Leadership

Lori Goldberg

CEO

Lori is a veteran of the media industry with 18 years of client and agency experience, the past 12 focusing on digital. Most recently, she was a Client Partner overseeing Razorfish’s largest client relationships. She was responsible for ensuring brand strategy and vision across multiple large scale clients including Microsoft, Capital One, Monster.com, Polo Ralph Lauren, The Travel Channel and Smith Barney. As a Client Partner, she guided teams of specialists in digital media, search, strategy, ecommerce, creative, website content creation, user experience and technology. Before joining Razorfish, Lori spent six years as a VP, Account & Media Director with Initiative Media/ID Media, where she co-launched FastBridge, their interactive media division. She oversaw the marketing strategy for Nextel, Maybelline, Nikon, E*trade, and Brinks Home Security. She has also worked in the direct mail group for Wunderman Cato Johnson and in-house running the broadcast and newspaper media department at Stern’s Department Stores (now Macy’s) overseeing outside agencies.

 

Benjamin Friedman

Senior Vice President of Finance

Benjamin’s experience includes senior level financial positions in digital marketing and ecommerce software companies. With over 15 years experience working at fast-growing companies, his consistent role has been to establish clear, practical processes through collaboration. Before TRAFFIQ, Benjamin served as Senior Vice President of Operations and Finance at Zezza Network, a digital marketing agency that merged into Tenthwave Digital. The diversity of his business roles (including finance, operations, client relations for Fortune 500 clients, directing a payment processing team, marketing and human resources) allows him to approach new situations with broad perspective and valuable options. As a leader, Benjamin discovers ways to turn crises into new opportunities, develops teams by providing clear vision and meaningful objectives, and strives to proactively save time and costs. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at Duke University where graduated with honors, and Master’s degree at Columbia University. He is married with two daughters and enjoys international travel, volleyball, camping and hiking.

 

Ammon Brown

Vice President Of Operations

Ammon heads up advertising operations, search marketing, and real time bidding operations for TRAFFIQ. Prior to joining TRAFFIQ in early 2010, Ammon had spent over a decade in various roles in the digital media business. With experience at two early-stage startups, IndustryBrains (now Marchex) and Yodle, Ammon has built a skillset that understands small business. His early experience at Google and more recent experience with Omnicom’s OMD have given him an understanding of the unique needs of large-scale campaigns. With a breadth of experience that is rare in the industry as well as a hands-on approach, Ammon never fails to delight clients.

Michael Ackerman

Business Development Director

Michael brings over 14 years of digital media experience to his role at TRAFFIQ, where he is responsible for agency and publisher development.  Most recently, Michael was Director of Strategic Partnerships for Trulia.com, where he was responsible for managing relationships with strategic accounts which included Wells Fargo, Chase and Lowe’s.  Michael has held advertising sales leadership positions for a number of other successful Internet start-ups including SideStep/Kayak, IAC (Ticketmaster, Citysearch, Match & Evite) and MapQuest.

 

Board of Directors

Randy Castleman

General Partner, Court Square Ventures

Randy Castleman has two decades of company-building experience at the intersection of digital media, telecom and IT, including founding and senior operating roles in small and large companies, as well as involvement in key developments in intellectual property protection and licensing on the Internet. Prior to Court Square, Mr. Castleman created and managed the New Media and Technology Strategy group at performance rights clearing house ASCAP, advising the CEO and board on intellectual property and new technology issues. His group developed the first license for the performance of copyrighted music via the Internet, establishing ASCAP as a leader in the field. Also during his tenure at ASCAP, he was a technology policy advisor for the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, a Federal advisory commission that advised the White House on Internet-related policy issues, and which was comprised of 30 CEOs from the telecom, software, and media industries. Mr. Castleman was part of the founding team, with actress Jodie Foster, of Egg Pictures, a PolyGram-financed feature film production company, where he had both business and creative management responsibilities. He had business management responsibilities at Interscope Communications, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, and BellSouth. Mr. Castleman serves or has served as a director of CSV portfolio companies SNOCAP, Labrador Mobile, Grand Central and Optinel Systems. He earned his BA from Princeton University and his MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

 

Steve Fredrick

General Partner, Grotech Ventures

Steve is a General Partner with Grotech Ventures where he leads investments in the software, wireless, and digital media sectors. His career spans engineering roles, entrepreneurial company building, and early stage investing. Prior to Grotech, Steve was a General Partner with Novak Biddle Venture Partners where he made significant contributions to the success of numerous companies. He began his career in research and development with IBM, and then joined a venture-funded software company in the document imaging space called Vantage Solutions, which was acquired in 1994. Steve subsequently co-founded software development firm MartinScott before making his transition to the venture business in 1997. He has served in interim-operating roles with several portfolio companies upon request. Steve has also been instrumental in the launch of StartUpHire, a much needed online job board listing thousands of opportunities at venture-backed companies. He currently serves as a director of Grotech portfolio companies Omnilink Systems, RollStream, LogiXML, Secure Command, and TRAFFIQ. Steve earned his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Virginia Tech and served for several years as an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. He is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship and venture investing.

 

Brian Hirsch

Managing Director, Tribeca Venture Partners

Brian is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Tribeca Venture Partners, the early stage venture capital firm that invests in Internet, software, and mobile companies targeting or disrupting the largest industries in the NY-metro area. He oversees management of the venture fund and serves as Co-Chairman of the Fund’s Investment Committee. Brian was previously a Managing Partner with SAVP, where he co-managed all of the fund’s activities. Prior to SAVP, Brian was a Principal at Sterling Venture Partners and a Vice President with ABN AMRO Private Equity, the U.S. venture arm of ABN AMRO bank. Brian is currently a board member of BDMetrics, Flat World Knowledge, FTRANS, HomeSphere, Pontiflex, TRAFFIQ and Serious. Brian previously sat on the boards of YellowJacket (acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE: ICE) and KnowledgeStorm (acquired by TechTarget, NASDAQ: TTGT).

 

Chris Holden

General Partner, Court Square Ventures

Chris Holden brings 20 years of early stage investing and company building experience to Court Square, including 11 years with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in a variety of senior executive roles. From 1995 to 2000 he served as Chief Executive Officer of Kesmai Corporation, a wholly owned software and technology subsidiary of News Corp, which he sold to Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and America Online (NYSE: AOL). Prior to becoming CEO of Kesmai, Mr. Holden was EVP for the News Technology Group, which held company-wide responsibility for investing in technology-related businesses, as well as managing the integration and deployment of new technologies across News Corp businesses worldwide. He also served on News Corp’s global Interactive Strategy Taskforce, was a member of the executive team that created iGuide, a joint venture between News Corp and MCI which became TV Guide Interactive and merged with Gemstar Corporation (NASDAQ: GMST), and was a senior executive with the News Digital Media Group, which oversaw the online operations of a number of News Corp companies. Previously, he co-founded the Advanced Media Group for HarperCollins Publishers in New York (a News Corp company) and served as corporate vice president. He has served as a director of numerous private companies including CSV portfolio companies: CSTV, Logic Library, TRAFFIQ, and Voxant. He is a graduate of Davidson University.