Mark S. Hammond
Mark Hammond, co-founder of The Retail Equation, serves as the company’s CEO and chairman of the board. Prior to launching The Retail Equation, he founded Risk Data Corporation, which was later acquired by HNC Software. At Risk Data, Hammond raised venture capital financing and was responsible for transforming the startup from a business plan to a company with more than 100 employees. Following the acquisition of Risk Data while at HNC, Hammond orchestrated the acquisition of CompReview for approximately $200 million, which eventually became 30 percent of the company’s total revenue. Hammond also holds two patents (5,613,072 and 5,712,984) as co-inventor of Risk Data Corporations’ MIRA product. Hammond holds a master’s degree in Business Management from the University of Redlands.
Dr. Mark N. Greene
Dr. Mark Greene is the former CEO and current chair of the advisory board of Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), a company providing predictive analytics, credit scores, fraud detection and business rules management for the financial services and retail industries. He is a recognized thought leader on predictive analytics, banking and economic trends and also is a director of Neustar (NYSE: NSR) and Capella Education Company (NASDAQ: CPLA). Prior to these leadership roles, Greene was general manager of the banking industry vertical market segment for IBM Corporation.
George W. Off
A widely known leader in targeted marketing solutions and shrink prevention, George Off retired as chairman of the board of Checkpoint Systems Inc. (NYSE:CKP) in 2009. He also served as the company’s CEO and helped develop and expand its retail solutions into more than 32 countries. Prior to Checkpoint Systems, Off was founder, former chairman and CEO of Catalina Marketing Corporation, a multinational company providing targeted marketing solutions for consumer goods companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and retailers.
Dr. Charles W. Stryker
Dr. Charles Stryker is the founder and president of Venture Development Center, Inc. (VDC), a professional advisory firm assisting companies in creating, developing and commercializing new products in the information services industry. Prior to founding VDC, he was president of InfoUSA. Stryker has served on a number of public and private boards and joined The Retail Equation on April 1. His board appointments have included: 24/7 RealMedia, Greenfield OnLine, Intelliquest, Inc., MyLife.com, Geoscape, RDC and Datamyx.
Jon Kossow
Jon Kossow brings more than 13 years of investment expertise to The Retail Equation board of directors. Currently a partner at Norwest Venture Partners, Kossow focuses on investing in a wide range of sectors including information services, software, business services and financial services. Prior to joining Norwest Venture Partners, Kossow was a director at Goldman Sachs, where he headed the San Francisco, Calif. office for the firm’s Americas Special Situations Group. He also spent nearly 10 years at TA Associates in Menlo Park, a private equity firm with $16 billion in capital under management. As a principal, he led TA’s West Coast Business Services Practice.
Robert C. Arditi
Robert Arditi has a primary focus on growth equity investments in data/information services with an additional focus on business services, consumer and software investments. Currently a vice president at Norwest Venture Partners, Arditi worked at Lake Capital, a private equity firm with $1.3 billion under management. Earlier in his career, Arditi was an analyst in the consumer and retail investment banking group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he advised companies and private equity firms on mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, financings, divestitures, joint ventures, and strategic assignments.
