People
Passion. Intelligence. Experience. To influence your audience. And, your brand’s success. We are digital marketing pioneers, with decades of proven thought leadership and industry knowledge. As a team, we create innovative solutions to optimize and distribute content that resonates through all online channels.
Jeff Pruitt
President and CEO
Jeffrey Pruitt is ethology's CEO and a founding partner and CEO of Tallwave. Previously, Pruitt served as President of iCrossing, where he drove the development and growth of the largest independent interactive search agency. During his tenure at iCrossing, revenues grew from $2M to $100M. He joined iCrossing in 2000 as Chief Financial Officer and Director of Business Development.
Pruitt serves as chair of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) and has helped drive the trade group's initiatives in industry research and best practices education. He also serves as a board member for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. In 2010, B2B Magazine named him one of the top ten most influential persons in search marketing. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and has sat on the advisory councils of Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. He has an undergraduate accounting degree from Arizona State University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Mike Corak
Executive Vice President, Strategy
Mike Corak is the Executive Vice President of Strategy at ethology, leading the strategic planning and agency services teams. An agency veteran, Corak has developed and implemented winning digital and integrated strategies for hundreds of companies over his 12-year career, including Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, ConocoPhillips, FedEx, Fujitsu, Nike, Office Depot, and Walt Disney. Prior to ethology, Corak led the interactive services, strategy and client management teams at Off Madison Ave, serving a range of industries and organizations, including many Fortune 500 enterprises. Previously, he served as a senior strategic planner at iCrossing, working with most of the agency's largest clients.
Corak's results-oriented work has been recognized by his peers. His awards include "Email Campaign of the Year" from the EEC (Email Experience Council), part of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and "Best Consumer Products Website of the Year" by the American Business Association for his work with Nike.
Sean McMahon
Executive Vice President, Operations
As Executive Vice President of Operations at ethology, Sean McMahon oversees the direction, strategic planning, and day-to-day operations of the company. In addition, he strives to instill a genuine culture of professionalism, responsiveness, and integrity within the team.
Sean was also a founding management team member at TrafficLeader, Inc., a world-renowned search marketing company formed in 1999. At this company, he was directly responsible for forging certified partnerships with all major search engines. He and his partners profitably grew this company for several years, until it was acquired by Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHX) in October 2003.
Sean has successfully launched, managed, and sold four diverse companies over the past two decades. He began his career as Brand Manager at Anheuser-Busch, Inc., and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. His passion for college football was acquired as a walk-on during his undergraduate studies at Oklahoma State University. Sean is also a founding Director of Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland (SEMpdx), an organization based in Portland, Oregon created to inform and educate regional businesses on the benefits of data-driven marketing.
Kent Schnepp
Vice President, Business Development
Kent has over 14 years of business development and digital marketing experience working with top tier clients such as Vail Resorts, LendingTree, Valvoline, Men's Health, Rock Resorts, Ibex Outdoor Clothing, Marvel Entertainment, and Lifelock.
In 2006 Kent co-founded EngineWorks, a data-driven search marketing agency located in Portland, Oregon. As Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at EngineWorks, Inc., a Portland-based professional search marketing company specializing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Paid Search Marketing, and Social Media Marketing (SMM), Kent was responsible for designing and improving systems to deliver the companyís world-class, ROI-driven services to online commercial entities and interactive media agencies. In addition, Kent continuously focuses on enhancing the quality of processes, infrastructure, and best practices to ensure that the Company exceeds client success metrics. EngineWorks was acquired by ethology in February 2011.
Kent regularly speaks at industry conferences such as Search Engine Strategies, Online Marketing Summit, Mountain Travel Symposium and the Travel and Tourism Industry Association. Kent was also recognized as one of the top Forty Under 40 executives by the Portland Business Journal.
In addition, Kent is on the Board of Directors of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland (SEMpdx) and the Board of Advisors of the Freshwater Trust. Kent earned a BS from the University of Oregon. When not working, you can usually find him fly fishing, cycling or running.
Amy Simpson
Vice President, Client Services
Amy Simpson is the Vice President of Client Services at ethology, leading and managing the Account and Project Management teams. Amy has over 20 years of senior-level sales, digital and traditional marketing, and client services experience working with C-level executives within Fortune 500 companies. Amy's background spans the automotive to travel and hospitality spaces, including work with Ford Motor Company, American Honda Motor Company, Toyota Motor Sales, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, Inc., The Ritz Carlton, Fairmont Hotels, Travelocity, Vail Resorts Management Company, Royal Caribbean, and NetJets.
Amy most recently was a leader within the Client Services organization for iCrossing's Travel and Hospitality vertical. She excels in driving company and client strategy and effectively leading cross-functional teams toward high levels of achievement. She is highly skilled in strategic planning with demonstrated success in branding, as well as proficiencies in multiple disciplines and processes related to the creation of consumer and business targeted marketing programs.
Amy earned a BA and BS from The College of William and Mary and her Executive MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Business. During her free time, Amy enjoys travel, good restaurants, cooking, anything outdoors, and golfing. She has also completed multiple triathlons, half marathons and full marathons, having most recently survived the Tough Muddler Race with a team of folks from her CrossFit Gym.
Jon Kaiden
Board of Directors
Jon Kaiden sits on the Board of Directors at ethology. Mr. Kaiden has been a principal and founding member of Sopris Capital since 2002. He has more than 16 years of private equity and financial transaction experience, with a strong focus on healthcare and information technology.
Mr. Kaiden has led a number of investment transactions over his career and currently sits on the board of directors for ethology, Enhanced Capital Partners, Inc., SRSsoft, Inc., Tallwave LLC, Planet Payment, Inc., Mountain Temp Services LLC, Health Data Solutions Corp. and Nurses in Partnership, Inc. and was an advisor to the boards of iCrossing, Inc. and Valutec Card Solutions, Inc.
Before joining Sopris Capital in early 2002, Mr. Kaiden spent the prior twelve years as an investment banker and securities attorney focusing on corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions.
He holds an M.B.A., with honors, phi beta kappa, from Columbia Business School (1996), and J.D., cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School (1991). He obtained his undergraduate degree, B.A., in government from Cornell University (1988).
Stuart Larkins
Board of Directors
Stuart sits on the board of directors of ethology and is an Internet
entrepreneur and digital marketing expert with more than twelve years
of experience leading Internet companies and start-up organizations.
Stuart is a Managing Director if the I2A Fund, a seed stage venture
capital fund, where he is leading all aspects of I2A including fund
management, deal sourcing and investments, and working with portfolio
companies.
Prior to joining the I2A Fund, Stuart¹s digital marketing career was
focused on early stage startups. He was Senior Vice President and
part of the founding management team at Performics, a pioneer in
affiliate and search engine marketing. During his eight years at
Performics, he helped lead the business through rapid growth and
subsequent acquisitions by Doubleclick, Hellman & Friedman, Google,
and Publicis. Stuart was also involved in many online advertising
industry groups and associations, such as the IAB, Yahoo Search
Advertiser Council, MSN Search Committee, and the Google SEM Council.
In addition to his involvement with the I2A Fund, Stuart is the
Founder and Managing Partner of Twin Capital, where he is an investor
in early-stage interactive marketing service and technology companies.
He sits on the board of directors of Performline and Trunk Club and
is an active advisor to BrightTag and TapMe.
Stuart holds a B.S. in Economics from Southern Methodist University.