Joe Kyriakoza
VP Strategic Insights at Jumpstart Automotive Group
Joe Kyriakoza is Vice President of Strategic Insights at Jumpstart Automotive Group. In this role, Joe is responsible for direction of national sales and product strategy. Joe leads a national sales team residing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. In addition, he directs a team of product managers who are charged with maintaining and shaping the current product stable at Jumpstart, while also developing the strategy and position on new areas of business and upcoming products that Jumpstart engages. Joe has been a member of the Jumpstart team since January of 2006.
Prior to joining Jumpstart, Joe was a partner and manager of all national digital media initiatives for Ford Motor Media, the media buying arm for Ford Motor Company. Joe directed the online advertising spending of all of Ford’s brands, including Ford Division, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Mazda. Prior to Ford Motor Media, Joe was an account director at Beyond Interactive, heading up accounts including Nortel Networks, LensCrafters, GiftCertificates.com and Rodale Publishing.
Nick Pahade
President and CEO, North America at Initiative
With more than 16 years of leadership experience in the advertising and marketing industries, Nick Pahade has transformed TRAFFIQ into one of the most widely recognized digital advertising service companies in the industry. In just one year of Nick’s leadership, TRAFFIQ earned a #50 spot on Inc. 500’s prestigious list of the Fastest Growing Private Companies and was named #5 on the list of Top Indian-Run Companies. Under his leadership, TRAFFIQ launched TRAFFIQ Latino, TRAFFIQ Trading Desk and Search Desk, expanding the company’s capabilities beyond digital display ad management to include SEM, guaranteed display and real-time buying all in one platform. The company was also named a winner of the Red Herring 100 North America Award. Meanwhile, Nick has been very active in building a best-in-the-industry team to make these initiatives come to life, recruiting top management and expertise from Microsoft, Google, and Razorfish.
Prior to his work at TRAFFIQ, Nick was most recently responsible for the growth strategy, client relationships andleading the team of interactive design, technology and marketing professionals at GSI Commerce’s Marketing Services division (TrueAction, Silverlign and Pepperjam). He previously served as president of Denuo, Publicis Groupe’s futures practice, and led global digital development for Publicis Groupe Media. Prior to Denuo, Nick was president of Beyond Interactive Inc., which he co-founded and successfully sold to Grey Global Group which later became WPP.
Nick has been recognized by MEDIA magazine as one of the top 50 People to Know in Interactive Marketing, Advertising Age’s coveted 40 under 40 list, and as a MediaPost Online All-Star. He is an active angel investor and advisor to many digital startups around the country. Nick holds dual degrees in biopsychology and marketing from the University of Michigan.
Greg Vandenbosch
Director, GI Partners
Greg VandenBosch is a private equity investor in the fields of media, telecommunications, and marketing services. Currently, he is Director of GI Partners, a Bay Area private equity firm with more than $2 billion under management. In this capacity, he serves on the Board of Directors at PC Helps, an IT services company. Previously, Mr. VandenBosch was Vice President of Sandler Capital Management in New York, where he focused on private and public investments in media and communications companies. At Sandler, Mr. VandenBosch was active in sourcing, evaluating, negotiating and monitoring investments in print publishing (Discover Media and HarborPoint Media), cable television (Wave Broadband and Charter Communications), broadcast television (Gray Television), enabling technologies, and experiential marketing.
Prior to joining Sandler, Mr. VandenBosch was Vice President of Finance at Omnicom Group, the world’s leading advertising agency holding company, where he was active in acquisitions as well as financial and strategic planning. Previously, he worked for the Merchant Banking Group at Wasserstein Perella, where he assisted in the acquisition and monitoring of several companies including IMAX, American Lawyer Media, and Sunbelt Plastics. Mr. VandenBosch graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BSE in Finance and Operations and Information Management from The Wharton School. He received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.