MANAGEMENT TEAM
The leadership team at Useful Networks™ has deep roots in SMS aggregation, mobile entertainment and promotion. Our team built the voting system for American Idol, and location infrastructure for top-tier wireless carriers. We are mobile location industry pioneers in all aspects of the LBS ecosystem. Our team includes seasoned veterans from mobile operators, location providers, content providers, geospatial companies and mobile operator OSS/BSS systems integrators.
Tony Bernard, VP/GM
Prior to joining Useful Networks in 2007, Tony performed a variety of executive leadership roles for mobile content leader 9 Squared (now Zed America) and its parent company, Monstermob Group prior to its acquisition by LaNetro Zed. These roles included VP/GM, Carrier Services & COO for 9 Squared, as well as SVP of Global Integration for MonsterMob.
Tony started his career at Alltel, where he led the wireless content team for several years after first helping start and expand Alltel's ISP product line. Tony has also worked as a strategy consultant for Internet consultancy Scient Corporation, where he served clients ranging from angel-funded startups to large enterprises such as AT&T and Avaya.
Tony brings a unique blend of online experience complemented by his deep background in the wireless industry, combining the perspectives of the mobile operator and content/service provider alike.
Mr. Bernard received his BA in Economics and Business from Hendrix College and later attained his MBA from the University of Arkansas' Walton College of Business.
Scott Voigt, VP Program Management
Prior to UN, Scott was an architect with Openwave and SignalSoft, working in the Location Based Services (LBS) division. He worked on the Mobile Position Center for both commercial and emergency deployments in North America and Europe. SignalSoft provided one of the first wireless 911 solutions with the FCC mandate to provide the location of wireless callers to the Public Safety Answering Points.
Scott directed the architecture and development of the MPC platform for both commercial and emergency LBS deployments while at SignalSoft and Openwave for the 10 years prior to joining UN. Prior to that, he worked at Cogniseis, Auto-trol and AG Communication Systems in engineering and management positions.
Mr. Voigt is a graduate of the University of Illinois, with a degree in Computer Science and Math.
Tom Parrish, VP Business Development
Tom heads up all sales, client services and business development operations at Useful Networks. He brings over 15 years experience new media, software and telecom and deep expertise in the mobile eco-system.
Prior to UN he was SVP of Content and Distribution at Mobliss, responsible for marketing, sales, business development, strategic partnerships, carrier relations and content acquisition.
He was instrumental in launching mobile marketing and content services that led to the acquisition of the company by Index Corp., a $2B international mobile content conglomerate.
Key initiatives included closing deals and executing programs for mobile promotions, ASP & platform services, content licenses and co-marketing/distribution with a broad range of properties in the industry value-chain, including studios & broadcasters (Fox-American Idol, ESPN-Disney-ABC, CBS, NBC, Warner Bros.), producers (Freemantle, Endemol), publishers (Primedia, Tribune, NYTimes) and record labels (Warner, Universal, Sony/BMG, EMI).
He launched the company’s mobile downloads line of business, managing a cross-functional team (program management, engineering, producers) to deliver mobile web and desktop Internet offerings.
He was EVP of a mobile video Joint Venture (Thumbdance, LLC) between Mobliss and Fremantle Media created to launch both original and licensed video content on the mobile channel, branded as Atomic Wedgie and launched on Sprint PCS.
Previously Tom spent six years in a variety of marketing, business development and product management roles at AT&T Wireless, focusing on content and data services. In the Mobile Multi-media Services organization, he managed content offerings, external application development, sponsorships and integrated content/marketing programs with a breadth of brands, agencies, content providers and technology partners.
Tom is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, MO, as well as the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business.
Chris Glode, Senior Director of Product Management
In his role at Useful Networks, Chris is responsible for developing the vision which guides UN products and platforms, and seeing them through to launch and in-life success. Along the way, Chris has been instrumental in the launch of more than 10 products in 7 countries, across mobile and web platforms including iPhone, RIM, BREW, Java, mobile web and SMS, as well as Facebook applications.
Chris draws on nearly a decade of experience working in the telecommunications sector, first with Accenture and later with Amdocs, having partnered closely with Tier 1 US wireless operators on many projects. Chris also led Product Management at Tribold, developing a best-of-breed Product Lifecycle Management platform for CSPs. As a regular contributor to mobilemarketer.com, Chris is particularly interested in the application of Location Based Services to mobile marketing.
Chris graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Economics. He is an avid skier, golfer, and flyfisherman although he is often mistaken for a first-timer in most sporting pursuits.
Jesse Demmel, Senior Director of Engineering
Jesse leads the engineering team and provides technical direction for UN products and platforms. He has worked with the team to build an elegant and robust system architecture that enables UN to respond quickly to the needs of the business. The engineering team has deep experience in building wireless solutions within an enterprise-grade environment.
Drawing on over 10 years of pioneering the mobile LBS ecosystem, Jesse helps ensure that the UN PlaceWhere platform is developer-friendly and packed with the best feature and service components from which to build innovative LBS apps.
Prior to Useful Networks, he worked at SignalSoft and Openwave where he held various engineering roles in the LBS division including technical lead of the MPC commercial platform. Jesse has also worked at Intuit on their wholesale distribution solution where he helped provide infrastructure for switching to a more efficient system architecture and development process.
Jesse is a graduate of Iowa State University, with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
David Hose, Chairman and Co-Founder
David Hose, a noted leader in the wireless industry, runs Ideas & Plans, a hands-on strategic advisory service. Ideas & Plans works with early and late stage companies across the mobile market from mobile devices to infrastructure to software to services. David is on the Board of Buzzwire, providing audio/video/live radio on your mobile phone, and JumpTap, offering a turnkey white-label mobile advertising solution to mobile operators.
From 2002 to 2004, David held positions at Openwave Systems, including Chief Development Officer and SVP/GM of the Client Software Business. As Chief Development Officer, David was responsible for the business strategy, product management and engineering development of Openwave's entire product line, including the mobile infrastructure, messaging applications and client software businesses. As SVP/GM of the Client Software Business, David ran sales, marketing and product development for Openwave's $100M revenue handset business.
Mr. Hose was previously founder and CEO of Signalsoft, a pioneer in the development of location based services for mobile phones — and guided Signalsoft through its venture funding, subsequent IPO and acquisition by Openwave. Signalsoft's major customers and partners included Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS, Nextel, Bell Mobility, Lucent, Motorola, HP/Compaq, and Siemens. Key strategic investors included AOL, Comverse, Intel, and Siemens.
Prior to Signalsoft, David started J&D Software, a C++ development tools business sold to Rogue Wave Software and started numerous software projects primarily in the application of GIS from desktop mapping to command and control applications. These businesses are now apart of companies like Motorola, EDS, and Intrado.
