Meet the people behind pontiflex.
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Zephrin Lasker, Co-Founder and CEO
Zephrin is our big cheese. Our head honcho. Our major enchilada. He’s been in the online marketing industry since the beginning and founded Pontiflex because he wanted to do something fresh: help companies connect with people who actually want to hear from them.
Before Pontiflex: A serial entrepreneur, Zephrin successfully launched two start-ups prior to Pontiflex: The North Road Group, an interactive agency, and Beautility, an e-commerce company. He also worked as Vice President of Business Development at i33 Communications and at Commerce One Global Services, managing Sprint’s new web initiatives. He has helped clients such as Cendant, Earthlink and eFax start relationships with more than 8 million customers.
Back in the day: Zephrin has a finance background, and worked for Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in mergers and acquisitions. He began his career as an Equity Analyst at Creditanstalt in Prague.
When not thinking about CPL: Zephrin is a serious fly fisherman and just learned how to spey cast.
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Geoff Grauer, Co-Founder and CIO/COO
Geoff handles all the complex stuff and makes it look easy. He oversees the short-term execution and long-term development of data transfer, security, distributed computing and operations. And he does it all without breaking a sweat.
Before Pontiflex: Geoff came to Pontiflex from Amazon.com, where he handled automation, security and web operations. He redesigned the company᾿s payment infrastructure to improve security, scalability and meet PCI compliance. He also designed one of the world’s largest data warehouses using commodity hardware and while maintaining performance and reliability.
Back in the day: Geoff worked for HSBC Bank, where he designed the institution’s configuration and compliance system. He also created the disaster recovery infrastructure for the bank᾿s U.S. operations, which has saved millions of dollars in avoided outages (including during the Northeast Blackout of 2003). Throughout his career, Geoff has lived and worked throughout Asia, including Tokyo, India and Hong Kong.
When not thinking about CPL: Geoff is the Executive Director of Mikijio Arts, a contemporary art gallery in Seattle.
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Roshan Bangera, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Roshan makes everything happen. One of the first things he did after starting Pontiflex was design and build our innovative AdLeads platform, which makes it easy for companies to run CPL campaigns. Now he oversees all of our technical operations, and works hard to make our back-end system even more ruthlessly efficient.
Before Pontiflex: Before founding Pontiflex, Roshan was Senior Software Engineer at i33 Communications, where he led large-scale web development projects and constructed bridges to connect clients and their data. Previously, he worked at Commerce One, where he helped develop AdMaximize, a robust platform that handles banner ad serving, tracking and reporting.
Back in the day: Roshan used to be a software engineer at IBM, where he worked on top-secret Y2K projects.
When not thinking about CPL: Roshan likes to travel and take photographs.
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Jon Beardsley, Chief Revenue Officer
Simply put, Jon makes Pontiflex grow. He's a master of all verticals, with major sales successes in travel, retail, technology, education, nonprofit and market research. His greatest triumph was securing the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign as a client after almost two years of perseverance.
Before Pontiflex: Jon held a series of leadership roles at Innovation Ads, a premier interactive agency. He helped his department grow twentyfold and was instrumental in the company being named the 29th-fastest-growing small business in America, as named by Entrepreneur Magazine and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Back in the day: Jon worked for Britain's New Local Government Network and taught kids how to unleash vicious forehands at Tennis Camps at Harvard.
When not thinking about CPL: Jon is dedicated to charitable causes in Africa, with a specific focus on Liberia. He has been involved in The Grassroots Movement of Liberia and the rebuilding of the war-torn city of Monrovia.
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Jerrie Gullick, CFO
Jerrie is Pontiflex’s financial enforcer. She draws up the budgets, manages cash flow, scrutinizes all the fine print, makes sure everything is cool with the IRS, and helps Pontiflex stay in the black.
Before Pontiflex: Prior to Pontiflex, Jerrie was VP, Finance and Operations at Schoolnet, Inc., where she helped secure a $19 million equity capital investment. She managed the implementation of multiple management systems to save the company money, oversaw all accounting processes, and managed multiple office relocations.
Back in the day: Jerrie has always loved helping start-ups succeed. As controller at The Newsmarket, she played a central role in securing a $4 million venture capital investment and standardized the company's accounting system. Previously, Jerrie was Finance Director at Sachs Insights, and a financial analyst at ComTier, a satellite communications start-up that was purchased by Andrews Corporation.
When not thinking about CPL: Jerrie drives a 1962 MGB and plays the guitar. (But not at the same time.)
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Arun Krishnan, VP, Marketing
Arun is Pontiflex's resident word nerd, which means he's responsible for developing the company's marketing and communications strategy. His personal mission is to drive openness and transparency in the lead-generation industry.
Before Pontiflex: Arun joined Pontiflex from Stein Rogan & Partners, where he was Media Director and worked with clients such as OnForce, TransitCenter and Aruba Networks.
Back in the day: Arun used to be a communications lead at IBM, and a Development Officer at Concern Worldwide, an international relief organization. He began his career at Ogilvy & Mather, where he worked on the legendary Superpages.com account.
When not thinking about CPL: Arun is a published author. His first novel, “The Loudest Firecracker,” is a coming of age story set in urban India. It is available from Tranquebar Press.
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Chris Halvorsen, VP, Sales
Chris’s title is VP, Sales, but his true specialty is relationships. He spends his days helping Pontiflex develop strategic partnerships with advertising agencies, networks, publishers and advertisers.
Before Pontiflex: Chris came from Orbitz Worldwide, where he held a series of leadership roles, including Vice President of Supplier Marketing and Vice President of Advertising Sales for the Partner Marketing Group. Chris was a founding member of the Partner Marketing team and helped build the business into a $35 million revenue stream.
Back in the day: Prior to Orbitz, Chris worked at United Online as a Senior Director of Business Development and at About.com, which was eventually acquired by The New York Times.
When not thinking about CPL: Chris is a saltwater fisherman, boater and occasional lobsterman.
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Evan Adlman, VP, Strategic Development
Evan is every client’s best friend. He helps them scale lead generation campaigns at the front end and extend the lifetime value of every lead on the back end. He’s got it all covered.
Before Pontiflex: Evan was in charge of Business Operations for Return Path’s Postmaster Network, where he managed a Lead Generation Network of over 150 sites that yielded more than 2 million leads a month.
Back in the day: At the agency Trafficbuyer, Evan was Senior Lead Generation Specialist, focusing on the mortgage industry. He managed campaigns for companies such as Get Smart, Lending Tree, ING and eDiets. He has also run his own digital marketing agency.
When not thinking about CPL: Evan is an avid mountain biker and readily admits that he cannot get enough of reality TV shows.
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Nick Herman, VP, User Interface Design
Nick’s job is to make sure that Pontiflex’s technology best serves the people who use it. He’s always chasing optimal user experience through intuitive interface design. He believes that technology should make people’s lives better.
Before Pontiflex: Prior to joining our tech squad, Nick led the web development team at i33 Communications. He spearheaded the development of corporate websites for clients ranging from BodumUSA.com and execu-search.com to social networking portal Attendi.com. In addition, he developed corporate intranets for companies such as the Corporate Executive Board.
Back in the day: Nick provided development and support expertise for agencies and advertisers including Digitas, Ogilvy & Mather, Smallworld Sports, WebSense, Citibank and FAST Media. At Cendant Engineering International, he developed and maintained a suite of corporate websites for numerous international hospitality brands.
When not thinking about CPL: Nick enjoys leaving work early to race sailboats.