Zach Britton, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Derek Maxson, Founder, President and Chief Technical Officer
Jim Owen, Chief Operating Officer
Bob Hohne, Chief Financial Officer
Pete Dineley, Vice President of Sales – Europe, Middle East and Africa
Rhea Willoughby, Vice President of Sales – Asia
Ned Sudduth, Vice President of Product Management
Dave Salzer, Vice President of Sales Operations
Carl Daly, Vice President Sales – North America
Zach Britton, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Zach has managed Front Porch’s growth from its early startup stage to its current industry leading position as the largest browser-based messaging company in the world. Along the way, Zach co-invented the core PageMelding patent that undergirds Front Porch’s technology and services.
Prior to starting Front Porch, Zach built, managed and sold a regional ISP and community portal. Zach is a recognized author and speaker on issues related to the Internet, online safety, and online advertising. Zach holds a Masters Degree in International Business from the University of California at San Diego.
When not online, Zach enjoys gardening, hiking, fishing and camping with his family.
Derek Maxson, Founder, President and Chief Technical Officer
Derek oversees the strategy for technology development and partnerships driving Front Porch solutions for many types of network installations and applications. His business and technical expertise and visionary insights have enabled Front Porch to continually bring Internet providers multiple new streams of revenue. He is responsible for the ongoing development of the PorchLight product line, deployed in thousands of locations in over 35 countries.
Derek co-authored Front Porch’s cornerstone patent on content personalization in 1998. He has been a speaker at industry events and participates in various associations in the cable, telco and wireless markets. Outside of work, Derek likes to play basketball, mountain bike and play guitar. He lives with his wife and three daughters in central California.
Jim Owen, Chief Operating Officer
Jim has been instrumental in Front Porch’s growth and success since 1999. He oversees Front Porch’s corporate-wide teams and programs, as well as technical support and all management systems and data center operations. Jim brings 20 years of solid operational and project management experience to Front Porch. Previously employed by the military and as a consultant to Bell Atlantic (Verizon), Jim excelled in various management and leadership roles.
Jim helped lead Bell Atlantic’s successful ADSL deployment into more than 1,000 central offices in one year. Jim has also served as a United States Army Officer on active duty, in the reserves, and in the California National Guard. His duties ranged from leading attack helicopters to planning division-level operations for over 12,000 soldiers. Jim holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of California at Davis.
Bob Hohne, Chief Financial Officer
Bob has been a CPA for over twenty-five years. In October 2007, Bob re-assumed his duties as CFO, having originally served in that capacity in 2003-2004. During his time in public and private practice, he has advised companies in many different fields, ranging from resort/recreation to software development.
Pete Dineley, Vice President of Sales – Europe, Middle East and Africa
Pete is responsible for sales and marketing, business development and operations across the EMEA region. During his years at Front Porch, he has helped the company to successfully launch new products and develop new opportunities within both established and emerging markets. Pete has over 20 years experience in pan European sales and marketing including product strategy, market development and strategic partnering.
Prior to joining Front Porch, Pete held a senior management position with Rainbow Technologies, a global licence management and software security company. Under his management, his team created and progressed many strategic ‘cross continent’ opportunities helping the organisation achieve revenues of over $100 million. He was also responsible for the successful roll-out of many projects across Europe. In a previous life, Pete was a professional musician and songwriter.
Rhea Willoughby, Vice President of Sales – Asia
Rhea is responsible for sales and business development throughout Asia. Rhea joined the Front Porch team in 2000 and has been instrumental to our growth, helping to successfully launch new products and develop new opportunities within China and emerging markets.
Prior to joining Front Porch, Rhea worked as an International Sales Manager for telecommunications companies in both the U.S and China. She holds a Masters Degree in International Business from the California International Business University. During years past, Rhea was an accomplished fencer competing internationally.
Ned Sudduth, Vice President of Product Management
Since joining Front Porch in 2003, Ned has managed software development and quality assurance teams and now brings his product expertise directly to our customers. As the VP of Product Management, Ned is responsible for customer and user experience, customer implementation, professional services and training.
Prior to joining Front Porch, Ned held product management positions in a variety of internet software firms in Silicon Valley managing the development of custom software solutions for a variety of clients including Cisco Systems & Time Warner. He has been an industry event speaker and can be followed on twitter @nedsud. Ned has served in the United States Navy and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State University, East Bay.
Dave Salzer, Vice President of Sales Operations
Dave is a leadership professional with a rich operations background. He provides program management and leads sales ops for our commercial and emerging markets in North & South America. He studied arts & sciences at the University of Nebraska and enjoyed a twenty year career in the US Navy as an engineering officer and operations leader. He earned an M.S. degree in Operations Research which he has applied to his roles in military command, as a defense software engineer, in commercial positions as a logistics manager & business analyst for the world’s largest winery, and as Global Supply Chain Director with an international aerospace company.
Dave is a team sports enthusiast and avid outdoorsman serving on the board of a US Forest Service wilderness volunteer organization. At Front Porch since 2009, Dave has integrated military efficiency and his passion for education & sustainability into both the community and the company culture.
Carl Daly, Vice President of Sales – North America
Carl is responsible for sales and business development in the US, Canada and Caribbean. Carl has contributed to our growth since 1999 in a variety of executive capacities. He has held sales, business development, marketing, management and technical positions in a telecommunications and technology career that spans 20 years.
Prior to joining Front Porch, Carl had experience in both fortune 50 and start-up environments. Previous positions include CEO of a software learning start-up as well as sales, marketing and management positions with GTE and MCI where he received companywide recognitions for marketing and sales success. He holds a Masters Degree in International Business from the University of California at San Diego.