Executive & Advisory Board Bios
Transcription
Executive & Advisory Board Bios
Executive Leadership and Advisory Board WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 TERRY JONES Executive Chairman Terry Jones was founding Chairman of Kayak.com. He was also founder of Travelocity.com and led the company as President and Chief Executive Officer from its founding until May 2002. Previously, Jones served as Chief Information Officer at Sabre Inc. In his 24 years at Sabre, Jones held various executive positions including President of Computer Services, Vice President of Applications Development and Vice President of Product Development. Prior to Sabre, Jones joined American Airlines in 1978 as Director of Product Development when American Airlines acquired Agency Data Systems, a Florida-based mini-computer accounting systems company. He became president of the division when it moved to Dallas/Fort Worth. A graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Jones entered the travel industry in 1971 as a travel agent with Vega Travel in Chicago. He later served five years as a vice president of Travel Advisors, a company specializing in business travel to Eastern Europe and the USSR, with offices in Chicago and Moscow. Jones is managing principal of ON, Inc. a consultancy he co-founded to help companies in their transition to the digital economy. He is the founding Chairman of the Board of Kayak.com, and is on the boards of Boingo, Smart Destinations, Inc., and Luxury Link. He is a special venture partner with General Catalyst Partners of Boston. Personal: www.tbjones.com WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 MANOJ SAXENA Co-Founder Manoj Saxena is Co-Founder of WayBlazer, Chairman of Cognitive Scale and a founding General Partner of The Entrepreneur’s Fund (TEF) IV where he oversees investment and growth in the Cognitive and Cloud Computing space. Saxena is a serial entrepreneur and most recently was IBM’s General Manager for the Watson Division. At TEF, Saxena focuses on identifying, investing, and scaling cloudcentric software companies in the Cognitive Computing space and aligned with the IBM Watson Cloud ecosystem. Saxena is also a Special Advisor to IBM senior leadership where he focuses on operationalizing IBM’s $100m Watson Cloud Ecosystem Fund and making side-by-side investments with the TEF IV fund. Prior to joining TEF, Saxena was General Manager, IBM Watson where his team built the world’s first cognitive systems in Healthcare, Financial Services, and Retail. He received the IBM Chairman’s award for Watson commercialization and helped with the formation of Watson Business Group in January 2014 with a $1B investment from IBM. Prior to IBM, Saxena successfully founded, scaled, and sold two venture-backed software companies within a five-year span. Webify, an emerging leader in industry-specific SOA middleware, which was acquired by IBM in 2006, and Exterprise, a business process collaboration company, purchased by Commerce One in 2001. Saxena holds two U.S. patents for web services technologies. He currently serves on several boards including the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio Branch, Communities In Schools, and the Saxena Family Foundation. Saxena holds a masters degree in business administration from Michigan State University, and a masters in management sciences from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science in Pilani, India. Twitter: manojsaxena LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/manojsaxena Personal: www.saxenafoundation.com WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 FELIX LABOY Chief Executive Officer Felix Laboy has over 25 years experience across a wide portfolio of leadership positions in the hotel, travel and technology industry. From 2009 to 2013, he served as president and general manager of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, a leading Software as a Service technology company created to provide the most comprehensive marketing, distribution and operations tools for the hospitality industry worldwide which generated over $12 billion in annual revenue for its customers. Prior to leading Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Laboy was CEO and co-founder of E-site Marketing, the preeminent hospitality Internet marketing service company in the world. E-site Marketing was founded in 1999 with no outside funding or outside investors and over the next 10 years, Laboy established strategic direction and oversaw company performance, growth and operations. E-site Marketing used leading technology to be disruptive to the existing Internet offerings in the hotel marketplace and was acquired by Sabre Holdings in 2007. Felix has also advised other travel technology start-ups and recently served as Executive in Residence at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. He is considered a pioneer in the development and integration of many hospitality Internet marketing best practices and solutions that are today replicated and embraced industry-wide. Prior to E-site Marketing, Laboy held numerous executive positions at leading hotel companies including The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Westin Hotels and Resorts, ANA Hotels and The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. In addition, he served as executive vice president of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau. Laboy is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 PAT MOTOLA Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Pat Motola serves as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Cognitive Scale and WayBlazer. He is responsible for all company operations including customer delivery. Previously, Motola served as CEO of BlueSpace Federal, an Austin, Texas based software company providing applications to the Defense and Intelligence community that span security domains. Prior to BlueSpace, Pat was President of Troux Technologies, a provider of Enterprise Architecture and IT Portfolio Management software for Global 2000 organizations where he led the growth of revenues from 0 to over $15m annually. Before Troux Technologies, Pat held several executive positions for Motive Communications, an intelligent service software company including VP Product Development, CFO, VP of Services, and VP of Business Development. During Pat’s tenure Motive grew from 0 to over $80m in annual revenue. Pat has held several executive positions. He was Senior Vice President of Operations and CFO of PSW Technologies, a publicly held Austin based software services firm. During his tenure at PSW, the company grew revenues from $6m to $44m annually and completed an IPO. He also served as Vice President of Marketing at Software Publishing Corp. He also worked at Metaphor Computer Systems, BI Systems Company, as its Vice President of Business Development. Metaphor completed a $120m merger with IBM. Pat held various positions at IBM. He earned a master’s degree in management science from Stanford University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley. Pat holds a Top Secret security clearance. Twitter: pmotola Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/pat-motola/2/381/63b WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 JOHN FAITH Chief Product and Technology Officer John Faith serves as Chief Product and Technology Officer for WayBlazer where he is responsible for all company product development and technology initiatives. Prior to joining WayBlazer, John’s most recent RetailMeNot position was as senior vice president of external affairs, where he was responsible for supporting business development and strategic initiatives within the company. He also served as the company’s chief ambassador, where he engaged with the industry analyst community and served as a public speaker on behalf at RetailMeNot, Inc. Previously, John was the senior vice president of mobile at RetailMeNot, Inc., responsible for supporting RetailMeNot.com’s expansion onto the iOS and Android platforms. His understanding of the mobile ecosystem and user was instrumental in the formation and execution of WhaleShark’s initial mobile strategy. In this role he led a matrixes team and had to champion Mobile across initiatives in a company that at the time was web-focused. During this role John introduced location awareness into RetailMeNot’s applications. He also submitted 3 patents that are under review at the US patent office during this tenure. As RetailMeNot’s first technical hire John recruited the foundation of the engineering team, performed technical due diligence for M&A, oversaw infrastructure operations, managed 5 digital properties, established an SDLC, and aligned the companies technical initiatives with business needs. Prior to RetailMeNot, Inc., John was the GM and vice president of mobile for MySpace. During his tenure, the mobile properties grew more than 400 percent. Preceding this role, he contributed to multiple initiatives as vice president of engineering, including the expansion of MySpace in more than 30 countries and oversaw its mobile technical efforts from inception, worked with multiple joint-ventures in China and Japan, and promoted MySpace’s development platform to the international community. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University in Geography, Art and Art History. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 PANKAJ VAISH GM, India Pankaj Vaish has over 28 years of IT experience across a wide portfolio of technologies, service delivery and industry segments. He is a high energy, result-oriented executive with a track record of creating revenue & margin growth with deep hands-on operational experience in global operations and delivery. Prior to joining WayBlazer, Pankaj was the CEO at HealthFore Technologies, a company listed in BSE, India. At HealthFore Technologies, Pankaj led the company to become a Healthcare IT provider of choice in delivering Integrated Healthcare Solutions using innovative platforms enabled by ICT in the Asia-Pac and MEA region. Previously, Pankaj worked at Perot Systems for 14 years in a host of executive / management positions which included the establishment and management of the Travel Transportation & Logistics business unit followed by running the P&L for the Telecom, Retail, Government and Manufacturing lines of business. Pankaj also managed global operations for the Application Division and expanded delivery capability by setting up the Offshore Engineering Delivery Centre at Hyderabad and Global Applications Delivery Centre at Changsha, China. In his last assignment at Perot Systems, Pankaj served as Sr. Vice President - Global Business Operations. Pankaj started his professional career in the US and worked with Unisys for 10 years where he held various technical and managerial roles. Pankaj is an engineering graduate from BITS Pilani and holds an MBA. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 SANDY WEST VP of Marketing Sandy West serves as vice president of marketing for WayBlazer where she is responsible for company branding; marketing communications; media/analyst relations; digital, event and channel marketing. Prior to joining WayBlazer, she was vice president, corporate affairs for Formula 1, Circuit of The Americas™ where she was responsible for development of communications strategies and programs, staffing, systems, strategies, practices and measurement to ensure functional excellence in: corporate communications, global branding, media relations, community relations, internal communications, issues and crisis communications. Sandy established mktginc.com in 1991 and still serves as president and managing partner. mktginc.com is a successful high technology marketing consulting practice specializing in development and implementation of high-impact marketing strategy, programs and brand campaigns for Fortune clients such as AMD, Apple, Dell, IBM, Motorola, and Oracle as well as numerous start up organizations. Previously, Sandy served as vice president and director of corporate marketing communications for Motorola. In this role she managed global marketing communications and branding; media/ AR relations; sports, event, product and professional services marketing, strategy and positioning – including management of Motorola’s global web presence (motorola.com). Sandy’s previous sales and marketing positions were witht KPMG Peat Marwick and IBM Corporation. Sandy graduated magna cum laude from San Jose State University, College of Business with a Bachelor of Science and while at Motorola was selected for the Motorola Chairman’s Institute (Kellogg School of Business Program for the Top 200 Motorola Executives). WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 PATRICK DUNCAN VP, Content Business Development Patrick Duncan is Vice President, Content and Business Development for WayBlazer where he is responsible for content acquisition, strategy, and product, as well as strategic business development initiatives. Prior to joining WayBlazer, Duncan served as Director, eCommerce Product Management at HomeAway.com. In this capacity, he led the product line teams responsible for delivering card and bankpayment solutions to homeowners in 14 countries and 4 currencies, as well as supporting a world-class checkout which processes >$1B in TPV annually on behalf of millions of travelers. As Director, eCommerce Product Marketing at HomeAway, Duncan was instrumental in defining, launching, and driving adoption of the ReservationManagerTM eCommerce platform. He championed and led strategy, product requirements, global partner selection, pricing, and overall GTM efforts. Post launch, Duncan acted as the de-facto GM across cross-functional teams including Product, Marketing, Customer Support, and BI. Prior to HomeAway.com, Duncan was Director of Product Management at Pictage where he led Los Angeles- and Buenos Aires-based product marketing, and development teams to overhaul and redesign consumer and photographer websites and SaaS products to improve usability, drive conversion and increase NPS. Previously, Duncan held Product Management, Product Marketing, and Business Development roles at well-known consumer brands such as Rent.com/eBay, AAA, and OpenTable. Duncan began his career in Investment Banking as a Financial Analyst with the UBS Warburg Corporate Finance and Global Technology teams in New York and San Francisco, respectively. At UBS, Duncan managed all facets of equity offerings and advised on numerous M&A transactions across the Communications Equipment sector. Duncan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Colorado College in International Political Economy. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 NIJ CHAWLA VP, Product Management and Client Success Nij Chawla serves as Vice President of Product Management and Client Success for WayBlazer and is responsible for product strategy and product management for the core product set. Prior to joining WayBlazer, Nij held senior leadership positions at Oracle most recently heading up the Stores and Commerce businesses for Oracle Retail. Nij led Vision, Strategy, Product Management, and Business Development for two suites of enterprise solutions at Oracle. He has built from scratch, led Engineering Groups across multiple geographic locations for 8 enterprise products at Oracle and grown teams from 0 to 105. He was a key leader in driving early mobile products coming out of Oracle. Nij was instrumental in driving a large complex crossorg Retail Omni-Channel development release that cut across ten different groups. Before Oracle, Nij founded and led a cross-org Retail Technology and Architecture Group at 360Commerce and helped with the transition of that company into Oracle. Prior to 360Commerce, Nij headed up a consulting practice at Trilogy Software focused on eCommerce B2C solutions as well as led very large complex enterprise implementation programs. Nij holds an Electrical and Computer Engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin and was a two time Engineering Scholar. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD SCOTT GOLDBERG Director of Product Scott came to WayBlazer by way of the NFL, where he spent almost five years leading mobile product development, including all of the league’s apps and mobile websites. As a member of the founding team for NFL Mobile, he saw the group grow from $0 in revenue to $250M+ annually. Previous to that, he worked in the mobile group at Fox Interactive, which included development of the first apps launched on iOS for brands such as Rotten Tomatoes, IGN and MySpace. He eventually shifted his full focus to MySpace Mobile, where along with WayBlazer CTO John Faith, he oversaw a product team that grew monthly users from 0 to 35 million. As WayBlazer’s Director of Product, Scott works internally to evolve the company’s technology platform and externally with clients on their cognitive computing initiatives. He also currently sits on the Board of Advisors for Spex App and FieldTek, companies pioneering the digitization of the insurance claims business. Scott received his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and his BA from Williams College. He grew up in Colorado and is an avid traveler and outdoorsman. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD BOB KAUFMAN Founder, Alaska Channel Bob Kaufman has 30 years of experience in the travel industry as a successful entrepreneur and venture capital investor. After founding Alaska Channel in 1992, Bob has built it into Alaska’s leading travel media company, with a dominating presence and best-of-class national products in TV, print, video, online, mobile, and airport advertising. Alaska Channel telecasts a visitor TV channel statewide that consistently produces Emmy-award winning programs, publishes a half million print guides a year, operates one of Alaska’s largest travel websites (Alaska.org), publishes a top-ranked travel app (The Alaska App), and was recently awarded the exclusive advertising concession for Alaska’s largest airport. They will soon introduce new technologies that will be the first of their kind for any US airport. In addition to his hands-on experience, Bob has been a principal in two venture capital funds formed by former Bain Capital partners, with over $500 million under management. As a professional investor, Bob provided direct investment and management contributions to a series of early stage start-ups, including several well-known success stories. Bob graduated in 1983 from Amherst College then spent the next five years as a consultant with Bain & Company. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD DENNIS HOWARD CIO, VISA Member, Board of Advisors Dennis Howard is the Chief Information Officer for Visa Inc. In this role, Howard leads the technology solutions that power the Visa Inc. enterprise and enable its workforce across over 60 global locations in 40 countries. He is also the site leader of Visa’s crossfunctional facility in Austin, Texas. Howard has been with Visa for 11 years. Prior to his current role, he was Senior Vice President of Business and Platform Solutions, where he was responsible for transaction data and analytics, product development for loyalty, risk and commercial card solutions, in addition to a variety of client-facing web solutions and corporate systems. During his tenure at Visa, he has served in a number of information technology roles for various technology disciplines. Prior to joining Visa, Howard served as a Senior Manager of Global Services at Commerce One, Inc., where he was responsible for implementing technology services for large financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies globally. Before that, he served in a variety of roles at several technology start-ups. Previous to his career in Information Technology, Howard served in legislative roles on Capitol Hill and in the administration of the Texas Governor’s Office. Howard received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, master’s degree from Baylor University, and completed post-graduate research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He currently serves on the executive committee of the Austin Technology Council, the board of directors of Austin Partners in Education, and the advisory board of the Computer Information Systems department of the McCoy School of Business, Texas State University. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD DESIREE GRUBER CEO, Full Picture Member, Board of Advisors Desiree Gruber has parlayed lifelong interests in fashion, culture, art, entertainment, and technology into a thriving media empire. With her agency, Full Picture, as a foundation, Gruber embodies the modern entrepreneurial spirit. Gruber has been instrumental in building some of the world’s most prestigious brands and properties, ranging from 15 years with Victoria’s Secret to the launch of three hotels with Ian Schrager, as well as guiding the careers of high-profile personalities including Heidi Klum and creating the hit television show Project Runway. Establishing her own agency, Full Picture, in 1999, Gruber set out to synergize the traditionally separate fields of public relations, management, and production. Under her guidance, Full Picture has become a creative force and evolved into a full-fledged multimedia company at the crossroads of the fashion and lifestyle industries. Its many successes include Lifetime’s Project Runway and the trendsetting HSN shopping shows Curations with Stefani Greenfield. Gruber also works with online portals such as MSN and top-line brands including Kraft, Special K and Tylenol to create award-winning branded entertainment. Gruber’s expertise in marketing and branding campaigns, for which she has received over twenty awards, has positioned her among the most respected figures within the media industry. She was selected as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs of 2010, and has received a Peabody Award and eight Emmy nominations for executive producing Project Runway. Ms. Gruber has been awarded an official Mayor’s Proclamation by the City of New York for her professional and civic accomplishments. She serves on the Boards of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in New York and God’s Love We Deliver. She has been profiled in such publications as O: The Oprah Magazine, Variety, New York magazine, Gotham and PR Week. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD JOSH TENENBAUM Professor of Cognitive Science–Computation, MIT Member, Board of Advisors Josh Tenenbaum studies learning and reasoning in humans and machines, with the twin goals of understanding human intelligence in computational terms and bringing artificial intelligence closer to human-level capacities. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1999, and from 1999-2002, he was a member of the Stanford University faculty in the Departments of Psychology and (by courtesy) Computer Science. In 2002, he returned to MIT, where he currently holds the Paul E. Newton Career Development Chair in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and is a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He has published extensively in cognitive science, machine learning and other AI fields, and his group has received several outstanding paper or student-paper awards at NIPS, CVPR, and Cognitive Science. He received the 2006 New Investigator Award from the Society for Mathematical Psychology, and the 2007 Young Investigator Award from the Society of Experimental Psychologists. He serves as an associate editor of the journal Cognitive Science and is currently co-organizing a summer school on “Probabilistic Models of Cognition: The Mathematics of Mind” for July 2007 at IPAM, the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD MARK ROLSTON Founder and Chief Creative, Argo Design Member, Board of Advisors Mark Rolston is a renowned designer with a 25-year career of creating for the world’s largest and most innovative companies. An early pioneer of software user experience, Mark led clients to leverage emerging technologies and set the tone for user interface design and mobile platforms. In 1994, he launched the product firm frogdesign into these emergent disciplines, quickly establishing the software design group as the largest part of frog’s business and major force in its growth. Taking leadership as frog’s Chief Creative Officer for eight years, he guided the transformation of frog into a modern strategic design organization, continuing to produce groundbreaking work for the world’s most dynamic firms – including Disney, Ford, GE, HP, Microsoft and AT&T. Recently, Mark has thrown his passion into argodesign, where he continues to focus on groundbreaking user experience. Leading the discipline into its next phase of development, he offers a perspective on design that exists outside the visible artifact – in the realm of behavior, the interaction between human and machine, and the other unseen elements that make up the modern design challenge. A veteran design leader, innovator and patent holder, Mark is an internationally recognized expert and valued advisor on software, experience design, emerging computing platforms, and mobile applications. He serves on the boards of WayBlazer and Trusted Innovators, is one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People, and was nominated as Fast Company’s World’s Greatest Designer this year. He lives and breathes design, craftsmanship, and building useful and enjoyable experiences of all types. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD RANDY GARFIELD Retired, President/CEO & EVP WW Sales & Travel Operations, Walt Disney Travel Company Member, Board of Advisors Randy retired as President and CEO of Walt Disney Travel Co. and executive vice president of Worldwide Sales & Travel Operations for Disney Destinations, a $14+ billion company. He led one of the USA’s largest travel wholesalers as well as sales and distribution marketing for Disneyland, Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and Disney Vacation Club. He was also responsible for The Disney Institute & Disney Event Group. Additionally, he managed Central Reservations & Catering special event/group sales & Services at Disney resort destinations along with providing strategic direction to Disney’s Sports Enterprises. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015 ADVISORY BOARD KATHY MISUNAS Business Advisor, Executive, Board Director Member, Board of Advisors Ms. Kathleen Misunas, Kathy has been a business advisor of Tech Data Corp. since June 2000. She also serves as Consultant of Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. In 2001, she served as Chief Executive Officer of AirTreks, Inc. (a travel arrangement business specializing in multi-continent trips) and as Chief Executive Officer and President of Brandwise LLC from January1999 to June 2000. From 1996 to 1998, Kathy served as Chief Executive Officer of Reed Travel Group business unit. And, from 1993 to 1995, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the SABRE Group (a division of AMR Corporation), as Senior Vice-President of AMR/ American Airlines, as well as past Chief Information Officer of American Airlines, Inc. She has been a Director of Tech Data Corp. since 2000 and serves on a number of other boards, including Genispace, Saturn Reservations Systems and Imbot, EzRez Software, Inc. and previously as a Corporate Director of Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. from 2001 to May 11, 2006. Kathy is on the Executive Committee of the World Travel & Tourism Council ‐ a global coalition of more than 100 Chief Executive Officer’s from all segments of the travel and tourism industry and is a lifetime member. Additionally, she was a Trustee of the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, and participated in the exclusive technology-related Research Board. She served as a Director of Switchfly, Inc. and has been a Member of the Advisory Board of Apollo Holdings Inc. (previously Gtrex Inc.) since 2004. She has served as a Director of Travelocity.com LP since 2001, and is a frequent speaker and business commentator on travel, distribution and technology issues. She has lectured at major academic institutions and recently co-authored a book: MultiChannel Distribution: The Essential Guide. Kathy is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) and attended Moravian College and American University. WayBlazer Executives and Advisors February 2015