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General Joey Flores - Business Strategies and Propaganda, Managing Partner

Joey Flores got an introduction to marketing, advertising sales and media buying at two failed dot bombs in the late 90's before settling in at lead generation marketing company Affiliate Fuel in 2002, a year after its inception. As the company's 2nd employee, he built and led the startup's Business Development team, leading to its acquisition by Experian in 2005.

After the departure of its cofounders in 2006, Joey took over management of the Affiliate Fuel organization, overseeing Sales, Business Development and Operations during its tri-merger with leading education marketing company ClassesUSA and mortgage powerhouse LowerMyBills.com. While helping to successfully integrate the three companies' platforms into Experian Interactive Media, and thereby solidifying their position as a leader in multi-vertical online lead generation and a Top 10 Internet advertiser, he grew the Affiliate Fuel division from $19M in annual revenue to a trend of $48M in just under two years.

In 2008 he left EIM to lead online marketing for consumer brand Mota Motors (www.Mota.com). Flores was responsible for developing their SEO, SEM and early online media strategies, and coordinated the launch of the customer service and sales call center that drives their Premium Valet car selling service. The VC funded company was recently named one of the Top 50 Most Promising Startups of 2009 by Business Week and a TechCrunch 50 startup.

Joey left Mota in early 2009 and cofounded Startup Army to help online companies create innovative products, marketing solutions and revenue streams. He brings a deep understanding of business, marketing, analytics and organizational management to Startup Army and its clients.

Connect with Joey Flores on LinkedIn

General John Shiple - Technology and Weapons Development, CTO

John Shiple, one of L.A.'s most sought after CTO's, has been blowing up the Internet going back to the birth of the web itself. He was a founding member of HotWired's engineering team - the web's first commercial website. Thereafter, he went on to re-architect the GeoCities front-end (then, the fourth largest site on the Internet) where he brought pop-up ads to the Internet (yes, it's his fault). John then went on to cofound Bigstep.com, an award-winning small business service provider.

At Bigstep, John designed, built and launched its initial service in six months to support over 300,000 customers and over 50 co-branded partners. He staffed and managed a highly-effective team of engineers, information architects, designers, web developers, usability analysts, editors and writers. Bigstep.com was sold to Affinity Internet in 2002 for approximately $8,000,000.

After leaving Bigstep.com, John rebuilt the intranet and extranet systems for the Hilton Hotels Corporation (supporting 80,000+ people) from the ground up and developed the foundation for the company's large-scale data integration strategy.

Prior to cofounding Startup Army, John was CTO of Mota Motors - a VC funded startup and one of Business Week's Top 50 Most Promising Startups of 2009. John's patented technology there provides a new and better way to sell or buy a used car online. Linked into every major automotive marketplace, it makes transactions faster, safer and more profitable for private parties.

John is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a degree in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, and he worked at the MIT Media Lab. He is an active member of the LA CTO Forum and is responsible for the architectural design and development oversight of all of Startup Army's weapons of mass acceleration.

Connect with John Shiple on LinkedIn

General Serena Ehrlich - Social Programs and Viral Weaponry, EVP of Social Media

Serena Ehrlich creates and implements strategies designed to tap into the new and exciting social media revolution. During her years at Business Wire, Serena worked closely with public and private companies providing guidance on investor and public relations trends, marketing, product development, social media, SOX trends, XBRL and trade show services. A master of social media marketing, she has worked with some of the largest companies in North America including ExxonMobil, Walt Disney, Mattel, Textron and more.

Serena serves as chairman of the interim Social Media Club (www.socialmediaclub.org ) Board of Directors as well as a Senior Advisor for the international YoungPrPros (www.youngprpros.com), and is an 8-year Board Member for NIRI - first in Dallas and now in Los Angeles. She can be found on Twitter (@serena) and any other social platform worth talking about. All joking aside, she has a degree in World War II and post-World War II thought in Europe and the US - specializing in Propaganda, making her a truly perfect fit to lead Social Programs and Viral Weaponry for Startup Army.

Connect with Serena Ehrlich on LinkedIn

General Jeff Shariat - Operations and Tactical Strategy, EVP of Operations

Jeff Shariat is an expert in creating efficiency through practical applications of technology and intuitive processes. After graduating from Boston University where he studied Psychology with a double minor in Business Management and Statistics, he began his professional career at EMAK Worldwide as a Project Manager under the Vice President of Product Development and Operations in their Consumer Product Division.

Parlaying his success at EMAK into a role in the Advanced Technology Department of Toyota Motor Sales, Jeff managed the integration of TMS with major global partner XM Satellite Radio. Responsible for Business Operations and Project Development for the multi-million dollar partnership, Jeff became well-versed in managing major strategic relationships and in creating and maintaining processes in multi-national, public organizations.

Desiring to apply his understanding of big business to smaller, more nimble organizations, Jeff joined Mota Motors, a VC funded firm specializing in peer-to-peer used car transactions. There Jeff was responsible for Project Management, day-to-day operations and process efficiency, and the streamlining of Mota's Valet service call center and customer care department. Jeff worked with the CTO to create a development process based on Agile programming methods and was effectively responsible for the management of eight development resources.

Mota was recently named one of Business Week's Top 50 Most Promising Startups of 2009, making them yet another impressive past employer on Jeff's already impressive record. Jeff is in charge of the smooth operation and management of Startup Army and its resources, and is an invaluable leader in our fight to drive value for each and every client.

Connect with Jeff Shariat on LinkedIn

General Arian Ryan - Special Forces and Strategic Operations, EVP of Product Development

Arian Ryan's online career has touched on nearly every aspect of web based business. At LowerMyBills.com (an Experian Company), he helped develop an automated solution for their fraud monitoring system, ultimately saving the business about $10,000 per day. Leveraging knowledge of both marketing and technology, he oversaw the technical and operational integration of Affiliate Fuel, another Experian acquisition, into the new corporate entity and Top 10 Internet advertiser, Experian Interactive Media. Affiliate Fuel was a $45+ million per year online marketing firm, specializing in lead generation. Arian led the operations team supporting every aspect of the Affiliate Fuel division.

In 2008, Arian took a roll at Mota.com - a VC funded startup and one of Business Week's Top 50 Most Promising Startups of 2009 - changing the way America buys and sells used cars. At Mota he contributed to the development of product, UI, marketing systems, business reporting/analytics, documentation, and even the website's frontend code. His well rounded experience and interest in taking the net's newest concepts from infancy to success story led him to join Startup Army and is the reason he has been dispatched to lead our Special Forces and Strategic Operations division.

Connect with Arian Ryan on LinkedIn

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