Peter Evans
Founder & CEO
Peter has 20 years experience in software, Internet services, online media and telecommunications. An accomplished corporate speaker on strategy and marketing,he also has extensive experience as a producer of tradeshows and conferences.
In 2002, he founded Riverdale Partners, a strategy and marketing consultancy serving clients throughout North America in the media and technology sector. Since then, he has worked with many senior leadership teams with notable success including DoubleClick (Acquired by Google); Cognovision (Acquired by Intel); Digital Connexxions (Acquired by InfoUSA); Truition (Acquired by CDC Software) and XPLANE Corporation (acquired by Dacchis Group). Prior to his consulting careeer, Peter served as a CMO in a number of early-stage startups such as Platespin and FloNetwork (acquired by DoubleClick). Prior to this he founded the media research practice at MediaLinx LLP, which built Sympatico (Canada’s leading online service and Internet ISP).
Peter also has considerable experience in the events industry both as an investor and trade show producer and advisor to a number of industry and trade associations. His association volunteer experience includes his work as a Director of the Toronto Venture Group (TVG), a non-profit association where he served as Marketing Chair for 5 years. At TVG he assisted with marketing for a variety of programs including Canada’s largest conference dedicated to bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and capital sources in Canada.
Peter is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist at technology and marketing events. He has addressed conferences throughout North America and Europe such as COMDEX Las Vegas, Internet World, Kauffman Foundation Charite Entrepreneurship Summit (Berlin), Software Industry & Information Association (SIIA), Boston Consulting Group E-Commerce Forum, The Association for Advancement of Relationship Marketing (AARM), and Direct Marketing Days (DMDNY) in New York and the PriceWaterHouseCoopers Emerging Software CEO conference.
Peter currently serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) with the MaRS Advisory Services Group in Toronto. He holds an MBA degree from Queen’s University and is currently completing the Certificate Program in Strategic Planning & Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Robert Carter
Founder – Marketing
Robert Carter’s experience in Marketing Research and Product Marketing spans experience in both the consumer and B2B arenas. Robert began his career as a Project Director at Goldfarb Consultants, a leading international research firm (acquired by WPP Group). At Goldfarb he advised a broad range of clients such as Xerox, Scotiabank, The Gap and Bell Canada in the design and implementation of strategic marketing research, from usage and attitude studies to customer satisfaction and new product development research. His experience in the technology sector includes a variety of marketing and research roles at several leading online companies including Canada’s largest consumer Internet portal – Sympatico.ca, FloNetwork – an email marketing software/services company (acquired by DoubleClick) and PlateSpin Inc. – a developer of server infrastructure management software.
As both a marketer and a researcher, his approach to research centers on delivering the broadest impact possible to the organization. Much of his research has been undertaken to demonstrate thought leadership and help position various products both from a sales, marketing and PR perspective. His research has been quoted in a number of media from key industry analyst reports (i.e. Giga Information Group now Forrester Research Inc.) to major publications such as the New York Times, USA Today and Network World. Robert graduated with an MSc. in Consumer Studies (Marketing Management) from the University of Guelph and also holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Laurentian University.
Dan Stanhope
Development Lead
Dan has 8 years experience developing high traffic, interactive web applications for leading media properties and software firms with a strong focus on user experience. He most recently played an integral role in the creation of the front-end architecture for Torstar Digital’s proprietary Content Management System used to power many leading Canadian digital media properties such as Toronto.com and the Toronto Star.
Prior to Torstar, he held a role as a Senior Web Developer for Platespin (acquired by Novell Inc. in 2008). While at Platespin, he designed and implemented key product features related to systems such as licensing, software update notifications and payment processing. His web development experience focused on leading server-side development projects while working at organizations including Market Link Solutions and Brock University.
He holds a BSc. in Computer Science from Brock University and a Computer Science Technology Diploma from Sheridan College
Mark Dietrich
Business Development
Mark has over 20 years experience in sales, business development and marketing in the consulting, Internet-services, power utilities and energy and finance industries, working in both the US and Canada, with international mandates.
Since 2006, Mark has provided business development, strategy and process improvement consultancy to clients in the US, Canada and Germany in the cleantech, information-services, manufacturing and power utility sectors. Prior to his consulting career, Mark was COO of a $500 million research and development fund for the Province of Ontario.
Mark moved to Toronto in 2001 from New York City, where he was CEO of two VC-funded ventures, Digital Power Networks and QuietPower Systems, founded one of the first Internet-commerce middleware companies, AdFo Services, and led sales and marketing for several financial services firms, including COS Computer Systems, with over $100 million in sales.
Mark was an Adjunct Professor at the Interactive Telecommunications Program of New York University and holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree (summa cum laude) from Vanderbilt University.
Advisors
Lance Laking
Board Member & Advisor
Lance recently joined the Speakerfile Board of Directors and will also act as an advisor to the company. He has an enviable track record both as a CEO in venture-backed companies and as an advisor to a number of technology startups. Lance previously served as President and CEO of BTI Systems where he played a major role in establishing the company as a leader in Optical Edge communication systems, driving growth and earning Deloitte Technology Fast 50 ranking in 2006, 2007, and 2008. He was responsible for securing more than US$55M in growth capital from US and Canadian venture capital investors to fuel BTI’s growth. Prior to joining BTI, Lance founded the Canadian subsidiary of HUBER+SUHNER, a Swiss-based wireless and optical component manufacturer. He oversaw the company’s Canadian subsidiary as it became one of HUBER+SUHNER’s highest growth regions in the world. Lance co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer of Dynasty Components Inc., a Canadian sales and distribution organization representing a variety of major optoelectronic, interconnect and semiconductor manufacturers. He currently serves as President of Singletrack Performance Management, providing consultancy services to private companies in a wide range of industries. He also serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) with the MaRS Advisory Services Venture Group in Toronto and is a Director of the Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF). Lance holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Economics from the University of Waterloo. He is a Chartered Accountant and has completed the Quantum Shift Program at the University of Western Ontario, Ivey School of Business (2008), and the Executive Development Program at Queen’s University (1999).
John Vukovic
Advisor
John has over 18 years of senior management experience in both emerging and established software and technology companies in sectors as diverse as media and financial services. John was most recently COO & CFO Americas at Odyssey Financial Technologies Inc and COO & CFO of Telmetrics Inc. He has also held senior finance and operations roles with Casero, Fastvibe, FloNetwork and Ernst & Young. Throughout his career, John has negotiated over 20 merger and financing transactions totaling over $1B in value. He also served as a Director and Treasurer of the Toronto Venture Group (TVG), a non-profit networking association.
While with TVG, he oversaw budgets for a variety of capital programs and networking events/tradeshows dedicated to bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and capital sources in Canada. He holds both a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator designation and is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
Jim Shenkman
Advisor
With over two decades of experience in the publishing and events industry, Jim is a successful entrepreneur, investor and innovator. In 1986 he founded Brunico Communications, a conference organizer and B2B publishing company, serving as President and CEO. Two of the events that he launched, the Kidscreen Summit in New York and the Realscreen Summit in Washington, DC, are today, among the largest annual conferences in the world in the fields of children’s and non-fiction entertainment. He has produced over 60 conferences in markets which include, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Toronto, and Vancouver.
Jim is currently involved in a number of personal and family investments, principally through Bivio Investments Limited. Jim became an active investor in early-stage technology companies in 2011 and is currently serving on the Board of Maple Leaf Angels, where he was named Vice-Chair in 2012. Jim is an investor and Board member of Futurestate IT Inc., which offers enterprises a cloud-based platform to rapidly assess, plan and execute migration of applications for Windows 7 or Server 2008. Since February 2012 he has been an advisor at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. A lawyer by training, Jim has been involved in all aspects of launching and managing a successful business. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School.
Paul Philp
Advisor
Paul brings over 20 years of product management and strategic business development experience, having most recently served as Marketwire’s Senior Vice President, Strategy and Products. In this role, he headed strategic planning for the Company and directly oversaw a team of Marketwire product managers, business analysts, and product-design and user-interface design professionals. He has worked extensively in product management in software environments, with recent experience as Vice President, Products at dna13, Inc., a web-based application for media intelligence and public relations management. Prior to his role at dna13, Paul served in executive product and technology roles with companies such as Plate Spin (acquired by Novell), Alias (acquired by Autodesk), and Emerald City (a personal productivity software suite). He holds a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from McMaster University.
Garry Siskos
Advisor
Garry has an extensive background of the tradeshow/conference industry, most notably serving for 8 years with Reed Exhibitions where he held a variety of senior positions including VP Business Development and Chief Financial Officer of Reed Canada. At Reed, he also held the position of Controller in Mexico and the Chief Financial Officer of the North America operations. With a wealth of experience both as an entrepreneur and executive in venture backed and Fortune 500 organizations Garry has held various CFO, business development and advisory positions in a diverse range of industries including real estate, media and technology, energy and pharmaceuticals. He currently serves as Managing Partner for business advisory services firm, Siskos & Associates Inc. where he provides strategy, finance, tax and business advisory services for small to mid-sized companies in North America and Europe. He also heads a private equity company where he has brokered a range of mergers and acquisitions ranging in value up to $70 million. Garry began his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers after receiving his Chartered Accountant designation. He is a Graduate of McMaster University.
Michael Rubenstein
Advisor
Recently named to the Business Insider “Silicon Alley 100” List of New York’s Coolest Tech People In 2010, Michael currently serves as the President of AppNexus Inc. in New York. As a 10-year veteran of Google/DoubleClick, he founded and successfully launched the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, acting as VP and General Manager reporting to the company’s CEO. After Google’s acquisition, he continued to serve as Director of the Google Ad Exchange. Michael previously held a variety of senior management roles at DoubleClick, including VP, Global Accounts, where he spearheaded the company’s landmark partnership with AOL. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Vickie K. Sullivan
Advisor
Vickie Sullivan is internationally recognized as a top market strategist for experts. Specializing in branding for high-fee markets, she has launched thousands of thought leaders since 1987. Her market intelligence updates covering the speaking industry are distributed to experts around the world. Ms. Sullivan has served twice on the editorial board for Professional Speaker Magazine, and currently serves as contributing editor for RainToday.com, a prominent community of 30,000 professional service firms. She has been quoted in mainstream media such as Fortune.com, The New York Times and Investor’s Business Daily. Her work has also earned her an appointment to the Women’s Leadership Board for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Vickie’s other volunteer activities include selecting speakers for international conferences, serving on boards for industry associations and mentoring. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where she studied Journalism and Public Relations.
Janice Diner
Advisor
Janice is a social media strategist with a creative director background. A leader in the area, Janice and her team have conceived, developed and executed social media programs and technologies for such brands as TSN, BlackBerry, TD Canada Trust, PlayStation, Intel and Hershey. Currently Janice heads up Horizon Studios helping clients socialize their brands, empower customer engagement and bring communities to live across the social media space. She is considered a pioneer brand builder in Facebook, having executed initiatives in the space since 2006. She has served as a judge for the Cannes Lions 2009 Advertising awards. Janice has won several prestigious industry awards for her groundbreaking client work in social media. She has held such roles as, VP Strategy and User Experience at Syncapse, GM/Creative Director Social Media at Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG, Creative Director at Segal/Interpublic and Creative Director at Armstrong Partnership.
Don Duval
Advisor
As Vice President, Business Services at the MaRS Discovery District, Don is responsible for client services, corporate strategy, performance management, and the collaboration technology portal. As part of his broader provincial role, Don is also the head of the Toronto Regional Innovation Centre, the largest member in the Ontario Network of Excellence. Prior to MaRS, Don worked in professional services and engineering consulting, having recently been in senior management roles with both Andersen and Deloitte Consulting. In these roles, Don worked with an array of clients in the life sciences, healthcare and consumer business industries delivering both strategic and tactical solutions. In addition, Don was a co-founder of a successful technology and professional services company in Toronto.
Don currently serves as an adjunct professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Engineering and is an Executive Board member for the Queen’s Players Toronto Theatre Company and JUMP Math. He is also the Toronto Chair for the Manning Innovation Awards, sits on the Advisory Boards for the Canadian Innovation Exchange and Spin Master Innovation Fund, and is a past recipient of the Governor General of Canada’s Canadian NCE Young Innovators Award. He holds a BScH in Chemistry from Queen’s University and a MASc in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto.
Jaafer Haidar
Advisor
Jaafer spent 8 years at Accenture where he worked closely with technology, communications and entertainment clients such as Warner Bros., America Online, Bell Canada and TELUS and other leading media and ICT companies. He later founded Sensidea, a web and mobile product development firm. He is an active member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada and sits on the Emerging Platforms Council, Social Media Committee, and Video Committee. He is a computer science graduate of the University of Western Ontario.