SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Maven Inc. (OTC: MVEN) - Maven today announced two new members of its Board of Directors, Todd D. Sims and John A. Fichthorn. Both add decades of experience in corporate development and digital media, with expertise across multiple industries and will be critical advisors in the company’s continued growth trajectory.
Todd D. Sims has served as a member of the Board of Directors of B. Riley Financial, Inc. since October 2016. Since March 2010, Mr. Sims has served as Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc., one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world, overseeing business and corporate development for its ticketing business, AXS. Prior, Mr. Sims spent more than 15 years building Internet businesses and served as ESPN's executive producer of NFL.com, NBA.com and NASCAR Online. Mr. Simms also served on the management team of eCompanies, LLC, an incubator which has incubated a number of companies including Jamdat Mobile Inc. (acquired by Electronic Arts Inc.), Business.com Inc. (acquired by R.H. Donnelley Corp.) and Boingo Wireless, Inc. Mr. Sims serves as an advisor to the L.A. Dodgers Tech Accelerator and is a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
John A. Fichthorn has served since April 2017 as Head of Alternative Investments for B. Riley Capital Management, LLC, which is an SEC-registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of B. Riley Financial, Inc. Prior, Mr. Fichthorn was a Co-Founder of Dialectic Capital Management, LLC, an investment management firm, and has been a portfolio manager of the firm since 2003. Mr. Fichthorn has significant experience in accounting and financial matters, with the unique perspective of representing the interests of a major stockholder, and experience serving on other public company boards. Mr. Fichthorn served as a Director of California Micro Devices from September 2009 until its sale in February 2010. Prior, he was Managing Director of the technology group at Maverick Capital, and an Analyst at Alliance Capital and Quilcap Corporation. Mr. Fichthorn has been a Director of Health Insurance Innovations, Inc. since December 2017.
“Maven is entering a phase of rapid growth, and is well positioned to meet and exceed the scale promised when the company was launched,” said Maven CEO, James Heckman. “With Todd and John joining the board, we deepen our leverage in marketing and our capacity to tap into robust expertise in both finance and digital media to continue our current momentum.”
These board additions follow aggressive streamlining operations put in place to create immediate operating efficiencies across Say Media, HubPages and Maven platforms and an announcement of Maven’s post-merger, unified leadership team. The HubPages merger is complete and Say Media is on track to close this month. The three digital media companies, all of which provide proprietary technology, monetization and distribution for third-party, premium content providers, are now operating as a single and united business platform with financials expected to consolidate prior to Q4, as part of Maven’s independent digital media coalition. Streamlined operations help secure Maven’s stated goal to reach operating profitability and $30 million of annualized run rate revenue during Q4-18.
Maven is a coalition of Mavens operating on a shared digital publishing, advertising and distribution platform, under a single media brand. Based in Seattle, Maven is publicly traded under the ticker symbol MVEN.
Maven (noun | ma·ven | ˈmā-vən): A professional, authentic authority, evangelist and recognized community leader for a specific topic, cause or organization.