Our Executives.
The Storewise leadership team has the silicon-valley tech experience and retail know-how together with the strength and perseverance that mirrors the food industry entrepreneurs they serve.
Christopher Greco
Chris has served in many leadership roles at AT&T and Symantec, and proved his early-stage know-how as part of the leadership team that scaled a SaaS company to a $220M acquisition. He brings an entrepreneurial, core value mindset to every organization that he’s led. Chris authored the book, 8 Steps to Overcoming Everyday Adversity, which was endorsed by several leaders including the former Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Bill Owens. Chris holds an MBA from Florida International University, has completed 4 triathlons including a 70.3 Ironman, and lives in the Kansas City area with his wife, two kids and rescue dog.
Mark Simpson
Mark has served in leadership roles in both start-up and corporate environments and brings experience from the disciplines of Engineering, Product Management, User Experience, and Organizational Design. Mark leads the product, innovation and business development teams. He brings both a creative and analytical perspective to developing software solutions that solve complex problems and delight customers. Mark also enjoys coaching individuals, especially those young in career, so they can develop to become the best version of themselves. Mark holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, is a former competitive tennis player and pool shark, and lives in the Kansas City area with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
Emily Most
Emily has served in leadership roles across finance and operations early in her career. Emily leads the finance, HR and customer success teams at Storewise. She started an appraisal management company, and oversaw the staff, while continuously developing and implementing technology enhancements, process flows and operational efficiency. Her ability to assimilate large data sets and implement change-management helped propel one of her companies to the Inc 5000 list. Emily excelled in volleyball, basketball and gymnastics while growing up, finishing her athletic career with two years of college volleyball. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, two sets of twins, and dog.
Gordon Reiz
Gordon has spent the last decade in direct sales and sales leadership roles focused on unique growth and expansion targets. Gordon leads the sales and marketing team at Storewise. As a Sales VP for a CPG Start Up, he achieved over 2x revenue growth, increasing profits year over year. His experience in various CPG industries allows him to utilize his knowledge from one to accommodate for the needs in another. His customer base has ranged from large convenience store chains to independent and national grocers, military and global mass retailers. Gordon holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Benedictine College. He lives in Leawood Kansas with his wife, two children and two dogs.
Cody Inman
With over 15 years in the software industry, with world-class UX design and know-how, Cody and his engineering team developed the Storewise automation platform. Cody brings a wide range of knowledge and experience to the engineering team. He’s worked with numerous businesses as the engineering lead with a boutique consulting firm. He has helped lead and design complex software systems including intrathecal drug calculation software, medical ordering systems, 401k recommendation engines, and asset management platforms. Cody has earned the following certifications - CSM, MCP, MCPD, MCTS. Cody lives in the Kansas City area with his wife, three kids, a dog, a cat, and a fish that is somehow still alive. When he’s not actively pushing the boundaries of technology, he enjoys playing recreational ice hockey, working on home improvement projects, and spending time with his family.
Christopher Greco
Chris has served in many leadership roles at AT&T and Symantec, and proved his early-stage know-how as part of the leadership team that scaled a SaaS company to a $220M acquisition. He brings an entrepreneurial, core value mindset to every organization that he’s lead. Chris authored the book, 8 Steps to Overcoming Everyday Adversity, which was endorsed by several leaders including the former Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Bill Owens. Chris holds an MBA from Florida International University, has completed 4 triathlons including a 70.3 Ironman, and lives in the Kansas City area with his wife, two kids and rescue dog.
Vlad Besprozvany
Vlad is the Founder and Managing Partner of Nexa Equity. Vlad is Chairman of the Board of AutoReturn, Choice and Leap and sits on the board of Hometown Ticketing. Prior to founding Nexa Equity, Vlad was a Managing Director at Greater Sum Ventures. Before that, Vlad was a software and fintech investor at Insight Partners and Thoma Bravo. Vlad started his career as an investment banker at JP Morgan and Citigroup. Vlad lives in Marin County outside San Francisco with his wife, son, and dog and is an avid snowboarder.
Joey Maloney
Joey is a Principal at Nexa Equity. Joey focuses on application software and fintech and is responsible for executing transactions and portfolio management post-close. Joey sits on the board of AutoReturn and Leap. Prior to joining Nexa Equity, Joey was a Vice President at Luminate Capital Partners where he focused on growth buyouts in application software companies. Before that, Joey was a technology investment banker at Arbor Advisors and a management consultant at Waterstone Management Group. Joey lives in San Francisco and enjoys skiing and traveling with his family and friends.
Paul Adams
Paul started Paul Adams & Associates in 2002 after a 20-year career with the Fleming Companies where he had several responsibilities including heading up its Retail Learning Center and serving as the coordinator of the company’s Retail Account Executive program. Prior to those responsibilities he was a retail counselor, Regional Director of Retail Training and Regional Director of Franchised Stores. Before Fleming, he served as store manager for a regional chain in Kansas City. His beginnings in the retail industry included working in his grandfather’s general store in the Missouri Ozarks town of Southwest City. Paul and his late wife Barbara were married for 50 years, prior to her passing in 2018. Paul has three sons and four grandchildren. Paul Adams resides in Olathe, Kansas.
Barton Howard
Randall “Barton” Howard was deputized at 19 years old by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office and served as a law enforcement Investigator in Mississippi until 2010. Howard was recruited to work as a Security Manager at Rouses Market, the 7th largest independent grocer in the United States where he rose through the ranks serving as Vice President of Asset and Profit Protection until July of 2021. In early 2021, Barton partnered with Rocky Patel Premium Cigars to create Tubeaux by Rocky Patel, thus bringing his invention to the global retail marketplace. Tubeaux is a global patent pending tech-enabled turnkey humidor service. Recognizing underserved needs for independent grocers, Barton also Co-Founded Circle The Wagons (CTW) Group Purchasing Organization in 2020. CTW serves independent grocery retailers across the US and Canada.
Shahzad Zafar
A career technology leader, Shahzad joined Rx Savings Solutions (RxSS) in 2018, where he is currently the Chief Technology Officer, after 13 years with Cerner. As part of the leadership team at RxSS, he led the growth of the engineering team by almost 300% and scaling the company from start-up to a $875M acquisition. His keen understanding of agile principles, product development and team dynamics helps engineers thrive in a build-ship-learn environment with nimble, self-organized teams. He enjoys helping others grow professionally and personally and is passionate about helping teams succeed. Shahzad also speaks frequently at technology conferences. Shahzad graduated from University of Michigan and over the weekend can be found cheering on Michigan sports and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
John Ulmer
John offers 40-plus years of retail industry experience and various leadership roles within HEB Grocery. His experience at HEB included leadership roles in operations as Top Store Leader where he led a team of over 400 employees, as Advertising Manager for the Non-Foods department and Business Development Manager for the Housewares category. John then took on the challenge of developing the "Shelfedge" department that encompassed the merchandising, pricing, signing and communication arms of the company. He led the pricing and price optimization teams which delivered on improved price index, price image and gross margin improvements that gave HEB the tools to grow market share in all its markets. John is “restlessly dissatisfied with the status quo” and can be found fishing, boating, and hiking on the weekends. He graduated from Texas State University and has two sons.
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Jon Hauptman
Raised in the capital of Canada, Jon attended the University of Ottawa for his undergraduate degree in Economics. He then crossed the border to earn his M.B.A. at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, after which he started his career at United Airlines and Dominick's Finer Foods (Chicago). Jon has spent the past three decades focused in the grocery industry and is widely recognized as one of the industry's leading retail pricing experts. He has developed successful pricing strategies for over 50 supermarket chains, first as a partner at Willard Bishop for 25 years, at Inmar Intelligence for 6 years, and now at Price Dimensions that he founded in 2022. Jon has been married for almost 30 years and is the proud father of three adult children. He is a classic car enthusiast (just ask him about his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS convertible), a staunch hockey fan, and enjoys older movies circa 1930s & 1940s.
