Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based CEO’ operating in the News space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Michael Bloomberg
Founder and CEO of Bloomberg
Michael R. Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who served three terms as Mayor of the City of New York. In 1966, Michael R. Bloomberg was hired by a Wall Street firm, Salomon Brothers, for an entry-level job. When Salomon was acquired in 1981, he was let go from the firm. Then with a vision of an Information Technology Company, that would bring quality to the buying and selling of financial securities, Michael R. Bloomberg launched a small startup in a one room office. Today, Bloomberg Company is a global company that has more than 15,000 employees and offices in 73 countries around the world. During his occupancy as Mayor, from 2002 through 2013, he turned around a broken public school system by raising standards and holding schools accountable for success. Michael R. Bloomberg’s economic policies helped New York City experience record-levels of private-sector job growth often in formerly depressed neighborhoods. His passion for public health led to new strategies that became national representations, including a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as at parks and beaches. Michael R. Bloomberg launched pioneering anti-poverty efforts, including the Young Men’s Initiative and the Center for Economic Opportunity. He launched national bi-partisan coalitions to combat illegal guns, reform immigration, and invest in infrastructure. In addition to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ five areas of focus: public health, arts and culture, the environment, education, and government innovation, Michael R. Bloomberg has continued to support projects of other importance to him, including his university, Johns Hopkins University, where he served as the chairman of the board of trustees from 1996 to 2001. The university’s School of Hygiene and Public Health, the largest public health facility in the U.S., is the Bloomberg School of Public Health in recognition of his commitment and support. He has donated more than $2.4 billion to a wide variety of causes and organizations. As chair of the C40 Climate Leadership Group from 2010 to 2013, Michael R. Bloomberg drew international attention to cities’ leading role in the fight against climate change. In 2014, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Michael R. Bloomberg to be U.N. Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change where he will focus on helping cities and countries set and achieve more climate change goals. Michael R. Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University till 1964, and later he attended Harvard Business School from where he obtained an MBA.
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About Bloomberg, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bloomberg TV, United Nations: Bloomberg provides news, data, analytics, and communication services for the global business and financial world.
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Sam Parr
Co-Founder & CEO of The Hustle
Sam is the founder & CEO of The Hustle – one of America’s fastest-growing media companies with a focus on millennials, tech, and culture. He also runs Hustle Con, an annual conference in San Francisco that showcases non-technical startup founders.
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About Hustle Con, The Hustle: The Hustle is helping young professionals make better decisions throughout their day starting with business news.
Jeff Zheng
Co Founder & CEO of NewsBreak
Jeff Zheng is the Co-Founder and CEO at NewsBreak.
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About NewsBreak: News Break is the Nation’s #1 Intelligent Local News Platform
Christopher Rudy
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Cut.com, Inc.
Christopher Rudy is the CEO, Co-Founder at Cut.com.
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About Cut.com, Inc.: Cut makes little stories of some interest.
Lloyd Armbrust
Chief Executive Officer of OwnLocal
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About Armbrust American, OwnLocal: OwnLocal offers a platform that automatically transforms data and offline advertisements into multichannel online marketing campaigns.
James Yoder
CEO & Founder of Chat Sports
James Yoder is CEO of Chat Sports and founder of Chat Sports Studios. Prior to co-founding Chat Sports, he worked for Verizon Wireless as a Mobile Product Manager. Focusing on Verizon’s Android and iOS products, James has vast experience at the forefront of mobile industry technology. Prior to Verizon, he worked for the college sports giant, Rivals.com. James graduated with a degree in Business Management from the University of Toledo. As an angel investor, James has 4 portfolio exits. All investments to date have been consumer focused.
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About Chat Sports: Chat Sports is a live sports news network for digital platforms
Jason Baudendistel
CEO, CTO & Content Manager of Wibbets.com
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About Self Employed, Sixy Press, Wibbets.com: Wibbets.com is the ultimate pro privacy shopping platform.
Jason Raznick
CEO of Benzinga
Jason is a passionate entrepreneur and the founder of Benzinga, a financial media company based out of Metro Detroit. He founded two successful Internet companies prior to Benzinga. In the first five months, Benzinga grew to over 50k active members. Benzinga currently serves over 3 million readers in over 125 countries each month. Jason has been quoted throughout the media in places such as CNBC, Fox Business, NPR and Wall Street Journal.
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About Benzinga: Benzinga is a financial news and analysis service providing timely, actionable insights for investors.
Matt Marshall
Founder and CEO of VentureBeat
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded \”Journalist of the Year\” by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
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About VentureBeat: VentureBeat is an online technology news platform that is engaged in technology publication and events business.
Steven Swartz
President & CEO of Hearst Communications
Steven R. Swartz became president and chief executive officer of Hearst Corporation on June 1, 2013. Before his promotion to CEO, Swartz, a member of the Board of Directors of Hearst Corporation and a trustee of The Hearst Family Trust, was president and chief operating officer of the Corporation. He was president of Hearst Newspapers, the operating group responsible for Hearst’s newspapers, local digital marketing services businesses and directories, from 2009 to 2011, and executive vice president of the Group from 2001 to 2008. Hearst Newspapers, with more than 4,700 employees across the nation, publishes 15 dailies and 36 weeklies in cities including Houston, San Francisco, San Antonio and Albany. It also operates digital marketing services and directories businesses under the LocalEdge brand. Before joining Hearst in 2001, Swartz was president and chief executive of SmartMoney, the magazine, website and custom publishing business launched by Hearst and News Corp.’s Dow Jones unit. Prior to becoming CEO in 1995, he had been the magazine’s founding editor since 1991. Under his leadership, SmartMoney magazine won two National Magazine Awards and was Advertising Age’s Magazine of the Year. Swartz began his journalism career as a reporter with The Wall Street Journal in 1984 after graduating from Harvard. He served as an editor on the Journal’s Page One staff from 1989 to 1991. Swartz is a member of the ESPN board of directors and is a director of the Associated Press. He is also a member of the board of visitors of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, a member of the board of directors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and chairman of the Lincoln Center Corporate Fund.
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About Hearst Communications: Hearst is large private diversified media, information, and services company with more than 360 businesses
Alan Murray
President and CEO of Fortune Magazine
Alan Murray is Chief Content Officer of Time Inc. In this role, Alan oversees Time Inc.’s editorial policies and standards and is responsible for its commitment to quality journalism and storytelling. He is focused on harnessing the collective power and scale of all Time Inc.’s brands to produce and distribute content on every platform. Alan also serves as Editor in Chief of Fortune, a position he has held since August 2014. Alan’s diverse background includes serving as President of the Pew Research Center, hosting an eponymous show on CNBC, and spending more than two decades at the Wall Street Journal, where he served stints overseeing digital operations and the Journal’s Washington bureau. At Pew, Alan oversaw the rapid expansion of the center’s digital footprint, with website traffic doubling and social media referrals tripling during his time there. He also led the center into an exploration of new data methodologies in its research and an expansion of its global work. At the Wall Street Journal, Alan served as Deputy Managing Editor and Executive Editor, Online, from 2007 to 2012, with editorial responsibility for the Journal’s websites, mobile products, television, video, books and conferences. He also spent a decade as the Journal’s Washington Bureau Chief, from 1993 to 2002, during which the bureau won three Pulitzer Prizes. Between his stints at the Journal, Alan served as CNBC’s Washington Bureau Chief from 2002 to 2005, co-hosting, Capital Report with Alan Murray and Gloria Borger. At various times, he wrote the Journal’s weekly Business and Political Capital columns and won numerous awards for his writing on economics and international issues. Alan is the author of four books: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Management, Revolt in the Boardroom, The Wealth of Choices and Showdown at Gucci Gulch, coauthored with Jeffrey Birnbaum. He is a member of the Gridiron Club, the New York Economics Club and the Council on Foreign Relations, and he serves on the Governing Council of the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Alan began his journalism career as the business and economics editor of the Chattanooga Times. He also worked at the Congressional Quarterly in Washington and at the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Tokyo on a Luce Fellowship. He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature as a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina and earned a master’s degree in economics at the London School of Economics. In 2005, Alan completed the Stanford Executive Program.
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About Fortune Magazine, Time Inc.: Fortune Magazine is an American business magazine that distinguishes itself with long, in-depth feature articles.
Dunia Shive
President & CEO of Belo
Dunia Shive was elected to the Dr Pepper Snapple Group board of directors in November 2014 and sits on the Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee. Ms. Shive serves as senior vice president of Gannett Co. Inc. She previously served as president and CEO of Belo Corp. from 2008 to 2013, when it was acquired by Gannett. She joined Belo in 1993 and served in various leadership positions prior to becoming president and CEO. Ms. Shive has served as a director of Trinity Industries, Inc. since March 2014. She also serves as a member of the Associated Press board of directors, where she is the chair of the audit committee, and as a trustee of the Belo Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Texas Tech University and in 2008 was recognized by the university as a Distinguished Alumna.
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About Belo: From its beginnings as a Texas newspaper company in 1842 through the explosive growth of the past 20 years, Belo has prospered because of
Harvi Sachar
CEO of Silicon India
Harvi Sachar has also worked in many successful companies like Merrill Lynch, J.P.Morgan and Goldman Sachs as IT Consultant, MTS at Bell Labs, CEO at ITsquare.com, Vice President at Deutch Bank and as Project Manager at Salomon Bros. Currently Harvi Sachar is the Founder & Executive Chairman at SiliconIndia.
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About Silicon India: Silicon India is a professional networking site and a business and technology news portal for professionals.
John R. Adler
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Scribd
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About Scribd: Scribd is an unlimited reading subscription that offers access to books, audiobooks, magazine articles, documents and more.
James Gianopulos
CEO of 20th Century Studios
James Gianopulos is the Chairman and CEO of Twentieth Century Fox, one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, consisting of Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios and Fox International Productions. These studios have annual revenues in excess of $8 billion and operate in more than 100 countries worldwide. As Chairman and CEO since 2000, Gianopulos is one of the longest-tenured studio chairmen in the film industry. He oversees all feature film production, marketing, and global distribution of film and television content in all media. Gianopulos has been involved in the evolution of new entertainment media and technologies for more than 30 years, and has been recognized as an industry leader while guiding the studio to the forefront of the digital revolution. During his time as Chairman and CEO of Fox (until 2012 with Tom Rothman), the studio has had its most profitable years ever, and in 2014, Twentieth Century Fox broke the all-time industry global box-office record, earning more than $5.5 billion. This eclipses by more than $350 million the previous record set in 2011. The domestic box office total of $1.8 billion was the studio’s best year ever and the highest domestic box office of all studios in 2014. Fox International, which distributes in over 130 countries, has had the highest grossing box office for all studios for the fourth time in the past six years, another industry record. During his tenure at the studio, Gianopulos has overseen a broad range of successful films, including X-Men: Days of Future Past, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Life of Pi, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Fault in Our Stars, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gone Girl, the Night At The Museum pictures, the Taken series, The Simpsons Movie, Borat, The Day After Tomorrow, Walk the Line, the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition, Minority Report, and Moulin Rouge, among many successful films. He also has the unique distinction of having championed two of the biggest gambles, and the two highest grossing films of all time: Avatar and Titanic. Under his leadership the studio’s animation division, Blue Sky Studios, produced many successful films, such as the Ice Age and Rio series. Fox Searchlight Pictures, the studio’s specialized division, produced and distributed commercial and critical successes, such as the Oscar-winning films Birdman, 12 Years a Slave and Slumdog Millionaire, as well as The Descendants, Black Swan, Juno, and many others. Upcoming 20th Century Fox films include Spy, a comedy from director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat); Paper Towns, adapted from the best-selling novel by John Green (The Fault in Our Stars); and Fantastic Four, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s longest-running superhero team. Among the films in production are X-Men: Apocalypse, The Peanuts Movie, Joy (directed by David O Russell, starring Jennifer Lawrence), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (directed by Tim Burton), a sequel to Independence Day, and in pre-production, three new Avatar films from James Cameron. Prior to his current post, Gianopulos served as President of Twentieth Century Fox International, a position he held from 1994-2000. Among the many notable successes during Gianopulos’ tenure at Fox International are the Oscar winners Titanic and Braveheart. At one point Fox International had four of the five top grossing pictures of all-time internationally: Titanic, Star Wars: Special Edition, Independence Day and Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace. Before joining Twentieth Century Fox, Gianopulos held senior management positions at Paramount and Columbia Pictures following his career as an attorney specializing in entertainment. Gianopulos is a member of the Board of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is a Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Trustee of the American Film Institute. He is involved in a number of civic and philanthropic activities including serving on the National Entertainment Advisory Council for the Anti-Defamation League and the Board of the XPRIZE Foundation. In 2013, the Simon Wiesenthal Center bestowed him their highest honor, The Humanitarian Award. Gianopulos attended the Master’s program at the New York University School of Law, the Fordham School of Law (Juris Doctor, 1976) and Boston University (BA, 1973). He resides in Los Angeles with his wife Ann and their three daughters.
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About 20th Century Studios: Twentieth Century Fox one of the six major American film studios, television producer and distributer.
Christopher Turpin
Chief Of Staff to the President & CEO of NPR
Christopher Turpin is NPR’s Vice President of News Programming and Operations. He oversees all news programs, newscasts, news operations, collaborative coverage, innovation in news storytelling and training, ensuring NPR’s continued excellence across a range of journalistic skills. Turpin was previously the Executive Producer of All Things Considered, NPR’s afternoon newsmagazine. On a daily basis he guided the show’s editorial direction and managed the show’s 26 production staff members. Arriving at NPR in January 2000, Turpin spent two years as All Things Considered’s Supervising Senior Producer, responsible for the day-to-day running of the show. During his time at NPR, Turpin has contributed to All Things Considered’s coverage of breaking news events such as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina. Along with these major stories, Turpin was part of the All Things Considered production team in Chengdu, China, covering the terrible earthquake in 2008. A native of England, Turpin entered the broadcasting world in the United States in 1990 where he held a variety of editorial positions at Monitor Radio in Boston, MA. Over the span of eight years, he moved from production assistant to ultimately running the morning and evening newsmagazine programs. In 1998, Turpin became a senior manager and member of the executive committee at Internews, a non-profit organization that fosters independent media around the globe, especially in countries emerging from conflict. In this position, Turpin spent much of his time working on projects in the Balkans, Central Asia, Indonesia and Africa. As a producer, Turpin has contributed to many reports and series that were awarded with the industry’s top honors including a 2003 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for NPR News coverage of September 11, 2001, attacks; a 2005 duPont Award for Radio Diaries’ “Mandela: An Audio History” and a 2009 duPont Award for coverage on All Things Considered of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province in China. Coverage of the earthquake in China also earned a 2008 George Foster Peabody Award for Turpin and the rest of the NPR staff following this story. Turpin earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from the University of Sussex in England. He first grew to love the United States during a year-long study abroad at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Oxford University and a Master of Arts in English from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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About NPR: NPR is a multimedia news organization and radio program producer that delivers national and international news broadcasts.
Lisa Gansky
CEO, Co-founder of Genome News Network
Lisa is the author of the bestseller, The Mesh. Why the Future of Business is Sharing. She is also the chief instigator of mesh labs. For more than 16 years, she’s been an impact junky and entrepreneur with a strong interest in building teams and breaking the edges of formerly happy business models. Most recently, she was CEO & co-founder of Ofoto (now the Kodak Gallery). Lisa is an advisor &/or investor in Squidoo, RelayRides, Taskrabbit, Honest Buildings, Loosecubes, Scoot Networks, Munchery, pi.pe & Vayable. In the nineties Lisa was co-founder & CEO of Global Network Navigator (GNN), the first commercial web site and portal. When GNN was acquired by America Online in 1995, she continued on as VP of Internet properties and services, overseeing Webcrawler, GNN, AOL online advertising and e-commerce.
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About Genome News Network, Tripping.com: The Genome News Network (GNN) produces a lively and trusted online magazine that covers important developments in genomics research around
Jonah Peretti
Founder & CEO of BuzzFeed
Jonah Peretti is founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, the first true social news organization that provides a pioneering mix of breaking news, entertainment and shareable content. Mr. Peretti, known for creating viral hits, tracking online social behavior and building technology to amplify buzz is also a co-founder of The Huffington Post. He has been called a “viral marketing hotdog” by the New York Times, “the poster boy of guerilla media” by AlterNet and a “computer-whiz” by The New Yorker. Fast Company named Mr. Peretti one of the “New Faces of Social Media” and named BuzzFeed as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies” in 2012. Business Insider listed him as one of the “11 Rising Tech Stars to Watch in 2012.” Mr. Peretti is a graduate of the MIT Media Lab and has taught at NYU and the Parsons School of Design. His work has been covered by Time, the Economist, Fortune, and Business Insider and he has appeared as a guest on the Today Show, Good Morning America and CNN. In 2012, Mr. Peretti hired Ben Smith of POLITICO to lead as Editor-in-Chief. BuzzFeed reaches over 40 million monthly unique visitors and gets the majority of its traffic from social sources like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more.
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About BuzzFeed: BuzzFeed is a cross-platform digital media company delivering news and entertainment content to a global audience.
Sarah Lacy
Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and CEO of PandoDaily
Sarah Lacy is the founder, editor-in-chief, and chief executive officer of [PandoDaily](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pandodaily), a web publication that offers technology news, analysis, and commentaries about Silicon Valley-based startups. Lacy is also an award winning journalist and author of two critically acclaimed books, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0 and Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos. Lacy has been a reporter in Silicon Valley for nearly fifteen years covering everything from the tiniest startups to the largest public companies. She was formerly a staff writer and columnist for [BusinessWeek](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/businessweek), the founding co-host of Yahoo Finance’s Tech Ticker, and a senior editor at [TechCrunch](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/techcrunch). Born on December 29, 1975, Lacy currently lives in San Francisco, California.
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About Chairman Mom, PandoDaily: PandoDaily is a web publication offering technology news, analysis, and commentary, focusing mainly on Silicon Valley and startup companies.
Renee Wang
Founder & CEO of Castbox
Renee Wang is the CEO and Founder of Castbox, an award-winning global podcast platform that enables anyone to easily find, access, create and enjoy spoken audio content. Prior to founding Castbox, Renee was a global app monetization expert at Google in user acquisition, optimization, and publisher engagement where she contributed to 42% of Google’s new app revenue. Renee holds a BS degree from Peking University, with a double major in Psychology and Mathematical Statistics.
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About Castbox: Castbox is a global podcast platform that enables anyone to easily find, access, create and enjoy spoken audio content.
Carlos Watson
Co-Founder & CEO of OZY Media
Carlos Watson co-anchors MSNBC 2 p.m. news program from NBC headquarters at 30 Rock. A Harvard grad, he got his start in politics, serving as campaign manager and chief of staff for Florida Representative Daryl Jones and managing Bill Clintonâs 1992 Election Day effort in Miami-Dade County. While at Harvard, he also worked with Senator Bob Graham, DNC Chair Ron Brown, and Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez. After graduating from Stanford Law, where he edited the Law Review, Watson joined the business world, advising Fortune 500 companies as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. He later struck out on his own and co-founded Achieva College Prep Services, which helped thousands of high school students prepare for college and was written about in Time and Forbes, among others. Watson sold the firm to the Washington Post/Kaplan in 2002.
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About Achieva.com, OZY Media, The Stimulist: OZY Media is a premium media and entertainment for curious people — across TV, events, podcasts and news.
Ross Levinsohn
CEO of Sports Illustrated
Ross Levinsohn has always pushed for growth and innovation in the technology and media spaces. After getting his first taste of digital media at CBS Sportsline, he went on to become one of the most sought-after leaders in the industry. In his time as the President of Fox Interactive Media, he focused on digital engagement with the company’s web properties. As the interim CEO of Yahoo, he oversaw the internet company’s $20 billion market cap. As CEO of Guggenheim Digital Media, he managed Billboard Magazine, the Hollywood Reporter, and AdWeek. After serving as the CEO of the LA Times and the digital arm of Tribune Publishing, he’s been a first-hand witness to changing trends in media consumption. He has experience on both sides of the camera, having served as an on-air contributor for CNBC. This executive is currently the CEO of The Arena Group (formerly Maven) and Sports Illustrated Media. This organization is expected to further empower some of the most famous brands in the world and bringing in a leader like Levinsohn, who has the versatility and experience to handle this demanding job, was an easy decision to make. In addition to being CEO of The Arena Group, he remains an active investor in the digital space. He supports more than 30 enterprises in both early- and growth-stages. He’s also a strategic advisor and consultant. He works with well-known media companies to help staff align their content and boost viewership. Whether it’s a small private business or a huge public conglomerate, Levinsohn understands how companies can adjust their operations to meet an audience’s expectations. Ross Levinsohn earned his bachelor’s degree in Communications from American University.
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About Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, The Arena Group, The Boston Consulting Group, Whisper Advisors: Sports Illustrated provides breaking news, conversation and original reporting/insights on all sports.
David Bailey
CEO & Co-Founder of BTC Media
As Chief Executive Officer of BTC Media LLC, David Bailey is an industry leader in the digital currency and blockchain space. After founding yBitcoin, the world’s leading publication about digital currency, David launched BTC Media, a corporate group including Bitcoin Magazine (bitcoinmagazine.com), the world’s first information outlet and news desk dedicated to digital currency, and Distributed (Distributed.com), a leading source for banking and corporate information on distributed ledger technology.
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About Bitcoin Magazine, BTC Media, BTC Media, Distributed, UTXO Management, yBitcoin: BTC Media is Bitcoin media group, providing education and information through its family of products and services.
Gary Liu
CEO of South China Morning Post
Gary is the CEO of Digg, a New York based content discovery startup. He joined Digg originally as Chief Operating Officer, leading revenue strategy and operations across all functions. Previously, Gary was Head of Spotify Labs, where he led emerging technologies and new business strategies for Spotify’s global markets. Prior to that, he was Spotify’s Global Director of Ad Product Strategy. Before Spotify, Gary was the Director of Sales Strategy and Operations at AOL (Patch), and was a business and sales operations leader at both Clickable and Google. Born in California, Gary grew up in Taiwan and New Zealand, but has called the US Northeast his home for the past 19 years. He now lives in New York City with his wife Katrina, a pediatric dentist, 2 cats, and a dog. Ironically, he is extremely allergic to animals, and deathly afraid of dentists. Gary holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University.
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About South China Morning Post: South China Morning Post is an internationally-recognized English language newspaper in Hong Kong.
Chandler Tuttle
CEO of Freethink Media
Chandler Tuttle is a partner at Freethink, a digital media company based in New York City and Washington, DC. Tuttle previously served as the Creative Director for the Oslo Freedom Forum, a yearly international gathering of world leaders, journalists, activists and entrepreneurs, described by The Economist as “a spectacular Human Rights Festival, fast on its way to becoming the Davos of Human Rights.” Prior to that, he spent two years as the Assistant to the President at Focus Features before leaving to write and direct the short film 2081, based on Kurt Vonnegut’s acclaimed classic “Harrison Bergeron”. Tuttle currently resides in New York City with his wife and child.
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About Freethink Media: Freethink Media is a creative media company for the people and ideas that are changing their world.
Bryan Goldberg
Founder and CEO of Bustle Digital Group
Bryan Goldberg is an entrepreneur in New York and San Francisco. He is the founder and CEO of Bustle.com. He previously founded Bleacher Report, and currently advises several startups.
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About Bustle Digital Group: Bustle Digital Group is a news, entertainment, lifestyle and fashion website that caters to women.
Dan Birdwhistell
Founder and CEO of Studio Publishing
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About Studio Publishing: Studio Publishing allows users to connect, find and share desired products through a portfolio of online communities.
Tania Ahuja
Founder and CEO of Nobias
Tania Ahuja is Founder and CEO of Nobias and is Head of US Operations for Arkera Inc. She is a former director of Citigroup and serves on the Board of Overseers at Stern School of Business, NYU. Additionally, she sits on the board of other learning and art organizations including the Center of Advanced Study of India (CASI) at the University of Pennsylvania, Salome Chamber Orchestra, The Paper Bag Players, and is Chairman of the Board for the Summit Music Festival. Tania holds a PhD in Finance from Stern School of Business, New York University. She has a BS in Statistics and an MS in Operations Research.
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About Nobias: Software tools that help protect consumers from deceptive or misleading content on the internet.
Mike Sha
CEO, Co-Founder of SigFig
Mike Sha is co-founder and CEO at Wikinvest and at SigFig. Formerly, Mike was an advisor and consultant to many internet and mobile startups and held key positions at Amazon.com where he launched and ran the Amazon Visa Card business, headed up product development in the Global Payments team, led a technology team focused on building new strategic partnerships and initiatives, and built sophisticated fraud detection models. He received a BA in Applied Math and a MS in Computer Science, both from Harvard University.
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About SigFig: SigFig is financial services firm that dedicates in making high-quality investment advice to investors of all wealth levels.
Gregory Schneider
CEO and Co-Founder of 3BL Media
Greg Schneider is a co-founder of 3BL Media and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding 3BL Media, Greg was the COO of a news distribution service focused on corporate responsibility. In recognition of the obvious evolution of communications technologies and the expanding global interest in CSR and sustainability, Greg, along with some friends and colleagues left their jobs to start 3BL Media. Prior to his five years running the newswire service, Greg built a number of different service organizations geared for small businesses. Greg has a degree in Philosophy and a MS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He likes coffee, The Dead, kayaking, reading and spending time outdoors.
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About 3BL Media: CSR and Sustainability News and Content Distribution Platform
Mark Thompson
President & CEO of The New York Times
Mark Thompson became President and Chief Executive Officer of The New York Times Company on November 12, 2012. He is responsible for leading the company’s strategy, operations and business units. Thompson has been instrumental in accelerating the pace of The Times’s digital transformation. Under his leadership, The Times became the first news organization in the world to pass the one million digital-only subscription mark. The company has also introduced a new era of international growth, launched an industry-leading branded content studio and invested in virtual reality, producing some of the most celebrated work in this emerging medium. Before joining the Times Company, Thompson served as Director-General of the BBC from 2004, where he reshaped the organization to meet the challenge of the digital age, ensuring that it remained a leading innovator with the launch of services such as the BBC iPlayer. He also oversaw a transformation of the BBC itself, driving productivity and efficiency through the introduction of new technologies and bold organizational redesign. Thompson joined the BBC in 1979 as a production trainee. He helped launch “Watchdog” and “Breakfast Time,” was an Output Editor on “Newsnight,” and was appointed Editor of the “Nine O’Clock News” in 1988 and of “Panorama” in 1990. He became Controller (programming and scheduling chief) for the TV network BBC2 and Director of Television for the BBC before leaving the BBC in 2002 to become C.E.O. of Channel 4 Television Corporation in the United Kingdom. In the autumn of 2012, he was a visiting professor of rhetoric and the art of public persuasion at the University of Oxford. His book “Enough Said: What’s Gone Wrong with the Language of Politics?,” which is based on the lectures he gave at Oxford, was published in the U.K. and U.S. in September 2016. Thompson was educated at Stonyhurst College and Merton College, Oxford.
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About The New York Times: The New York Times creates, collects, and distributes news, information, and entertainment through a daily newspaper and a website.
Evan Sohn
Chief Executive Officer of Recruiter.com
A senior executive with 25+ years of experience in eCommerce at Fortune 500 and start-up environments with a history of rapidly growing businesses, capturing market share, and multiple exits. A strong emphasis in sales, market development, corporate and product strategy, marketing, and business development. Extensive management experience in payments, enterprise software, wireless and mobile software, security software, managed services and penetrating new markets for new technology solutions. Specialties: Payments • eCommerce • Marketplaces • Mobile Commerce • Alternative Payments • Business Development • Strategic Alliances & Partnerships • Sales Management • P&L Management • Strategy • Product Innovation • C-Level Sales • Small Business • Acquirers • International
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About CrowdSelling, Recruiter.com, SaleSpread, SaleSpread, Sohn Conference Foundation: Recruiter.com is a leading on-demand recruiting platform that provides flexible talent acquisition solutions for startups to the Fortune 100
Shannon Terry
Founder & CEO of 247 Sports
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About 247 Sports, ComicBook, Pop Culture Media: 247 Sports is an online platform for basketball and football fans and players to find updated news and sporting opportunities.
Pete Cashmore
Founder & CEO of Mashable
Pete Cashmore is the founder and CEO of Mashable, the leading source of news, information & resources for the Connected Generation. Pete founded Mashable in 2005 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland when he was 19. His passion for sharing how web tools and social networks were transforming human interactions and reshaping cultures drove him to create Mashable. Always an entrepreneur, Pete has continued to push Mashable to evolve from a tech blog to a global media company built around technology. He leads Mashable’s strategy and his innate sense of the web and its community, are core to the company’s operations and future growth. He has been described as the “Sage of Media” and considered one of the most influential voices of his generation– on and offline. Pete was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2012. He was featured on Forbes 30 under 30 list, named one of Ad Age’s 2011 influencers, and was named a Young Global Leader by The World Economic Forum.
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About Mashable: Mashable is a media company for the connected generation and voice of digital culture.
Rick Ross
Founder & CEO of DZone
Rick Ross founded Javalobby in 1997, DZone in 2005 and AnswerHub in 2009. Javalobby became one of the web’s top Java sites. DZone expanded that to provide coverage of all developer related topics, and AnswerHub is one of the world’s leading enterprise Q&A systems.
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About DZone: DZone is a company and website that can help teach many things about technology.
Greg Cohen
CEO of Al Monitor
Greg Cohen is the CEO of Al-Monitor.
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About Al Monitor: Al Monitor is a new media platform dedicated to in-depth coverage and analysis of the Middle East.
Bill Ottman
CEO and Co-founder of Minds
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About Minds: Minds is a crypto social network and secure messaging app that rewards users with crypto for their efforts online.
John Cooper
CEO & Founder of Brightwire
CEO & Founder at Brightwire
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About Brightwire: Brightwire is a global news agency.
Ishaan Sutaria
Co-Founder, Co-CEO of Wave Sports + Entertainment
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About Wave Sports + Entertainment: Wave Sports + Entertainment is a media company built for the next generation of digital superfans.
Ben Lerer
Co-Founder and CEO of Thrillist Media Group
Ben Lerer is the co-founder & CEO of Thrillist Media Group, overseeing the growth of the company from a niche email newsletter to a disruptive media company, leading the charge in mingling content and commerce. Lerer was among Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winners, Vanity Fair’s Next Establishments, Crain’s 40 under 40, Forbes list of Most Powerful CEOs Under 40, AdWeek’s Young Influentials, Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 5 Entrepreneurs of the Year, and Silicon Alley Insider’s 100 Coolest People in Tech for six years running. Ben is also the Managing Director of Lerer Ventures, New York’s most active early-stage technology fund. He chairs the Board of Directors for the East River Development Alliance, a New York non-profit organization, and is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS). Lerer is an active mentor for NYC Venture Fellows, TechStars, and Enstitute.
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About Lerer Hippeau, Thrillist Media Group: Thrillist Media Group is obsessed with helping guys live fun lives and reaches over 9 million of them across the globe, every single day.
Udaynandan Reddy Padi
Founder and CEO of YUPPTV
Udaynandan Reddy, a visionary philanthropist founded YuppTV in 2006 with the vision to create a company that converges technologies in providing a virtual home based access to Entertainment, information and communication anytime, anywhere across the globe. From Social networking portals, Internet TV, Live mobile TV, to Online advertising; he led YuppTV to create its own identity through continuous expansion and innovation. His specialty is in Market penetration strategies, Top line growth, deployment of 2.5/3G networks in various countries and new product Introduction with go to market strategy. His Complex Contract negotiations has resulted in strong relationships with key players in both operator and vendor communities in the markets of India, Caribbean, Latin America, United States and Asia Pacific regions. Udaynandan Reddy served as a Director for Nortel, where he was responsible for Cable and Wireless Sales in Caribbean. Uday carries more than 15 years of rich experience in Telecom and Networking arena. This visionary philanthropist founded the modernvillagevision2020.com as an attempt to reduce the social and economic disparity between rural and urban sectors through the introduction of technological infrastructure into the rural sector.
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About Turito, YUPPTV: YUPPTV is an online platform providing access to TV channels and magazines of various languages.
Mike Federle
CEO of Forbes Magazine
Mike Federle has served as Chief Operating Officer of Forbes since October 2011, overseeing circulation, manufacturing and distribution operations as well as global licensing and new business development. Prior to Forbes, Federle was co-founder, President and COO of Techonomy Media Inc, a multimedia company based in New York, in which Forbes acquired an equity interest in July 2011. He is a 25-year veteran of the media industry, including positions as Publisher of Fortune magazine, Group Publisher of the Time Inc Business & Finance Network, Group Publisher of the Bonnier Mountain Group in Boulder, Colorado, and CEO Advertising & Marketing at Next Jump, a privately held Silicon Valley internet company.
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About Forbes Magazine, Forbes Media: Forbes Magazine is a business magazine that is focused on business news and financial information.
Henry Blodget
CEO & Editor of Business Insider
A former top-ranked Wall Street analyst, Blodget is often a guest on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and other networks. He has contributed to The Atlantic, Slate, The New York Times, Fortune, New York, the Financial Times, and other publications. He has written extensively about technology and investing and is the author of “The Wall Street Self-Defense Manual: A Consumer’s Guide to Investing.” He is a member of the International Media Council and Technology Pioneers selection committee of the World Economic Forum.
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About Business Insider: Business Insider is an online platform that offers the latest business, celebrity, and technology news.
Kent Collier
Founder & CEO of Reorg
Founder & CEO at Reorg.
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About Reorg: Reorg is a provider of news, commentary, and analytics on the distressed debt market.
Leslie Moonves
Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation
Leslie Moonves is President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation, one of the world’s leading media enterprises. In this role, he oversees all operations of the Company, including the CBS Television Network, The CW (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), CBS Television Studios, CBS Global Distribution Group (CBS Studios International and CBS Television Distribution), CBS Consumer Products, CBS Home Entertainment, CBS Films, CBS Interactive, Showtime Networks, CBS Sports Network, Pop (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate), Smithsonian Networks, Simon & Schuster, CBS Television Stations, CBS Radio and CBS EcoMedia. Moonves came to CBS in 1995 as President of Entertainment, after serving as president of Warner Bros. Television, where his team developed hit shows like Friends and ER. Once at CBS, Moonves and his team took the Network from last to first place in the ratings, launching hit shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, Survivor, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Moonves was promoted to President and CEO of CBS Television in 1998 and became Chairman in 2003. He was later named Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Viacom and Chairman of CBS in 2004, overseeing domestic and international broadcast television operations as well as its radio division and outdoor advertising operations. In 2006, when Viacom split its businesses into two publicly traded companies, Moonves was named President and CEO of the newly formed CBS Corporation, which has since been one of the best-performing companies in media. Under Moonves’ direction, the CBS Television Network has been #1 in viewers for 12 of the last 13 years, and currently has television’s #1 drama, NCIS; television’s #1 comedy, The Big Bang Theory; television’s #1 news program, 60 Minutes; as well as time period-leading shows on virtually every night of the week. At the same time, the Company’s premium cable service, Showtime Networks, has generated millions of new subscribers on the heels of its successful owned series, such as Ray Donovan, House of Lies, Dexter and The Affair, as well as the critically acclaimed, Emmy- and Golden-Globe-Award-winning series Homeland. The Company’s push to sell its shows around the world has made international distribution sales a significant revenue source, with CBS content licensed to more than 200 markets in more than 30 languages across multiple media platforms. That emphasis on exploiting content has also enabled CBS to strike lucrative, multiyear deals with the industry’s biggest online distributors, including Netflix and Amazon. CBS’s other divisions have also been robust under Moonves’ leadership, including interactive media. The Company’s acquisition of CNET, Inc. in 2008 helped make CBS Interactive the premier online content network for information and entertainment, with more than 280 million people from around the world visiting its websites each month. In publishing, Simon & Schuster routinely releases hundreds of New York Times bestsellers every year, including dozens that make it to #1, and is the publishing home of some of the world’s most recognized and prize-winning authors. Simon & Schuster is also a leader in digital publishing, with titles available across all major platforms and formats. In local broadcasting, CBS-owned TV stations are among the most-watched in the country, and CBS Radio is home to the most-listened-to radio stations in the U.S. By distinguishing CBS as a producer and seller of world-class content across all mediums, Moonves has helped CBS Corporation grow in value, revenue and market share while identifying and developing key new revenue streams for future growth.
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About CBS Corporation, CBS Records: CBS Corporation is a mass media company that creates and distributes content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world.
Douglas Colbeth
Founder & CEO of MedCircle
Douglas Colbeth became president and chief executive officer of Kinaxis in March 2003. As one of the true visionaries of the Internet explosion in the mid 1990’s, he envisioned the opportunity to be a leader in delivering an on-demand supply chain management service. He then came across what he describes as a “gang of supply chain geniuses” in Canada, who had already developed very powerful modeling and collaboration technology. After going public in 2014 – Kinaxis has a market capitalization of approximately $2 Billion. Doug understood what the Internet’s influence on consumer behavior would be and how it would dramatically increase demand volatility. The problem of effectively responding to consumer demand would be further exacerbated by the dramatic market shift of outsourced manufacturing operations. Under Doug’s leadership, Kinaxis developed a world-class offering which enables companies to build better supply chain plans and quickly respond to constant changes in demand, supply and product — driving breakthroughs in customer service and operations performance. Today, the Kinaxis RapidResponse® cloud service empowers front-line decision makers at brand name companies and contract manufacturers with multi-enterprise visibility and collaborative analysis tools to effectively respond to change across an entire distributed supply chain. Prior to Kinaxis, Doug was chief executive officer of Spyglass Inc., a leading provider of Internet software technologies. Spyglass technologies are utilized inside millions of products including PCs, televisions, telephones, and other hand-held devices. Most notably, Spyglass technology is the foundation of the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. In June 1995, Spyglass became the first Internet software company to conduct a successful Initial Public Offering. In March 2000, Doug negotiated its merger with OpenTV Inc., at a value of $2.4 Billion. Outside of his work with Kinaxis, Doug and his wife Margaret are pioneer philanthropists in the area of juvenile brain diseases. Established in 2000, the Colbeth Clinic is operated by the University of Illinois Medical Center and serves inner city children in the Chicago area. This state of the art clinic employs a multidisciplinary approach to treating a wide range of brain diseases including: autism, depression, bipolar, OCD, ADHD, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Doug holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and studied Quantitative Economics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.) in Troy, New York. While attending R.P.I., Doug was awarded a research grant from Texas Instruments Inc. to develop modeling software for various Texas Instruments products.
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About MedCircle: MedCircle is a San Diego based company redefining the mental health care market
Daniel Barreto
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Haystack News
Daniel Barreto is Co-Founder of Haystack TV, and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Daniel Barreto serves as General Manager of Mobile Cloud Business Unit and Chief Customer Advocate of Wyse Technology (UK) Ltd. Daniel Barreto leads the Mobile Cloud Business Unit (MCBU), a distinct unit designed to research, develop, and market products and services that mobile user. He served as General Manager of Mobile Cloud Business Unit and Chief Customer Advocate of Wyse Technology L.L.C (also known as Wyse Technology, Inc.). Daniel Barreto served as Chief Software Architect for Wyse, where he was responsible for overall architecture and software innovation for Wyse Technology L.L.C. He joined Wyse in 2003 and has been responsible for growing Wyse’s software portfolio with new award winning products resulting in over 50 patent applications (23 as inventor or co-inventor). Prior to joining Wyse, Daniel Barreto was a Staff Engineer at IBM in the Systems and Storage Division. Daniel Barreto holds Master’s and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.
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About Haystack News, Stanford University, StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund): Haystack News is an Ad-supported streaming news platform that offers relevant news, from local coverage to global current events.
Colin Jacobsen
CEO of Arlene
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About Arlene: Connecting people and brands in immersive environments.
Michael Dill
CEO of Match Marketing Group
Michael Dill is a President at Match Marketing Group.
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About Match Marketing Group: Match Marketing Group is an integrated shopper marketing and retail solutions provider.
Truman Hunt
CEO of Nu Skin Enterprises
M. Truman Hunt is President, Chief Executive Officer, Director of Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. Hunt has served in various positions with the company since 1994, including Executive Vice President from 2001 to 2003 and General Counsel from 1996 to 2003. From 2005 until 2008, Hunt served as Chairman of the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations, a global trade association for the direct selling industry. He received a B.S. degree from Brigham Young University and a J.D. degree from the University of Utah.
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About Nu Skin Enterprises: Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. is a global direct selling company with operations in 53 markets worldwide
Daniel Raffel
CEO @ Snapguide of ABC News
Daniel Raffel is the CEO of Heavy Bits, producers of Snapguide. Snapguide is a simple, beautiful way to share and view step-by-step how to guides. Discover new things to cook, build, wear, play and more. Create your own guides and share what you love making with your friends on Twitter, Facebook and more. Discuss your interests with other people who share your passions Previously, he was the Director of Product Management at [Pioneers of the Inevitable](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pioneers-of-the-inevitable), working on [Songbird](http://www.crunchbase.com/product/songbird), an open-source customizable music player. Before joining Songbird he worked at Yahoo where he served as the Product Manager that helped create [Pipes](http://pipes.yahoo.com), a web based composition tool to aggregate, manipulate, and mashup content from around the web. Also during his tenure at Yahoo, Daniel contributed to helping launch Yahoo Messengers VoIP efforts. Prior to joining Yahoo, Daniel worked in a variety of technology roles at ABC News Online, bthere.tv, CondeNet, and NYU’s Innovation Center lab. In another life, Daniel co-founded two record labels [Lucky Kitchen](http://www.luckykitchen.com) and [Apartment B](http://www.apartmentb.com). He has performed live under various aliases at venues around the world and has released recordings on over a dozen labels. In yet another life, Daniel’s passion for food led him to pursue a culinary degree which culminated in a stint as a chef in the kitchen of Thomas Keller’s NYC restaurant [per se](http://perseny.com). Daniel received a Masters degree from the [Interactive Telecommunications Program](http://itp.nyu.edu) at NYU.
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About ABC News, Google: ABCNews is a breaking news resource for top stories, videos, photos, blogs, special reports, and exclusive celebrity interviews.
Nir Eyal
CEO of Nir and Far
Nir Eyal is a writer at Nir and Far, a blog that cover aspects of psychology, technology, and business in relation to user experience design, behavioral economics, and neuroscience. On Nir and Far, Eyal writes to help companies create behaviors that benefit their users, while educating people on how to build healthful habits in their own lives. He also writes for TechCrunch, Forbes, and Psychology Today, and is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences and Fortune 500 companies. Eyal is the author of “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” and lectures at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Design School. His prior work experience includes his time in the video gaming and advertising industries. Eyal holds a degree from Harvard University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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About Nir and Far: Nir and Far – A Blog about behavior engineering.
Anthony Longo
Co-Founder & CEO of CO Everywhere
Anthony Longo is the VP of Marketing & Commercial Products at SIONYX.
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About CO Everywhere, CO Everywhere, Niche Collective, SiOnyx: CO Everywhere is a research and development lab and investment vehicle focused on building technology products and services.
Kunbi Tinuoye
Founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz
Kunbi Tinuoye is an award-winning British-born journalist and broadcaster based in the United States. She is the Founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz.com, a groundbreaking video centric digital news platform focused on technology, science and business. Tinuoye is a sought after on-air contributor, speaker, panelist, and moderator at conferences across the country. More recently she has appeared on MSNBC & Arise News and facilitated a panel discussion at the Spelman College Leadership and Women of Color Conference. Tinuoye is a former News Correspondent for NBC’s African American digital news platform theGrio.com. In 2013, she provided commentary as an investigative reporter on the Investigation Discovery hit television series ‘Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall’. Prior to relocating stateside, Tinuoye was a senior broadcast journalist for the BBC in London. She is an international writer whose work has been published in The Daily Mail, London’s Evening Standard, Ebony.com and The Voice newspaper For a number of years, Tinuoye served on the Editorial Advisory Board for Cambridge Alumni Magazine (CAM), which is distributed to approximately 150,000 readers globally per edition. She is one of the original founders of Aspire, a support network for ethnic minority journalists in the United Kingdom. The organization has partnered with and attracted sponsorship from mainstream media outlets, including the BBC, Channel 4, Trinity-Mirror, the Guardian and the Financial Times Tinuoye graduated from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Social & Political Sciences. She studied a post-graduate in print journalism and is an NCTJ qualified UK professional journalist, with credits in media law and 100 wpm shorthand. Ovation International Magazine has named Tinuoye one of the 50 most influential Nigerians in the diaspora. She is currently on the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ) Development Committee.
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About 1863 Ventures, Geekz Watch, UrbanGeekz: Digital news platform focused on technology, science, business, and entrepreneurship
Stanley Yuan
CEO & Co-Founder of Otto Radio, Inc.
CEO of Otto Radio. Strategist by day, mathematician and economist by training, humanitarian at heart. Love productizing & building. Previous @GoldmanSachs @Columbia
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About hibooks, Otto Radio, Inc.: Transform the time on everyday tasks into opportunities to be entertained and stay informed about the things they care about most
Darryl Payne
CEO of WORLD NATION LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Darryl Payne started producing music 39 years ago when he was 16 years old. Darryl is one of a handful of producers to have 5 songs on the Billboard Charts at the same time. Pioneer Entertainment, Sony/BMG, Universal and Warner Brothers enjoyed tremendous success with Darryl. Classic World Productions is one of the largest music catalogs in the USA. Walmart, Best Buy, Walgreens, CVS and many major retailers have sold Millions of Classic World CD’s & DVD’s. Mr.. Payne started Classic World in 1991. World Nation is the newest and most exciting venture of all the companies !!
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About StreamNet, WORLD NATION LIVE ENTERTAINMENT: World Nation Live Entertainment delivers cross platform interaction to expand reach while improving the creator and consumer value model.
Kevin Worth
CEO of CoinDesk
Kevin is the CEO of Coindesk.
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About CoinDesk: CoinDesk provides news and analysis on the trends, changes, technologies, companies, and people in the Bitcoin and digital currency world.
Alex Blumberg
Co-Founder and CEO and Podcast Businessman of Gimlet Media
Alex Blumberg is a CO-Founder and CEO and Podcast Businessman at Gimlet Media. He received a B.A. from Oberlin College and is currently an adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University. From 1999-2014 he was the producer for the public radio show This American Life and his stories were regularly featured on the show. From 2007-2014 he was the executive producer of the television version of This American Life. Prior to This American Life, he worked as a freelance radio reporter, contributing to This American Life, the Savvy Traveller and Chicago Public Radio. In 2008 he collaborated with National Public Radio economics correspondent Adam Davidson to co-host the Planet Money podcast, which posts new episodes twice weekly. In August 2014, he started Gimlet Media along with Matthew Lieber. Initially pitched as the American Podcasting Corporation (APC), Gimlet Media is a podcasting business. Blumberg documented the startup process in the first season of a podcast hosted on Gimlet Media, titled StartUp. The second season follows “Dating Ring”, another startup company. Apart from StartUp, Gimlet Media has launched several other podcasts, including Mystery Show, Surprisingly Awesome, and Reply All. The company has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. After raising most of its initial capital from investment firms Betaworks, Lowercase Capital, and Knight Enterprise Fund, Gimlet invited the listeners of its shows to help raise the last $200,000 through crowdfunding platform Alphaworks. In December 2015, Gimlet closed a Series A round of funding that raised $6 million at a $30 million valuation.
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About Gimlet Media: Gimlet Media is a developer of a digital media network platform that focuses on producing quality narrative podcasts.
Rafat Ali
Founder & CEO of Skift
Rafat is the CEO/founder of Skift, the largest industry intelligence and marketing platform in travel, providing news, information, data and services to all sectors of the world’s largest industry. Previously, he was the founder/CEO of paidContent and ContentNext, which he sold to UK’s Guardian News and Media in 2008, and left in 2010. Prior to that, he was managing editor of Silicon Alley Reporter. Rafat was the Knight Fellow at Indiana University, where he completed his Masters in Journalism, 1999-2000. Prior to that he completed his BSc in Computer Engineering, from AMU in Aligarh, India.
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About ContentNext Media, Skift: Skift is a travel intelligence media company that delivers news, data and services to its readers.
Oliver Schmalholz
Co-Founder & CEO of News Quantified
Oliver Schmalholz is the co-founder and CEO of News Quantified. With over 15 years of experience in the global technology and finance industries, he has built four start-up companies, raising more than $50 million in venture capital. Schmalholz has both the vision to create revolutionary businesses and the skill to execute them successfully. Before working in fintech, he co-founded European Telecom and was the first to sign an interconnection agreement with Austria after the industry de-regulated. This work was so sought-after that the firm was ultimately acquired by the fifth-largest publicly traded telecom in the world. He then managed a U.S. equities trading firm where he designed a software solution that allowed for the low-latency, real-time processing of large volumes of information, along with no-delay order execution. Schmalholz’s keen understanding of how news directly impacts stock movement inspired him to launch News Quantified.
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About News Quantified: News Quantified specializes in matching financial news with market data.
Justin Smith
CEO of Bloomberg Media
Justin B. Smith is Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg Media Group, Bloomberg L.P.’s global multi-platform media organization that comprises digital, mobile, television, digital video, radio, print magazines and live events platforms. Since joining Bloomberg L.P. in September 2013, Justin has outlined a new vision to build the leading, next generation media company for global business by concentrating on the development of a series of digitally-led, multi-platform brands: Bloomberg Markets, Bloomberg Politics, Bloomberg Pursuits and Bloomberg Opinion, with more to come. In 2016, revenue has grown 8% across Bloomberg Media, with an increase of 21% in digital advertising sales and 27% in U.S. television. Traffic to Bloomberg.com has increased 38% in 2016 and Bloomberg has cemented its position as the leader in global business video. Crediting him as an “aggressive digital innovator,” Justin was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media 2014. Prior to Bloomberg, Justin was President of Atlantic Media where he spearheaded a dramatic revitalization of The Atlantic and launched award-winning digital brands such as Quartz, The Atlantic Wire and Defense One. Under his leadership, Justin and his teams were recognized by The New York Times as “something of a marvel in the publishing world,” along with a number of awards, including Advertising Age’s 2010 “Publishing Executive of the Year,” Advertising Age’s 2010 “Magazine A-List” 2010 and min’s 2010 “Most Intriguing People in Media.” Previously, Justin served as President and Publisher of The Week magazine, where he introduced the U.S. version in 2001. In this role, he was named to Advertising Age’s 2006 “40 Under 40” ranking. Justin came to The Week from The Economist Group, where he led corporate strategy in London, Hong Kong and New York. He began his career in media at the International Herald Tribune in Paris and Hong Kong, helping to build the global newspaper’s conference business. Justin is the founder of Breaking Media, a network of websites, events and social media channels that includes Above the Law, Dealbreaker, Fashionista, Breaking Defense, Breaking Energy and Breaking Gov. He serves on the Board of Directors of Georgetown University, where he received his B.S. from the School of Foreign Service in 1991. Justin was named to the Board of Directors of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation Board of Directors in 2014, is a 2013 Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow and a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His philanthropic efforts include founding the Bali Purnati Center for the Arts and the Ouagadougou Education Project. Justin commutes between New York City and Washington, D.C., where he lives with his two children.
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About Bloomberg Media: Bloomberg Media connects leaders with news, data and insight at the speed of business – every day, every night, every moment, every instant.
Bill Simmons
CEO and Founder of The Ringer
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About The Ringer: The Ringer is a digital platform that covers pop culture, technology, and sports.
Ankit Maheshwari
CEO & Founder of Instablogs
Betaout is founded by Ankit Maheshwari (CEO), is listed as Asia’s one of the most inspiring young entrepreneurs and social change maker by Paragon 100 Asia. Prior to Betaout, he founded Instamedia Network – a lifestyle blog network. Instamedia was serving over 20 Million page views before it was acquired by a Dubai based Media Company. He has over 10 years of experience in managing large content teams for Digital content.
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About Betaout, Bluecore, Instablogs: Conversational platform based on news
Jeremy Jacobs
CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Enlighten
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About Enlighten, EYECONIC.TV: Enlighten is a place-based cannabis television network, displayed on screens in dispensaries around the nation.
Alex Lieberman
Founder & CEO of Morning Brew
Alex is the Cofounder @ Morning Brew
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About Morning Brew: Morning Brew is a quick and quality daily e-mail newsletter for the millennial business professional.
Justin Sun
Founder and CEO of Tron
Justin Sun, born in 1990, master of University of Pennsylvania, bachelor of Peking University,founder and CEO of mobile social application Peiwo and TRON, the former chief representative for Greater China of Ripple. 2011 Asia Weekly Cover People; 2014 Davos Global Shaper; 2015 CNTV new figure of the year; 2017 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 entrepreneurs;2015/2017 Forbes China 30 Under-30s; The Only Millennial Student in the first batch of entrepreneurs at Hupan University.
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About Tron: Tron is a decentralized content entertainment protocol based on blockchain technology.
Kellen Giuda
Founder, President & CEO of American Military News
Kellen Giuda is a business executive and the Founder and CEO of American Military News, one of the largest online military news platforms in the world reaching millions of readers every month. AMN’s mission is to inform the general public on the American military, global affairs and culture. Since its founding in 2015, AMN has engaged 54 million readers, and has become the highest, most-rated military news app on Apple and Google’s app stores. As CEO and Founder of KellenProjects, an operations consulting firm, Giuda has served political and private-sector clients since 2010, including serving as National Coalitions Director for former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign and from 2010-2011, serving as Director of a national public policy campaign consisting of 180 organizations representing seven million people and support from more than 150 legislators. Giuda is a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), the Online News Association (ONA) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Previously, Giuda was an architectural project manager in lower Manhattan, New York City at TRA Studio. As project manager, he helped execute the design and construction of multiple buildings in lower Manhattan. Giuda was also a member of TRA’s design team that placed as a finalist in the Redesigning Grand Army Plaza International Urban Design Competition in New York City. Kellen graduated from the University of Miami School of Architecture with a Bachelor of Architecture.
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About American Military News: American Military News is a military and foreign affairs news outlet.
Anthony Goldbloom
Co-Founder and CEO of Kaggle
Anthony Goldbloom is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kaggle.com. He is also the Founder Partner at Founder Collective. Forbes has twice named Anthony one of the 30 under 30 in technology, the MIT Technology Review has named him as one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 and the University of Melbourne has given Anthony an Alumni of Distinction Award.
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About Founder Collective, Kaggle: Kaggle is a platform for predictive modeling and analytics competitions and consulting.
Matt Halfhill
Founder/CEO of Nice Kicks
Matt Halfhill is the Founder + CEO of Nice Kicks
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About Nice Kicks: Matt Halfhill launched NiceKicks.com in 2006 to provide sneaker enthusiasts with the most up-to-date information and news on sneakers.
Ann Greenberg
Founder and CEO of Entertainment AI ™
Ann Greenberg is a serial entrepreneur and inventor. Ann’s new venture, Entertainment AI™ (Sceneplay, Inc.) is developing groundbreaking, patented systems using AI and Blockchain to automate media creation, distribution and analysis. In 1998, Ann co-founded Gracenote, the world’s largest entertainment data company, and the first crowdsourced company. Gracenote helps consumers to discover and engage with relevant, personalized content across platforms—from smart TVs, to smartphones and the streaming media in their cars. Gracenote was acquired by Nielsen for $560M in 2017. Prior to founding Gracenote, Ann co-founded ION, an early digital studio who worked with David Bowie, Brian Eno, Todd Rungren, The Residents, Primus and leading technology companies. Ann also ran marketing for Edward R Pressman Film Corporation.
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About Entertainment AI ™, Fanpulse: The Smart Content Company – Entertainment AI merges human and machine creativity to engage a new generation.
Roger Lynch
CEO of Condé Nast
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About Condé Nast: Condé Nast publishes magazines, websites, and tablet and smartphone applications.
Cenk Uygur
CEO & Founder of The Young Turks
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About The Young Turks: The Young Turks provides an online news show covering politics, pop culture and lifestyle.
Christian Bishop
CEO of GG Media Network
Christian Bishop, is a former telecommunications consultant serving as Enterprise Media Director with Level 3 Communications and Director of Content for BidChat, a cutting edge two-way live broadcasting platform for social influencers. He is also an Executive Producer for the film “Huntsville”. He is most recognized from his recent work on ABC’s “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelors In Paradise.”
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About GG Media Network, Method: GG Media Network is a rising eSports media production company.
Bill Wilson
Executive Vice President & CEO of Townsquare Media
Bill Wilson is Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Townsquare Media, a radio station company. Previously he was the President of MediaGlow at AOL. Prior to this role he was Executive Vice President of Programming at AOL. He is responsible for user experience in all of AOL’s content sites, which include News, Movies, Lifestyle, and Celebrity Gossip. He is also responsible for user experience at a number of blog sites such as Engadget and Joystiq. Wilson was formerly Senior Vice President for Worldwide Marketing at BMG Entertainment, where he managed marketing campaigns for a number of major recording artists. He began working at BMG at Arista Records under the guidance of Clive Davis. Wilson won an Emmy for AOL’s Live 8 Program in 2006, and has been featured in a number of publications as one of the nation’s top young executives.
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About Townsquare Media: Townsquare Media, an entertainment and digital marketing services company, operates digital, radio and live event properties in the U.S.
Steven Price
Founder, Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Townsquare Media
Steven Price is Chairman and CEO of Townsquare Media, Inc. Prior to founding Townsquare in 2009, he was Senior Managing Director at Centerbridge Partners, a private equity firm, where he led the firm’s investment efforts in telecom, technology and media. Prior thereto, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Spectrum, Space and Communications) from 2001-2003. For his service, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Mr. Price was formerly the President and Chief Executive Officer of PriCellular Corporation, a publicly traded cellular telephone operator. Prior thereto, he was an attorney with Davis Polk & Wardwell. Before practicing law, Mr. Price worked in the mergers and acquisitions department at Goldman Sachs & Co. Mr. Price graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and has a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.
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About 25Madison, Townsquare Media: Townsquare Media, an entertainment and digital marketing services company, operates digital, radio and live event properties in the U.S.
Nate Whitehill
CEO of CryptoSlate
Nate Whitehill is an experienced technology entrepreneur, programmer and marketer. He has nearly two decades of experience building web applications. In August of 2017, he built and launched CryptoSlate, now one of the top destinations for crypto news and data. Over the past 2 years, CryptoSlate has become the 6th crypto news site in the world by Alexa ranking, serving over 300,000 visitors per month.
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About CryptoSlate: CryptoSlate is a hub for cryptocurrency researchers and blockchain enthusiasts — featuring news, prices, a product database and events.
Laila Alawa
CEO and Founder of The Tempest
Laila Alawa started her career at the White House and Congress, and is the CEO and Founder of The Tempest. In 2016, she was honored at the White House Summit on the United State of Women. Since founding The Tempest, Laila has been quoted in nationwide outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, and CNN Money as a disruptive force in media.
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About Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, Keppler Speakers, LAILA + HUDA, The Tempest: The leading media company by diverse millennial women, for the world.
Kit Codik
Founder and CEO of Liquor.com
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About Dotdash, Liquor.com, The Gap: Liquor.com is a website providing recipes, information and news on cocktails and spirits.
Donald Pazour
President & Chief Executive Officer of Access Intelligence
Don has led the strategy and growth of Access Intelligence for over a decade, taking magazine-centric businesses and converting them to an integrated media, web-centric group of market focused product clusters serving the media/marketing, energy/engineering, aerospace, and healthcare markets. His focus has been on providing the best quality information and most effective marketing services to the company’s customers. Don and his team have built the business through countless launches and 18 acquisitions that have been bolted onto and integrated into the Phillips Business Information newsletter and magazine platform that Veronis Suhler Stevenson bought from Tom Phillips in late 2000. In 2010, the integrated, subscription revenue, chemical and energy information business was sold to IHS. Since that time, the company has leveraged its strong balance sheet and robust online market presence in its served markets to create high e-media and event revenue growth. In 2011, AI completed the acquisitions of OR Manager for it’s healthcare division, Red7 Media for the media portion of it’s Communications Group, and Cynopsis for the cable division of it’s Communications Group. Before joining Access Intelligence, Don was at Miller Freeman, a subsidiary of United Business Media, for 23 years and he was named CEO in 1997. His ascendance through the company included management of conferences, magazines, and high-value information businesses. Don launched and grew Miller Freeman’s presence in the high-tech publishing sector, culminating with the acquisition of CMP Media in 1999. Under his leadership, Blenheim USA’s trade shows were acquired by Miller Freeman, which then became the largest trade show producer in the United States. Don is a frequent speaker at events held in conjunction with Folio Magazine; American Business Media, where he is chairman of their government relations committee; Society of Independent Show Organizers, where he is a past chairman, and Specialized Information Publishers Association. He also serves as vice chairman of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, as well as on the Board of F + W Media, one of the largest independent special interest consumer book, web, and magazine publishers.
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About Access Intelligence, American Business Media, Folio Magazine: Access Intelligence offers business intelligence and integrated marketing solutions such as magazines, data products and e-media solutions.
Gabe Rivera
CEO of Techmeme
Gabe Rivera is the founder and CEO of [Techmeme](/organization/Techmeme), the tech industry’s leading news aggregator. He enjoys cooking, napping, and encouraging people to fight each other online. He’s not a jerk, but plays one on Twitter. Gabe was included in Time’s [140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2013](http://techland.time.com/2013/03/25/140-best-twitter-feeds-of-2013/) and Businessweek’s [25 Most Influential People on the Web](http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/09/0929_most_influential/index.htm). Before starting Techmeme, Gabe worked in Intel’s compiler group, and prior to that, researched compilers at the University of Maryland. Born in New Jersey, he now lives in San Francisco.
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About Techmeme: Techmeme is an online news aggregator that arranges technology related stories from hundreds of news and blog sites.
Ruben Vardanyan
Founder & CEO of Joomag, Inc.
Dr Ruben Vardanyan is an innovative and result-driven leader with more than a decade of experience in building hi-tech companies. He is a founder and Chief Executive Officer of Joomag, a US based SaaS company that provides integrated solution for creating interactive digital publications. Under Vardanyan’s guidance the company developed a series of revolutionary products and became an industry leader. He has extensive experience working with SMBs as well as large enterprises including Fortune 500 companies. He is an angel investor, advisor and serves as a board member for various tech startups. Prior to his Joomag experience, he was the founding CEO of mobile app development company Magy. The company produced several best-seller and award winning apps. In addition to being a master strategist, Vardanyan is an aficionado of all aspects of computer programming, security, databases, software, protocols and web servers. In fact, he co-authored “Principles of C++” and authored “Programming in Macromedia Flash Action Script.” Along with his Executive Education from Harvard, Vardanyan holds a PhD in Computer Science and maintains active involvement in workshops, trainings and is a guest speaker at several international conferences.
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About Joomag, Inc.: Joomag is the all-in-one platform empowering businesses large and small to create, distribute, track, and monetize their interactive content
Bret Cox
Founder, Chairman & CEO of TRUE
Bret Cox is Founder and CEO at True.
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About TRUE: Private Group Sharing
Bart Myers
CEO and Founder of Countable
Founder, advisor and investor in early stage technology companies in the Bay Area. Current project is Countable, a consumer focused, political site and app. Countable will launch in early 2014. Prior to Countable, Bart founded SideReel.com which was acquired by Rovi in 2011, and later re-acquired under All Media Network. Before SideReel, Bart worked in numerous startups and now advises several.
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About Countable, Guba, Rovi Corporation, SFAdPub: Countable is a community engagement platform that powers virtual communities for large and small organizations.
Nick Gernert
CEO & Founder of WordPress VIP
Nick Gernert is the CEO & Founder of WordPress VIP & he attended University of Central Florida – College of Business Administration in 2000.
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About WordPress VIP: WordPress VIP offers enterprise hosting and support to publishers including TechCrunch.
Matthew Craig
Co-Founder & CEO of Blink
Matt spent five years working as Page One Photo Editor at The Wall Street Journal. He is a graduate of Boston University and has worked for Harvard University, The Nieman Foundation and the VII Photo Agency. When he isn’t evangelizing about Blink, Matt can be found researching vintage Porsches or toting a Leica around Brooklyn with members of MJR, an international group of artists he founded in 2007.
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About Blink: Headquartered in New York, Blink is a platform that connects the world’s best storytellers to companies that have a story to tell.
John H. Meyer
CEO of Fresco News
Thiel Fellow CEO with the vision, John has created over 40 apps, grossing over 4 million downloads, all by the age of 20. Creator of the first flashlight app, John has a tremendous relationships with Apple and an incredible understanding of the mobile/social revolution upon us. John has been leading Fresco, a crowdsourced video platform, since late 2014.
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About Fox Business Network, Fresco News, Starship Capital, The Thiel Foundation, Yahoo Finance: Fresco combines the incredible powers of their mobile devices with the content needs of global news outlets.
Marc Krigsman
Chief Executive Officer of SQAD
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About SQAD: SQAD Acquires Leading Media Planning Management Company, Workhorse Software
Adi Sideman
Co-Founder and CEO of PROPS
YouNow founder and CEO Adi Sideman is a pioneer in participatory media, with more than 20 years of experience creating apps and companies in the user-generated content space. Sideman founded YouNow in 2011 to provide a live social platform for people to connect, interact, and express themselves. YouNow grew to be a global social network with more than 100 million user sessions a month, and creators and audiences now produce more than 50,000 hours of original live content each day. YouNow has been named one of the most innovative companies of 2016 by Fast Company and was a finalist for Fastest Rising Startup of 2016 at the Crunchies Awards. As a developer, Sideman produced the first animated ads on AOL and founded Squeeze, a web development venture that provided services to Fortune 500 companies like Starbucks and Con Edison. He also produced more than 30 online games for major-studio film and TV franchises. In 1999, he founded the interactive marketing firm Oddcast, which continues to develop such groundbreaking apps as “Elf Yourself.” In 2005 he co-founded KSolo, the first online karaoke service (acquired by Fox Interactive/MySpace) and, in 2006, co-founded audio ad network TargetSpot, a joint venture with CBS (acquired by Radionomy). Sideman is a member of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences and was named one of 2015’s top 100 most influential and inspiring people in NYC tech by Business Insider. He holds an MPS degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an undergraduate degree from NYU Film School.
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About PROPS: PROPS creates a decentralized model for digital media that uses blockchain technology to reward the contributors that power the network.
Andrew Horn
Co-Founder and CEO of Tribute
Andrew Horn is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tribute.
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About Tribute: Tribute is a media platform that makes it easy to create a collaborative video montage that can give as a gift on any important occasion.
Mark Goldman
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Happs
Mark Goldman is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Happs.
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About Happs, ZypMedia: Happs is a live streaming news platform that covers top stories from around the world.
Josh Eastright
Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg Law
Josh Eastright is a Chief Executive Officer at Bloomberg BNA. He is a former Commercial Director, Head of Government Affairs Solutions, and President of Bloomberg Government. Mr. Eastright graduated from Amherst College with a bachelor of arts in Political Science.
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About Bloomberg Law: Bloomberg Law is an information service company for legal, regulatory, and business information for professionals.
Chris Johnson
Co-Founder & CEO of Uncubed
Chris Johnson is Co-Founder & CEO at Uncubed.
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About Uncubed: Uncubed provides all the resources you need to find & succeed in a tech career.
Noah A. Samara
Chairman & CEO of Worldspace
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About Worldspace, XM Radio: Worldspace provide high quality radio programming, including a wide variety of music, news and entertainment channels.
Michael Zammuto
CEO and Co-founder of Completed.com
Michael Zammuto is the co-founder and CEO of Completed.com and the CEO of Cloud Commerce Consulting. His primary focus is all aspects of the artificial intelligence landscape and startup and growth stage advisory services. Zammuto is a contributor to CIO.com and Business.com. He has also written for other publications and has been a keynote and breakout session speaker at conferences. Michael Zammuto has dozens of media appearances including TechCrunch, Fast Company, CNN Money, Fox Business Varney & Company, Time, Forbes, HuffPo, The Washington Post, New York Magazine and many others. he writes on his personal site and writes on topics of personal interest like economics, AI, urbanization and the future on his futurist blog. Completed allows you to create or claim your profile and to review all people in business. Completed.com has been called LinkedIn meets Yelp! Completed.com seeks to create a meritocratic society where people get recognition for great work and everyone get constructive, verified feedback for free. Completed.com has built a proprietary, patent-pending platform that uses technology, sentiment and people-powered QA to measure and score reviewer ‘trust’ and to ensure that the site’s professional standards are carefully met. He serves as an adviser to multiple tech and internet startups. As the CEO of Cloud Commerce Consulting, Zammuto advises startups and growth stage technology companies. Zammuto is a strategic adviser to Carii and has served as an interim CEO for other startups. Zammuto served previously as the president of Chaikin Analytics, a top rated stock and ETF analytics platform. Zammuto was also CEO of Brand.com and Sapago, the COO of ChaCha.com and Ontario Systems and was a C-level exec with LawCommerce, Escalate Retail and other firms. He has been the interim CEO/COO for multiple early stage firms and has consulted on fundraising, marketing and sales program development. Zammuto is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and Tulane University AB Freeman School of Business. He studied international business and economics at a joint program at Cambridge University in England. He has also studied programs in negotiations at Harvard Law School and strategic selling and strategic sales management.
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About Cloud Commerce Consulting, Completed.com, The Coffee Insider, Ugly Christmas Sweater Ideas: Completed reviews anyone in business and ensures great people get recognition and everyone get trusted feedback.
Jeff Mucci
CEO & Head of Industry Insight and Research of RCR Wireless
Jeff Mucci is the CEO at Arden Media.
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About Arden Media, Enterprise IoT Insights, In-Building Tech, RCR Wireless: RCRWireless News provides readers with mobile network operator news insights.
TJ Leonard
Chief Executive Officer of StoryBlocks
TJ is the CEO at VideoBlocks, where he has been working since 2013 to bring high quality, affordable stock media to the creative community. VideoBlocks now supports more than 300,000 creatives through its unique membership model, and in 2015 launched its revolutionary video Marketplace which pays contributors 100% commissions. Prior to joining VideoBlocks, TJ led the marketing teams at BabbaCo, a subscription service offering creative, educational products for parents and toddlers, and Vlingo, Android’s first voice-enabled mobile virtual assistant. He currently lives in Washington DC with his wife, two kids, dog, two cats, and the occasional fish.
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About StoryBlocks: StoryBlocks is a subscription-based video and audio stock that provides unlimited download access to its users for royalty free content.
Taylor Bloom
Co-Founder & CEO of SportTechie
Taylor resides in Los Angeles where he graduated from UCLA and started his career working at startups and major corporations in the sports industry. He joined SportTechie in March 2012 and soon after took over the daily operations of the company after he discovered his passion for building a media company that is devoted to the sports technology space. He eats, sleeps and breathes SportTechie. Contact him with content and growth ideas.
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About SPORTS TECH TOKYO, SportTechie, Techstars: SportTechie is the leading information destination for sports technology news and content.
Pat LaPlatney
President, VP-Digital Media/Business Development and CEO of Raycom Media
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About Gray TV, Raycom Media: Raycom Media is a privately owned media broadcaster that owns and operates radio stations and television channels.
Ankit Bhatia
Co-founder and CEO of Sapien
Ankit is a tech entrepreneur who enjoys bringing impactful ideas to life. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley and now excels at deriving business value from complex technical ideas. He is passionately committed to building the privacy-focused, democratized Web 3.0 infrastructure of the future using distributed technologies like the Blockchain. Programmer, writer, tokenomics strategist, advisor, crypto enthusiast, and investor since 2013. YCombinator SUS’17 graduate.
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About Sapien: Sapien is the Web3 Social Network of the Future
Sam Ulu
Founder & CEO of Candidly
Sam E. Ulu is a Founder & CEO at Candidly (formerly Kandid.ly)
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About Candidly: Book an event photographer on Candidly.com and receive photos back within 24 hours. We shoot all events EXCEPT weddings.
