Vobile | World’s leading provider for digital content assets protection & transaction | Icebreaker

Vobile | World’s leading provider for digital content assets protection & transaction | Icebreaker

Members

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Short version: Chuck Eesley is a Stanford professor and public thinker on how innovation and entrepreneurship can drive inclusive growth. His research spans refugee entrepreneurship, startup ecosystems, and the unintended consequences of AI and digital platforms. As a founder of global training programs for underserved entrepreneurs, and a former startup advisor and investor, he bridges theory and practice to reimagine how technology and markets can serve public good. Longer academic bio: Chuck Eesley ("ease-lee") is an Associate Professor and W.M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He is also a Faculty Director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and a faculty affiliate at the Stanford Center for AI Safety (SAFE), where his work explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, and platform governance. His recent research focuses on how AI/ML algorithms shape opportunity access and performance in platform-mediated entrepreneurship, as well as the role of digital platforms in financing and spreading misinformation. Prof. Eesley’s broader research examines how institutional and university environments influence high-growth, engineering-driven entrepreneurship. He studies how education and policy can better support the economic and entrepreneurial outcomes of engineering students and alumni. His field research spans China, Japan, South Korea, Chile, Bangladesh, Uganda, Ethiopia, Thailand, and Silicon Valley, and has received awards from the Schulze Foundation, the Technical University of Munich, and the Kauffman Foundation. He serves on the Steering Committee for the Stanford King Center on Global Development and the Advisory Committee for the Stanford Center at Peking University. He is also a faculty affiliate at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions and the Woods Institute for the Environment, and he serves on the Editorial Board of the Strategic Management Journal. His work has been published in Nature, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Biological Psychiatry, among others. A former entrepreneur and investor, Prof. Eesley has been a mentor and advocate for immigrants and first-generation, low-income students in STEM and entrepreneurship. He earned his Ph.D. at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management and a B.S. in neuroscience from Duke University. NovoEd.com launched around his online course, which was the first entrepreneurship MOOC and has taught over 200,000 students in over 100 countries.

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Ben is a serial entrepreneur and the managing partner at Chancebending Ventures, a digital media parent company, as well as a full-service digital consulting agency servicing early stage startups to Fortune 500 clients. He is also SVP of Corporate Development at Vobile, where he’s responsible for growing the company global strategic partnerships/m&a across all traditional media sectors. A seasoned digital media executive, Ben previously founded Blayze Inc. (acquired by Vobile in Feb 2014). Prior to that, Ben was an early Google and YouTube businessperson behind YouTube’s biggest partnerships and strategic efforts. Ben created many first of its kind social media partnerships on the web, and led YouTube’s efforts with Hollywood for years. He helped bridge the gap between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, leaving YouTube HQ to be the company's first businessperson in Los Angeles. * Active venture/angel investor and advisor (Digital Media and ecommerce) * Founded and exited on venture backed startups in the video ecosystem * Key part of early YouTube and Google BD teams, signed first of its kind video deals * Longtime LA tech community lover and fan! Specialties: Expertise: Voice technology, Blockchain & Crypto, Virtual Reality, YouTube strategy, online video, digital media, strategic partnerships, early stage startups, entrepreneurship, social media strategy, original content creation, product management, product marketing, internet marketing. Extensive experience in government 2.0, game design, interactive media, and prediction markets.

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Director, Business Development (OTT)

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- Entrepreneurial product and technology leader with 15+ years of experience spearheading innovation and scaling solutions across diverse sectors, including web3 trading platforms, decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain data & security, and media technology. - Proven ability to define and execute product vision and strategy, build and lead high-performing cross-functional teams, and drive significant business growth and market leadership. - Executive leadership driving IPO and M&A exits in Asia and North America with expertise in executive communication and strategic partnerships to accelerate value creation. - Deep expertise in navigating the complexities of the crypto landscape coupled with strong product management methodologies (certified Scrum Master and Product Owner).

Jerry Kilpatrick

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In the last decade and a half I've spent over half that time as a Sr. Linux Systems Administrator. For the last few years I switched to software development and am now a Sr. Software Engineer. Coming from both backgrounds as a systems admin and a software engineer, I am quite versatile. It has served me well the past few years. I spent a good 13+ years at Rentrak Corporation before my recent separation and the separation was on good terms as I was needed elsewhere. There I had spent most of the time as their sole Linux SA and near the end they graciously let me transfer into software development. I left Rentrak when they sold a portion of the company to Vobile Inc and they were in a need of a software engineer that knew the systems. Being I had once been their system admin and then an engineer I was the ideal candidate. I am a knowledge enthusiast. If there is something I don't know and it seems remotely interesting I'll go research it to, at the very least, know if it is worth continuing to investigate. This includes computer/software related things but also expands into life in general. I am an open source enthusiast. If there is ever a viable open source alternative to what I need, I will always go with open source. Of course, some times there are business demands that make that not possible but if I have a choice it is open source all the way.