Loren Bendele is the CEO of Savings.com. He co-founded the business in March of 2007. Prior to Savings.com Loren ran Teleflora’s Partner Marketing business, selling through key relationships including USAA, UPS, American Express, Sears, JC Penney, American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, and other large partnerships. Loren started his career with Dow Chemical, initially as a chemical engineer. He then joined The Boston Consulting Group where he provided strategy/management consulting services for industries including airline, health care, software and telecommunications. He has also worked as an Internet technology consultant focusing on strategy, business development, fund raising, product management and M&A for companies ranging in size from emerging ventures to established companies such as Earthlink and WeddingChannel.com. Loren graduated with honors in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University.
Ted Maidenberg joined USVP in July 2006, focusing on information technology investments. He has over 10 years of experience in investing in, operating and advising both old and new media companies. At USVP, Ted focuses on information technology investments, with his main areas of interest being digital media/advertising, mobile content and applications, ecommerce and software as a service. Previously Ted worked for Warner Bros., heading up their wireless content division in Asia, based in Tokyo. Ted joined WB from Time Warner where he was a founding member of the Time Warner Investments group (previously AOL Investments). During his time there, the group invested in over 60 early stage companies, committing over $250 million.
Adam Berger is the Chairman and CEO of Spark Networks, Inc., a publicly traded company. Prior to that he was the CEO of WeddingChannel.com Inc. where he led the company for seven years from its early stages through its sale to The Knot, Inc. Immediately prior, Adam was President of The Franklin Mint, a direct marketer. He began his career with The Procter and Gamble Company and later joined The Boston Consulting Group. Adam holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School.
With a decade of venture investing experience, Nate seeks to build companies leveraging experience as an entrepreneur and strategic adviser. Before joining Rustic Canyon, Nate managed investments and advisory work for Professor Clayton Christensen at the Harvard Business School. Previously, Nate co-founded an Internet infrastructure company and helped launch two other early web companies. Nate began his career with the Boston Consulting Group as a consultant to technology firms on new product development and business strategy. Nate received his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and holds two degrees (M.S.E. and B.S.E.) from The University of Michigan College of Engineering, where he was an Entrepreneurial Fellow in the Engineering Global Leadership Honors Program.