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liz gasper /
interim ceo and chief financial officer
Liz has over 18 years experience with public and
pre-public companies in a number of diverse industries, including hardware,
software and educational toys. She has been involved in a number of successful
private equity financings, company mergers, initial public offerings and
company privatizations. Her background includes a unique combination of
financial, operational and entrepreneurial experience.
As Chief Financial Officer of LeapFrog Enterprises, Liz was chartered with transitioning
the company's infrastructure and financial management from a pre-public
company to that of a well-developed, public company. Liz also served on the
advisory board of Big Bang Ideas, the parent company of Big Boing Toys,
which was acquired by Cranium.
caleb chung /
inventor, board member & co-founder
Caleb began his toy invention career with Mattel in 1985, designing toys
for its New Business Concepts R&D Division which targeted the Infant
& Preschool, Boys Toys, Barbie, Activities and Games markets. Caleb's
prolific conceptual and design skills created widely acclaimed toys, eventually
landing him a feature appearance on the David Letterman Show.
Caleb's accomplishments and experience span the entertainment, mixed media,
and toy industries. He has written, produced, and acted in critically
acclaimed stage shows, has designed special effects for film/TV, and invented
numerous successful toys.
In 1990 Caleb began to independently consult for Fisher Price, Mattel,
Bandai, Hasbro, Disney, Microsoft Corporation and Tiger Electronics. He
co-invented the 1998 hot toy of the year, Furby, which sold over 50 million
units worldwide, generating over $1.2 billion in sales. As an inventor
with over 20 patents, Caleb is regarded as one of the premier product
designers in the toy industry.
john sosoka /
chief technology officer
John Sosoka brings inspired ideas to life at UGOBE
and heads the technological innovation at the company. Recently he co-founded
and was CTO at Neurosmith. Under Sosoka's technical leadership, this educational
technology toy company grew to $12M in sales and won almost every major
toy industry award including the "Most Innovative Toy Of The Year" (TOTY).
In 2003, Neurosmith was acquired by Small World Toys. Prior to Neurosmith,
Sosoka held senior executive positions at Davidson & Associates, Emerson
Technologies and the Technology Application Group.
diana stern /
director of strategic operations
Diana brings a diverse background of management
experience to UGOBE. With a focus on organizational management and business
processes, Diana has a unique ability to lead diverse projects and manage
interdisciplinary teams toward successful results. Diana draws on her
degree in anthropology to help assimilate challenging problems into manageable
tasks and processes. Before joining UGOBE, Diana was the director of operations
for Nextsport, a start-up that designs, manufacturers and distributes
unique push scooters. Diana was involved in developing and managing all
areas of the business, including product development, manufacturing supply
chain, marketing, sales, finance and back office operations. An experienced
entrepreneur, Diana successfully built and sold her own company, Precision
Property Services, in 1988. After Precision Property, she also established
and managed her own business at Paramedical Examiner from 1993 to 1996.
Diana received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University
of California, Berkeley.
martin hitch /
vice president of sales, marketing & business development
Martin Hitch brings 15 years of worldwide sales and marketing experience with leading children’s entertainment companies. Martin is known for his knowledge of the global market and experience in building long term relationships throughout the sales cycle. In his native UK, Martin held senior sales positions at Mattel including leadership of Mattel UK’s direct import program, then the company’s most profitable business unit. After relocating to the USA to join Hasbro’s OddzOn division, Martin developed and executed successful business strategies for the international division. He then managed domestic sales for the company’s Wal-Mart business. At MGA Entertainment, Martin led the international launch and distribution of the BRATZ™ brand achieving up to 30% share in key markets within one year and laying the foundation for one of the industry’s billion dollar brands. Prior to UGOBE, Martin was founder of World in Advance, a software solutions developer for online marketplace management with focus on building applications that integrate with eBay.
(BRATZ is a trademark of MGA Entertainment, Inc.)
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