LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Michael Yavonditte
Founder & CEO

Mike Yavonditte is the Founder and CEO of Yieldmo, positions he has held since the company’s formation in 2012. Mike is focused on unleashing the power of big data toward better performance and understanding while delivering exceptional, human-centric ad experiences. Mike is a veteran of new media and technology and is a private investor in the technology industry with more than 100 active investments. Mike was previously CEO of Quigo, pioneers of auction-based advertising marketplaces. Through his successful strategy of helping publishers monetize their content, Mike led Quigo to a successful acquisition by AOL in 2007. Prior to that, Mike served as a sales and business development leader for numerous organizations, including USA Networks Electronic Commerce Solutions Group, AltaVista, Juno Online Services, and Ziff-Davis Publishing. Linkedin

Rick Eaton
CFO & Co-Founder

Rick Eaton is a Co-Founder and CFO of Yieldmo, positions he has held since the company’s formation in 2012.  Rick has more than 25 years of experience managing fast-growing technology companies. He served as CFO of several NYC-based startups, including Quigo, a creator of auction-based advertising marketplaces, and Juno Online Services, one of the nation’s leading Internet Service Providers. Rick founded his career with Coopers & Lybrand, now PricewaterhouseCoopers. Rick is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Linkedin

Teddy Jawde
Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder

Teddy is a co-founder of Yieldmo and serves as Chief Strategy Officer. Teddy was one of the principal product architects of Quigo, an early digital ad exchange marketplace sold to AOL. Prior to AOL and Quigo, Teddy held various product positions at Yahoo! and Hotjobs.com. Teddy graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, where he eventually plans to relocate so he can be closer to his favorite food and music. Linkedin

Duc Chau
Chief Technology Officer

Duc brings over 20 years of technology leadership experience to his role as CTO of Yieldmo. Duc is an innovative and hands on engineer who was pivotal in designing and building many of the core technologies at companies such as Rubicon Project, which he took public in 2015 as co-founder, MySpace, where he was Lead Developer, and Omaze, where he was CTO. A pioneer of AdTech, MarTech, and Social Networking, Duc’s background places him in a unique position to reimagine the digital advertising ecosystem.
Duc has a BS in Computer Information Systems and received an MBA from MIT Sloan.
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Eric Picard
Chief Product Officer

Eric Picard is a product leader with more than 20 years of experience, almost exclusively in the advertising, media and marketing technology sectors. He founded one of the early advertising technology companies, Bluestreak, in 1997.  He led ad technology strategy and held a variety of product roles at Microsoft from 2004 – 2010.  Eric was Chief Product Officer at TRAFFIQ from 2010-2012. He then was founder and CEO of another ad technology startup called Rare Crowds, which was acquired by MediaMath in 2014, where he led Product Strategy for the DSP business.  Most recently Eric was Vice President of Product Management for Advertising at Pandora for three years. As a product leader, Eric has launched dozens of products into the market from scratch, and led teams responsible for thousands of incremental releases. He has been part of fourteen acquisitions during his career, either on the buy or sell side of those acquisitions.  A prolific writer in the ad technology space, he has more than 200 published articles in trade publications. Eric has advised more than thirty companies, and mentored more than 100 people during his career Linkedin

Mari Kim Novak
Chief Marketing Officer

Mari Kim is a curious, well connected, strategic marketer and has spent most of her career focused on emerging technology within the digital space. Most recently she held the position as CMO of Rubicon Project, the global exchange for advertising, where she oversaw a global team charged with driving the adoption of a unified platform for advertising across all screens, devices and formats. Novak brings more than twenty years of experience from the advertising industry, including nearly a decade at Microsoft, where she was the global head of marketing for Microsoft Advertising. Before Microsoft, Novak held senior roles in the US and UK at Millward Brown, Jupiter Media Metrix and Grey Group. Novak has received numerous industry awards including, Ad Age’s “Women to Watch” award, and She Runs It’s “Changing the Game” and “Working Mother of the Year” Award. She has been recognized by New York Business Journal as a “Women of Influence” Honoree, and named to Business Insider’s list of The Most Powerful Women in Mobile Advertising. Linkedin

Jeremy Steinberg
Chief Revenue Officer & GM, Exchange

Jeremy brings more than 15 years of advertising sales experience to his role as CRO and GM, Marketplace. Jeremy is responsible for the company’s overall growth strategy with a special focus on the Marketplace. Prior to joining Yieldmo, Jeremy served as global head of ecosystem at MediaMath. He also spent time as global head of sales at The Weather Company and multiple sales leadership positions with Fox Corporation. Jeremy has served on numerous industry boards including MMA (North America) and IAB. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan. He currently resides in Connecticut with his wife and two children. Linkedin

Meagan Soszynski
Chief People Officer

Bringing more than 15 years of human capital management to her role as Chief People Officer, Meagan is responsible for fostering an environment of heightened individual and team performance and unlocking the culture framework that makes organizations tick. Meagan focuses on growing talent through learning and development programs, coaching effective leadership teams, and establishing talent programs that promote and inspire career development. From articulating an employer brand to leading internal hackathons, Meagan deploys a variety of culture-building initiatives that energize teams’ and people’s highest potentials.

Prior to Yieldmo, Meagan’s experiences spanned industries—including ad tech and digital media—and company stages from startup to established. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a master’s from American University.

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Todd Coleman
Chief Architect and Co-Founder

Todd brings his deep experience building ad tech platforms to his role as Chief Architect. Prior to being part of the founding team at Yieldmo, Todd worked closely with the co-founders during his tenure at Quigo Technologies, Inc., which was acquired by AOL in 2007. Before that, Todd worked for Columbia House and Tallan enterprise consultants. He holds a Master in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder and undergraduate degrees in both business and CS from the University of Missouri Columbia. Linkedin

Lisa Bradner
General Manager Analytics

Lisa is a seasoned strategic media and marketing leader with more than 20 years experience leading organizational change. Having worked as a client, as an analyst, as an agency leader and now as General Manager of Yieldmo’s Analytics business, she has seen from all sides the opportunities and challenges of integrating technology and data into marketing to create better more holistic experiences for consumers. Lisa’s previous work experience includes time at media agencies (most recently as President of OMD, Midwest), time as an analyst at Forrester research counseling CMOs on emerging data and digital media trends, and time as a client developing new products and lines for manufacturers such as Fortune Brands. Lisa has a BA from Yale and an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Linkedin

Melissa Gallo
SVP, Global Exchange Operations

As SVP, Global Exchange Operations of Yieldmo, Melissa will be responsible for leading the business execution of the Yieldmo Smart Exchange, running both buy-side and seller-side support operations teams and overseeing platform operations, client services and DSP partnership relationship support. Prior to joining Yieldmo, Melissa ran Revenue Operations for Walmart Connect. In her role, she led the US and India-based team responsible for ad campaign performance and optimization, technical operations, API partner and self-serve Advertiser Support, Ads Trafficking, Billing, and Ads Policy.  Before Walmart, she worked at Index Exchange and IAB Tech Lab. At IAB she was responsible for the Modernizing Measurement Taskforce, IAB Tech Lab Content Taxonomy, Header Tag Working Group, OpenRTB and OpenDirect protocols. Melissa is a cum laude graduate from SUNY New Paltz with a BA in International Relations. Linkedin
Chris-Bolte

Chris Bolte
SVP Revenue Strategy & Business Development

Throughout his career, Chris has built products and businesses to help companies engage with targeted consumers across multiple platforms, from national and cable television to online display and search advertising.

Most recently, Chris co-founded and was CEO of Paysa, the purpose of which was to enable employees to optimize the value of their careers, across their full career arc. Prior to Paysa, Chris was VP of customer acquisition and retention for Walmart Labs, where he was responsible for building and managing Walmart’s demand generation platforms, including SEM, SEO, affiliate, email, targeting, and personalization as well as their WMX ad platform. He came to Walmart from Kosmix Right Health, a customer-focused health information property that, prior to its acquisition by Walmart, was one of the most-visited health properties in the world.

He joined Kosmix Right Health from Datapop, a company he co-founded, which specialized in performance-based targeted advertising. Prior to that, Chris was vice president of strategic alliances at Overture Services Inc., responsible for sales strategy, channel sales (including technology sales), and development and monetization of new products. Overture was acquired by Yahoo! in 2003, at which point Chris became Vice President of Strategic Alliances at Yahoo!. He developed performance-based advertising products for Yahoo! and ran channel sales, strategy and operations for its advertising division.

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John-Tigg

John Tigg
GM International

Over nearly 20 years in advertising, John has a long history of building successful teams and businesses across the industry, in particular in the ad tech space. A specialist in the advanced TV sector, John most recently served as VP & Managing Director EMEA for Cadent, leading the company’s successful expansion in Europe as the leader in addressable TV advertising. Prior to that, John served as SVP of Enterprise and Media solutions at Videology Inc., playing a key role in the executive leadership group that in under 5 years grew a start-up business with into the clear market leader in EMEA. John has also held senior leadership roles at Yahoo Inc. and lives in London, UK. 

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Zach Rosen
SVP, Global Supply Partnerships

As SVP, Global Supply Partnerships of Yieldmo, Zach Rosen is responsible for leading the supply and business development team and driving strategy for building global supply partnerships.

Prior to joining Yieldmo, Zach served as VP, Partner Development at Index Exchange, where he was responsible for building and managing a 50-person global division focused on growth and success with publisher clients, operating in 11 key markets across North America, EMEA, and APAC. When he arrived at Index Exchange in 2013, he spearheaded the opening of the company’s first US headquarters, forging partnerships with every major publisher and media owner and growing the team to more than 100 individuals.

Zach is passionate about fostering community and career development with the next generation of young professionals in the ad tech, digital, and broadcast industries. As a founder of the Furman Metropolitan Fellowship, he’s helped establish numerous professional connections with his Alma Mater, Furman University, to provide funding, mentorship and job opportunities to college students seeking careers in New York City.

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Dan Contento
SVP, Partnerships

Dan heads up the Partnerships team at Yieldmo, where he oversees strategy and relationships related to Yieldmo’s Programmatic marketplace. Prior to joining Yieldmo, Dan was Vice President of Sales at Luminate, an interactive image technology firm. He also led sales at news aggregator Digg, where he helped pioneer their native ad product called Digg Ads. Dan has also held sales roles at Yahoo!, CNET Networks, and Ziff-Davis Publishing. Dan holds a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Linkedin
Scott-Jones

Scott Jones
SVP, Buyer Development

As SVP, Buyer Development of Yieldmo, Scott Jones is responsible for leading the company’s North American sales efforts. He brings more than 27 years of sales and senior management experience to the team, having previously grown and scaled sales and support teams for both programmatic and ad tech companies. Scott joined Yieldmo from AdTheorent where he served as Head of Brand Partnerships and prior to that was VP, Sales at Goodway Group, where he led his team to the top position within the organization, driving growth in excess of 20% over the company goal for several years straight. He has also previously spent time at Spongecell, Specific Media, The New York Times and Boston.com.

Scott is passionate about mentoring and growing the sales leaders of the future and has fostered strong relationships with both team members and clients through the years. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and the University of Iowa and outside of work, enjoys spending time outdoors and seeing the world with his four amazing children and wife, Sara.

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Stephen Cutbill Headshot

Stephen Cutbill
UK General Manager

Stephen is Yieldmo’s UK General Manager and an experienced international digital leader. Stephen has spent more than 15 years working on both the buy and sell-side of the advertising ecosystem, at companies such as Future PLC, MediaMath, OpenX, and TripleLift. He joined Yieldmo from Cavai, where he had previously been VP of Global Partnerships.With expert knowledge of leading — and organising — commercial and client service efforts across DSPs, SSP’s and publishers, he is charged with spearheading the development and execution of Yieldmo’s UK strategy, as well as acquiring new clients. In addition, Stephen brings expertise in management and people development as he builds and leads Yieldmo’s UK team.

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Brian Margolis
General Counsel

Brian is Yieldmo’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He is responsible for all legal and compliance at Yieldmo, including corporate transactions and governance, commercial agreements, intellectual property and data protection, and privacy matters. Brian has 30 years of experience practicing law in the New York offices of various international law firms, where his practice focused on corporate and transactional matters, including capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance advice.

Brian received a BA in Political Science from Columbia University, a JD from Harvard Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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BOARD MEMBERS

Michael Yavonditte
Founder & CEO

Mike Yavonditte is the Founder and CEO of Yieldmo, positions he has held since the company’s formation in 2012. Mike is focused on unleashing the power of big data toward better performance and understanding while delivering exceptional, human-centric ad experiences. Mike is a veteran of new media and technology and is a private investor in the technology industry with more than 100 active investments. Mike was previously CEO of Quigo, pioneers of auction-based advertising marketplaces. Through his successful strategy of helping publishers monetize their content, Mike led Quigo to a successful acquisition by AOL in 2007. Prior to that, Mike served as a sales and business development leader for numerous organizations, including USA Networks Electronic Commerce Solutions Group, AltaVista, Juno Online Services, and Ziff-Davis Publishing. Linkedin

Brad Burnham
Union Square Ventures

Brad is a partner at Union Square Ventures. He started working in information technology with AT&T in 1979. Brad spun Echo Logic out of Bell Laboratories in 1989 and joined AT&T Ventures in 1993. Brad co-founded TACODA in 2001 before joining Fred Wilson to create Union Square Ventures in 2003. Brad majored in political science at Wesleyan University. He is married with two kids and lives in New York City.

Doug Chertok
Vast Ventures

Doug has founded, advised and invested in early-stage companies for over 20 years. He is the founder of Vast Ventures, a manifesto-driven venture fund investing in disruptive companies with global impact. The Vast portfolio includes companies such as ASAPP, BarkBox, Bidclix (sold to Aquantive/Microsoft), ClassPass, Coinbase, Conductor (sold to WeWork), Diamond Foundry, Eighty, Elite Daily (sold to Daily Mail), FirstFuel (sold to Tendril), Fotolog (sold to Hi-Media), Ginkgo Bioworks, Inverse, Kiip, Klout (sold to Lithium), Latch, Lygos, Meetup (sold to WeWork), Mighty, Moat (sold to Oracle), Modria (sold to Tyler Technologies), Phosphorus, OpenX, Phosphorus, Quigo (sold to AOL/Time Warner), Recombine (sold to Cooper Companies), Ritual, Ripple, SafeGraph, Samumed, Streeteasy, Styleseat, SweetGreen, Tala, Troops, Yieldmo, and ZocDoc.

For more: www.vastvc.com

Allison Goldberg
Independent Director

Allison Goldberg is a digital consumer and media technology investor. She was Group Managing Director & Senior Vice President of Time Warner Investments, where she ran the group focused on strategic equity investments. Prior to joining Time Warner in July 2001, Allison was an Associate at Groupe Arnault, investing in and managing new media and technology equity investments for the private holding company of the Chairman of LVMH. Previously, she worked in the Global Media Group, Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley.

Allison graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Economics, with concentrations in Finance and Operations & Information Management. She is married with two kids and lives in New York City.

Erik Nordlander
Google Ventures

Erik is a general partner at GV, where he manages GV’s operations in New York and is part of the enterprise investing team. Erik has over a decade of technical experience as an engineering leader with expertise in building first-class teams and scaling massive systems. He has interests in developer tools, cloud infrastructure, and machine learning. Prior to joining GV in 2010, Erik led the development of Google’s next generation display ad serving system. He helped with the acquisition and technical integration of DoubleClick (DCLK) and led a team that built statistical and machine learning models for Google’s ad businesses.

Erik was also a developer on Google’s core infrastructure, creating a distributed file system that Google.com and Gmail rely on today. Erik studied computer science and engineering at MIT. He completed his graduate research at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory where he focused on unique data extraction and disk forensics. Erik is an avid runner and an expert in television game show theory.

Mike Fazio
MARCorp Financial, LLC

Michael A. Fazio is a highly accomplished and result-driven investment executive with over 30 years of experience in advisory services in connection with acquisitions, divestitures, corporate strategy, operational oversight and restructurings. Michael has a genuine passion for investment management and an extensive background in developing organizational strategies to optimize business performance and growth. Since its inception in August 2012, Michael has served as the chairman of MARCorp Financial LLC, a private equity firm located in Illinois. Previously he held various senior management roles at Houlihan Lokey, a global investment banking firm, serving as managing director and co-head of the European Financial Institutions Group. Michael has also served as President and CEO of Comdisco Europe, a multibillion equipment leasing company. Prior to Comdisco, Inc., he served as EVP and COO of Deutsche Bank of the Americas, a global banking and financial services company. Linkedin

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