About the BetterVideo Executive Team
The BetterVideo Executive team has over 80 years of combined experience and expertise in creating Internet start-ups, building online video production systems and hardware hosting services, and handling online video advertising for yellow pages producers and online newspapers.
Michael Shell — CEO
Mr. Shell is an accomplished entrepreneur with over seventeen years of experience managing start-up businesses in and around the interactive information and publishing industries such as newspapers and Yellow Pages. In addition to BetterVideo, Mr. Shell most recently co-founded Metrix4Media (M4M). M4M is a sponsored-search company that helps small businesses be prominently placed on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask and Local.com. Hearst Corporation purchased 80% of M4M in December 2007, and in October 2009 purchased the remaining 20%.
Previous to M4M, Mr. Shell co-founded StandardCall — a call measurement and monitoring business, which he guided to over $10 million in annual revenue by merging it with Who's Calling in October 2005. Mr. Shell was active in StandardCall until the summer of 2006.
Mr. Shell founded IMS in 1998, where he grew his startup into an industry leader, providing services in over 150 markets for Yellow Page publishers across North America. At IMS, Mr. Shell nearly tripled the value of its shareholders investment in less than two years when it was sold to WorldPages (NYSE: WPZ) in April 2000 for cash and stock valued at $30 million.
Prior to IMS, Mr. Shell was the founder of Harrison and Associates where he created and managed the industry's first successful audiotex advertising program, which grew to $3 million in 14 months and was purchased by Brite Voice Systems (NASDAQ: BVSI) for $1.5 million. At Brite he served as Vice President of Interactive Media Sales and led the company's efforts in directory publisher services.
Brian Russell — VP of Information Technology
Mr. Russell has over twelve years of experience in Information Technology and more than ten years managing technology teams in start-ups. Mr. Russell is familiar with the quick changing world of the Internet and brings a passion for blending emerging technologies with industry standard architectures to achieve reliable, scalable solutions. In addition to BetterVideo, he served as a Senior Technology Consultant for Metrix4Media before their acquisition by Hearst Corporation in 2007. Mr. Russell was also the VP of Information Technology for StandardCall, a call measurement services company, which merged with Who's Calling in October of 2005.
Prior to StandardCall Mr. Russell worked at Boeing Defense, Space & Security (NYSE: BA) assisting the software development teams in completing successful SEI Capability Maturity Model Level 5 audits. He was Director of Implementation and Support for Financialware, a banking software solution provider in Indianapolis, Indiana from 1998 to 2002. Mr. Russell holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Purdue University.
Doug Via — Video Production Manager
An accomplished video producer and manager, Mr. Via currently leads the production department for BetterVideo. At the end of 2007, Mr. Via joined BetterVideo to bring their production services in house and grow their capacity to handle large-volume production. This included establishing the hardware and software used, hiring talented video editors and writers, developing a nationwide network of videographers across the US, and developing the core structure of the workflow process which has the ability to handle over 1000 videos per month. Mr. Via also helps develop strategic web based concepts, and creates marketing materials for the company.
He began his career in 1992 as Master Control Operator for America One Television network in Los Colinas, TX. Fujitsu hired Mr. Via in 1995 to work as their Video Production Specialist where he produced training, marketing and internal communication videos.
With his experience producing for Fujitsu, Mr. Via started his own business and launched DVMultimedia Inc. in 2000. DVMultimedia, Inc. grew its business by taking on new corporate clients like Wells Fargo, Swett & Crawford, and provided chief editor services for local WFAA TV shows.
In 2005, Mr Via worked as a strategic consultant for a Dallas start-up company in the online video market where he advised on the building of a web-based interface that enabled the uploading of multimedia assets, which could then be edited and assembled into videos for download.