TAPIN2 - Key Persons
Brad Costello has been a key advisor to Tapin2 for the last year. He currently holds equity in a number of tech-related companies, and has previously been in senior executive positions at Pillsbury, PepsiCo, and Office Depot. Additionally, Brad held US-wide responsibilities as a Managing Director at FedEx. His experiences include M&A integration, general management, corporate strategy, organizational development and staff division leadership, as well as global brand implementation.
David Rone has a 25 year history as a seasoned media executive in sports and entertainment. He was most recently the president at Time Warner Cable Networks, managing their portfolio of sports, news and lifestyle content assets and networks across the country. David also held senior executive positions at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Fox Sports Networks and the Walt Disney Company. He has a depth of expertise in brand building and executing joint ventures, partnerships, M&A transactions and investments that move businesses forward.
Jay Upchurch is an accomplished IT executive with more than 18 years' experience leading global managed hosting, managed application, Cloud and SaaS organizations. Jay was most recently VP Strategy and Solutions Management for Oracle Hospitality. Jay joined Oracle as part of the Oracle's $5.3b acquisition of MICROS Systems in 2014 where he was Chief Information Officer and SVP of Global Hosting and SaaS. Throughout his career, Jay has enjoyed a track record as a technology leader known for his deep industry expertise and his ability to build and lead world-class organizations that consistently drive core company values and deliver financial results. Jay's passion is leveraging his business and IT skills to align strategy, investment, and operations.
Job Titles:
- VP of Product Development at Tapin
Matthew Schoenfeld is the VP of Product Development at Tapin2. Matthew began his career as a young actor appearing in various film and TV titles such as Newsies and Kids Incorporated. After earning a BA in Film Studies from UCSB, he worked as a sound mixer for independent films and live music venues in Los Angeles. A small stint in between gigs became a 10-year run with Spark Networks where Matthew honed his QA and Project Management skills, leading the company's transition from waterfall to agile development. He has since led similar transitions at Futuredontics and Canary Health bringing big ideas to market through iterative feedback loops that maximize value based on real user behavior.
Michael Egan is a senior executive with extensive experience driving strategic growth both organically and through acquisitions. Michael was most recently the CEO of Spark Networks where he led significant profitability gains and led the company's shift to mobile. He was previously a senior executive at Internet Brands leading the transformation of the company from traditional media to a SAAS business model. During his tenure, the company tripled its market capitalization and sold to KKR for $1.1 billion. He has also held leadership positions at Yahoo! and Bain & Company.
Job Titles:
- Director of Wyndham Destinations
Michael Wargotz serves as a Director of Wyndham Destinations, the world's largest vacation ownership, exchange and rental company and, as a Director of Resources Connections, Inc., a global provider of consulting services. Michael is also an Executive Officer in residence at Axcess Worldwide, a strategy-lead, brand experience agency, which he co-founded. in 2001. Previous executive experience includes founder/chief financial officer of Milestone Aviation Group, executive positions at NetJets, Inc., as well as at Cendant and its predecessor HFS Incorporated.
Phong Vu is the CEO of Tapin2 and Board member. Phong is a seasoned executive with experience across multiple industries including consulting, telecommunications and online media. He has held leadership roles at MCI, Yahoo!, Vantage Media, Internet Brands, and most recently, DealScience where he was the CEO. He brings deep experience ranging from finance and business development to operations and marketing. Phong holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Member of the Board
- President
Tony Christopoulos, who is also a Board member of Tapin2, is a Co-Founder, and the President & Chief Technology Officer of Tapin2. Tony was the system architect and original developer for Cornerstone OnDemand's Cornerstone Suite, a web-based learning management system currently servicing over 13 million business users daily. Later he co-founded Leads360/Velocify as the CTO/Chief Architect and was responsible for all technology architecture, design and development. Tony holds a JD from USC Law School and a BA in Computer Science from Pomona College.