SCAPE - Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs

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Jeff Vierling

Jeff is co-founder of Tailwind Nutrition, along with his wife Jenny. Tailwind helps endurance athletes reach their goals with nutrition products that overcome the challenges of multi-hour events, coupled with support to maximize performance. Tailwind started as a small kitchen experiment to solve Jeff’s nutrition-related challenges racing the Leadville 100 and is now a growing brand fueled by enthusiastic customers and sold online, in over 500 retail shops, and internationally in Europe, Asia, and Australia-Pacific regions. Jeff and Jenny enjoy sharing their experiences growing Tailwind with SCAPE participants.

Prior to founding Tailwind, Jeff was involved in a number of startups, including River Sombrero (shade systems for river rafts), as VP Product Development for Syndicom (HIPAA-compliant online case collaboration for surgeons and trauma physicians), restoration phase project manager and first board president of what is today the Powerhouse Science Center, and co-founder of KivaNet (wireless ISP serving rural areas of La Plata County, sold to Brainstorm). Jeff started his career as a Program Manager at Microsoft responsible for design and project management of Word and Visual Basic product releases. In addition to the Powerhouse Science Center, Jeff has participated in numerous community projects, including the Liberty School, Mountain Middle School, and serving as past Chair of the La Plata County Planning Commission.

Jeff holds a B.S. with Honors and Distinction in Values, Technology, Science, and Society from Stanford University. He is an avid mountain biker, having completed 1000 miles of the Leadville 100 and enjoys the Durango outdoor lifestyle with his wife and two daughters.