Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Todd Feldman has been a successful entrepreneur across multiple industries, including garment and soft goods, entertainment and real estate. A graduate of Hobart and William Smith ’89 (BA Economics), Todd has developed a keen eye for packaging ideas and building businesses for nearly 30 years.

Having started in the manufacturing world, Todd quickly became a top salesperson in a multi-national public corporation, which served him well in his transition into the entertainment business. Todd has produced a feature film and packaged and set up many television shows at major networks and continues to produce and represent established writers and directors in a variety of mediums.

In 2008, Todd and his wife, Jenn, created and patented a revolutionary throw blanket, the Nuddle Blanket, which, at the time, was the only blanket with a foot pocket. The Nuddle Blanket became a favorite of many, including several well-known celebrities and influencers, and can be found on couches around the world.

In 2009, Todd was presented with an opportunity to invest in several real estate deals of a prominent developer of hotel and residential properties, during which time he met an executive who would later become a business partner. In 2011, Todd and this executive co-founded Leonardo247, a real estate software platform, which brings real estate, management and technology together in a ground-breaking new way. Leonardo247 has since grown to become a leader in the multi-family industry.

Todd’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well, recently co-founding another company in the technology/social media space (too early to announce) and having invested alongside über investor, Tim Draper, in PORTL, a California-based Holo-portation start-up, as well as ROLLA, a NYC-based real estate video platform—on which he serves on their Advisory Boards.

Todd and his family are thrilled to be involved in HWS’ Pitch Contest and are looking forward to many years of supporting the young HWS entrepreneurs.

• Isabella Daniels ’27
• Kahlil Fontana ’26
• Zack Hanna ’28 and Dominic Schimizzi ’27
• Scarlett Sandoval ’28
• Anh Thu “Alice” Vu ’28
• Reese Wisherd ’29

We’d like to thank:

• The Judges for challenging our finalists and for their thoughtful questions and wisdom during the selection of the winner.
• The Pitch Mentors for guiding the 10 semi-finalists during the second round. 
• The Selection Committee for reviewing proposals and working to ensure this competition serves as a learning experience for the students involved.
• Adjunct Professor of Business Management and Entrepreneurship Steve Brookstein and Director of Housing and Residence Life Jenna Terrell for mentoring our finalists.
• The many campus colleagues who helped our finalists in important ways during the final weeks of preparation. 

Many thanks to our Bozzuto Center team:

• Craig Talmage, Director
• Kevin Miles, Associate Director
• Cohen ‘67 Intern Kahlil Fontana '26
• Sam Williams, volunteer slide and visuals expert
• Jake Rahner, volunteer and outstanding adjunct director of coaching and mentoring from IdeaLab to the Pitch
• Kathy Sundeen, Program Assistant

We also appreciate the leadership of President Mark D. Gearan and Mary Herlihy Gearan as well as the important work of Assistant Vice President for Campus Life Kristen Tapscott, our Communications colleagues, and the Catering staff team.

We are especially grateful for the leadership of Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Information Officer Fred Damiano, Director of User Services and Technical Support Christina Mosely, Multimedia Specialist III Luke Hodde, and the talented IT Services team for the needed support and expertise in producing the Pitch event.

We also thank the following teams and colleagues for their talents towards the Pitch:

• The Advancement team for their partnership in gathering our mentors and judges.
• The Business Management and Entrepreneurship Department helps prepare our students for the competition, specifically Professors Tom Drennen, John Zappia, Erinn Ryen, and Melanie Dun-Moodie
• B&G for their great effort to set up the Vandervort room for the final event.