BlastOff Ventures, LLC, a Dallas based business incubator, was formed by partners Ray Clark, Bill Esping, and Matthew Combs in May 2007. The founding partners of BlastOff Ventures have strong entrepreneurial backgrounds, and are now harnessing their expertise to launch several new ventures concepts over the coming years.
Ray Clark
Ray Clark is the founder and CEO of The Marketing Arm (TMA), the nation's #1 marketing agency. Ray started the company in 1993, selling the company to Omnicom (one of the world's largest marketing services holdings companies) in 1999. In the past four years, Ray has grown the company by more than 1,000 percent, 80% of which has come organically and through the start-up of 10 new businesses, while 20% of that growth has come through a series of strategic acquisitions. Today, The Marketing Arm’s client list includes some of the top industry brands, such as Wal-Mart, HP, Home Depot, Anheuser Busch, AT&T, Pepsi/Frito Lay, and the U.S. Air Force, to name a few.
Today, Clark focuses his attention on further business development and acquisitions activities, while preserving and enhancing one of the most admired corporate cultures throughout the industry. As a founding partner in BlastOff Ventures, Ray is paramount in evaluating all business concepts for their marketability, viability, and potential interest throughout the business community. As an entrepreneur, Ray is able to offer his advice and prior learning's to each company formed under BlastOff Ventures umbrella, helping to increase each new concept's ability to effectively take an idea from concept to reality.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Ray is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
William "Bill" Esping
Bill Esping is an experienced and seasoned investment professional, bringing to BlastOff Ventures a complete set of skills for handling complex debt and equity transactions, funding and launching new ventures, and evaluating concepts for their business viability, potential for growth, and likelihood for a future returns through sale, acquisition, and/or capital distribution.
Bill was the co-founder of the Esping Family Office Holdings (EFO Holdings). Esping constructed the original business plan to leverage the family's existing asset base to build a premier privately held investment company, now holding assets in excess of $450-million. Bill plays an active roll in sourcing, negotiating, underwriting and executing private and real estate transactions, as well as the day-to-day management of the firms 25+ employees and affiliates.
An entrepreneur himself, Bill is one of the founding partners of BlastOff Ventures. Prior to his, Bill co-founded Cypress Lending, Inc., Hospitality Linen Company, and was Partner/Principal for the Edgewater Beach Hotel and Olde Naples Inn. Esping’s board experience includes a seat on Bellevue University, Cypress Lending Group, EFO Sponsor Realty Fund, Esping Family Foundation, Hospitality Linen Company, Panaero Energy Company, Palm Beach Tan, Inc., Platinum Resources Organization, Resort Properties of Naples, L.P., SmartFleet, L.P., Smith Pipe, Inc., SPA Drilling, L.P., SPA Production, L.P., STG, Waste Corporation of America, B.A., Southern Methodist University, 1988
Born in Omaha, Nebraska Bill is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
Matthew Combs
Matthew Combs' is currently the global CEO of WOHOOPS.com and interim CEO of YourCause.com, having been responsible for the first generation design and development of both the WOHOOPS.com and YourCause.com functionality, as well as, the ongoing operations, growth, and expansion of both entities.
Prior to Blastoff Ventures, LLC, Matthew rolled out of Nubella.com, an online health and nutrition company he founded in 2003. Since his first venture, a small town newsletter ("The Dryden News"), Matthew has continued to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities with a philosophy of seeking to make a difference in the lives of others. Matthew has spent most all his professional career as an entrepreneur. After a short stint at Sapient Corporations (the world’s leading web development agency) whereby Combs was the project manager for building Brazil's largest Internet portal (Ig.com), Matthew moved on and co-founded Obsidiana (acquired by StarMedia), helped launch ProcessMap (ProcessMap.com), and was the sole founder of Nubella.com (acquired by Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc.).
Matthew is one of the founding partners of BlastOff Ventures, now dedicating his full-time towards the exploration, development, and execution of the ideas being pursued by the partners. Matthew brings to the venture his ability to effectively take concepts to reality, most often times on a limited budget and with few resources.
Born in Ithaca, New York, Matthew speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is a graduate of Cornell University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and Marketing.
