Education
B.A., Communications, Marketing and Advertising, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
About Mark
A creative catalyst, Mark Montgomery has spent a lifetime driving transformation and innovation as a founder, investor, strategic advisor, and nationally recognized thought leader and speaker. Working across a wide array of verticals—Entertainment, Finance, Venture, Healthcare, Spirits, Cannabis, CPG, Politics, Economic Development, and Startup Acceleration—he has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in shareholder value and economic impact.
Montgomery is a digital pioneer. He co-founded one of the first companies to sell music direct to consumers on the web in the mid-’90s—around the time of Amazon’s public launch. In 1999, he co-founded and led one of the pioneers in the direct-to-fan (D2F) space, echomusic, which was sold in 2007 to IAC/Ticketmaster for $25MM, returning over 10x to investors in less than two years.
In 2011, Montgomery founded FLO, a hybrid think tank and venture accelerator that launched nine companies in 12 months (one returning a 44% IRR to investors), including Blue Chair Bay Rum for superstar artist Kenny Chesney—the fastest-growing new brand in the history of the spirits industry. The FLO team, led by Montgomery, created and implemented the initial recruitment strategy that brought Google to the Tennessee market (via its Google Fiber investment in 2016) and helped launch the “Google for Entrepreneurs” and “Google for Creators” brands in partnership with Google. Since 2016, Google has invested over $15B in the Tennessee market.
In 2018, Montgomery worked directly for the CEO of First Horizon Corporation, an $85 billion super-regional bank, helping challenge legacy thinking and accelerate enterprise-wide transformation. He partnered closely with the CEO to pressure-test internal assumptions, question established norms, and identify new strategic opportunities across the C-suite—including shaping a strategy that positioned FHC as an early limited partner in the fintech-focused Canapi Fund, which has since grown to over $1B in assets under management. His work contributed to advancing the bank’s digital transformation efforts and reshaping its executive narrative, earning him First Horizon’s “Arena Award,” a distinction rarely granted to someone outside the organization.
Awards
- Nashville Post Entrepreneur of the Year - 2012
- Nashville Chamber of Commerce Future 50 in Tennessee - 2007
- Nashville Business Journal Best in Business - 2007
- Nashville Business Journal Entrepreneur of the Year - 2006
- Nashville Business Journal Best in Business - 2006
Courses Taught
MUSR 3368 Entrepreneurship and Careers in the Music Industry