Board of Directors
Board of Directors
We've assembled a team of Internet veterans who've helped create some of the most globally successful scalable platforms, technology products, services and brands.
John Connors – Partner, Ignition Partners
John Connors is a partner at Ignition Partners, LLC, the premier venture capital firm in the Pacific Northwest. He invests principally in business software and services.
Prior to joining Ignition, John served for 5 years as Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft Corporation, capping a 16 year career at the company. Previously, Connors held a number of senior positions including vice president of the Worldwide Enterprise Group, vice president and Chief Information Officer (CIO), Corporate Controller, General Manager of worldwide financial operations, Director of business operations of Microsoft’s European headquarters in Paris, and Director of business operations of the Worldwide Sales and Support Strategy Group.
John is a member of the Board of Directors of Nike and a number of private companies.
John received his BA in accounting from the University of Montana. He also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Montana.
Russell Hagen – Vice President, Real Estate, Plum Creek
Russell Hagen is Vice President, Real Estate and Joint Ventures at Plum Creek (NYSE: PCL), one of the biggest private landholding companies in the U.S. In this role, he oversees real estate joint ventures with third-party land developers. Hagen began his career in 1988 with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was a certified public accountant and led the audits of public clients in the technology, banking and natural resource industries. He joined Plum Creek in 1993 as manager of internal audit and has since held positions of increasing responsibility at the company including director level positions in accounting and financial operations. Prior to taking on his current role, he was general manager, natural resources, and was responsible for the development of the company’s oil and gas, construction materials, and water resources assets.
Hagen received a bachelor of science in business and accounting from Seattle University. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Seattle University Accounting Associates and is an adjunct lecturer at the Seattle University business school.
Colleen B. Brown – President and Chief Executive Officer, Fisher Communications
Ms. Brown has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Fisher Communications, Inc. since October 2005. She was elected as a director on October 26, 2006. From 2004 to 2005, Ms. Brown was President and owner of Aberdeen Media Corporation, an entrepreneurial venture founded to pursue opportunities in the U.S. television market. Ms. Brown served as Senior Vice President at Belo Corp. from 2000 to 2003 and as President of the broadcast group for Lee Enterprises, Incorporated from 1998 to 2000. Ms. Brown served in various senior management capacities at Gannett Co., Inc.’s broadcasting operations from 1980 to 1998.
Satbir Khanuja – President and Chief Executive Officer, DataShpere
Satbir Khanuja is responsible for leading the overall growth and managing day to day operations of DataSphere Technologies. He previously served as SecondSpace’s senior vice president of marketing and business development, responsible for the company’s partnership, traffic-building and revenue-generating initiatives. He also spent seven years at Amazon.com as a member of the executive team and was Vice President of Amazon.com's Worldwide Traffic organization, responsible for driving billions of dollars in sales through free and paid traffic to all Amazon.com Web sites worldwide. Previously, he was vice president and general manager of Amazon.com’s IMDb.com and In-Theater businesses where he created all business functions and built the division into one of the 50 most trafficked Web sites in the world. Prior to Amazon.com, Satbir spent several years as an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company where he led projects in several industries, including electronics and banking. He holds a Ph.D. in Ceramics Engineering from MIT and a B.Tech. degree from IIT in Bombay, India.
Tim O'Neil – Chief Financial Officer
Tim leads the finance and administration organization at DataSphere and brings extensive experience to the role, having previously served as CFO of two public companies. Prior to joining DataSphere, Tim served as Chief Financial Officer of Loud Technologies (NASDAQ: LTEC), a world-recognized loudspeaker and audio equipment company with over $200M in revenues (brands include Alvarez, Ampeg, Crate and others). At Loud, Tim managed all finance and administration functions, was a leader in several M&A transactions and helped usher in a new level of profitability for the company.
Prior to Loud, Tim was Chief Financial Officer of Trendwest Resorts (NASDAQ:TWRI) which marketed, sold, and financed timeshare vacation ownership interests and developed the Suncadia all-season resort community in the Southern Cascade Mountains of Washington. At Trendwest, Tim served as a member of the executive team which grew the company to $600 million in revenues, 4000 employees, and an $800 million consumer loan portfolio with over 100,000 customers under management. Trendwest was acquired by Cendant Corporation in 2002, creating over a billion dollars in shareholder value. Tim began his finance career in corporate banking, spending 10 years with Bank One Corporation as a Vice President and corporate relationship manager. He holds a BA in Business Administration from John Carroll University and an MBA from the University of Detroit.