Who We Are
System1 was founded in Venice, CA with a simple mission - use technology to make advertising better and safer, while respecting consumer privacy.
Our inspiration comes from groundbreaking prospect theory research by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and his partner Amos Tversky. Their findings distinguish between two modes of thought: System 2, which is slower and more deliberate and System 1, which is fast, automatic and intuitive.
System1 is led by a team of passionate and experienced entrepreneurs who have built multiple billion dollar companies.
Since our founding, we have assembled an incredible group of data scientists and engineers dedicated to our mission, raised significant funding, made several strategic acquisitions, and expanded our offices around the world. And we are just getting started.
Ian Weingarten
CEO
Previously, Ian was SVP of Corporate Development & Partnerships at Yahoo. His ~100-person team at Yahoo was responsible for thousands of partnerships globally. He was also responsible for spearheading the company’s sale process to Verizon. Before Yahoo, he spent his career largely at The Gores Group, Apollo Management and Goldman Sachs. Ian graduated summa cum laude from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In his spare time, he loves to travel and spend time with his wife and four daughters.
Paul Filsinger
President
Paul joined System1 with the acquisition of his company Qool Media. Previously, Paul was CTO of Geosign, the then largest digital media company in Canada. His career began at age 15 with Alphatech, a software & IT consultancy he sold in 2001. Paul is an avid skier, amateur race car driver, and has two sons with his wife of 24 years.
Tridivesh Kidambi
CFO
Tridi’s past roles include EVP, Finance at Whip Networks, where he oversaw all finance, accounting and treasury operations; CFO of CallFire Inc.; and Vice President, Finance at Demand Media. Tridi holds degrees in economics and math from Claremont McKenna College, and an MBA in finance and strategy from Claremont Graduate University's Drucker School of Management. In his spare time, Tridi loves to binge-watch re-runs of Frasier and Becker and spend time with his wife and three children.
Beth Sestanovich
COO
In addition to System1, Beth is founding partner at Summit Advisors. Before that, she served as Group Publisher & CEO of LA Weekly, where under her leadership, the publication won its first Pulitzer Prize. She also held senior management positions at CarsDirect.com and the LA Times. Beth began her career at IBM, spending 10 years in progressively larger strategic roles working with Fortune 500 companies. She holds an M.A. in Psychology from Pepperdine University, and a B.A. in Psychology and minor in Economics from UCLA. Beth recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, is an avid skier and scuba diver, and plays Scrabble competitively.
Daniel Weinrot
General Counsel
Daniel has been our General Counsel since January 2018. Prior to that, he was the General Counsel at Leaf Group Ltd. (formerly Demand Media, Inc.) and Deputy General Counsel at Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Daniel started his career at Latham & Watkins LLP. Daniel received his J.D. from The UCLA School of Law and his B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. When he is not working, Daniel enjoys skiing, snowboarding, hiking, camping, cooking and traveling with his family (which includes two kids and two Shichons named Arlo & Elvis).
Antonio Magnaghi
CTO
Previous positions include VP of Engineering, Data Sciences at Ticketmaster and SVP, Algorithms & Data at Demand Media. Antonio actively contributes to tech incubators, including Mucker Capital of Santa Monica, CA, and is currently an advisor to several technology companies. Antonio holds numerous patents in search, IP networks and predictive analytics, and a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Brian Coppola
Chief Product Officer
Most recently, Brian was the SVP of Product at Amobee, which he joined via SingTel’s acquisition of Adconion Direct in 2014. Prior to Adconion, he lived in the Bay Area, working at several software companies focused on building digital advertising solutions. In his spare time, Brian enjoys playing tennis and spending time with his wife and two kids.
Kevin Ferrell
President, Qool Media
Kevin joined System1 with the acquisition of Qool Media. Prior to that he was VP Operations at Rebellion Media. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a former Senior Tax Manager with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP. As an entrepreneur, Kevin has owned and operated several successful business ventures, and he currently he acts as an advisor to other start-ups in the technology space. Kevin is also a former competitive bodybuilder and competed for Team Canada in the IFBB World Championships. Outside of work, he enjoys supporting his son’s sporting events.
Adam Duritza
SVP, Corporate Development
Previously, Adam was Head of Video and Distribution Partnerships at Yahoo, overseeing 300+ partnerships and distribution to 1,000+ sites and platforms. Prior to that, he was Head of Yahoo Autos and Travel. Prior to Yahoo, he co-founded Spotlight Analytics, and led strategy consulting teams focused on value growth and M&A at Marakon Associates. Adam began his career as a software engineer at Thomson, and graduated from Northwestern University. In his spare time, he enjoys hacking together software projects, and spending time with his wife and young baby.
Mark Huerta
SVP, Search
Mark joined System1 as an early employee, bringing Fortune 500 partner management experience in the social media space. Past strategic partnerships include GE, PepsiCo, P&G while at Offerpop (now Wyng) and Passenger (now Fuel Cycle). Mark holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys vintage watches, old Land Rovers, and traveling the world experiencing local cuisines.
Scott Birnbaum
GM, SEM
Scott has ten years of digital advertising experience managing buying teams, Ad Operations, Data Analytics and BI. He has a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. In his spare time he enjoys travel, golf and all things pop culture.
Matt Delgado
GM, Social Publishing
Matt manages System1’s Social Publishing business unit. Prior to System1, he served as EVP, Registrar at Donuts Inc. and SVP, Operations at the Rightside Group (acquired by Donuts). He previously served as VP, Operations and Director, Corporate Finance for Demand Media, and was a key member on several capital-raising and corporate development projects, including the company's IPO in 2011. Matt holds a B.S. in Business Administration from USC's Marshall School of Business.
Kerstin Gibson
SVP, Strategic Partnerships
Kerstin joined System1 through the acquisition of Infospace in August 2016. Kerstin has over 11 years of experience managing the search distribution business and relationships with search engine partners. She holds a BA and an MBA from Seattle University. Kerstin loves to downhill ski, swim and travel with her husband and three silly little girls.
Nathan Janos
Chief Data Officer
Previously, Nathan developed statistical model solutions for cross-channel/cross-device attribution and patented methods in TV attribution as Convertro's Chief Data Officer. Prior to that, he built SEM optimizations at Business.com and worked with Fortune 50 companies creating highly customized econometric models at MarketShare. Nathan has a B.S. in C.S. and Engineering from MIT with an emphasis on A.I. He enjoys sailing around the Channel Islands, fly fishing and swimming.
Michael Blend
Chairman + Co-Founder
Previously, Michael was President/COO of Demand Media (NYSE: DMD), which he joined when Demand acquired his data company, Hotkeys. Along with Chuck, Michael is the EY National Entrepreneur of the Year for Media, Entertainment & Communications. Michael is an avid surfer & mediocre karaoke performer, and he and his wife have two awesome children.
Chuck Ursini
Co-Founder + Head of New Initiatives
Prior to System1, Chuck was EVP, Platforms at Leaf Group (formerly Demand Media) where he oversaw several business units including BI, Analytics, Monetization & Optimization, and Demand Studios. While there, he worked with Michael Blend to help take the company public (NYSE: DMD) and grow it to a $1B+ market cap. Before that, Chuck was at Amazon, and started his career at Morgan Stanley and UBS. Along with Michael, Chuck is the EY National Entrepreneur of the Year for Media, Entertainment & Communications. Chuck loves college football (Go Trojans!), enjoys the beach and Led Zeppelin.
John Fries
Co-Founder
John holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from MIT and was previously a software engineer at Google, where he made major contributions to products such as YouTube, Google News, and Picasa Web. He loves his wonderful partner, two beautiful children, and data.