The pathway to our success is paved by the vision of our executive leadership.
Tim Vanderhook
Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
As the president and CEO of Specific Media, Tim's vision positioned the company as an industry first-mover that led in developing the behavioral targeting technology that established interest-based advertising. Co-founding the interactive advertising company with his brothers, Chris and Russell, Tim led Specific Media's growth from a small family business to an industry-leading multinational corporation. Under Tim's leadership, Specific Media has experienced continued growth and profitability since 1999.
Tim also serves as CEO of Myspace, where he sets the overall business direction and strategic vision for the company.
Chris Vanderhook
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
As COO of Specific Media, Chris directs all aspects of the advertising company's business operations and manages the organization's executive team, overseeing sales, business development and media operations. Since co-founding Specific Media in July 1999 with his brothers, Tim and Russell Vanderhook, Chris has driven consistent financial growth and profitability throughout a 13-year period. Under Chris' leadership, Specific Media has grown into an industry-leading multinational corporation with operations in eight countries.
Chris also serves as COO of Myspace, where he navigates potential roadblocks and analytically executes strategies to move the company forward.
Russell Vanderhook
Co-Founder, Senior Vice President
Russell Vanderhook is Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of Specific Media. Russell is responsible for the overall operations of Specific Media's performance network, helping-direct response advertisers drive more leads and generate more revenue through highly-targeted advertising. Russell also serves as head of Specific Media's Compensation Committee. In this role, he manages all forms of compensation (salaries, bonuses, raises, stock options, awards) for Specific Media employees across the globe, including Myspace employees.
As Co-founder of Specific Media, Russell has been integral in making critical strategic, growth, and financial decisions since the company's inception. He continues to work collaboratively with fellow co-founders Tim and Chris Vanderhook to guide the strategic direction of the company as it expands into new global markets to serve the world's top advertisers. Previously, Russell was Chief Operating Officer of AdvertisementBanners.com, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations.
Larry Madden
Chief Financial Officer
Larry Madden is the Chief Financial Officer of Specific Media reporting to the CEO, Tim Vanderhook. As CFO, Larry oversees the company’s finance, accounting and tax activities. Larry has over 26 years of experience in fast-moving, growth-oriented companies, having worked with some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the media and entertainment industries.
Prior to joining Specific Media in September 2012, Larry most recently worked with Robert Sillerman and Simon Fuller as CFO in helping build and transform the related businesses of 19 Entertainment, XIX Entertainment and SFX Entertainment.
Larry also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Weinstein Company, a full-service television and film production company where he was instrumental in helping the company raise nearly $2 billion of capital. Prior to Weinstein Company, Larry spent over 10 years as a finance executive and CFO of several media companies in the public and private sectors.
Larry began his career in public accounting at Ernst & Young, where he spent eight years working on entertainment accounts. Larry received a BS in Accounting from State University of New York-Albany and an MBA in Finance, Strategic Management and International Business from New York University.
Fabrizio Blanco
Chief Technology Officer
Fabrizio Blanco is Chief Technology Officer of Specific Media. With a unique mix of technical know-how and deep advertising industry expertise, Fabrizio is responsible for Specific Media's global technology vision and roadmap worldwide. He leads a team of technologists, computer scientists, product experts, and developers to run the most robust and effective digital advertising technology platform in the industry - spanning the global Specific Media network and Myspace.
Previously, Fabrizio was Senior Vice President of Engineering and Chief Architect of the Fox Audience Network (FAN), News Corp.'s online advertising unit and the primary monetization arm of Myspace. At FAN, Fabrizio architected and built the world's largest display ad serving and optimization technology, serving over 7 billion impressions a day across 2,000 publishers. Fabrizio came to FAN when News Corp. acquired Strategic Data Corp (SDC), where he served as Chief Technology Officer. Previously, Fabrizio held various consulting roles for several Fortune 500 companies. He co-authored several pending patents, including Real Time Bidding (RTB) with Jason Knapp in 2006, which they launched into production at FAN in 2007. Fabrizio holds a BS and MS degree in Computer Science from University of Catania, Italy.
Colin Petrie-Norris
Managing Director – International
Colin Petrie-Norris joined Specific Media in 2008 as Managing Director – International. Petrie-Norris' responsibilities include managing Specific Media's portfolio of international business and overseeing European growth and expansion into new territories. As Specific Media continues its strategic growth in Europe and builds on its current market share, Petrie-Norris will spearhead the development of the company's rapidly growing client base across the region.
Prior to Specific Media, Petrie-Norris served as Chief Operating Officer of Advertising.com's International Division, where he oversaw the company's operations in UK, France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland and Denmark. Petrie-Norris developed and executed a successful realignment business strategy for Advertising.com Europe through the centralisation and restructuring of operations, process re-engineering, creation of client services, the formation of advanced analytical teams and pioneering numerous technology advancements.
Before joining Advertising.com, Petrie-Norris was Business Manager at Capital One in Johannesburg and in Nottingham, UK where he piloted the first credit card in the South African market specifically targeting the underserved segment and launched a secured-credit card product for the UK market respectively.
Petrie-Norris received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and is an accredited professional engineer.
Jon Schulz
Executive Vice President
Jon Schulz joined Specific Media in 2008 as Senior Vice President of Global Category Development, growing revenue in the global automotive category by more than 40 percent in his first year. In his current role as Executive Vice President, Jon leads the Specific Media’s growth efforts across all major advertising categories. He also contributes to overall company operations, strategy and product development globally.
Before joining Specific Media, Jon spent 12 years with Ford Motor Company, where he pioneered the company’s industry-leading Digital Marketing Team. As the head of Digital and Direct Marketing for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands, Jon oversaw the company’s online advertising, emerging media, dealer digital integration, brand websites and direct marketing.
Previously, Jon worked in a number of capacities for Ford, including brand management, marketing communications, field sales and operations, regional marketing, website development, direct marketing, incentives planning and dealer relations. Prior to Ford, Jon spent three years in the pharmaceutical sales and marketing division at Eli Lilly and Company.
Jon has an MBA in Marketing from Indiana University and a BS in Management Information Systems, graduating summa cum laude from Central Michigan University.
Jason Knapp
Executive Vice President, Product
Jason Knapp is Executive Vice President of Product at Specific Media. He has spent more than two decades inventing technologies that connect advertisers and consumers in more efficient and mutually beneficial ways. At Specific Media, he heads all global product efforts, designing advertising technologies that deliver superior engagement and ROI for the world's largest brand and direct advertisers across all of Specific Media's global media properties, including Myspace.
Prior to joining Specific, Jason spent his career designing, implementing, and supporting social media, advertising, and operational efficiency technologies at large and small companies alike. One of his pioneering accomplishments was developing the first real-time-bidding (RTB) platform to link separate advertiser and publisher systems, which spawned hundreds of startups and has been widely adopted by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Jason was also a founding team member of Strategic Data Corp (SDC), which created the first sophisticated digital ad optimization and serving system before being acquired by News Corp. in 2007. Via the acquisition, Jason joined Fox Audience Network (FAN), News Corp.'s online advertising unit and the primary monetization arm of Myspace, to build the company's core ad serving and optimization system, which grew to serve over 7 billion impressions a day across 2,000 publishers. Prior to SDC, Jason consulted for top technology companies including Intel, HP, and Microsoft.
Jason is currently an advisor and investor in several startups, including Sparkbuy (acquired by Google), Brighttag, and StarGreetz. A tech geek from an early age, Jason created his first BBS in 5th grade - arguably the first social networks for geeks - and has never stopped designing new technologies. He holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Drew Bordages
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Drew Bordages is Specific Media’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel. In this role, Drew oversees the company’s global legal affairs and spearheads the company’s data protection and privacy efforts.
Drew joined Specific Media from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP where he served as corporate counsel to a variety of public and private companies, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, securities offerings and general corporate advice.
Prior to earning his law degree Drew was active in politics, serving as a grass roots campaign staffer on both local and national political campaigns.
Drew holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Southern California and earned his law degree magna cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Tim Vanderhook
As CEO of Myspace, Tim sets the overall business direction and strategic vision for the company. A highly successful technologist who started his first company at 18, Tim has always felt that he was destined to drive change in the media business. With a thriving advertising company and the 2011 purchase of Myspace from News Corporation, Tim is uniquely qualified to create the leading social entertainment destination for consumers, content owners and brands.
Tim also serves as the president and CEO of Specific Media. Co-founding the interactive advertising company with his brothers, Chris and Russell, Tim led Specific Media's growth from a small family business to an industry-leading multinational corporation. His vision positioned Specific Media as an industry first-mover that led in developing the behavioral targeting technology that established interest-based advertising. Under Tim's leadership, Specific Media has experienced continued growth and profitability since 1999.
Chris Vanderhook
As COO of Myspace, Chris Vanderhook manages the company's day-to-day operations. A detailed-oriented leader who is responsible for both setting and realizing corporate vision, Chris navigates potential roadblocks and analytically executes strategies to move the company forward. Today, Chris is deeply involved in transforming Myspace into the leading social entertainment destination for consumers, content owners and brands.
Chris also serves as COO of Specific Media. Having co-founded the advertising company in July 1999 with his brothers, Tim and Russell Vanderhook, Chris directs all aspects of Specific Media's business operations. Managing the organization's executive team, Chris oversees Specific Media's sales, business development and media operations, driving consistent financial growth and profitability throughout a 13-year period. Under Chris' leadership, Specific Media has grown into an industry-leading multinational corporation with operations in eight countries.
Chris received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Neil Garfinkel
Neil Garfinkel is a Founding Partner of Francisco Partners and focuses primarily on investments in the software and services sectors. Garfinkel serves on the board of directors of Cybit, Dextrys, Discrete Wireless, Emailvision, FrontRange Solutions, Mincom, Quadramed, Specific Media and WebTrends. He is a former director of AKQA (General Atlantic), Ex Libris (Leeds), Lynx Medical Systems (Picis), Office Tiger (RR Donnelley), Xcellenet (Sybase), IMPAC Medical Systems (Elekta), Card Capture Services (eTrade) and HMT Technology (Komag). Prior to founding Francisco Partners in August 1999, Garfinkel was a Managing Director of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, a leading San Francisco private equity firm. Earlier in his career, he was a Vice President with Summit Partners. Garfinkel started his career as an attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati in Palo Alto and with Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York.
Garfinkel received his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and an A.B. from Harvard College.
Carl Eibl
Carl Eibl is a Managing Director at Enterprise Partners. At Enterprise, Eibl serves as an investment partner and leads investments in Internet 2.0, web and software based businesses, as well as restructurings, business buyouts and combinations. In addition to Specific Media, Eibl serves on the boards of numerous Enterprise portfolio companies - BMS, Enviance, IdenTrust, NEXX Systems, NP Photonics, Pivotal Systems, ReliOn and The Retail Equation. He also serves on the board of CONNECT and is a former Chairman of The Sanford Burnham Institute for Medical Research.
Prior to joining Enterprise, Eibl was the CEO of several high-profile technology and life science companies in San Diego. As CEO of publicly-held Maxwell Technologies (MXWL), Eibl led the recreation of Maxwell from an engineering and physics service organization for the U.S. military to a high-tech business catering various markets. Before joining Maxwell, Eibl served as President of Stratagene Corporation (STGN). Stratagene was later acquired by Agilent Corporation in 2007 for $250 million. Eibl also served as CEO for Mycogen Corporation, a publicly-held agricultural biotechnology company.
Eibl holds a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law in Boston, MA and a B.A. from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Parker S. Kennedy
Parker S. Kennedy is executive chairman of First American Financial Corporation. He also serves as executive chairman of CoreLogic, Inc., which was launched from The First American Corporation in June 2010. Prior to the launch, he served as chairman and CEO of the combined entity, and held various titles within the organization since joining First American in 1977.
Kennedy serves on the boards of directors of various charitable organizations, including the Fletcher Jones Foundation. He is a past chairman of the board of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, the Bowers Museum, and the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Kennedy is also a past president of the American Land Title Association.
In 2010, Kennedy received a Semper Fidelis Award from the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation in recognition of his lifetime of community and philanthropic leadership. In May 2003, Kennedy was recognized as one of America's top chief executives on Forbes Magazine's prestigious list of "Best-Performing Bosses."
A member of the California Bar Association, Kennedy practiced law for four years with Levinson & Lieberman in Beverly Hills, CA.
Kennedy holds an A.B. in Economics from University of Southern California, and a law degree from Hastings College of the Law.
Larry Goodman
Larry Goodman is an expert in all forms of media both traditional and digital. Goodman cultivated his media skills throughout a twenty-year career at Turner Broadcasting, including eight years in which he held the concurrent titles of president CNN Sales and marketing and president operations Turner Broadcasting Sales Inc. The recipient of numerous industry awards and accolades, Goodman was previously named as a “Media Maven” by Advertising Age.
Bill Burke
Bill Burke, co-author of Ted Turner’s 2008 best-seller autobiography, “Call Me Ted,” has extensive leadership experience in cable television and Internet business. Previously, Burke served as president and CEO of The Weather Channel Companies where he oversaw all operations. Prior, Burke spent eight years at Turner Broadcasting and Time Warner, where he held senior positions including highly notable roles as president of TBS and general manager of Turner Classic Movies.
Ed McCarrick
Ed McCarrick built a long and distinguished 35-year career at Time News Group that concluded with serving as President and Worldwide Publisher of the organization. Under his leadership, McCarrick helped lead Time to be named the number one brand in publishing by Advertising Age. McCarrick is presently the executive vice president of account management & media partnerships at ICON International.