Who's Who
Collectively we have the expertise and experience to deliver all the necessary elements of a successful startup, saving you the trouble of figuring it out on your own. We offer our services as a group, or tailored specifically to the individual needs of the client.
Our group includes:
Garrett Slater
Managing Director and
Lead Developer.
eCommerce and CMS
platform expert.
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Mitch Stutes
Database infrastructure and published technical writer.
Resume >
Arthur Tyde
Entrepreneur, CEO,
Venture Capital
Resume >
Mike Shields
Software Engineering and
Project Management.
Resume >
Bob Baldori
Chief Counsel, business management, media production. Resume >
Marcus Baldori
Legal and business development consultant. Management and legal expert for new media startups.
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Associates: Bryant Dunivan > Michael Sherman >
Robert Baldori has a unique combination of skills, including from being a veteran legal practitioner with a long history in several areas of law to an international career in the entertainment business. In the legal arena, his expertise includes contract negotiations in the entertainment industry, high tech startups and business law, criminal defense and drug forfeiture, as well as, estate and trust law and bankruptcy.
Bob Baldori started negotiating contracts in the entertainment business in the 1960’s, before he was an attorney. His first major record contract was with ABC Dunhill when it was run by Lew Adler, then the number one record producer in the country. Subsequently, Mr. Baldori was the first independent record producer to negotiate a relationship with Motown Records, as well as representing artists and other producers in countless record distribution deals. Eventually, Mr. Baldori became a senior director at MS Distributing in Chicago when it was the number one independent distributor of audio and video in the world.
Mr. Baldori has also devoted a significant part of his legal career to negotiating contracts in the “high tech startup” field. He organized the initial startup of Linuxcare with three entrepeneurs in Palo Alto, [including Arthur Tyde] a company that went on to be funded in excess of $40 million by Credit Suisse First Boston. Since the 1990s Mr. Baldori has represented dozens of startups, providing a unique combination of experience as a negotiator and an entrepreneur.
Mr. Baldori is also a certified mediator and his office provides facilitative mediation services for many mid-Michigan jurisdictions. More info: www.baldorilaw.com.
Boogie Bob Baldori has been a mainstay of blues, boogie and rock in the midwest for over 40 years. He has performed hundreds of dates in venues from Detroit to Chicago, LA to New York to the White House for President Clinton. In addition to recording and performing his own material, Boogie Bob has produced and engineered over 200 albums. He also wrote and starred in ALMOST FAMOUS, a rock/musical that had five successful productions starting at the Boarshead Theater in Lansing, Michigan, moving to the Wharton Center at MSU, Les Idee in Grand Rapids, The Apollo Theater in Chicago and in 1998 at The Limelight Theater, Toronto. He also combines a law practice with his recording/performing career, representing many clients including Hubert Sumlin and Chuck Berry in the entertainment field.
Baldori has written a collection of original piano solos and is completing an instructional book on improvisational piano and a book of over 250 exercises for jazz/blues/boogie improvisation.
Baldori started his career in the late sixties in Detroit with his group, The Woolies, and soon released a national hit, WHO DO YOU LOVE. In the following years, in addition to touring and performing extensively and recording on his own, he backed up Chuck Berry, playing hundreds of dates and recording two albums with Mr. Berry. In addition to Berry, Boogie Bob has worked and recorded with many other blues and rock legends, playing piano and harmonica. They include Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Luther Allison, Del Shannon, John Hammond, Hubert Sumlin and Bo Diddley. Along the way he developed a style of piano playing heavily influenced by boogie, jazz, and the relentless blues styles of Lafayette Leake, Otis Spann, James Booker and Johnny Johnson. If you like classic, no holds barred rocking piano boogie, this is for you!
In the last few years, he has been performing in venues from Moscow to Chicago with the amazing Bob Seeley, the world's greatest boogie and stride piano player.
William Gerhardt III is a practicing attorney with experience in the entertainment industry, including film, audio and publishing. His practice also concentrates on high tech business start-ups and organization. He has worked along side Bob Baldori for the last 7 years in his law practice.
He has also managed Lansing Sound Studios. Since 1998 he has been President and General Manager of his own production company BG3 Productions, LLC producing talent in Maryland and Delaware and Michigan. While in Maryland he founded and successfully ran National Rock Merchandising Company, a company that wholesaled and retailed music goods internationally.
He also represents many clients ranging from criminal and controlled substance law, probate and family matters to negotiating contracts in the entertainment and high tech startup fields.
Brian Town is one of the few mid Michigan certified Apple Final Cut Pro 7 trainer. In addition to being an independent on-line editor, line producer and cinematographer, Brian created the nationally recognized film and tv production program at Haslett Public Schools, where he is the The Vision Station Manager and Television Production Teacher. In addition to teaching classes in TV and Film production, Brian has developed texts for high school teachers across the country as well as advanced TV production courses.
Brian is also proficient in a host of state of the art production software ranging from Apple I life and I work suites to Final Cut Studio 3, DPS Velocity, AVID, Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and AfterEffects.
As well, Brian is a "hands on" hardware expert with all contemporary audio and video equipment, including MiniDV, DVCAM, HDV, and HD formats. He also has numerous awards in educational and film production competitions, including three Michigan Station of the Year awards from the MAB, and Best Educational Access Station in the Nation. He is well versed in all levels of equipment and has the knowledge and resources to help you set up your own production facilitates.
Check out his apple Certified Website at www.michiganfinalcutpro.com and his High School Program at www.haslettvision.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/michfinalcutpro.
Mitchal Stutes (aka Jonathan Stars) is an independent database developer. Along with many other projects, he has developed databases for the State of Michigan governmental agencies, CRG Regional Telephone Directories, ICT Cable, various international associations, Farm Bureau Insurance, Marco Music Publishing in Nashville, Tennessee, and Yale University’s NARCOMS (Multiple Sclerosis) database. He has written more than 100 articles on computers, music and software and 7 editions of "Learn FileMaker Pro" – one of which became a best seller.
Previously Mitch was a professional entertainer – a musician, singer, comedian, impressionist, actor and songwriter. He has recorded 10 albums, written over 140 songs, produced 6 albums for other artists and logged over 10,000 hours as a studio engineer.
He works almost exclusively with FileMaker Pro, the best selling cross-platform database in the world. For more information about Mitch/Jonathan, go to www.DataDesignPros.com.
Information coming soon
Arthur F. Tyde III is an accomplished technical sales and marketing professional with a demonstrated background directing teams that meet and exceed business objectives.
He is an entrepreneur, Open Source industry pioneer, early adopter, writer, engineer, mentor, leader and motivator combining innovative technologies with prudent business acumen. With 20 years of business experience, Tyde currently serves as a venture partner at FGR in Hong Kong, is an officer with Montsegur Private Bank, and interim CEO of Stravati in China. Tyde has spent the last two years building reseller networks and supply chain partnerships in Asia; he speaks frequently at technology and investment industry events.
Currently Arthur Tyde consults to startup ventures, corporations, governments and financial institutions on investor relations, fund-raising, business building, sales, product market strategies, and the integration of emerging technologies. Tyde is an advisor and board member to numerous companies in Open Source IT, biofuels, med tech systems and virtual worlds.
Credentials and expanded resume available at: http://www.tyde.net/
Bryant Dunivan is a 24-year-old law student residing in Lansing Michigan. He recently graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a Bachelors degree in philosophy. He has been utilizing the Internet as a tool for upwards of two decades, and specializes in SEO, HTML, PHP, and CSS.
He has a fluent knowledge with the nuances of the Google search engine, and specializes in the optimization of websites to return better results on a wide variety of search engines. He had is start in the late 1990’s, founding a website that served as a store front for replica watches, starting his company on little capital, it quickly became a top performer in both sales and search engine results, all done by hand coding and constant research.
He later started working with the Long Beach music scene that had previously spawned the popular band “Sublime”, Bryant oversaw the promotions of releases by international acts “Slightly Stoopid”, “Bargain Music”, “Long Beach Shortbus”, and “The Ziggens”. During this time period, he also worked extensively with Skunk Records, Cornerstone R.A.S (Recording Arts Society), and Long Beach Records, offering extensive work on internet related promotions, viral marketing, and SEO. His work in this field culminated with a part ownership in the Sublime Archive, an independent music promotions machine that received over 10,000 visitors a day.
Even if you don’t have a website, Bryant can build, code, and produce a viable web presence under most budget. From initial idea to completed project, Bryant can give valuable advice and technical knowledge that is nothing but enhanced by his colleagues at HTS!
He has also had a budding music career, recording and releasing over 8 albums, on three different record labels, and has written over 200 songs. He has produced and released other artists records and has spent “years in the studio.” He specializes as well in audio archiving; creating digital files lossless from their audio master that will sound as good today as they will 20 years from now, with NO DEGRADATION.
Michael Sherman has studied a wide variety of subjects in order to gain the understanding of several different industries such as contract apartment painting, interning at LAN Lizards as a computer technician, and guerrilla marketing endeavors. Sherman has been involved in the technical aspects in the entertainment industry; designing and implementing events such as a live concert on The Vision 22 Telethon, a spoken word “coffee shop” event called Voices, setting up for Lansing's Caribbean Festival, and the design and implementation of a multi-cultural event called One World Day. Bob's son Marcus and Sherm started producing their own rap music in our own HTS studio. Their latest album has been received warmly by the public. He has gained the carpentry skills necessary to develop intricate stage designs for theater performances such as musicals and plays. After a design has been built, Michael can place audio equipment such as monitors and microphones, lay cable, and effectively be in charge of the sound board and all the issues of mastering the audio for live events. Sherman can then connect truss, hang lights in strategic positions, and program as well as run the light board for a fresh visual experience to the audience for every scene. In high school, Mike participated in Lansing Community College's Students in Entertainment Technology Program for two years, earning 17 college credits. He is currently the only student to have ever been enrolled as a high school sophomore.
Aside from stage technology, Michael has been involved with the marketing and search engine optimization industry; providing companies and websites with the means to receive more traffic and business. This involves knowledge in psychology, research done on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), testing, and practice communicating with many people and businesses. Experienced in raising a clients ranking for the search terms that their target demographic would search for as well as affiliate marketing, he has seen, studied, and implemented many different strategies to create and increase revenue on the internet. He owns LongboardNOW.com, a site where longboarders from across the world can connect and those who don't longboard can find a board that fits their desires. The means of marketing this website range from search engine optimization, the use of current social networks such as Facebook, and a multitude of offline promotion via promotional material and good old word of mouth. The website focuses on promoting longboarding as a form of stress relief, fun and connecting with others, exercise, and an alternative way to travel that is productive and doesn't waste valuable resources. Mike will be traveling across America, promoting the activity and the website as well as the affiliate companies involved with the project. The journey will be accomplished with a strict “Do It Yourself” ethic to show that anything is possible.
Sherman has varying interests in music, people, the community, and creativity. He worked with the owners of Brother's Grill and Replay Exchange in East Lansing, creating a warm and inviting environment by Deejaying old rock and house music during Michigan State University's “Welcome Week” in order to create more business for them and increase their word of mouth. His personal projects range from collecting journal entries from strangers in order to eventually create a book, a poetry book, handing out free hot chocolate, and developing a community of creative-minded people with Brandon Doman of http://ehdom.com. Sherman, utilizing knowledge in entertainment technology and a love for music and the outdoors, helped design and put together the Woldumar Nature Jam, a three stage music festival at Woldumar park with the help of a previous classmate who was in charge of the event and making it all possible for free. Challenges were ever present, such as monitoring all the stages, creating and checking gear lists before arrival, dealing with all the equipment when it begun to rain, and making sure everything went smoothly. Mike strives to promote a culture of thoughtful, caring, and connection driven people in a small attempt to get people to be more friendly and aware, sometimes this could be as simple talking to a stranger who looks depressed or sharing food and possessions.
Michael was involved in the online Adobe (Macromedia at the time) Flash animation community and received many valuable lessons in animation, Flash as a multimedia tool, and game development. He can animate using motion tweens or frame by frame, as well as create games, programs, and web sites. In 2005 Mike was offered an animating position for NeptuneCircle.com. He received the front-page award for developing a Flash version of a taxi driving game as well as other projects. In 2007, Sherman helped teach an Adobe Flash class at MSU's 4H Exploration days, demonstrating animation techniques, action script, game development, and other advanced skills. In his freshmen year of high school he took an Adobe Flash class and was permitted to create his own agenda, completing projects like websites for independent ventures, animation, and games.
Mike Sherman was awarded an MSU Scholarship for Pre-College studies in 2005, Placed top 3 in the State 4-H Awards for Science and Technology, and Recieved 1st place in Ingham County for the 4-H Award in Science and Technology. Since 2004, Mike has been involved in his sole proprietorship focused on web & graphic design/development, the creation and follow-through of web-based projects, search engine optimization & marketing, online animation, helping the community, and other technologically and entrepreneurial based markets. This eventually turned into Signal Flow Media and begun LongboardNOW.com and other independent projects.