Businesses2Learn, LLC

Businesses2Learn, a Colorado limited liability company, was created in 2009 to help aspiring entrepreneurs beat the learning curve and succeed with their FIRST startup business. The company was founded by experienced entrepreneur Jim Holley, who previously invented dozens of products and sold them in major markets worldwide. Working with Holley is Dr. Tom Duening, a noted author and currently the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and associate professor of management in the College of Business at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Several B2L products are available now, just as the demand for entrepreneurship training and education is exploding in the United States and around the world, including:

B2L has several additional products in its development pipeline, all designed to create jobs by helping aspiring entrepreneurs succeed.

Meet Our Founders

Jim Holley, President and Chief Executive Officer has more than 20 years of startup business experience and has been the founder or co-founder of five companies. Currently, Mr. Holley is the President and CEO of Businesses2Learn, LLC. Prior to that, Mr. Holley was the founder and president of Umix, Inc., a consumer products company that was sold in November of 2008 to the largest breast-feeding products company in the world. Mr. Holley had left his position as an Aerospace Engineer in 1994 to start Umix. Umix, and its subsidiaries, developed and distributed consumer products to the Juvenile, Sports and Medical markets. During the 14 year Umix journey, Mr. Holley was issued 15 patents and sold 31 products through retail channels that included: Wal-Mart, Target, various drug stores, grocery stores and specialty stores domestically, as well as distribution in 22 countries worldwide. Additional distribution and license agreements were formed with Camelbak, Reebok, Nautilus, Bowflex and Bellco medical. Mr. Holley secured more than $6 million of investment capital to develop the products, build a fulfillment team of 50 people and set up manufacturing operations domestically and in Asia. Mr. Holley has an MS in engineering mechanics from the University of Santa Clara, and a BS in civil engineering from San Jose State University.

Dr. Thomas Duening, Chief Content Officer is a 1991 graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in higher education administration. He is currently the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and associate professor of management in the College of Business at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Duening began his academic career as the assistant dean for the University of Houston’s College of Business Administration. There, he also co-founded its Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Duening launched his first business while a graduate student. His international consulting firm served the electric utility industry with information products centered on the issue of health effects associated with electric and magnetic fields (EMF) from high voltage power lines. He left in 1991 upon completion of his doctorate to assume the assistant dean position in Houston. With a partner, he founded U.S. Learning Systems in 1998. U.S. Learning Systems was acquired in 1999 by Edgia.com. Edgia provides e-learning services to corporations around the world. Duening left Edgia in 2002 to launch the Applied Management Sciences Institute (AMSI). The organization was created to develop educational products for students in the management sciences. As part of this firm, Professor Duening co-wrote three management and business textbooks, which now enjoy wide circulation around the world. Duening next founded INSYTE Business Services Group and launched a project to study best practices in business process outsourcing. The result of this effort was two trade books: Business Process Outsourcing: The Competitive Advantage, and The Essentials of Business Process Outsourcing. Both published by John Wiley & Sons. As he was conducting the research for these books, Dr. Duening co-founded INSYTE InfoLabs India, Pvt. Ltd., a business process outsourcing firm based in Bangalore, India. The firm provides outsourcing services to a wide range of companies. It was acquired by ANSRSource, Inc., in 2008. In 2004, Dr. Duening accepted a position with Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering as Director of the school’s Entrepreneurial Programs Office. While in Arizona, Duening founded the Arizona Technology Investor Forum (ATIF) which became the premier angel investing organization in the state. He left ASU in August 2009 to join UCCS, where he now teaches entrepreneurship to undergraduate and graduate business students. Duening is the author of numerous journal articles and 12 books on business, management, and entrepreneurship.

Meet Our Experts

• Dr. Bobby Baker
• Dr. Tom Gruen
• Neil Powers
• Bob Riefstahl
• Nathan Teegarden

Dr. Bobby Baker joined Corvirtus in 2001 and serves as Vice President. Specializing in both individual and organizational assessment methodologies, he is an expert in employee selection, organizational measurement, and assessment design. Additionally, he develops and analyzes complex employee-testing models to ensure both their effectiveness and compliance with legal requirements. Committed to providing customers with leading-edge assessments, Bobby conducts ongoing research on processes and techniques relevant to hiring, individual development, surveys, and applied statistics. Prior to joining Corvirtus, Bobby designed and delivered training programs at the Albemarle Corporation. He was involved in the implementation of leadership development programs and in the design and analysis of performance appraisal instruments. Bobby was also a Measurement Specialist at Intellinex, LLC. Bobby is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, and his work has been published in The Academy of Management Journal and Personnel Psychology. He is a member of both the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology. Bobby received his PhD in industrial and organizational psychology in 1999 from Louisiana State University, where he also earned his MA.

Dr. Tom Gruen is the Chair of the Department of Marketing, Strategy, and International Business at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and is a noted worldwide expert in retail out-of-stock, renowned speaker and a published writer in ecommerce, marketing and business educational strategies. He has taught the e-commerce course at UCCS since 2001. In this role, he has worked with more than 100 e-commerce business startups and brick and mortar businesses seeking to add an on-line channel, providing advice on business plans, revenue models, and organizational structure. He has been a key player in the development and delivery of the distance MBA program at the College of Business. His research has been widely published including the Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Applied Psychology.
Dr. Gruen holds Ph.D., MS, and MBA in Marketing from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business.

Neil Powers is an entrepreneur and lead content designer for 2Win!® Global, a sales training firm working with Global 1000 clients on improving technical sales. Mr. Powers has spent his career in all areas of the software industry, including sales, sales support, training, marketing, development, technical leadership, and executive leadership. He is an accomplished public speaker and company evangelist. Niel brings this wide background into every workshop and educational development assignment at 2WIN!® Global.

Bob Riefstahl is the founder and managing partner of 2WIN!® Global a training and consulting firm. Their clients are some of the largest software and technology companies in the world including Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, HP and IBM. 2WIN!® Global specializes in helping these organizations with their sales efforts to achieve higher revenue growth, shorter sales cycles and more effective customer facing events with their winning strategies and tactics. Bob is the author of the world’s best-selling book on demonstrating complex products titled “Demonstrating To WIN!” Bob is considered an expert by other sales and demonstration professionals because of his dedication to research and analysis of every aspect of software sales and demonstrations. He is in demand as an educator, consultant and motivational speaker at conventions.

Nathan Teegarden is president and founder of Dynimus and the creator of the Dynimus Discovery Methodology. He is a Player/Coach with more than 20 years of national and international business experience. Mr. Teegarden developed a unique methodology that helps motivated people find and fulfill their True Calling™. In addition to coaching executives, athletes, entrepreneurs, students and corporate employees of all types, Mr. Teegarden writes and speaks frequently about career development. He is certified in the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, as a Strengthfinder practitioner and as a Campbell Interest Survey and Skills facilitator, among his other qualifications.