Management team

CEO: Jens Karstoft

Jens Karstoft is the co-founder and CEO of Zmags, and responsible for setting strategy and managing day-to-day operations from the company’s US headquarters in Boston. Jens has been the driving force for Zmags’ aggressive growth and international expansion. In the early days in 2005 Jens recognized the potential for a highly interactive digital publishing platform, when he started a flash-based e-magazine. Very quickly, he and his partners were inundated with requests from other publishers to “make our magazine look like yours,” and Zmags was born. Prior to starting Zmags, Jens either founded or participated in several entrepreneurial ventures in his native Denmark. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Production optimization and Management from The Technical University of Denmark.

CTO: Andreas Graae

Co-founder of Zmags, Andreas developed the company’s innovative page-turning technology and as CTO continues to head a team of 20 developers and drive innovation. His extraordinary technical insight has provided Zmags with tremendous market advantage. Previously, Andreas was lead project manager at Falck, an engineer at QualityNET and a freelance software developer who worked with many of Denmark’s leading organizations. Andreas honed his leadership skills as a sergeant in the Danish Royal Guards. He holds an MS in Production and Management from Danmarks Tekniske Universitet and a BS in Software from the Copenhagen University College of Engineering.

CFO: Terry Halloran.

Terry is responsible for Zmags’ worldwide finance and investment strategy. A 10-year software industry finance veteran, he has helped several other successful start-ups navigate growth from early stage to established player in a growing market. He joined Zmags from StreamBase Systems, where he was vice president, finance & administration. Prior to that, he was CFO at Millennial Net and CFO of HighGround Systems (acquired by Sun). Terry holds a BS in Economics and Accounting from the College of the Holy Cross.

VP Marketing: Peter Velikin

Peter is responsible for generating demand for Zmags’ innovative solutions, as well as for all aspects of marketing and business development. He brings 10 years experience in multiple high tech industries with expertise in developing business relationships, creating new markets, and commercializing new technologies. Prior to Zmags, Peter was Director of Product and Market Strategy at PTC, responsible for the go-to-market activities of PTC’s publishing, content management, and services solutions. Prior to PTC, Peter was Senior Product Manager at EMC Corporation for the Centera business unit. Additionally, he built and managed the EMC Centera offshore development program. Peter has M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and MBA from Harvard Business School.

VP Sales (North America): Brian Caulfield

Brian brings to Zmags over 16 years of high tech sales leadership experience. Prior to Zmags Brian was VP of Sales at Gomez, Inc. (acquired by Compuware) the leading SaaS based provider of Web Performance Management Services. At Gomez Brian designed and implemented a highly successful Inside Sales model that dramatically increased Gomez’s success in the small and medium sized business market resulting in triple digit annual new bookings growth. Prior to Gomez, Brian served as Group Sales Director at Oracle, responsible for a team of 55 sales representatives and a $50M annual budget. Prior to Oracle Brian held sales and business development roles at edu.com (acquired by Student Advantage), and NECX (acquired by Gateway Computer).

Director of Sales (EMEA): Shane Balcom

Shane is one of the early employees of Zmags with direct contribution to the company’s triple digit revenue growth. During the past 3 years he has held various sales, sales operations and sales leadership positions and has worked in four different offices within the company. Shane currently manages the company’s sales teams focused on Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to Zmags, Shane worked with Canada Post, the $7 billion Canadian crown corporation with 70,000 employees, responsible for delivering over 10 billion items annually to a larger area than any other postal service in the world. Shane was an internal expert in identifying and implementing improvements in Operations and Finance.

Director of Global Services and Sales Operations: Kapil Dabi

Kapil is an ardent services, sales and business development professional with a proven track record of delivering revenue-generating results in a variety of corporate settings. His areas of expertise include e-commerce Services, Sales Strategy and Enablement, Sales Program Management, Competitive Product Positioning, New Business Development, Global Delivery and Operations and Profit and Loss Management. Prior to Zmags, Kapil was a senior leader at IBM Global Business Services, running an ecommerce practice of $5 million. Prior to IBM, he held multiple sales and services role for Yantra Corporation, an e-commerce startup acquired by Sterling Commerce, and I-Flex Solutions, acquired by Oracle. Kapil has an MBA in Operations and Marketing from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and a Bachelor in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

Board of Directors:

Chairman of the Board: Laura Rippy

Laura Rippy advises startup company CEOs as they tackle the challenges of growth. Laura Rippy was CEO of Handango, the original app store. Laura holds multiple prominent Advisory Board memberships and held a series of marketing and executive positions at Microsoft. Laura Rippy has been Chairman of the Board since January 2010.

Board member: Anders Frejo Jørgensen

Having founded and grown web-metrics solutions provider Instadia, Anders has valuable experience navigating a quickly expanding Software-as-a-Service start-up. Anders has been member of the Zmags Board since January 2008.

Board member: Firas Raouf

Specializing in organizational leadership and private company growth management, Firas has many years of experience in COO positions, consultancy and venture capital. He is currently a partner at Openview Venture Partners.

Board member: Kim Wiencken

Kim Wiencken has significant experience in both the software and venture capital industries. Kim has worked as an advisor for a number of European venture capital managers and in particular with venture-backed ICT companies in Scandinavia and Germany.