Our Team

John Battelle

John Battelle

Founder, NewCo

John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor and author who has founded or co-founded a few too many online, event, media and technology businesses. He is the co-founder/CEO of Recount Media, a political media platform currently in development, and serves as a Senior Research Scholar and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University/SIPA. Battelle also runs NewCo, an "inside out" conference model and media platform. He also serves as Chair of sovrn Holdings, a publisher-first programmatic advertising and data platform that proudly serves 100,000+ sites. Mr. Battelle holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. Go Bears!

Sara Senn

Sara Senn

Director, NewCo Festivals

Sara joined NewCo in 2014 and finds great joy in working with an international array of companies and individuals while guiding organizations around the world on how to bring a NewCo festival to life. She has been part of several start up teams throughout her career and is excited to continue to work under Vision 7 to bring NewCo festivals to new markets. When not working hard, Sara, a Bay area native, enjoys the beach in her new hometown of Charleston, SC, swimming, yoga, and exploring new places. A graduate of Clemson University, Sara holds degrees in Business Management and Psychology.

Valerie Swatkow

Valerie Swatkow

Chief Development Officer, V7

Valerie Swatkow has led a dynamic career in advertising and integrated communications, spanning diverse markets across Canada, the United States and South East Asia. An optimistic ‘champion of ideas’, Valerie is relentless in her pursuit of achieving success for those organizations she works with. Her curiosity and passion for assisting newly emerging innovators and disruptors evolved from her engagement with NewCo, which began when she introduced the platform to Toronto in 2016. She currently holds the title of Chief Development Officer for Vision 7, the hold-co for some of the world’s leading agencies including Cossette in Canada and Eleven in San Francisco, where she is responsible for business development within the tech and innovation sector, including the launch of a venture fund tied to the organization’s accelerator. She’s the mother of two equally curious children and has found the “cat herding” skills she’s built over the span of her career have come in handy at home.

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