Brian A. OliverSmith, President & CEO
Applies his 18+ years sales and marketing expertise working for Fortune 500 companies and his entrepreneurial business development background to the leading of Urban Planet Mobile, particularly his work as an executive with a technology start-up along with his tenure consulting with entrepreneurs, guiding them in growing businesses and expanding opportunities, as well as having started and built a niche audio publishing company. He was the first to take short audio stories to iTunes and sell them as individual tracks. This background gives him the unique skill set required to both oversee the creative development of the products and building strong relationships with marketing and distribution partners. He is recognized as an expert in spoken word audio production and a leader in innovative delivery and distribution.
Lee Huggins, Operational Consultant
Lee Huggins’ 20+ years leadership success in entrepreneurial, data-intensive environments aids Urban Planet Mobile in creating structure for working in the complex global mobile marketplace. Directly relevant is his experience as Sr. VP and GM of VeriSign’s Commerce Division where his responsibilities included P&L, Operations and Product Development for six business units with 300+ employees and offices in N. and S. America. He developed and implemented Technology and Strategy organizations in eCommerce, mCommerce, Telephony, Billing, Payments, Networks Applications, and Operational and Business Support Systems.
John Eyles, Board of Advisor Education Technology
John Eyles is currently Visiting Fellow at AUT University, Chair of the EON Foundation and Director of a new media consulting company. He has been a pioneer of technology enabled learning for the past 15 years. Most recently John was head of Research and Alliances at Telecom New Zealand – looking three to five years into the future at opportunities and threats for the business. Prior to this he was a Senior Lecturer Auckland University of Technology and CEO of English-To-Go Limited, which in association with Reuters news ran the world’s largest lesson in 2001. He has led on of New Zealand’s largest English language schools, worked in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia, and spent 6 years in Japan as a university lecturer and
consultant to the Japanese government.
Jim Dodrill, JD Legal Counsel
With 15+ years experience in securities and business law, Jim’s firm was listed as the 8th most active firm in the U.S. representing investors in private investments in public entities (2008). Having started his career with Latham & Watkins in NY, he left to start his own golf equipment, apparel, and accessories design and marketing company, guiding the business from inception through IPO in 3 1/2 years. In 2000, he started James G. Dodrill, P.A., exclusively focusing on providing corporate and securities legal advice to a global client base of select companies. Jim is a graduate of Brown University and The University of Miami School of Law, magna cum laude.
Quran Karriem, MFA, Director, Mobile Content
A versatile and imaginative musician, designer and developer, Quran is a digital media expert that oversees the conceptual development and production of our audio and interactive mobile products. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music composition and master’s degrees in sound design and interactive design. Prior to joining the team in 2008, Quran spent three years working with the Educational Measurement division (now the State and National Services group) at Pearson Learning.
Brody Bryant, CALA Region Business Development
Brody Bryant’s 16 years telecommunications experience has focused on business creation and development in the CALA region. Having led teams throughout Latin America with BellSouth, VeriSign, and Nextgen Clearing, he has established powerful relationships with the carriers and distributors. His extensive experience and connections in the region allow Urban Planet Mobile to immediately engage in high level discussions and develop partnership relationships with the top mobile companies in South and Central America.
Teck-Yiang Tan, SE Asia Business Development
Teck-Yiang Tan’s comprehensive regional experience in voice and data products of the telecommunications industry in addition to his extensive network of mid and high level contacts across the Asia Pacific region, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines, allows him to develop relationships and negotiate distribution contracts on Urban Planet Mobile’s behalf.
Triton Value Partners, Consultants of Financing Strategy
Managing Partners Paul H. Freischlag, Donald B. Gasgarth, and Jeffrey K. Zwitter provide their combined 50+ years of experience in strategic operations and development of start-up companies in the telecommunications space to the further development of Urban Planet Mobile. Their expertise helps by actively identifying and structuring deals to fund growth and suggest alternative revenue generation.
