iBloks Management Team
Will Hunsinger, CEO
Will Hunsinger, an internet veteran, brings a deep knowledge of advertising from his experience at Gap and at Overture Services. Previously, Hunsinger worked at Gap Inc. as VP and General Manager of Gap.com and VP of Product Management for Gap�s Direct Division. He served as Senior Director of Strategy and New Business Development for Overture Services and prior to that worked at Business.com as VP of Business Development and Product Management. Hunsinger started his career at Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, and graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Julia Miller, Founder, President
Julia's previous responsibilities included general management, sales and product marketing for Xbox Live and executive management of Apple's Internet Services group. Before that, she was VP for Citibank and Sr. Director of Marketing for PepsiCo, which included overseeing the Pepsi brand. Her educational background includes an MBA from Kellogg and a BS in International Business from SUNY Stony Brook. She was a judge for the Billboard Video Games Awards in 2004 and has been a speaker at E3, AdTech, Midem, and Billboard. In addition, she is currently on the advisory board for the Global Gaming League.
Rolf Kaiser, Founder, CTO
Rolf was previously Lead Program Manager for MSN Entertainment at Microsoft, where he managed the development and launch of the MSN Music Service. In 1999, he co-founded MongoMusic, Inc. and was VP of Development, helping to build a revolutionary technology that would create a database of over 300,000 songs categorized by musical attributes. This type of approach was the first of its kind, and in 2000 the company was acquired by Microsoft, which currently holds a number of patents relating to this work. Rolf has engineering degrees from both the California Institute of Technology and Stanford.
Board of Directors and Advisory Board
Jonathan Fram, Board Member and Maveron Managing Partner
Jonathan Fram joined Maveron in April 2006, as a Managing Partner, bringing more than 20 years of digital media and telecommunications operations and consulting experience, as well as deep technical, financial and analytical experience. He has held senior management positions with both multinational corporations and startups. Most recently, Jonathan was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Doll Capital Management in Menlo Park, California. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Envivio, France Telecom's MPEG-4 mobile video tools and IPTV systems subsidiary. Prior to Envivio, Jonathan served as Chief Executive Officer of eVoice, a voice messaging company that was acquired by AOL Time Warner. Before joining eVoice, he was the President of Net2Phone which he grew to $100 million in revenue before AT&T acquired a controlling interest in the company. Earlier in his career, Jonathan spent eight years at Bloomberg L.P. where he was General Manager of media and responsible for Bloomberg's television, radio and Internet media unit. Prior to Bloomberg, Jonathan was the Chief Executive Officer of the Satellite Division of the Financial News Network and spent eight years as a technology securities and industry analyst at Bear Stearns & Co., Paine Webber and Gartner Group, Inc. He began his professional career as a computer design engineer at IBM, after graduating from Princeton with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Michael Ostin
Michael Ostin has over 26 years of experience in the entertainment industry and is one of the most prodigious executives in the music industry today with extensive relationships throughout the entertainment business.
In 1977, Mr. Ostin joined and served Warner Brothers Records for nearly 20 years in various roles, from Artist & Repertoire Department through senior management. Between 1988 and 1996, he served Warner Bros. Records as Senior Vice President where he was charged with overseeing the day-to-day U.S. operations of the creative department at Warner Bros. Records. He was responsible for contract negotiation, execution, administration as well as creative coordination of the careers of Warner Brothers' roster of more than 100 artists, such as Madonna, Prince, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Van Halen, B-52s, Talking Heads, REM and Seal. During his years of service there, Mr. Ostin was instrumental in handling recording artists who sold in excess of a total of 400 million units with revenues generated in excess of $4.6 Billion.
Between 1996 and 2003, he served as President of DreamWorks Records where he helped build a premier recording company from inception through completion of its sale to Universal Music Group in a transaction valued at approximately $100 million. At DreamWorks Records, Mr. Ostin's responsibilities included the management of daily operations of the company and collaborated closely with Messrs. Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, as well as with other members of DreamWorks SKG, the premier film and animation studio. His accomplishments at DreamWorks Records included serving as the Executive Producer of the soundtracks for Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shark Tale, which collectively sold more than four million copies.
Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers is one the most enduring and prolific figures in the entertainment industry. In the past three decades, the works that he has participated in or collaborated with as an artist, producer, writer and/or a musician have generated over three billion dollars in revenue. He is a multiple Grammy winner, and his associated work have accounted for sales in excess of two hundred million records worldwide, including 23 RIAA Gold and 29 Platinum RIAA Platinum awards. Mr. Rodgers has worked with six of the top selling 60 recording artists of all time - Madonna, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Britney Spears and Michael Bolton. In addition, according to the RIAA, Mr. Rodgers produced two of the 100 all time top selling albums; Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and "The Immaculate Collection".
Throughout his career, Mr. Rodgers has collaborated with an array of artists in multiple genres including David Bowie, Madonna, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger, INXS, Al Jarreau, Peter Gabriel, the B 52's, Eric Clapton, Paula Abdul, and most recently Joss Stone and Maroon 5. As the music industry continues to evolve, Rodgers remains on the cutting edge. In 2005, Rogers contributed to, executive produced, manufactured and distributed "Halo 2: Original Soundtrack Vol. 1." This title has become the number one selling video game soundtrack of all time.
In 1977, Mr. Rodgers revolutionized the business aspects of artist talent in the music industry through The Chic Organization Ltd. with his partner Bernard Edwards. The Chic Organization standardized the practice of incorporating artists prior to executing a contract with a record label. Using this business concept, Rodgers negotiated the first recording contract between The Chic Organization Ltd. and Atlantic Records. Since then, this has served as the template for numerous other artists such as CHIC, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and Debbie Harry. The Chic Organization administered the composition, production and performances for these and other that between 1977 to 1983, produced nine Top 10 albums and eleven Top 10 singles generating in excess of $125 million in gross revenues.
In 1983, Mr. Rodgers founded NRP, Inc., a New York-based production company that administered the composition, production and performances of Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran, INXS, The B-52, Mick Jagger, Maroon 5, and Incubus as well as film soundtrack titles that include Thelma and Louise, White Nights, Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop II. Through NRP, Inc., he produced nine Top 10 albums and ten Top 10 singles, and an additional 32 Top 40 albums that generated over one billion dollars in gross revenues to date.
In 1999, he founded Sumthing Else MusicWorks, Inc., an independent music label, and Sumthing Distribution, Inc., a distribution company servicing major national and regional accounts. Sumthing Else MusicWorks Inc. hosts such artists as David Lee Roth, Freddie Jackson and Deborah Gibson. Sumthing Else MusicWorks Inc. was the first distribution company to introduce and commercialize a new genre of music by marketing and distributing video game soundtracks.
Mr. Rodgers is currently a Trustee and Governor of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences as well as a member of the Board of Governors of the Archive of Contemporary Music. He is also active in various organizations and is Founder and Chairman of the We Are Family Foundation, which creates and supports programs that inspire and educate individuals of all ages about diversity, understanding, respect and multiculturalism, and supports people who are victims of intolerance.
Mike Hard
A respected industry veteran, Mr. Hard brings a deep knowledge of online advertising experience and operational excellence from leading corporations. Currently he serves as vice president of US online advertising sales at Microsoft Corp., where he is responsible for Microsofts domestic online revenue including owned and operated properties (Live Search, MSN, Xbox Live) as well as third party partnerships (Digg.com, Facebook, Viacom). In addition, he serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Before assuming leadership of US online advertising sales, Mr. Hard spent 15 years building and leading software sales and services operations for Microsoft in the US, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
About Maveron
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Maveron LLC is a leading venture capital firm. Founded in 1998, Maveron's mission is to partner with entrepreneurs in the creation of extraordinary companies across the Consumer Continuum in order to generate outstanding financial returns. Maveron invests up to approximately $20 million in its portfolio companies and looks to partner with a small number each year. For more information about Maveron, visit www.maveron.com.
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