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Loren Bendele, CEO
Loren Bendele joined Savings.com in January 2007 as the CEO. Prior to that 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 major communities. Loren started his career with Dow Chemical, initially as a chemical engineer then in Dow's Strategic Services group. He then joined the Dallas office of 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 a 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 Amgen, Earthlink and Wedding Channel.com. Loren graduated with honors in chemical engineering from The University of Texas A&M.
Sheryl Ryan, VP Operations
Sheryl Ryan joined Savings.com as VP Operations in August 2008. After earning a BS in Finance from Rutgers University School of Business, Sheryl joined the US Marine Corps to work in Avionics Electronics as an Air Traffic Control Radar Specialist. During her 5 years in the Corps, then Sgt. Ryan earned her MS in Computer Information Systems from Boston University. Sheryl has done IT consulting for Keane and was part of the Internal Consulting and Auditing team for Toyota North America. She has held various senior analysis roles for a Reed Elsevier holding company and for Teleflora, where she also ran the Inside Sales Department and later managed their B2B eCommerce operations. Prior to joining Savings.com, Sheryl worked in Australia and directed the overseas purchase of Neptune Shipping company for Fiji Water.
Joe Zulli, Dir. Technology
Joe Zulli joined Savings.com in January 2006 as Software Architect then later as the Director of Technology. Joe was one of the earliest Savings.com employees and is responsible for the technical vision and strategy of the company. Joe spent most of his career in the online advertising industry, working at Fastclick as the Technical Lead for the AdServer self-serve ad serving platform as well as Fastclick's search optimization platform, where he managed the product development from the early design stages to launch. This is also where he gained his expertise in SEM technology and strategy. Prior to that, Joe worked as a Lead Developer at Computer Associates. Joe graduated with a degree in Computer Science from The University of California Santa Barbara.
Marcus Flemming, Dir. Business Development
Marcus Flemming got his start on the web professionally in 1997 when he built his first web site ranked by ZDNet and PC Magazine as a top 3 online destination in its space (DVD). This entrepreneurial effort led to nine additional Internet based start-ups spanning the fitness industry to commercial television and online web business solutions while building partnerships with companies such as Yahoo, Comcast, and Peer1. While studying business administration and psychology, he expanded his skills beyond business planning and development to include hands on technical experience through advanced search engine optimization, network architecture and administration, and the management, design, and development of over one hundred online destinations. Marcus joined the team in January of 2007 to focus on business development and SEO initiatives.
Tom Kuljis, Dir. Operations
Tom Kuljis started his business career in the Direct Marketing industry while studying philosophy in Santa Barbara CA. He signed on at a small ecommerce start-up, Commerce Planet Inc., in early 2003 and quickly rose through the ranks occupying various positions including Director of Customer Service, Director of Quality Assurance and eventually became the VP of Consumer Relations for the business at the age of 23. Post acquisition he worked as an independent consultant focused primarily on streamlining call center operations and establishing employee training processes for small businesses. Tom joined the Savings.com team in March of 2007 to manage the company's Deal Entry Resources.
Pete Mauro, Dir. Product Management and Marketing
Pete Mauro is a Product Management executive with 10 years experience bringing web, social media, mobile and PC products to market. He joined Savings.com in September 2008 focusing on consumer products, marketing and PR. Prior to Savings.com, Pete co-founded SceneTag, a social media company dedicated to creating the largest online collection of movie and TV quotes. Previously he managed product development and content licensing for Warner Bros. Mobile. Prior to that, Pete launched consumer products for several early stage tech startups including Event411.com and Cloud 9 Interactive. During his career he has worked with popular entertainment brands and properties such as Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, The Matrix, The OC, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Nickelodeon and Disney.
Ryan Owen, Dir. International and Business Development
Ryan Owen joined Savings.com in October 2008 as the General Manager of international operations and director of business development. Prior to Savings.com, Ryan worked as a consultant for Redpoint Ventures, a venture capital firm with $2 billion under management. At Redpoint Ventures, Ryan co-developed a strategic plan for uncovering investment opportunities for Redpoint's $300 million dollar late-stage Omega Fund. Ryan started his career in internet marketing in 2002 when he negotiated affiliate deals with premier wine merchants and used XML feeds to aggregate multiple inventories in one location. Ryan earned his masters in business administration with a focus on strategy and entrepreneurship from the UCLA Anderson School of Business.
Board Of Directors
Loren Bendele
Ted Maidenberg, US Venture Partners
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, CEO, Spark Networks
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
Investors
U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build world-class companies that are leaders in their industry. USVP focuses on early stage opportunities in sectors where the Partners have the domain expertise, operating experience and network of relationships to provide meaningful contribution to the success of the enterprise. These sectors include business and consumer software and services, digital communications and networking systems, semiconductors and components, and medical devices and biopharmaceuticals.
Savings.com received early funding from several prominent angel investors in the Southern California technology community.