebrate failure in all its glory at Fail Friday (on a Thursday). Join us to hear stories of failure & lessons learned from top food entrepreneurs.

We will also have food from emerging brands, including Cook Space Brooklyn, as well as festive drinks from BevForceand Teavore. And, as always, there will be lots of networking.

SAMPLE YOUR PRODUCTS
Do you have an innovative food or beverage product you would like to showcase? We have a few openings for food partners to sample products. Apply to sample here!

ONE PRESENTER SPOT OPEN!
Have a story about failure & the lessons you learned from it that youd like to share? We have one spot available. Apply here!

SCHEDULE:
7:00 - 7:45: Networking, Snacks & Drinks
7:45 - 8:45: Failure Stories & Q&A
8:45 - 9:30: More Networking

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Brian Bordainick, founder, Dinner Lab
Brian Bordainick is a Founder of Square One Politics, & currently working as the Head of Innovative Ventures for Hudson's Bay Company. In his role there, he is founding & launching new businesses with top designers from across the world. With the retail industry in flux, he is bringing an innovative business model to address the systemic issues prevalent. He successfully brokered the relationship between HBC & WeWork resulting in a transaction of over $1.3 billion.

Prior to that, Brian founded & ran Dinner Lab, a company with over 100-full time employees that secured over $11 million in venture capital funding. They hosted over 1,000 culinary experiences across 31 cities in the United States. They were featured in the NY Times & referred to as one of the hottest brands by Mashable. The company served as a springboard for many up & coming chefs to launch their careers.

He also founded the 9th Ward Field of dreams, a nonprofit that raised over $2 million to build a football & track stadium in New Orleans. Brian has been featured on Anderson Cooper 360, ESPN, The Today Show, CBS News, & has spoken at TEDxGoldenGateED, The Feast Social Innovation Conference, & various Universities throughout the country. He was recently listed as one of the "30 Under 30: Education" list for Forbes.

Brian started his career in Teach For America post-Katrina in New Orleans & has also served as a Senior Strategic Advisor to Mayor Landrieu in New Orleans, LA.

Brian Rudolph, co-founder & CEO, Banza

Brian is on a mission to make nutritious food more accessible. At the age of 23, Brian co-founded Banza along with his brother Scott. Banza makes comfort foods better by using more nutritious ingredients. Their first product is a high protein, lower carb pasta made from chickpeas. In the last two years, Banza's pasta has entered over 4,500 retail stores, was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 25 Best Inventions of 2015, is the fastest growing brand of pasta in the country, & has been featured on The TODAY show, NYT Food, & CNBC's Restaurant Startup. Recently, Banza was accepted into the inaugural Chobani Food Incubator. Mr. Rudolph is a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 & Inc 30 under 30 lists. Brian received his BBA from Emory University & is an alumnus of the Venture for America fellowship.

PARTNER:

ForceBrandsis a boutique recruiting & staffing agency that specializes in hiring strategies & organizational design for food & beverage companies. Force Brands includes two divisions, the newly introduced FoodForce, which focuses on hiring for the food industry & BevForce, which focuses on hiring for the beverage industry. FoodForce | BevForce is a comprehensive hiring & job search platform providing staffing resources, including: executive recruiting, interim placement, board of director assembly & targeted industry job boards.

SPONSOR:

Rabobank is an international bank providing sector expertise, strategic counsel & tailored financial solutions to clients across the entire food value chain. Rabobanks Banking for Food Startup Innovation Team fosters the worlds most pioneering & bold food & agriculture startups. From farm-to-fork, Startup Innovation Team understands how critical innovation is to solving fractures in the food supply, a key focus of Rabobanks Banking for Foodstrategy. Additional information about Rabobank is available on our website. For more information about B4F Innovation Startup initiatives please visit TERRAand FoodBytes!.