Board of Directors
Kristin Frank
CEO/Board Member
Dan Carroll
CSO/Board Member
Michael Sweeney
Board Member
Richard Yaffa
Board Member
Shikhar Ranjan
Board Member
Mainardo de Nardis
Board Member
Let's Connect
Kristin Frank
CEO/Board Member
Kristin Frank is a well-respected and highly seasoned expert in media and data intelligence, and is the current CEO at AdPredictive, the market-leading customer intelligence software platform. Before AdPredictive, Kristin's career spanned over 23 years at Viacom, Inc., in multiple roles. Most recently, she served as COO of MTV, overseeing revenue, strategy, and operations for a $1.8B portfolio and spearheaded a turnaround, brand reinvention, digital and social media innovation, and market growth.
Prior to MTV, she served as Executive Vice President of Viacom Music and Entertainment's Connected Content Division, where she transformed consumer product, data, engineering, and content resulting in a doubling of revenue. During her time at Viacom, she also held positions as General Manager for MTV and VH1 Digital, Chief Operating Officer of LOGO TV and Regional Vice President of Content Distribution and Marketing. Kristin's career began in finance working for Heller Financial which was acquired by GE.
Kristin was honored as Variety's Power Women of New York, the Most Powerful Women in Cable, and received the Top Women in Digital: Corporate Visionary Award. Kristin currently serves as the Board Director for Brightcove, Inc., and Gaia, Inc. Formerly she served as board director at Gaiam sold to Sequential Brands in 2016 and Cornerstone Capital sold to Pathstone in 2021.
Dan Carroll
CSO/Board Member
Dan Carroll is an entrepreneur and thought leader guiding the future of data-driven technologies and intelligence. He is the Founder and CSO of AdPredictive, which empowers marketers to control business outcomes. Specifically, AdPredictive works with large media, studios, OTT, retailers, travel and hospitality clients to deliver visibility, control and maximum ROI from marketing dollars against bottom-line KPIs.
Dan previously worked as the SVP of Media and Investment Strategy and SVP of Digital at ICON International (Omnicom). Through his fund, Rocket Fuel Partners, Dan invests in moon-shot start-ups. He is the previous Board Chair of Community LINC and dedicated to the issues of poverty, homelessness, and affordable housing. Dan graduated from St. Olaf College and studied design at Stanford University.
Michael Sweeney
Board Member
Mike Sweeney serves as an Executive Officer of SCI Ultimate Holding Corp. and was recently the CEO of Steinway & Sons. Mr. Sweeney served as the Managing Director and Partner of Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison Inc. (2001-2008). He served as Managing Director of Marathon Fund I/II, L.P., Marathon Fund Limited Partnership V and Marathon Fund Limited Partnership IV. He served as CEO of The Minnesota Pizza Company, LLC (1995-1998), President and CEO of Blockbuster Mid-America (1991-1995). He served as an Acting Principal Executive Officer of PreVu Inc. until 2008. He served as the President at Starbucks Coffee Company UK Ltd. since 1998. He was employed at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. and Papa John's International Inc. He served as the Chairman of Star Tribune Media Holdings Company (2009-2014). Mr. Sweeney serves as the Chairman of Star Tribune Media Company LLC and American Blue Ribbon Holdings, LLC. He served as the Chairman of PreVu, Inc. (2007-2008). He serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of Carlson Holdings, Inc. He has been an Independent Director of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. since 2011 and First Solar, Inc. since 2003. He serves as a Member of Board of Managers at Perkins & Marie Callender's, LLC. He serves as a Director of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Carlson Companies, Inc., Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories, Inc., SCI Ultimate Holding Corp., Westlake Hardware, Inc., Transport Corporation of America, Inc., Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation and The Guthrie Theater. He served as a Director of Buffets Holdings, Inc. since 1998, PreVu, Inc. since 2007, Ovation Brands, Inc. since 1998 and Buffets, Inc. since 1998.
Richard Yaffa
Board Member
Rich Yaffa is a global marketing and media industry leader with +25 years of experience in the media, sports, entertainment, content, new technology and cause marketing arenas. Rich brings a distinct perspective to building businesses and enterprise value through his unique experience in the convergence of content, media and brands, often finding solutions, partnerships and results others may not have considered. Rich has represented or negotiated over $5 Billion in content, sponsorships or partnerships on behalf of clients, creating business opportunities in excess of $7B through these deals.
Rich co-founded The Leverage Group and served as its CEO and President. He lead numerous Leverage Group client teams including Tribeca Entertainment/Tribeca Film Festival, Redken, Disney, Sony, Broadway Video, Maybelline, Citicorp, Snapple, Deutsch Advertising, Hollywood Records, Parfums Givenchy, Capitol Records, All Stars Project, Warner Brothers Music and Best of Health. Rich sold The Leverage Group to WPP/GroupM in 2006, and started GroupM ESP.
He was most recently the Global CEO of Spring Studios, a global communications firm specializing in Creative Marketing and Communications with offices in New York, London and Milan. Spring is a leader in developing unique business models for media, content, e-commerce, marketing and communications.
Shikhar Ranjan
Board Member
Shikhar Ranjan is a self-taught machine learning and data science expert, with a focus in Deep Learning, Neural Networks and Language Processing, as well as analytical frameworks like Google's TensorFlow. He is a seasoned investor with over 16 years of experience in distressed debt, structured product, credit, and equity strategies. He was a founding partner at DW Partners, a multi-strategy credit hedge fund, and served as a portfolio manager for corporate credit. He was also a member of the firm’s investment committee and management committee.
Previously Mr. Ranjan was a portfolio manager at Brevan Howard US Asset Management starting June 2008. He spent the prior six years at Morgan Stanley, where he was last responsible for the structured and non-vanilla credit products trading for the proprietary trading group. Mr. Ranjan has a Ph.D. in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University, an MS in Financial Mathematics from Stanford University, and a BTech in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children.
Mainardo de Nardis
Board Member
Mainardo de Nardis is a powerhouse in marketing and advertising, with 30+ years in the industry he is globally recognized as a thought leader in media innovation and trends. Mr. de Nardis began his career in the 80’s with Y&R before co-founding third wave adv agency Alberto Cremona and later a series of start-ups in media, PR and CRM. He was later the global CEO of MEC (WPP) and Aegis Media, based out of London, UK. He has most recently held the position of Executive Vice-Chairman at Omnicom Media Group in New York until December 2018 and previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of OMD Worldwide Group from 2009. During his tenure, OMD was named the most creative media network 11 times by the GUNN Report, awarded Global Media Agency of the Year five times by Adweek, and most recently was named 2017 Media Network of the Year at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
Mr. de Nardis' extensive career has culminated in varied and diverse roles as a board director and an investor in businesses going through rapid evolution or accelerated transformation. We are excited to be a part of his strategic repositioning and to benefit from his creative and innovative mindset.