Advisors
David Dove, Managing GP, Dove Capital Partners
Mr. Dove is currently Managing General Partner of Dove Capital Partners LLC, an investing and consulting firm specializing in financial services and strategy. His investing activities are focused on early-stage and growth opportunities in the payments and retail financial services spaces. His consulting activities are focused on difficult strategic questions that demand a choice, have no easy answer, and require more than an analytic exercise — the application of experience. Mr. Dove’s background includes extensive work in retail financial services, payments, and consumer packaged goods, having founded and run the Dove Consulting Group for 25 years. During his career, he has focused on the development of enterprise and business unit strategies for leading players in these spaces. In addition, he has devoted significant time helping clients implement strategy, including reorganizations and M&A deal structuring.
Derin Bluhm, CIO, Seattle Financial Group
Derin Bluhm is Chief Information Officer of Seattle Financial Group and its subordinate companies, Seattle Bank, Seattle Mortgage and Seattle Escrow. Derin joined the company in early 2006 and manages enterprise-wide technology strategy and implementation. Prior to Seattle Financial Group, Derin lead mortgage credit service technology at Fiserv, directed product development and technology for startups in Education and Health Care, designed avionics software for Boeing and was a technology consultant. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Steve Eastman, President, Target.com
Steve Eastman is President of Target.com, responsible for all online initiatives and direct marketing strategies for Target Corporation. Steve began his career in 1982 as a sales floor lead and joined the Merchandising organization in 1987. He was promoted to Director of Inventory Management in 1998 where he drove the development of a new Supply Chain vision and the re-organization of the Inventory Management pyramid. Steve was promoted to Divisional of Consumer Electronics in 2000 and to Vice President, Merchandise Manager, Electronics in 2001. In 2003 he was promoted to Vice President, General Merchandising Manager, Electronics. He was promoted to his current position in 2008. Steve serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club, worked on the committee for the development of the Musical Instrument Museum and is actively involved in his community. He is a native of Minnesota where he attended the University of Minnesota.
Rob Goldman, CEO, Threadsy
Rob Goldman is a serial Internet entrepreneur and e-commerce pioneer. He has helped start and grow several companies over the course of his 17 year career, most notably Shopping.com. He served in various executive roles at Shopping.com from its early days through its IPO and subsequent acquisition by eBay. From 2005 to 2007, Rob was the General Manager of all U.S. business divisions. Rob is currently the founder and CEO of Threadsy, a startup that is pioneering the integration of email with the social web. Rob also currently serves on the boards of ThisNext and Geodelic. Rob earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Scott Rigby, President, Immersyve
Scott Rigby is President of Immersyve (www.immersyve.com) and a veteran of both the ivory tower and interactive media development. After earning his Ph. D. as a clinical psychologist studying motivation, Scott spent eight years building Internet games and interactive content for Sony, Time Warner, and Viacom, as well as online game tie-ins for major feature films such as AI: Artificial Intelligence, Red Planet, and Frequency before founding Immersyve in 2003. Scott was the host of several television shows in the NY region, including “Your Internet Show” and Metro Channels “Plugged In with Scott Rigby.” His interactive work can also be seen as part of the Explore the Universe exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Scott has been a contributing features author on Gamasutra, and his work on measuring the player experience has been featured in Wired, EGM (“The Future of Video Games”), and Scientific American.