The Buddy Media Investors

Everyone knows that you can’t make money without money. These people understand that better than most. They’re the coal that powers the locomotive – without their financial support and advice the Buddy Media train would never have left the station. But the Buddy Media Investors are more than just a blue-and-green ATM. They’re the faithful dreamers who had the confidence and foresight to see that Buddy Media’s business model wasn’t just another Internet flash-in-the-pan. “The Cash” is a savvy group of investors who understand the limitless potential of social media advertising and the Buddy Media Brand Advocate Process.

James Altucher

James is president and founder of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of web properties. James is also a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He also is a weekly columnist for The Financial Times and the author of the books Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett and SuperCa$h. Previously, Altucher was a managing partner at technology venture capital firm 212 Ventures and was CEO and founder of Vaultus and Reset Inc. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and was a doctoral candidate at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a nationally ranked Chess Master.

Keith Bank

Keith is a co-founder and Managing Director of KB Partners, and has a diverse background in start-up companies, real estate, and other entrepreneurial ventures. Keith serves as a board member for NetRegulus, Kirtas Technologies, and Data TV Networks, and oversees the firm’s investment in The Active Network. Keith is a founding board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association, and served as its Chairman for 2005 – 2006. In addition to being awarded IVCA’s prestigious Fellows Medal in 2006, Keith has been honored by Crain’s Chicago Business as a “40 under 40″, a Who’s Who of Chicago Executives and as one of the 100 most prominent members of Chicago’s technology economy.

Bay Partners

Bay Partners is a Silicon Valley-based early stage venture capital firm that has been building successful technology companies since 1976, and has funded more than 350 startups. Notable successes from Bay’s portfolio include Brocade, Concord Communications, Exodus, Sonicwall, Placeware, Informatica, Weblogic, Digital Island and NetScaler. Bay is currently investing its eleventh venture fund and has over $1 billion under management. Bay has become a leading SaaS venture capital firm with notable current investments in Eloqua, Xactly, Cornerstone on Demand and eProject.

Brian Bedol

Brian is the founder of CSTV Networks, Inc., the leading digital sports media company, which connects more fans to more college sports in more ways than any other company. CSTV Networks, which was purchased by CBS Corporation in January 2006, marks the second time Bedol has created a media company, which became an asset for a major content provider. Brian also created Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic).

Ron Conway

Ron is a well-connected Silicon Valley angel investor. Ron has invested in over 500 companies in the last 15 years, including Google, PayPal and Ask Jeeves. He’s invested in 140 as an individual angel in the past 3 years.

Roger Ehrenberg

After 17 years in M&A, Derivatives and Trading, Roger escaped Wall Street and now spends his time with young entrepreneurs in and around the financial technology and digital media landscape. Roger can be found online at www.informationarbitrage.com.

European Founders Fund

European Founders Fund is run by three super successful entrepreneurs and brothers — Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer. Together, they founded Alando, which was sold to eBay, and Jamba!, which they sold to VeriSign. European Founders’ other investments in the social media space include LinkedIn and Facebook.

GreyCroft Partners

GreyCroft is a $75 million venture fund founded by Alan Patricof. A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Alan entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners – today, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $35 billion under management. Alan has assembled a top-notch team of digital media investors.

Knight’s Bridge Capital Corporation

Knight’s Bridge Capital Corporation is a strategic investor offering debt and private equity funds to businesses, with a core competency in management. Knight’s Bridge not only supplies businesses with much needed capital but also partners with them to ensure successful execution of a well thought out business strategy.

Howard Lindzon

Howard is an avid entrepreneur who sold his most recent venture, Wallstrip, to CBS Corp. Howard can be found online at www.howardlindzon.com.

Mark Pincus

Mark is a true entrepreneur. He founded FreeLoader, the first web based push service that was acquired after 7 months by Individual, Inc. for $38 million. Mark went on the start SupportSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRT) as well as Tribe Networks Inc. Tribe’s core assets were sold to Cisco to provide an initial platform for its digital media services group. Today, Tribe continues to operate with a stable community of several hundred thousand users posting content which is viewed by 2 million unique visitors a month.

Softbank Capital

SoftBank Capital is an independent venture capital firm focused on early stage high-growth technology-based businesses benefiting from the rapid deployment and adoption of broadband and mobile technologies. They are a team of experienced entrepreneurs and investors who take a hands-on approach to investing in order to help each portfolio company achieve its potential. SoftBank Capital offers entrepreneurs and their management teams valuable experience and resources, including a close association with SoftBank Corp. in Japan. They have direct market presence in two of the most significant areas for technology innovation and development with offices in Massachusetts and New York.

Peter Thiel

In 1998, Peter co-founded PayPal and served as its Chairman and CEO until the company’s sale to eBay in October 2002 for $1.5 billion. Peter’s experience in finance includes managing a successful hedge fund, trading derivatives at CS Financial Products, and practicing securities law at Sullivan & Cromwell. Peter currently is managing director of Clarium Capital and sits on Facebook’s board.