John is the president of FriendlyFavor and chairman of FriendlyFavor’s Board of Directors.
Most recently, John was the co-founder and CEO of SiteScout, a Seattle based Web safety and malware protection company. Previously John has advised numerous companies as an independent business and product development consultant. He helped shape development strategy and led new technology development for Precor, Inc.'s Entertainment and Services division, and led the most recent refresh efforts on the company's core product line. John has also worked with product development consultants Aegis Technologies Group and with Motion Research, developers of head-mounted displays. John has experience in a variety of startups including Syndeo Systems (logistics software) and LST Communications and XNAV (both 3D graphical wireless networked navigation systems). For several years, John also served as a strategy consultant at Lake Partners Strategy Consultants.
John holds Bachelor's Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and History from Stanford University.
Josh is the chief creative designer of the FriendlyFavor website and user interface. He is also the co-founder and creative director of G Conspiracy, a renowned firm based in Seattle that offers a wide range of software engineering, graphic design and marketing services. Josh has culminated over a decade of graphic design experience in various media formats: print, web, mobile wireless, video as well as interactive software.
Josh has been a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Washington, focusing on multimedia design and interactive techniques. Josh has been a valuable contributor to the University of Washington's New Media Research Laboratory.
Josh received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Washington in New Media Communications.
Steve is the chief software architect of the FriendlyFavor service platform. He is also the co-founder and principal architect of G Conspiracy in Seattle. Steve founded his first company and began writing shareware and commercial software in the early 80's for the Macintosh and Commodore computers. He's since worked on various e-commerce, multimedia, mobile wireless and enterprise-level commercial software products for several high-tech companies ranging in size from 3-person start-ups to large multinational corporations including Microsoft and Intuit. Steve is the inventor of 3 Internet-related patents.
Steve is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Philosophy.
A Detroit native, Doug began his software career in 1990 writing supply chain fulfillment and e-commerce applications for General Motors, Comerica Bank and an innovative Ann Arbor startup, which developed shrink-wrapped e-commerce applications based on the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standard. Doug packed his bags and moved to the Pacific Northwest in the mid 90's to apply his e-commerce expertise at Microsoft, where he helped lay the foundation for the software giant's early B2B initiative.
Doug completed studies in Industrial Engineering at the University of Michigan and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition from Cornish College.
Crescent Luhman is the project manager for FriendlyFavor, focusing on user interaction, performance and quality assurance. Before joining the FriendlyFavor team, Crescent was marketing manager at Aegis Group, a Seattle based engineering and technology consulting firm. Crescent was responsible for creating and managing marketing campaigns, proposals and marketing collateral. Crescent also managed the selection process for new employees. These responsibilities included recruitment, placement and overseeing the orientation process for senior level engineers.
Crescent received her Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Montana.
(See bio above; FriendlyFavor Management Team)
Scott has been involved with FriendlyFavor since inception. He is an investor and a member of FriendlyFavor’s Board of Directors. Scott is also the founder and managing partner of Vashon Partners, a think tank and investment group for entrepreneurs based in the Pacific Northwest.
With an accomplished background in building and managing new technology ventures, Scott has a detailed knowledge of the information technology, digital media and entertainment industries. Scott has 15 years of experience in developing innovations, as well as domestic and international strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions. He has also been instrumental in raising and facilitating over $50 million in financing for several corporations and nonprofit organizations.
Prior to founding Vashon Partners, Scott served as vice president of investor relations at InfoMove. He is a frequent lecturer and panelist at information technology and new media conferences worldwide. Scott was also director of business development at The Globe, focusing on domestic and international strategic initiatives in preparation for The Globe’s initial public offering. Scott participates on the boards and advisory boards of several companies and nonprofit organizations.
Scott was awarded the prestigious Javits Fellowship at Columbia University in New York and conducted advanced research in technology and digital media while serving with the Technology and Communications Committee of the U.S. Senate. He received a Master’s Degree with honors from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Scott also graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Tufts University. He has worked on digital media projects at the United Nations, Harvard University and the Columbia Center for New Media.
Mike Riccio is a member of the FriendlyFavor Board of Directors. He is the founder of Falcon Partners, a Seattle based private equity firm specializing in venture capital opportunities, with particular focus on the Internet, e-commerce and information technology markets. Mike is a successful private investor, entrepreneur and corporate advisor.
Prior to founding Falcon Partners, Mike served as Chief Operating Officer of Go2Net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET) until its acquisition by Infospace, Inc. (Nasdaq: INSP) in a $1.7 billion stock transaction. As COO and a member of Go2Net’s Board of Directors, Mike had overall responsibility for Go2Net’s strategic initiatives, including business development, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments and international business strategy. Mike also led Go2Net’s corporate venture group which co-invested with Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures in several Internet and e-commerce companies.
Mike served as a founding partner of Xanthus Capital, L.P., a Seattle based investment firm focused on investments in emerging growth businesses, and managing partner of Vencor & Co., a Boston based investment firm focused on investing in Internet and e-commerce enterprises. He served as interim Chief Executive Officer of Farecast, Inc., a developer of predictive pricing solutions for the travel industry funded by Madrona Investment Group and WRF Capital. Mike also served as principal outside counsel to Lycos, Inc. from the time of the company’s founding in 1995. He began his career as an associate in the corporate department of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher in New York.
Currently Mike serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Others Online, Inc.
Mark has been an active advisor to the FriendlyFavor team. He has over 20 years of software development and investment experience.
Mark spent 6 years with Northwest Venture Associates, a regional venture capital firm investing in companies throughout the Pacific Northwest. Before that, he spent 13 years with Microsoft. Mark was part of the original Microsoft Applications Group and was involved in many of the early efforts to launch the first Office products.
Mark serves on the Executive Committee of the Alliance of Angels, the Finance Committee of the University of Idaho Foundation and the advisory boards for University of Idaho's Alumni and Computer Science department. Mark’s interests include coaching his kids in a variety of sports, skiing, golf, wine collecting and travel.
Mark holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from the University of Idaho.
Kosar has 20 years of broad experience as a software engineer and development manager. His diverse work experience includes embedded systems, distributed systems, open source, development tools, device drivers and consumer web services. He has lead development teams at Intel, Microsoft and Google. Kosar spent 10 years at Intel working on a number of projects, one of which was the invention of the USB. Kosar played a key role in getting this adapted as an industry wide standard. At Microsoft, Kosar managed development groups around the efforts of Microsoft TV, Windows Vista Core Device Drivers and Windows Media Center. While at Google, Kosar managed groups of developers responsible for web and offline advertising (AdWords), telecommunications (Click-to-Call), Mobile and Search (Indexing).
Kosar holds a MBA from California State University and a Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Kirby Winfield is the Chief Revenue Officer of WidgetBucks. Kirby joined WidgetBucks in August, 2008 and is responsible for the company’s advertising sales and distribution strategy. Before WidgetBucks, Kirby operated Ascend Solutions, which provided strategic guidance for portfolio companies of Clearstone Venture Partners, Monster Venture Partners, and Wescom Capital.
Prior to Ascend Solutions, Kirby was the General Manager and Vice President of the consumer Web site division of Marchex, Inc., overseeing more than 200,000 owned and operated Web sites. During his tenure, Marchex grew to 31 million unique monthly visitors and conducted a successful NASDAQ IPO. Prior to Marchex, Kirby was responsible for corporate, brand, and product marketing at Go2Net (acquired by InfoSpace), which became a top 20 online network and conducted a successful NASDAQ IPO during his tenure.
Kirby sits on the Board of Directors of SharperAgent, LLC, a leading provider of CRM and marketing Services to real estate agents, and invests in and advises a number of online media startups.