Founder & CEO, Setup

Joe Koufman has built his career on a simple premise: meaningful connections unlock opportunity.

As founder and CEO of Setup, Joe has spent over a decade perfecting the art of professional matchmaking, facilitating more than 1,300 successful introductions between Fortune 500 brands—including Coca-Cola, Brooks Running, Great Clips, and NCR—and innovative marketing agencies. What began as a passion for connecting people has evolved into a thriving business that generates millions in value for clients while proving that authentic relationships drive professional success.

Before founding Setup in 2014, Joe served as SVP of Marketing & Business Development at Engauge, where he helped grow the agency to over $40 million in annual revenue before its acquisition by Publicis Groupe in 2013. He also led strategic accounts at KnowledgeStorm (acquired by TechTarget in 2007).

Beyond business, Joe champions Atlanta's creative community. He hosted a weekly music show at GumboShow.com for years and is learning to play a century-old trumpet inherited from his grandmother. He serves on boards for AMA Atlanta, Fuse (formerly AIMA), and the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, and volunteers with Everybody Wins! Atlanta.

A Wake Forest University graduate in Speech Communication and Politics, Joe lives in Atlanta and spends weekends exploring concerts, galleries, and the outdoors with his twins, Joss and Radley. The Connector's Compass is his first book.