Josh Kopelman, Chairman
Josh Kopelman has been an entrepreneur and investor in the Internet industry since he began his career in 1992 while at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he co-founded Infonautics Corporation – an Internet information company which went public in 1996. Following the success of Infonautics, Kopelman went on to be founder of Half.com in 1999 which was later acquired by eBay in 2000 and where he remained for three years running the business unit and growing eBay's Media marketplace.
In late 2003 Kopelman was co-founder of TurnTide, an anti-spam company that created the world's first anti-spam router and was acquired by Symantec six months later.
In addition to being an active angel investor, Josh has served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Comcast Interactive Capital - a $350 million venture capital fund affiliated with Comcast Corporation. Kopelman's other experiences include five U.S. patents for his work in Internet technology and the Kopelman Foundation, a non-profit organization created by Kopelman and his wife in 2001.
Kopelman earned a Bachelor of Science degree cum laude in entrepreneurial management and marketing from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Clint Chao
Clint Chao is a founding general partner at Formative Ventures. Clint invests in emerging technologies start-ups in areas such as communications, wireless, and next-generation Internet solutions. Clint is an experienced technology executive who brings more than 20 years of start-up operating experience including marketing, sales and business development to Formative Ventures.
Prior to co-founding Formative Ventures, Clint served as vice president of marketing, sales, and business development at SkyStream Networks (acquired by Tandberg TV), a leading provider of video routing equipment. Under his leadership, SkyStream formed partnerships with industry leaders such as AOL Time Warner, HP, Microsoft, RealNetworks, Lucent Technologies, Mitsubishi, and Philips. Clint has also served as senior director of marketing at C-Cube Microsystems and held numerous sales and sales management positions at Motorola Semiconductor.
Clint earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.
Oren Michels, CEO
Oren Michels brings more than 15 years of experience to his job as CEO of Mashery. Michels has a proven track record with experience across multiple industries. Previously, Michels was vice president of business development at Feedster, where he negotiated partnerships with AOL, Real Networks and Mitsui, and oversaw the company's activities in China. Prior to Feedster, Michels was president of Colt HR, a leading provider of outsourced benefits administration software and services to the mid market. He also co-founded WiFinder, an international provider of directory services for wi-fi public access hotspots; served as president of winebid.com, where he managed the company's growth and helped establish it as a leading online wine auction market; served as COO of two manufacturing companies; and as CEO of The Groundlings, an entertainment production company in Hollywood.
Michels began his career as a software designer for Hughes Aircraft and has been a consultant to companies in the management, financial, marketing and information technology industries. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA in finance and entrepreneurial studies from UCLA's Anderson School.
Scott Rafer
Scott Rafer is a co-founder and director at Mashery and has been helping Internet publishers and users develop the 'next big thing' since 1995. As CEO of MyBlogLog and Chairman of Winksite, Rafer helps deliver services for media publishing and discovery. Both sites offer unique features: MyBlogLog delivers user familiarity for publishers even with the quick click'n'go nature of today's Web and Winksite helps publishers assemble active mobile communities around their brands and content.
Previously, Rafer was CEO of Feedster from 2001 to 2003 and co-founded WiFinder, an online tool for finding public wireless access; BookBroadband, the broadband hotel finder; Fresher Information, a real-time search engine using RSS back in 1999; and FotoNation, a creator of connected photography solutions.
Before the 1995, Rafer headed-up the Internet products group at Kodak Hollywood, worked in investment banking at Needham & Company, and graduated from the management of technology program at the University of Pennsylvania.