Edward Hertzman is a serial entrepreneur who has launched multiple businesses across several industry verticals including media, fitness, wellness and sourcing. He is also a subject matter expert who has become the voice for the industries he has served. An early-stage investor in promising startups, he has contributed to their growth and value creation. His latest venture, Athletech News is a response to the fitness industry’s need for community, representation and a seat at the table. Much like sourcing more than a decade ago, fitness and wellness has been a fragmented, under-valued, and under-reported industry, with little transparency into the robust investments occurring in the space, or the dynamic leaders that drive these businesses. Athletech News answers to this need. Prior to Hertzman’s latest venture, following several years on the ground as a supply chain executive, Hertzman founded Sourcing Journal in 2009. Today, Sourcing Journal is the world’s largest trade publication devoted to sourcing and supply chain in the apparel and textiles industry. In 2017, Hertzman sold the company to Penske Media Group. He remained on board as President for 5 years, during which time he was promoted to EVP of all Fairchild Media Titles, tasked with growing their portfolio of publications, while continuing to lead day-to-day operations at Sourcing Journal. In 2023, Hertzman left Penske to launch his next media enterprise, Athletech Media Group. It has quickly become the media of record for the fitness and wellness industry with more than 100,000 subscribers signing on since its debut. Hertzman continues to consult for several retail and supply chain companies and through his company, Hertzman Global Ventures, he has made targeted investments in both PE funds and supply chain tech companies including Active Source Lab. Hertzman is also a sought-after speaker, sharing his expertise at leading industry conferences and events. His innovative leadership has helped shape the way the industry approaches sustainability, commercial compliance, and global sourcing strategies. Hertzman received a degree in economics from NYU and spent more than a decade working in top-level executive positions for major sourcing companies worldwide, including Synergies Worldwide and Pearl Global. He also sits on the Board for Delivering Good, a charitable organization that channels the resources of the fashion industry to those in need.

Chris Walton is a leading expert and influencer in omnichannel retailing. An accomplished Senior Executive, Chris has high-level executive experience across nearly every discipline within retail. Currently he is the Co-CEO of Omni Talk, one of the fastest growing media companies in retail. He is also a Senior Contributor for Forbes, where his work has been read by over 4 million people, a regular keynote speaker, and he also sits on the Advisory Boards for Ownit AI, Buncha, Sezzle, Firework, and Mirakl. Prior to starting Omni Talk, Chris worked for Target, where he was the Vice President of the retailer’s Store of the Future project and also the Vice President of Merchandising for Home Furnishings on Target.com. Chris began his career at Gap, Inc. and holds a BA in Economics and History from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Baz is a Partner at Antler, a venture capital firm that is the world’s most active early-stage investor. He is particularly focused on building impactful innovation models to drive corporate-startup relationships.

Over the past 25 years, Baz has had first-hand experiences with innovation from the perspective of startups, consultants, VCs, and blue-chip corporations. He has been an active investor, advisor, CEO, or founding member of over 40 startups and brings expertise from several industries including retail, consumer goods, technology and healthcare.

Baz was previously the Global Managing Director of Unilever’s innovation business unit, The Foundry. He has served as CEO and Partner of a London-based retail/ consumer venture capital fund, was the founder of Accenture’s Global Medical Technology Practice and the EMEA Lead, and was a founding member of a Life Sciences IoT startup that scaled across Europe and the US.