Former Google/YouTube executive Erin Schaefer joins Roundtable board to help grow high-end media ope

Roundtable (NASDAQ: RTB) announces Erin Schaefer joining its board of directors

Roundtable, an enterprise media operating system platform driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized finance (DeFi), today announced that Erin Schaefer has officially joined its board of directors. As a transformative leader in digital innovation, Ms. Schaefer has 20 years of senior technology leadership experience, building and leading high-cost, multi-billion-dollar business engines for companies such as Google, YouTube and Niantic Games. Most recently, she served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of General Catalyst, managing more than $43 billion in asset management. Throughout his career, Schaefer has always stood at the forefront of technology and led global operations.

Outstanding career and strategic leadership

During his 14-year tenure at Google, Schaefer served as general manager of global operations for YouTube, general manager of global brand advertising strategy, and was responsible for video advertising in the Americas. During this period, she built the brand commercialization engine from scratch into a global business with annual revenue of more than $10 billion. While serving as chief operating officer of General Catalyst, she directed the transformation of operating models, capital allocation and applied AI. While Niantic was general manager, she oversaw the U.S. game studio and publishing business, which ultimately resulted in a multi-billion dollar exit from the business.

Gathering three digital media pioneers

Schaefer's arrival brings together three pioneering digital media leaders whose careers have been both collaborative and competitive. Before Schaefer led and helped build Google's brand and YouTube's advertising business, co-founder James Heckman built the landmark Google-MySpace partnership to launch Google's social advertising market; later, his News Corp strategy team designed Hulu's business model to compete directly with YouTube. When Heckman was the global media strategy leader for Yahoo to create the world's largest premium media market (working with MSN, Yahoo and AOL), Schaefer was leading the "brand advertising" business with which Google competes directly. Earlier, Roundtable co-founder Eyal Hertzog created MetaCafe, the first social video platform with tens of millions of users, and invented algorithmic personalized information streaming technology.

Senior Views

founder James Heckman said: "The partnership with Erin Schaefer adds an extraordinary resume to this already extraordinary team of digital media pioneers. She brings a rare combination of transformative technical leadership and major brand relationships. We are honored to have Erin help guide our team."

Ms. Schaefer said: "My entire career has been dedicated to using technology to help passionate voices build sustainable businesses, from YouTube creators to the brands that support them. Professional journalism deserves the same attention. I believe this elite team of media technology pioneers can bring a brighter future to it, and the platform built by James and Eyal Hertzog integrates artificial intelligence, decentralized finance and a full technology stack of on-chain publishing under a unified roof, laying the foundation for achieving this goal."

Consolidate elite teams and governance structures

Schaefer is uniquely positioned to consolidate Roundtable's elite team, bring her own large media ecosystem, strategy and experience, and share with the team the common goal of safeguarding professional media sovereignty. The founding team and board members include: Dame Elizabeth Truss, former British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary (Hon Liz Truss), Eyal Hertzog, inventor of the social video platform and DeFi technology, and Bill Sornsin, former head of MSN platform engineering (has led 6 global platforms), and Internet pioneer James Heckman, founder of 11 successful digital platforms (including 3 public exits, multiple acquisitions, including two acquisitions by Yahoo, one acquisition by News Corp, and publisher of the NFL Publishing Network).

Ms. Schaefer holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. She has served on the boards of public companies, private businesses and non-profit organizations, including the Hillsborough Schools Foundation, which currently serves as chairman. Details of the appointment are set out in the company's current report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Roundtable

Roundtable (NASDAQ: RTB) is an enterprise media operating system driven by artificial intelligence and decentralized finance that integrates distribution, publishing, monetization, community, co-distribution and DeFi payment operations, aiming to empower professional and mainstream media brands. The platform was developed over the years by digital pioneers and co-founders Eyal Hertzog and James Heckman.