Buddy Media

Jeff Berman has enjoyed a diverse range of roles in his career, starting in law, politics, and policy, before moving into operational roles at the intersection of media and technology. He currently serves as General Manager of Digital Media at the NFL.

Jeff previously held a series of positions at MySpace, ultimately serving as President of Sales & Marketing, overseeing the company's branded advertising, sales operations, entertainment, content, and marketing teams.

Prior to entering the digital media space, Jeff served as Chief Counsel to United States Senator Charles E. Schumer and as a public defender representing children charged in the District of Columbia's adult criminal courts. He also held an adjunct professorship at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Jeff earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. from Connecticut College, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Jeff Richards is a partner at GGV Capital, a $1B venture capital firm investing in the US and China. Prior to joining GGV Capital, Jeff spent 13 years as an entrepreneur and operating executive, selling his last company to VeriSign in 2005. In addition to Buddy Media, Jeff serves on the Board of several leading Internet and SaaS (software as a service) companies, including Appirio, BlueKai and Evolv OnDemand. Jeff graduated from Dartmouth College, and is active with several Bay Area nonprofits focused on kids and education.

Jules Maltz joined Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) in August 2008 and has over ten years of venture capital and startup experience. He focuses on later-stage venture investments in rapidly-growing Internet and software companies. Jules led IVP’s investment in Buddy Media and was actively involved in IVP’s investments in LivingSocial, Marketo, Ngmoco (DeNA), Sugar, Spiceworks, Twitter and Yext. Jules currently serves on the Board of Directors of Buddy Media, H5 and Yext.

Eric Hippeau is a partner at Lerer Ventures, a seed venture capital fund in New York City.

He was the Chief Executive Officer of The Huffington Post ("HuffPost") until March 2011 when the company was sold to AOL. The HuffPost is a leading social news and opinion site that offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, sustainable “green” living, world news, and comedy, and is a top destination for news, blogs and original content. The Huffington Post has 22.5 million unique users each month and is the most-linked-to blog on the Internet, per Technorati.

Prior to joining HuffPost, Hippeau was managing partner at Softbank Capital, a New York and Boston-based venture capital fund specializing in early stage investments in technology and digital media. Hippeau joined Softbank Capital in 2000 from Ziff-Davis, Inc., where he was Chairman and CEO. During his career at Ziff-Davis, Hippeau was early to recognize the growth potential of online media. Under his stewardship, ZDNet became one of the few successful examples of a strong online business model evolving from traditional magazine content, and he was instrumental in SoftBank’s first investment in Yahoo! in 1995.

Hippeau was also responsible for founding ZDTV, a cable channel dedicated to technology and the Internet. Hippeau serves on the boards of several public and private companies, including Yahoo!, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Thumbplay, The Huffington Post, and BuddyMedia.

Hippeau graduated from the Lycee Francais de Londres and attended the Sorbonne University.

Michael is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded four successful internet-based media companies. He has a passion for creating, managing and growing companies from the ground up. Michael is currently Chairman and CEO of Buddy Media, Inc., a New York-based company whose Facebook management system, the Buddy Media Platform, is used by eight out of the top ten global advertisers.

Before Buddy Media, Michael founded University Wire, an Associated Press-like network of more than 700 student-run newspapers, now owned by CBS Corp, and GOLF.com,

a profitable online golf media company purchased by Time Warner's Time Inc. in January 2006. In February 2007, he started Lazerow Consulting, which helps finance, launch, manage and grow numerous digital media businesses.

Michael is widely recognized as a thought leader on digital media and marketing trends and is a contributing writer to Advertising Age, AllThingsD, MediaPost, Business Insider and Fortune, among other publications.

He regularly speaks at conferences including the Monaco Media Forum, the Consumer Electronics Show, South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), Bloomberg Empowered Entrepreneur Summit, Mashable Connect, MediaPost OMMA Global, Web 2.0 Expo and iMedia Brand Summit. Michael and his companies have won numerous industry awards and accolades. In June 2011, Michael was named the New York region Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Michael and his companies have won numerous industry awards and accolades. In June 2011, Michael was named the New York region Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Buddy Media was named to Advertising Age's 2011 "Digital A-list", Ad Week's 2010 "Insurgent of the Year" and won the "Best Enterprise" application honor at the 2011 TechCrunch Crunchie Awards.

Michael is an active investor in digital media companies through Lazerow Ventures, a $10 million family partnership and co-investment fund he launched in 2011. Current investments include Village Vines, Saving Star, Social Flow, Social Leverage, tagman and Copious. He serves on the board of directors of Village Vines and Saving Star.

Michael lives in New York City with his wife, Kass, two sons, Myles and Cole, and daughter Vivian. He graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. and M.S. in Journalism in 1996.