Brad Merrill is the founder and CEO of Merrill Media, a modern holding company dedicated to building independent, scalable businesses that blend technology and media. He is widely recognized for his expertise, having taught business and technology courses to over 100,000 students, and has delivered marketing training to well-known startups as well as Fortune 500 companies. A self-described creative at heart, Merrill enjoys developing articles, videos, websites, businesses, workflows, and fresh ideas. Since 2007, he has worked on dozens of projects online, reaching tens of millions of people along the way. In 2010, he launched VentureBreak, which grew into a respected source of news on innovation for entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and curious readers. Under Merrill’s leadership, VentureBreak attracted more than half a million readers each month, was frequently featured on Techmeme, and was cited by outlets such as the Wall Street Journal. During his tenure, he personally interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs and industry leaders to share their stories with a global audience. In 2015, VentureBreak was acquired by the organizer of Europe's largest technology meetup. Today, Merrill continues to stay deeply engaged with the industry as he develops new media ventures. One of these is GigaPress, a platform offering free resources for WordPress bloggers, creators, and freelancers. Beyond launching authoritative media brands, he also runs mDash, an online education studio that transforms extensive research and professional experience into clear, engaging courses for learners in over 180 countries.