40 Under 40: Part II Cont'd

Lee Finkel
Brave UX

Last February, Lee Finkel, 31, launched his latest venture, Brave UX, a user experience agency that designs and develops application interfaces. After launching several businesses, Lee moved from NYC to DC where he heads the bootstrapped company, profitable in its first year. Lee fell in love with DC, where he says the tech scene is not-so-secretly booming and the talent is hungry, humble and brilliant. Brave works with clients like HHS, &pizza and WeddingWire, and predicts 2015 will be an even bigger year.

What you didn’t know about Lee:

• He’s a member of NextGen Angels and has invested in multiple local tech startups, including Encore Alert and RevMetrix.

• He started his first two companies in college, and has never had a “real job.”

• He can’t bring himself to abandon his New York sports teams, including the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Islanders.

• He’s a proud alum of the University of Maryland (Go Terps!) and remains active with its business school.

• As an event MC, he keeps the party going at the monthly Drink the District events, and other parties throughout the DC area.

Kevin MacDonald
KitCheck

Kevin MacDonald, 36, and Tim Kress-Spatz, 33, co-launched KitCheck nearly three years ago to help hospital pharmacies keep track of medications through RFID tags. Now over 150 hospitals are using the technology, including the University of Maryland, its first customer, and Potomac Hospital. The revenue-generating company has 59 employees and has raised $22.4M. It recently announced a partnership with CareFusion, a large player in medication management and dispensing. The two will work together to provide more integrated solutions for hospitals. 

What you didn’t know about Kevin:

• He’s known for his karaoke skills at the annual holiday party. (Cue up the Neil Diamond.)

• He’s a sailor, typically in the Chesapeake.

• He’s done business on six continents.

• His first real job was in high school working at a horse race track in Chicago. He helped create the track’s first gambling loyalty system. 

• He co-founded KitCheck with no healthcare background, but based on a conversation with his wife’s friend, a hospital pharmacist.

Tim Kress-Spatz
KitCheck

What you didn’t know about Tim:

• His favorite band is Mosco Rosco.

• His favorite movie is Serpico.

• He’s done web development since 1994 and launched his first website focused on hacking and hacker culture in early high school years. He shut it down after realizing federal agencies were visiting it. 

• He played piano, tuba, French horn and trumpet, and is also into photography.

• He ran the NYC Marathon in 2010, an amazing experience that gave him some moments of solitude as a struggling entrepreneur.

Zvi Band
Contactually

Zvi Band, 30, started Contactually in October 2011 to offer businesses a CRM platform to track and engage with key relationships. The 55-person firm works with realtors, lawyers, executives, sales teams and financial advisers and is expanding into larger enterprises in the over 1,000-seat range. Zvi, whose been a CTO of an enterprise software startup and head of a consulting firm, says Contactually has raised $3.5M and is generating revenue in the millions, but not yet profitable. “But it’s growing quickly.”

Five things you didn't know about Zvi:

• The craziest thing he’s ever done is launch Contactually.

• He was raised on the West Coast and didn’t see snow until age 15.

• He cries at the end of Top Gun and isn’t ashamed of it.

• He consumes hot sauce like it’s water.

• He can’t snap his fingers. (Don’t judge.)