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Hardworking, Entrepreneurial, Energetic, Passionate, Ethical, and Creative are just a few words to describe me. I take pride in delivering effective strategies with regard to business development, strategic planning, and Entrepreneurial growth. I am dedicated to rendering effective outcomes and helping individuals reach their desired goals. I am seasoned in areas of leadership, stewardship, and guidance to all those of whose path I cross. Building solid relationships and impacting change is what I do best.

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Chair, Entrepreneurship Director, Center for Business as Mission, Dallas Baptist University

Ross O’Brien has been teaching at Dallas Baptist University since 2003. Prior to that time, he started and ran a small Internet firm in Birmingham, Alabama after working for AT&T’s Business Network Sales division as an Account Executive. 

Ross’ Ph.D. is from the University of Texas at Arlington in business strategy and his MBA is from Dallas Baptist University. He began the Center for Business as Mission in the College of Business in 2014 and the undergraduate entrepreneurship program in 2015. Through the Center for Business as Mission, DBU hosts The Lion’s Den DFW, a business pitch event that brings together faith-oriented founders from around the world with faith-oriented investors. 

Ross and Lisa have been married 35 years and have two grown sons and one daughter-in-law. They live in Waxahachie, Texas where Lisa has launched an independent bookshop. 

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Dr. Simon Mak is Professor of Practice in the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Business Economics and the Executive Director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business. He specializes in ideation, business model strategies and planning, and corporate entrepreneurship. Dr. Mak recently served on the Dallas Mayor’s Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining SMU, Dr. Mak worked for Fortune 50 companies Raytheon and Digital Equipment Corporation, and then joined venture-backed software startup Mercury Interactive in Silicon Valley and moved to Texas after the company’s IPO. He was then involved in his own healthcare dot.com startup and presented to top-tier venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, and then was the vice president of sales and marketing for a startup Asian business magazine, and most recently he was vice president of marketing and business development for a Dallas-based private-equity backed Linux software company and led the sales expansion into Japan and the sale to a Japanese acquirer.

Dr. Mak is one of the leaders at SMU in researching and promoting blockchain entrepreneurship and created an MBA class on Blockchain Entrepreneurship Business Model Strategies. He has traveled to London, Berlin, Malta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Israel, Beijing, and Shanghai researching blockchain startups, and is the founding Faculty Advisor for the SMU Blockchain Club and the SMU Fintech Club.

Dr. Mak also researches esports entrepreneurship and is the faculty advisor for the SMU Esports Club and co-director of the newly created SMU Esports Business Certificate Program. He has traveled to London, Stockholm and Israel researching esports startups. Dr. Mak’s newest area of research is space entrepreneurship.

Dr. Mak earned an BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, an MBA in Finance from the SMU Cox School of Business, and a Ph.D. in Applied Science (Systems Engineering focus) from the SMU Lyle School of Engineering. Dr. Mak is also the recipient of the SMU Cox Teaching Innovation award, SMU Distinguished Community Service Award, the Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award, and the Global Educator of the Year by the Dallas Global Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Mak is also the faculty advisor for SMU Intervarsity Fellowship, the SMU Chess Club, and is on the SMU Incubator Advisory Committee.

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Paul Nichols is the Executive Director for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he is responsible for the Innovation & Entrepreneurship undergraduate and graduate curriculum and the numerous campus-wide programs and workshops conducted through the Blackstone LaunchPad and events such as the Big Idea Competition. He also coordinates with the UTD Office of Research and Innovation on commercialization efforts for the over $120 million of research UTD conducts annually, and with startups admitted to the UTD Venture Development Center incubator.  He has been involved in startup companies and technology innovation businesses and organizations for over 25 years.  Previously he was the co-Founder and CEO of a startup company in power electronics control, and he was a Co-Founder and Principal of STARTech Early Ventures, an early stage $36 million venture capital fund and accelerator where he managed the deal flow and supervised portfolio companies in the software, telecom, education, gaming, and semiconductor markets.  His background includes a number of innovative efforts in a variety of industries; he spent a number of years in intellectual property litigation support, in corporate R&D and software process at Texas Instruments, and was the Internet Director and part of the petition verification team for the Perot Presidential campaign.