DataXu

Executive Team

In order to make our dream happen (which we hope will soon become your dream as well), we have assembled a team with some of the best minds from Academia, Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Madison Avenue. We have deep expertise in digital media and online advertising, in brand building, company building, and advertising platform development, and we even have a few rocket scientists on board. You may also want to check out our advisory board members, our board members, and our investors as we believe they are key to our success as well.

Mike Baker

President & CEO
Mike Baker has been pioneering digital media platforms for 20 years and is a widely recognized thought leader in interactive advertising. Before co-founding DataXu, he was vice president at Nokia, where he created and ran Nokia Interactive. Baker came to Nokia through its acquisition of mobile advertising leader Enpocket in 2007, where he was the founding investor and CEO. He has also been executive vice president at Engage Technologies, an innovator in online advertising and behavioral targeting. An active angel investor in digital media, he is currently chairman of the board of Nexage, a mobile advertising solutions provider.

Bruce Journey

Chief Revenue Officer
Bruce Journey is a proven leader in the media business, with extensive experience building some of the world’s leading consumer media brands. Before co-founding DataXu, Journey was President and CEO of MIT’s Technology Review, Inc. — an independent media company, recognized as the world’s most authoritative voice on emerging technologies and their commercial impact. His decade of leadership at Technology Review created a multiple-award winning brand that remains a leader in chronicling innovation. Prior to Technology Review, he was a member of the sales management team at Time, Inc., at both the Time and Fortune brands.

Willard Simmons

Chief Technology Officer
Willard (Bill) Simmons developed the company’s core technology while earning his PhD at MIT. He came to DataXu with true rocket science credentials: he developed and tested real-time flight software for guidance, navigation, and control of the Atlas family of space launch vehicles. Simmons, a co-founder of DataXu, holds a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and is an expert in optimal system design and developing reliable real-time software.

Gerard Keating

Chief Operating Officer
Gerard Keating brings to DataXu a wealth of experience and expertise in building data-driven advertising systems. As CTO and vice president for product development at mobile advertising platform vendor Enpocket, he transitioned R&D concepts into successful products. After Enpocket’s acquisition by Nokia, Keating became head of product development at Nokia Interactive Advertising. Previously, he was director of engineering at Engage Technologies, where he led the development of the industry’s first consumer behavioral profiling software.

Rich Forcier

Chief Financial Officer
Rich Forcier brings to DataXu an extensive background in financial and general management at high-growth technology companies ranging from venture-backed start-ups to large, publicly held firms. Prior to DataXu, Forcier was instrumental in the growth and sale of three technology companies; Maker Communications (MAKR) acquired by Conexant Systems (CNXT), Precise Software Solutions (PRSE) acquired by Veritas Software (VRTS) and Tenebril acquired by Halo Technology Holdings (HALO).

Sandro Catanzaro

Vice President of Analytics & Innovation
Sandro Catanzaro, a co-founder of DataXu, is a technologist and product visionary. He is the co-inventor of the real-time optimization algorithm at the core of the DataXu platform. Catanzaro earned two master’s degrees from MIT—one from the Sloan School of Management, the other from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Before MIT, Catanzaro launched several successful businesses in his native South America, including one that was acquired by Unilever.

Aaron Kechley

Vice President of Products
Aaron Kechley is a technology business strategist and product innovator with experience spanning numerous industries, from consumer finance and security, to e-commerce and advertising technology. Prior to DataXu, Kechley held product management and technology leadership roles at EMC / RSA and several venture-backed start-ups, including ChoiceStream and HelloWallet.com. Aaron started his career as an economic analyst at the Federal Reserve.

Julie Ginches

Vice President of Marketing
Julie Ginches is a recognized authority in all aspects of marketing and social media and is known for developing stand out strategies that create maximum visibility, sales and valuations. She joins DataXu from mobile ad network, Jumptap, where she made her mark educating the industry on the merits of mobile advertising and was instrumental in raising the company’s profile to top industry influencer. Ginches also led marketing groups at Autonomy, FAST and CardScan.

Steven Golus

GM, Go to Market
Steven Golus oversees the national sales team at DataXu, utilizing his deep experience in digital media to guide the Company’s go-to-market strategy in the ever-evolving and complex online advertising space. Before joining DataXu, Golus served as Vice President of Sales Strategy at DoubleClick where he focused on overall sales strategy efforts for DoubleClick’s advertiser and publisher tools, created a strategic consulting practice and was part of the team that developed and launched DART Adapt, DoubleClick’s optimization technology. Upon DoubleClick’s acquisition by Google in 2007, he lead all sales integration activities between the two organizations.