Paul Mass, J.D.

Mass is an experienced senior executive and entrepreneur who has combined his legal background, c-level operating experience and entrepreneurial risk-taking to create substantial value in several young companies, in industries as diverse as e-commerce, cable television, radio broadcasting, proprietary data services and a start-up drug discovery firm.

Mass began his career as a corporate attorney specializing in mergers, acquisitions and general corporate matters. He believes his initial training as a deal lawyer and transaction specialist influenced his behavior as a manager, leader and fellow employee – someone who tried to gather input, gain consensus, obtain fair results, but always with a goal, budget and timeframe in mind.

In the late-1980’s, Mass left the practice of law and assumed operating control of a small cable television company, beginning a decade of profitable business growth in the cable television/radio/information services industry.

From 1991 to 1994, Mass served on the board of directors (including as chairman in 1992-93) of the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC). The NCTC is the cable industry’s largest purchasing cooperative, currently representing more than 15 million cable subscribers, primarily in small and rural markets throughout the U.S.

Since 1997, Mass has served as CEO of Mass Ventures LLC, a personal investment vehicle designed to house his private equity, consulting and entrepreneurial activities. The majority of these activities have involved broadband, information services / database , and e-commerce companies.

Beginning in July 2016, Mass began his position as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the College of Business at Ohio University. He also serves as Associate Director of the University’s Center for Entrepreneurship where he helps build the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the University and southeast Ohio in general.

Mass is no stranger to education and mentoring. Mass previously initiated, designed and taught a personal finance course for high school seniors at The Galloway School (Atlanta, Georgia), which introduced them to basic, practical concepts of personal finance so that they might learn to better handle, manage, save and invest money earlier in life.  At the time (2004), this course was only one of two such high school courses of its kind in Atlanta.

In the last year, two companies Mass co-founded (ClosingCorp, Inc. and 1 Base Pharmaceuticals) were both sold for proceeds exceeding $315 million.

Mass earned a BA in Political Science from Duke University, magna cum laude, and his J.D. from the Emory University School of Law, with distinction, Order of the Coif, and was a member of the board of the Emory Law Journal.