Biography

2007-10-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

Scott Epstein has 25+ years of achievement in marketing, brand management, strategy, angel investing and business development, as well as day-to-day leadership and operations as CEO. He has held key positions in internet, telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, media, and entertainment companies. Since 1999, he has been an investor, consultant and advisor to more than a dozen Internet startups. He currently serves at Chief Marketing Officer for Tout; investor/advisor for Fanny Wang Headphone Company; investor/advisor to Meebo, and advisor to Cooliris.

Companies for which he has worked include:

GOOGLE: Served as company’s first vice president of Marketing; 1999.

PLAXO: Consultant/interim vice president of Marketing for Sequoia Capital-funded online contact management service; 2004

MEEBO: Investor, advisor and consultant for Sequoia Capital-funded instant messaging and Web check-in service; 2005-present

GROUPER (NOW CRACKLE): Consultant and advisor for #2-ranked internet video service, acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2006 for $65 million; 2003-2006.

BRONDELL: Consultant and advisor for Mark Cuban-funded electronic toilet seat bidet company with distribution in Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond; 2005-present.

MILLER BREWING COMPANY: Consultant for interactive brand strategy for Miller Lite; 2005.

ARTS ALLIANCE MEDIA: Developed business plan and CRM solution for U.S. expansion of Picturehouse, the UK’s largest art-house cinema chain; 2003.

KIDPHONE: Developed business plan for world’s first cellular handset designed exclusively for children; 2004.

SNOCAP: Advisor to Walden VC-funded internet company that manages payments between music rights-holders and online retailers, including MySpace.com; 2003.

PROTRADE SPORTS: Consultant for Kleiner Perkins-funded online fantasy sports company; 2004.

AUDIOFEAST: Advisor to Mayfield-funded consumer internet music service; 2004.

PREMIEREGUIDES: Advisor to localized internet search services company; 2003-2004. Acquired by Local.com

MUSICMATCH: Consultant for digital music management service, acquired by Yahoo in 2005 for $120 million; 2001.

BIGVINE: Consultant for online business-to-business exchange, acquired by NBC/Allbusiness.com in 2001.

BACKFLIP: Interim vice president of Marketing for venture-funded consumer internet service; 2001.

SONY MUSIC/INFOBEAT: Consultant for Infobeat, a Sony-owned email subscription-based news and entertainment service; 2000.

XFIRE: Instant messaging service for online gaming; acquired by Viacom in 2006; 2004.

COOLIRIS: Advisor for Kleiner-Perkins-funded consumer internet startup, based in Palo Alto, CA. 2007-present.

TELEFLIP: Consultant for GRP Partners-funded consumer telecom startup, based in Los Angeles. 2007-present

From 1997-1999, Scott was co-founder and senior vice president, Marketing, for Spinner, the first and then-largest Internet radio service. He played a key role in the team that took the tiny startup to brand and market leadership, which resulted in the company’s acquisition by AOL for $320 million in May 1999.

Prior to that, Scott served as director of Marketing for Excite, Inc. (1996-1997), where he led the marketing efforts for the Excite Network. Scott was the company's first marketing executive, and built a marketing team that helped take the company to a solid #2 search engine position, behind Yahoo. Scott was primarily responsible for brand management, most notably overseeing an award-winning, integrated marketing campaign using Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?" as the focus.

From 1995-1996, Scott was vice president, Marketing Services, for Cincinnati Bell Telephone, where he launched and supervised the company's first brand-focused marketing department. During his time at CBT, Scott oversaw the launch of the nation's first ISP from a regional telephone company.

Scott also managed marketing communications at the Miller Brewing Company (1992-1995) at its headquarters in Milwaukee, specifically holding responsibility for low-calorie and premium category beer brands. Early career highlights include account management of consumer packaged-goods brands (Tropicana Orange Juice, Gorton’s of Gloucester, Bounty Paper Towels) at Burson-Marsteller/Young and Rubicam; director of communications at Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association; publicist at A&M Records-owned label IRS Records; and production assistant at Dick Clark Productions.

Scott has been recognized for his achievements by numerous organizations and trade publications. He was named one of Advertising Age's “Marketing 100 ” in 1997, and was featured as one of Brandweek magazine's "Next Generation Marketers” in 1998. He received "Best of Show" for Excite advertising at the National Association of Broadcaster's annual "Mar.Com Awards,” and a nomination from The New York Times for its "Advertising Hall of Achievement.”

Contact Information:
415-264-8700 (cell)

scott@scottepstein.com