December 6, 2016
OpenX Builds Out Executive Team with Hires of Chief Financial Officer and Chief People Officer
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK – OpenX, a global leader in creating programmatic advertising marketplaces that drive superior monetization for publishers, today announced the appointment of Eric W. Muhlheim as chief financial officer and Laura Revenko as chief people officer. Both Eric and Laura will report to OpenX Chief Executive Officer Tim Cadogan, and will be based in the company’s Los Angeles headquarters.
Eric brings over two decades of strategic finance and accounting experience, managing acquisitions and leading teams into new markets. In his new role he will oversee the accounting, financial planning and analysis, and business intelligence functions for the company.
Laura has deep expertise in leading human resources teams in the technology and media industries, with a focus on boosting organizational capability and team performance. She will work to strengthen OpenX’s HR organization and recruiting functions as well as lead the company’s commitment to building an unreasonably awesome company culture.
“We are delighted to welcome Eric and Laura to join us in building a great company at OpenX,” said Tim Cadogan. “Eric’s deep financial and strategic expertise leading growth at his previous companies and Laura’s talents in building high-performing teams across borders will serve us very well as we aim to further scale our company, build market leading products for publishers and create a great place to work.”
These appointments follow a period of impressive progress at OpenX. The company recently achieved a hiring milestone of 500 employees. Last week, OpenX was also named to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ list of fastest growing companies in North America for the third time, in addition to being ranked as one of the fastest growing private companies in Los Angeles by The Los Angeles Business Journal (LABJ). The LABJ also ranked OpenX as a best place to work in the region.
Based on IDC forecasts, total worldwide display advertising transacted through programmatic platforms will reach $70.2 billion in 2019, heralding an enormous opportunity for the industry. OpenX powers programmatic adoption among the world’s leading digital media companies and app developers by offering innovative programmatic marketplace capabilities, based on the fundamental principle that the best way to drive monetization is through an open exchange and controlled competition. Over 1,200 publishers worldwide rely on OpenX technology including the company’s leading header bidding and mobile solutions, which have seen 300 percent and 180 percent year-over-year increases respectively.
Eric was most recently chief financial officer of Helix Education, Inc., a provider of data-driven outsourced program management and enrollment marketing solutions to colleges and universities. At Helix, Eric focused on strategy, controls, and change management, including the acquisition and integration of the Institute for Professional Development, which doubled the company’s size. Prior to Helix, Eric served as chief financial officer of Altius Education, and before that in various leadership roles spanning 16 years at The Walt Disney Company, where he founded the company’s Disney English division and managed the expansion of its China-based learning centers; spearheaded the development of Disney Playmation; managed the acquisition of the Muppets character franchise; and established solid growth foundations for brands such as the Disney Channel and Miramax. Eric holds a B.A. in mathematics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
“OpenX is leading the way in bringing to market new programmatic advertising solutions for premium publishers across the digital spectrum, and I’m thrilled to join the company at this pivotal moment,” said Eric W. Muhlheim, “I’m excited to join the team and support OpenX in its growth, here in the U.S., as well as internationally.”
Laura was most recently chief people officer at Zynga where she rebuilt the people operations organization and reinvigorated the employer brand and culture for a global employee base of over 1,800. Prior to joining Zynga, Laura was vice president of human resources at Hasbro Studios, Discovery Communications and GE/NBC Universal, scaling talent to support rapid growth periods and expansion into global markets, and launching three new businesses. She has a doctorate in organization and leadership which she has leveraged at various companies to build effective teams and organizations, develop talent and the next generation of leaders, and energize company culture.
“OpenX already possesses an immensely strong foundation of talent and culture,” said Laura Revenko, “I look forward to growing the team to meet the needs of the expanding business, and championing the intelligence, creativity and passion that every employee brings to OpenX.”
About OpenX
OpenX is focused on unleashing the full economic potential of digital media companies. We do this by making digital advertising markets and technologies that are designed to deliver optimal value to publishers and advertisers on every ad served across all screens.
At OpenX we have built a team that is uniquely experienced in designing and operating high-scale programmatic ad marketplaces. We are constantly looking for thoughtful, creative executors who are as fascinated as we are about finding new ways to apply a blend of market design, technical innovation, operational excellence, and empathetic partner service to the frontiers of digital advertising.
www.openx.com @openx