We are Alphabird.

Meet the team

Alphabird is a vertically integrated audience development and content monetization company with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Sydney. Alphabird serves leading advertisers and publishers around the globe in their quest for engaged and profitable audiences for digital content. Alphabird technology is at the heart of perfectly balancing user interest, brand awareness and ad yield optimization, to deliver an experience that meets the needs of audience, publisher and advertiser every time.

• TOBIAS BATTON, VP OF MOBILE PRODUCTS +
  Tobias Batton is a serial entrepreneur with vast experience in business development, product development, product strategy and game design; he heads up Alphabird’s mobile product group, bringing audience development and content monetization to the new world of mobile. Mr Batton has successfully grown companies from inception to exit on two occasions (Liberated Films, 2007; Live Matrix, 2012), and has been active in the space for a decade, since his initial assignment as a Corporate Sales Executive at AT&T. Mr Batton attended the University of San Francisco.
• NELSON BECERRA, VP, NETWORK DEVELOPMENT +
  Nelson Becerra brings extensive online business development experience to Alphabird where he focuses on building and growing strategic partnerships in the video syndication industry. Previously Mr. Becerra led business development at Cozmo.tv, an early pioneer in the online video market, where he developed a wide range of online video partnerships. Mr. Becerra has a long background in B2B sales prior to his experience in the online video market.
• JOSH EDIS, SVP GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT +
  Josh has over sixteen years experience in the digital media sector, having developed and managed a diverse group of digital advertising technology ventures in the Australian, North American, and UK markets. Prior to co-founding ViDM, which became Alphabird Australia in October 2012, Josh was a founding member of the senior executive team with Webfirm Group (ASX:WFM), a multiple Deloitte Fast 50 & Fast 500 award winner in Australasia. Josh is responsible for global business development at Alphabird, establishing new business partnerships and M&A opportunities across the group.
• TODD MACKAY, EVP, CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT +
  Todd Mackay brings a long and impressive history of corporate and business development to Alphabird. Mr Mackay spent over a dozen years with the E*Trade Financial Corporation as Managing Director of Corporate Development, and Corporate Treasurer. During that time, Mr Mackay orchestrated over 30 acquisitions, investments, partnerships and new corporate strategies. Prior to his tenure with E*Trade, Mr Mackay worked with Alex Brown and Sons, and Robertson Stephens. He is currently a Member of the Advisory Board of Stockr, Inc., and holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University.
• ANGUS MCDONALD, VP/GM OF EMERGE DIGITAL +
  Former Head of Publisher Partnerships for Yahoo!7, one of Australia’s leading digital media companies, Angus brings twelve years experience in digital media, technology and development. Angus is deeply knowledgeable of what makes for a successful digital publisher monetization strategy, driving the business development cycle from vision through to execution on behalf of emerge Digital’s premium publisher clients.
• CHASE NORLIN, CEO +

  Chase Norlin is the CEO of AlphaBird. Prior to AlphaBird, Norlin was the founder and CEO of Pixsy, a pioneer in syndicated video search funded by TVGuide-Gemstar (now Rovi — NASDAQ:ROVI). Previously he served as a senior executive at ValueClick (NASDAQ:VCLK) where he managed publisher distribution for the display advertising network, paid search, and comparison shopping divisions.

  Prior to ValueClick, Norlin held the position of Senior Consultant to InfoSpace (NASDAQ:INSP) charged with publisher distribution for the paid search division. Previously, Norlin developed Sony's first online photo sharing venture and founded the web's first online video sharing company Share Your World. Norlin also served as a new venture consultant in launching Boeing's (NYSE:BA) online video and image licensing division. Norlin began his career in the media business in the mailroom at Paradigm Talent and Literary Agency.

  Norlin serves on the advisory board of Same Page Capital and on the board of Adbidcentral. He received his BA from UC Berkeley and MA from The University of Chicago and is a regular speaker on online video, advertising, and search. Recent speaking engagements include the Goldman Sachs Global Media Conference, Bloomberg Media Summit, Monaco Media Forum, NATPE, NAB, OMMA, and ad:tech.

• WILLIE PANG, MANAGING DIRECTOR ALPHABIRD AUSTRALIA +
  Managing Director of Alphabird Australia. Willie is a proven leader in the digital media space with over ten years management experience. Prior to co-founding ViDM, which became Alphabird Australia in 2012, Willie served as Managing Director of Yahoo! Search Marketing for Australia and New Zealand, and previously held international executive management positions with Melbourne IT and Hitwise. Willie is based in Sydney, Alphabird Australia’s head office, where he leads and inspires a team of over twenty staff across the group.
• ROLAN REICHEL, VP, PUBLISHER SOLUTIONS GROUP +
  Rolan has a diverse background that spans marketing, revenue production, entrepreneurship, building and leading teams. After big brand experience leading the charge for Brand Corona in California, he made the leap to the digital world and brought his extensive skills in strategic thinking and how large markets work. That perspective is critical in an advertising industry moving towards a market/exchange model. Having started in the public sector, Mr Reichel maintains a strong commitment to projects that are near and dear to his heart such as the environment, our food system and social justice and equality. To that end, he has consulted with Food Forward, a documentary TV show on PBS; and done several pro bono projects for Tap Root through the years.
• ED ROFFMAN, CFO +

  Mr. Roffman has worked with many early stage companies in differing segments of the internet space and in casual video game development. Mr. Roffman served as Chief Financial Officer of Red Mile Entertainment, Inc. from January 2005 until April 2006 and at Fluent Entertainment, Inc. from February 2003 to December 2004. Both companies are consumer software developers and publishers.

  Mr. Roffman has also been a principal of Creekside, LLC, a consulting firm which specializes in the software, internet and consumer products industries. Mr. Roffman currently serves on the board and is chairman of the audit committee of Westinghouse Solar (NASDAQ: WEST) a designer and distributor of solar modules. Mr. Roffman is a CPA (New York) with over 35 years of experience in accounting and finance. Mr. Roffman earned a BBA in accounting from Temple University.

• ALEX ROWLAND, PRESIDENT +

  Mr Rowland is the former founder and CEO of CozmoTV, a leading B2B provider of syndicated video players and platforms. Mr. Rowland has spent the last 15 years building Internet companies in a variety of industries and has spent the last 8 years deeply involved in the digital video market.

  Prior to CozmoTV, Mr. Rowland was founder and CEO of USPowerSolutions Corp. (USPS), a provider of enterprise software solutions to retail energy companies. USPS grew to 65 employees and over 500,000 consumer accounts before being sold to Green Mountain Energy Company in July 2002. Prior to USPS, Alex founded a consulting business called ICSolutions that provided Intranet development services to small-cap enterprises. Alex attended Bowdoin College.

• Joe Abrams, Advisor +

  Abrams co-founded Intermix in 1998, the predecessor company to MySpace, which was sold to News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) in 2005 for $580 million. In 1983, Abrams co-founded The Software Toolworks, Inc., a publicly held developer, publisher, and distributor of educational and entertainment software, which was sold to Pearson, Plc. (NYSE: PSO) in 1994 for $462 million.

• Sanford Climan, Advisor +

  Sandy Climan is President of Entertainment Media Ventures, Inc., a company active in media investment and strategic advisory work, with a particular focus on innovative technologies pushing forward the boundaries of media and entertainment. Mr. Climan has also been active in both motion picture and television production, most notably as Executive Producer of the first digital live-action 3D motion picture, “U2 3D,” Co-Executive Producer of the CBS primetime series “Robbery Homicide Division,” and as Producer of “The Aviator,” the Howard Hughes biographical feature film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, for which Mr. Climan was awarded a British Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

  Mr. Climan has served in a number of corporate senior management positions in media and entertainment. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Climan served as the first CEO of 3ality Digital, a leading company in the development and commercialization of technologies which enable perfect digital 3D image capture, digital 3D broadcast and software that enables consumer applications of 3D entertainment. Within four years, Mr. Climan took the company from no certified products to 3ality being recognized as a global leader in 3D technology.

  Earlier positions have included Executive Vice President and President of Worldwide Business Development of Universal Studios from 1995 to 1997, and as a member of the senior management team at Creative Artists Agency from 1986 to 1995 and 1997 to 1999, serving as both a talent agent and as founding head of CAA’s corporate representation practice. At Universal, Mr. Climan oversaw corporate international strategy, strategic marketing and five studio operating divisions with $1.4 billion in sales: Consumer Products, Home Video, Pay Television, New Media and Spencer Gifts. At CAA, Mr. Climan was part of the senior management team for 12 years, representing talent including Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Danny DeVito, and Michael Mann. Mr. Climan also served as the founding head of CAA’s corporate practice, working with global companies including Sony Corporation on its acquisition of Columbia Pictures, Matsushita Electric on its acquisition of MCA/Universal, Coca-Cola on revitalizing its advertising, Credit Lyonnais on the restructuring of MGM, and NYNEX, Bell Atlantic and Pacific Telesis on the creation of their video joint venture, Tele-TV.

  Prior to joining CAA, Mr. Climan held various executive positions in the entertainment industry. He served as President of Lion’s Gate Studios; President of Wescom Productions, a subsidiary of Chronicle Publishing; and Vice President of Production for The David Gerber Company, a major independent television company. He began his career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, overseeing pay-television, international theatrical distribution and, later, working in feature film production.

  Mr. Climan serves on several charitable boards, including The American Cinematheque, The Fulfillment Fund, The Chief Executive Leadership Institute of the Yale School of Management, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He has served as member of the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and also serves as an advisor on entertainment and media to the World Economic Forum and its Annual Gathering in Davos, Switzerland.

• Rob Donnell, Advisor +

  Rob Donnell, an award-winning veteran of the advertising industry, is founder and president of Brand Arc, a Santa Monica-based branded entertainment firm responsible for groundbreaking product integrations across TV, film, video games, mobile and digital platforms. His deals for longtime client Toyota include three consecutive seasons of highly visible integration into ABC’s Emmy-winning comedy, “Modern Family,” nine consecutive seasons in Bravo’s hit competition show, “Top Chef,” and recent car giveaways to recession-wracked guests on the syndicated talk show “Ellen.” Donnell and his team created the first-ever co-promotion between a pharmaceutical marketer, Roche, and a feature film, Warner Bros.’ blockbuster “Happy Feet.” In other firsts, he helped integrate the Toyota Yaris into five separate sketches on Fox’s late-night comedy, “Mad TV,” created the first brand-financed mobisodes with Sprint for the action thriller, “Prison Break,” and initiated the first-ever brand-sponsored DVD prequel for Fox’s hit drama, “24.” Though Donnell launched his company in 2005 primarily to service Toyota, he has also worked with an impressive list of clients including Lexus, AT&T, Roche and GSW.

• Royal Farros, Advisor +

  Royal Farros has spent over two decades as a technology entrepreneur and investor. He is currently CEO and chairman of portfolio company IMSI/Design, a global leader in mobile CAD (Computer Aided Design) solutions. Previously, Royal co-founded and was CEO of MessageCast, Inc., sold to Microsoft (NASD:MSFT) in 2005; founded and was CEO of iPrint.com (take public in 2000 and merged with 12th largest promotional products company in U.S. in 2001); was an Officer and General Manager at Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX); an was Chairman and EVP of T/Maker Company (sold to Deluxe Corporation in 1994). A San Jose Business Journal Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, Royal is widely interviewed and quoted, has appeared numerous times on CNBC and other financial and high tech venues, has guest lectured at both Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, and holds multiple software and process patents.

• Frank Bonsal, advisor +

  Frank Bonsal is a well-known and highly regarded venture capitalist with significant experience in helping start-up companies become successful. Mr. Bonsal is Co-founder of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the largest venture capital firms in the United States, and Director, Red Abbey Venture Partners. Since founding NEA in 1978, he has focused on the development of its early-stage companies.

  NEA, with over $8 billion under management, is the leading start-up venture capital firm in the country. For more than 25 years, NEA has practiced classic venture capital by investing in early-stage companies and working with management to nurture and build companies of lasting value. NEA has invested in more than 500 companies, of which more than 130 have gone public and more than 150 have been successfully acquired.

  Prior to NEA, Mr. Bonsal was a general partner of Alex. Brown & Sons (1968 – 1977). He received a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and Economics from Princeton University (1959).

• Larry Burstein, Advisor +
  Mr Burstein has been involved in venture capital investing for more than 30 years. For the past 18 years Mr Burstein has been President of Unity Venture Capital Associates. Mr Burstein has made domestic as well as international investments (Brazil, India and Ukraine). Mr Burstein is presently a director of 2 public companies CAS Medical Systems , a medical device company, and ID Systems which is engaged in asset monitoring employing various wireless technologies. Mr Burstein also serves on the Board of several private companies. Mr Burstein graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Columbia Law School