Company : Management Team

Michael Fertik, Chief Executive Officer - Michael Fertik is a repeat Internet entrepreneur and CEO with experience in technology and law. After law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Owen Tripp, Executive Vice President - Prior to joining the ReputationDefender team and before he attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Owen Tripp created the user intelligence team at eBay Inc., helping pioneer systems for identity management, next generation product finding, and keyword search optimization. Mr. Tripp has deep experience with Internet search technologies, data mining, and analytical marketing. Before coming to eBay, Owen Tripp worked at Accenture in the US and in the Philippines.

Brian Kelley, Chief Technology Officer - Prior to ReputationDefender, Brian Kelley was CTO of The Ticket Reserve, an online futures market for sporting event tickets. Following The Ticket Reserve, Mr. Kelley became CTO of The Academic Approach, leading the development of online interactive educational software. He has had over 10 years experience building enterprise-class software applications in a wide variety of industries including music, sports, finance and education. Mr. Kelley earned degrees in Music and Computer Science from Skidmore College.

Paul Pennelli, Senior Director of Marketing and Partnerships - Paul Pennelli most recently served as Director of Affiliate Relations at mtvU, MTV Network's 24-hour college channel, where he focused on business strategy and relationship management. Mr. Pennelli was an early-stage part of Y2M: Youth Media & Marketing Networks in Boston, where he was instrumental in growing the business from a start-up to its eventual sale to MTV in 2006. During his tenure at Y2M, he directed the development of College Publisher, the digital media network comprised of hundreds of college media outlets and was the product manager for BrokeScholar.com, a scholarship search engine now owned by JP Morgan Chase.

Kurt Kirsch, Senior Director of Business Development - Before joining the ReputationDefender team, Kurt Kirsch spent 11 years at Dell, Inc in various executive positions including general management, business development, online marketing and product line management.  Kurt's greatest accomplishments at Dell include creation and general management of the Consumer Alternate Channels group, a $200M group including sales through Dell Direct Stores in malls, QVC, Costco and Sam's Clubs online, development of mutually beneficial relationships with Internet Service Providers including MSN, AOL and Earthlink and general management of the $500M Dell Outlet business.  Kurt received his MBA from The University of Texas and studied for his PhD in Business Strategy there for 5 years before exiting to join Dell.

Stefanie Peters, Director of European Business Development - Prior to joining the ReputationDefender team, Stefanie Peters set up the German business for Jajah Inc.,signing strategic partnerships with top online/media players. She also managed the operational business of be2, a leading online matchmaking company, in the German-speaking region. Prior to this, Mrs. Peters was a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group in Germany and the U.S., where she acquired strong expertise in the Internet and media business. Before BCG, Stefanie Peters gained her MBA at INSEAD and worked as a consultant for Accenture.

Ross Chanin, Director of Operations - Ross Chanin has experience in organizational management. He has worked as a presidential campaign speechwriter and a civic advocate. He has served as a Presidential Fellow and Research Analyst at the Center for the Study of the Presidency, and was awarded the Coro Fellowship and a New York City Urban Fellowship. Mr. Chanin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Brent Franson, Director of MyEdge Solutions - Brent Franson is a recognized search engine-marketing authority with a proven track record of creating powerful online search marketing strategies. Before coming to ReputationDefender, he founded and built a successful global full-service search engine-marketing firm, with offices in Mountain View, Denver, Philadelphia, and Bangalore, India. In his current role as Director of ReputationDefender's MyEdge Client Solutions, he uses his decade of experience in search marketing strategy and deep search algorithm expertise to manage and maintain our clients' online reputations.

Raefer Gabriel, Chief Scientist - Raefer Gabriel has developed unique, innovative technology platforms in a variety of industries, including software tools to help predict the risk of women developing breast cancer, arbitrage trading platforms for equity and futures markets, and a compiler for quantum computing applications at MIT. Previously, he was Founder and CTO of TruExchange, an enterprise software company serving the B2B and financial exchange sectors, and more recently was Director of Risk Management at Oracle Partners, L.P., a healthcare sector hedge fund in Greenwich, CT. Mr. Gabriel is a graduate of Harvard College with an AB in physics, and he has an MBA from Columbia Business School.

David Weiner, Director of Special Services - David Weiner has worked as Senior Project Manager of Business Development and Special Projects for Civic Entertainment Group in New York City as well as in Business Development and Sales & Marketing for CBS Sports Radio and American Express.

John Cross, Product Manager - MyReputation/MyChild - John has over five years of experience in operations and technology management including roles as an ERP Systems Consultant, Project Manager, and Operations/Personnel Supervisor. Before joining ReputationDefender, he worked as a Commodity Manager conducting production procurement negotiations and contract analysis for the Chrysler Group (a former division of Daimler-Benz). Mr. Cross studied Management Information Systems, Supply Chain Management, and Marketing at Central Michigan University.