Board of Directors

Michael Blend is System1’s co-founder and has served as System1’s Chief Executive Officer since February 2021, and Chairman of the Board since 2013. Prior to System1, Mr. Blend was President/COO of Leaf Group Ltd., which he joined when Leaf Group acquired his data company, Hotkeys, in 2006. Prior to Hotkeys, Mr. Blend was Vice President, Corporate Development for Jawbone from 2001 to 2003 and for Wedding Channel (acquired by The Knot) from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Blend currently serves on the Board of Directors of Nutrisystem, Inc. and Protected.net, and previously has served on the Board of Directors of leading digital marketing and technology companies, including Dynata, Data Axle, among others. Mr. Blend was also the Chairman of the Board of Stuff Media from 2016 until it was acquired by iHeart Media in 2018. Mr. Blend was the EY National Entrepreneur of the Year for Media, Entertainment & Communications in 2018, together with System1’s other co-founder, Charles Ursini. Mr. Blend received his JD from The University of Chicago and holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Duke University.

John Civantos has been a member of our Board since February 2022. From August 2020 to March 2022, Mr. Civantos served as Co-Head of Private Capital Group at MSD Partners, L.P. Prior to MSD Partners, Mr. Civantos served as a Managing Partner and was a member of the Investment Committee at Court Square Capital Partners, a U.S. middle market private equity firm, where he worked from April 2004 to March 2019. At Court Square Capital Partners, Mr. Civantos was primarily involved in the firm’s efforts investing in the Business Services and Technology sectors. Mr. Civantos received his BA from Duke University and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Dexter Fowler is an American professional baseball outfielder who has played in 14 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, most recently for the Los Angeles Angels since April 2021. Prior to the Angels, Mr. Fowler played for the St. Louis Cardinals from April 2017 to October 2020, for the Chicago Cubs from April 2015 to October 2016 and before that for the Houston Astros from April 2014 to October 2014. Mr. Fowler began his MLB career with the Colorado Rockies in 2004. Mr. Fowler also represented the United States in the 2008 Summer Olympics, as a member of the United States national baseball team. Mr. Fowler currently serves on the board of directors of Austerlitz Acquisition Corporation I, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company.

Caroline Horn has been a Partner of Andreessen Horowitz since April 2012 where she provides strategic advice to portfolio founders and CEOs on how to assess, hire, develop and retain the best executive talent. Ms. Horn also runs Andreessen Horowitz’s Guide to Venture-Backed Board Membership program that prepares Board-ready underrepresented executives to serve as board directors in venture-backed companies. Additionally, Ms. Horn has served as an advisor at Strava since April 2014 where she provides strategic advice on hiring and people related issues. Previously, Ms. Horn served as an Executive Recruiting Manager and Executive Recruiter for Global Leadership for Google, Inc. from September 2004 to April 2012. She began her career at a retained executive search firm in San Francisco. Ms. Horn holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Dartmouth College.

Moujan Kazerani has been a Founding Partner of Stibel Investments since co-founding it in December 2010, and Bryant Stibel since co-founding it in November 2013. Previously, Ms. Kazerani served as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Head of HR and Culture at Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation and later as Leader of Global Corporate Strategy for D&B from September 2010 to July 2017. Prior to D&B, Ms. Kazerani served as General Counsel & Secretary at Zag.com which launched and merged with TrueCar, Inc. from November 2006 to September 2010 and advised on the company’s compensation and audit committees of the board. Ms. Kazerani started her career as a corporate associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Ms. Kazerani currently serves on the board of directors of RingDNA, and Tailwind International Acquisition Corp. where she also serves on its audit committee. She received her JD from The UCLA School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from U.C. Berkeley.

Tanmay Kumar has over 12 years of investment and financial experience, and is currently an investment professional and Partner at Bridgeport Partners. Prior to Bridgeport Partners, Mr. Kumar was a Principal on the investment team at Motive Partners. Prior to Motive Partners, Mr. Kumar was an investment professional at Wafra, Inc., in the Alternative Investments Division. Prior to Wafra, Mr. Kumar was an investment professional at Phillips Academy Andover in the school’s Investment Office. Mr. Kumar serves as an advisor to Jiko Group, Inc., a technology company that owns and operates an OCC-chartered national bank and a registered broker-dealer. Mr. Kumar received a bachelor of arts in economics from New York University and is a CFA charterholder.

Frank R. Martire, Jr. is a co-founder and has served as a director of Trebia since February 2020. He has served as a director of Foley Trasimene since May 2020. In addition, he has served as a director of Cannae since November 2017. Mr. Martire has served as the Executive Chairman of NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) since May 2018. Mr. Martire served as Chairman of FIS from January 2017 until May 2018, and as Executive Chairman of FIS from January 2015 through December 2016. Mr. Martire served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of FIS from April 2012 until January 2015. Mr. Martire joined FIS as President and Chief Executive Officer after its acquisition of Metavante in October 2009, where he had served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since January 2003. Mr. Martire served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Call Solutions, Inc. from 2001 to 2003 and President and Chief Operating Officer, Financial Institution Systems and Services Group of Fiserv from 1991 to 2001.

Taryn Naidu brings more than 20 years of entrepreneurial and executive experience across multiple technology-based industries serving as both CEO and COO. Mr. Naidu currently serves as a Partner & Executive Officer at Arrington Capital, which he has served since 2023. Prior to Arrington Capital, Mr. Naidu served as the COO at Rigetti Computing from 2019 to 2022, where he was instrumental in the business operations as well as leading multiple financing rounds for the company, including its public offering through a deSPAC merger. Prior to Rigetti Computing, Mr. Naidu was the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Rightside Group Ltd. upon its business separation from Leaf Group Ltd. in 2014, where he led one of the leading domain services companies until its sale to Identity Digital in 2017. Mr. Naidu received a B.Sc. in computer science from the University of Regina.

Christopher Phillips is a co-founder of Protected.net and has served as both its Chief Executive Officer and a Director since May 2016. In addition, since January 2008, he has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Just Develop It, a privately held UK based investment company. Previously, Mr. Phillips was Chief Executive Officer and Director of WZUK, a global provider of websites and web hosting, he held both positions from April 2014 until the company was sold to Endurance International Group in July 2017. From January 2011 to January 2015, Mr. Phillips served as Chief Executive Officer of JDI Backup, a leading provider of cloud storage services.

Jennifer Prince is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Los Angeles Rams, an American football team in the National Football League, a position that she recently started in December 2021. From December 2020 through November 2021, Ms. Prince served as the Vice President and Head of Global Content Partnerships for Twitter, where she led the social network’s sales and partnership efforts engaging with media and entertainment companies and individual creators since 2013. Prior to Twitter, Ms. Prince was head of industry for film and television at Google and head of media and entertainment at YouTube from April 2011 to August 2013. Ms. Prince was also SVP of Advertising Sales at Demand Media from June 2007 to April 2011. Ms. Prince currently serves on the board of directors of Versus Systems Inc. and Ghostcast Inc. Ms. Prince holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from U.C. Santa Barbara.