Thumbplay News

COO/CFO and newly minted executive team add deep experience from leading e-commerce, entertainment and direct-to-consumer companies

NEW YORK - June 22, 2006

Thumbplay Inc., a leading online retailer of mobile entertainment content, today announced the addition of Scott Marshall as COO/CFO. Marshall will be responsible for leading Thumbplay's day-to-day operations and managing the finance function of the company. His appointment rounds out a diverse and seasoned management team that has quickly established Thumbplay as one of the leaders in mobile entertainment.

Marshall most recently was the executive vice president and CFO of CSTV (College Sports Television), where he helped raise more than $100 million in private equity financing from leading firms including JP Morgan Partners, Soros Management and Allen & Company. In January 2006, CSTV was acquired by the CBS Corporation for $325 million. Before CSTV, Marshall served as vice president and CFO of Classic Sports Network, now ESPN Classic. During his tenure, Marshall assisted in raising nearly $40 million to fund the network's development, while building and managing the company's financial operations. As one of the first employees at Classic Sports Network, Marshall was a key member of the management team that sold the company to ESPN in 1997 for $185 million.

"We are proud to add Scott's diverse mix of expertise to the Thumbplay team," said Are Traasdahl, CEO of Thumbplay. "His past experience in building and managing the growth of emerging companies is a crucial asset as we work to exponentially grow our customer base and continue to expand our menu of mobile content."

"Thumbplay is positioned at the top of one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world," said Marshall. "With our broad range of content, disciplined direct marketing and advanced technology, we are poised to become the leader in mobile entertainment."

Also joining Marshall as new members of Thumbplay's executive team are Joe Bilman, executive vice president of product/operations; Mitch Rotter, vice president of content licensing and programming; and Marc Matsumoto, senior director of retention.

Bilman joins Thumbplay with more than 10 years of online product management and development experience from CDNOW, Columbia House and Rodale. Bilman will be responsible for the company's Web and mobile consumer experience.

Rotter most recently served as director of content licensing and acquisition for Infospace Mobile. He will be responsible for all of Thumbplay's content licensing and programming initiatives.

Matsumoto joins Thumbplay from Netflix, where we worked as a senior marketing manager. Matsumoto will manage the subscriber base, which includes viral acquisition and retention.

About Thumbplay

Thumbplay, Inc. is a leading online retailer of mobile entertainment content. The company aggregates, promotes and delivers mobile content directly to members via Thumbplay.com. The site offers ringtones, wallpapers, games and text-based services through a membership-based, community experience. Thumbplay, headquartered in New York, was founded by CEO Are Traasdahl and Executive Vice President, Marketing Evan Schwartz.

A veteran of the mobile entertainment industry, Traasdahl was part of establishing Carrot Communication, one of the first companies in the world to sell wireless content directly to consumers. He has worked on mobile marketing campaigns with companies such as ABC, AT&T Wireless, Disney, NewsCorp, Telemundo and Verizon.

Schwartz has more than 10 years experience marketing entertainment and subscription products online. He was a member of the start-up team at CDNOW and managed all online acquisition and retention strategies for Columbia House as senior vice president of online.

The company is backed by leading venture capital firms, including SoftBank Capital, i-hatch Ventures and Redwood Partners. For more information, visit www.Thumbplay.com.

Labels: press-release

posted by Thumbplay at 1:32 PM