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 Founder operating in the Digital Entertainment 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.
Jacob Pechenik
Founder & CEO of Venture Forth Productions
Jacob is currently the Founder & CEO of Venture Forth Productions, a specialty film finance and production company. Previously, Jacob was Founder and CEO of YellowJacket, which was acquired by IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE) in January 2008. Jacob has nearly two decades of experience in the development and support of enterprise-class trading platforms for large financial services firms and Fortune 500 companies. Prior to establishing YellowJacket in 2003, Jacob founded and served as the CEO of TechTrader, a provider of business-to-business enterprise software for public and private trading exchanges catering to the direct materials markets.
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About Venture Forth Productions: A specialty film finance and production company
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Farhad Massoudi
CEO & Founder of Tubi
Farhad Massoudi founded adRise with a vision that the future of TV advertising will be targeted, measurable and interactive ads, just like the web on TV. Farhad holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley.
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About Tubi: Tubi is the world’s largest ad-supported video on demand (VOD) service. Available on Connected TV devices, Mobile, and the Web.
Walter Driver
Co-Founder, Chairman & Co-CEO of Scopely
Walter Driver is the co-founder, Chairman and co-Chief Executive Officer of Scopely, one of the fastest-growing mobile-first video game companies. Scopely creates and publishes a highly-diverse portfolio of top-grossing, immersive game experiences, including: the award-winning ”MARVEL Strike Force,” “Scrabble® GO,” “Star Trek™ Fleet Command” and”Yahtzee® With Buddies,” among others, which are played by hundreds of millions of players worldwide. Fueled by a world-class team, Scopely leverages its proprietary technology platform Playgami to bring directed-by-consumer, interactive experiences to audiences around the globe. Under Walter’s leadership, the company has achieved billions of dollars in lifetime revenue and attracted more than $1 billion in financing from leading venture capital firms, tech luminaries and cultural icons.
Walter has been recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential Young Executives” by The Business Journal, “Visionary of the Year” by C-Suite Quarterly, “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young, a “Young Global Shaper” by the World Economic Forum, one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” by Goldman Sachs and a “Dealmaker of the Year” by Variety. Under Walter’s leadership, Scopely has also received many recognitions, including: “Best-led Company” in 2021 by Inc. magazine, “Private Company of the Year” in 2021 by Los Angeles Business Journal, a four time “Best Places to Work” winner by Built In LA, and a two time “World’s Most Innovative Companies” winner by Fast Company. Scopely has also been recognized on top charts such as Deloitte’s “Technology Fast 500,” being named the second fastest-growing technology company in North America and in the Top 10 mobile app charts for consumer spend.
Walter is an investor and advisor to many private technology companies as well as a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Los Angeles Technology & Innovation Council. Prior to Scopely, Walter founded and served as CEO of O Negative Media where he developed online social games. Before O Negative, he co-founded Ignition Interactive, one of the first developers of third-party applications for Facebook.
Walter holds a B.A. in English Literature from Brown University.
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About Scopely: Scopely is a global leader in interactive entertainment and mobile-first video games.
Ankur Bulsara
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Scopely
Ankur Bulsara co-founded Scopely, Inc. in 2011 and serves as its Chief Technical Officer. Ankur Bulsara oversees all aspects of technology and engineering at Scopely. He has experience in building large-scale and robust systems used by millions of people across multiple platforms. Ankur Bulsara has over 10 years of experience in technology, development, and architecture. He was the Founder of Brainwave Software Inc. While consulting, he held several different positions with his clients, including Architect of Revenue and Inventory Optimization at uSamp, Architect/Lead Developer at Internships LLC, and Architect at Freedom Speaks. Since 2007, he was the Lead Software Developer on Myspace’s Developer Platform, where he was responsible for the developer website and the portal dashboard for developers to create and managed Myspace apps. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Cornell University.
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About Scopely: Scopely is a global leader in interactive entertainment and mobile-first video games.
Ross Hinkle
Founder + Chief Fan of Liveset
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About Liveset: Liveset is a digital platform that provides live concert events for web and mobile devices.
Diplo (Thomas Pentz)
Founder of Mad Decent
Diplo is an investor of [PHHHOTO](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/phhhoto-inc). Thomas Wesley Pentz, born November 10, 1978, better known by his stage name Diplo, is a Grammy-nominated American DJ, music producer, rapper and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. He founded and manages record company Mad Decent, as well as co-founding the non-profit organization Heaps Decent. Among other jobs, he has worked as a school teacher in Philadelphia. He is also the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project, Major Lazer. His 2013 EP Revolution debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard 200. During his rise to fame, Diplo worked with British musician M.I.A., an artist who is credited with giving him exposure in his early career. Later, he and fellow M.I.A. producer Switch created a Jamaican dancehall project titled Major Lazer. Since then, Diplo has worked on production and mixtape projects with many other notable pop artists, such as Britney Spears, Beyoncé, No Doubt, Justin Bieber, Usher, Snoop Dogg, CL and G-Dragon. His alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs. He is the co-producer of several tracks on Madonna’s 2015 album Rebel Heart (2015) and he collaborated with Skrillex to create the group Jack Ü. Source: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplo)
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About Mad Decent: Mad Decent is a Philadelphia via Los Angeles-based American record label spearheaded by Diplo.
Halsey Minor
Founder and CEO of Live Planet VR System
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About Live Planet VR System, VideoCoin Network: Live Planet’s VR System is the first end-to-end solution for easily capturing, storing, streaming, and recording immersive VR video
Ami James
Co-Founder of Tattoodo
Founder of tattoodo.
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About Tattoodo: Tattoodo is a content provider focused on the tattoo culture and lifestyle.
Dot Bustelo
CEO/Founder of Loupe
Dot Bustelo, CEO/Founder of Apple TV visual art streaming platform Loupe, recognized as a Creative Technologies/Entertainment Software Strategist. She developed Loupe in 2016 as a visual complement to streaming music platforms, featured by Apple and reaching #1 Lifestyle app around the world. An internationally-recognized Apple Logic Pro consultant, music producer, Emmy Award-winning sound designer, author and stage demonstrator of Apple software, Dot formerly worked on Apple’s Worldwide Product Team introducing Apple product software techniques to A-list artists, engineers and their producers such as Maroon 5, The Killers, John Legend, One Republic, T. Pain and M.I.A. After Apple, she went on to author #1 Amazon best-selling books on Apple software and online courses for Lynda.com and consulted to iOS and Mac audio app companies. An electronic music producer herself with licenses to Sony PlayStation, NBC, VH1, CBS, and MTV, she serves on the Recording Academy’s National Advisory Council of the Producers & Engineering Wing. In her spare time, Dot writes science fiction.
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About Loupe: Pioneering service transforming how art is experienced; #1 Lifestyle app in 64 countries on AppleTV/Fire TV/Android/PlutoTV/Samsung/Comcast
Tom Shannon
Founder, President & CEO of Bowlmor AMF
CEO Tom Shannon joined Gregg Greenberg of “The Street” to discuss millennials, expansion, and making bowling cool again. “It’s going to be an iconic ad campaign because it’s fresh, unique and legitimate,” said Shannon regarding Bowlmor AMF’s highly-anticipated new ad campaign featuring elite bowler Jason Belmonte.
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About Bowlmor AMF: Bowlmor AMF in bowling and entertainment in North America.
Zach Lebeau
CEO & Founder of Breaker (SingularDTV)
At 17, Zach took part in an expedition to the Amazon rainforest. For two months he traveled 1,100 miles on the Napo, Yasuni and Amazon rivers assisting with various research projects and interacting with indigenous tribes. The experience left a powerful impression on Zach and he spent the next 15 years living and traveling abroad to more than 50 countries on 5 continents. Growing into adulthood “on the road”, Zach became familiar with various international business structures and practices, finding a way to meld his artistic pursuits with his commercial ones. He wrote his first novel, MONKEY ME, solo sailing thousands of miles in the Caribbean and produced several music albums in Europe. He and DJ Vajdai Vilmos were the first to fuse Hungarian folk and electronica to critical acclaim with their debut album ETCHNO. Their follow up hit, ROMANO TRIP- the fusion of electronica with Gypsy folk- sold from New York to Tokyo and established a new world sound. Zach also launched an animated television series on prime-time Hungarian television which was later spun into a movie that reached number 1 at the box office there. He then went to work for the Crystal Group of Companies, an international development conglomerate, where he oversaw the management of various industrial and commercial properties in the countries of Ghana, UAE and the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Dominica. He was also a principle in an alternative energy start-up in West Africa. Moving back to the United States at 32, Zach wrote and directed his first feature film, THE SCIENTIST, starring Bill Sage. He then launched a women’s luxury clothing line, building the brand from 4 stores to 110 throughout the United States and Canada. Selling his fashion interest in 2014, Zach moved to New York to become part of the decentralization movement, produce an independent film he wrote entitled ZORRA starring Ben Kingsley and launch the epic sci-fi fantasy adventure series SINGULAR.
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About Breaker (SingularDTV), Ethereum Foundation: A decentralized global distribution platform empowers artists with a fairer, transparent monetization model through blockchain technology.
Robbie Schneidman
Co-Founder & CTO of Z League
Robbie Schneidman is the Co-Founder and CTO at Z League.
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About Z League: The world’s first skill-based e-sports tournament platform
Lucas Pellan
Co-Founder of Z League
Lucas Pellan currently works as Co-Founder at Z League. He was a CSO and Co-Founder of Sonder.
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About Z League: The world’s first skill-based e-sports tournament platform
Driss Ouazzani
Co-Founder & COO of mydiveo
Ouazzani, Co-Founder/COO of mydiveo, is a well-known entrepreneur having built Centurion Lifestyles, an exotic car rental company, from the ground up. He is also a partner at CurbStand – a mobile valet service that allows app users to pay from their smartphones before arriving to the venue.
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About mydiveo: mydiveo promotes creative collaborations and new connections between artists, music lovers, music industry professionals, and brands.
Vlad Panchenko
Founder & CEO of DMarket
Volodymyr Panchenko is private merchant of digital games in the world. He is founder of skins.cash — 2nd biggest virtual items marketplace. He is also founder and CEO of Suntechsoft.
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About DMarket, DreamTeam, Suntechsoft: DMarket is a marketplace for NFTs trading and technology for building metaverses.
Richard Gottehrer
Founder & Chief Creative Officer of The Orchard
Richard Gottehrer is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer of The Orchard. Richard began his career in the music industry as a songwriter, penning classics such as “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “I Want Candy” and was an artist in the 1960s pop group, The Strangeloves. In 1966, he co-founded leading independent record label Sire Records with fellow luminary Seymour Stein. Later, Richard went on to make a name as a multi-platinum producer for well-known music acts, including Blondie, The Go-Go’s, The Raveonettes and Joan Armatrading before co-founding The Orchard in 1997. Today, Richard heads Blue Horizon, one of The Orchard’s premier labels, and Instant Records, which was originally founded in the 1970s and revived in 2013 in partnership with long-time business partner and Orchard co-founder Scott Cohen. Through these, Richard supervises recordings of The Black Angels and Dion for Blue Horizon, and Au Revoir Simone, Queen Kwong, Princess Superstar, Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas for Instant Records. He also produces The Dum Dum Girls for Sub Pop and has worked with The Raveonettes since their inception. His motto is, and has always been “Move forward, even in times of adversity. Move forward.”
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About The Orchard, TVT Records: The Orchard is a music distribution, marketing and sales company for artists and labels to distribute content to digital and mobile outlets.
David Steinberger
Co-Founder, President & CEO of Comixology
David Steinberger is the co-founder and CEO of comiXology, the revolutionary cloud-based digital comics platform that features content from Marvel, DC and 75 top comic book and graphic novel publishers. The comiXology platform includes a top ten grossing iPad app, as well as iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire and Windows 8 apps, and a web store and reader at www.comixology.com. He designed comiXology’s Guided View, the reading technology that transforms the comic book medium into an immersive and cinematic experience and defines the digital comic experience. A long time comic fan and passionate entrepreneur, David’s inspiration for comiXology was shaped at the NYU – Stern’s 2007 Business Plan competition while he pursued his MBA. David also holds a Masters degree from Manhattan School of Music, and an Advanced Certificate from The Juilliard School. David’s currently reading Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness from IDW Publishing.
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About Amazon, Comixology: Comixology delivers a cloud-based digital comics platform that enables users to discover, buy, and read comics.
John Roberts
Co-Founder, Director of Comixology
John D. Roberts is the co-founder of comiXology and a pioneer in digital comics. Prior to launching comiXology, John led Marvel’s first digital comics initiative, “dotComics,” in the early 2000s where he also created the precursors to today’s motion comics. John has over 20 years of experience in the tech field, working with such diverse group of companies as Pepsi, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sunoco, DC Comics, Disney, Pokemon, National Geographic, Touchstone, Nickelodeon and Lionsgate. Currently John works closely with leading and emerging comics creators in unique and innovative ways to continue innovating the digital comic experience. John also spearheads comiXology Submit, a self-publishing portal that enables independent creators to reach comiXology’s global audience of comic book fans. John holds a BFA in drawing from Kutztown University. John’s currently reading Aquaman from DC Entertainment.
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About Comixology: Comixology delivers a cloud-based digital comics platform that enables users to discover, buy, and read comics.
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.
Aber Whitcomb
CTO and Co-Founder of Jam City
Aber Whitcomb is co-founder and CTO of Jam City, where he oversees the software architecture underlying the company’s global gaming and analytics platform. Director and Co-founder at Core Scientific.
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About Core Scientific, i/o Ventures, Jam City: Jam City is a mobile entertainment company, connecting the world through technology, creativity, and play.
Chris DeWolfe
CEO & Co-Founder of Jam City
Chris DeWolfe is co-founder and CEO of Jam City, a global leader in mobile entertainment that provides social gaming experiences for millions of players around the world. Prior to Jam City, Chris co-founded and served as CEO of MySpace, where he popularized social networking and revolutionized the music industry. The site, formed in 2004, became the most visited in the U.S. by 2006 with 90 million members. When Chris left the company in 2009, MySpace had more than 130 million monthly active users around the world. Chris received Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2015 and the Producers Guild of America’s Vanguard award in 2009. TIME included him among its 2006 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Barbara Walters named him one of her 10 Most Fascinating People in 2007. He studied finance at the University of Washington and attended the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, which honored him in 2006 with its Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year award. Chris is an advisor at USC’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and a board member of Uproxx Media Group. He lives in Los Angeles with his family and actively participates in animal rescue operations.
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About Jam City: Jam City is a mobile entertainment company, connecting the world through technology, creativity, and play.
Josh Yguado
President, COO & Co-Founder of Jam City
Josh Yguado is co-founder, COO and President of Jam City, where he oversees the company’s operations, growth strategies and game portfolio – which has repeatedly dominated the top grossing charts of the Apple and Google Play stores. Before launching Jam City, Josh was Vice President at Fox Entertainment, where he helped Fox in its acquisition of MySpace, its creation of Hulu and its launch of new television networks. His career also includes working at MTV Networks and Univision. Among other honors, SoCalTech named Josh one of its top “50 Most Influential People” in Southern California’s technology industry. A board member of The Young Turks, he received his bachelor’s degree and MBA from Harvard University. He lives in Los Angeles with his family.
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About Jam City: Jam City is a mobile entertainment company, connecting the world through technology, creativity, and play.
Chris M. Willliams
Founder & CEO of pocket.watch
Chris M. Williams is the Founder & CEO at pocket.watch.
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About pocket.watch, pocket.watch: Pocket.watch is a new studio creating global franchises from the YouTube stars and characters loved by Generation Alpha.
Don Katz
Co-Founder & CEO of Audible
Donald Katz is founder and CEO of Audible, Inc. Katz was previously a journalist and author for twenty years, writing five books and serving as contributing editor at Rolling Stone and other publications; his work won a National Magazine Award and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. For his leadership of the company since inception, Katz won the 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for New Jersey. Katz graduated from New York University in 1974, where he studied with novelist Ralph Ellison.
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About Audible, Newark Venture Partners: Audible is an internet provider of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming.
Armando Kirwin
Co-Founder of Artie
Armando is co-founder of Artie, a platform for next-gen games powered by AI. He is one of the most experienced technologists in the field of interactive entertainment and has worked at the highest levels in both Hollywood and Silicon Valley. He has worked with and for some of biggest media and tech companies in the world.
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About Artie: A Web3 mobile gaming company. Play on social media. No app download needed.
Michael Golomb
Founder and CEO of FanVestor
A hands-on company builder, Michael’s background as an entrepreneurial CFO with three exits behind him, is the culmination of twenty years of senior management experience across a broad spectrum of industries. His expertise has been successfully applied across verticals ranging from startups to large public corporations including Blockchain, manufacturing, digital health & medical devices, consumer electronics & hardware, software/SaaS, and real estate. In addition to Michael’s global experience in raising equity though variety of public and private equity/debt instruments, as well as experience in handling complex M&A transactions, he also brings exceptional knowhow of Blockchain technology to DASAN Zhone Solutions. Earlier in 2017, (prior to joining DASAN) together with the other Blockchain industry veterans, Michael co-founded the ICO Governance Foundation, a non-profit decentralized global organization with a protocol-based global community mission that performs a self-regulatory function for ICOs in decentralized capital markets. In Oct 2016, Michael founded EdenCoin – a global cryptocurrency quantitative market-maker start-up with offices in San Francisco and New York: a proprietary liquidity aggregation platform to consolidate trading volume and data from major cryptocurrency market sources to run algorithmic market-making and liquidity provisioning, as well as other, quantitative strategies. From June 2015 to May 2017, while CFO at Breathometer, a hyper-growth digital health and medical device company, he helped take that company from pre-revenue to shipping in the FDA regulated space, forming OEM partnership with Philips, raising capital from venture capital firms and global strategic investors, as well as successfully achieving the ISO13485:2003 Certification milestone. Prior to Breathometer, Michael was the first employee (CFO, Board Member, and Head of SF Office) at BitFury, and helped build the market leading full-service Blockchain technology company, and one of the largest private infrastructure providers in the Blockchain ecosystem, taking it from zero to over $500M valuation and from 3 to over 120 employees in 7 countries between December 2013 through April 2015. Other notable roles include: ” Co-Founder and Co-President at Mayak RE, where he led the formation of JV with Morgan Stanley and MCP Private Equity Fund in Europe. ” CFO of Sistema Hals, he directed a highly successful London/LSE IPO with market capitalization at $2.7B. ” Head of Compliance / Sr. Finance Manager at Trimble, he effectively implemented global Sarbanes-Oxley compliance program, participated in private debt placement, as well as acquired/integrated several international technology companies. Michael received MSc in Management from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2013, his MBA from Santa Clara University in 2000, and his B.A. with double major in Economics and Diplomacy & World Affairs from Occidental College in 1996. He is also a CPA (inactive) in California.
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About FanVestor: FanVestor is a FINRA-regulated crowdfunding platform that enables entertainment and sports celebrities to capitalize on their fanbases.
Albert Leffler
Co-Founder and VP New Project Development of Ticketmaster
Albert Leffler is the co-founder and VP of new project development at Ticketmaster.
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About Ticketmaster: Ticketmaster is the world’s largest ticket marketplace and the global market leader in live event ticketing.
Jesse Reich
CEO And Founder of Splinterlands
Jesse Reich is the CEO And Founder at Splinterlands.
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About Splinterlands: Splinterlands is a decentralized, digital collectible trading card game built on blockchain technology.
Forrest Browning
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of Audius
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Audius. Previously Co-Founder at StacksWare (Acquired by Avi Networks). Forbes 30 Under 30
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About Audius: Audius is creating a fully decentralized community of artists, developers, and listeners collaborating to share and defend music.
Roneil Rumburg
Co-Founder & CEO of Audius
Roneil is the Engineering Partner at KPCB Edge, and focuses on Block Chain and Computer Vision companies. Before joining Edge, Roneil co-founded Backslash, a cryptocurrency payment company, where he focused on security and backend software engineering. He’s also spent time at Sparks Mobile, Nebula (as a 2013 KPCB Fellow), and AeroFS in software engineering roles. He graduated from Stanford in 2014 with a B.S. in Computer Science focused on systems. In his spare time, Roneil enjoys hiking, sailing, reading, and finding good wine and whisk(e)y.
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About Audius: Audius is creating a fully decentralized community of artists, developers, and listeners collaborating to share and defend music.
Virginia Juliano
CEO & Founder of CobbleCord
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About CobbleCord: Free website & app that helps users cobble together the perfect combination of online streaming services and drop cable.
Amari Ruff
Co-Founder and CEO of Memik
Amari Ruff is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Memik.
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About Emerging 100 of Atlanta, Memik, Sudu: Memikapp is a social networking application that allows users to combine dance with augmented reality.
Russell Simmons
Co-Founder and Chairman of All Def Digital
Russell Simmons CEO, Rush Communications Entrepreneur, author, activist and philanthropist Russell Simmons has launched scores of groundbreaking careers and innovative enterprises in arenas as varied as music, film, television, fashion, comedy, poetry, digital platforms, theater and finance. His lifelong mission has been giving a voice to extraordinary talent and empowering underserved communities as they in turn shape the mainstream of culture. After having produced or managed artists such as Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Whodini and Jimmy Spicer, Simmons joined forces with producer Rick Rubin to found Def Jam Recordings. Under Simmons’ leadership as Chairman, Def Jam signed acts including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Jay Z and Kanye West. Simmons’ long-running HBO series “Def Comedy Jam” helped make household names of comics including Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, Bernie Mac, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart and JB Smoove. “Def Poetry Jam,” also on HBO, won a Peabody Award and a Broadway version netted Simmons a Tony®. Simmons’ numerous big-screen hits include The Nutty Professor, which grossed more than $273 million. Simmons has written three New York Times best-selling books, including Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple, which was published in 2014. He has also launched a multitude of diverse business ventures including pop-culture website Global Grind, UniRush Financial Services, Simmons Jewelry, Run Athletics and clothing subsidiaries Phat Farm, Baby Phat, Argyleculture, and American Classics. Most recently, he has been building All Def Digital, a premium, multi-platform digital media company and entertainment hub, curating, developing and connecting a new generation of content creators to global fans. He also co-founded the digital marketing firm Narrative. A longtime champion of social justice and equality, Simmons was honored with the 2011 GLAAD Excellence in Media Award. He is also a leading animal rights activist, having been named PETA Man of the Year in 2011. His charitable endeavors include the Diamond Empowerment Fund, a global organization that supports educational initiatives for disadvantaged people in diamond-producing African nations, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, which gives young people opportunities to create and appreciate art, and Foundation for Ethnic Understanding which he serves as chairman promoting understanding and cooperation between and among ethnic groups to help reduce the existing tensions among diverse racial and ethnic communities. A native of Queens, NY, Simmons has two daughters, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.
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About All Def Digital, Def Jam Recordings, Global Grind: ALL DEF DIGITAL is a premium, multi-platform digital media company and entertainment hub
Clark Benson
CEO & Founder of Ranker
Clark Benson is a serial entrepreneur with 5 startups under his belt including an internet exit eCrush (primary site was http://www.espin.com) to Hearst in 2006. Ranker is his current startup and he also funded the seed round. Benson’s other startups have been in the music industry. 2 of them have been merged into Almighty Music Marketing (http://www.almightymusicmarketing.com) which his partner Joel Oberstein runs. He has also been an angel investor, in Jumpcut/Miravida which sold to Yahoo! in 2006.
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About Ranker: Attracting more than 30 million monthly unique visitors worldwide, Ranker is the leader in fan-powered rankings on just about everything.
Darren Lachtman
Co Founder of Brat
Darren was previously the senior director of business development for Bedrocket Media Ventures. He has an extensive background in digital media and marketing, working alongside brands like ESPN, EA and Google.
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About Brat: Brat is a teen-leaning digital production company.
Rob Fishman
Co-Founder of Brat
Rob Fishman is co-founder of Niche and a BuzzFeed contributing editor. He formerly worked at Kingfish Labs and Huffington Post. Rob formerly led social media for The Huffington Post and Aol. His previous company, Kingfish Labs, was acquired in 2012 by BuzzFeed, for which he is now a contributing editor. He holds degrees from Cornell and Columbia University.
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About Brat, Yoke: Brat is a teen-leaning digital production company.
Yangbin Wang
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Vobile
Founder & CEO, Vobile, Inc.
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About Vobile: Vobile offers complete solutions to protect, measure, and monetize the best movies and TV content across the Internet and on all screens.
Matthew Levin
Co-Founder and CEO of Donut Media
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About Donut Media: A digital network for the next generation of automotive enthusiasts.
Adam Arrigo
Co-Founder & CEO of Wave
Adam is passionate about building radically new experiences at the intersection of music, games, and technology, which ultimately bring people closer to each other. He has 13 years of experience working on music tech products as a game designer and product leader. While at Harmonix, he worked on AAA titles like Rock Band, Dance Central, Disney’s Fantasia, Harmonix Music VR, and more. He led the development of the 2015 Music App of the year Ditty, at LA-based music tech startup Zya (acq by Google). He is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and synth enthusiast.
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About Wave: Wave focuses on interactive virtual experiences with a mission to help artists make money at the intersection of gaming and entertainment.
Aaron Lemke
CCO & Co-Founder of Wave
Aaron is a musician and VR developer who has shipped 9 VR titles. Interested in experiential and transcendent applications of VR, he has been creating VR experiences since the Rift DK1 days back in 2012. His first VR endeavor was Unello Design, the studio responsible for many relaxing and meditative VR titles like Eden River, Waking Man, and Zen Zone. Aaron is a three-time Proto Awards nominee for Best Score, and a member of the VRDC advisory board.
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About Wave: Wave focuses on interactive virtual experiences with a mission to help artists make money at the intersection of gaming and entertainment.
Brian Graden
Founder and CEO of Brian Graden Media
For generations of young people, the name Brian Graden might not ring a bell. A glance at his resume certainly will. This longtime production pacesetter has spent a career developing and fostering cutting-edge television as well as steering the programming divisions of major entertainment networks: with his talented hand, some of the most forward-thinking, edgy, and plain entertaining television of the past 25 years has come to life. His accomplishments each stand on their own as signposts of a career that’s anticipated every major turn. From his earliest days as a junior executive overseeing the trailblazing COPS and America’s Most Wanted, to his guiding hand in the development of South Park, to transforming the formerly staid VH1 into a pop culture powerhouse, Brian Graden’s work has consistently helped to define it’s time while also pointing to what’s next. During his time as MTV Networks President of Entertainment, he oversaw the creation of a new canon of young people’s programming with shows like TRL, Pimp My Ride, Punk’d, Jackass, Jersey Shore, and countless others. Striking out on his own, Brian started Brian Graden Media in 2013. BGM’s forays into the digital world have continued the success he started on television, garnering an Emmy award for the genre-bending interactive show HitRecord on TV, and developing a suite of YouTube Original programming and unconventionally fascinating cable shows, each tuned into what’s driving views and clicks in today’s evolving media landscape. With his track record, it’s hard to bet against BGM. It’s not entertainment alone that defines Brian Graden. A passionate advocate for equality, Brian personally spearheaded MTV’s Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence campaign while at the network. He’s been the recipient of numerous awards for his advocacy including the GLAAD Media Vito Russo Award for Excellence in Media, the EQCA Award for Commitment to Advancing LGBT Equality, and the Equality Forum’s National Role Model award. He’s also delivered keynote addresses at the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus Annual Commencement, the Reaching Out MBA Conference, and the Cellcom Media Conference. When he isn’t working, Brian is an avid musician, having manned the keyboards for cover band Ace Oxygen and the Ozones in high school before turning his ambitions towards Hollywood. Today, his musical tastes are as varied and diverse as his shows’ audiences. Brian Graden currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
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About Brian Graden Media: Brian Graden Media an Emmy award-winning television production company based in Hollywood, CA.
Howard Owens
Founder & CEO of Propagate Content
Howard Owens is Founder and Co-CEO of Propagate Content, an independent premium content production company.From November 2011, to May 2014, Owens served as president of National Geographic Channels (NGC), where he oversaw all aspects of corporate strategy for the National Geographic suite of channels. During his tenure, Owens was responsible for franchise unscripted series including “Wicked Tuna,” “Brain Games” and “Ultimate Survival Alaska” – while also introducing original scripted programming in “Killing Lincoln,” the Emmy-nominated “Killing Kennedy,” and “Killing Jesus.”
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About Propagate Content: Propagate Content is a content company, spread and promote creative and groundbreaking content from the heart of Hollywood.
António Trincão
Co-Founder, CEO, Investor of Youcanevent
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About Youcanevent: Is the first marketplace where you can visualize your next event in VR and book the vendors needed for your real-world event experience.
Marc Lemann
Co-Founder of Go4it Capital
Marc is the Co-Founder of Go4it and a Partner of Growth Interface Fund. Marc graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York with a bachelor of arts in Economics.
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About Go4it Capital: Go4it partners with entrepreneurs innovating in sports, digital media and well-being, to create an active and enjoyable world.
Dynasty Holland
Founder, Product Architect & CEO of EXPOSURE EXPLOSION FESTIVAL
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About EXPOSURE EXPLOSION FESTIVAL, InBetween Living Rehabilitation Center, Tama Industries: The Exposure Explosion Festival is a weekly mash-up of music festivals and small business marketing events.
Jeremy Zimmer
Founder of United Talent Agency
Jeremy Zimmer is one of the Hollywood agency’s 6 owners and is a UTA co-founder and managing director. The grandson of legendary Hollywood studio chief Dory Schary began his career at age 19 in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency. After moving to Los Angeles in 1984, he joined ICM and eventually ran both the Motion Picture Literary and Motion Picture Packaging departments. Zimmer was asked to leave ICM for an infamous episode when he told an Industry gathering that the agency profession was engaged in “raping and pillaging”. He became a partner at the Bauer/Benedek Agency, and in 1991 he helped found United Talent Agency through a merger of Bauer/Benedek and Leading Artists Agency. Clients represented by Zimmer include Andrew Adamson, Noah Baumbach, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Christopher Guest, Curtis Hanson, Jimmy Hayward, Anthony Hopkins, Barry Levinson, director-producer Frank Marshall, Peter Morgan, director-producer Brian Robbins, Chris Wedge, as well as verge culture retailer Karmaloop and HiT Entertainment. Zimmer is also involved in United Entertainment Group, the joint venture company formed with advertising veteran Jarrod Moses, which is among the industry’s largest independent branded entertainment and integrated media firms. Zimmer’s official bio credits him with establishing UTA’s Branding, Licensing & Endorsements division as well as UTAOnline and UTA’s Agent Trainee Program.
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About United Talent Agency, UTA Ventures: United Talent Agency is a talent and literary agency representing actors, writers, directors, producers, recording artists and more.
Peter Benedek
Founder of United Talent Agency
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About United Talent Agency: United Talent Agency is a talent and literary agency representing actors, writers, directors, producers, recording artists and more.
Kenneth Scott
Founder/Art Director of Drifter Entertainment
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About Drifter Entertainment: Drifter Entertainment is banking heavily on the growth and intersection of two still unproven fields.
Carter Russ
Founder & CEO of Champions Round
I am an entrepreneur with a passion for creating exceptional products and building fantastic working cultures. I am the founder and CEO at Champions Round. I’m interested by sports tech, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, physics, investing, art and music, and pretty much anything nerdy or cool under the sun.
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About Champions Round: Fantasy & sports betting operator offering hyper casual skill based contests.
Drew Wingard
CTO, Board Member & Co-Founder of Sonics
Dr. Drew E Wingard co-founded Sonics in September 1996 and has served as Chief Technical Officer, Secretary and Director since 1997. Dr. Wingard has currently been awarded 30 US patent during his time at Sonics. From 1994 to 1996, Dr. Wingard led the development of advanced circuit and CAD methodology for MicroUnity Systems Engineering, Inc. Dr. Wingard co-founded and worked at Pomegranate Technology from 1992 to 1994, where he designed an advanced SIMD multimedia processor. Dr. Wingard has served as the secretary and a director of the OCP-IP, and currently serves on the board of directors for Accellera Systems Initiative. Dr. Wingard received a B.S. from the University of Texas, Austin and an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, all in Electrical Engineering.
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About Sonics: Sonics supplies on-chip communications solutions for home entertainment, wireless, networking and mobile devices.
Grant Pierce
President, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of Sonics
Grant A Pierce co-founded Sonics in September 1996 and has served as Chief Executive Officer and President since March 1997 and as chairman of the board of directors since February 1997. From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Pierce served as Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and General Manager for MicroUnity Systems Engineering, Inc., a digital media and communications devices company. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Pierce was Chief Financial Officer at ParcPlace Systems, a company selling object-oriented software development environments. From 1984 to 1988, Mr. Pierce served as corporate controller for MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company. Mr. Pierce’s extensive experience also includes work at Convergent Technologies, Inc., ITT Qume, and Arthur Andersen and Co. Mr. Pierce received a B.S. in Business Administration-Accounting from California State University, Hayward and is a former certified public accountant.
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About Sonics: Sonics supplies on-chip communications solutions for home entertainment, wireless, networking and mobile devices.
Aaron Anderson
Founder & Head of Creative of Fanmio
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About Fanmio: Fanmio connects fans around the world with their favorite celebrities and franchises through unique and personal online video experiences.
David Rosenberg
Co-Founder, COO and General Counsel of Gimme Radio
In business school I built a digital music service that created a secondary market for digital goods. While the business ultimately did not succeed, I have received a patent on the process that is highly relevant to the current issues today on the first sale doctrine.
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About Gimme Radio, Zoom: Gimme Radio is a digital music platform designed for passionate music fans.
Tyler Lenane
CEO and Co-Founder of Gimme Radio
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About Gimme Radio: Gimme Radio is a digital music platform designed for passionate music fans.
Jon Maples
Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Gimme Radio
Jon is a product leader who has been perfecting fan experiences for digital music services for the past 20 years.
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About Gimme Radio: Gimme Radio is a digital music platform designed for passionate music fans.
Will Henshall
Founder & CEO of Focus@will
Will Henshall has achieved notable global success both as a musical/visual artist and as a technical inventor. In 1987, he founded the British pop soul band Londonbeat and had two Billboard #1 hit records, “I’ve Been Thinking About You” (91) and “Come Back” (95). He founded Rocket Network, a Paul Allen/Cisco-funded San Francisco company, in 1995 and created the professional audio media transfer system, DigiDelivery. He sold the company to Avid/Digidesign in 2003.
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About Focus@will, METAL International: Focus@will offers a web tool that enables its users to concentrate on their work, studies, writing, and reading by listening to music.
Jack Davis
CEO & Founder of Crypt TV
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About Crypt TV: Crypt TV is an operator of an online video platform intended to produce and distribute scary video content.
Stephen A. Murphy
Co-Founder & CEO of Boom Entertainment
Stephen A. Murphy is the Co-Founder and CEO at Boom Fantasy. He operates the popular NBC Sports Predictor gaming platform and the award-winning Boom Fantasy real-money platform. Mr. Murphy was the Vice President, Business Development at High 5 Games and Managing Editor of Card Player Media. Stephen graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a bachelor of arts in Political Science.
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About Boom Entertainment: Boom Entertainment is building the future of online gaming technology. We power casinos, sportsbooks, media companies, sports leagues & more
Jacob Thornton
Founder of Bumpers, Inc.
Jacob Thornton is co-founder of Bumpers FM.
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About Bumpers, Inc.: Bumpers develops an iOS app that allows users to make apodcast direct from their mobile devices, using the phone’s built-in microphones.
Raymond Kaminski
Co-Founder and CEO of ibble
Successful Entrepreneur, exceptional Engineer and proven Business leader within the Space Exploration and FinTech industries. Career spanning the NASA Space Shuttle & International Space Station Programs, Honest Dollar acquired by Goldman Sachs within 1yr of the product release, COO of HyperSciences launching rockets for NASA, and CEO of ibble revolutionizing fintech.
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About ibble: Ibble is the social video app for users to spark conversations and ignite new ideas with other people.
Maureen Fan
Co-Founder & CEO of Baobab Studios
CEO & Co-Founder of Baobab Studios.
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About Baobab Studios, Gold House, Producers Guild of America, The World Economic Forum: Baobab Studios is a VR animation company that creates story and character driven cinematic experiences.
Trevor Short
Co-Founder & Chief Financial Officer of Millennium Entertainment
Co-founder and CFO Trevor Short oversees legal, finance and administrative operations for Nu Image, Inc., Millennium Films and all related companies. Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, Short obtained a Bachelor of Law from the University of Rhodesia and an MBA at the University of Cape Town where he was awarded the Gold Medal. In 1980 Short entered the world of banking and commerce, joining Standard Chartered Merchant Bank in Harare as head of Corporate Finance, responsible for takeovers, mergers and IPO’s. He then moved to Hill Samuel Merchant Bank in Johannesburg in 1984 as head of its Corporate Finance Division and subsequently to Investec Bank where he was responsible for eight IPOs on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, as well as numerous mergers and acquisitions Short’s finance background led him to develop a tax based financing formula to produce motion pictures in South Africa. He succeeded in procuring over $200 million from private investors to fund the production of international films made in South Africa. Much of the financing he secured was for films produced by Avi Lerner’s Nu Metro group for international film companies. He also became a consultant to the Government of South Africa regarding film incentive legislation.
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About Millennium Entertainment: Millennium Entertainment – Theatrical Film/Movie Distribution Company based in Los Angeles, CA
Walter Parkes
Co-Founder of Dreamscape Immersive
Walter F. Parkes is an American producer, screenwriter, and media executive. The producer of more than 50 films, including the Men in Black series and Minority Report, he is the co-founder and co-chairman of Dreamscape Immersive. Parkes helped to build DreamWorks as the head of its motion picture division, and served as the president of Amblin Entertainment. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards, receiving his first nomination as the director/ producer of the 1978 documentary California Reich; his second for co-writing the original screenplay for War Games; and his third as a producer of Awakenings.
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About Dreamscape Immersive: Dreamscape Immersive is a company that uses VR technologies to create an entirely new form of mainstream location-based entertainment.
Sundance DiGiovanni
Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Vindex
Sundance DiGiovanni is a seasoned executive, recognized thought leader in video game culture, and veteran creative director with more than 18 years of experience in the media, technology and video game industries. He co-founded MLG in 2002 with Mike Sepso, with the goal of creating a company that would reflect both his lifelong passion for gaming and his deeply competitive nature. Sundance currently serves as the CEO of MLG, focuseing on the long-term growth of competitive video gaming and the various distribution channels that are helping to bring this burgeoning sport to an ever-growing community. Prior to co-founding MLG, Sundance was Worldwide Creative director at Gotham Broadband, a broadband media pioneer. He is a veteran creative executive and has worked closely with a wide variety of brands, including AOL Time Warner, DirecTV, Sony, Pfizer, Nortel Networks, and Sprint.
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About Major League Gaming, Vindex: Vindex is a global esports and technology company that serves as the connective tissue between games and gamers.
Howard Jonas
Chairman & Founder of IDT Corporation
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About : IDT Corporation enriches lives, providing communication, entertainment and financial services.
Rasty Turek
Founder & CEO of Pex
Rasty Turek is the founder and CEO of Pex
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About Pex: Pex is a digital rights technology company.
Joshua Anton
CEO & Co-Founder of Drunk Mode, Inc.
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About Drunk Mode, Inc.: Drunk Mode is your all-in one solution for when you go out.
Benjamin Grubbs
Founder and CEO of Next 10 Ventures
Benjamin Grubbs is the founder and CEO of Next 10 Ventures.
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About CreatorPlus, Next 10 Ventures: Next 10 Ventures is a leading venture group focused solely on the global Creator economy.
Matthew Adell
Co-Founder and CEO of OnNow.tv
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About MetaPop Inc., OnNow.tv: Discover, Share and Promote Livestreams
Ole Vidar Hestås
CEO and Founder of Spotlite
Ole is a seasoned serial entrepreneur and founder of Kudos&Co. Previous successful startups he’s headed include IndustriData, Statsjobb, MobileAxept and Tide Forsikring AS. He has also dabbled in the world of invention, holding several patents on some of his original ideas. With four children of his own, Ole saw a disturbing trend in the amount of online bullying that occurs with adolescent use of social media. Kudos is his solution that he hopes will create a massive shift in the way children of the world enter the world of social media.
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About Spotlite: Spotlite creates a fun, safe, and good-vibe social content space for tweens, teens, and kids.
Rajeev Surati
Chairman and Founder of Scalable Display Technologies
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About Scalable Display Technologies, Skyline Nav AI: Designs, develops, and commercializes display technologies for immersive environments such as simulation, collaboration & Augmented Reality
Kimberly Foerster
Founder & CEO of CharacTour
CEO Kimberly Foerster had the “lightbulb” moment to found CharacTour when she helped her friend with her Match.com profile. By focusing on consumers’ personalities as many dating sites do, she thought she could solve a big problem for consumers: “bad dates” with entertainment when time, money, and emotion is wasted on movies, TV shows, and books they don’t ultimately connect with. Before founding CharacTour, Kim was a Managing Director at Perseus, a Washington, D.C. private equity firm where she worked for eight years. While at Perseus, she was actively involved in four publishing-related acquisitions and was a Board Member of Perseus Books. Prior to Perseus, she worked at two other private equity firms – the Audax Group and Castle Harlan. Early in her career, Kim worked in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs and the strategic planning group of PepsiCo. Kim received her MBA from Kellogg and her BA in English from Rice University.
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About CharacTour: CharacTour curates entertainment choices based on consumers’ unique personalities and their character preferences
Jonathan Skogmo
Founder & CEO of Jukin Media
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About Jukin Media, pocket.watch, Producers Guild of America: Jukin Media is the global leader in user-generated entertainment.
Max Child
Founder of Volley
Max Child is the Co-Founder of Volley.
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About Volley: Volley builds voice-controlled entertainment experiences for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and smartphones.
James Wilsterman
Co-Founder and CTO of Volley
James Wilsterman is the Co-Founder and CTO at Volley.
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About Volley: Volley builds voice-controlled entertainment experiences for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and smartphones.
Tim Specht
Co-Founder & CTO of Dubsmash
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About Dubsmash: Dubsmash is a developer of a viral video messaging app that lets users create and share their videos.
J.J. Abrams
Founder of Bad Robot
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, composer. He is known for his work in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and/or produced feature films such as Regarding Henry (1991), Forever Young (1992), Armageddon (1998), and Cloverfield (2008).
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About Bad Robot: Bad Robot is a media production company that has produced television series, feature films, and interactive content.
Jordan Freeman
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of ZOOM Platform
ZOOM’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Jordan Freeman, conceived the ZOOM Platform project and built its first prototype. He also formed the Jordan Freeman Group development arm of the Company, which focuses on building franchises around ZOOM technology. These franchises are, and will be, published and distributed on ZOOM Platform. Before ZOOM, Freeman was Founder and Chief Technical Officer at Head 2 Head Gaming. (Net Worth: $10MM+)
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About Jordan Freeman Group, ZOOM Platform: ZOOM Platform aims to design, create, and publish traditional and interactive entertainment with a Generation X transmedia appeal.
Ken Bretschneider
CEO & Founder of Evermore Park
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About Evermore Park, THE VOID: Evermore is an Experience Park: a place to explore, wonder, and discover
Andres Cohen
Co-Founder & CEO of Famosos
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About Famosos, Seconds: LATAM”s Leading Celebrity Engagement Platform – A marketplace where fans and businesses can hire Hispanic celebrities.
Kai Hasson
Co-Founder and Creative Director of Portal A
Kai Hasson is the Creative Director and Co-Founder of Portal A, an award-winning digital studio that creates Branded and Original entertainment for a new generation. Hasson is responsible for leading Portal A’s creative output and creative team of writers and directors, from concept ideation to direction to post-production. In addition to his role as Creative Director, Hasson often directs Portal A’s biggest and most influential projects, including co-creating White Collar Brawler, which started as a digital series and was later brought to TV with multiple seasons on the Esquire Network, and YouTube Rewind, which has been viewed 100 million times annually for the past 4 years. Before Portal A, Hasson worked for Current TV in San Francisco. Portal A is independent, with a team of 50 based in its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. Portal A works with top global brands such as Clorox, YouTube, Amazon, Google, and Lenovo and develops breakthrough original programming for partners like YouTube Red, Disney Digital, and Hearst. With over one billion views across its work, Portal A was recently named digital studio of the year by Cynopsis and recognized as an industry leading content studio by Digiday and The Drum. Kai grew up in Berkeley, CA and is an alumnus of Yale University.
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About Portal A: Portal A develop, produce, and distribute video built for conversation
Zach Blume
Co-Founder, President of Portal A
Zach Blume is the Managing Partner of Portal A, an award-winning content studio that develops, produces, and distributes video built for the digital age. Portal A is independent, with a team of 35 based in its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. Portal A works closely with top global brands like YouTube, Google, Lenovo, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, NBC Universal, Macy’s Universal Pictures, and develops original entertainment built for digital platforms. Portal A’s work has been seen nearly a billion times, and the company is best known for the annual YouTube Rewind video (which it has produced since 2011) and for its original show, White Collar Brawler, which began as a digital series and ran for multiple seasons on TV with Esquire. Zach is responsible for overall business strategy, growth, company vision, and client and partner relations. Before Portal A, Zach spent five years directing political, nonprofit and corporate communications campaigns in California and nationally. Zach grew up in Berkeley, CA, and is a Phi Beta Kappa and Honors alumnus of the University of Oregon and is a Fellow of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership.
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About Portal A: Portal A develop, produce, and distribute video built for conversation
John Hendricks
Founder & Executive Chairman of Discovery
John S. Hendricks is the founder of Discovery Communications, the world’s #1 nonfiction media company, and serves as Executive Chairman. Hendricks created Discovery Channel in 1985 as the first cable network in the United States designed to provide high-quality documentary programming enabling people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity. Hendricks has been the driving force behind the company’s dramatic growth, including the expansion of Discovery Communications from its core property, Discovery Channel, to current global operations in over 220 countries and territories with more than 2 billion cumulative subscribers. Under Hendricks’ leadership, Discovery now encompasses 162 networks of distinctive programming representing 26 entertainment brands including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery. Across the Nordic region, Discovery owns and operates SBS Discovery Media, a top-three portfolio of 20 television brands that feature leading nonfiction content, as well as locally produced entertainment programs, sports and the best scripted series and movies from major studios. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Revision3. A visionary in the media industry, Hendricks has been honored with a Primetime Emmy Award and with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences highest honor, the Governors Award, for conceiving the TLC series, Great Books. The Ark Trust named him a recipient of the Genesis Award for lifetime achievement for his efforts in raising awareness around the globe about animal issues. Hendricks has also been recognized as the first corporate leader to receive the National Education Association’s Friend of Education award for “innovations in education and technology and greatly expanding educational opportunity for America’s schoolchildren.” Hendricks is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of television to improve lives in underserved areas around the world, and serves on the Board of Directors of a number of non-profit organizations including the United States Olympic Committee, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the National Forest Foundation. Before 1985, Hendricks founded and served as president of the American Association of University Consultants (AAUC), a private consulting organization that specialized in television distribution, marketing and fundraising for educational programs and services. Hendricks holds a B.A. in history (magna cum laude, 1974) and an honorary doctorate (1991) from the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Hendricks’ memoir, A CURIOUS DISCOVERY: An Entrepreneur’s Story, recounts the struggles and triumphs of turning his passion for documentary programs into the world’s most widely distributed cable channel and parlaying its popularity into a leading global media company. The book will be published by Harper Collins in June 2013.
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About Discovery: Discovery is a multinational mass media factual television company covering science, history, geography, survival, and more.
Vijay Maheshwari
CTO, Co-Founder of Verismo Networks
Vijay Maheshwari, Co-founder and CTO, directs the vision behind Verismo’s product development. He was involved in building the Gateway-on-a-Chip ™ – the world’s first platform combining voice, data and security processors on a single chip, after careers in Digital Video technology at Digital Equipment, Bell Labs, C- Cube and Armedia.
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About Verismo Networks: Verismo Networks develops solutions for the deployment of broadband entertainment services by ISPs, Telcos, OTTs and IPTV service providers.
Jessica Rovello
Co-Founder & CEO of Arkadium
Jessica Rovello is the CEO & Co-Founder of Arkadium.
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About Arkadium: We’re the creators behind the world’s most played games.
Jon Karafin
CEO and Founder of Light Field Lab
Jon Karafin joined Light Field Lab as CEO and Founder in 2017.
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About Light Field Lab: Light Field Lab is a breakthrough technology startup that builds an innovative holographic ecosystem.
Brendan Bevensee
CTO and Co-Founder of Light Field Lab
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About Light Field Lab: Light Field Lab is a breakthrough technology startup that builds an innovative holographic ecosystem.
Mike Downey
Founder of Five Hype
A long-time veteran of IT, project management and sales, Mike has international business experience from Latin America and Europe to Asia Pacific and Australia. In the mid-90’s, he started Tilson as a technology training company and then spent the next eight years directing technology operations for Cianbro Construction, one of the largest construction companies in the Northeast. Now, Mike brings his expertise to bear on identifying leading technologies, qualifying vendors and buyers and negotiating win-win technology deals for customers. He’s taken on the role of interim CIO and IT Director for a number of companies, ranging from banking and construction to distribution. Some of Mike’s other core competencies include budget analysis, team performance evaluations, strategic planning and return on investment analysis.
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About 4G Vision, Five Hype, Tilson: Five Hype is a lifestyle, marketing, PR, and talent management agency offering solutions focused on the matching of consumers to brands.
Alan Schaaf
Founder & CEO of Imgur
Alan Schaaf is founder and CEO of Imgur, the Internet’s home for insanely entertaining visual stories created and curated by millions of people around the world. Launched in 2009 when Schaaf was still an undergraduate at Ohio University, Imgur has organically amassed a community of 150 million monthly active users and receives over 60 billion views of its images around the Internet each month. Imgur currently ranks among the top 50 sites in the world, and was recently called “the next big social network” by CNBC. Under Schaaf’s leadership, the company was proudly bootstrapped and profitable for five years, scaling organically to millions of users before finally receiving $40 million in investment from Andreessen Horowitz in 2014. He brings over a decade of experience to Imgur as a professional coder with a focus on crafting beautiful user experiences. Schaaf has previously been a speaker at TEDxWellington, AWS re:Invent, and is a strong advocate in the battle for a free and open Internet.
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About Imgur: Imgur is an internet company that specializes in providing online entertainment for its users.
Daniel McNeely
Founder of Armor Games
CEO with business development and management skills. Grew ArmorGames.com from 100,000 unique visitors per day, to over 750,000 and its still growing. Also experienced in market research, meeting customer needs, and planning and executing 12-month business plans. Specialties Online Marketing, Game Publishing, Management, Project Lead, Website branding and Identity, Web 2.0, Casual Gaming
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About Armor Games: Armor Games is a social flash gaming community supporting indie development via “Flash Contests” that fund and motivate flash developers.
Mike Rothenberg
General Partner & Founder of Rothenberg Ventures
Mike founded Rothenberg Ventures in 2012 to build communities and solve problems while a student at Harvard Business School. Mike couchsurfed across the country to raise $5m from 50 founders & CEOs for the first fund. As a student, Mike ran the fund and led the investments including Robinhood, SpaceX, Matterport, Revel Systems, and Patreon. Today, Rothenberg Ventures manages $50m with more than 100 startup holdings, three unicorns, and at least a dozen exits. In January 2015, Mike launched the River Accelerator program to help build early stage Frontier Technology startups and the Virtual Reality ecosystem. Mike is a globally recognized thought leader in Frontier Technology known for calling the Virtual Reality tipping point, and has keynoted major conferences on Frontier Technology and Virtual Reality on multiple continents. In 2016, Mike founded River Ecosystem LLC with Nick Canafax, which now operates the River Accelerator program for early-stage frontier technology startups, the River Lounge creative space in SOMA, and the River Network. Together, Rothenberg Ventures and River Ecosystem help Frontier Technology startups grow from the R&D stage and mass market adoption. As of 2017, Rothenberg Ventures is the top ranked Venture Capital firm in Frontier Technology and Virtual Reality (according to Goldman Sachs, CB Insights, and Pitchbook).
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About Rothenberg Ventures: Rothenberg Ventures invests in early-stage frontier technology startups.
Geraldine Laybourne
Co-Founder of Katapult
Geraldine Laybourne joined Symantec’s board of directors in January 2008. She became Chairman of the Board of Katapult (formerly known as Kandu), a kids’ technology company, in May 2013. Laybourne founded Oxygen Media and served as its chairman and chief executive officer until November 2007 when the network was acquired by NBC Universal. Oxygen was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape – creating a network targeted to younger women. Laybourne led the company to be a strong advocate for women, through programs like The Mentor’s Walk. Prior to starting Oxygen, Laybourne spent 16 years at Nickelodeon. Under her leadership, Nickelodeon became the top-rated 24-hour cable service and won several notable honors, including Emmy®, Peabody®, CableACE® and Parent’s Choice® awards. From 1996-1998, Laybourne was president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks where she was responsible for overseeing cable programming for the Walt Disney Company and ABC. Laybourne is also on the board of directors of Betaworks and Alloy, Inc., serves on the Board of Trustees of Vassar College and serves as Global Ambassador for Vital Voices. Laybourne also sat on a number of industry boards and advisory committees, including The National Cable Television Association, The National Council for Families and Television, New York Women in Film & Television (Advisory Board), Cable Positive (Honorary Chair) and the Council of National Advisors of Springboard Enterprises. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Vassar College and a Master of Science degree in elementary education from the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Martinsville, New Jersey, she and her husband Kit have two children and four grandchildren.
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About Katapult, Vital Voices Global Partnership: Katapult is a digital entertainment company located at Betaworks in New York City.
Sara Levinson
Co-Founder of Katapult
Sara was most recently the President of the Women’s Group at Rodale. Previously, she was Chairman and CEO of ClubMom, President of NFL Properties at the National Football League and President of MTV Networks. She currently serves on the boards of directors at Harley Davidson, Macy’s Inc., CafeMom and KickApps Corporation. Sara earned her bachelor’s degree at Cornell and her MBA in Finance and Marketing and Columbia Business School.
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About Katapult: Katapult is a digital entertainment company located at Betaworks in New York City.
Will Dean
Co-Founder & CEO of Electric Gamebox
Will Dean is a Co-Founder of Immersive Games Lab and the Founder of Tough Mudder Inc. Dean came up with the idea for a series of a military obstacle course challenges while completing his MBA at the Harvard Business School. Since launching in 2010, Tough Mudder has attracted more than three million participants worldwide and generates annual global revenues in excess of $100m. In 2017, Dean was made MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for his charitable contributions to sport. He chairs the advisory group for the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Bristol University (his undergraduate alma mater). He lives in London with his wife and two children.
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About Electric Gamebox, Tough Mudder: Electric Gamebox delivers immersive team adventures in the world’s smartest room
Rıfat Oğuz
Founder, CEO of Sinemia
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About Sinemia: Sinemia is a social platform for moviegoers and a monthly subscription-based service.
Paul Guillotel
Co-Founder & Creator of Unydom
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About Nexty, Unydom: Unydom helps creators to reach their vision, build large audiences, and entertain the new generation through music, video, and live events.
Julian Yap
Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer of Serial Box
Julian Yap is the Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer at Serial Box.
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About Serial Box: Realm is an entertainment company that provides serialized entertainment for readers and listeners.
Molly Barton
CoFounder and CEO of Serial Box
Molly Barton is the co-founder and CEO at Serial Box.
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About Serial Box: Realm is an entertainment company that provides serialized entertainment for readers and listeners.
Charles Smith
Founder / COO of Extension Entertainment
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About Ataraxia, Extension Entertainment, Social Starts: Extension Entertainment is a social music discovery platform that allows users to find and share music.
Joseph Reth
Founder & CEO/CTO of RethDigital
Joseph Reth is the Founder & current CEO/CTO at RethDigital, one of the nation’s fastest-growing digital agencies.
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About Martha5 Agency, RethDigital: RethDigital is a global creative digital agency
Jerry Cifarelli
Co-Founder, President, & Chief Executive Officer of ANC
Jerry Cifarelli has spent more than 35 years in marketing and advertising sales. He co-founded ANC in 1997 and has played a prominent role implementing digital signage in sports and non-sports spectaculars. Consistently exploring growth opportunities, he has spearheaded the development of strategic alliances with global Fortune500 companies, started an ANC Private Label LED product line, and expanded the company’s market presence beyond sports to retail and transportation venues. Prior to founding ANC, Cifarelli spent six years with Dorna USA, first as VP of Marketing and later as President & Chief Executive Officer, where he introduced rotational signage technology in the NBA and MLB.
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About ANC: ANC offers integrated technology, display design, and marketing solutions for sports, retail and transportation facilities.
