About
Mitch Free is a serial entrepreneur, founder and CEO of MFG.com, an online marketplace which helps in sourcing manufactured parts by matching the requirements and specifications of the buyer with the skills and savoir-faire of a supplier. Prior to that, Mitch founded 3DATUM, a provider of technology solutions for the manufacturing and engineering communities. He began his career as a machinist on the shop floor, got his hands dirty and literally learned the manufacturing industry inside and out.

He's been widely recognized as an inspiring and ground-breaking entrepreneur who follows his instincts. He also is an avid speaker at technology conferences and at universities including the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, Harvard and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. At LIFT09 Mitch will be a participant. We're looking forward to seeing him there.

Why we invited Rafi to LIFT
Rafi's career is very bright and original (coming form the Minitel entrepreneurship world), we were interested in his perspective about current development in technologies, especially about ubiquitous computing. He has indeed an original stance in the way he proposed to develop his company; somewhat like "we don't know what ubiquitous computing is so let's try something and see how people do out of it", leaving some space in his Nabaztag product to customization or hacking.

What will Rafi speak about
Rafi will talk about his latest start up venture, his approach towards entrepreneurship and what led to the creation of the Nabaztag. This cute little communicating animal is permanently connected to the Internet. It sends and receives a myriad of messages, indicates your mood to the outside world with its ears or lights in its belly, tells jokes, has performed in operas in France and the US (NY) and that is not all it can do. For more information check out Rafi's interview with Benjamin Gauthey on YouTube about Nabaztag or Rafi's LIFT Profile.