By Dave McLaughlin, CEO & Co-Founder at Vsnap

We have strengthened Vsnap’s Board of Directors with the addition of Ted McNamara. This is the next step toward having a boardroom like the one above. (Mmmm, smell that Pledge!)

Background

Ted is an incredible entrepreneur and operating exec, with deep expertise in e-commerce and online travel. Currently he is an Executive In Residence at General Catalyst and serves as a consultant to various high-growth e-commerce companies. Previously, he was part of the founding team at RueLaLa (acquired by GSI Commerce), where he served as CFO and EVP. Prior to that, Ted helped build and lead several companies. As an angel investor, Ted led Vsnap’s seed financing, which closed in July. He brings deep financial expertise and operating insights, especially with the kinds of web-based businesses that represent Vsnap’s primary customers.

 I asked Ted to comment on why he’s taking on this role with Vsnap. Here’s what he said:

 I’m a believer that people doing business with companies on the web are really craving a more personal experience. I’ve seen up close how the effectiveness of email is going down as the volume goes up, and anyone sending a lot of emails can see that. I also believe, based on my background as an operator, that companies doing business via the web have a huge need for tools that make it easy for them to create customer relationships that have personal and emotional layers to them. And ultimately, as a Vsnap user, I’ve seen first-hand how the product creates a big, measurable lift in action on the part of recipients. Plus I think the team is great, and I recognize that my skills match up really well with the needs. So for me this is an opportunity to help build another monster company, and that’s what I love to do.

Well, what can I say? We agree. And we feel extraordinarily fortunate that Ted is expanding his commitment to Vsnap.

As I write this up, it occurs to me that I’ve never blogged about our Board of Directors before, so I’ll share just a little more info. 

Prior to now, we had a two-person board consisting of Jim Joyce and myself. Jim and I started experimenting with this idea of a simple video messaging tool in early 2011, and we are both investors in the company as well (as are Claudia Santoro, our CTO / Co-Founder, and Joe Dello Russo, our CFO). Jim’s day job is Founder and CEO of Point of Care, a healthcare company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Previously Jim was a Managing Director for Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals. He’s a relentless entrepreneur and innovator in the healthcare / pharma space.

For those of you who don’t know my background, I’ve spent most of the last 20 years starting companies, raising money, building teams, and bringing product to market, first in the independent film business where I worked as a writer and a director with some great teams to make a couple of award-winning movies, then in the web / mobile environment as Co-Founder and Executive Director of Boston World Partnerships, and, more recently, as Co-Founder of Fig Card, a mobile payments company that was acquired by PayPal in early 2011.

Ted, Jim and I share a deep belief in the Vsnap vision of giving businesses an easy system to record, share and measure short video messages as a way to increase revenues, retention and referrals. We share a commitment to creating not only a revolutionary product, but also a strong company that we’re building to scale and to endure. And finally, we share an unshakeable commitment to total integrity and transparency with our shareholders and our customers. 

Anyone with questions is invited to reach me directly, either on Twitter at @davemacboston or via email at dave at vsnap dot com. And of course you can vsnap me at either address!

Related articles

• [Video] Vsnap vs the Competition (vsnap.tumblr.com)
• Vsnap Announces Expert Advisory Board (vsnap.tumblr.com)