Leadership

Brendan King is the innovative force behind Vendasta. Responsible for providing the vision, thought leadership, and business strategy, it is Brendan’s ability to focus on the big picture while maintaining quality on the finest details that facilitates Vendasta’s success. In fact, he was named one of the Top 50 Saas CEOs by the Software Report in 2019! Prior to starting the company, Brendan proved his worth through many business ventures, including founding two other successful companies, one of which was nationally franchised. He also provided the entrepreneurial force behind Point2 Agent, a real estate software company, where he grew its membership to more than 185,000 agents and brokers in 85 countries. Brendan and Vendasta are almost synonymous. Both are governed by four core values: Drive, innovation, respect and agility. Brendan is extremely passionate about upholding these values while helping Vendasta on its path of becoming the #1 platform for selling digital solutions to local businesses.

Richard Cheung is responsible for keeping the books in order, organizing our finances, and acting as the CEO’s right hand, money-focused man. Richard is a seasoned C-level executive with broad financial and operational experience in a range of high-growth, venture-funded, and early-stage companies through to NASDAQ-listed public companies. Richard previously held the role of CFO at Vancouver-based TIO Networks Corp. which was sold to PayPal, Inc. for $305 million in 2017, and also served as Vice President of Business Development for Fusemail, a subsidiary of j2 Global, Inc.

Jeff Tomlin is a visionary in all things marketing, SEO, business strategy, and digital. As a co-founder of Vendasta, Jeff’s passion and innovative nature help drive the success of the business. While conducting market research and business analysis, Jeff is always measuring and analyzing the effectiveness of the marketing efforts. He is constantly developing and iterating marketing and PR plans, seeking out the most effective paths. Prior to co-founding Vendasta, Jeff was the VP of strategy and business development at Point2, where he helped grow a real estate platform from the ground to power more than 185,000 agents in 85 countries.

George is responsible for business development with Vendasta’s largest channel partners, as well as managing the company’s in-house sales team. As the host of the Conquer Local Podcast, George’s personal mandate is to make local sales better. A digital interpreter, George has preached the gospel of online reputation management directly to the local businesses of hundreds of cities across the globe. George’s expertise in sales, training, networking, management, and marketing spans 30 years, and was honed through his numerous executive and ownership positions at media and service-related businesses.

Dale is a technical visionary with a passion for the big picture. A constant forger of new ideas, his deep understanding of system-level programming equips him with the right skills to strengthen Vendasta’s reputation as a world leader in distributed applications using cloud-based infrastructure. He also brings an entrepreneurial background to the table—having co-founded LucidHelix Solutions in 2008, a company that specialized in diagnostic software for digital television networks—along with an Engineering Physics degree and over twelve years experience as a developer and architect. He revels in large-scale thinking and hands-on prototyping and spends most of his time identifying new technologies that push our limits, lower our costs and continue to ensure Vendasta is the number one workplace for Canadian software developers.

Jacqueline is responsible for driving a growth mindset throughout Vendasta. She encourages alignment, focus and execution cross-functionally with Engineering, Design, Product Management, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Support, and Success. She leads Vendasta’s product-led growth strategy and analyzes key customer insights and trends in order to feedback throughout the rest of the organization. Jacqueline is an alumnus of The Next 36 Entrepreneurial Institute, Canada’s premier entrepreneurial leadership initiative. During the program, she co-founded and was CEO of Triumf Mobile Rewards: a tablet and Smartphone-based platform for small and medium-sized businesses to customize their own loyalty rewards programs. She has been a speaker at events such as TEDx UofS and WE DAY 2015, and has represented Canada at the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits, the 2010 APEC Summit in Japan, and at the 2011 G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit in France.

Heading up Vendasta’s Marketplace, Ed powers mass sales channels of thousands of reps with a breadth of innovative products. Anticipating innovations for forthcoming problems, he has successfully owned and built organizations in both large media and start-up environments. Having lived and operated some of these ventures internationally, Ed is a lead strategist in Vendasta’s internationalization blueprint, forging essential relationships in North America, Europe and beyond. An ambitious visionary whose passion is rivalled only by his keen sense of business acumen, Ed has long been a pioneer in the digital advertising ecosystem. Aligning pertinent vendors, a rapidly growing salesforce and Vendasta’s vision is not only Ed’s job but what he is resoundingly passionate about.

Jeff was Vendasta’s very first customer and joined the team after a decade of working with the platform. He is the steward of Vendasta’s high-value business partnerships, working daily to make its enterprise partnerships stronger. He has more than 20 years experience in sales, marketing, and operations in U.S. media, helping newspapers, tv stations, radio groups, and yellow page companies transition to new digital revenue streams. He has spent his career helping to build and scale digital solutions that solve real-world issues.

Gib has more than two decades of experience in the local digital marketing ecosystem, specializing in SaaS and data solutions. Gib most recently led product strategy at Infutor, and also lead product development and strategy for SIM Partners (Reputation,com) Local Viewpoints (PowerReviews), Localeze (Neustar), iCrossing, Advo, and Citysearch.

Providing more than just support, Michael and his team work diligently to provide Vendasta’s partners with the keys to success. Recommending solutions, providing support, and dispensing guidance so that we can grow together with our partners across the globe.

After starting his professional career in retail, Michael has been a pioneer of the digital revolution, previously moving from a junior position at a boutique creative agency to a senior digital strategist role with Australia’s largest digital marketing agency, Sensis.
Leading countless continuous improvement programs, Michael has passionately supported thousands of small businesses through digital transformation and capability improvements.

An experienced Director of Digital Sales and Partner Development with a demonstrated history of working in the publishing industry, Desiree is skilled in Digital Sales Strategy, Advertising Sales, and Integrated Marketing.

Desiree joined Vendasta in 2018 after an impressive portfolio of roles at The News Tribune, and as both the Digital Sales Development Manager and Director of Automotive Sales at McClatchy.

Bryan Larson sets and governs experience standards across Vendasta’s R&D organization. He is an advocate for human-centred design, and routinely places the customer at the heart of business strategy. As an active listener, he seeks to identify the root cause of problems and reframe them as actionable challenges. His knack for design and storytelling helps capture the organizational vision, increase cross-functional alignment, and radiate a sense of meaningful purpose. As co-founder of local tech community, Intrface, and with over seventeen years experience in media production and product design, Bryan aims to serve customers, coworkers, and UX allies from across the globe with passion and integrity.

Joel brings an extensive multi-media advertising background to his role at Vendasta, with experience selling directly to national brands and agencies.

With a portfolio stretching from Director of National Sales at USA TODAY, to his current role as the Vice President of Business Development at Brandify.

With over 20 years of experience, Joel brings a wealth of talent to the team at Vendasta in his role as Vice President of Large Cloud Broker Acquisition. His continued goal to see the Large Cloud Broker division prosper and grow is already well underway.

Troy leads Vendasta’s large team of digital agents who provide social media, website creation, digital advertising, and other services in English and French to thousands of businesses worldwide.

Troy has a successful track record in accounting, sales, marketing, and leadership, and has worked in a variety of organizations over his two-and-a-half decade career – from non-profit groups to small businesses, and enterprise companies. He has served in a variety of operational and management positions with Toastmasters International and worked closely with Tourism Saskatoon as a member of their National Strategic Advisory Committee.

Joining Vendasta in 2017, Light comes from a background in general practice law firms covering various aspects of legal practice. Now providing Vendasta with his experience and knowledge in corporate governance matters, corporate commercial matters, compliance matters (privacy, security and GDPR), labour, trademark/copyright and Finance law.

Jean leads the programs for attracting, developing, and growing the amazing team of always expanding Vendastians. She is passionate about where the culture of a company, the people, and the business strategies intersect. As Vendasta continues to grow Jean leverages her degree in Psychology and expertise in leading effective teams to ensure employees do not just come to Vendasta to work but also where they get to live out their passions.

Joining Vendasta in 2012 as a software developer after a five year stint with Point2 Technologies, Jesse has contributed his wealth of talent and knowledge to the company in a list of roles, including time spent as the VP of Engineering and Lead Site Reliability Engineer

Possessing a rare balance of tech skills and business smarts, Jesse brings over 15 years of experience to the Staff Engineer role as Vendasta continues to evolve.

Dani is where solid software and stories intersect. As the company’s Director of Communications, her job is to help people around the world connect with Vendasta. Like strawberry jam on warm toast, she’s spreading the word of Vendasta right to the outer crust.

Her love for a good narrative arc comes from a decade in print and broadcast journalism, an industry where she had the chance to freelance in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, anchor/report the news for CBC, and run the CTV Saskatoon newsroom as the youngest News Director in the network’s recent history. She is a past (failed) contestant on the Price is Right, has a big dog and floppy-eared cat, and gives back to her community whenever she has the chance.