Yanni Hufnagel
Yanni Hufnagel is an American entrepreneur. He is currently the founder and CEO of two companies, one of which, B2B Nation, is a marketing communications company. He also has a second company called Yarnia in development that would create yarn-based textiles for affordable prices.”
Yanni Hufnagel was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on January 28th to parents from El Salvador and Switzerland. His mother was an immigrant, while his father was American born and raised as an only child in Jerusalem. He was born while his father was stationed in the IDF, and his mother was studying to become a school teacher. His family returned to Israel after Yanni’s birth due to a terrorist attack, later moving back and forth between Jerusalem and the American South several times.
Yanni grew up speaking Hebrew at home and English at school. He attended high school in Atlanta, Georgia, then went on to attend Vanderbilt University, where he obtained a degree in Marketing & Entrepreneurship. While at Vanderbilt, he became an active member of Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity, serving as the chapter President during his senior year.
He also was instrumental in re-branding the fraternity image from one of a party frat into one that focused on community service. While at Vanderbilt university, he played in the same Division 1 basketball program as Shaquille O’Neal. During his senior year, he received his Master’s of Business Administration from the Anderson School of Management.
During his ten years as a collegiate athlete, Hufnagel’s teams won or appeared in 77 games (36 wins, 25 losses, and 22 ties) with an overall record of 83-86 (.490). His teams achieved post-season play in three different conferences. While still playing collegiate basketball, Yanni began researching and acquiring knowledge while earning his Masters in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University. Following his undergraduate degree, Yanni coached for four years at two different Division 1 programs.
Yanni Hufnagel was also a former college basketball coach. His first coaching job came in 1996 with the University of South Florida in what would be his only coaching post. Hufnagel coached ranked teams from Texas Christian University (1-3) and the University of South Florida (1-7). He also served as a consultant for the private network ESPN where he helped create a number of ESPN basketball segments.