Management Team

In 1999 Are was part of establishing Carrot Communications, one of the first companies to sell wireless content directly to consumers. Are has been in charge of wireless entertainment campaigns for companies like NewsCorp, Disney, ABC, Univision, Telemundo and Fuse and with wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T Wireless, Cingular and T-Mobile. Are also co-founded Telenor Interactive Inc, the first company to launch cross-carrier premium messaging in the US market.

Evan Schwartz has over 10 years of experience marketing entertainment and subscription products online. In 1995, Evan was part of the start-up team at CDNOW, the pioneering music ecommerce site. Most recently, Evan was SVP of Online for Columbia House, the largest direct marketer of entertainment in the United States.

Scott Marshall has spent the majority of his 19 year career helping to build and manage the growth of emerging media companies. Most recently, Scott was the executive vice president and CFO of CSTV (College Sports Television), now a division of CBS. Before CSTV, Marshall served as vice president and CFO of Classic Sports Network, now ESPN Classic.

Markus Thortsvedt has 12 years of experience in founding and building international mobile/internet companies. In 2000 Markus was part of establishing the Scandinavia's dominant mobile content company Schibsted Mobile, now Aspiro (publ), and he has spent most of his career building complex product offerings in the telecom and internet space. Most recently Markus was the CTO for Aspiro AB (publ.), CTO of Schibsted Mobile, COO of Dressmart, CEO of Shirtmate and Senior internet consultant at Intelligence (now Jupiter).

Joe Bilman has over 12 years online product management and development experience from CDNOW, Columbia House and Rodale. He joined Thumbplay, most recently, from Rodale, where he was the Vice President of Subscription Services. Prior to that, Joe managed product development for Columbia House's acquisition sites.

Lasse Hamre has over 6 years of experience writing custom J2EE application for the music and entertainment industry. Prior to joining Thumbplay, Lasse worked in the Entertainment and Media division at Bearingpoint Inc, focusing on custom application design and implementation for clients in the music industry.

James is responsible for content licensing, carrier relations and international expansion for Thumbplay. Mr. Finn's past experience includes business development, mobile content, mobile music, ringtones and advertising. Previously, he has served as Head of Business Development at Ericsson's Mobility World, Global Sales Manager at Ericsson AB and Vice President of Business Development at Zingy Inc. Mr. Finn has a BA in Marketing and Information Systems from Babson College.