Mellie Price

Founder, Managing Partner
Business Management and Investments

Mellie Price has over 15 years experience as a successful entrepreneur and executive in the information technology sector. Mellie founded Front Gate Solutions and Front Gate Tickets in 2003 to develop applications that help entertainment organizations run more efficiently. She pioneered the creation of the first privately branded and fully integrated product suite that includes a ticketing application, email campaign manager, and online store for merchandise. Price grew the company to ~30 people and in 2008 the system powered over 2 million ticket sales in 700+ cities in North America.

Mellie's experience also includes serving in several senior executive roles with Human Code (1997), a leading software and application developer that was funded by Austin Ventures and sold to Sapient Corporation (NASDAQ: SAPE) in 2000. At Sapient, a top-tier business and technology consultancy, Mellie was a Vice President in the Media, Entertainment, and Communications division. Price started her career as a designer, programmer, and system administrator when she founded Monsterbit (1993), one of the first commercial web development and web hosting companies in the nation (partially acquired by Human Code in 1997). Price was a co-founder of Symbiot Security(2001), leaders in risk metrics for adaptive network security.

Most recently Ms. Price became a founding investor and lead mentor for Captial Factory — a seed stage mentoring program that supported the launch of 5 new Austin companies.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for Front Gate Tickets/Front Gate Solutions, Austin Music Foundation, and the Animal Trustees of Austin

Mellie is a frequent guest speaker at industry conferences and a passionate instructor of anything to do with technology or entrepreneurship. She created the OF COURSE! workshop series to provide practical, hands-on training to micro business owners and employees and truly enjoys teaching those courses. Ms. Price holds a B.S from the University of Texas at Austin and loves that she lives in a fabulous town with 2 wonderful boys, Opie and Nicholson.

Jesse Jack

Co-founder, Managing Partner
Application Development

Jesse architected the software and infrastructure powering Front Gate Solutions' ecommerce and ticketing platforms. Prior to joining Front Gate Solutions, Jesse led the development of several Monsterbit projects including Avenue One and the Earth&Sky Radio Series. Prior to Monsterbit, Jesse worked as a consultant for Digital Mercenaries to develop Holt, Rinehart and Winston's HLLA companion website.

He was a senior software architect for Human Code and Sapient from 1998-2001 and developed software products for ecommerce, learning technologies and video games for clients including the IC2 Institute, Leapfrog Enterprises, Albertsons and THQ. Prior to joining Austin-based Human Code, Jesse worked for web design firm Cymfony.net in Buffalo, NY, after graduating from Alfred University with a B.F.A.

Lax Gani

Associate Partner

Lax Gani leads Source Spring's user-centered design (UCD) practice, creating online products that match users' innate needs, behaviors and expectations to help businesses exceed their key performance goals.

With nearly two decades of Web strategy & design leadership, Lax served over 10 years as director of user experience and information architect at Builder Homesite (BHI), where he oversaw the specification & design of over 20 leading consumer websites and intranet applications in homebuilding, real estate and related fields.  Prior to that, he was website manager for the former Rx.com, an online pharmacy pioneer.

Lax also has an extensive background in media production. He served as Texas Monthly's new media director, and as the Austin Chronicle's first online services director beginning in 1994.  He graduated from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications with a B.S. in Producing for Electronic Media.