PopCap Games
Executive Bios
David Roberts, CEO Dave joined PopCap Games in 2005 as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, overseeing all aspects of the company’s operations and guiding PopCap through the adolescent stage to corporate maturity. He brings more than twenty years of entrepreneurial and technology experience. Previously Dave served as an executive for Visual Communications Group, a leading global provider of stock photography (acquired by Getty Images in 2000). Prior to that Dave was founder, chairman and CEO of Definitive Stock, a stock photography company providing royalty-free and rights-protected images using world-class on-line search, delivery and commerce systems. He also founded Diamar Interactive, a CD-ROM developer and publisher that created award-winning titles for adults and kids alike. Dave previously held senior management positions at Aldus Corporation (overseeing the company’s flagship PageMaker product line) and Apple Computer (as one of the first employees of its software spin-off Claris Corporation) during those companies’ most dramatic growth stages. He holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Jason Kapalka, Founder and Chief Creative Officer Jason Kapalka, Chief Creative Officer of PopCap, founded the company in 2000 along with Brian Fiete and John Vechey. Prior to PopCap, Jason spent five years at pogo.com as Senior Producer, where he created nearly two dozen of the company’s hit online titles and its prize/token rewards system. All told, Jason has designed and/or developed three dozen games that have been played billions of times by more than 200 million people. Earlier, he was a columnist for Computer Gaming World, the oldest and most respected PC gaming magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in English literature from the University of Alberta. Brian Fiete, Founder and Chief Technical Officer Brian co-founded PopCap Games in 2000 with Jason Kapalka and John Vechey. As the company’s Chief Technical Officer, Brian oversees PopCap’s technology including its open source Games Framework. He has co-developed a number of PopCap games including the company’s flagship Bejeweled and Bejeweled 2 games. Before founding PopCap, Brian worked at Sierra Online’s WON.net on various networking technologies, as well as creating the acclaimed game Wordox with Brian “Ace” Rothstein. John Vechey, Founder and Director of PC/Online Operations John Vechey co-founded PopCap Games with Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka in 2000, and served as the company’s interim CEO until 2003, heading up business development and securing some of PopCap’s largest partnerships with major Web portals and game publishers. John now manages PopCap’s direct-to-consumer experience as director of PopCap.com, overseeing all aspects of the company’s Web site and online presence and directing PopCap’s e-commerce, privacy/security and online games services. Previously, John helped design and develop online games for WON.net, the Internet games division of Sierra Online. Before that, John worked in partnership with Brian Fete, while both were Purdue University students, to create, sell and help oversee future development of an online action game called ARC. John is also active in the independent film industry, having directed seven short films and having recently joined Lockspring Pictures, a Seattle-based film production company, as principal investor.
Dave Haas, EVP, Worldwide Studios Dave joined PopCap Games in 2003 and brings more than eighteen years of entrepreneurial and technology experience to the company. In 2008 Dave was promoted to his current role, which involves overseeing the administration and management of PopCap’s growing number of game development studios around the world. For the past five years Dave served as the company’s COO, managing the day-to-day operations of PopCap’s technology, customer service and facilities groups as well as PopCap international offices in Dublin, Ireland. Previously Dave served as Technology Archon for Sabertooth Games, where he managed IT and network operations. Prior to that Dave was founder and CTO of Seer Logistics, a logistics and technology startup. He previously held senior IT management positions at BootlegTV and at Definitive Stock/Visual Communications Group. Dave was also founder and Lead Technologist of ICS Consulting, a computer and network consulting firm. Dennis Ryan, EVP, Worldwide Business Development Dennis joined PopCap in late 2005 and is responsible for PopCap’s business development efforts worldwide. In this role, he oversees sales, licensing and partnerships that optimize the market impact of the company’s products across all platforms, channels and territories. Prior to PopCap, Dennis held General Manager and Vice President positions at publicly-traded Click Commerce, Inc., where he ran a profitable business unit for marketleading collaborative commerce software. Previously, he was CEO of Allegis Corporation for five years when it pioneered on-demand delivery of channel management software. He was also CEO at Net-It Software, which developed intranet document management software, and Vice President at EO, Inc, which created early smartphone devices for AT&T. In 1987, Dennis was a founding team member of Claris Corporation (now FileMaker, Inc.) where he was group manager for information management products, including the everpopular FileMaker database product line. Dennis started his career in product management and engineering at Apple Computer and IBM. Sukhbir Sidhu, Studio Director As Head of Production for PopCap games, Sukhbir drives content strategy and manages game development and testing at the company’s main studios in Seattle and San Francisco. Prior to joining PopCap as employee #8 in 2002, he was a senior game producer at Electronic Arts, where he oversaw the development of numerous casual games for that leading entertainment software publisher. Previously, he spent more than five years helping build pogo.com and its previous incarnations, Total Entertainment Network and Optigon Interactive, into the largest casual games site in the world. During that time, Sukhbir focused on UI design, game design, a range of community features and an overarching rankings and tournament infrastructure for the nascent casual games audience. Sukhbir has nearly twelve years of online game development experience, and has been focused on Internet game design and multiplayer online gaming for as long as the Web has existed. Edward Allard, VP, Strategic Development Ed is driven by a passion for making games that appeal to everyone, not just traditional gamers. In Strategic Development, Ed focuses on extending the reach and appeal of PopCap’s world-class IP through console adaptations, handheld devices, expansion packs and new business models. He came to PopCap as part of its acquisition of Sprout Games, where Ed was co-founder and creative director. At Sprout, Ed was responsible for the design and development of the hit title Feeding Frenzy, which has been played by millions worldwide. Before forming Sprout Games, Ed’s work experience spanned a broad range of roles, from engineer at Silicon Graphics to sound designer for TiVo set-top boxes. He cut his teeth in the game industry in 2000 with the founding of Escape Factory — a console game company with a mission to entertain millions of people of all ages and interests. He holds a degree in Math/Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Martin Gannholm, VP, Engineering Martin joined PopCap in January 2008 to guide the company’s continued technological evolution and oversee its quickly expanding portfolio of technology. In his current role, Martin directs multiple teams providing game integration into new environments and platforms, creating solutions for new Web- and Intranet-based
initiatives, and generally steering PopCap’s technological future in many respects. Prior to joining PopCap, Martin spent four years as a senior member of Microsoft Corporation’s business software division, most recently as Architect and Group Program Manager of Microsoft Office Live. Martin’s 20-year career also includes a decade-long stretch with Apple Computer, where he held several senior engineering positions with Apple’s HyperCard and Newton divisions. Martin also co-founded two innovative Web start-ups and holds a number of patents related to Internet software, including ones for rule-based database security and another for creating interactive Web page objects. He is fluent in English, Swedish and Afrikaans, and has also studied French and Mandarin Chinese. Ben Rotholtz, VP, Marketing Ben Rotholtz joined PopCap in early 2008 as the company’s first vice president of marketing. In this role, Ben oversees a number of teams dedicated to PopCap’s rapidly expanding Web site, advertising, public relations, customer support, marketing and promotional efforts, while also defining and shaping the company’s overall marketing vision and voice. Prior to joining PopCap, Ben spent nearly ten years as a general manager in, and of, several business units at RealNetworks, including Real’s online music service Rhapsody. Previously, he held senior product marketing positions at Adobe and program management and technical roles at Aldus Corporation, primarily serving as the senior marketing executive overseeing Aldus’ flagship product, PageMaker and the development of Adobe InDesign. Ben began his educational career at Reed College and received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English from the University of Washington. Greg Canessa, VP, Video Game Platforms Greg joined PopCap in February 2007 to oversee PopCap’s expansion onto new digital entertainment platforms including video game consoles, handheld devices and related online gaming services. Greg previously spent seven years helping define and manage Microsoft’s online games strategy, most recently as GM of that company’s Xbox Live Arcade service. Before joining Microsoft, Greg was vice president of marketing at Idealab!, where he oversaw the creation and implementation of marketing and advertising plans for that “incubator” firm’s early-stage dot-com companies. Greg’s previous experience also includes senior marketing positions with Vivendi Games and Apple Computer. Greg is a life-long collector and player of both video and board games. He is also an avid traveler, having visited more than 30 countries to date, and is conversant in German and Spanish. He holds a bachelors degree in International Studies/Computer Science from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the University of Colorado’s Graduate School of Business. James Gwertzman, VP, Asia/Pacific James leads PopCap’s operations throughout the Asia Pacific region, a key market for the company as it expands its leadership role in producing hit casual games beyond the United States. He joined PopCap Games in 2005 when it acquired Sprout Games, the casual game studio he co-founded in 2003 and creator of hit games such as Feeding Frenzy. Previously he worked at Microsoft in a variety of roles, including Director of Online Marketing for Microsoft Asia, based out of Tokyo. James is a member of the IGDA Casual Games SIG Steering Committee is often a featured speaker at industry events worldwide. He graduated from Harvard with a computer science degree. Pamela Sampel, VP, Human Resources Ms. Sampel joined PopCap in 2007 to direct the company’s continued rapid growth from a human resources perspective. She is responsible for all aspects of PopCap’s HR and employee relations activities, including executive and leadership training, employee career development and evaluation and all company policies impacting staff. Ms. Sampel has been a human resources executive for more than twenty years, including lengthy stints with KCTS (Seattle’s leading public television network) and Group Health (a 10,000-employee, non-profit health care cooperative.) Ms. Sampel holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa. She is also certified in a wide range of HR disciplines, including career development, leadership coaching, management training, and employee evaluation.
Lisa Campney, General Counsel Lisa came to PopCap Games in late 2006 as the company’s General Counsel. She is responsible for providing legal support for all aspects of the company’s business development initiatives, intellectual property matters and operations. She has practiced law for twenty years, primarily as in-house counsel focusing on intellectual property issues. Immediately prior to joining PopCap, Lisa served as First Vice President & Senior Counsel at Washington Mutual Bank, as intellectual property counsel for the overall enterprise. Previously, she was the General Counsel at KCTS Television; Associate General Counsel at AccessLine Technologies, Inc.; Associate General Counsel at Aldus Corporation; and Assistant General Counsel at King Broadcasting, all in the Seattle, Washington, area. Lisa holds a bachelors degree from Dartmouth College and a JD from Stanford Law School.
Press contact: Garth Chouteau, (415) 602-8147, garth@popcap.com