Don Gooding

Gooding is a pioneer in Maine’s modern entrepreneurial movement. Before founding Four Colors of Money for Entrepreneurs, a consultancy to help young and growing businesses understand and choose the right financing options, he served as Director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development (now called the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs). During his five-year tenure, Gooding expanded its Top Gun accelerator program from one to four locations throughout the state. He hosted the first two seasons of Greenlight Maine, a TV show where entrepreneurs compete for a $100,000 prize. Gooding has been a member of the Maine Angels investment group since 2005, including serving as Vice Chair. Early in his career, Gooding ran telecommunications market research for The Yankee Group; he still maintains close relationships with colleagues who became founders and leaders at firms including Forrester Research and IDC. Gooding was the first Research Partner in venture capital at Accel Partners, where he focused on finding and evaluating telecom and network startups. In that role, he was a board observer for UUNET, the breakout ISP in the early days of the Internet.