BranchOut's Executive Team

	Rick Marini — Founder, CEO & Chief Connector Rick is a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in social media with more than a decade of experience in the consumer Internet space. As the Founder & CEO of BranchOut, he is responsible for setting the right course, hiring incredible people and… more» Rick is a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in social media with more than a decade of experience in the consumer Internet space. As the Founder & CEO of BranchOut, he is responsible for setting the right course, hiring incredible people and letting them run as fast as possible to build a service that can change the world. Previously, Rick was the Founder & CEO of SuperFan, a social entertainment platform that developed social games and Facebook apps. SuperFan's clients included CBS, MTV, Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony and others. Before SuperFan, Rick was the Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of Tickle, one of the largest social media sites on the Internet. In 2002, Tickle won the "Rising Star" Webby Award as the fastest growing site on the Web and became a top 20 global site with 200 million registered users and $40 million of annual revenue. In 2004, Tickle was acquired by Monster Worldwide for over $100 million. Rick received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of New Hampshire, magna cum laude, and a MBA from Harvard University. Rick currently serves as an advisor/investor of DreamWorks, Wavii, Lumos Labs, Radius Intelligence, Stipple, BlackJet, UrbanTag, SmartRecruiters, Founder's Den. He is a National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama. Rick is also a huge fan of the Red Sox, live music and traveling the world. less»
	Ebbe Altberg — Chief Operating Officer Ebbe has extensive experience leading large-scale product innovation, development and operations. He joins BranchOut after spending four years at Yahoo!, where he was most recently senior vice president of media engineering… more» Ebbe has extensive experience leading large-scale product innovation, development and operations. He joins BranchOut after spending four years at Yahoo!, where he was most recently senior vice president of media engineering. At Yahoo!, Ebbe was responsible for global media product strategy and development, including Yahoo! Homepages, News, Sports, Finance and Entertainment. Before that, he served as vice president and head of audience for EMEA, where he handled consumer strategy, products and content. He also served on the board. Before going to Yahoo!, Ebbe was chief product officer for Ingenio, a company that was acquired by AT&T in 2007. He also spent 12 years at Microsoft in various product leadership positions. Ebbe received his Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College. He's a huge sports fan, and grew up skiing competitively. He loves playing golf with his younger son and watching his older son race cars. less»
	Chris Merritt — Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Chris brings 20 years of experience and relationships to BranchOut, where he'll focus on building out Enterprise solutions and bringing them to market. He joins BranchOut from Yahoo!, where he most recently was responsible for their largest… more» Chris brings 20 years of experience and relationships to BranchOut, where he'll focus on building out Enterprise solutions and bringing them to market. He joins BranchOut from Yahoo!, where he most recently was responsible for their largest advertiser and agency relationships as VP of Global Advertiser Partnerships. He also led the turnaround and divestiture of Yahoo!HotJobs, which was sold to Monster Worldwide. Prior to Yahoo!, Chris was a Senior Executive with Monster, leading teams on the ground in North America, Europe and Asia. Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Auburn University, with a Bachelors of Operations and Systems Engineering. He also holds an Executive Education certificate from MIT's Sloan School. Outside of work, Chris serves on the board of the University Club of Palo Alto, and enjoys cycling, surfing and spending time with his wife and four children. less»
	Nate Smith — Director of Engineering Nate is a founding team member of BranchOut. Nate is responsible for the architecture and technical design of BranchOut. Prior to BranchOut, Nate was a Senior Engineer at SuperFan and Tickle before that. Nate has a BS in Computer Science… more» Nate is a founding team member of BranchOut. Nate is responsible for the architecture and technical design of BranchOut. Prior to BranchOut, Nate was a Senior Engineer at SuperFan and Tickle before that. Nate has a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of California, Davis. On the weekends, Nate surfs, plays softball, and plays rugby for the San Francisco Fog RFC. He's recently put new strings on his bass and is looking to put the band back together. less»
	Ray Siu — Director of Consumer Technology Ray is a founding team member of BranchOut. Before becoming Director of Consumer Technology at BranchOut, Ray was a Web Developer at Tickle, specializing in social networking and creating viral applications. He was also a front-end developer… more» Ray is a founding team member of BranchOut. Before becoming Director of Consumer Technology at BranchOut, Ray was a Web Developer at Tickle, specializing in social networking and creating viral applications. He was also a front-end developer on Tickle's photo sharing site, Ringo, and a dating site, LoveHappens. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of San Francisco and has studied Multimedia and Web design at the Art Institute of San Francisco. Some of Ray's favorite things are the Notorious B.I.G., 7-11 hotdogs, his Xbox, McDonalds and the Wu-Tang Clan. less»
	Ted Metzger — Head of Mobile As Head of Mobile, Ted is responsible for the product direction and engineering development of BranchOut's mobile platform. Before he came to BranchOut, Ted was an engineer at SuperFan, and met Rick and the rest of the founding… more» As Head of Mobile, Ted is responsible for the product direction and engineering development of BranchOut's mobile platform. Before he came to BranchOut, Ted was an engineer at SuperFan, and met Rick and the rest of the founding team while working at Tickle. Ted has a BS from Georgia Tech. He spends his free time getting his jazz chops together on upright bass. less»