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 New York based Founder operating in the Social Media space. If you think a Founder 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.
Alex Chung
Co-Founder & CEO of Giphy
Alex Chung is currently the founder and CEO of GIPHY. His latest startups include Artspace, a leading ecommerce destination for contemporary art, The Fridge, a private social network acquired by Google, and General Displays a GE venture developing GE’s next generation of HDTVs. He has also directed media technology for MTV, NBC, Comcast, Charter, and managed future technologies for Paul Allen’s R&D lab. He was one of the early architects of interactive television and started his career as a hardware engineer at Intel. He was named on Business Insider’s Top 25 most influential technologists in New York and has degrees in philosophy, electrical/computer engineering, and graphic design.
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About Giphy: Giphy is an online database and search engine that allows users to search, share, and discover GIFs.
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Ali Hamed
Founder of CoVenture Holding Company
Ali Hamed is a managing partner and co-founder of CoVenture Holding Company, a firm that invests across the capital stack of tech-enabled companies. CoVenture often provides the first institutional equity and/or debt financing to business operations across financial services, new forms of media, platform economies or industries we are yet to imagine.
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About CoVenture Holding Company, Crossbeam Venture Partners: CoVenture provides equity and/or debt financing to tech-enabled companies in areas such as financial services, media, and platform economies
Derek Jeter
Co-Founder of The Players’ Tribune
By the time he stepped away from baseball in 2014 after a historic 20-year career with the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter had established himself as one of the most respected men to ever have played the game. A five-time World Series champion and member of baseball’s exclusive 3,000-hit club, Jeter earned numerous accolades in recognition of both his on-field skill and his commitment to the community, including: World Series MVP (2000); 14-time MLB All-Star; 5-time Gold Glove Award; 5-time Silver Slugger Award; AL Rookie of the Year (1996); Roberto Clemente Award (2009); and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award (2009). His reputation is that of an unmatched leader both on and off the field; his name is synonymous with hard work, dedication and class. In retirement, Jeter now focuses on a variety of successful business ventures and entrepreneurial investments. Most recently, he helped launch The Players’ Tribune, an innovative multimedia company where world-class athletes share their honest and unique perspectives, bringing fans closer to the games they love. In November 2013, Jeter and Simon & Schuster announced the Jeter Publishing imprint, which includes both adult and children’s books verticals. The first booked released, The Contract, debuted at #2 on The New York Times Children’s Middle Grade Best Seller list. In October 2014, a full-color photo book called Jeter Unfiltered was released, providing fans an in-depth look at his life through never-before-published images taken over the course of his final season. He also serves as Partner and Brand Development Officer of Luvo, a transformational lifestyle food brand where he is involved in product development, brand awareness and strategic partnerships. Jeter continues to be the driving force behind the Turn 2 Foundation, which he established in 1996 to give back to the communities with which he has a close connection, including West Michigan, Tampa and New York City. He satisfies his passion for inspiring young people through initiatives – like the Jeter’s Leaders program – that promote academic excellence, leadership development, positive behavior, healthy choices and social change. During Derek’s baseball career, the Turn 2 Foundation has awarded more than $23 million in grants to create and support signature programs that motivate young people to turn away from drugs and alcohol and “Turn 2” healthy lifestyles.
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About The Players’ Tribune: The Players’ Tribune is a content and technology platform developed by athletes for athletes to connect them with fans through storytelling.
Scott Heiferman
Co-Founder of Meetup
Scott Heiferman is a Co-Founder and CEO of [Meetup](http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/meetup), the world’s largest network of local community groups. Over 50,000 Meetups (self-organized community events) happen each week. Millions of people in over more than 100 countries “use the internet to get off the internet” using Meetup, which is built on the idea that every town needs support groups, playgroups, bookclubs, business circles, running groups, community action groups, etc. Previously, Heiferman co-founded Fotolog, a photo sharing network where over 30 million people have uploaded nearly a billion photos. He also founded i-traffic, a top online ad agency in the 90s. He then fled the ad industry and was influenced by 9/11 to start Meetup. Scott graduated from The University of Iowa. He is an angel investor in Betaworks, Founders Collective, Virgance, 20×200, and others. Scott received the Jane Addams Award from the National Conference on Citizenship and was named an MIT Technology Review “Innovator of the Year”. He’s @heif.
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About Meetup: Meetup brings people together in thousands of cities to do more of what they want to do in life.
Joshua Stylman
Co-Founder, Managing Partner & CEO of Threes Brewing
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About TeamSnap, Threes Brewing: Threes Brewing is a brewery, bar & event space.
Banu Guler
Founder & CEO of Co–Star
Founder and CEO of Co-Star, the hyper-personalized, social astrology app bringing astrology into the 21st century. Fashion industry veteran, working with brands such as Diane von Furstenberg, Alex & Ani, Ann Taylor, VFILES, and Michael Kors. Began career as a graphic designer. After realizing the power of digital in the fashion space, shifted focus to creating immersive, digital experiences to integrate community and content into commerce. Studied psychology at NYU. Scorpio.
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About Co–Star: Co–Star is a real-time horoscopes bringing astrology into the 21st century.
John Acunto
Co Founder/Chief Innovation Officer of Tsū
John Acunto is the Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Tsū and a Member of The Recording Academy and a Board Member at Leone Asset Management.
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About Tsū: Tsū is a social media platform that shares ad revenue as well as provides tools that inspire content creation.
Brett Garfinkel
Co-Founder & CEO of SYLO
Brett Garfinkel is a Co-Founder & CEO at SYLO.
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About SYLO: SYLO provides marketers and creators with 3rd-party validation and standardized measurement to confidently invest in influencer marketing.
Erick Schwab
Co-Founder & COO of SYLO
Erick Schwab is the Co-Founder and COO at SYLO.
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About SYLO: SYLO provides marketers and creators with 3rd-party validation and standardized measurement to confidently invest in influencer marketing.
Ulrik Bo Larsen
Founder & CEO of Falcon.io
Ulrik Bo Larsen founded Falcon Social in 2010 after working in the groove between marketing and technology for an A-list of global clients such as PANDORA Jewelry, Carlsberg, Georg Jensen, JWT, IUM, Mindshare and MediaEdge CIA. Prior to Falcon, Ulrik founded and ran the digital agency Mingler, producing data-driven, social campaigns and assets for a global audience. He also created the first Scandinavian social network and led it to a successful exit to Danish media company – JP/Politikens Hus.
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About Falcon.io: Falcon.io provides an SaaS platform that allows marketing departments to create, launch and measure social media campaigns in real time.
Ben Anderson
Co-Founder and CEO of Amino Apps
Benjamin Anderson is a co-founder and CEO at Amino Apps.
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About Amino Apps: Amino Apps enables people to discover, develop, and express their interests and passions.
Yin Wang
Co-Founder and CTO of Amino Apps
Yin Wang is a Founder at Amino Apps company.
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About Amino Apps, Narvii: Amino Apps enables people to discover, develop, and express their interests and passions.
Alex Collmer
Founder & CEO of VidMob
Alex Collmer is the founder and CEO of VidMob, the world’s largest video creation platform.As the web transitions to a video-driven medium, Collmer recognized the need for businesses to have access to the world’s best video creators who could produce quality content for a variety of platforms that was affordable. Since founding the company in 2015, Collmer has raised more than $13M and counts the leading brands and agencies as clients. Combing an elegant interface with a roster of more than 5000 video creators enables anyone to maximize their video presence and make a brand impact with video. An engineer by training, Collmer’s career has always been at the intersection of technology, design, and consumer entertainment as those sectors have evolved. Prior to founding VidMob, Collmer was the co-founder and CEO of Autumn Games, a premier publisher of video game franchises. Under his leadership, Autumn Games developed successful partnerships with such personalities as Jimmie Johnson, the 7-time NASCAR champion and companies like Def Jam, the leading urban culture brand, as well as the award-winning fighting game franchise, Skullgirls. Previously, Collmer was a founder and board member of the New York Video School, an online film school focused on empowering people all over the world to become “video literate” (www.nyvs.com). Collmer received a B.S. from Cornell University’s School of Engineering and was a certified E.I.T. in the field of structural engineering in the state of New York. Collmer sits on the board of several technology and media companies and has spoken at numerous universities and conferences on entrepreneurship and media. In his spare time, he coaches little league soccer and baseball.
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About VidMob: VidMob is a video content creation network and platform where brands can create digital video ads with expert teams.
Jason Donnell
COO & Co-Founder of VidMob
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About VidMob: VidMob is a video content creation network and platform where brands can create digital video ads with expert teams.
Zachary Hamed
Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Clay
Zachary Hamed is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Clay.
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About Clay: The most beautiful and private home for the people and relationships in your life.
Matthew Achariam
Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Clay
Matthew Achariam is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Clay.
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About Clay, Custora: The most beautiful and private home for the people and relationships in your life.
Julie Anne Quay
Founder and CEO of VFILES
Julie Anne Quay is VFILES Founder and CEO and has over 20 years of experience in the fashion and media industries. Quay was Executive Editor for V Magazine before founding VFILES, and has worked for VH1, Vogue Japan and Australia, style.com, Steven Meisel, Richard Avedon, and more leading industry figures.
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About VFILES: VFILES—connect, discover, collaborate, and be a part of what’s next.
Ben Parr
Co-Founder and President of Octane AI
Ben Parr is a journalist, author, entrepreneur, investor, and expert on attention. Through his experience as a technology writer, venture capitalist, and prolific public speaker, Parr has coached dozens of young startups and Fortune 500 corporations on how to get attention for their products. Parr is a co-founder and managing partner of DominateFund, a venture capital firm that invests in and accelerates the growth of early-stage technology, software, and product startups through its expertise in the press, marketing, customer and user acquisition, viral products, and strategic celebrity partnerships. Previously, Parr was the co-editor and editor-at-Large of Mashable, where he wrote more than 2,400 articles on social media and technology, managed Mashable’s editorial team, and interviewed everyone from Ashton Kutcher to Mark Zuckerberg. He also served as a columnist and commentator for CNET. His work has been featured in a variety of media, including CNBC, CNN, Fox News.
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About DominateFund, Octane AI: Octane AI provides an all-in-one platform for engaging quizzes, data collection, and personalized Facebook Messenger and SMS automation.
Andres Domingo
Co-Founder & President of Mexican Summer records
Andres Santo Domingo is a New York City philanthropist and socialite, and the co-founder of Kemado Records. Santo Domingo is the son of Julio Mario Santo Domingo, a Colombian patriarch known as one of Latin America’s most influential businessmen. Andres Santo Domingo grew up in New York City where he attended St. Bernard’s School. He graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut in 1996 and earned a BA in Comparative Literature in 2000 from Brown University. In 2002, Andres Santo Domingo co-founded Kemado Records, an independent record label based in Brooklyn in New York City. It is one of the few outlets that still supports vinyl. The label is linked to Mexican Summer and Software Records. Mexican Summer has expanded its catalog to nearly 100 releases across multiple formats. The labels are primarily centered around indie, heavy rock and roll. Their offices in Brooklyn include both a commercial recording studio and a first-floor retail store where they sell limited-edition vinyl, called Co-Op 87. In 2008, he married Lauren Davis, a contributing editor of Vogue, in an elaborate wedding in Colombia. In 2010, Lauren co-founded Moda Operandi, an online retailer where members can preorder designer clothing and accessories following runway shows. Andres Santo Domingo and Lauren live in New York City with their two children. Santo Domingo is a supporter of a number of charitable organizations. He’s served as a co-chair with his wife of a gala to benefit DKMS, an organization whose mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for blood cancer patients. Andres Santo Domingo and Lauren Santo Domingo have also been on the host committees of the Conservation International’s 25th Anniversary Event a benefit to establish the Institute for Environmental Sustainability and Peace Exhibit, Turnaround For Children, Save Venice, the MoMA’s Costume Institute Event, the Urban Hoedown to benefit the Art Production Fund, the Third Annual Spring Soiree to benefit the Fortune Society, Christie’s Green Auction to benefit Conservation International, Oceans, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Central Park Conservancy. In May 2013, Conservation International paid tribute to Andre’s father Julio Mario Santo Domingo for his lasting impact on the organization. He was introduced to CI by David Rockefeller Sr. and served on the board for seven years. CI presented Julio Mario Santo Domingo with the posthumous Global Conservation Hero Award. Andres and Alejandro accepted the award on behalf of their father. Andres Santo Domingo and Lauren Santo Domingo were named on Vanity Fair’s 2012 International Best-Dressed List. The New York Observer also named Lauren as one of the most influential people in New York calling her a digital-age socialite.
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About Mexican Summer records: Mexican Summer records is a musical record label focusing on specialty formats.
Andre Swanston
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Tru Optik
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About Tru Optik: Tru Optik is the Only Audience Measurement and Data Management Platform Built for OTT
Tamanna Dhamija
Founder & CEO of Convosight
Tamanna Dhamija is a Founder & CEO of Convosight.
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About Babydestination, Convosight: Convosight provides a management platform for community builders to help them grow and monetize their Facebook groups.
Tania Yuki
Founder & CEO of Shareablee
Tania Yuki is founder and CEO of Shareablee, a leading provider of social content analytics for business. She has spent most of her career in digital marketing, measurement and analytics, and was recently honored with a Great Mind Award from the Advertising Research Foundation and featured in Fast Company and Forbes as one of 12 women driving digital in New York. Tania began her career as a media and internet attorney, specializing in digital rights management, IP and film financing. After moving to the US from Australia she was seduced by digital and went on to run an online video content network as head of acquisitions and branding and has also led product management for comScore’s Video Metrix, the world’s leading online video ratings service. After leaving comScore she ran the TV Ad Solutions practice with TV advertising company Visible World, where she oversaw sales, product management and research and development and grew revenue more than 50% year over year. Tania is also the founder of wimlink, an organization that holds regular events and seminars promoting entrepreneurship, leadership and the professional development of women.
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About Shareablee, wimlink: Shareablee is an online platform offering audience intelligence, competitive benchmarking, and insights for social media.
John S. Shriber
Co- Founder & CEO of Roomster
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About Roomster: The leading multi platform roommate matching & shared housing application. IOS, Android & fully responsive design
Ragy Thomas
Founder & CEO of Sprinklr
Ragy Thomas is the CEO and founder of Sprinklr, a provider of enterprise software for customer experience management. Sprinklr was last valued at more than $1.8 billion in 2016. He founded Sprinklr in 2009, and the company now has 1900 employees around the world serving global clients such as Microsoft and McDonald’s. Prior to founding Sprinklr, Ragy was the president of Epsilon’s (NYSE:ADS) Interactive Services from 2006 to 2008, and the CTO of Bigfoot Interactive, an email marketing leader that Epsilon acquired in 2005. Ragy earned his M.B.A. in Finance and Information Systems from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and his Computer Science Engineering degree from Pondicherry University in India.
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About Sprinklr, Sprinklr Japan: Sprinklr provides enterprise software for customer experience management.
Josh Backer
Co Founder – President, Advertising & SVP Operations of Unified
Founded Social Suitcase in 2009 – Boutique business development and sales consulting firm specializing in social media monetization products and brand advertising. – Sold to TrafficMarketplace in March 2010 Founded DankApps in 2008 – Bay Partners funded social network application company – Donated thousands of dollars to cause based charities through the “Social Change” brand of applications Founded Teach the People in 2007 – TechCrunch40 company – fbFund grantee Emory University, Atlanta GA – Graduate Instructor, Dept. of Comparative Literature “Sick Lit.: Literature and Discourses of Illness and Disease” The Padeia School, Atlanta GA – Part-time Faculty “Pollack to Smithson: Modern and Contemporary American and European art from 1935-1975” “Art and Politics in the 20th Century”
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About Unified: Unified equips marketers with information and intelligence they need to make the best decisions about their social advertising investments.
Jason Beckerman
Co-Founder of Unified
Jason oversees all product, technology, and organizational strategy at Unified. Prior to co-founding Unified, Jason was co-founder and CEO of Social Suitcase, an innovator in the brand engagement space that was acquired by Connexus. He has held executive roles at a number of social media companies, including his tenure as co-founder and CEO of Teach The People, a Facebook Fund Grant Company and a TechCrunch 40 Finalist. Jason’s experience also extends to financial services and enterprise software, including positions at Merrill Lynch, Siebel, and Salesforce.com. At Salesforce.com he managed the release process for the largest on-demand CRM rollout in the history of the cloud at the time. Jason received a BS in Entrepreneurship and Information Systems from Quinnipiac University and a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.
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About Unified, Unified: Unified equips marketers with information and intelligence they need to make the best decisions about their social advertising investments.
Arjun Rai
Founder + CEO of Woofy, Inc.
ON A MISSION TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES WITH THE POWER OF VISUALIZED DATA SCIENCE FOR DIGITAL MARKETING AT HELLOWOOFY.COM AND WOOFY.AI. Arjun is a New York City based entrepreneur originally from West Windsor, New Jersey (aka Princeton Junction). Since high school, Arjun has been networking with some of the most well known entrepreneurs and even worked on a few projects and startups of his own. Upon graduation, Arjun pursued his career opportunities and came to New York City where he enrolled at the New York Institute of Technology in 2011 with scholarships and grants. Following a few weeks into college, Arjun launched his second startup, fuelbrite.com, a social media agency focused on small businesses and startups, and a student-focused organization, TheBizDen. After interning at a PR and ad agency in the summer of 2012, Arjun quickly saw the need for yet another startup within the tech space and raised a seed investment round to build it out. That startup became Wrkbench.io which was a virtual collaboration space designed for creative and visual people (we liked to say we make visual conversations). After spending a few years and learning the ins and outs of running a venture backed startup, Rai set out to modernize another industry related to his former passion of social media. The startup would be known as Woofy which is a social media management driven by artificial intelligence to help small to medium sized businesses with digital marketing. Arjun currently lives in New York City with his girlfriend, two cats and a dog. Arjun went to the NYIT School of Management (majoring in Small Business and Entrepreneurship). He also holds several notable awards and is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society and Golden Key International Honour Society. Professionally, Arjun is also a member of The One Club, The Art Directors Club, The Advertising Club of NY, Social Media Marketing Society and the IVY Connect Club.
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About Woofy, Inc., wrkbench.io: Woofy is an online social media marketing platform.
Tarik Sansal
Founder & CEO of Romio
Tarik Sansal is an internet entrepreneur. He is currently the founder and CEO of Romio, a smart social real estate search engine which leverages neighborhood networks (Romio is going live shortly). Previously, Tarik was the founder of onTargetJobs.com, currently #3 vertical job site behind Dice and Linkedin. Tarik created the original strategy for onTargetJobs.com and assembled the original management team by bringing in Allen Paschal as CEO and Curt Thompson as CFO. onTargetJobs.com is a Warburg Pincus backed company (WarburgPincus.com). Prior, Tarik started InvestmentPositions.com, a job site focused on recruitment of investment professionals which evolved into RecruitmentBox, a multi vertical recruitment technology provider to vertical publishers. Tarik started his careers in investments. He was the 1st investment analyst at Moon Capital (www.MoonCapital.com), the emerging markets hedge fund. He is passionate about leveraging socially conscious internet ventures to make a positive social impact. He also has ideas around new alternative investment models which leverage a socially conscious approach to deliver superior returns to investors. Tarik wrote white papers which were published and reference in financial media such as The Financial Times.
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About Romio: Romio let’s you book “trusted” local services (Housekeeper, Runner, Dog Walker…) through recommendations from local experts and friends
Josh Mailman
Founder of Serious Change
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About Serious Change: Serious Change is here to get a secure and sustainable energy system for Britain. Using current research we aim to show the country the
Jeff Chen
Co-Founder of Pixlee TurnTo
Cofounder at Pixlee TurnTo. MIT ’12, Facebook ’12, RSI ’07.
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About Pixlee: Pixlee TurnTo ia a Social UGC, Influencer Marketing, and Ratings & Reviews company.
Beri Meric
Founder & CEO of IVY
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About IVY: IVY is a Social University that provides a lifetime of new experiences, friendships, and inspiration.
Adam Fields
Chief Architect & Co-Founder of Graphika
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About Graphika: Graphika identifies social communities and influencers within them, mapping spheres of influence on topics & content you care about most.
Barak Shragai
Co-Founder & CEO of IMGN Media
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About IMGN Media: IMGN is a tech-media company specialized in producing and programming social content for Gen Z audiences.
Marcy Simon
Founder of The Social Project
Marcy Simon is Board of Advisors at Talenthouse.
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About The Social Project: The Social Project is a self-sustaining, non-profit business dedicated to eradicating South African poverty.
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.
Aneto Okonkwo
Co-Founder & CEO of Chatdesk
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About Chatdesk: Supercharge your support team and transform customer service into sales
Nick Shiftan
Co-Founder & CTO of Curalate
Nick Shiftan is Co-Founder and serves as Chief Technology Officer and Director at Curalate.
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About Curalate: Curalate optimizes digital commerce for discovery.
Jonah Goodhart
Co-Founder of Montauk Labs
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About Montauk Labs, WGI Group: Montauk Labs is an entrepreneurial venture for exploring new and impactful ideas and technologies.
Sachin Doshi
Co-Founder of Scroll
Sachin Doshi is the Co-Founder at Scroll.
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About Scroll: Scroll is creating a sustainable experience that puts amazing content in front of engaged users without all the noise.
Hassan Miah
CEO and Co-Founder of Robin8 Inc
Hassan Miah has nearly three decades of experience in the entertainment industry, which began when he was based in Los Angeles working as a Partner in KPMG Peat Marwick where he was an entertainment and business valuation consultant. He then moved to Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he served as the head of new media and began to expand into the digital space, which was still in its infancy. Since then Hassan Miah has been able to combine his passion for new media and entertainment to create services that help music and video fans. He was the CEO of Xing Technology Corporation, the first consumer MP3 recording company. He is the Founder and CEO of UrFilez (www.urfilez.com), a cloud-based digital music company with proprietary recommendations technology. He also spent time at the Intel Capital, where he was the Managing Director of Media & Entertainment.
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About One Llama Labs, Inc, Paybby, Radio One Llama, Robin8 Inc: influencer search engine and marketplace, Robin8, an influencer search engine and marketplace.
Miranda Tan
CEO & Founder of Robin8 Inc
Tan has over 10 years experience in PR and marketing. Prior to MyPRGenie, Tan was the president of Excite Media Group, where she specialized in PR and marketing for start-ups and fast growth companies including McKinsey & Company, National Imaging Associates (acquired by Wellpoint), MindTree Consulting, Cognizant Technology Solutions, NYU, Opinion Research Corp and Peoplesoft (acquired by Oracle). Prior to Excite Media Group, Tan founded ExcitePR, a $2 MM hi-tech PR agency. Tan merged ExcitePR with a $15M PR and marketing firm in Silicon Valley. Tan has a BS from Cornell University and a JD from St. John’s University School of Law. She is admitted under the New York Bar.
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About Robin8 Inc: influencer search engine and marketplace, Robin8, an influencer search engine and marketplace.
Scott Young
Co-Founder/ Chief Product Officer of Transmit.Live
Scott Young is Co-founder of Transmit.Live. A veteran of the digital video technology space, Scott has built and contributed to the growth of tech startups from seed stage to IPO and exit.
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About Pitchmob, Transmit.Live: The first ever live video marketplace for large scale broadcasters and advertisers.
Duke Barnett
Co-Founder & President of Transmit.Live
Duke Barnett is the Co-Founder and President of Transmit.Live.
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About Transmit.Live: The first ever live video marketplace for large scale broadcasters and advertisers.
Jesse Walden
Co-Founder of Mine
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About a16z crypto, Mediachain, Mine: Mine is building tools and protocols to realize a future of decentralized media.
CJ Dunne
Co-Founder & CEO of SageSpot
CJ Dunne is the Co-Founder & CEO at SageSpot.
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About SageSpot: SageSpot is the social platform that transforms world-class Creators’ most passionate followers into paid subscribers.
Will Crager
Co-Founder & COO of SageSpot
Will Crager is the Co-Founder & COO at SageSpot.
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About SageSpot: SageSpot is the social platform that transforms world-class Creators’ most passionate followers into paid subscribers.
Alex Rahaman
CEO and Founder of StrikeAd
Alex Rahaman is the Partner at Idekapital Fund.
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About Adimo, FluxLoop, Idekapital, Shenorock Ventures, StrikeAd, Urban Analytix: StrikeAd Fusion, a proprietary technology platform for agencies and advertisers to plan, execute, and evaluate their mobile advertisements.
Jeremy Frommer
Founder & CEO of Creatd
Jeremy Frommer is an American financier and entrepreneur based in New Jersey. His career includes over two decades on Wall Street, working as a hedge fund and portfolio manager, and on the sell-side of the financial industry, building and selling two financial services companies. He is CEO of Jerrick Ventures Inc., a company that acquires, develops and produces content across all forms of media. Frommer is depicted in Michael Lewis’ novel Flash Boys. In 2012, Frommer discovered the “Guccione Collection,” a large collection of unpublished works and photos owned by Bob Guccione, the founder of the Penthouse empire. Frommer graduated magna cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany, with a B.A. in philosophy, and studied at the London School of Economics.
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About Creatd, Vocal: Creatd is an IT company that provides technologies that solve problems for the creative community.
David Karp
Founder & CEO of Tumblr
David Karp, a web developer and entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Tumblr, a micro blogging platform and social networking website. Prior to that, he worked at Davidville, UrbanBaby, Frederator Studios, and Tekserve. David Karp was born on July 6, 1986, and currently resides in New York, United States.
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About Tumblr: Tumblr, a microblogging platform and social networking website, enables users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog.
Sam Ben Avraham
Founder & CEO of Liberty Fairs
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About Liberty Fairs: Liberty Fairs, the newest brainchild of Sam Ben-Avraham ushers in a new era in fashion trade events.
David Replogle
Founder of PostCreator
Founder at PostCreator
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About PostCreator, Squarespace: Post Creator is a social media design tool that enables users to brand posts and ads.
Justin McLeod
Founder and CEO of Hinge
Founder and CEO of Hinge.
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About Hinge: Hinge is a social discovery network helping users meet new people through an application.
Brandon Perlman
Founder of Social Studies, Inc.
Brandon Perlman is a content-focused marketing strategist and entrepreneur in New York’s burgeoning startup scene. He is currently the CEO and Founder of Social Studies, Inc. Previously, he was the Director of Marketing Strategy for Hearst Digital Media where he focused on innovation in the digital publishing field. Prior to that he was the Digital Director for DEPARTURES magazine, where he developed the online business for Departures.com centered around luxury travel and lifestyle. Brandon began his career at American Express and holds a B.A. in Electronic Media from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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About Social Studies, Inc., StyleCaster: The influencer agency and micro-influencer marketing technology for next-generation digital marketers.
Cristina Carlino
Founder of Archetypes
Cristina Carlino is a mother, poet, songwriter, social entrepreneur and the founder and creator of one of the most beloved personal care brands.
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About Archetypes: Archetypes operates a community website that helps people identify themselves through a universal pattern of behavior called ‘archetypes.’
Matthew Lieber
Co-Founder & President of Gimlet Media
Matt Lieber is the co-founder and president of Gimlet Media. In a previous life, Lieber helped launch the public radio programs “The Takeaway” and “Fair Game.” He left radio to get his M.B.A., and worked for several years as a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group before chucking it all for this. He knows the value of a dollar.
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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.
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.
David Bialek
Co-Founder & CEO of ReKTGlobal
With over 25 years in the sports marketing & media world, Dave made the jump to esports with his co-founding of ReKTGlobal. Dave has spearheaded the creation of multiple advertising platforms in the place-based, streaming media and sports advertising space. He is credited with building two groundbreaking initiatives in collegiate sports. First, he led a sales team to create the iconic Allstate Field Goal Net program in NCAA Football. Second, he invented a “profile” position on NCAA and NBA basket stanchions, with which State Farm has become synonymous. The stanchion sign is widely considered to be the most impactful signage position in all of sports. For this latest pursuit, Dave became a recipient of the prestigious Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 award. His work in the traditional sports marketplace can be seen far and wide, and he’s bringing the very same creative approach to the esports ecosystem.
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About ReKTGlobal: ReKTGlobal is a business authority in e-sports and competitive gaming.
Channing Allen
Co-Founder of Indie Hackers
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About Indie Hackers, Stripe: Indie Hackers is a website and community focusing on helping entrepreneurs become profitable while remaining independent.
Sara Klausing
Founder of SEEK
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About SEEK: Seek is the platform connecting entertainment and e-commerce through the lens of creatives.
Georgene Huang
CEO & Co-Founder of Fairygodboss
Georgene Huang is founder of Fairygodboss.com, an employer review site and community for working women.
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About Fairygodboss: Fairygodboss is the largest career community for women. Free for women, we help employers recruit and hire women.
Romy Newman
President and Co-Founder of Fairygodboss
Romy Newman is the Co-Founder at Fairygodboss since June 2015. Previously, Romy was the Head of Strategic Partner Development at Chartbeat until April 2015. Until October 2014, Romy was Head of Digital Advertising for The Wall Street Journal, overseeing sales, marketing and operations for The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. Previously, Romy held several management roles at The Wall Street Journal including General Manager of Print, Conferences and Radio, Vice President of Multi-Media Sales and Vice President of Sales Strategy and Operations. During her tenure at The Journal, Romy was proud to be involved in several extremely successful new product development efforts, including WSJ. Magazine, WSJ Weekend, Greater New York and the original groundbreaking WSJ iPad app. Before joining The Journal, Romy held marketing positions at Google and Estee Lauder and was also a strategy consultant for a boutique media firm called Kannon Consulting, where she advised top management for Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. Romy graduated with a B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and an MBA in Strategy, Finance & Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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About Fairygodboss: Fairygodboss is the largest career community for women. Free for women, we help employers recruit and hire women.
Brendan Eapen
Co-Founder & CEO of In/spree
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About In/spree: In/Spree is a new social media shopping platform that connects influencers, brands, and retailers.
Ashley Marie Eapen
Co-Founder of In/spree
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About In/spree, In/spree: In/Spree is a new social media shopping platform that connects influencers, brands, and retailers.
Mae Karwowski
CEO, Founder of Obviously
Mae is the CEO and Founder of Obviously, the influencer platform for the world’s iconic brands. Mae has grown this company from a one person start up to a 15 person, global company with a brand roster that includes many Fortune 500 companies. Obviously specializes in building custom networks of influencers for brands, specifically large scale global communities of hundreds to thousands of influencers with the right target audiences. Working with the best brands out there, we build relationships with the influencers that embody their ethos while moving their businesses forward. Before Starting Obviously, Mae ran social media for Gilt City, part of Gilt Groupe. Previous to that she ran social media for Bravo, Coca Cola and UGG with the ad agency 360i. She enjoys playing tennis, snowboarding, corgi .gifs and talking tech and entrepreneurship 24/7.
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About Obviously: Obviously builds and manages influencer networks for the world’s iconic brands.
Frank Speiser
Co-Founder & President of SocialFlow
Frank Speiser serves as the Chairman of the Board and President of SocialFlow, Inc. Frank Speiser served as an Advisor of NabeWise Media, Inc. Frank Speiser co-founded SocialFlow, Inc. in 2009 and served as its Chief Executive Officer. He served as the Chief Technology Officer of Takkle, Inc. since April 2007. He served as Chief Technology Officer of Heavy.com and Takkle.com. He served as the Managing Director of Spectrum Data Technologies. He provided technical and product guidance, competitive analysis, and helps with fund raising and team-building for several early-stage companies in New York and San Francisco. He has extensive experience in e-commerce, scalability, insurance, and both traditional and social media IT environments. Frank Speiser has worked for companies such as Bertelsmann, Virgin USA, and many others. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board of Pictela, Inc. Frank Speiser serves as a Director of ReignCloud Advisors, Sparcq and WaterBasic.
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About SocialFlow, Talla: SocialFlow is a social distribution and monetization platform that is purpose-built for media companies.
Udayan Bose
Founder & CEO of NetElixir
Udayan Bose founded NetElixir with a vision to provide online marketers worldwide with a paid search campaign optimization solution capable of delivering magical performance. Udayan recognized the potential of paid search as an essential advertising channel in 2002. Having experienced first hand the complexity involved in running a profitable paid search campaign, he was driven to develop a system that delivers predictable and efficient campaign performance, allowing marketers to fully leverage the power of paid search as a high value sales generator. Prior to starting NetElixir, Udayan was Director of Business Development for iGlobalMedia/PartyGaming, the world’s largest online gaming company. In this role he was responsible for building a new business unit, PartyBingo, that became a major revenue generator for the company. Udayan is a regular speaker at leading industry conferences like Internet Retailer Conference (US), Internet Retailing Conference (UK), eTail and Search Engine Strategies Conferences (US and Germany). He is a guest lecturer at Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management; Zicklin School of Business, Baruch, NY and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Udayan holds a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and an M.B.A. from Mumbai University, India.
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About NetElixir: We specialize in SEM. Fanatically analytical. Search advertising mavens. Technology builders. Friendly experts.
Nadia Arumugam
Co-Founder of ckbk
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About ckbk: ckbk is the ultimate digital subscription service for cooks.
Shibo Xu
Co-Founder / COO of Refersion
Shibo X. is the Co-Founder at Refersion.
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About Confesh, Refersion, The Confessionals: Track your affiliates, partners, salespeople, and customer referrals. We proudly support Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and PayPal.
Andrew Konya
Co-Founder, CEO of Remesh
Andrew is a physicist by training and began a Ph.D. program in Chemical Physics at Kent State University with a focus on theoretical modeling & supercomputing. Through his research, Andrew became interested in artificial intelligence and has spent the past eight years applying AI and machine learning algorithms to a wide range of problems from material science and bio-sensing to peacekeeping with the United Nations. In 2014 he co-founded Remesh with the goal of using AI to turn a live audience into a conversational representative intelligence.
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About Remesh: Remesh offers an AI-powered platform that enables users to have live conversations with their customers at scale.
Gary Ellis
Co-Founder, President & COO of Remesh
Gary Ellis serves as a co-founder and COO at Remesh.
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About Remesh: Remesh offers an AI-powered platform that enables users to have live conversations with their customers at scale.
Clarkson Logan
Founder & CEO of Maestro
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About Maestro: Maestro is a cloud music platform enabling users to access and manage their entire music library on demand from any connected device.
Eric Silverberg
Founder & CEO of SCRUFF
Eric is the founder & CEO of SCRUFF – one of the largest gay social dating apps in the world. Prior to SCRUFF, he was a Software Engineer at Microsoft and a Product Manager at Google. He has a BS in Computer Science from Stanford and an MBA from MIT Sloan.
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About SCRUFF: SCRUFF is the top-rated, safest and most reliable social app for more than 15 million gay, bi and trans and queer men worldwide.
John Skandros
Founder of SCRUFF
Co-Founder of SCRUFF.
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About SCRUFF: SCRUFF is the top-rated, safest and most reliable social app for more than 15 million gay, bi and trans and queer men worldwide.
Mike Schmidt
Founder of Dovetale
Mike Schmidt is the Founder at Dovetale.
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About Dovetale, SFX Entertainment: Dovetale helps e-commerce stores recruit, manage, & grow their sales with communities of people who love their products.
Jordan Verroi
Founder & CEO of CapGenius
Jordan Verroi is the founder of CapGenius, LLC. He is also an active investor in Pangea.app, Drum.io and silent investor in a CPG brand in the Food & Beverage industry.
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About CapGenius: CapGenius creates creative content and publishes it through a mobile keyboard.
Ayman Hariri
CEO & Co-Founder of Vero
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About Vero: Vero is an information technology company that specializes in the fields of mobile application, social media, and Online Media.
Joshua Eure
Founder of Eure Media
Joshua Eure is a Broadcast and Digital Senior Content Management Professional with 20 years of experience leading news operations. He is an expert in creating original programming and supervising live events. Joshua honed his news content chops in local newsrooms for nearly 15 years. He served as an Executive Producer at WWOR-TV in New York, WSB-TV in Atlanta, and WFOR-TV in Miami. Joshua worked his way up to those positions as a line producer in Philadelphia (WCAU-TV), Greensboro (WFMY-TV), and his hometown of Baltimore at WBFF-TV, WJZ-TV and WBAL-TV. Joshua was the Assistant News Director and Senior Content Manager at KPNX-TV/Republic Media coordinating 300 staffers who delivered breaking news and information to nearly 2 million Arizonans on multiple platforms including TV, digital and newspaper. In this role, Joshua was responsible for 52 hours per week of original programming and maintained profit and loss for $6 million dollar newsroom budget. He guided content and show production to dominate daily Nielsen ratings year-over-year and grew broadcast ratings and digital views year-over-year for #1 TV station in the Phoenix market. Joshua was also the newsroom liaison for conflict resolution with federal, state and local agencies. Before joining KPNX-TV, Joshua Eure worked at ABC News in New York for nearly 5 years in a variety of roles including Senior Broadcast Producer at ABC News Now and Coordinating Producer for World News Now and Good Morning America. In these positions, Joshua’s role provided the “glue” between network newsgathering for on-air programs and the digital products of ABCNews.com. He also served as the Executive Producer for the ABC News/Facebook 7 hour live town hall (digital). Over his career, Joshua’s noted accolades include: NATAS EMMY Winner WBFF-TV Baltimore Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement 2006: Television News Programming Excellence Daily News Cast – Markets 1-25 – Channel 2 Action News NATAS nominated ABC News 2010 Election Night Coverage 2008 EMMY® Awards Nomination in Spot News Story Category Joshua earned his degree in Journalism from the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. Joshua is also a frequent speaker at Youth coaching and leadership events and a 2013 Fellow for the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs, CO.
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About Eure Media: EureMedia is a New York City-based media management firm specializing in talent development, media coaching and consulting.
Richard Fallah
Founder & CEO of Vbout.com
In 2003 i launched my first startup, Talentsbid.com, an Etsy like marketplace for people to trade their talent products and crafts. Although execution failed and the website shut down in 2005 it was a huge learning curve and made me realize the career i would like to pursue. In 2007, i started Siteforbiz.com, a business website design and development company that has been rapidly growing ever since. I make sure i provide what competitors do not and that is the personal direct relationship with our clients, our consultancy expertise, our fast response and our budget conscious pricing. Aside from Siteforbiz.com i work on my own startup Vbout.com. I am also the organizer of a technology startup that provides an open mic for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas in front of hundreds: http://www.startuppitchnight.com. I am also an active mentor at Tech Launch technology accelerator: http://techlaunch.com/mentors/richard-fallah/ My vision in everything i do is hard work, good work ethics, patience, great communication and positive attitude. I highly encourage balance in ones everyday life and i believe that working where your passion is, is like not working at all! I indulge on every bit of my everyday work experience from the good and bad and i look forward on my days off to get back to work! My areas of strength are: Design Product development Project management Social Media Customer relations Coaching My weaknesses are: Malfunction around negative energy Over caring You can meet me in 30 secs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkp0lpQChuQ&feature=youtu.be Specialties: Business development Customer relations Programming Analysis Design and concept development Project management Social media
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About NYC Marketing Meetups, NYC Technology Startups, Site For Biz, Vbout.com: VBOUT helps marketing teams increase lead generation, nurture and conversion using powerful marketing automation tools.
Alexei Orlov
Founder and CEO of MTM
With experience spanning 30 years, 40 countries, and 50 brands, Alexei Orlov has made life his business and business his life as a seasoned leader in Global Marketing. A proven specialist in global brand strategy, marketing deployment, and operational change management, Alexei’s passionate and dynamic leadership has been a driving force throughout his career. Alexei Orlov is Founder and Global CEO of mtm choice worldwide, a boutique network of skilled practitioners specialising in high-precision brand activation and media optimisation. mtm choice is a family of wholly owned, highly accomplished specialist agencies whose people are well-rewarded and incentivized to deliver growth and the very dest creative solutions for their clients. Bolstered by market-enabling technologies, mtm agencies seek to help brands excel at the “moments that matter” for their customers and consumers. They put high precision, tech enables creativity at the core of their service offerings. The company initially raised in excess of $30 Million and has completed three acquisitions, which are all highly regarded specialist agencies in the field of Brand / Media Activation. mtm choice is currently in negotiations to complete a further $100 Million of funding to support additional Top Tier acquisitions, and a fourth acquisition will be finalised by the end of February 2019. The upcoming year will certainly be a busy one for Alexei Orlov and mtm choice — six more brands are in various stages of negotiation to be acquired by the company. Prior to mtm, Alexei Orlov served as Senior Advisor to the CEO & Chairman of DAS, an international division of Omnicom Group. Prior to DAS, he served as Global CEO of RAPP where he oversaw a dramatic turnaround, attracting new business and leadership talent through a successful rebranding initiative. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Volkswagen Group China, Alexei Orlov was responsible for the overall marketing and brand positioning for the Volkswagen Brands portfolio across Greater China and ASEAN. Alexei was jointly responsible for the commercial excellence of the company’s significant regional business as a core member of Volkswagen’s executive team. Alexei served the digital specialist agency Wunderman for eight years as President (Europe), then as Global COO and finally as Executive Vice-Chairman (Worldwide). He also served as the Global Strategic Lead for WPP’s automotive business, where he co-led agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, Wunderman, Mindshare, Y&R and JWT on their work for Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, and Volvo. Before joining Wunderman, Alexei Orlov owned and ran ROCQM and MCW, specialists in brand strategy and commercial recovery. After selling the company to WPP, the company became one of the key cornerstones of what later became RMG Connect, a global strategy service within the WPP portfolio. Prior, Alexei was Global Brand Communications Director for Volvo Cars and Marketing Director of Volvo UK, at the time the second-largest national sales company for the Volvo Corporation. Alexei was the youngest executive to be appointed to a director position at Avon, where he served as Marketing Director of Avon Cosmetics Retail (Europe). At the beginning of his career he was a founding member of the highly-successful Paperchase Retail Group, igniting in him a passion for brand stewardship that carries on to this day. Alexei Orlov has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and honors. In 2012 and 2013, Alexei was awarded CMO of the Year / ASEAN by the World Brand Congress. In 2013, Alexei and his team at Proximity received a Cannes Gold Lion Award for their work creating the People’s Car Project, the largest automotive social media platform with 28 million users and 108 million YouKu followers. Alexei was also invited to be one of the top keynote speakers at the highly-acclaimed Global Brand Forum in 2013. Alexei Orlov’s dynamic insight is reflected in his continued ventures, thought leadership, and everyday philosophies. Originally from the United Kingdom, he currently resides in New York City where he spends leisure time with his beloved family, enjoys nature, and writes poetry.
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About MTM: MTM is an independent global network dedicated to creating value between people and brands at the moments that matter.
Jake Poses
Founder & CEO of Jumprope
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About Jumprope: Jumprope is a platform where users can create, discover, and share how-to videos and tutorials.
Rashid Galadanci
Co-Founder of Driver Technologies
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About Driver Technologies: Driver is a hardware-free mobile app that allows users to video record their trip while receiving safety alerts.
Michael Yatco
Co-Founder of Driver Technologies
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About Driver Technologies: Driver is a hardware-free mobile app that allows users to video record their trip while receiving safety alerts.
Naj Austin
Founder &CEO, Somewhere Good of Ethels Club
Naj Austin is the founder and CEO of Somewhere Good and Ethel’s Club. She has spent her career building digital and physical products that make the world a more intersectional and equitable space. She was named one of Inc’s 100 Female Founders transforming America, a Huffpost Culture Shifter of 2020 and Time Out New York’s 2020 list of women making NYC better.
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About Ethels Club, Somewhere Good: An immersive wellness platform centering people of color. By us, for you.
Álvaro De La Fuente
Co-Founder / CEO of Artisroom
I was born in Spain, however I have lived in New York City for 12 years. Attending Babson College, a truly global university, has given me unique assets beyond my curriculum. I have experienced and collaborated with people from all walks of life and every corner of the globe.
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About Artisroom: Platform for artists in music, art, & fashion to build a portfolio and create connections
Zohar Dayan
CEO & Founder of Wibbitz
CEO & Founder of Wibbitz, the leading automated video creation company that empowers any team to produce professional short-form video.
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About Wibbitz: Wibbitz is an automated video creation company that empowers any team to produce professional short-form video.
Greg Bildson
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Kanvas Labs
Greg Bildson is the Senior Principal Engineer at Tumblr.
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About CTO-NYC.com, Kanvas Labs, Tumblr: Kanvas Labs is building a mobile platform that allows its users to create micro-social networks around real world experiences.
Richard Steggall
Founder & CEO of Urban FT Group, Inc.
Richard Steggall, the CEO of Urban FT, which is recognized as one of the most progressive and successful FinTech companies in the Financial Services industry today, is a results-driven entrepreneur with a record of success and a passion for accelerating and capitalizing on emerging opportunities. At Urban FT, Richard and team are enabling financial institutions to deliver an exceptional customer experience through the world’s first, and most capable, FinTech Core. Urban FT’s X-35 FinTech Core™ is positioned to clean up this challenging ecosystem and help financial institutions stay on the bleeding-edge of innovations when it comes to providing their end-users with superior Digital Banking Experiences, Money Movement capabilities, Identity Verification and Account Opening options, and Behavioral Insights, all of which enhance overall user engagement. A FinTech veteran, directly before founding Urban FT, he was founder & CEO of Waspit Group Inc., a banking alternative for students. Before entering the FinTech space he spent 17 years in IT&T, serving as COO of UK-based Burlington Rye Plc and head of corporate strategy for NASDAQ-listed and U.S.-based Kit Digital Inc. (formerly Roo Media Inc.). In these roles, he was responsible for the growth strategies of private and public companies in North America, the U.K. and Asia. Throughout his experience, Richard has focused on acquisitive and capital growth, and led IPOs (including via reverse mergers) across the globe.
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About Urban FT Group, Inc.: Urban FT helps FIs deliver exceptional customer-driven digital experiences by providing the industry’s first and most capable FinTech Core.
Majd Maksad
Founder & CEO of Status Money
Majd is the co-founder & CEO of Status Money. He has more than 10 years of experience in the Consumer Lending and Credit Cards industry. Prior to co-founding Status Money, Majd was the Head of Decision Management for Citi Global Digital Payments in New York. In that role, he led the financial modeling for deals with American Airlines, PayPal, Apple, Samsung, and Google. Majd previously held senior roles at Citi in Digital Marketing, Product Development, and Portfolio Analytics. Prior to Citi, Majd developed credit and fraud risk models at Discover Cards in Chicago. Majd holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.
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About Status Money: Status Money is a social personal finance app that enables people to compare finances and crowdsource advice from peers.
Korash Hernandez
Co-Founder & COO of Status Money
Korash is the co-founder and COO of Status Money and has more than 15 years of experience in the Banking and Telecom industries. Prior to co-founding Status, Korash spent six years at Citi and Goldman Sachs in New York. Most recently, he was an early employee at Goldman’s new consumer lending unit, Marcus. At Citi, Korash served as the Head of Analytics for Digital Credit Card Acquisitions where he was responsible for developing sophisticated online ad targeting capabilities. Previously, Korash led fraud and credit modeling at T-Mobile for 9 years. Korash holds a Masters degree in Statistics from Washington State University and a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of Oregon.
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About Status Money: Status Money is a social personal finance app that enables people to compare finances and crowdsource advice from peers.
Denis Nazarov
Co-Founder of Mediachain
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About Mediachain: Mediachain automatically connects media to its creator and information about it.
Bryan Verona
Founder, Chief Finder of The Loupe
Bryan Verona is the Chief Financial Officer at Arcadia Earth LLC.
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About Arcadia Earth, The Loupe, Vanadium: How do people find places to go and things to buy? The Loupe!
Michael Rothman
Co-Founder, CEO of Fatherly
Michael is the co-Founder, & CEO at Fatherly, a digital lifestyle guide for men entering parenthood.
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About Fatherly: Fatherly operates as a digital media brand for dads.
Jonathan Mayers
Co-Founder of Superfly
Jonathan Mayers is Co-Founder at Superfly.
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About Superfly: Superfly is an entertainment company and creative agency with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago.
Kerry Black
Co-Founder & Head of Creative Services of Superfly
Kerry Black is Co-Founder & Head of Creative Services @ Superfly Presents.
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About Superfly: Superfly is an entertainment company and creative agency with offices in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago.
Bruce Spector
CEO and Founder of BuzzVote
Bruce Edward Spector is a technology action junkie. He has been creating and investing in innovation for over twenty years. As the founder of WebCal (acquired by Yahoo) he created the web’s first scalable personal information platform now Yahoo Calendar and PIM. He worked in senior management at Yahoo where his business card read “turbo yahoo”. Since then he has started an incubator, ATTAP (All Things to All People) Technologies, Inc which developed PersonalDNA.com, LifeIO.com, and BuzzVote.com.
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About BuzzVote: BuzzVote is a user-generated social polling and viral voting platform for Android and iOS devices.
Devin Serago
Co-Founder of Thrill
Devin is an entrepreneur who re-located from the United States to India to pursue opportunities in emerging markets, especially in the mobile space. He is currently co-founder of Thrill, an exclusive, safe mobile dating platform aimed at India’s youth and backed by investors in India & Singapore.
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About Frivil, Hale Therapeutics, Hava Health, Pāpr, Thrill: Thrill is a software companies involved in the creation of several different social media applications.
Jesse Boskoff
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Status Labs
Jesse Boskoff is an internet entrepreneur with extensive experience in startups, marketing, product development, and more. As co-founder of Status Labs, Boskoff brings over 15 years of direct marketing and operations experience to his role as COO and CMO of Status Labs. Boskoff was also a key member of FanDuel’s marketing team. As one of its first US marketing hires, Boskoff played an integral role in the company’s growth from Series A-funded startup to a company that achieved a valuation in excess of $1 billion in 2015, running the company’s Facebook marketing, SEO, SEM and organic social media teams from July 2012-February 2016. Boskoff was also founder and CEO of RootZoo, a vibrant sports community that attracted over 100,000 registered members and over 4 million monthly page views at its peak.
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About Blue Land Partners, Status Labs: The Premier Online Reputation Management Firm
Darius Fisher
CEO & Co-Founder of Status Labs
CEO & Co-Founder @ Status Labs | Managing Partner @ Blue Land Partners.
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About Blue Land Partners, Page, Status Labs, YPO: The Premier Online Reputation Management Firm
Michael Lebowitz
Founder and CEO of Big Spaceship
Michael Lebowitz is Founder and CEO of Big Spaceship, a globally-recognized marketing agency that creates connected experiences, products and services. Since launching the agency in 2000, he has defined the strategy and vision for Big Spaceship, while working closely with the agency’s clients, including BMW, Capital One, Google Play, Google Maps, Ken Burns, Nestle-Purina, Organic Valley, Samsung, West Elm, and YouTube. At Big Spaceship Michael has assembled “a crack team of digital inventors,” according to Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” list, and has led the company to be named one of Advertising Age and Crain’s New York Business Best Places to Work for multiple years in a row. Big Spaceship’s multidisciplinary team structure and progressive culture have been profiled by Harvard Business School, with the case study now taught at business schools in 40 countries. Speaking on creativity, innovation and the evolution of business, Michael speaks across the globe and has engaged audiences at top industry events including Cannes Festival of Creativity, SXSW, Click:NY, Forge Conference, Advertising Week, Click:London and ad:tech, as well as at business schools including NYU Stern, Long Island University and SLU’s Institute for Private Business. He frequently chairs and sits on juries for creative awards and influential industry organizations including the IAB Agency Advisory Board and annual MIXX Awards, The One Club, Society of Digital Agencies and The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, among others. And has led the agency to win countless awards of its own including an Emmy Award nomination for the agency’s work with HBO Voyeur, Cannes Lions, Clios, Webbys, Andys, and One Show Interactive Pencils, as well as numerous IAB MIXX, Webby, Shorty, FWA, Communication Arts, W3 and Pixel Awards, among others. Michael was also named among the 2010 Creativity 50 and the 2008 OMMA Online All-Stars.
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About Big Spaceship, Harvard Business School, NYU Stern School of Business: Big Spaceship creates the experiences, products, platforms, and content that help brands build meaningful relationships with consumers.
Alex Gould
Co-Founder of ViewX
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About ViewX: ViewX uses AI to unlock the value of video in enterprise
