Principals

PRINCIPALS

Malcolm Michaels, CEO/Director
Mr. Michaels has been an active part of the gaming community since 1996 when he founded his first venture and developed partnerships with with publishers Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Activision. In 2000 he joined Intermix Media and built out the companies games division forging partnerships with AOL, Yahoo, Real and other top-tier casual game companies. In addition, Mr. Michaels created GameRival.com and Grab.com (acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2005), delivered gaming content for MySpace.com and AmericanIdol.com and wrote and produced over 100 casual games. Those games have been played over one billion times and generated over $5 million in revenue.

Todd Smith, Director
Mr. Smith over 11 years of experience in online advertising technology and monetization solutions for Display, Search, Social Media, & Email. Todd is currently the VP of Business Development at the Rubicon Project.  Previously, Todd ran all business development functions at Fox Audience Network, focusing primarily on (i) real-time-auction buying/selling; (ii) non-PII data procurement; (iii); evaluation of new ad formats & platforms; and (iv) distribution of company’s insights/analytics products to advertisers & publishers.

Mike Makar, Advisor
Mr. Makar is a Founder, Director and currently the President and CEO of The DelFin Project, Inc. DelFin is an Internet technology company which develops unique e-commerce tools and technologies for advertisers, publishers and agencies. Mr. Makar has raised over $4.5 million dollars in investment capital on behalf of the company founded in 1998. He has been awarded four U.S. Patents and one Canadian and U.K. Patent for various Internet technologies.  Previously he served in senior management positions for Sensormatic Electronics, Interaxx Television Network, Racal Datacomm and Telematics International. Mr. Makar has a BBA from Florida Atlantic University.

Ed Savage, Advisor
Mr. Savage, a partner with the TJ Strategy Group, has a distinguished financial career in the technical industry. Ed was co-founder, Senior VP of Finance and Administration and Director of Telematics International (NASDAQ), a multinational Florida-based telecommunication component manufacturer. In this role, he co-authored the business plan, raised over $17 million in private funding, and helped lead a successful public offering. Edward also played a key operational role in Telematics International from start-up to $100 million in sales. Previous positions also included VP of Finance of Modular Computer Systems (NYSE) and Senior Group Controller of Product Manufacturing at Digital Equipment Corporation, Director of the Community National Bank, and Founder and Director of the Gateway American Bank of Florida.

Eric Brandel, Advisor
Mr. Brandel brings a diverse technological background that ranges from web site development to embedded software applications, utilizing such technologies as AJAX, C/C++, CSS, PHP, XHTML and XML. He is considered an expert in Web 2.0 technologies. He studied at Michigan Tech and the University of Minnesota; receiving his degree in Computer Science from Augsburg College.

Sheri Rubin, Advisor
Sheri Rubin is the CEO and Founder of Design Direct Deliver, a small business consultancy, and previously served as Producer and Corporate Communications Director for High Voltage Software, Inc. Sheri is also an avid philanthropist and fierce advocate for the betterment of the video game industry, dedicating much of her free time to volunteer organizations including Women in Games International (WIGI), the Red Cross, and the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). She received her B.S. summa cum laude in Business Administration from DeVry University.

Matt Perl, Advisor
Matt Perl is the Director of Marketing for Fix Media, a marketing company in Washington, D.C. Fix Media generates leads for a wide variety of consumer verticals, including finance and education. Prior to his time at Fix Media, Matt worked as a television producer, with 4 years spent at MASN and ESPN, respectively. During his time at MASN, Matt produced the pre- and post- game show for the Washington Nationals (MLB) and Baltimore Ravens (NFL), while also working in a number of other capacities in the sports industry. While at ESPN, Matt worked in numerous capacities of live and taped production and was awarded two Sports Emmys. By blending marketing, television production, writing and communications skills into one package, Matt offers a disciplined integrated marketing approach to any problem. Matt will also receive his Master’s Degree in Integrated Marketing and Communications in the Fall of 2012 from the P.I. Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University. Matt graduated Cum Laude with a double major from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications.

David Fox, Advisor
David Fox is a San Francisco-based entrepreneur, game designer, and writer best known for casual multiplayer games and books about online technology. He is the founder of Double Coconut. Previously, he co-founded iWin and was a senior exec at Digital Chocolate.