Company
Board Members
Joe Grano
Chairman
Mr. Grano is Chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, a company that advises private and public companies. From 2001-2004, Mr. Grano was Chairman of UBS Financial Services Inc., (formerly UBS PaineWebber) Mr. Grano is also the Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council reporting to Secretary Michael Chertoff under the U. S. Department of the Homeland Security. In addition to being one of the financial service industry's leading executives, Mr. Grano is involved in a wide range of educational and philanthropic endeavors.
Prior to joining PaineWebber, Mr. Grano was with Merrill Lynch for 16 years, holding various senior management positions including Director of National Sales. In 1987, he was named the industry,s best retail marketing executive in a survey conducted by Investment Dealers, Digest. Mr. Grano was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the NASD and a member of the NASD,s Executive Committee.
Before joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Grano served in the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets). He became one of the Army's youngest officers, achieving the rank of Captain.
Mr. Grano holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pepperdine University and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Queens College, City University of New York. He served as Vice Chairman of the Queens College Foundation Board of Trustees, and was on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Greater New York. He is a member of the Council for the United States and Italy, a member of the City University of New York,s Business Leadership Council and a member of the Board of Directors at Lenox Hill Hospital.
Adam Selig
Chief Executive Officer
Adam Selig is the Chief Executive Officer of Visible Technologies responsible for Visible's corporate and brand strategies, supervision of sales and marketing, and the relationship with its partners. Prior to joining the company, Adam was President and CEO of Broadstreet, a corporate and marketing communications firm. He was responsible for building an array of new product offerings, opening offices, and making strategic acquisitions which transformed Broadstreet into an international brand. Adam has been responsible for expanding and managing business for clients including: General Electric, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Time Warner. Adam also worked as a CPA at Ernst & Young, LLP. He has a BS in Accounting from Binghamton University, and a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University and the London Business School, in a joint international program.
Michelle Goldberg
Principal, Ignition Partners
Michelle is a principal at Ignition, investing in enterprise and consumer software and services.
Michelle represents Ignition as director on the boards of Entellium and Mpire. She also acts as Ignition observer on the boards of Jobster and Liberty Dialysis. She was an observer on UIEvolution (sold to Square Enix, Japan).
Prior to joining Ignition Michelle worked as an independent consultant at Microsoft where she developed the initial business plans for products in the enterprise server space. Michelle was an investment banker at Olympic Capital Partners where she specialized in mid-market mergers and acquisitions. Michelle also worked in management consulting for A.T. Kearney. As an associate in the Financial Institutions Group, Michelle focused on strategic and operational improvements for Fortune 100 clients. She also spent time working in Taipei with a group developing export strategy for the Chinese government.
Michelle earned her B.A. degree from Columbia, and an M.A. degree from Harvard University.
Alan Schanzer
Managing Partner MEC Interaction, North America
Alan is responsible for overseeing all activity related to MEC Interaction and associated companies in North America. Alan, along with four associates, formed The Digital Edge in 1999 as an independent business unit of Mediaedge:cia. The Digital Edge specialized in providing its clients (AT&T, Paramount, Xerox, Campbell's Soup Company, EJ Gallo, Colgate-Palmolive, Sylvan Learning Centers, Microsoft, Progressive Auto Insurance, LL Bean, Accenture, Pizza Hut, KFC, LL Bean, Macy's, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Cadbury, etc.) with a full range of digital media services through traditional and nontraditional platforms. In 2005, The Digital Edge was joined with Outrider Search Engine Marketing and Wunderman media to form MEC Interaction. A division of Mediaedge:cia, MEC Interaction provides clients with cost efficient recruitment and interaction with customers through all direct and emerging digital marketing channels.
With the formation of MEC Interaction, Alan was named Managing Partner for North America. In his current position, Alan delivers strategic leadership, vision and insight to MEC Interaction staff and clients.
In his leadership role, Alan is involved in developing capabilities across all GroupM Interaction companies and is a member of the Mediaedge:cia North American Executive Committee.
Alan is on the agency advisory board for MSN, Advertsing.com, Revenue Science, the IAB and the OPA. He is a frequent speaker and contributor at agency and industry events.
Alan is a graduate of Syracuse University and lives with his wife, Tracy, and children, Fox and Lane, in Westport, Connecticut.
Board Advisors
Lance Maerov
SVP Corporate Development, WPP
Lance currently manages WPP’s Corporate Development team in North America. His primary focus is to identify, negotiate and execute acquisitions, investments and joint ventures. He began his work for the Corporate Development Group in March 2005 in New York after WPP’s acquisition of Grey Global Group. In this role, Lance reports directly into Martin Sorrell.
Before joining WPP, Lance worked at Grey Global Group as its head of corporate development and made over 20 venture investments on behalf of Grey through its Grey Ventures Subsidiary. Prior to joining Grey, Lance handled acquisitions and investments for Reed Business Information, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reed Elsevier. Lance was a founder of iFusion, an early push-technology start-up, and raised $20 million of venture capital on its behalf over 1995-1997 before joining Reed Elsevier.
Lance earned a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the University of Vermont and was four year letter winner in the school’s Division I Men’s Lacrosse Team. He also holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School.
Lauren Reiss
Director of Business Development, WPP
Lauren Reiss is Director of Business Development, for the WPP Group. In this role, she works on the development of the Group's strategy, partnerships and new business opportunities, particularly in the technology area.
Before assuming this role, Lauren was a member of WPP's Fellowship Program. She entered the program upon her graduation from Harvard Business School in the summer of 2003 and spent two years at Young & Rubicam Brands and Berlin Cameron/United.
While at Young & Rubicam Brands, she worked with Ann Fudge on a variety of network-wide initiatives, including helping to develop Young & Rubicam Brands' three year strategic plan and to support its ongoing deployment.
While at Berlin Cameron/United, Lauren worked on business development. She was heavily involved in new business pitches, from small clients to major cross-group pitches, and helped to win several small, but growing, pieces of business for the agency.
Prior to that, she was an analyst in the Strategic Planning Department of The Walt Disney Company, where she focused on their domestic cable and international television businesses.
She also served as Vice President of Corporate Development for iBlast Inc, a Los Angeles-based start-up funded by many of the independently owned and operated television station groups (Tribune, Cox, The Washington Post Company and Gannett).
She holds an AB (1998) and MBA (2003) from Harvard University.
Christina M. Van Tassell
Partner, Centurion holdings
Christina Van Tassell is a Partner with Centurion Holdings LLC, a firm that advises public and private clients on all facets of business strategy, planning, development as well as obtaining access to capital markets. Ms. Van Tassell’s responsibilities include counseling her clients on the financial aspects and overall impact to their business with respect to the different strategies they undertake. Ms. Van Tassell also serves as the Centurion’s Chief Financial Officer.
Prior to joining Centurion, Ms.Van Tassell was a Director with PricewaterhouseCoopers. She worked within Transaction Services developing and leading the European footprint of its Strategic Structuring Services based in London, which was used as a framework for global expansion. Her responsibilities focused on bringing new cutting-edge products to the market while maintaining protocol within the shifting accounting, regulatory, and legal environment in order to help clients better deal with market changes. Ms. Van Tassell received her dual Masters of Business Administration from Columbia Business School and London Business School. Ms. Van Tassell is a Certified Public Accountant and a dual citizen of America and Sweden.
Jim Webber
Executive Vice President, Visible Technologlies
Jim Webber is co-founder and Executive Vice President of Visible Technologies. His primary responsibilites include client services and management of TruView, the company's innovative online reputation management service. Jim has been instrumental in Visible's growth since joining the company after holding various executive positions primarily in the technology industry for the past 18 years. Prior to founding Visible, Jim was a senior vice president and general manager for a large U.S. outsourcing firm, where his responsibilities included management of marketing communications for Toyota Motors. Previously Jim was vice president of marketing for technology and manufacturing companies including Creative Computers and Multiple Zones. Jim was also formerly vice president of merchandising and marketing for one of the largest U.S. direct marketers of personal computing products where he managed an annual marketing budget of over $100 million. Jim attended Washington State University where he earned his degrees in Business and Psychology.
