Ticketfly

Since 2009, Ticketfly’s team has grown over 10 fold, and we’ve managed to attract some of the best and brightest from both the music and tech industries. We are a collection of brainiacs, music geeks, marketing wizards, savvy sales reps and a generally awesome crew of folks who care a lot about what we’re doing. Below are just a few of the people who make the magic happen.

Andrew Dreskin: Founder and CEO

Andrew was the co-founder, president and CEO of TicketWeb, the first company to sell event tickets via the Internet. Andrew has had his hands in the music business for many years, as co-founder and producer of the Virgin Mobile Festival, General Manager of Beserkley Records, Director of Marketing at California Concerts, and as the largest shareholder in the Big Easy chain of concert venues, before it was acquired by Knitting Factory Entertainment. He holds a B.A. from Tulane University, where he is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council. He serves on numerous Boards of Directors including Headcount, a non-profit voter registration organization. He throws a damn good party and can be bothered for amazing music stories anytime.

Dan Teree: Founder, President and COO

Prior to founding Ticketfly, Dan was COO and business unit head of TicketWeb, a division of Ticketmaster. Under his leadership, TicketWeb grew revenue six-fold and profit ten-fold. Prior to joining TicketWeb, Dan was a Senior Associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at NationsBank Montgomery Securities and a Senior Research Analyst at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, D.C. Dan holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.A. in Political Science from Colgate University. When he’s not holding down the fort at Ticketfly, you can find him camping, RVing, going to rodeos, and teaching his daughter Samantha how to shoot hoops.

Sean Porter: Chief Technical Officer

Sean Porter oversees the technology group at Ticketfly, where his team works diligently to provide the best marketing and ticketing tools for live event promoters. Prior to Ticketfly’s acquisition of Gigbot, he built Gigbot Pro, the first integrated marketing and ticketing system for live music. Sean’s been developing Internet software since 1995, most recently as the Product Manager of Enterprise Web Publishing Solutions at Quark and engineering stints at Qwest, Broadband Associates, and Silicon Graphics. He’s a Denver boy originally, but now lives in San Francisco. Besides enjoying the San Francisco cuisine, he spends his time photo-blogging his new baby, Lulu, and making colorful analogies to explain things to people who are less nerdy.

Phil Oreste: Chief Financial Officer

Phil is the CFO, aka “The Heavy” or ‘The Resident Gray Hair” for Ticketfly, and a registered CPA in California. Phil has 20 years of experience as the senior finance executive for a variety of successful software companies. Prior to joining Ticketfly, he was the Vice President of Finance for Splunk during it’s six-fold revenue growth and profitability. Prior to Splunk, Phil was Chief Financial Officer for Workstream and Broadvision. Phil was also the VP of Finance for Intershop and lead the $107 million NASDAQ offering in 2000. Born in Michigan and cultured in Colorado, Phil ended up in San Francisco where he got a B.S. degree in finance and accounting from the University of San Francisco. More importantly he was the music director for the campus radio station, KUSF. His preferred Van Halen line-up is David and Sammy but no Gary, and in his free time you can find him running on trails, golfing, or hanging out with his daughters.

Tom Ewald: VP of Sales & Client Relations

A native of Detroit, Tom (AKA The Schpeen) was Sales Director at both Ticketweb and Ticketmaster in the Bay Area and eventually shipped back out to the Midwest, settling in Chicago where he has a squatter office in a lonely windowless basement, and heading up sales efforts for Ticketfly nationally. An MBA graduate of Wayne State University, Tom learned early that everyone in Detroit should know how to bowl. He’s also an avid football fan (both fantasy and non) who used to work for the Detroit Red Wings. If he could book his dream festival, it would be headlined by The Replacements, The National, and Lucero. He lives in Chicago with two kids and his wife. If you had a BBQ, he’d make a mean rib eye, marinated in a secret red wine vinegar concoction.

Brian Arnone: VP of Sales

Brian Arnone has been in the ticketing industry since 1996. What he loves most about the industry is the opportunity to meet and make meaningful connections with people. Brian has constantly found himself in the role of leader, trainer, speaker and salesperson through positions held in management within Client Services and Sales & Marketing Teams. Brian was Director of Client Services for TicketWeb, Vice President of Sales for MAXtix, Inc., Vice President of Business Development for Enta USA and is now Vice President of Sales for Ticketfly. Through these positions, Brian has worked with a variety of organizations, including music venues and promoters, professional sports teams, performing arts centers and theaters, museums, fairs and festivals. If he could book his dream festival, it would be headlined by Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and U2. If it’s possible to have a simultaneous showing of any and all Pittsburgh sports teams, that would be ideal.

Gannon Hall: SVP of Marketing

Bringing nearly two decades of entrepreneurial leadership experience within the consumer Internet, digital media, and Software-as-a-Service industries, Gannon leads all product and corporate marketing for the company. Gannon has held a number of executive leadership positions, including COO of mobile and social video innovator Kyte. Most recently Gannon served as executive vice president of global marketing for KIT digital, the global leader in broadband TV solutions, where he successfully launched the company’s global brand and product line from the technology assets of over ten acquired companies, and helped generate the awareness and demand to achieve a 45% global market share position. An accomplished musician and entrepreneur, Gannon played drums for pioneering metal band Mordred in late ’80s / early ’90s, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of San Francisco music and lifestyle brand Om Entertainment Group.

Valerie LeClair: VP of Operations

As vice president of operations, Valerie leads client and consumer facing operations, most notably helping event promoters to best leverage Ticketfly’s broad set of ticketing, social marketing, and analytics tools. Val started in the ticketing industry in 2002 with TicketWeb/Ticketmaster as Operations Manager, where she climbed the proverbial ladder to GM. During her tenure, she earned several nicknames including “Leche,” “Choo Choo,” and “Boss Lady.” Eight years later, she left TicketWeb to follow an obsession for food and joined Specialty’s in 2010 to lead nationwide sales during their biggest year of growth to date. She oversaw promotional efforts for new location openings and over-indulged on some of the best cookies ever. Valerie got the the call of duty in 2011 to join the Fly and accepted! Unofficially, Valerie has played the role of mother, therapist, referee, maid, good cop, bad cop, party planner. When she’s not at work, she’s corralling three cats, three dogs, two chickens, and one husband at home.