Season 6

Vance has over 25 years experience as a high-tech CEO. Currently Vance is the CEO of the National Cybersecurity Center and founder and board president of a technology accelerator/incubator called Exponential Impact.

Previously, Vance was CEO of Cherwell Software from its inception until 2016. In 2014 Cherwell was recognized as one of the 101 fastest growing companies in North America by Deloitte’s Fast 500 and in 2015 was Colorado’s software company of the year. Cherwell has customers in 40 countries and offices around the world.

Formerly, Vance was CEO of GoldMine Software, which was rated as one of the top 100 software companies in the US. Vance also is Co-Founder of The Classical Academy, the largest K-12th charter school in Colorado.

Through the years, Vance has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from firms such as Insight Venture Partners and KKR. Most recently Vance raised $222 million for Cherwell from KKR.

In 2009 Vance was given the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award by Wake Forest University. Additionally, Vance was named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 Award Winner and then served as EY national judge for 3 years in the technology category. Vance recently was named one of the “100 most intriguing entrepreneurs” by Goldman Sachs.

Vance graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest, majoring in Economics with a minor in Computer Science, and then from the University of North Carolina School of Law. He finished on Law Review and Order of the Coif and practiced in the area of intellectual property law.

Vance serves on the board for charitable organizations such as Parents Challenge, Foundation of the Heart, and the Legacy Institute. He also is an Honorary Commander for the US Air Force Academy.

In 2018, Vance was named the “Business Citizen of the Year” in Colorado Springs.

Vance has been married to Betsy for 33 years and they have 3 children.