Robb Smith

It's tempting to put a lot of stock in biographies, but I try to avoid doing so. These descriptions are not who I am, really, nor can someone use them to contextualize themselves relative to me. That’s sort of a profitless exercise. Having said that, here’s a little bit about how I spend my time and energy.

Balance is essential to well-being, so I cultivate different intelligences (e.g., cognitive, affective, interpersonal, psychosexual, spiritual, somatic and aesthetic) through effort in study, contemplation, exertion and communion. I follow an Integral framework (i.e., Ken Wilber's AQAL theory). My interests include gourmet cooking, entrepreneurship, wine collecting, bodybuilding, nutrition, all sports with a ball, skiing, philosophy, meditation, reading, science (especially complexity, emergence, quantum physics, and philosophy of), and video games (Xbox). I’m also a devoted follower of my wife Tiffany and what she tells me to do.

The past few years I have counseled others on issues concerning spiritual and psychological growth, which has been nourishing. I am a 3-time Body-For-Life participant, and have been trained by Tim Larkin in lethal hand-to-hand combat. If you want to transcend your fear of harm, forever, go see Tim at www.tftgroup.com.

My ancestors died in the American Revolution, so I am a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. I am a descendant of Ethan Allen and, going back much further, Martin Luther.

Professionally, I am the Chairman and CEO of Integral Life, Inc. and CEO of Integral Institute, Inc. I was previously the Managing Partner of Nevada Ventures, LLC, Nevada's first venture capital fund. I am the Chairman of RetailOne, Inc. I previously sat on the boards of directors of Alere Medical (Inc. 500 2004 #64, 2005 #61), National Car Wash Systems, modeMD, Sharegate (observer), Optreon, etNetworks (observer) and Power Domain. In order to further Nevada’s research commercialization agenda in emerging scientific fields, in 2001 I co-founded with Stuart Feigin (founding engineer of Oracle) the Nevada Ventures Nanoscience Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. In 2004, the program spun-out Nevada Nanotechnology Systems, Inc., whose nano-scale detection of explosive, chemical and biological substances was published in Nature and in Scientific American as the best defense-technology of 2004. For the sake of saving lives worldwide, we hope this or a competing technology commercializes soon.

Apparently the candidate pool was small, because in 2001 I was honored as one of the "Top 40 Under 40" in Nevada by the Nevada Business Journal and as the 2002 Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the State of Nevada. Our vision of a technology-robust Nevada economy was featured on the cover of RENO Magazine in 2002. I am a co-founder and past President of the Reno-Tahoe chapter of the Entrepreneur's Organization (formerly YEO). I am Certified in Financial Management, a Certified Management Accountant and a former Trustee of the Nevada Musuem of Art and the Nevada Technology Council. I hold a degree in Finance, with distinction, from the University of Nevada, Reno, where I have frequently lectured on new venture finance and entrepreneurship and where I participated in Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Omicron Delta Epsilon, and Golden Key. I am a graduate of the Venture Capital Institute.

I live in Colorado with my wife and baby boy Sevyn.