Dr. Kartik Hosanagar
Kartik Hosanagar is one of Yodle's founders and a professor of Information and Operations Management at the Wharton School. His research work is on Internet commerce with a special emphasis on Internet media and Internet marketing. Kartik's research work has been recognized through several best paper awards at conferences, including the William Cooper award for best thesis in Management Science.
His research on the next-generation Internet is funded by the National Science Foundation. He has received several teaching awards, including Wharton’s “Excellence in Teaching” award. Kartik holds a BE and an MS in Electronics Engineering and Information Systems respectively from BITS, Pilani, India and a PhD in Management Science from Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Michael Kearns
Dr. Michael Kearns is a professor of Computer and Information Science at The University of Pennsylvania where he holds the National Center Chair in Resource Management and Technology. He also has a secondary appointment in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) department at Wharton. He was also the co-director of Penn’s interdisciplinary Institute for Research in Cognitive Science. Dr. Kearns also leads the Systematic Trading group of Bank of America Securities in New York City. The group is part of Bank of America’s Electronic Trading Services division.
Prior to his work at Penn, Michael, worked from 1991-2001 in basic AI and machine learning research at AT&T; Labs and Bell Labs. From 1998-2001, he was the head of the AI department which conducted a broad range of systems and foundational AI work.
Dr. Kearns has earned a bachelor’s degree in math and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985. Michael has also received a Ph.D. in computer science from Harvard University in 1989.
Iggy Fanlo
Chief Executive Officer of AdBrite
Iggy Fanlo joined as CEO of AdBrite in May 2006. Prior to joining AdBrite, Iggy was President and Chief Revenue Officer at Shopping.com. His tenure (1999-2006) ran from the pre-revenue days to over $200 million a year. The company completed an IPO in October 2004 and was acquired by eBay for over $650 million in August 2005.
Prior to his technology career, Iggy spent 15 years on Wall Street with Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan. As a Managing Director at both firms, Iggy held various positions, ending as the head of all US Dollar Securitized Debt Trading and Capital Markets. During his final fiscal year, Iggy’s department generated over $300 million in gross profits.
Iggy received a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1983 from Princeton University
Rob Stavis
Managing Partner of Bessemer Venture Partners
A Managing Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, Rob focuses on investments in the financial services sector as well as in emerging software technologies. Since joining BVP, Rob has led the firm’s investments in and sits on the boards of independent research companies Gerson Lehrman Group and Soleil Securities, CRM software developer Portrait Software (formerly AIT Group, LSE-AIM: PST), financial marketplace Zopa, independently produced video distributor Revver, home network management software provider Pure Networks, and the stock loan focused Broker/Dealer financial services company Quadriserv. Rob was closely involved in BVP’s investment in Motilal Oswal Financial Services, an India-based financial services and brokerage company.
Rob entered private equity after a 15-year career at Salomon Smith Barney, where he became co-head of global arbitrage trading. He was a member of Salomon’s operating and risk management committees, and chaired the recruiting committee, in addition to managing a $100 billion balance sheet. Rob holds degrees from the Engineering School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Management.
Stephen Root
Chief Operating Officer of Millennial Media
Steve serves as Millennial Media's chief operating officer. In this role, he is responsible for the company's day-to-day operations and results. Steve is also responsible for executing the company's overall growth and vision.
Prior to joining Millennial Media, Steve held a variety of executive roles at Advertising.com - including senior vice president of operations, senior vice president of sales and most recently, chief operating officer. During his tenure at Advertising.com, Steve was instrumental in the company's industry-leading acquisition by AOL LLC. Prior to Advertising.com, Steve served in executive and senior management roles at TESSCO and Procter & Gamble.
Steve has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
Tom Karrat
Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Mimeo
Tom Karrat currently serves as Executive VP at Mimeo where he brings over 15 years of sales and marketing expertise.
He most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Sales at Yahoo HotJobs, where he managed a team of 300 people during his 4 years with the company. Prior to Yahoo, Tom was a General Manager of Storage Apps, where he managed Worldwide OEM and channel sales, business development, customer service, and field marketing. He began his career as a co-op student at EMC, when the company had revenues of $150 million. He rose to managing the largest division within the company, having responsibility for over $1 billion in annual sales and over 400 sales, consulting, and systems engineering personnel.
Tom holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a Major in Management from Northeastern University.
