AirFlash Adds Netscape Pioneers to Management Team.Business Editors & High Tech Writers REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2000 AirFlash, Inc., the premier ASP of wireless location and m-Commerce infrastructure, bolstered its senior management team with today's announcement of three key appointments--Korak Mitra as chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , JF Sullivan as vice president of marketing and Marcel DePaolis as vice president of technical architecture. The appointments form a critical element in AirFlash's continuing expansion into the wireless Internet market, bringing a strong combination of management and marketing experience, and technical expertise. "These guys are some of the hottest in the industry, having initiated and driven Netscape's current leadership position in selling software to the service provider and wireless carrier markets," said Rama Aysola, founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of AirFlash. "We are acquiring top talent in an industry with an acute skills shortage; the fact that some of the brightest are turning to AirFlash is a real boost in our continued role as a pioneer and leader in the mobile market. I'm delighted to have them on board." As COO, Mitra will be responsible for all marketing, R&D and business development activities worldwide. He joins AirFlash from Netscape Communications Corporation (company) Netscape Communications Corporation - (Formlerly "Mosaic Communications Corporation", MCC) A company set up in April 1994 by Dr. James H. Clark and Marc Andreessen <marca@netcom. where, as vice president, Mitra managed the iPlanet Messaging, Calendar, Wireless Access, Instant Messaging and Unified Messaging products. Under Mitra's management, the Sun/Netscape messaging division grew annual revenues from $30 million to over $100 million worldwide with a number one market share in the service provider segment. "The mobile Internet is the most exciting place in the technology arena right now and AirFlash is the most compelling single company exclusively focused on this market," said Mitra. "By creating content from scratch and by focusing only on the needs of the mobile Internet user, AirFlash is uniquely positioned to become the leader in providing a content infrastructure for wireless carriers and portals." Prior to Netscape, Mitra held several marketing and development positions at Hewlett Packard, including general manager for HP's OpenMail messaging business. Mitra has a B.S. in engineering from the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School Of Management. JF Sullivan, as vice president of marketing, will drive the product strategy and overall marketing for AirFlash's mobile services. Previously, Sullivan established Netscape's Messaging and Groupware lines, helping to generate worldwide revenues of over $100 million per annum Per annum Yearly. in less than three years. Sullivan also held senior production management positions with Topica Inc., the leading provider of email-based content; and Vignette, where he led the development of a varied Internet product line that served the content management and syndication needs of numerous Fortune 100 companies. Sullivan holds a bachelor of engineering Bachelor of Engineering (commonly abbreviated as BE or BEng) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited university in Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Korea, degree in computer science from the University of Florida University of Florida is the third-largest university in the United States, with 50,912 students (as of Fall 2006) and has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year). UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. and has completed graduate study programs in marketing and finance. As vice president of technical architecture, DePaolis will drive the development of AirFlash's wireless location and commerce infrastructure. He also joins AirFlash from Netscape, where he served most recently as technical director of Messaging and Collaboration for iPlanet. DePaolis previously held senior architect and engineering management positions at ISOCOR, the leading supplier of Internet messaging, directory meta-directory software solutions; and Quarterdeck Office Systems Quarterdeck Office Systems, later Quarterdeck Corporation, was an American computer software company. It was incorporated in 1982. Their offices were initially located in Santa Monica, California and later in Marina Del Rey, California. . He also spent five years as the CEO and co-founder of Pittsburgh Powercomputing Corporation, a company that specialized in very fast X servers and graphics software. DePaolis holds a triple major B.S. in electrical, computer and biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering An interdisciplinary field in which the principles, laws, and techniques of engineering, physics, chemistry, and other physical sciences are applied to facilitate progress in medicine, biology, and other life sciences. from Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University, at Pittsburgh, Pa.; est. 1967 through the merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (founded 1900, opened 1905) and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research (founded 1913). . About AirFlash, Inc. AirFlash empowers the Mobile Medium through location and m-Commerce infrastructure for wireless carriers and portals. The AirFlash services supply relevant location-sensitive content such as yellow pages and directions; local events, movies, and attractions; travel and commuter updates; comparison-shopping; and ticket purchasing through the SmartZone environment. AirFlash is also the exclusive distributor of the Inktomi Shopping Engine, with six million products available for the mobile Internet market. Founded in July 1998 by industry pioneer Rama Aysola, AirFlash is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. based in Redwood City, California Redwood City is a suburb located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Redwood City is the county seat of San Mateo County. As of the 2005 census, the city had a total population of 76,000. . Investors include Inktomi, Bay Partners, Band of Angels, PTI PTI - Portable Tool Interface , Trio Investments and Pitch Johnson/Asset Management Company. For additional information about AirFlash, visit their web site at http://www.airflash.com. NOTE TO EDITORS: Electronic photos of AirFlash executives are available upon request. AirFlash and SmartZone are trademarks of AirFlash, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. |
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